legal

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) says it has found a solution to legal road-blocking of its powers over broadband providers. It will use a technicality to enforce the " net neutrality " principles, but relax its controls over other ... aspects of broadband. The legal saga involves Comcast intentionally slowing down Internet access to customers who were using peer-to-peer filesharing services such as those based on the BitTorrent system. Many people using BitTorrent do so to share copyrighted files without permission, but the system itself is not illegal and can be used just as easily ... (view more)

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has backed plans to introduce laws on net neutrality . Unfortunately, they face political and legal challenges which appear to have the support of major Internet carriers. In a unanimous vote, the ... five-strong commission agreed to give force to the principles of net neutrality: that Internet providers treat all legal Internet traffic equally . That would outlaw practices such as slowing down access to people using peer-to-peer file-sharing, or blocking applications from running on cellphone networks. The vote doesn't guarantee the rules will come ... (view more)

The Pirate Bay scandal has brought worldwide attention to the existence of numerous illegal filesharing websites, while dividing the populace into pro- and anti-copyright camps. Although the recent one year jail sentences doled out by the Swedish ... courts would make others behind torrent tracking sites a little nervous, these people will get some added assistance in the form of a fund intended to help pay for legal defense. The three Swedes behind the fund are Maria Ferm (Green Party of Sweden Youth Branch), Lage Rahm (Green Party of Sweden and Member of the Swedish Parliament) and Peter Sunde ... (view more)

Not long ago, Google agreed to pay $125 million to the book industry to settle claims of copyright infringement over its BookSearch scheme. The agreement means Google can now legally scan copyrighted books and put them online as long as they are no ... longer in print. The cash will go towards setting up a registry of books involved, compensating authors and publishers affected by Google's violations, and paying the legal fees of the case. The agreement will have to get the backing of a New York court (where the case was brought) before it takes effect. (Source: google.com) The case involved a ... (view more)

Real Network's 'legal' DVD ripping software has already prompted legal action from the movie industry. And to confuse matters, Real has somehow filed what's effectively a pre-emptive countersuit. As we reported recently , Real claimed its new ... product, RealDVD, did not breach copyright laws because it allowed users to copy an entire disc, including the copy protection system which most ripping software removes. The Motion Picture Association of America has now launched a lawsuit to coincide with the software's official release, accusing the firm of breaching copyright laws. In an unusual legal ... (view more)

Scrabble is finally coming to Facebook. If that surprises you because you thought it was already there, Electronic Arts (EA) lawyers would probably like to call you as a witness. As we reported back in January , the popular Scrabulous feature on ... Facebook is entirely unofficial. Like most Facebook add-ons, it's run independently -- in this case, by two Indian brothers. They are estimated to make around $25,000 a month selling adverts which appear beside the game. Given the obvious legal difficulties involved in profiting from another firm's game in this way, the pair specifically avoid the ... (view more)

In mid-August of 2007, SCO, a long-time supplier of Unix-based systems and the arch-nemesis of all things Linux, lost its battle with Novell and IBM over the ownership of Unix. It was a death-blow. SCO promptly filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. But ... now, it's back! (Source: Internetnews.com ) In August, a U.S. District Court decision brought to a conclusion the long history of SCO-Linux controversies that began five years ago. In early 2003, SCO launched a campaign to challenge alleged infringement on their intellectual property -- particularly their "ownership" of Unix. Moreover, SCO called ... (view more)

Microsoft sure is having some difficulty with this whole patent business. While the company struggles to calm a stormy sea caused by CEO Steve Ballmer's statement that recent partner Novell is infringing on Microsoft's intellectual property , it ... appears the software giant must now face the loss of patent rights in South Korea, a major Asian market. The problem stems from court cases dating back months, which recently reached a very unfavorable decision for the Redmond-based company. The patent infringement -- in this case -- surrounds a local university professor's claims that he first ... (view more)

This is the third installment on a series of comments based on the following scenario: " When someone buys a new computer (either brand name or clone) that is preloaded with an Operating System (OS), is the seller obliged to give the client an ... original CD which includes the Operating System? " Last week I provided various short-but-sweet answers to the above question from various readers of the Infopackets Gazette. The gist was that retailers are required to provide Windows on a CD, whether it comes pre-packaged like Compaq, and Dell machines do -- or, if it comes with the basic ... (view more)