Blog
NLRB: Workers can criticize the boss on Facebook
The National Labor Relations Act gives employees the right to “engage in ... concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection.” The rise of social networking is now asking a new question: should employees be allowed to...
The Value of “Free”
The issue of free content on the Internet took an interesting turn last week when a food blogger was told that "the web is considered 'public domain'" by Cooks Source magazine. As reported by the Los Angeles Times Daily Dish blog, food blogger Monica Gaudio discovered...
Google Buzz Settlement
On November 2, 2010, all of Google users have received an e-mail from Google Buzz informing them about Google’s recent settlement in a class action lawsuit regarding Google Buzz’s privacy issues. Several plaintiffs filed a complaint alleging that Google violated the...
The DOJ has Entered the Gene Patent Fight
Last Friday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) submitted an amicus curiae brief in the Association for Molecular Pathology v. United States Patent and Trademark Office case (the “Myriad genes case”), which is currently before the Federal Circuit. Commentators,...
Law Profs Take Action Against ACTA
The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement ("ACTA") has long troubled electronic privacy advocates both substantively and because of its secretive negotiating process. After numerous leaks, an official draft was released on April 21, 2010 after the European Commission...
Apple vs. Motorola
On October 29th, Apple filed two lawsuits against Motorola, alleging Motorola infringed several of Apple's multi-touch technology patents. Multi-touch technology is a vital part of Apple's products; it is integrated into the hugely popular iPhone, iPad and iPod touch....
Mystery Solved: Verizon Settles With FCC Over “Mystery Fees”
The Federal Communications Commission announced on Thursday, October 28, 2010 that it had reached a record settlement with Verizon Wireless over the telecommunications giant’s so-called “mystery fees.” Verizon has agreed to pay a staggering $25 million to the U.S....
Limewire Shut Down, Usage Swells in File-Sharing Alternatives
File-sharing on the internet was dealt a huge blow when a federal judge issued an injunction that shut down the file-sharing program LimeWire. LimeWire was a free, peer-to-peer file-sharing program that allowed users to share music, videos, and other files over the...
Patent Marking Pitfalls
A patentee's rights to recovery in an infringement action are substantially enhanced if their patented article is properly marked. The relevant statutory language, found in 35 U.S.C. § 287(a), states: "Patentees . . . may give notice to the public that the same is...
Unenforceable Patents that Pack a Punch: Sounds Controversial!
On October 6, 2010, the Federal Circuit released a decision holding that unenforceable patents can be the cause of a justiciable controversy under Article III of the United States Constitution if the patents block a generic pharmaceutical manufacturer’s entry into the...
Due to Russian crackdown Amount of Spam Email Drops
I had not thought about email Spam mail in ages. It used to be that whenever I logged into my email, including my school email accounts, the vast majority of my emails were unsolicited junk—advertisements for Viagra or other drugs available on the cheap through...
Emergency Powers in Cyberspace
In the past year, there has been an increase in the number of hack attacks on U.S. companies. In one particularly worrisome case, the attacks were targeted against Google and 33 other companies, including financial institutions and defense contractors. In light of...
FDA Silence on Chronic Disease Management Software
In the wake of the HITECH Act, which encourages healthcare providers to use Electronic Health Records (EHR) through subsidies and reduced Medicare payments, patients may know that providers routinely store and transmit electronically their personal health-related...
Funding for embryonic stem cell research can continue, for now
The Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia decided last week to allow federally funded human embryonic stem cell research to continue, extending a temporary stay of a lower court's injunction barring the funding. A district court ruled in August that...
Six Major Technology Firms Settle with D.O.J. After Antitrust Probe
On Friday, September 24, 2010, The U.S. Department of Justice announced that it had reached a settlement with six prominent technology companies (Adobe, Apple, Google, Intel, Intuit, and Pixar) relating to a probe on corporate recruiting policies that potentially...
Improved Patent Searching
A premise of our patent system lies in striking a bargain with the public. A monopoly of limited duration is granted in return for an invention’s disclosure. The hope is that patent publication will “promote the progress of science and the useful arts” by publicizing...
Obama Administration Addresses IPv6
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration held a workshop Wednesday to address the ongoing (slow) transition to IPv6. Guests included executives from VeriSign, Comcast, Akamai, Verizon, and Google. This is the first time the Obama administration...
Social Media and the Law
The recently published Malcolm Gladwell article dismissing those who claim social media is both a technological and social revolution, “Small Change,” has been generating buzz all across the Internet. Gladwell’s main contention: The kind of activism associated with...
A Time for Pigs, Not Pork
The horrifying natural gas explosion in San Bruno, California on September 9th ripped across headlines the nation over. As of September 29th, eight people had died from injuries sustained directly from the explosion. According to a San Francisco Chronicle report of...
Amicus Brief Charges Expansion of Double Patenting Doctrine With Disincentivizing New Biotech Discoveries
In an amicus brief filed on Wednesday, September 8th, 2010 in support of Eli Lilly & Company’s (“Lilly”) petition for an en banc hearing of Sun Pharm. Indus., Ltd. v. Eli Lilly & Co., trade organization Biotechnology Industry Organization (“BIO”) alleged that...
Momentum Builds for Reform of Electronic Communications Privacy Act
Business, legal, and academic leaders urged reform of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) during hearings last week before the Senate Judiciary Committee and a Subcommittee of the House Committee on the Judiciary. Enacted in 1986, the ECPA regulates...
Proposed Bill Attempts to Take the Wind Out of the Sails of Internet Piracy
A bi-partisan group of members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, led by the Chairman Patrick Leahy, recently introduced a bill that would increase the government's power to battle online violators of copyright laws. The bill, officially dubbed The Combating Online...
Lawsuits Filed Over “Zombie” Cookies
About a year ago, a study by University of California Berkeley researchers found that many websites were using so-called "zombie" cookies that re-spawn even when a user tries to delete them. This issue is not unique to computer based browsers; similar zombie cookies...
The Pentagon ePapers?
The recent controversy over Wikilinks' online posting of internal war documents (aka the Afghan War Diary) pertaining to the Afghan War have reminded some commentators of the similar debate surrounding Daniel Ellsberg's leaking of the Pentagon Papers. Last week, NPR's...
Posts on the MTLR Blog are editorial opinion pieces written by student-editors of the Michigan Technology Law Review. The opinions expressed in these editorial posts are not espoused or endorsed by the University of Michigan or its Law School. To view scholarly Articles and Notes published by the Michigan Technology Law Review, please visit the MTLR home page.