| Special 301 |
| 2/16. The International
Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) and the Business Software Alliance (BSA)
submitted their annual recommendations
[PDF] to U.S. Trade
Representative (USTR) Robert Zoellick regarding placement
of foreign countries on the Special 301 list. Section
301 is the statutory means by which the U.S. asserts its
international trade rights, including its rights under WTO
Agreements. In particular, under the "Special 301"
provisions of the Trade Act of 1974, the USTR identifies
trading partners that deny adequate and effective protection
of intellectual property or deny fair and equitable
market access to U.S. artists and industries that rely upon
intellectual property protection. The report recommends Italy
for the Watch List, and the Philippines for the Priority Watch
List. See, BSA
release. See also, Estimated
Trade Losses due to Piracy [PDF] by country. |
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| Access to Information |
| 2/16. The U.S. Court
of Appeals (5thCir) issued its opinion
in City
of Huntsville v. The Huntsville Item, a case
regarding public access to government information. A
local newspaper moved to intervene in an action in U.S.
District Court to which the City of Huntsville, Texas, was a
party. A Texas
state statute provides that settlement agreements
to which a governmental body is a party is public information.
Upon a joint motion by the parties the District Court issued a
confidentiality order limiting public access to the settlement
documents in the case. The Court made no findings or
explanation. The
Huntsville Item moved to intervene and to set aside the
secrecy order. The District Court denied the motion. The Court
of Appeals reversed the denial of the motion to intervene, and
vacated the confidentiality order. Judge Kennedy wrote that
"While Texas law is not directly binding on a federal
court's ability to issue orders, the Fifth Circuit has clearly
held that, at a minimum, the district court was obliged to
consider the effect of its order on state law." Judges
DeMoss and Jones joined. |
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| New Documents |
USCA:
opinion
in Eldred v. Reno, re extent of Congressional authority to
enact copyright laws, 2/16 (HTML, TLJ).
CM: complaint
against IBM re the Nazi holocaust, 2/16 (PDF, CM).
Milberg:
complaint
against Nortel, 2/16 (PDF, Milberg).
USCA:
opinion
in Huntsville v. Huntsville Item re access to public records,
2/16 (HMTL, USCA). |
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| Quote of the Day |
"Suffice it to say we reject their first amendment
objection to the CTEA because the plaintiffs lack any
cognizable first amendment right to exploit the copyrighted
works of others. . . . Whatever wisdom
or folly the plaintiffs may see in the particular
"limited Times" for which the Congress has set the
duration of copyrights, that decision is subject to judicial
review only for rationality."
Judge Douglas Ginsburg, from his majority opinion
in Eldred
v. Reno, upholding the constitutionality Copyright Term
Extension Act, Feb. 16. |
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| Eldred v. Reno |
| 2/16. The U.S.
Court of Appeals (DCCir) issued its opinion
in Eldred
v. Reno, a case regarding the extent of
Congressional authority to enact copyright laws. The 105th
Congress passed the Copyright Term
Extension Act (CTEA) to extend the maximum duration of
copyrights from 75 to 95 years. The plaintiff is Eric Eldred,
the proprietor of the unincorporated Eldritch Press, a website
that republishes the works of others that are not protected by
copyright. He is represented by a group of activist law
professors -- Charles Nesson, Lawrence Lessig, and Jonathan
Zittrain -- who disagree with certain Internet related
intellectual property policies that have recently been enacted
into law. They argue, among other things, that the CTEA is
unconstitutional under the First Amendment and the Copyright
Clause. The District Court upheld the CTEA, and the
Court of Appeals affirmed. Ginsburg wrote the opinion,
in which Henderson joined. Sentelle dissented. See also, TLJ case
summary. |
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| Computer Crime |
2/16. The U.S. Attorneys Office (SDNY)
unsealed a criminal complaint against Elias and Alejandro
Garay charging wire fraud for conducting a series of fraudulent
Internet auctions via eBay, Yahoo, and Amazon. Defendants
defrauded bidders of about $113,982 by auctioning
Playstation2 video consoles, collecting the winners' money,
but not delivering the Playstation2s. Defendants were also
arrested on Feb. 16. See, DOJ
release.
2/15. Babatunde Osiname pled guilty in U.S. District Court (CDCal)
to mail fraud and wire fraud in connection with identity
theft and stealing money out of the E*Trade accounts of Ericsson employees. He
obtained personal information about Ericsson employees from a
former Ericsson payroll department employee, Jeanette
Franklin. $1.5 million and that Osiname stole the identities
of more than 100 victims, and stole over $1.5 Million.
Following complaints from Ericsson employees, the Secret
Service and United States Postal Inspection Service
investigators uncovered the fraud through an examination of
cell phone records. Franklin, who is charged in a 16 count
indictment with mail fraud and wire fraud, has not pled
guilty. Her trial is scheduled to begin on Feb. 27 before
Judge Virginia Phillips. Osiname is scheduled to be sentenced
on April 30. See, USAO
release.
2/15. A grand jury of the U.S. District Court (NDIll)
indicted nine
individuals for copyright infringement under
the No
Electronic Theft Act and/or conspiracy in connection with
an Internet software piracy ring. The group, which
called itself "Fastlane," copied and distributed
software over the Internet, including Microsoft Office 2000,
Microsoft Windows Millennium, Adobe Framemaker v6.0, Corel
Custom Photo SE, Symantec PCAnywhere and McAfee VirusScan,
with a retail value in excess of $1 Million. In an effort to
evade detection and prosecution, the group limited access to
its web sites to authorized users entering through known
Internet Protocol (IP) addresses with pre-established IDs and
passwords; concealed their identities with screen names; and
used port bouncers to disguise the true IP addresses of their
computers and the computers that hosted their web sites.
However, an FBI agent infiltrated the group. Also, on Sept.
20, 2000, the FBI executed search warrants and seized Fastlane
computers. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Hayes is
prosecuting the case. See, DOJ
release.
1/15. The U.S. District Court (DRI) sentenced
Thomas Kennedy 14 months in prison for illegally selling
electronic cards that unscramble satellite TV signals. Kennedy
is one of 15 defendants who were caught in an Internet sting
operation run by the U.S.
Customs Service. See, DOJ
release. |
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| Class Action Suits |
2/16. An Erza Birnbaum filed a complaint
[PDF] in U.S. District Court (EDNY)
against Nortel Networks
and three of its officers and directors alleging violation of
U.S. securities laws. The plaintiff, who is represented by the
law firm of Milberg
Weiss, seeks class action status. Count I alleges
violation of § 10b
of the Exchange Act, and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, by all
defendants. Count II alleges violation of § 20
of the Exchange Act by the individual defendants. Nortel
Networks is a Canadian corporation based in Brampton, Ontario,
that provides telecommunications and Internet services.
Milberg Weiss is a San Diego based law firm that specializes
in bringing class action securities suits against high tech
companies when their stock prices drop. Nortel stock, which
traded at over $80 per share last summer, closed at $20 on
Friday, Feb. 16. Milberg Weiss has also recently sued
AT&T, Deutsche Telekom, Covad, and PSINet.
2/16. A Thomas Grossman, and others, filed a complaint
[PDF] in U.S. District Court (EDNY)
against IBM alleging
violation of international law, and unjust enrichment, in
connection with allegations that IBM's German subsidiary
provided punch card services to Nazis to perpetrate the
holocaust. The Plaintiffs, who are represented by the law firm
of Cohen
Milstein, and other firms, seek class action status. Count
I alleges violation of several international
treaties. Count II alleges unjust enrichment. The
complaint names as the sole defendant IBM Corporation. It does
not name IBM's German subsidiary. IBM stated in a release
that "It has been known for
decades that the Nazis used Hollerith equipment and that IBM's
German subsidiary during the 1930s -- Deutsche Hollerith
Maschinen GmbH (Dehomag) -- supplied Hollerith
equipment." The complaint alleges that "No
statute of limitations has yet begun to run on plaintiffs'
causes of action because plaintiffs and members of the class
and the general public have been kept in ignorance of
information essential to the pursuit of these claims ..."
Cohen Milstein is a law firm that specializes in bringing
class action lawsuits.
2/14. Several class action law firms have filed complaints in
U.S. District Court seeking class action status against U.S. Interactive.
See, for example, Berger
& Montague release. |
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| WorldCom Intermedia |
| 2/15. WorldCom,
Intermedia, and Digex announced a proposed settlement of a
lawsuit brought by minority shareholders of Digex arising out
of WorldCom's planned acquisition of a controlling interest in
Digex through a merger with Intermedia. The merger has been
approved by the Antitrust Division. The proposed settlement
has yet to be approved by the Delaware Chancery Court. See, Worldcom
release. |
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| Today |
| Presidents' Day. The House of Representatives and Senate are
in recess for the Presidents' Day District Work Period. |
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| About Tech Law Journal |
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