On June 29th, the Supreme Court denied certiorari in Google’s appeal of the Federal Circuit’s 2014 ruling that that the declaring code and the structure, sequence, and organization of 37 Java API packages are entitled to...more
This week, a major self-regulatory initiative intended to address privacy concerns associated with facial recognition technology hit a significant stumbling block. Nine consumer advocacy groups withdrew from the National...more
6/24/2015
/ Biometric Information ,
Clickwrap Agreements ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Facebook ,
Facial Recognition Technology ,
Fair Use ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Informed Consent ,
NTIA ,
Opt-Outs ,
Popular ,
Prior Express Consent ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Privacy Disclosures ,
Privacy Policy ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Self-Regulatory Organizations ,
Social Media ,
Transparency ,
Young Lawyers
We have had a number of clients run into issues relating to whether or not an email exchange constituted a binding contract. This issue comes up regularly when informality creeps into negotiations conducted electronically,...more
6/10/2015
/ Commercial Contracts ,
Contract Formation ,
Contract Negotiations ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disclaimers ,
E-Signatures ,
Electronic Agreements ,
Email ,
Enforceability ,
Intent ,
Proof of Intent ,
UETA ,
Young Lawyers
Readers of this blog will know that we have been following the recent legal developments relating to bitcoin and other virtually currency systems. Yesterday, in a significant development reflecting the general maturation of...more
There is an interesting article in today’s Wall Street Journal about the impending shortage of IPv4 IP addresses (forcing tech companies and cloud providers to scramble to secure the remaining stock for U.S. users) and the...more
The DMCA was enacted in 1998 to preserve “strong incentives for service providers and copyright owners to cooperate to detect and deal with copyright infringements that take place in a digital networked environment.” As part...more
The big fight may be over, but the implications of Mayweather vs. Pacquiao with respect to real-time, one-to-many streaming of video through apps like Meerkat and Periscope are still rippling through the media industry. In...more
5/5/2015
/ Copyright ,
DMCA ,
Internet Streaming ,
Live Streaming ,
Mobile Apps ,
Popular ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Smartphones ,
Social Media ,
Social Networks ,
Sports ,
Takedown Notices
On Tuesday, the U.S. Dept. of Commerce’s Internet Policy Task Force released a guidance containing a list of best practices (and notable “bad” practices), all designed to improve the DMCA’s notice and takedown system for both...more
After nearly 4 million public comments, and months of vigorous public, industry, and Congressional debate, the FCC, by a 3-2 vote, approved revised net neutrality rules to “protect the Open Internet.” As expected by the...more
We previously wrote about a Virginia federal magistrate judge’s report recommending dismissal of a declaratory judgment action brought by several radio stations asking the court to rule that webcasts limited in scope via...more
Operators of public-facing websites are typically concerned about the unauthorized, technology-based extraction of large volumes of information from their sites, often by competitors or others in related businesses. The...more
In a novel lawsuit that tests the bounds of service provider liability, two music publishers brought suit against an ISP for contributory copyright infringement for allegedly facilitating infringement by failing to terminate...more
On November 12, 2014, the California Supreme Court denied review of the California Court of Appeals decision in Demetriades v. Yelp, Inc., 2014 WL 3661491 (Cal. App. July 24, 2014), which allowed a restaurant owner to proceed...more
In its opening salvo bringing bitcoin under the watchful eye of the federal government, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a Guidance (FIN-2013-G001) in March 2013 clarifying that anti-money laundering...more
While many smartphone users were gazing upon their new iPhone 6 Plus’s 5.5-inch screen with wonder, there was another notable development in the mobile/tech world – the ongoing software copyright dispute between Oracle and...more
New technology continues to generate business models that test the limits of intellectual property laws enacted before such technologies were ever contemplated. The latest example is the use of “geofencing” in an attempt to...more
It’s no secret that local directory/consumer review websites are popular among consumers looking for recommendations before dining out, hiring a contractor, or even picking a dentist or day spa. Yelp reported around 138...more
Many commercial websites rely on “browsewrap” agreements to bind visitors to commercial terms. A recent decision by the Ninth Circuit suggests that a review of how those terms are presented may be in order to ensure...more
One might have thought the biggest news in the digital currency world lately was Dell announcing that it was now accepting bitcoin. However, after a series of highly-publicized hearings in January, New York State rolled out...more
Today’s New York State Register includes a Notice of Proposed Rule Making from the New York State Department of Financial Services (the “NYSDFS”) regarding the regulation of virtual currency (“Regulation of the Conduct of...more
On June 16th, 2014, the Sixth Circuit reversed the lower court’s holding that the gossip site, TheDirty.com, was responsible for its users’ defamatory posts and could not rely on immunity under CDA Section 230. The appeals...more
There has been an uptick in litigation under the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), 47 U.S.C. § 227 – likely due to the increased use of mobile marketing (not to mention the availability of statutory damages...more
Bitcoin remains fixed on the front pages of the business and technology news for both the salacious and the positive. Much attention has been paid to the collapse of the former top bitcoin exchange, Mt. Gox, stemming from the...more
Bitcoin remains fixed on the front pages of the business and technology news for both the salacious and the positive. Much attention has been paid to the collapse of the former top bitcoin exchange, Mt. Gox, stemming from the...more
If an outright ban of Bitcoin is not the correct approach, what is? More to the point, what does Bitcoin (and virtual currency in general) need to for legitimacy?...more