Category «Intellectual Property»

International Treaty Proposes Expanded Anti-Circumvention Measures

The Third Draft Agreement (November 21, 2003) of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) includes an extensive section on Intellectual Property Rights. According to the advocacy group IP Justice, the “expanded copyrights…endanger civil liberties and competition….and one of the most controversial sections of the IPR chapter requires countries to outlaw the circumvention of …

Subjects: Copyright, Intellectual Property

Copyright Lawsuit Results in $19 Mln Damages Judgment

As a follow-up to my August 14 posting, Publisher Sues Financial Services Firm for Copyright Violation, this news from Reuters, Legg Mason told to pay $20 mln in copyright suit. “Lowry’s, which is based in North Palm Beach, Florida, said it brought the lawsuit because Legg Mason permitted wide distribution (via the company’s intranet) of …

Subjects: Copyright, Intellectual Property, Knowledge Management

Hearing on Proposed Database Misappropriation Bill

The House Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property Committee on the Judiciary, Joint Hearing with the Committee on Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection Oversight, Hearing on the Discussion Draft, H.R. ____, The Database and Collections of Information Misappropriation Act of 2003, held Tuesday, September 23, 2003: Witness List; …

Subjects: Congress, Intellectual Property

Researcher Details Security Concerns and Hidden Data in Word Documents Online

Scalable Exploitation of, and Responses to Information Leakage Through Hidden Data in Published Documents, by Simon Byers, AT&T’s Research Labs. Mr. Beyer’s research focused on the tools and techniques used to “search for hidden data in Word documents.” The use of hidden text is routine in the process of creating documents using Word, so this …

Subjects: E-Records, Intellectual Property, Internet, Privacy

CA Court Rules Former Employee’s Spam Protected Speech

From Boston.internet.com: “In a blow for chipmaker Intel, the California Supreme Court Monday found that senders of spam e-mails cannot be sued under state law forbidding property trespass. The 4 to 3 ruling reversed a lower court injunction preventing former Intel engineer Ken Hamidi from sending e-mails critical of Intel to thousands of its employees.” …

Subjects: E-Mail, Free Speech, Intellectual Property

LC’s Digital Archiving and Preservation Program

National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program: An Interview with Laura Campbell, Associate Librarian for Strategic Initiatives Library of Congress. From the ariticle editors: “In January Congress approved the Library of Congress’s Plan for the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIPP), which will enable the Library to launch the initial phase of building …

Subjects: Copyright, Freedom of Information, Intellectual Property, Libraries

Copyright Law, IP and Eldred

Professor Pamela Samuelson, School of Information Management and Systems, University of California at Berkeley, published a new article, The Constitutional Law of Intellectual Property After Eldred v. Ashcroft, 50 J. Cop. Soc’y (forthcoming 2003). Link via A Copyfighter’s Musings, which reviews the article, and its significant citations from other forthcoming articles.

Subjects: Copyright, Intellectual Property

FTC Requests Expanded Authorization to Fight Consumer Fraud

Today the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation held a hearing on Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Reauthorization. Testimony was presented on the agency’s work in the areas of competition and consumer protection, and future plans for programs that respond to the challenges from the wide range of consumer fraud conducted via the Internet, along …

Subjects: Cybercrime, E-Government, Intellectual Property, Privacy