http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/lawgeek thoughts on law, internet, and society Sun, 04 May 2008 22:46:13 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en One of the ways in which the patent system provides incentives to commercialize is the protection it gives to smaller inventors or even smaller companies.  With a patent in hand, an inventor does not have to wait until he finds the funds to produce the item himself, therefore potentially bringing ... http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/lawgeek/2008/05/04/patents-and-incentives-to-commercialize/ Apple Sued Over ITunes Technology These articles seem aimed at the general public, not law geeks. So I did a little research. It appears that this is regarding United States Patent 7.343,414 In other news, Activision's "Guitar Hero" violates patent: Gibson which appears to concern Patent 5,990,405 After ... http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/lawgeek/2008/03/15/patent-law-news-roundup/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/webdifference/ http://www.hyperorg.com/blogger/ These are two other live blogs on the hearing, the first being the course's blog as a whole.  The direct link to the live blog on the course website is here. http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/lawgeek/2008/02/25/more-about-my-current-cyberlaw-class-and-the-fcc-hearing/ Video Comments: Sarah McKee (retired Federal Attorney): Wanted to hear from non-techies how the 'net improves their lives, and about 'net neutrality.  She plays music for cancer and other hospital patients.  To organize them, they need the internet, without it they would not be able to operate. http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/lawgeek/2008/02/25/liveblogging-the-fcc-conference-part-iv/ Questions Q: Best case scenario network? A: Their business follows broadband - hence a lot of oportunity in Asia (i.e. China and Japan) Can work when we understand what is being done to them.  They rely on the structure of the internet to habndle things like basic congestion control.  has been functioning for a ... http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/lawgeek/2008/02/25/liveblogging-the-fcc-conference-part-iii/ * Scott Smyers, Senior Vice President, Network & Systems Architecture Division, Sony Electronics Inc Competition in the video content distribution space would be advantageous, and allow new providers to enter the market. Sony experiences competition a little differntly.  There are over 80 TV manufactureres, every year costs go down and technology ... http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/lawgeek/2008/02/25/liveblogging-the-fcc-conference-part-ii/ * Eric Klinker, Chief Technology Officer, BitTorrent  Comcast has introduced the idea of blocking BitTorrent.  The speaker is dicussing the potential of this medium to have beneficial uses for the 'net.  It has many legitimate uses, including those companies that use it as a free distribution stream for their content, like Fox ... http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/lawgeek/2008/02/25/liveblogging-the-fcc-conference/ Although the focus of our "Practical Lawyering in Cyberspace" class has been the approach the attorneys took, rather than the substantive issues they tackled, I can't help but get sidetracked this week.  We were dealing with the Zango v. Kapersky Software case, whereas a spyware purveyor sued an anti-virus software ... http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/lawgeek/2007/09/27/i-hate-zango/ Is the argument that Google seeks to make money (presented in both complaints for McGraw-Hill and Author’s Guild) effective considering the plaintiffs also seek to make money through exercising their copyrights or engaging in other deals? Generally, how should plaintiffs approach arguments in their complaints that may also undermine ... http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/lawgeek/2007/09/27/62/ The Egilman Complaint leaves out many details of the story, which are then supplied by the Answer. Is plaintiff’s case assisted by noting only those facts favorable to his case, or does it give the defendant an edge by detracting from his credibility? If the latter, is this factor amplified ... http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/lawgeek/2007/09/27/developing-and-articulating-a-core-theory-of-the-case/