Balough
December 7, 2013
Public libraries that receive government funding or discounts for Internet access must install software filters to block images that constitute obscenity or child pornography, the Supreme Court has ruled. The 6-3 decision in United States v. American Library Association, Inc., reverses the trial court that found the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) unconstitutional because it […]
Balough
December 7, 2013
Violating your website’s privacy policy can cause you long-term problems with the Federal Trade Commission. Just ask Eli Lilly and Company. As a result of an e-mail error where all the recipients were listed for everyone to see, the company was forced to enter into a consent decree that now requires Lilly to make extensive […]
Balough
December 7, 2013
Use of the Hershey’s and Mrs. Fields Original Cookies websites by children has turned into a bitter experience for both companies. Each company recently entered into a consent decree with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for alleged violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) because they were collecting personal information from children without […]
Balough
December 7, 2013
An employer may not be able to fire a “low-level” employee who refuses to sign a non-compete agreement under a ruling by a New Jersey state appellate court. In order to be enforceable, covenants not to compete must protect the legitimate business interests of the employer. So if an employee does not have access to […]
Balough
December 7, 2013
It’s black letter law that federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction to hear infringement actions under the U.S. Copyright Act. But now the Indiana Supreme Court has found that state courts may indeed hear cases involving the Copyright Act if the claims are raised first in a counterclaim. Federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction in cases when […]
Balough
December 7, 2013
Unless you can prove it otherwise, Victor is not Victoria. At least that’s what the United States Supreme Court found when it ruled that Victor’s Little Secret did not dilute the trademark of Victoria’s Secret. Victor’s Little Secret is located in a strip mall in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, just outside of Louisville. It sells adult videos, […]
Balough
December 7, 2013
The results of the voluntary dispute resolution mechanism to resolve domain name disputes is not entitled to any deference in federal courts, the appellate court for the Third Circuit has ruled. The court found that the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) does not qualify as […]
Balough
December 7, 2013
A federal judge has ordered an Internet Service Provider (ISP) to turn over the identity of a person suspected by a recording industry association of pirating recordings on-line.The judge found that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (DMCA) gave copyright owners the right to obtain subpoenas to force ISPs to give them information on […]
Balough
December 5, 2013
If you have a password protected website and someone gains access to it, they have violated the federal Wiretap and Stored Communications Acts, right? Don’t count on it anymore. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit says that such action does not violate the federal Wiretap Act and may not violate the Stored […]
