Hello:
I hope your life has been well! I have been busy busy busy. Last Saturday I gave a presentation on Trademarks and the importance of protecting them at the Inventor's Association of Georgia's monthly meeting. Despite technical difficulties with my MAC Ibook G4, the presentation went well. I gave examples of different types trademarks; discussed the difference between patents, trademarks, and copyrights; discussed cost effective solutions in defending and initiating trademark infringement actions; and gave advice on how to establish a cost effective trademark patrolling program.
Also I have been writing weekly for BlackWeb2.0. Last week, I wrote an article on privacy issues with Cloud Computing. Check it out and let me know what you think.
Until next time.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
Update: RIAA File-Sharing Litigation: Obama Administration Backs RIAA
Hello!
I am finally back! I have been traveling for the past few weeks giving presentations and writing articles.
Previously I wrote a post about the RIAA vs. Tenenbaum case. This case is one of several high profile file-sharing lawsuits currently being reviewed by the courts.
Another case that has garnered national attention is the RIAA vs. Thomas-Rasset. Ms. Thomas-Rasset purchased songs from I-tunes and shared them with peers. A Minnesota federal jury found her guilty of copyright infringement and the court ordered her to pay $80,000 for each of the 24 downloaded song she shared. Her jury verdict came to a whopping $1.92 million dollars. She is now seeking to vacate the judgment for being too excessive.
However, last week, the Obama Administration submitted arguments in favor of the jury verdict. The Justice Department argued that the jury verdict was not too excessive considering the nature of file sharing. So although Ms. Thomas-Rasset may have shared the files with only a select group of individuals, those individuals continued to share the files with other users and so on. So the file sharing continues.
Clearly, The Obama Administration is intellectual property ownership friendly and is asserting its position as such. The RIAA really needs this support from the Justice Department considering the negative publicity and backlash it has received for going after individual consumers. It will be interesting to see if the judge actually reduced the monetary award. I will keep you posted.
I welcome your thoughts.
I am finally back! I have been traveling for the past few weeks giving presentations and writing articles.
Previously I wrote a post about the RIAA vs. Tenenbaum case. This case is one of several high profile file-sharing lawsuits currently being reviewed by the courts.
Another case that has garnered national attention is the RIAA vs. Thomas-Rasset. Ms. Thomas-Rasset purchased songs from I-tunes and shared them with peers. A Minnesota federal jury found her guilty of copyright infringement and the court ordered her to pay $80,000 for each of the 24 downloaded song she shared. Her jury verdict came to a whopping $1.92 million dollars. She is now seeking to vacate the judgment for being too excessive.
However, last week, the Obama Administration submitted arguments in favor of the jury verdict. The Justice Department argued that the jury verdict was not too excessive considering the nature of file sharing. So although Ms. Thomas-Rasset may have shared the files with only a select group of individuals, those individuals continued to share the files with other users and so on. So the file sharing continues.
Clearly, The Obama Administration is intellectual property ownership friendly and is asserting its position as such. The RIAA really needs this support from the Justice Department considering the negative publicity and backlash it has received for going after individual consumers. It will be interesting to see if the judge actually reduced the monetary award. I will keep you posted.
I welcome your thoughts.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Twitter "Moldy Apartment" Libel Lawsuit
Hello Everyone!
I have been very busy traveling and speaking on protecting IP assets and legal issues in new media. This week I wrote an article on the Twitter "Moldy Apartment" lawsuit. If you have not heard, a Twitter user stated on Twitter that a management company had moldy apartments. The management company sued for libel and of course this story received massive attention. The issue here is whether the statement was factual or false. Read my take on this lawsuit here. If you like please join the discussion.
Have a great day!
I have been very busy traveling and speaking on protecting IP assets and legal issues in new media. This week I wrote an article on the Twitter "Moldy Apartment" lawsuit. If you have not heard, a Twitter user stated on Twitter that a management company had moldy apartments. The management company sued for libel and of course this story received massive attention. The issue here is whether the statement was factual or false. Read my take on this lawsuit here. If you like please join the discussion.
Have a great day!
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