Chapter 14 - Intellectual Property and Internet Law
Practical Internet Exercise 14-1:
Legal Perspective—Unwarranted Legal Threats
Instructions: The Chilling Effects Clearinghouse is the result of a collaboration among major law schools and the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The Web site is designed to share information about lawful online activity and protect against the “chill” of unwarranted legal threats in the form of cease and desist orders. Many organizations send out cease and desist orders to protect their trademarks. According to the Chilling Effects Clearinghouse, many of these orders are unwarranted and have a chilling effect on lawful online activity.
Go to the Chilling Effects Website and read through the home page. Then answer Question 1.
Next, scroll to the bottom of the home page and click on Frequently Asked Questions about Chilling Effects Clearinghouse. When that page opens, click on the topic area Domain Names and Trademarks. Read through some of the questions and answers, and then answer Question 2.
Return to the home page and click on one of the recently posted cease-and-desist letters in the right-hand column. Then answer Question 3.
Visit URL:
Chilling Effects Web Site
Questions and Answers
Answer the following questions in the fields below.
Question 1: What is the purpose of the Chilling Effects Clearinghouse and its Web site? List four kinds of information that you can access from this site.
Question 2: Who is responsible for making sure that a domain name does not violate or infringe on someone else’s rights? What is the significance of good faith in domain name registration? How can a person find out the owner of a domain name?
Question 3: Which organizations are involved in the cease-and-desist letter? Summarize the letter’s primary complaint. Why does Chilling Effects provide links in cease-and-desist notices? How are these links helpful to your understanding of the legal implications of the letter?
Practical Internet Exercise 14-2:
Management Perspective—Protecting Intellectual Property Across Borders
Instructions: If you conduct business internationally, you may face troublesome intellectual property disputes involving jurisdictional, language, and legal issues the resolution of which can be extremely costly. For international disputes, alternative dispute resolution can be even more vital than in the case of domestic legal disputes.
Go to the URL below and you will be at the Arbitration and Mediation Center of the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
Under the “Background” heading, click on the link to Frequently Asked Questions. Read through the questions and answers, and then answer Question 1.
Next, click on the Domain Names link on the left-hand side of the screen and select the link for Frequently Asked Questions under the “Resources” heading. Scroll down to the section on Domain Name Disputes and read through the questions and answers that pertain to that topic. Then answer Question 2.
Visit URL:
World Intellectual Property Organization
Questions and Answers
Answer the following questions in the fields below.
Question 1: What is WIPO and what services does it offer? What are the benefits of using the WIPO dispute-resolution procedure?
Question 2: How did WIPO get involved in the resolution of domain name disputes? What unique legal problems arise when domain name disputes involve entities that reside in different countries? What is the UDRP and how does it work?
Practical Internet Exercise 14-3:
Technological Perspective—File-Sharing
Instructions: File-sharing occurs through peer-to-peer (P2P) networking, distributed networks, and cloud computing. When file-sharing is used to download others’ stored music files, copyright issues arise. Recording artists and their labels stand to lose large amounts of royalties and revenues if relatively few CDs are purchased and then made available on distributed networks, from which everyone can get them for free.
In 2003, a group of the world’s largest entertainment companies filed suit against the makers of Grokster, Morpheus, and KaZaA file-sharing software products. After the defendants in that case won in the district court, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) shifted tactics and filed numerous lawsuits against individuals for illegally sharing copyrighted sound recording files.
In 2005, the Supreme Court ruled thatone who distributes a device with the object of promoting its use to infringe copyright is liable for the resulting acts of infringement by third parties using the device. Despite these lawsuits and the potential illegality of sharing files, file-sharing via the Internet continues to thrive and will undoubtedly remain controversial raising new legal problems in the future.
Go to the URL listed below. Browse the “File-Sharing & Copyright FAQ” page and answer Questions 1–4.
Visit URLs:
Copyright Guru
Questions and Answers
Answer the following questions in the fields below.
Question 1: What forms of file-sharing are illegal?
Question 2: Do you think sharing copyrighted MP3 songs is ethical? Explain your answer.
Question 3: What steps has the RIAA taken to combat file-sharing
Question 4: What are the penalties for illegal file-sharing?