Sept. 12, 2000
7:00 AM ET.
Alert No. 18. |
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| News Briefs |
9/11. The FTC sent letters to the
founders of the proposed Covisint
automotive business to business (B2B) venture, stating that it has
closed its investigation of whether Covisint violates Section 7 of
the Clayton Act, and that its has terminated the waiting period
under the Hart- Scott- Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act. See, letter
to GM, Ford and Daimler Crysler. The FTC sent similar letters to
Renault, Nissan, CommerceOne and Oracle. See also, FTC release.
9/11. Rambus filed a complaint
with the U.S. International Trade
Commission (ITC) against two
Hyundai companies alleging unlawful importation into the
US, and sale in the US after importation, of Hyundai products
covered covered by Rambus patents,
in violation of §337 of the Tariff Act of 1930. See, Rambus
release. Rambus also filed two lawsuits in France and Germany
against Hyundai Electronics Industries alleging patent
infringement. See, Rambus
release. Rambus also filed two lawsuits in France and Germany
against Micron alleging patent
infringement. See, Rambus
release. On Aug. 29, Hyundai filed a complaint alleging patent
infringement against Rambus in U.S. District Court (N.D.Cal., San
Jose). Micron filed a similar complaint on Aug. 28. Rambus, based in
Mountain View, CA, designs and develops high bandwidth chip
connection technologies that enable semiconductor memory devices to
keep pace with faster generations of processors and controllers.
Micron, based in Boise, Idaho, makes semiconductor memory products.
9/11. Media Metrix, a
company which measures Internet audiences, released a report on the
growth of both home and office users of the legally embattled Napster. The number of
unique home users grew from 1.1 Million in February to 4.9 Million
in July, a 345% increase. The number of unique office users grew
from 417,000 in May to 887,000 in July. See, release.
9/11. The SIIA
announced that actions taken against alleged Internet software
pirates increased 235% over the year ending August 31. In that
time, SIIA took action on 757 cases of pirates selling or
distributing illegal software or technological information allowing
the circumvention of copyright protection, compared to 226 actions
the previous year. See, SIIA
release.
9/11. The Urban Institute
released a report on the e-rate. FCC Chairman Wm. Kennard
issued a release
in which he praised the report and called the e-rate a
"spectacular success." See also, statement
of FCC Commissioner Ness praising the report and the e-rate.
9/10. ICANN
announced that its at large nominations period has concluded.
Voting will run from Oct. 1-10. See, release.
9/8. The Senate
Appropriations Committee filed its report to accompany HR 4690,
a bill making appropriations for the Commerce, Justice, State, and
the Judiciary (CJS) for FY 2001. The bill includes appropriations
for the USPTO, which has
been a hotly debated issue this year. The USPTO is funded solely
from user fees. Since 1990 an increasingly large amount of these
have been diverted to pay for other government programs. The House
bill diverts an estimated $295 Million. The House rejected by a vote
of 145 to 223 an amendment offered by Rep. Coble on June 23 that
would have restored $134 Million. The Senate committee version is
now $1,038,732,000. The version passed by the House is $904,924,000.
See, excerpts from of Senate
Report No. 106-404 and HR
4690 RS pertaining to the USPTO.
9/8. Geoworks filed a
complaint against phone.com,
Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. of Japan, and Sanyo North America Corp.
with the U.S. International Trade
Commission (ITC). The complaint alleges patent infringement,
and seeks an order blocking importation into the US of Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)
cellular telephones containing Phone.com's microbrowser. At issue is
Geoworks' U.S. Patent No. 5,327,529. See, Geoworks
release. On April 25, phone.com filed a complaint in U.S.
District Court (N.D.Cal., S.F.) against Geoworks alleging that
Geoworks' patent is invalid and unenforceable. On June 16 Geoworks
counterclaimed for patent infringement. See also, phone.com's
release of April 25.
9/8. The BSA filed an amicus brief
[PDF, 18 pages] with the U.S. Court of Appeals (9th Cir.) in Napster
v. A&M Records, urging that the lower court be affirmed. Quote:
"BSA recognizes that peer-to-peer technology is inherently a
promising and positive technological development, and should not be
condemned. At the same time, however, the courts have the authority
-- and should exercise such authority -- to enjoin illegal uses of
this or any other technology that undermine the statutory and
constitutional protections afforded to copyrightholders, whether
online or through other media. In this regard, the lower court’s
decision was correct on the facts of this case and the applicable
law, and should therefore be affirmed."
8/28. The IRS wrote a letter
to ICANN
in which it stated that ICANN is "exempt from federal income
tax under section 501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code as an
organization described in section 501(c)(3)."
Editor's Note: This column includes all News Briefs added to
Tech Law Journal since the last Daily E-Mail Alert. The dates
indicate when the event occurred, not the date of posting to Tech
Law Journal. |
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| Breaking News |
The Wall Street Journal reports in its web site that a GAO study (to be released later
today) of 65 government web sites found that only 3% comply with the
FTC's fair information practices.
"One site that didn't meet the FTC standards was the
FTC's." See, full
story. (Subscription web site.)
House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX) and others will hold a press
conference at 10:45 AM to publicly release the GAO report that was
leaked to the WSJ.
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| New TLJ Stories |
Committee
Gives Failing Grades to Government Agencies on Computer Security.
(9/12) The House Government Management Subcommittee held a hearing
on the lack of security of government computer systems. Rep. Horn
issued a "report card" on the performance of government
agencies in which the average grade was a "D-."
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| New Documents |
HR
4690 RS, excerpt pertaining to USPTO funding, 9/8 (HTML, TLJ).
Sen.
Report No. 106-404, excerpt pertaining to USPTO funding, 9/8
(HTML, TLJ).
BSA: Amicus
Brief, in Napster v. A&M Records, 9/8 (PDF, BSA).
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| New and Updated Sections |
Calendar
(updated). Several hearings and mark ups have just been scheduled
for latter this week. Relevant bills include:
• HR 4445, Reciprocal Compensation Adjustment Act;
• HR 4321, Antitrust Enforcement Improvements Act;
• HR 5018, Electronic Communications Privacy Act;
• HR 4908, Notice of Electronic Monitoring Act; and
• HR 4857, Privacy and Identity Protection Act.
News
from Around the Web (updated daily).
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| Quote of the Day |
"The key to Napster's success is that its users represent the
full spectrum of PC users, not just the youth with time on their
hands and a passion for music." Bruce Ryon, SVP, Media
Metrix. (Source.) |
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