Posted 07/07/08 at 09:13:51 AM by Chris Moody

Following up from a previous post, Google is asking Viacom to respect users’ privacy and let them to anonymize the logs before handling them over to Viacom under the court order. “We are disappointed the court granted Viacom’s overreaching demand for viewing history,” Google said.

Efluxmedia.com says that Viacom had said in a New York Times interview, “The information that is produced by Google is going to be limited to outside advisors who can use it solely for the purpose of enforcing our rights against YouTube.”

So the data is going to go to third parties. Somehow, that doesn’t make me feel any better about user privacy. We can hope that there will be a legal challenge mounted in the next few days against releasing user data unfiltered to Viacom.

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Google, lawsuit, Privacy, youtube, viacom

Posted 07/03/08 at 08:51:30 AM by Chris Moody

A dispute between security appliance maker Barracuda Networks and Trend Micro started earlier this year when Trend Micro claimed that ClamAV infringes on its patents covering the use of server-based antivirus software on FTP and SMTP gateways. Barracuda has now filed a countersuit against Trend Micro to try and protect the open source ClamAV antivirus program from Trend Micro’s nasty allegations of infringement. Barracuda which is a supporter of open source software was unwilling to simply negotiate a cheap licensing agreement for patent indemnity. This of course also benefits other ClamAV users which include small business, non-profits, and even some governments.

Ars Technica quotes Barracuda CEO Dean Drako as saying, "The reality is that Trend Micro is asking Barracuda Networks to pay for the use of the free and open source ClamAV software.” He goes on to say, “We have asserted all along that Trend Micro's actions are unjust and could have serious implications against the open source community and other free and open source projects."

While Barracuda’s motives aren’t all together altruistic since they use ClamAV in their products, it’s none the less vital for everyone. ClamAV is not a fully featured AntiVirus program, nor is it the best, but it plays an important role. Trend Micro sounds like it is patent fishing for cash, and I am unimpressed. They might run the risk of a consumer backlash if it attempts to go after ClamAV directly. You can learn more about Barracuda’s efforts here.

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Software, lawsuit, antivirus, Trend Micro, ClamAC, Barracuda Networks

Posted 07/01/08 at 10:18:27 AM by Chris Moody

Ars Technica reports on a case coming up in Connecticut, in which a fired CEO is taking his former employer to court for accessing his personal Yahoo account. The CEO’s former employee's access to his Yahoo account netted them over 10,000 e-mails which included privileged communications between him and his attorneys regarding his plans to sue regarding his firing. Given the recent ruling from the 9th Circuit Court that indicated personal messages sent via work equipment were off limits to search unless the employer had a policy of regularly accessing the equipment. It might seem a slam dunk for the fired CEO.

The New York Times seems to think otherwise saying that because he accessed it from a computer that wasn’t his own, and he left it open in plain sight to transmit company documents (a violation of terms of his employment contract) the company may have been justified in investigating further.

The turn out of this case may have an effect on the previous ruling, and might want to give you pause about accessing your personal email from work!

(Image Credit: Flickr RL Johnson)

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spyware, lawsuit, email, Yahoo, employer

Posted 10/25/07 at 11:09:01 PM by Erin Simon

The Sixth Circuit invalidates a law imposing strict record-keeping requirements on pornographers. Smut peddlers rejoice.

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Internet, porn, lawsuit, law, website, first amendment, speech, pornography

Posted 10/14/07 at 10:34:24 PM by Erin Simon

Consumer backlash goes litigious as two class actions are filed against Apple for disabling unlocked iPhones.

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apple, iphone, lawsuit, law, antitrust, at&t, consumer, class action, bricking, unfair competition, monopoly

Posted 10/07/07 at 09:05:04 PM by Erin Simon

The RIAA won its first jury trial targeting P2P users for copyright infringement, but the case might not be over yet.

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RIAA, lawsuit, verdict, copyright, P2P, law, infringement, making available, kazaa, jury

Posted 10/04/07 at 06:06:18 PM by Erin Simon

After unwittingly licensing his photograph to permit commercial uses, a Flickr user's photo gets remixed into a cellphone ad campaign in Australia. And, of course, sues.

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Licensing, flickr, lawsuit, copyright, law, license, advertising, commercial, creative commons, attribution, virgin mobile, ad, derivative work

Posted 10/04/07 at 04:47:07 PM by David Murphy

As we predicted yesterday, the RIAA slaps its first tally mark in the "win" column for jury trials related to its anti-infringement efforts.

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RIAA, lawsuit, copyright