A blog relating to Internet legal issues by Professor John Swinson, University of Queensland
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You should review the following for some background understanding (as well as the material referred to in the study guide):
Spam
Spam Act
ACMA
IIA Code
Crime
Australian Federal Police
Costs - UK
On the rise - US
Recent case
Phishing
Anti-Phishing
Westpac
SARS
Is legislation or technology/awareness the solution? Which countries have attempted to combat phishing by legislation?
Internet Jurisdiction
- Background: The Australian
- Australian Trial Judge Decision
- Full Court of Federal Court Decision
- Note regarding US decision on jurisdiction
We have swapped weeks 3 and 4 of class, so Monday will be all about PRIVACY and will be taught by Carly.
During class we will be talking about a wide range of issues concerning privacy and the internet. To prepare, you can review the following:
Australian law
Office of the Privacy Commissioner - (Includes links to Privacy Act and Privacy Principles)
Australian Broadcasting Corporation v Lenah Game Meat Pty Ltd (2002) 208 CLR 199
Regulation
Internet Industry Association - (see Code of Conduct)
International Rights
Article 17 of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
Privacy Policies
See for example:
Disney Privacy Policy
Amazon Privacy Policy
Are they sufficient?
Cookies
Cookie Central
Workplace email / internet privacy
Workplace policies
Articles regarding Buzz (already posted on blog)
Google Earth
Bullying
Online privacy
Use in litigation
Shopping
Solutions?
TrustE
Apple Sues Maker of Google's Android Phone
Throwing the Book at Facebook
In the past few weeks, we have seen a series of legal issues arise in relation to comments on the internet – particularly on Facebook.
In one case, $30,000 in damages was rewarded in response to defamatory comments by a man using various pseudonyms on a stock market forum. We have also seen an Indonesian man currently face jail time for insulting his music mentor on Facebook. ..."
See also - Facebook Ads article
iCyte page
Websites
Google falls foul of privacy once again
Net Fraud
Net fraud accused back online
A TEENAGE Brisbane student accused of using the internet to defraud Queensland's biggest bank of $2 million has today had his ban on using the internet lifted.
Brisbane Magistrate Noel Nunan this morning varied bail conditions for Philip Heggie, 18, so he could use the internet to continue his university studies.
Heggie, a University of Queensland business student, made a brief appearance in the Brisbane Magistrate's Court to answer charges of fraud, attempted fraud and uttering a forged document.
Click here to read the full article on the website
--- A class member asks the following regarding the above story:
Given the level of sophistication required to perpetrate these alleged activities, has the Court (in its most recent decision concerning bail conditions) paid sufficient heed to the possibility of the accused undertaking similar acts? How meaningful are either of the different sets of bail conditions prescribed by the court, given that cyber crimes can be undertaken anonymously?
Google Counter-sues regarding AdWords
The Law of Google 2010 (updated)
1. The breadth of Google.
Search
www.google.com
www.google.com.au
www.google.co.uk
www.google.ca
www.google.de
www.google.com.br
www.google.com.bd
www.igoogle.com
News
Images
Blogs
Maps
Videos
Books
Scholarly Papers
Finance
Custom Search, example: Leading Australian Law Firms
Syndicated Search and example and example
Directory
Products
Google Base
Search tricks and tips
Internal search
Site Search
Site Map
Other Google Stuff
Toolbar and SideWiki
Google Accounts
Web History
Gmail
Photos: Picasa and Picasa Web
Chrome Browser
Blogger
Groups
Reader
Notebook
Calendar
Docs
Talk
YouTube
More information: Wikipedia
How Google Works
Google Sitemap
2. AdWords and AdSense: Google Advertising
A. Do these searches on Google, Australian Googleand UK Google and compare results:
- Noosa
- Hilton
- Q1
- cheap accomodation queensland
- flowers paddington
- the tallest building in brisbane is
- DSL-G604T
- Sony
- Harvey World Travel
- Harvey World Travel Insurance
Look at the Google Ads on these websites:
- NY Times
- Van Gogh Gallery
- Brisbane Apartments and Reviews
- Cyberlaw and Policy and example article
- This Blog (look top right --->
C. Google Trends and Google Analytics
Also, Google Insights for Search
D. AdWords
- create Ad
- select Keywords, budget and display location
- people then click on your Ad.
KeyWord Tool and Tool
More information: Google Learning Centre
E. Other types of Google advertising
Maps
F. Problems & Issues
(a) Pay Per Click Websites
Look at these websites:
(What is legitimate? See RealSpanking and Jackassand UStream)
(b) Click Fraud
What percentage of click are fraudulent? See this story and here too.
Clickfraud is old news: Crack-down
(c) Trade Mark Issues
Google Procedure
ACCC Lawsuit: See here and here and here andhere(Google filed its defence on 17 November 2008.)
RescueCom Lawsuit
French Lawsuit
Geico Lawsuit and settlement
More information
Google Business Solutions
3. Legal issues and lawsuits
Book Search Lawsuit and here
Caching & Copyright: see here and here and here
First Class 2010
Google, Privacy and Buzz
Google moved quickly to contain a firestorm of criticism over Buzz, its new social network, taking the unusual step of announcing changes to the product over the weekend to address privacy problems.
Late Saturday, Todd Jackson, product manager for Gmail and Google Buzz, wrote in a blog post that Google had decided to alter one of the most vehemently criticized features in Buzz: the ready-made circle of friends that Buzz gives new users based on their most frequent e-mail and chat contacts. Now, instead of automatically connecting people, Buzz merely suggests to new users a group of people that they may want to follow or want to be followed by. ....
Critics Say Google Invades Privacy With New Service
SAN FRANCISCO — When Google introduced Buzz — its answer to Facebook and Twitter — it hoped to get the service off to a fast start. New users of Buzz, which was added to Gmail on Tuesday, found themselves with a ready-made network of friends automatically selected by the company based on the people that each user communicated with most frequently through Google’s e-mail and chat services.
Readers' Comments
Share your thoughts.
But what Google viewed as an obvious shortcut stirred up a beehive of angry critics. Many users bristled at what they considered an invasion of privacy, and they faulted the company for failing to ask permission before sharing a person’s Buzz contacts with a broad audience. For the last three days, Google has faced a firestorm of criticism on blogs and Web sites, and it has already been forced to alter some features of the service.
Copyright in Directories
Telstra Corporation Limited v Phone Directories Company Pty Ltd [2010] FCA 44 (8 February 2010)
iiNet copyright case
Challenges for Google
In Europe, Challenges for Google
On issues like privacy, copyright protection and the dominance of its search engine, Google is increasingly clashing with lawmakers and regulators.
http://s.nyt.com/u/ejr
Internet Freedom
Legal Blogs
- Internet Law - Law & Disorder and Technology & Marketing
- IP Watchdog
- Copyright Campaigns
- Patents
Updated Internet Law Website
Also, as an experiment, have a look at:
www.ecyberspac.com
Google Steals The Web?
http://talkbiz.com/blog/google-steals-the-web/
http://www.google.com/sidewiki/entry/foley.sj/id/1ksJhFGMBYdq_whDm7Ihcc4wz14
Photos and Piracy
Pictures From Public Places Not Private
French parliament delays vote on Internet law
Source: Reuters
A warning from California
FLIR Systems v. Parrish
Apple and Protection of Trade Secrets
"The local police bureau declined to answer questions about the case. But reports of the apparent suicide have set off a firestorm of criticism of Foxconn’s treatment of Mr. Sun, labor conditions at its factories and the pressures Apple places on suppliers to abide by the culture of secrecy that surrounds its development of new products.
The case also underscores the challenges that global companies face in trying to safeguard their designs and intellectual property in the hotly contested smartphone market, particularly here in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, an electronics manufacturing center known for piracy and counterfeiting."
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/27/technology/companies/27apple.html
eBay & French Court Decision
In its judgment of 13 May 2009, the Court ruled that eBay's activity consisting in storing the listings prepared by vendors and making them available online was a hosting activity, benefiting from the hosting provider protective status. Yet, the Court suggested that the parties had recourse to judicial mediation, in order to cooperate and agree on measures to be implemented to put an end to the sale of counterfeit products on the auction sales platform. With regard to eBay's advertising activities, the Court considered that the platform could not benefit from the hosting provider protective status, since its role was no longer passive, and such activities were not essential to the hosting activity. The Court nevertheless held eBay not liable, since L'Oréal did not clearly establish the alleged infringement.
Paris Civil Court, 13 May 2009
Source: T LAW ALERT - No. 2009/03 - GIDE LOYRETTE NOUEL A.A.R.P.I.
Google Squared
Have a look at these search results:
Australian Law Firms
Rollercoasters
Google Wave - the next big thing from Google
Here is a video about Google Wave. (It is long and probably takes about 20 mins to get a decent feel.) Google Wave is the next big thing from Google -- to merge IM, email, Facebook etc. It is said to be Google's counter attack to Microsoft's www.bing.com (launched this week, in case you missed Microsoft's $100M launch campaign) but it is really not a search tool but a communication tool.
Here is a back story about it: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/05/went-walkabout-brought-back-google-wave.html
Lars Rasmussen is speaking later this month in Brisbane, and next month in Sydney & Melbourne. He invented Google Maps, and now Google Wave. He lives in Sydney.
2009 Innovation Lecture - Dr Lars Rasmussen, Google
Business Method Patents
"WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to decide what sorts of business methods might be patented, an issue with the potential to reshape significant parts of the economy. “This is the most important patent case in 50 years, in particular because there is so much damage and so much good the court could do,” said John F. Duffy, a law professor at George Washington University who submitted a brief in the appeals court in support of neither side."
Google News
Have a look at the following:
Stanford IP Litigation Clearinghouse
On December 8, 2008, the Law, Science & Technology Program at Stanford Law School, together with several commercial and philanthropic partners, launched the Stanford Intellectual Property Litigation Clearinghouse (IPLC). A free online database, the site is being released to the public in phases, with the patent portion currently offering real-time comprehensive data regarding patent infringement litigation in the United States. Non-patent matters, including copyright, trademark, trade secret and antitrust currently offer only intermittent data while "pending additional fundraising."
Internet Law Bookstore
Recent US Copyright Case
Similar result to IceTV in Australia?
Penguin Jurisdiction Case
A federal judge has tossed a copyright case brought by Penguin Group USA Inc. against a Web site that posted Upton Sinclair's "Oil!" and several other Penguin works online, citing a lack of personal jurisdiction in New York.
Recent Internet Reports
Internet Typology: The Mobile Difference: Wireless Connectivity Has Drawn Many Users More Deeply into Digital Life
Pew Internet & American Life Project, March 25, 2009
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1162/internet-typology-users-mobile-communication-devices
Freedom on the Net: A Global Assessment of Internet and Digital Media
Freedom House, April 1, 2009
http://www.freedomhouse.org/uploads/specialreports/NetFreedom2009/FreedomOnTheNet_FullReport.pdf
This publication includes country reports on Brazil, China, Cuba, Egypt, Estonia, Georgia, India, Iran, Kenya, Malaysia, Russia, South Africa, Tunisia, Turkey and the United Kingdom.
Internet Crime Report 2008
Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), March 2009
http://www.nw3c.org/downloads/2008_IC3_Annual%20Report_3_27_09_small.pdf
There is an FBI news release, March 30, 2009, at
http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel09/internet033009.htm
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Sinking the Copyright Pirates: Global Protection of Intellectual Property
Hearing before the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs, April 6, 2009
http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/hearing_notice.asp?id=1065
For transcripts, please go to
http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/schedule.asp and scroll down.
The Office of U.S. Trade Representative Releases Summary of Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) Negotiations
News release, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), April 6, 2009
http://www.ustr.gov/Document_Library/Press_Releases/2009/April/The_Office_of_US_Trade_Representative_Releases_Summary_of_Anti-Counterfeiting_Trade_Agreement_(ACTA)_Negotiations.html
The summary is at
http://www.ustr.gov/assets/Document_Library/Fact_Sheets/2009/asset_upload_file917_15546.pdf
Research Tool
See www.icyte.com (an Australian invention)
Domain Names
You may wish to have a look at the following:
FAQs
jackass.com
pig.com
RBCDainRauscher.com
sonypitcures.com
vanmorrison.com
Panel Views
See also, UDRP Commentaries
Letter to ICANN
Proposed Changes to the Patent Act
Google and Trademarks
In a long-awaited opinion, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Google must face a trademark infringement lawsuit for selling keywords that trigger ads.
The three-judge panel reversed a lower court's dismissal of Rescuecom v. Google, 06-4881, in which computer-repair company Rescuecom had claimed that users could be confused by links to competitors' ads that appear alongside Google search results for the company's trademarked name.
See
Rescuecom Corp. v. Google Inc., 2009 WL 875447 (2d Cir. April 3, 2009)
Jurisdiction
If you want to do some extra background reading, a recent case concerning The Secret documentary and book has both Interent and jurisdictional issues. It is more important for copyright law, but is an interesting diversion for Cyberlaw.
Background: The Australian
Australian Trial Judge Decision
Full Court of Federal Court Decision
US Lawsuit
Note regarding US decision on jurisdiction
Motion Judgment
Dan Hollings Case.
Google/Louis Vuitton legal battle resumes
Google today entered the latest stage in a four-year legal battle against luxury brand Louis Vuitton which accuses the US internet giant of selling trademark search terms relating to its products to rivals.
Google's lawyers are at the European Court of Justice today as part of a hearing relating to an appeal the search company lodged after LVMH won a case in France against Google in 2005.
Amazon and Copyright
This week, an e-book Web site said Amazon.com invoked the 1998 law to prevent books from some non-Amazon sources from working on its Kindle reader.
Amazon sent a legal notice to MobileRead.com complaining that information relating to a computer utility written in the Python programming language "constitutes a violation" of the DMCA, according to a copy of the warning letter that the site posted. MobileRead.com is an e-book news and community site.
Google and NZ Copyright
Cybersquatting
WIPO has announced that companies and celebrities ranging from Arsenal football club to actress Scarlett Johansson filed a record number of "cybersquatting" cases in 2008 to stop others from profiting from their famous names, brands, and events. The most common business sector in which complaints arose was pharmaceuticals, due to Web sites offering sales of medicines with protected names.
10 March: Social Media Club Brisbane
SMCB March is a panel discussion about legal issues related to the social media world. Joining us on the panel for the evening is:After you've picked the lawyers' brains hang around for a few drinks downstairs at Lock n Load's Jazz Night. Feel free to arrive from 5.30pm, with the panel session starting at 6.00pm.
- Peter Black, Lecturer, QUT Law School
- Professor Brian Fitzgerald, Professor of Intellectual Property and Innovation, QUT Law School
- John Swinson, Partner, Mallesons
SMBC March is proudly supported by QUT Faculty of Law and Lock n Load Bistro.
Lock n Load is at 142 Boundary St, West End QLD 4101. View Google Maps here.
Patents and Google
Google Patent Chief: Patent reform needed more than ever
Posted: 03 Mar 2009 11:29 AM PST
Editorial by Michelle Lee, Head of Patents and Patent Strategy at Google, See http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/2009/03/patent-reform-needed-more-than-ever.html
The Law of Google
1. The breadth of Google.
Search
www.google.com
www.google.com.au
www.google.co.uk
www.google.ca
www.google.de
www.google.com.br
www.google.com.bd
www.igoogle.com
News
Images
Blogs
Maps
Videos
Books
Scholarly Papers
Finance
Custom Search, example: Leading Australian Law Firms
Syndicated Search and example
Directory
Products
Google Base
Search tricks and tips
Internal search
Site Search
Site Map
Other Google Stuff
Toolbar
Google Accounts
Web History
Gmail
Photos: Picasa and Picasa Web
Chrome Browser
Blogger
Groups
Reader
Notebook
Calendar
Docs
Talk
YouTube
More information: Wikipedia
How Google Works
Google Sitemap
2. AdWords and AdSense: Google Advertising
A. Do these searches on Google, Australian Google and UK Google and compare results:
- Noosa
- Hilton
- Q1
- cheap accomodation queensland
- flowers paddington
- the tallest building in brisbane is
- DSL-G604T
- Sony
- Harvey World Travel
- Harvey World Travel Insurance
Look at the Google Ads on these websites:
- NY Times
- Van Gogh Gallery
- Brisbane Apartments and Reviews
- Cyberlaw and Policy and example article
- This Blog (look top right --->
C. Google Trends and Google Analytics
D. AdWords
- create Ad
- select Keywords, budget and display location
- people then click on your Ad.
KeyWord Tool and Tool
More information: Google Learning Centre
E. Other types of Google advertising
Maps
F. Problems & Issues
(a) Pay Per Click Websites
Look at these websites:
(What is legitimate? See RealSpanking and Jackass and UStream)
(b) Click Fraud
What percentage of click are fraudulent? See this story and here too.
Clickfraud is old news: Crack-down
(c) Trade Mark Issues
Google Procedure
ACCC Lawsuit: See here and here and here and here (Google filed its defence on 17 November 2008.)
RescueCom Lawsuit
French Lawsuit
Geico Lawsuit and settlement
More information
Google Business Solutions
3. Legal issues and lawsuits
Book Search Lawsuit and here
Caching & Copyright: see here and here and here
Also, see older posts in this blog, such as this post from 2006.
LNP candidate hits Labor's Dean Wells in the Googles
THE state election campaign is yet to officially begin, but a new battlefront has emerged in cyberspace in the fight to win over undecided voters.
Anyone googling Labor MP Dean Wells' name will first see a link to his Liberal National Party opponent's website on their screens.The LNP's Murrumba candidate Peter Flannery is paying the online search engine for a sponsored link to appear at the top of the results page.
See Courier Mail
New Name - Cyberlaw and Policy
http://www.courses.qut.edu.au/cgi-bin/WebObjects/Courses.woa/wa/selectUnitFromCourseDetails?courseID=7216&idunit=21718
Cutting Edge Websites
www.rottenneighbor.com
www.frucall.com
www.streeteasy.com
www.hitchsters.com
www.delaycast.com
farecast.live.com
jott.com
Bmail
Australian Law Firm Search Engine
The Secret Litigation
The Director, Drew Heriot, is suing Rhonda Byrne in Federal Court in Chicago. Byrne's Eastern European company, TS Productions, is suing Drew in Federal Court in Melbourne, Australia.
Although these cases do not directly concern the Internet, they raise interesting questions regarding jurisdiction and appropriate forum.
I am representing Drew Heriot.
See: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/26/arts/26secr.html
and
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24223394-5012694,00.html
Internet Business Issues
How should damages be assessed for privacy and cybersecurity breaches
Listen to this podcast where I discuss how damages should be assessed in privacy and cybersecurity lawsuits. The Lawyers Weekly Show host J...
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The United Nations intellectual property agency (WIPO) is the latest front in the US-China trade war. http://www.theage.com.au/world/sad-am...
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The issue of content regulation in China was mentioned in this blog last year . In the last few weeks, this issue has once again pushed into...
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Finally, what is called direct registration of domain names is coming to Australia. See https://www.auda.org.au/statement/australias-interne...