A blog relating to Internet legal issues by Professor John Swinson, University of Queensland
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Copyright class
Berne Convention
Australian Copyright Council
Copyright Act
There have been a number of interesting Australian cases dealing with copyright infringement, see for example:
Kazaa
MP3s4free
Stevens v Sony
The iiNet case will be discussed in detail in the Liability of ISPs lecture.
We will also discuss how other countries treat piracy:
US - Digital Millenium Copyright Act, and the case of Napster
UK - Ditigal Economy Bill, and the recent case of Newzbin
Patents Class
Some reading for this class:
1. History
Google Keywords
"There is no stopping Google selling trademark terms as keywords. That is the message from the US courts this week. A judge from the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia has dismissed Rosetta Stone's case against the search giant, effectively killing off once and for all the conventional method of attacking the AdWords programme.
Rescuecom had already dropped its case against Google (in order to fight a suit on exactly the same issue but where it is the defendant). But the fact that a court has now dismissed this type of case is very surprising, as it shows that they cannot even get to court anymore. The message is that mark owners will be wasting their time suing Google for trademark infringement. The Court of Justice of the European Union recently said the same thing, although it left the door open for mark owners to sue those third-party advertisers that purchase competitors' trademark terms as keywords.
While the Best Buy v Rescuecom case will be tried from this particular angle, it appears that Google is off the hook. Users of the AdWords programme may sue each other, but the view of one US court at least is that there's no point suing Google. If trademark counsel want to stop the sale of their trademark terms to their competitors, they need to switch tactics. Fast."
Source: World Trademark Review
iCyte
Domain name disputes and cyberquatting
What are the common elements of domain name dispute resolution process?
For a good overview of the Uniform Dispute Resolution Process (UDRP), and the factors relevant to each element, see the WIPO website.
The Australian Dispute Resolution Process for domain names (managed by auDA), can be found here.
What are the differences between these two policies.
We will be discussing some of the following cases, which would be good to review before class:
brisbane.com
q1resort.com
"sucks" cases - red bull and bakersdelightlies
personal names
Who should win in this case?
We will also discuss the proposal for new top level domains.
Online Contracting
Online contracting
How do you determine when an electronic communication is sent/received? What are the possibilities?
Vienna Convention on the Sale of Goods (incorporated into
Guidelines for operating websites
Australian Treasury Guidelines for e-commerce
Terms of use
What are the common clauses / differences between these Terms of Use?
Clickwrap / Shrinkwrap agreements
What can you do to try and make a clickwrap agreement enforceable?
How will unfair terms legislation affect these agreements?
Enforcing Click Wrap Agreements
Tiffany v. eBay
EBay Inc did not engage in trademark infringement and dilution by selling counterfeit Tiffany & Co goods on its website, a U.S. appeals court ruled on Thursday, but it ordered further review of the jeweler's claim of false advertising.
Tiffany and other luxury brands have long argued that counterfeit merchandise bearing their names is sold on eBay. The Web commerce company, which does not itself put the goods up for sale, says it has spent millions of dollars to track down counterfeiters and remove such listings.
Who can regulate the Internet?
The DC Circuit court recently vacated the FCC's order imposing sanctions on Comcast Corp. for its network management practices. It held that the Commission failed to tie its assertion of ancillary regulatory authority over Comcast's Internet service to any "statutorily mandated responsibility."
"In this case we must decide whether the Federal Communications Commission has authority to regulate an Internet service provider’s network management practices. ..."
Here is the opinion: http://pacer.cadc.uscourts.gov/common/opinions/201004/08-1291-1238302.pdf
How I Got Sued by Facebook
http://petewarden.typepad.com/searchbrowser/
How I got sued by Facebook
...Their contention was robots.txt had no legal force and they could sue anyone for accessing their site even if they scrupulously obeyed the instructions it contained.
Pete Warden vs. Facebook: a case of too much data access
... Pete Warden had a really great idea: to map the friendship interactions of Facebook users to aid with geospatial analysis of user relationships. Facebook's lawyers had a different view.
Hot News
"Breathing some new life into the “hot news” doctrine, Judge Cote of the Southern District of New York recently issued a permanent injunction requiring the Internet-based financial news site TheFlyOnTheWall.com (Fly) to delay its reporting of stock recommendations from Wall Street research analysts. ..."
Meta-tags and Google Keywords - TM infringement
ACCC v. Trading Post
Should freedom of speech on the internet prevail over protection of the public interest?
What are the relevant public interests?
Should there by government regulation, or reliance on technology? See NetNanny for example.
Some current issues from around the world include:
China / Google
Venezuela
Nigeria
Australia
United States
Spain
News
"With traditional print circulation declining and advertising revenue weak — both from online and from print — media companies are trying to extract new sources of revenue from online readers, despite the risk that they could alienate some by charging for access.
The Wall Street Journal, also owned by News Corp., The Financial Times and Newsday all charge for access. The New York Times has announced a plan to do so. Each has a payment system developed largely in-house.
News Corp. announced in August that all of its titles would move to charging for Web access. Its chairman and chief executive, Rupert Murdoch, threatened last year to remove his publications’ stories from Google's search index to encourage people to pay for content online."
See NYT
Google, China and Content Regulation
What Happens as Google Uncensors Search in China?
Google has stopped censoring results on its Chinese search engine, but many underlying pages are still blocked. Meanwhile, some Chinese say Google risks a government shutdown of its service.
http://s.nyt.com/u/68V
Issues in Creating a Social Website
Google and Copyright
Viacom and Google broke their silence Thursday in their legal battle, as Viacom claimed that Google's YouTube unit had sought to exploit copyrighted works for profit, while Google argued that Viacom itself had secretly uploaded copyrighted clips it later demanded YouTube remove. The claims are among the many divulged as a federal judge and the parties to the case released a slew of documents.
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?
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...