| Patents |
| 2/26. The Supreme
Court of the United States denied certiorari in both
Semiconductor Energy Laboratory v. Samsung Electronics
(00-127) and Samsung Electronics v. Semiconductor Energy
Laboratory (00-138). See, Order
List [PDF], at page 3. |
|
|
| Domain Name Disputes |
2/22. A WIPO
Arbitration and Mediation Center panel
issued its opinion
in Vertical
Computer Systems. v. Registrant of pointmail.com,
rejecting VCS's request to have the domain name transferred to
it.
2/15. A WIPO
Arbitration and Mediation Center panel
issued its opinion
in AOL
v. Eremeev, a dispute over registration of the
domain name icqplus.org. AOL, which holds numerous trademark
registrations worldwide for the mark ICQ, sought to have the
domain name transferred to it. Eremeev uses this domain name
for a web site that distributes a free software product that
supplements ICQ service. The panel found that the icqplus.org
domain name is confusingly similar to AOL's mark. However, the
panel denied AOL's request on the grounds that AOL did not
prove that Eremeev had no legitimate interest in the name, and
did not prove that the name had been registered in bad faith. |
|
|
| ICANN |
| 2/26. The ICANN
published a notice
in its web site that "one of the topics to be discussed
at the ICANN public forum on 12 March 2001 in Melbourne is
agreements between ICANN and the selected sponsors or
operators of the new, proof-of-concept TLDs." |
|
|
| New Documents |
USCA:
opinion
in Conboy v. AT&T re electronic privacy, 2/26 (HTML, USCA).
NTIA:
notice
requesting comments re E-SIGN Act, 2/26 (HTML, NTIA).
WIPO:
opinion
in AOL v. Eremeev, 2/15 (HTML, WIPO).
WIPO:
opinion
in VCS v. Registrant of pointmail.com, 2/21 (HTML, WIPO). |
|
|
| Quote of the Day |
"We are asked to decide whether plaintiffs have stated
a cause of action against their long-distance service provider
and its once-affiliated credit card company for allegedly
transmitting and using certain information contained in
plaintiffs' long-distance bill for purposes of collecting
credit card debt. ... the United States District Court ...
dismissed plaintiffs' entire amended complaint. ... we affirm
... plaintiffs got what they paid for, namely, long distance
service."
U.S. Court of Appeals, opinion
in Conboy v. AT&T, Feb. 26. |
|
|
|
| Electronic Privacy |
| 2/26. The U.S.
Court of Appeals (2ndCir) issued its opinion
in Conboy
v. AT&T, a case regarding the
Telecommunications Act of 1996 and electronic privacy. The
Appeals Court affirmed the District Court's decision
dismissing the plaintiffs' complaint. The plaintiffs, Edward
and Eileen Conboy, filed a class action complaint in U.S.
District Court (SDNY)
alleging that AT&T
improperly disseminated personal information about them to
AT&T Universal Card Services (UCS) to help UCS collect
credit card debt, in violation of § 222
of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, FCC regulations
thereunder, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and New
York State law. Plaintiffs were neither the debtors, nor
guarantors of the debt: their daughter is law was the debtor.
Nevertheless, AT&T gave UCS their unlisted phone number.
UCS made between 30 and 50 harassing phone calls to them, some
at unusual hours. The District Court dismissed the entire
complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief can
be granted. The Appeals Court affirmed. The Electronic Privacy Information
Center filed an amicus
brief with the Court of Appeals. |
|
|
| Electronic Signatures |
| 2/26. The NTIA
released a copy of a notice
to be published in the Federal Register requesting comments on
Section 105(a) of the Electronic Signatures in Global and
National Commerce (E-SIGN) Act. Section 105(a) of the E-SIGN
Act directs the Secretary of Commerce to prepare a study
comparing the effectiveness of electronic mail in the delivery
of electronic records with the effectiveness of traditional
methods of document delivery, such as mail and express
delivery services, and to report the findings of the study to
Congress no later than June 30, 2001. Comments will be due
within 30 of publication in the Federal Register. See also, NTIA
release. |
|
|
| Qualcomm Settles |
| 2/26. Qualcomm
announced that it has settled one class action suit brought by
former employees arising out of the sale of Qualcomm's
infrastructure division to Ericsson.
Qualcomm settled the suit filed San Diego County Superior
Court filed by the law firm of Milberg
Weiss. Qualcomm stated that "Under the terms of the
settlement, $11 million (minus attorneys' fees and costs),
which is being contributed by third parties, will be
distributed to the more than 800 former employees in the
class." The Court has yet to approve the agreement.
Qualcomm develops wireless telecommunications technologies,
including CDMA.
See, Qualcomm
release. |
|
|
| More News |
2/26. The U.S. Court
of Appeals (DCCir) held the first of two days of oral
arguments in U.S. v. Microsoft. Arguments continue on
Feb. 27 at 9:30 AM.
2/26. eToys.com announced
that it intends to file for bankruptcy protection.
2/26. President Bush nominated Mark Weinberger to be an
Assistant Secretary of the Treasury. See, release.
2/26. Feb. 26 was the deadline to file comments with the USTR
pertaining to the WTO dispute settlement
proceeding regarding § 110(5)(B)
of the U.S. Copyright Act. A WTO Dispute Settle
Body has found the statute is inconsistent with U.S. treaty
obligations under the TRIPs
Agreement. See, notice
and request for comments in the Federal Register. |
|
|
|
| Today |
9:30 AM. Second day of oral argument before the U.S.
Court of Appeals, En Banc, in U.S. v. Microsoft. Location:
Ceremonial Courtroom, federal courthouse, 333 Constitution
Ave., Washington DC.
10:30 AM - 12:00 NOON. The FCC's WRC-03 Advisory Committee's
Informal Working Group 4: Fixed Service/Fixed-Satellite
Service Sharing will hold a meeting. Location: FCC, 445 12th
Street, SW, 7th Floor, Room 7-B516, Washington DC. See, notice
of meeting.
12:00 NOON - 2:00 PM. The Washington DC Bar Association and
the Federal Communications Bar
Association a luncheon. FCC Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth
will speak on "Ex Parte Contacts: How Can Agencies
Achieve Neutrality and Transparency?" The price is $15 -
$25. But, bring your own lunch. Location: DC Bar Conference
Center, Level B-1, 1250 H Street, NW, Washington DC.
12:15 PM. The Federal
Communications Bar Association's Mass Media Committee will
host a Brown Bag Luncheon. The speaker will be Linda Blair,
Chief, Mass Media Bureau's Audio Services Division. Location:
FCC, 445 12th St., SW, First Floor South Conference Room.
2:00 - 4:00 PM. The FCC's Network
Reliability and Interoperability Council will hold a
meeting. See, notice
in Federal Register. See, agenda.
2:30 PM. The Senate
Judiciary Committee has scheduled an executive business
meeting to mark up bankruptcy reform legislation. Location:
Room 226, Dirksen Senate Office Building.
9:00 PM. The House and Senate will meet in joint session to
hear an address from President Bush. |
|
|
| FTC Names AOL-TW Trustee |
| 2/26. The FTC appointed Dale
Hatfield to be its monitor trustee in its AOL Time Warner
merger proceeding. Until the end of last year Hatfield was the
Chief of the FCC's Office of
Engineering and Technology. See, FTC release
and FTC letter
[PDF] to AOL and Time Warner. |
|
|
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