| 10th Circuit Rules in Stock
Options Case |
| 8/28. The U.S.
Court of Appeals (10thCir) issued its opinion
in Mauldin
v. WorldCom, a dispute over stock option
agreements. Mauldin entered into four stock option agreements
with MFS Intelenet, which was subsequently acquired by
WorldCom. Mauldin sought to exercise these options. WorldCom
refused. Mauldin filed a complaint in U.S. District Court (NDOkla)
against WorldCom. The District Court granted summary judgment
to WorldCom. Mauldin brought the appeal. The Court of Appeals
reversed. |
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| SEC Files Securities Fraud
Complaint |
8/27. The SEC filed a
civil complaint in U.S. District Court (DOre) against Alpha
Telecom and others alleging violation of federal securities
laws in connection with a fraudulent offering of securities
that raised about $100 Million. The District Court issued a
temporary restraining order halting operations by defendants.
The defendants are Alpha Telecom Inc., American
Telecommunications Company Inc., Strategic Partnership
Alliance LLC, SP Marketing LLC, Paul Rubera, Robert McDonald,
Ross Rambach, and Mark Kennison. The SEC stated that
defendants raised at least $100 Million from over 7,000
investors for purported investments in pay telephones, which
are actually a Ponzi scheme. The District Court (1) granted
the SEC's motion for a TRO (2) ordered appointment of a
receiver, (3) froze assets, (4) prohibited destruction of
documents, (5) ordered an accounting, and (6) granted
expedited discovery. See, SEC
release. This is case number CV-01-1283 HA. |
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| More News |
8/28. The NTIA
is advertising to fill the position of Associate Administrator
for Telecommunication Sciences and Director of the Institute
for Telecommunication Sciences in Boulder, Colorado. The
position pays $122,083 to $133,700 per year. See, job
announcement.
8/24. The FTC issued a release
that states that it entered into a Stipulated Judgment and
Order for Permanent Injunction in FTC v. Stout, a case
brought under Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act
against fraudulent spammers who sold purported Internet
registration services. On December 22, 1999, the FTC filed a
civil complaint in U.S. District Court (DNJ) against Robert
Stout, dba Global Internet Federal Registry, Inc., Get Out
From Under.Com, Inc., and Donald Lytle. The complaint alleged
that defendants sent unsolicited commercial e-mail to Internet
news groups stating that because of the Children's Online
Privacy Protection Act, consumers were required to certify
their age to maintain access to the Internet. The messages
directed consumers to defendants' web sites, which stated that
"all Internet users are required to register here for
Internet licensing," and provided an application form
that collected names, addresses, credit card numbers, and
expiration dates. The Stipulated Judgment, which was filed in
May of 2001, enjoins defendants from continuing this practice. |
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| Sklyarov and Elcomsoft
Indicted |
8/28. A grand jury of the U.S.
District Court (NDCal) returned a five count indictment
[PDF] against Elcom Ltd., aka Elcomsoft Co. Ltd., and Dmitry
Sklyarov for criminal violations of copyright law in
connection with their marketing and sale of a program that
circumvents Adobe's e-book reader. Elcomsoft and Sklyarov are
charged with violation of the anti circumvention section of
the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), 17
U.S.C. § 1201.
Adobe Systems makes the eBook
Reader, a program which can read books in an electronic
format named eBook. The program is downloadable at Adobe's web
site. Users can then purchase encrypted electronic books in
eBook format from online bookstores, such as Amazon.com, and
read them with the eBook Reader. The books are encrypted to
protect copyright interests. Elcomsoft and Sklyarov produced
software that enables people to copy and read these electronic
books without paying.
The indictment states that Elcomsoft, a software company based
in Moscow, Russia, and Sklyarov, an employee of Elcom,
designed, produced, and marketed a program named the Advanced
eBook Processor (AEBPR). This program circumvents the Adobe
Acrobat eBook Reader by removing all limitations on an ebook
purchaser's ability to copy, distribute, and print ebooks.
Count One alleges conspiracy to traffic in technology
primarily designed to circumvent and marketed for use in
circumventing, technology that protects a right of a copyright
owner in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371. Counts Two and Three
both allege trafficking in technology primarily designed to
circumvent technology that protects a right of a copyright
owner in violation of 17 U.S.C. § 1201(b)(1)(A) and 18 U.S.C.
§ 2. Count Four and Five both allege trafficking in
technology marketed for use in circumventing technology that
protects a right of a copyright owner in violation of 17 U.S.C.
§ 1201(b)(1(C) and 18 U.S.C. § 2.
Sklyarov was previously charged by criminal
complaint [PDF] with a single count of trafficking in a
product designed to circumvent copyright protection measures,
on July 17.
Both defendants are scheduled to be arraigned at 9:30 AM on
August 30, 2001 before Judge Seeborg.
This is case number CR-01-20138. Assistant U.S. Attorneys
Scott Frewing and Joseph Sullivan are prosecuting the case.
See also, USAO
release. |
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|
| Copyright Office Seeks
Comments on NPRM on Compulsory Licensing |
| 8/28. The Copyright
Office (CO) published a notice
in the Federal Register seeking public comments on proposed
amendments to the regulations governing the content and
service of certain notices on the copyright owner of a musical
work. The notice is served or filed by a person who intends to
use the work to make and distribute phonorecords, including by
means of digital phonorecord deliveries, under a compulsory
license, pursuant to 17 U.S.C.
§ 115. Comments are due by September 27, 2001. See,
Federal Register, August 28, 2001, Vol. 66, No. 167, Page
45241 - 45245. |
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| Notice |
| The Daily E-Mail Alert will not be published on Thursday,
August 30, Friday, August 31, or Monday, September 3 (Labor
Day). |
|
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| Wednesday, August 29 |
| 9:00 AM. The Center for
Democracy and Technology (CDT) will hold a press
conference at the National
Press Club to release a report that concludes that most
providers of online financial services fail to offer customers
easy online options for controlling use of personal financial
data. The speakers will be Ari Schwartz (CDT), David Butler
(Consumers Union), and Peter Swire (George Washington
University Law School). For more information, contact Dan Lerner
of the CDT at 637-9800 x315 or dlerner@cdt.org. Location:
Murrow Room, 529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor, Washington DC. |
|
|
| Tuesday, September 4 |
The Senate returns from its August recess. It is scheduled
to begin several days of debate on S 149, the Export
Administration Act of 2001.
12:30 PM. Rod Paige, Secretary of Education, will speak
at a National Press Club
luncheon. |
|
|
| Wednesday, September 5 |
The House returns from its August recess.
Deadline to file reply comments with the FCC in its
Notice of Inquiry (NOI) regarding video competition. On June
20, 2001 the FCC adopted a NOI into the status of competition
in the market for the delivery of video programming. The FCC
stated in a release
that "The NOI seeks information that will allow the FCC
to evaluate the status of competition in the video
marketplace, prospects for new entrants to that market, and
its effect on the cable television industry and consumers. The
NOI also solicits information regarding the extent to which
consumers have choices among video programming distributors
and delivery technologies." See, CS Docket No. 01-129. |
|
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| New Documents |
USDC:
indictment
of Sklyarov and Elcomsoft, 8/28 (PDF, USAO).
USCA:
opinion
in Mauldin v. WorldCom re stock option agreements, 8/28 (HTML,
USCA). |
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