While I’m not the biggest fan of Stephen Colbert, I will give him credit for making me chuckle while “reporting” on current IP law issues. With the remote control dastardly out of arm’s reach, I was pleasantly surprised to stumble upon this segment from Wednesday night’s show (starts at 2:44). Read the rest of this entry »
Court Decides Parliament Issue
November 14th, 2009 by Mike SonntagGoogle Voice and Network Neutrality
November 11th, 2009 by Kendall KoningUsually, the advocates and arguments in the network neutrality debate align in a familiar pattern; broadband service providers like Comcast and AT&T oppose proposed regulations limiting their control over Internet traffic, while content and application providers like Google are concerned these service providers will abuse their market position as duopoly providers of essential facilities for anti-competitive ends. Recently, however, these roles were reversed when AT&T criticized Google for blocking some calls on its new, innovative Google Voice service. While there are reasons why different treatment is justified, one of the legal arguments Google offers is somewhat ironic given its support of network neutrality. Read the rest of this entry »
Comcast Set to Buy NBC
November 10th, 2009 by Daniel McCartneyThe Times says Comcast is about to write GE a check for $30 billion to buy NBC Universal. The spectre of this media concentration (big cable buys big TV) has public interest groups in a tizzy — but the deal is still in the works, so any legal analysis of these concerns remains limited. Going forward, this puts yet another spin on the thick set of regulations that both authorize (under statutory copyright licenses) and compel (under communications regs) what cable companies can and must carry, or what exclusive rights they must share. And it also renews policy debates about when to extend these rules to other video providers, or when to do away with them completely. As the deal unfolds, expect to see analysis of these issues here. But more broadly, the move creates a set of incentives that should worry other communities online, who depend for existence on a network that has now acquired a new favorite flavor of content. Read the rest of this entry »
Bilski v. Kappos: Will the Supreme Court Uphold the Arbitrary Machine-or-Transformation Test?
November 9th, 2009 by Randy PeckAfter a 27 year slumber, the Supreme Court is set to reexamine the scope of patentable subject matter under 35 U.S.C. § 101 with respect to methods of doing business. On June 1, 2009, the Supreme Court granted certiorari for BILSKI, BERNARD L., ET AL. V. DOLL, JOHN J., and oral arguments begin today, November 9, 2009. Read the rest of this entry »
E-marriage!
October 29th, 2009 by Adam CandeubAs Larry Ribstein mentions over at Ideoblog, Mae Kuykendall and I have launched the e-marriage project. Read the rest of this entry »
The FCC’s Open Network Proceeding: Technical Debate or Marxist Plot From Which Only Glenn Beck Can Save Us?
October 26th, 2009 by Adam CandeubGiven how citizens increasingly rely on the net, and given how networks (of all kinds) have been caught blocking or fiddling with content, you would think it a no-brainer for the government to explore ways to guarantee citizens’ ability to read and write what they want on the Internet.
But not so in Washington, D.C.
Who Should Patrol the Internet’s Networks? You
October 20th, 2009 by Daniel McCartneyOn Thursday, the FCC will initiate rulemaking to secure an open internet. The culmination of the “network neutrality” debates, this rulemaking will enshrine the 4 internet policy principles, together with 2 new ones: non-discrimination and transparency. In a newly posted paper — Network Transparency: Seeing the Neutral Network — Adam Candeub and I explore how the FCC can empower the Internet’s users to achieve this principle of network transparency.
Welcome to the IPCLP Blog
October 20th, 2009 by Daniel McCartneyWelcome to the Intellectual Property and Communications Law Program (IPCLP) blog at Michigan State University College of Law. We hope to spark discussion among our full-time and adjunct faculty, alumni, students, and the Michigan IP bar on tech, IP, and communications law issues.
We’ll see how it goes.