Law

Cyber law (also referred to as Cyberlaw) is a term used to describe the legal issues related to use of communications technology, particularly "cyberspace", i.e. the Internet. It is less a distinct field of law in the way that property or contract are, as it is an intersection of many legal fields, including intellectual property, privacy, freedom of expression, and jurisdiction. In essence, cyber law is an attempt to apply laws designed for the physical world to human activity on the Internet. Read the full background at Law Wikipedia

Featured Blogs

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Globally Protected Marks List (GPML)

At first blush, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Globally Protected Marks List (GPML) do not seem to have anything in common. The first is a politician of debated repute that is seeking to quell disputes over the legitimacy of his election. The second is a recommendation that seeks to protect trademark owners and consumers from an explosion of infringement and source confusion that could be wrought by the introduction of new Top-Level Domains (TLDs). However, upon a closer analysis, they do share one common flaw: both have arguably failed to appropriately prioritize the right to free speech... more»

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Canadian Anti-Spam Bill C-27

CAUCE just posted a blog entry about C-27; we will be speaking to the Industry, Science, and Technology committee reviewing the bill this afternoon. The meeting will be webcast starting at 15:30 eastern... more»

Tony La Russa's Legal Claims Against Twitter Look Tenuous

It was bound to happen of course - someone sued Twitter for not verifying a "celebrity" or brand account. Mashable reports on a lawsuit brought by Tony La Russa, who is apparently a manager for the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team. Mashable and others initially reported that La Russa and Twitter had resolved this one. It turns out they haven't after all. So what to make of Mr. La Russa's claims? more»

Appeals Court Revives the CFIT Anti-Trust Suit Against VeriSign

Back in 2005 an organization called the Coalition for Internet Transparency (CFIT) burst upon the scene at the Vancouver ICANN meeting, and filed an anti-trust suit against VeriSign for their monopoly control of the .COM registry and of the market in expiring .COM domains. They didn't do very well in the trial court, which granted Verisign's motion to dismiss the case. But yesterday the Ninth Circuit reversed the trial court and put the suit back on track. more»

Do You Care About Your Privacy?

ICANN is currently going through a complicated process in order to introduce more Top-Level Domains (TLDs). While the launch of new TLDs is something that a lot of people will welcome it is not without its issues. One of the areas that has been receiving quite a bit of attention is in relation to intellectual property rights. So what has this got to do with privacy? more»

Contributory Cybersquatting and the Impending Demise of Domain Name Proxy Services?

This case involves an alleged domain name theft. Solid Host is a web host and initial owner of the domain name solidhost.com, which it registered through eNom in 2004. Solid Host claims that in 2008, a security breach at eNom allowed an unknown interloper (Doe) to steal the domain name and move the registration to NameCheap. Doe also acquired NameCheap's "WhoisGuard" service, a domain name proxy service that masked Doe's contact information in the Whois database. Solid Host contacted Doe and sought the domain name; Doe asked for $12,000, and Solid Host took a pass... more»

Virtual Extortion?

Maybe you saw this story: A Chinese man (whose name is not given) has been sentenced to serve three years in prison for extorting "virtual items and currency" from a "fellow Internet café user." The currency was worth 100,000 yuan or $14,700. The man who's sentenced to three years and the three friends who helped him also "extorted virtual equipment for online games" from their victim. The friends only seem to have been given a fine; the primary extortionist got both a fine and a jail time. The virtual currency was QQ coins... As I'm sure all of us know, there's a thriving market in virtual goods and currency... more»

Valuing Trademarks in Domain Names

My new essay, "Valuing Trademarks in Domain Names," outlines the various approaches to valuing trademarks, pointing out the approaches’ different strengths and weaknesses, with emphasis on domain names. Using court cases, the essay points out that there is no one right way to value intangible assets but there are wrong ways. more»

Google Book Search Settlement: Another Digital Pandora's Box

A very good friend of mine is an archivist with the Ontario government, and we share similar views on how technology is impacting modern life. He passed a really interesting item along that ran in yesterday's Washington Post. Some of you may be following this – Google's Book Search Settlement. I can definitely see how this has a direct bearing on the archive space, but also how it touches on a few tangents of my world – emerging communications technologies. more»

Gillette.ro WIPO Decision Provides Interesting Comments

One of the WIPO decisions published today relates to gillette.ro. The registrant (respondent) didn't make any submissions in their defence, so the decision could have been quite banal. However some of the panelist's comments under the "Registered and Used in Bad Faith" section are quite interesting... more»

News Briefs

Companies Trademarking Possible Future Top-Level Domains

British Court Rules Against Anonymous Blogging

California Company Taking Legal Action to Stop PCs Shipped to China with Stolen Software

World Copyright Summit This Week Will Focus on Threats and Opportunities of Internet on Copyright

FTC Shuts Down US Web Hosting Firm Involved in Massive Global Spam Operation

Michigan Man Sentenced to 8 1/2 Years for Phishing

Harvard Law Professor Says P2P Filesharing is "Fair Use", Will Defend Accused File-Swapper in Court

Three Strikes Law Against Internet Piracy Approved in France

More Calls for Punishing Illegal File Sharers Through ISPs

Broad Reform of EU Telecoms Law Facing Obstacles In Dealing with Internet Piracy

Court Finds Pirate Bay Defendants Guilty, With Jail Sentence

French President Suffers Setback in His Controversial Internet Piracy Law Efforts

Sweden's Internet Traffic Drops by a Third as New Anti-Piracy Law Kicks In

Latest Cybersquatting Stats from WIPO

1770 Domain Disputes Filed with National Arbitration Forum in 2008, Over 12K Since 1999

Most Viewed

Most Commented

Introductory Remarks from Innovation '08

Conflict of Opinion

".Pol", a ".Com" for Political Candidates

Obama's Missed Opportunity

Typosquatting: A Solution

Industry Updates

Latest Brandjacking Index Examines How Fraudsters Abuse Financial Brands

MarkMonitor, the global leader in enterprise brand protection, today released the company's latest Brandjacking Index that studies how fraudsters are abusing major financial brand names and topical subjects like refinancing or unemployment to lure unsuspecting consumers to questionable websites. ›››

MarkMonitor at 2009 Trademark, Anti-Counterfeiting and Grey Market Fraud Mitigation Summit

MarkMonitor announced today that Andrew Horton, director of product management, will present at the second annual Trademark, Anti-Counterfeiting and Grey Market Fraud Mitigation Summit. The conference will address the most aggressive "Act Before React" brand protection strategies to thwart counterfeiters from compromising brand integrity. ›››

A Seemingly Overwhelming Number of Important Documents Released by ICANN

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has recently released a number of important documents. This post includes brief synopses of these newly released documents. ›››

Expanding Internet Access Driving Software Piracy, Study Says

The global software piracy rate rose to 41% in 2008 from 38% in 2007, costing rights owners an exchange-rate adjusted $50 billion, according to a joint study between the Business Software Alliance (BSA) and IDC released last week. One of the factors driving greater piracy is increased high-speed Internet access, particularly in emerging markets where piracy rates are the highest. ›››

IP Rights in Digital Environment Key Element of Proposed Treaty

Last week, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative released a summary of the key elements of the proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) which aims to establish international standards for enforcing IP rights to more effectively combat counterfeiting and piracy. ›››

Identify Infringing Domains to Optimize Online Search Marketing Spend

According to the latest figures released Monday by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers, online advertising last year reached $23.4 billion... One of the issues, which isn’t discussed in the report, is one that is of special interest to brand rights holders; registration of domains containing variations of famous marks. ›››

MarkMonitor AntiFraud Solutions Combine Proven Antiphishing and Expert Antimalware Capabalities

MarkMonitor has announced AntiFraud Solutions, offering patented technology to enable brand owners to prevent, detect and respond to phishing and malware attacks. MarkMonitor AntiFraud Solutions leverage the extensive MarkMonitor network of relationships and technology designed to thwart phishing attacks in order to combat the rapidly expanding problem of malware targeting brands.
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COCC Partners with MarkMonitor for Anti-Phishing Services

COCC, a leading provider of next generation technology services for financial institutions, has partnered with MarkMonitor, the global leader in enterprise brand protection, to help mutual clients protect their brands in the face of increasing Internet-based fraud. ›››

ICANN Mexico City Meeting Brings a Significant Shift in Direction for Brand Rights Holder Issues

Mexico City's ICANN meeting represented an important shift in direction for brand rights holder issues. All the work that the IP Community -- including ICANN's IP Constituency, our customers, concerned companies, organizations and individuals who commented on the draft applicant guidebook as well as MarkMonitor -- paid dividends. ›››

MarkMonitor Year-in-Review Report Finds Online Abuse of Major Brands Was a Growth Industry for Fraud

MarkMonitor releases the company's latest Brandjacking Index, which finds that online abuse of many of the world's leading brands rose in 2008; report also reveals that 80% of abusive sites identified in 2007 were still active today, indicating brandholders must take a stronger stance against aggressive fraudsters. ›››