Laws of .com

Volume VII, Issue 9: May 7, 2009

U.S. Adds Canada to Internet Piracy Watch List

Qualcomm Settles Patent Dispute with Broadcom

FBI Accuses Twitter User of Massacre Threats

Canadian Government Introduces Anti-Spam Bill

Brick and Mortar Retailers Push for Online Sales Tax

New Bill to Legalize Internet Gambling in the U.S.

Judge’s Bias Cited in Pirate Bay Retrial Application

U.S. Adds Canada to Internet Piracy Watch List

In late April, the U.S. government added Canada to its list of countries where it believes that Internet piracy is thriving and where intellectual property rights are not being enforced strictly enough. Other countries on the blacklist include China, Russia, Pakistan, Indonesia and Venezuela. While Canada has traditionally been listed as a jurisdiction of concern, the new listing on the “priority watch list” has been long advocated by the International Intellectual Property Alliance – a group that includes major software and hardware manufacturing companies. The annual report of offenders released by the U.S. government raises particular concerns with Canada’s failure to implement World Intellectual Property Organization treaties signed in 1997.

For more information, visit:
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/04/30/copyright-piracy.html

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Qualcomm Settles Patent Dispute with Broadcom

Qualcomm Inc. has agreed to pay $891 million to Broadcom Corp. over four years to settle a patent dispute over technology used in the microprocessors that power mobile phones. Additionally, as part of the settlement, Qualcomm and Broadcom have both agreed to end their litigation and exchange rights to each others’ patents.

Prior to the settlement, both a federal court in California as well as the United States International Trade Commission had ruled that Qualcomm had violated Broadcom’s patents.

The argument involved chips made for so-called smartphones, the feature-rich devices that operate on third-generation, or 3G, networks. These devices have become particularly important for the cell phone industry as it seeks to find growth opportunities when most consumers already own phones.

For additional information, visit:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/27/technology/companies/27qualcomm.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

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FBI Accuses Twitter User of Massacre Threats

A 52 year old Oklahoma City man was recently arrested on suspicion of making inter-state threats in what is believed to be the first federal prosecution based on posts made on Twitter. The FBI identified the man as a particular Twitter user, and noted that by making use of the micro log-in site, the man allegedly threatened to start a “war” against the government at the Oklahoma City capital where a “tea party” tax protest was planned. The man was arraigned on April 16 and released to an Oklahoma City half-way house. The U.S. intelligence community has previously expressed concern that terrorists might use Twitter to coordinate attacks.

For additional information, visit:
http://news.cnet.com/fbi-accuses-twitter-user-of-massacre-threats/

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Canadian Government Introduces Anti-Spam Bill

Canada recently introduced anti-spam legislation through Bill C-27. Bill C-27 would enact the Electronic Commerce Protection Act (ECPA).

Bill C-27 deals with spam, identity theft, phishing and spyware and allows businesses and consumers to take civil action against anyone who violates the ECPA. In addition, Bill C-27 grants the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) expanded powers to deal with spammers, including the ability to impose penalties of $1 million against individuals and $10 million against businesses.

The ECPA would be enforced by the CRTC, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) in respect of specified contraventions of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, and the Competition Bureau in respect of specified contraventions under the Competition Act. The CRTC, the OPC and the Competition Bureau are also given the power to share information and evidence with their counterparts in other countries who enforce similar laws internationally.

For additional information, visit:
http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Docid=3832885&file=4
http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/ic1.nsf/eng/04595.html

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Brick and Mortar Retailers Push for Online Sales Tax

State and local officials in the United States, together with large retailers who generally realize revenues through traditional in-store sales (rather than online sales) are supporting a bill in Congress that will require online retailers to charge sales tax to both in-state and out-of-state consumers. Currently, online retailers are not required to collect sales tax in states where they do not have a business presence. Supporters of the bill argue that the current situation results in an unfair advantage for online retailers, who are able to charge lower prices as a result of not having to collect sales tax. Online retailers, including the Electronic Retailing Association, have maintained that charging such a tax would require compliance with thousands of distinct state tax rules and definitions that would not only harm small business but impede e-commerce generally. The bill, however, proposes to allow states to enact a simplified or uniform sales tax system that would remove the administrative burden for online retailers and streamline the process for collecting sales tax. The bill is part of the 9 year-old Streamlined Sales Tax Project which ultimately seeks to generate billions of dollars in tax revenue, if successful.

For additional information, visit:
http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_12275109

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New Bill to Legalize Internet Gambling in the U.S.

The Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee, Barney Frank, plans to introduce a new bill that would overturn the ban on Internet gambling in the U.S. The new bill comes after recent statements by the European Commission that it plans to address the U.S. Justice Department’s crackdown on European online gambling companies, which it says violates U.S. commitments under the World Trade Organization. The existing ban, which was imposed by the former Republican administration under George Bush, is said to have hurt ties with the European Union. It is not clear how the Obama administration will respond to the new bill.

For additional information, visit:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/29/AR2009042902721.html

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Judge’s Bias Cited in Pirate Bay Retrial Application

Counsel for the convicted accused has requested a retrial in the Pirate Bay file sharing copyright infringement matter. Counsel alleges that the trial judge’s membership in several copyright protection groups constitutes bias against the accused. Judge Norstrom is said to be a member of the Swedish Association for Copyright and a board member of the Swedish Association for the Protection of Industrial Property. The Judge had not disclosed the memberships at the time of the trial.

The Court of Appeal is reviewing whether to send the matter back to the district court. The accused have also filed an appeal of the verdict and sentence.

For additional information, visit:
http://tinyurl.com/washpostPbay
http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/625311

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