Tech Law News

Tech Law News Articles

• Think Your Law Firm is Tough? Try Fingerprinting to Monitor Employees

  One law firm is turning to technology to track when attorneys and staff go in and out of the office. And you thought your law firm was tough.

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• Land’s End Gets Trial in Unusual ‘Typosquatting’ Case

  Retailer Land's End will get a trial in its case against defendants accused of profiting from the company's online affiliate program through a scheme that gave "typosquatting" a new twist.

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• L.A. Sheriff’s Office Infringed Software Copyrights, 9th Cir. Says

  The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department committed copyright infringement by installing software on more computers than it had licenses for even though it configured the network to allow simultaneous access to only the number of copies it had paid for, the 9th Circuit has ruled.

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• High-Tech Company Uses Low-Tech Spy Technique

  Anyone interested in technology and the law has probably already heard about HP's spying scandal involving the use of "pretexting" to get information about members of HP's Board of Directors. Pretexting (also known as "social engineering") is a simple, low-tech, and frighteningly common way that data miners and private investigators can gain access to an individual's personal information.

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• Uh Oh, Google Gets Geico: No Insurance Against Trademark Keying Policy

  Following a three day trial, a recent decision by the Eastern District of Virginia gave new life to the practice of trademark keying. In Geico v. Google (No. 1:04CV507), Judge Brinkema ruled from the bench that Geico "has not established that the mere use of [Geico's] trademark by Google as a search word or keyword or even using it in [Google's] AdWord program standing alone violates the Lanham Act."

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• FCC Inconsistency Benefits Law Enforcement In VoIP/Broadband Decision

  Recently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit addressed a controversial 2005 order of the Federal Communications Commission in American Council on Education v. FCC, a decision which denied a petition for review of an FCC ruling that providers of broadband Internet access and voice over Internet protocol ("VoIP") services are regulable as "telecommunications carriers" under the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act ("CALEA").

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• FCC Decisions on VoIP Classification Will Affect the Future of the Service

  Voice over Internet Protocol ("VoIP") is arguably one of the most important recent developments in telecommunications, yet is virtually ignored by current federal and state regulations applicable to traditional telephone service. However, the growing popularity of VoIP in both the private and business sectors (some analysts claim that VoIP will replace traditional telephone service for the majority of users by the end of this decade) makes it likely that VoIP will be subjected to at least some regulatory requirements in the future.

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• The War on Terrorism: FBI Wants Expanded Wiretapping Authority

  The debate over government interception of Internet communications has expanded to a new technology, namely Voice over Internet Protocol ("VoIP") transmissions. Indeed, representatives of the FBI's Electronic Surveillance Technology Section in Chantilly, Virginia have been meeting secretly with the Federal Communications Commission since July, 2003, exploring ways to provide the FBI with more regulatory authority to "wiretap" Internet communications, and in particular VoIP transmissions.

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• Debate Over VoIP Enters New Phase: FCC Issues a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

  The debate over the regulation of Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology entered a new chapter since this column regarding VoIP last appeared. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on February 12, 2004 issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Re: IP Enabled Services ( the "Notice of Proposed Rulemaking").

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• Circuit Split, the CFAA, and Employee Misuse of Computers

  The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) and its provisions have been the subject of significant criticism, particularly following the prosecution of Internet activist Aaron Swartz. Various federal circuit courts of appeal interpret the CFAA differently, and it appears difficult to reconcile these competing cases.

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