The Electronic Frontier Foundation will argue Friday against a subpoena seeking the identity of an anonymous Internet poster, it said. The U.S. District Court in San Francisco set a hearing in USA Technologies vs. Stokklerk, in which the technology company is seeking the identity of a Yahoo customer using the nickname “Stokklerk” who posted comments on a Yahoo message board criticizing the company and its CEO for falling stock prices, high executive pay and lack of profitability. Another commenter had similar complaints. The company filed suit in Pennsylvania alleging the statements violated federal securities regulations and issued a subpoena through the California court. EFF said the First Amendment protects people’s right to speak anonymously, particularly about matters of public concern like the performance of publicly traded companies. In a filing opposing Stokklerk’s motion to quash the subpoena, USA Technologies said the First Amendment doesn’t grant the right to make defamatory comments and hide behind anonymity. Stokklerk’s comments aren’t valid criticism but are attempts to damage the company’s reputation and lower its stock price, the company said. “This is not a case where revealing an anonymous poster’s identity could cause embarrassment or lead to the disclosure of highly sensitive information. Nor is this a case of a regrettable statement made in the heat of the moment. Rather, Stokklerk has engaged in a deliberate, systematic and ongoing effort to defame USAT,” the company said. It said that by accusing the company of running a Ponzi scheme, Stokklerk has given the company a valid defamation complaint.
The copyright industries already have many of the tools they need to reduce infringement over the Internet, the Information Technology Innovation Foundation said in a report. What’s missing is crucial regulatory and legislative encouragement toward intermediaries such as Internet service providers and online advertising networks, and some good old-fashioned political horse trading, researchers and executives told a foundation event in Washington Tuesday. Foundation President Robert Atkinson said the White House roundtable on intellectual property enforcement scheduled for the afternoon may presage a more active role for the Obama administration than that of President George W. Bush. (See separate report in this issue.)
Lawmakers are more eager than federal officials to target individual file-swappers in the U.S. for copyright infringement, judging by the back-and-forth at a House Oversight Government Management Subcommittee hearing on intellectual property enforcement Wednesday. They quibbled over the balance between pursuing operators of illicit-content networks, which often requires the cooperation of foreign governments, and Internet users downloading from them, who can be spooked by a warning letter from their ISP. Officials defended the opportunities for reduction in piracy and counterfeiting from some of the worst IP offenders in the U.S. government’s view, such as China. But lawmakers seemed unimpressed with other countries’ efforts.
The International Trade Commission has instituted a section 337 patent-based investigation of certain foldable stools pursuant to a complaint.
Lawmakers are more eager than federal officials to target individual file-swappers in the U.S. for copyright infringement, judging by the back-and-forth at a House Oversight Government Management Subcommittee hearing on intellectual property enforcement Wednesday. They quibbled over the balance between pursuing operators of illicit- content networks, which often requires the cooperation of foreign governments, and Internet users downloading from them, who can be spooked by a warning letter from their ISP. Officials defended the opportunities for reduction in piracy and counterfeiting from some of the worst IP offenders in the U.S. government’s view, such as China. But lawmakers seemed unimpressed with other countries’ efforts.
Lawmakers are more eager than federal officials to target individual file-swappers in the U.S. for copyright infringement, judging by the back-and-forth at a House Oversight Government Management Subcommittee hearing on intellectual property enforcement Wednesday. They quibbled over the balance between pursuing operators of illicit-content networks, which often requires the cooperation of foreign governments, and Internet users downloading from them, who can be spooked by a warning letter from their ISP. Officials defended the opportunities for reduction in piracy and counterfeiting from some of the worst IP offenders in the U.S. government’s view, such as China. But lawmakers seemed unimpressed with other countries’ efforts.
Sirius XM is weighing expanding into international markets, but the plans are in the “early days,” Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei said Tuesday at the UBS conference in New York. Liberty Media owns 40 percent of Sirius XM.
Sirius XM is weighing expanding into international markets, but the plans are in the “early days,” Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei said Tuesday at the UBS conference in New York. Liberty Media owns 40 percent of Sirius XM.
At the November 5, 2009 Trade Support Network meeting, the TSN presented multiple documents to U.S. Customs and Border Protection regarding the Automated Commercial Environment.
The federal government shouldn’t impose conditions on Comcast’s deal to buy a majority stake in NBC Universal that aren’t specific to the agreement, David Cohen, Comcast executive vice president, told reporters Friday. He expects to make that argument again and again during a government review of the deal, which is expected to last a year (CD Dec 4 p1).