October ← 2010 ← Innovation Law Blog

U.S. government changes its stance on gene patenting

Oct

2010

The U.S. government, which formerly allowed genes to be patented, has now reversed its position, stating that genes should not be eligible for patents because they are part of nature. The Department of Justice filed a brief on Friday in its capacity as a friend of court in a case dealing with human genes linked ...

Microsoft acquires IP patents: including 3D sensing technology

Pravin Thomas

Oct

2010

As Forbes reports here (http://blogs.forbes.com/briancaulfield/2010/10/29/paving-the-way-for-kinnect-microsoft-scoops-up-motion-sensing-intellectual-property/), Microsoft has just bought Canesta – a smaller company. Canesta is particularly known for single chip “3-D sensing” or “electronic perception” technology. Microsoft, in its deal, has acquired at least 44 more patents. As a result of acquiring this new technology, Microsoft may be advancing the motion-sensing capacity of the X-Box ...

Facebook files for patent to refine ad-targeting

Catherine Marchant

Oct

2010

Facebook recently filed for a patent which would allow it to target the ads that appear on an individual user’s page using his or her friends’ interests. Facebook currently targets advertisements based on users’ interests and other information, but if a user does not post such information on his or her page, Facebook cannot target ...

The lime has finally run dry

Giselle Chin

Oct

2010

After a four year long battle with the Recording Industry Association of America over copyright infringement accusations, Limewire is the latest peer-to-peer file sharing network to fall. A “permanent injunction” was issued by a New York federal court against Limewire for intentionally perpetuating a “massive scale of infringement” by allowing immense volumes of copyrighted material ...

The policy implications of a social media based political culture

Adam Friedlan

Oct

2010

There has been quite a bit of chatter on the blogosphere of late on the topic of Malcolm Gladwell’s recent piece on the effectiveness of social networks as tools of political organization. Gladwell takes the position that these social networks are characterized by so called “weak ties”. These online relationships are not characterized by the ...

HADOPI hits 25,000 strikes a day

Billy Barnes

Oct

2010

HADOPI, the French organization in charge of administering the country’s new three strikes law is reportedly handling 25,000 reports of infringement each day. ISPs have 24 hours to act once notified of the report. This has increased from the 10,000 daily reports when the system came into effect but below the projected amount (variously given as between ...

YouTube wins in Spanish copyright case

Catherine Marchant

Oct

2010

A Spanish federal court ruled in YouTube’s favor on Thursday, which YouTube’s owner, Google, lauded as a “clear victory for the internet and the rules that govern it.” The court dismissed the action by the Spanish broadcaster Telecino, which claimed that YouTube should be held liable when its users upload content that violates the broadcaster’s ...

244,000 Germans opt of Street View

Billy Barnes

Oct

2010

In an effort to address privacy concerns, Google recently offered an opt-out option to Germans that would blur their houses on Google Street View. This agreement was made in the wake of the Wifi privacy breach (regarding which the Canadian Privacy Commissioner has recently released preliminary findings). 244,000 Germans exercised this option. Google points out ...

Online privacy breach: Facebook “Apps” transmitting information to Third Parties

Pravin Thomas

Oct

2010

As reported on by www.ipblog.ca, a Wall Street Journal investigation has uncovered ”Apps” on facebook leaking facebook ID numbers to third parties. “Apps” can include games and small-time programs on facebook. Using these “Apps,” in some instances, has been linked with transmission of user IDs. This can allow, in some cases, for transmission of names, photos and activities to outside ...

In Praise of Copying

Kathryn May

Oct

2010

A York University English professor is convinced that copying is good for society. In his new book, In Praise of Copying, Professor Marcus Boon argues that copying is necessary for the advancement of society and has long contributed to cultural progress. Boon asserts that the philosophical concept of copying is still poorly understood and must ...