Highlights

“Medical Justice” Gags Prospective Patients from Posting

March 20th 2009

Imagine if everything you discussed with your physician was required to be kept private. Not just information about you, the patient, but that information about your treatment by the physician had to be kept private too. The blog e-patients describes how the firm Medical Justice is helping doctors avoid consumer ratings, and the prospect of defamatory […]

1st Circuit Denies Rehearing Staples v. Noonan, Truthful Defamation Stands in Massachusetts

March 19th 2009

The US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has denied a petition to rehear the case that found that truthful statements in email can constitute defamation if they are made with malice. See our earlier post on Noonan v. Staples. The appeals court held that Staples failed to adequately raise the constitutional issue: Staples now […]

UK Seeks Restriction of Internet Use Rights Throughout EU

March 18th 2009

The UK government wants to remove users’ rights to internet access, including applications and services, for people within the EU. This move comes in the form of amendments to the Telecoms Package being distributed at the EU seat of power in Brussels. The amendment replaces “user’s rights” with the “principle” that users can be told not […]

Video Search Services Score Investment, Vie to Protect Video Assets

March 17th 2009

Video distribution sites such as YouTube, Metacafe, and DailyMotion host video files that can infringe the rights of content owners and brand holders. Until now, if you’ve needed to protect video assets, its been tough because video files are easily reformatted, edited, and distributed with changed metatags. Now, a tier of start-ups are competing both to […]

AP Slaps Shepard Fairey Back

March 13th 2009

The Associated Press struck back as it countersued Shepard Fairey this week. The AP claims Fairey’s usage of an AP photo was uncredited and uncompensated, and violates copyright law. They added that it’s also a threat to journalism. The AP is seeking profits and damages. Apparently, Fairey used several companies to market the derivative work, […]

Can You Be Defamed by a Truthful Email in Massachusetts?

March 12th 2009

“The truth is an absolute defense to a claim of defamation.” But perhaps not always in Massachusetts, and that’s a problem. Judge Juan Torruella of the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has allowed Alan Noonan, a sales director fired by Staples, to pursue his libel claim against the company. Staples’s executive vice […]

Even the Pope Dislikes ICANN’S Liberal gTLD Policy

March 11th 2009

Msgr. Carlo Maria Polvani, a Vatican diplomat, has issued a warning to the board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the non-profit entity responsible for the Internet’s naming system, as they considering allowing virtually any word to be used as a top-level domain. Establishing religiously themed Internet domain names would lead […]

Does Your Life Need a Bail Out? Put the Net in Charge!

March 10th 2009

“It’s your right to arrange Chen Xiao’s life, and it’s my obligation to serve you…”. Chen Xiao has had a tough year. Blizzards covered her home town in China, her area was devastated by an earthquake.  Her best friends divorced and her clothing store failed. What’s an entrepreneur to do?  Rent your life to the […]

Wikileaks Cracks NATO Code: Finds Afghan Secrets

March 9th 2009

Wikileaks discovered that NATO’s communications briefs were all encrypted with the same easy-to-guess password: “progress.”  Even military-strength encryption is useless if the password can be guessed by anyone reading a campaign poster. One document, “NATO in Afghanistan: Master Narrative,” is a 30-page guide to the “story” NATO representatives are to tell, and what details should […]

US Cyber Defense is a Mess: British and French Fleets Infected by Computer Virus

March 8th 2009

Last week, the Telegraph reported that French fighter planes were grounded because they were unable to download mission data from ships infected with the Conficker virus. The same article notes that most of the British fleet was also infected. Microsoft has offered a bounty of $250,000 for the arrest of what appears to be an […]