Author: Ken Chan

Categories
Technology

Arbitrary and Capricious: The Banning of LexBlog

The Greatest Generation liberated Europe from Nazi Germany, and the most-privileged generation whines about free wi-fi. Yes, I’m from the generation of whiners and complainers. I’m using the “free” wireless Internet connection at a hospital, and I hate it because free also means filtered, censored, or whatever else you want to call it.Now, I know what it feels like to be in China, but worse. I am completely walled off from all the verboten content that exists in the free world for arbitrary and capricious reasons. Once you’ve seen what exists outside the Garden of Eden, you don’t want to go back in.When I try to access a banned site, I am redirected to this IP number: 10.226.37.60. Fortunately, the URL explains why a certain domain was blocked. Based on the categories provided, I think the hospital is using Secure Computing’s so-called SmartFilter for content censorship.

“Dating and Social” websites

I can’t access Plenty of Fish, Match.com or HOT or NOT. If the hospital wants to ban dating and social sites, most people can probably understand how the above three websites fit the bill. However, other sites that fall within this category ban include Facebook and MySpace.If you are looking for an “adult” date, SexSearch.com and Adult FriendFinder are also banned, but as pornography sites, instead of as dating and social sites. However, as some people have discovered, not all the members of sexsearch.com are adults.Since Facebook was banned, I was curious about other social networking sites. I was able to access LinkedIn. As for Avvo, it was banned as a “Spam Email” site. So, if you are in a hospital bed and want to find a personal injury lawyer, try the Justia Lawyer Directory or Martindale-Hubbell instead.

Honorable Mention

One website deserves an honorable mention for earning the prestigious two categories ban. The censors barred access to Orkut as a dating and social site, and also under the personal pages category.

Personal Pages

The personal pages category snares a lot of web sites:

Interestingly, the filters do not shut out all YouTube domains, so I can actually view the YouTube home page. However, several YouTube sub-domains are banned, which compromises the full-functionality of the site.

Legal Web Sites

Here’s where the stupidity of the SmartFilter technology really shines through. They’ve banned Kevin O’Keefe’s Real Lawyers Have Blogs as a personal page, but, Kevin, M.D. – Medical Weblog is o.k. Doctor Kevin = Good. Lawyer Kevin = Bad. However, they aren’t giving all doctor blogs a free pass. Family Medicine Notes is a banned personal page.Kevin (the lawyer) can take some consolation since he is among distinguished company. The Wall Street Journal’s Law Blog, Akin Gump’s SCOTUS blog, the Becker-Posner Blog, The Volokh Conspiracy and Professor Eric Goldman’s Technology & Marketing Law Blog are all banned. However, they haven’t touched the Lessig Blog or the Law Professor Blogs.

Isnt it Ironic?

Google Blogoscoped, which constantly rails against Chinese censorship, is banned as a personal page. But my favorite banned website belong to Google’s spam killer Matt Cutts. As the public face of Google, he shares with the community what sorts of SEO strategies can get a website banned from the Google index and someone has banned his site. SmartFilter? Right.In a nutshell, I can read Hillary Clinton’s blog and the Republican National Committee blog, but not the Weblogs at Harvard Law School. I can’t read The Wealth Report, but Al Jazeera, Pravda and The People’s Daily are kosher. And people really pay for this technology?

Categories
intellectual property

Corbis Sued for Copyright Infringement

When the RIAA sues some teenager for sharing music on Kazaa, it’s no longer news. After a while, the legal machinations gets old. Quick. So, when a media company gets sued for copyright infringement, that’s news. Or is it? While browsing through Pravda Studios, LLC v. Corbis Corporation et al., I came across a lot of the standard boilerplate:

This action is brought in response to a classic case of copyright infringement, specifically the unauthorized copying and commercial, for-profit use, copying, display and distribution of Plaintiff’s live action, motion picture, film footage entitled PRAVDA B-STOCK: SPAIN. 

This is a serious accusation. So, I had to find out what exactly Corbis had done to engage in a classic case of copyright infringement. To me, a classic case would involve Corbis ripping the video off someone else’s website and using it in their own marketing material. That’s classic. Instead, what really occurred was that Pravda allegedly submitted their video to Corbis, and Corbis allegedly lost it. Huh? That doesn’t sound like a classic case of copyright infringement to me.

Categories
intellectual property

Copyrighted Cease and Desist Letter

Public Citizen blogged about a <a href=”http://pubcit.typepad.com/clpblog/2007/10/dont-publish-th.html”>cease-and-desist letter</a> that counsel for DirectBuy, Inc. had recently sent.  The letter states, “Please be aware that this letter is copyright by our law firm, and you are not authorized to republish this in any manner.  Use of this letter in a posting, in full or in part, will subject you to further legal causes of action.”  That’ll be an interesting law suit.  Any lawyers out there trading cease-and-desist letters on peer-to-peer file sharing networks?

Categories
litigation

You lost me at…T-Shirt

From the Complaint in Brittany Pitts v. Joseph R. Francis et al.:

Plaintiff was socializing with friends and new acquaintances on the beach in Panama City when she was approached by Defendant Joe Francis as an agent and representative of Defendant Mantra Films and Defendant MRA. Defendant Francis and another agent of the Defendants coerced Plaintiff into exposing her breasts while being filmed in return for a single t-shirt.

Joe Francis is the founder of Mantra Films, which produces the infamous Girls Gone Wild video series. Coerced I understand. However, coerced in return for a single t-shirt? What does that even mean?

Categories
litigation

BeOS is Better than Windows

From the Complaint filed in Daisy Mountain Fire District v. Microsoft Corporation:

Software companies offering superior operating systems and/or lower prices (namely, companies such as Digital Research, Inc. (“DRI”), International Business Machines (“IBM”), and Be, Inc.) were not able to compete with Microsoft because of Microsoft’s unlawful conduct.

C’mon. You can’t be serious. I’m no fan of Microsoft, but to claim that BeOS couldn’t compete because of Microsoft’s unlawful conduct is absolutely ridiculous. All this time, I thought BeOS was competing against Mac OS, not Microsoft Windows. Instead of resolving this problem in the courtroom, the Daisy Mountain Fire District (and similarly situated government entities, agencies and political subdivisions of the State of Arizona) can take a truly meaningful stand by supporting other operating systems, such as Mac OS X, Linux, or even the BeOS-inspired Haiku open-source operating system. And, it’s not like Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel are the only two choices out there. Google Apps anyone? Suing and getting a coupon back doesn’t change the market dynamics. Switching to alternative operating systems and applications does.

Categories
Legal Research

Reed Elsevier Changes Business Models

New York Times: A Medical Publisher’s Unusual Prescription: Online Ads. Reed Elsevier, which publishes more than 400 medical and scientific journals, . . . introduced a Web portal, www.OncologySTAT.com, that gives doctors free access to the latest articles from 100 of its own pricey medical journals and [] plans to sell advertisements against the content.

As we all know, Reed Elsevier also happens to own Lexis-Nexis, a subscription-based legal research tool that many attorneys use. I think that these companies are starting to realize that more people are doing their own research online, and not necessarily through subscription-based websites. And, while they can squeeze a good handful of dollars from medical and legal professionals, they may be able to make even more money from these same professionals by opening up their resources to the general public.

Categories
personal injury

Products Liability Watch: Butter-Flavored Microwave Popcorn

MedPage Today: Brochiolitis Obliterans Pops Up in Home Microwave. A microwave-popcorn addict who found the aroma of the freshly made snack to be irresistibly intoxicating has developed brochiolitis obliterans[.]

I had previously seen reports of workers in popcorn plants suffering respiratory illness from breathing in diacetyl, which popcorn manufacturers use to impart the flavor of butter to popcorn. However, this is the first time that I’ve read about it occurring in consumers. I wonder if we’ll be seeing “If you’ve been injured in a popcorn accident…” ads on late-night television. Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP does have a Butter Flavoring Lung Injury website.

Categories
international

Gulp

I just read The War as We Saw It, an op-ed written by seven infantrymen and noncommissioned officers who will soon be returning home from their 15-month deployment in Iraq. This well-written piece provides a valuable perspective to those of us fortunate enough to be in America safe and far away from the daily grind of war. After reading the article, my only thoughts are gulp, uh-oh.

Categories
criminal law

Blame the Victim

The Associated Press reported that the 50 pit bulls seized from Michael Vick’s property were likely to be euthanized.  Am I the only one that thinks this is a bit insane?  In this dog fighting debacle, Michael Vick is the bad guy.  Who are the victims?  Society?  Tangentially, at best.  No, the victims of this tragedy are the dogs.  The ones that Bad Newz Kennels abused and executed.  And, if the Feds are prosecuting Michael Vick ostensibly to protect the dogs, how exactly are they in a better position at the end of the judicial process by being executed euthanized by the government?Quite simply, this prosecution leaves them in a worse position than the one they were in. Sure, the dogs will no longer be abused, mistreated or forced to fight. But, at the same time, they will no longer be alive. Talk about being victimized by the prosecution. When you have a defendant that is a multimillionaire, during the plea bargain, can’t the prosecution extract some fine that can be applied towards the upkeep of those dogs so that they can live out the rest of their natural lives in peace? Is that too much to ask?

Categories
criminal law

Ban from the NFL?

After the criminal justice system finishes with Michael Vick, should the NFL allow him to re-enter the league?  A lot of people (including some visitors to this website) have proposed such a ban.  However, I am not so certain this is the right move.  After all, Michael Vick isn’t seeking admission to the bar.  Committing a crime of moral turpitude might get you kicked out of many professions, but he’s not seeking to be a doctor, lawyer, banker or other position that requires some indicia of trustworthiness.  You don’t even need a college degree to get a job (as an athlete) in the NFL.  Let the man resume his career the Atlanta Falcons or another team will take him.  In reality, if he is in playing condition after his release from prison, he will take a big pay cut because of his diminished marketability.  Let him become a hard-working, tax-paying citizen again.