The End of Peer-to-Peer File Sharing?

Another major peer-to-peer file sharing platform will soon face obscurity as well as a potentially crippling damages payout. LimeWire was recently told by a U.S. District Court in New York to shut down its peer-to-peer file-sharing system, after being held liable for copyright infringement.[1] The RIAA, Recording Industry Association of America, filed suit about four years ago claiming that “as much as 93 percent of LimeWire’s file sharing traffic was unauthorized copyright material.”[2] This was the first time since the Supreme Court ruled in MGM Studios, Inc. v. Grokster, LTD that a file sharing software maker was targeted. The RIAA claims that LimeWire owes trillions of dollars in damages for enabling distribution of copyrighted songs, a claim the federal judge presiding has deemed to be “absurd” yet admits this is the first time “a court has been asked to consider the issue of whether a copyright holder can … Read the rest

Diminishing Privacy to Information Receiving Growing Public Attention

It’s been several months now since my first article on the general subject of data and information in the law. Normally, I could attribute the delay to typical publishing delays, an overbooked 2L year, and an overly inquisitive (read: easily distractible) mind. But, in this case, I am writing about perhaps the most visible aspect of the topic: the privacy of personal information in an increasingly connected society. Given the increasing focus on the topic in academia, government, and media, it has been difficult to keep up with all of the recent developments. Even the turn of the New Year – often a good time for a retrospective look – hasn’t slowed the pace. There have been some significant developments in the legal and regulatory world. A small selection of some of the most significant news includes:

• At the start of December, the Federal Trade Commission released a proposed Read the rest

Microsoft’s Message to Its Partners

From September 2009 to September 2010, Google’s share of the U.S. mobile phone OS market has risen a staggering 18.9 percent, going from 2.5 percent to 21.4 percent, while Microsoft has seen its share of the mobile OS market decline from 19 to 10 percent. Notably, the other major players in the U.S. mobile OS market either held their share, in the case of Apple and Palm, or saw a modest decline, in the case of Research in Motion. Clearly, the rise of Google’s open source Android OS represents a greater threat to Microsoft’s future in the mobile OS market than it does to other companies.

Given Microsoft’s dramatic loss of market share, several industry analysts have speculated that Microsoft’s lawsuit against Motorola, alleging that several of Motorola’s Android based phones violate Microsoft patents, is in direct response to the pummeling Microsoft has taken at the hands of Google. This Read the rest

The Social Network: Defamation or Right to Privacy

 

In 1952, James Hill, his wife and two children were held hostage by three escaped convicts in their Pennsylvania home. In an interview following the incident, Mr. Hill stressed that “the convicts had treated the family courteously, had not molested them, and had not been at all violent.” Time, Inc. v. Hill, 385 US 374. The convicts were later apprehended and two convicts were killed. The Hill family kept away from the spotlight and sensationalism surrounding the story, moved to Connecticut and resumed a private life. In 1953, author Joseph Hayes published a novel, The Desperate Hours, which depicted a family of four held hostage by three escaped convicts in their home. Hayes’s storyline differed from the actual events by incorporating violence including a beating and a verbal sexual assault to the family by the convicts. The book became a play, also titled The Desperate Hours, which eventually … Read the rest

Data, Information, and the Practice of Law

The practice of law has changed substantially with the advent of computers, the Internet, and the “Information Age.” In many ways, these changes in the legal landscape are not surprising, as they roughly parallel those in the personal and commercial worlds. Much of the technology that has made its way into widespread use has focused on improving and streamlining existing methods. Though we certainly interact now in ways that we could not have 30 years ago, this has largely been within a scheme of roughly incremental changes – the word processor can act as a much more efficient typewriter, and hard drives can act as a very large file cabinet (or library). Court filings, collaboration, and record keeping, among many other tasks, have been streamlined; previously inaccessible sources of information are available even to those with the smallest budget; young law students may seem “dependent” on online services for their … Read the rest

A Value-Added Tax: Who is the Joke on?

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It has been said that a value added
tax (VAT) will not pass because liberals fear it is regressive and
conservatives fear it will increase the size of the federal government.  “However, the joke continues, a VAT will be
passed when liberals recognize that it could be a money machine and
conservatives recognize that it is regressive.” 
But are the terms of the joke accurate? 
Would enacting a vat be trading a regressive tax for more government?

I. What Is a VAT

There is more than one way to
implement a VAT and the intricacies of such implementation are beyond the scope
of this article.  Suffice it to … Read the rest

I’m All In: The Online Poker Industry

Introduction

Since the first online hand was dealt on January 1st, 1998, the online poker business has exploded in popularity. [1]  “Research from Christiansen Capital Advisors says online poker revenues have grown from $82.7 million in 2001 to $2.4 billion in 2005.”[2]  Poker Stars, Full Tilt Poker, and Titan Poker represent the three largest poker sites, and alone these three sites serve more than fifty thousand cash players a month.[3]  In the past three months, the numbers of cash players on these three poker sites has increased 6-10%. [4]  On these, and on the hundreds of other poker sites, U.S. players generate an estimated $85 million in revenues monthly for these sites. [5]  From 2004 to 2007, the online poker industry recorded a 72% growth rate.[6]

 

Why Is Online Poker Becoming So Popular?

The success of the online poker industry can be attributed to a Read the rest

Failure to Communicate

I. Introduction

The development of the Internet has led to exponential growth in the amount of information available to any one person. With the Internet, entire new market sectors have sprung up almost overnight. The Internet has (for many) made our lives more convenient –  one can make many, if not all, purchase online, access the news and weather reports, plan a vacation, work from home, communicate with friends and family, and access a plethora of information that would otherwise be unavailable to them – with the Internet the possibilities are almost limitless. Bearing this in mind, researchers, businessmen, and consumers are constantly searching for ways to better utilize the Internet for their own benefit. The desires of the various demographics seeking to better utilize the Internet are not always inline, and are in fact often in competition with one another.

Prime examples of the competing interests can be Read the rest

Renewable Energy: Looking Toward the Future

I.  Introduction

Rising gas prices and an increasing awareness of the environmental consequences associated with the use of fossil fuels have spurred the development of the biofuel industry.  “From being merely an interest of marginal innovators, it has become a multi-million dollar business – transforming economies – thanks to rising attention and support from governments and the public.”[1]  With the US consuming nearly 20.8 billion barrels of oil per day, and with OPEC officials claiming they will not be able to meet the projected western oil demands in 10 to 15 years, the prospect of meeting our energy needs through homegrown and renewable resources is becoming more appealing.[2],[3]  But this seemingly cut and dry solution to the US dependency on fossil fuels is not as simple as it appears.  The actual economic and environmental benefits realized by relying more heavily on biofuels is hotly debated, … Read the rest

Protecting “The Progress of Science and Useful Arts.”

I. Introduction

 

Patents have recently received a great deal of attention as tradable commodities, attracting the attention of several hedge funds, and giving rise to investment firms that specialize in patent acquisition.[1][2] This aspect is not unanticipated, and in fact is on its face congruent with the original means for attaining the goals behind patent law – “to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.” [3] The idea behind providing this protection is simple: encourage innovation by giving the innovator certain property rights and protections under the law which in turn encourages market participation.[4] The ability to monetize innovation is the means by which the U.S. Constitution proposed to incentivize the research and distribution of innovations. Nowhere else has this been more relevant than in the “Technology Read the rest