Tech Law News

Tech Law News Articles

• Boardroom Hijinks May Lead to Serious Liability

  Two days ago, on September 12, Hewlett-Packard's ("HP") non-executive Chair, Patricia Dunn, resigned -- amid news stories claiming she used subterfuge to gain access to the phone records of board members and journalists, in an effort to root out a suspected boardroom snitch.

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• Taxing Online Sales: What You Need to Know

  Online sales were once regarded as one of the last bastions safe from taxation. But are they really?

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• Apple iTunes Can Request Personal Info with Credit Card Payment

  The California Supreme Court ruled that the provisions of the Song-Beverly Credit Card Act, which prohibits the collection of "personal identification information" as a condition of credit card payment, does not apply to online retailers selling products that are downloaded electronically.

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• SEC Loses ‘Fair Disclosure’ Case Against Siebel Systems

  The Securities and Exchange Commission has lost its first contested action over the agency's fair-disclosure rule, or Regulation FD, against Siebel Systems and two of its top officers for allegedly releasing positive information about the business-software company to only a few institutional investors.

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• Tech Tips: Alternative Workspaces

  Technology tips on gadget gift giving and setting up alternative workspaces for lawyers.

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• Internet Law Update: Grok Down, Pop Up

  June 27 fetched two huge Internet law decisions: the U.S. Supreme Court's MGM v. Grokster decision and the Second Circuit's 1-800 Contacts v. WhenU.com decision. In copyright law, the Supreme Court held that conduct manifesting inducement of copyright infringement is sufficient to hold liable P2P Companies that distribute software used primarily to infringe copyrighted works. In trademark law, the Second Circuit held that using a website address to generate competing pop-up ads does not constitute a "use in commerce" sufficient to support trademark infringement. The words in these two decisions are likely to bleed onto the pages of copyright and trademark law briefs for some time-the rulings are that big.

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• Pop Up Madness: Does IP Law Really Care?

  Everyone's mad about pop-up ads. But does such madness translate into infringement under copyright or trademark law?  

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• Google Talk VoIP Services Alleged To Infringe Patents

  As technology companies become established and financially successful, it is not uncommon for smaller companies and individuals to allege that the larger companies have infringed and trampled on intellectual property rights during the rise to the top.

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• Search Engine Comparative AdWare-tising Under Scrutiny

  The future of keyword advertising -- and by implication, other forms of online advertising -- was recently put in jeopardy by the Court of Appeals of the Ninth Circuit. The Ninth Circuit decision, which reversed the lower court, now permits Playboy to pursue its trademark law claims against search engines for using software (adware) to key advertisements to Playboy trademarks without Playboy's consent. As there is little authority in this area of law, the decision served as a menacing warning to Internet advertisers which will continue to ripple through Internet law waters for some time.

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• FCC Adopts Order To Enable Law Enforcement To Access Certain Broadband And VoIP Providers

  The Federal Communications Commission today adopted a Second Report and Order and Memorandum Opinion and Order (Order) that addresses several issues regarding implementation of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA), enacted in 1994.

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