There was once an era where the music record industry existed in a symbiotic relationship with radio stations and broadcasters. Radio DJs could play what they wanted without paying royalties for every song played and radio play was free advertising for the record industry, enticing customers to purchase records from retailers. With the advent of the […]
On July 30, 2009, Massachusetts Congressman Ed Markey introduced a bill entitled Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2009 ("Bill"). The Bill marks Markey's third attempt to legislate on network neutrality, this time attempting to put the onus on Internet service providers to upgrade their infrastructure rather than allowing them to degrade or block traffic. This […]
In a recent presentation delivered at MIT, Professor Edward Roberts and Charles Eesley discussed the findings of a report that they co-authored on the role of universities in the level of success ultimately attained by companies founded by their graduates. Understandably, an emphasis was placed on the economic success achieved by start-up companies created by […]
On 11 August 2009, a U.S. District Court in California ruled that RealDVD, RealNetwork's software that enables users to copy DVDs for personal storage on hard drives, was in violation of U.S. copyright law. In light of the evidence that RealDVD circumvented anti-piracy protection requirements set out in law, Judge Marylin Patel granted the DVD […]
The current decline in patent filings at the United States Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") has been well documented on many prominent intellectual property blog sites. In fact, according to a recent Patently-O blog entry, "new patent filings are down 16% so far in 2009." This post examines the variability in the number of application filings in the United […]
For months newspaper publishers have been complaining about Google, creators of the ubiquitous search engine and the largest online ad-space sellers. Publishers have argued that online news aggregators like Google News unfairly generate tons of ad revenue for Google without compensating the papers who provide its content. In a move likely to anger European publishers, […]
Despite the ominous verdict from the Swedish court which sentenced The Pirate Bay (TPB) operators to a year in prison and a penalty of US $3.6 million for facilitating copyright infringement, TPB may soon have new life breathed into the service. Global Gaming Factory X, a Swedish software company, has offered to purchase TPB for […]
The principle of Net neutrality refers to the idea that data packets on the Internet should be moved impartially, without regard to content, destination or source. In essence, it means that all Internet traffic should be treated equally and implies that an information network such as the Internet is most efficient and useful to the public when […]
Osgoode alum, Ron Fernando explains how India’s lack of patent protection for software affects innovators and investors in the July/August 2009 issue of the leading IP trade magazine Managing Intellectual Property. Here's a quick intro paragraph: "Proponents and opponents of software patents in Europe and the US have all but argued themselves into a standstill. […]
In a recent article in the National Post, Ronald Deibert and Rafal Rohozinsky discussed the need for Canada to plan a strategy for dealing with the cyberwar that many states will undoubtedly be dragged into. They argued that increased security threats, such as the recently discovered GhostNet spy system that attacked ministries and embassies across […]