Chapter 9
criminal liability for the piracy of copyrighted materials to persons who exchange unauthorized copies of copyrighted works without realizing a profit.
T
The U.S. Safe Web Act
After the CAN-SPAM Act prohibited false and deceptive e-mails originating in the United States, spamming from servers located in other nations increased. The act allows the FTC to cooperate and share information with foreign agencies in investigating and prosecuting those involved in spamming, spyware, and various Internet frauds and deceptions.
Typosquatting
a problem that occurs when someone registers purposely misspelled variations of well-known domain names appple.com googgle.com Typosquatting may sometimes fall beyond the reach of the ACPA.
Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA)
amended federal wiretapping law to cover electronic forms of communications. Although Congress enacted the ECPA many years before social media networks existed, it nevertheless applies to communications through social media.
The Federal CAN-SPAM Act
permits the sending of unsolicited commercial e-mail but prohibits certain types of spamming activities. Prohibited activities include the use of a false return address and the use of false, misleading, or deceptive information when sending e-mail.
A company may permit another party to use a trademark (or other intellectual property) under a license. A licensor might grant a license allowing its trademark to be used as part of a domain name, for instance.
t
A newer method of sharing files via the Internet is cloud computing, which is essentially a subscription-based or pay-per-use service that extends a computer's software or storage capabilities.
t
As e-commerce expanded worldwide, one issue that emerged involved the rights of a trademark owner to use the mark as part of a domain name
t
Because cybersquatting has led to so much litigation, Congress enacted the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA)
t
Cookies are invisible files that computers, smartphones, and other mobile devices create to track a user's Web browsing activities. Cookies provide detailed information to marketers about an individual's behavior and preferences, which is then used to personalize online services.
t
Copyright law is probably the most important form of intellectual property protection on the Internet.
t
Cyber torts are torts that arise from online conduct. One of the most prevalent cyber torts is online defamation.
t
DMCA also limits the liability of Internet service providers (ISPs).
t
Every domain name ends with a top-level domain (TLD), which is the part of the name to the right of the period
t
Excluded from the ECPA's coverage are any electronic communications through devices that an employer provides for its employee to use "in the ordinary course of its business."
t
Federal regulators also use social media posts in their investigations into illegal activities.
t
File-sharing is accomplished through peer-to-peer (P2P) networking
t
Initially, criminal penalties for copyright violations could be imposed only if unauthorized copies were exchanged for financial gain
t
Law enforcement uses social media to detect and prosecute criminals.
t
Meta tags are key words that give Internet browsers specific information about a Web page. Meta tags can be used to increase the likelihood that a site will be included in search engine results, even if the site has nothing to do with the key words.
t
Social media posts have been used to invalidate settlement agreements that contain confidentiality clauses.
t
Social media posts now are routinely included in discovery in litigation because they can provide damaging information that establishes a person's intent or what she or he knew at a particular time. Like e-mail, posts on social networks can be the smoking gun that leads to liability.
t
Some domain name registrars offer privacy services that hide the true owners of Web sites, making it difficult for trademark owners to identify cybersquatters. Thus, before bringing a suit, a trademark owner has to ask the court for a subpoena to discover the identity of the owner of the infringing Web site.
t
The ACPA applies to all domain name registrations of trademarks
t
The Communications Decency Act (CDA) states that "[n]o provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider."
t
The DMCA provides for exceptions to fit the needs of libraries, scientists, universities, and others.
t
The Safe Web Act also provides a "safe harbor" for Internet service providers (ISPs)—that is, organizations that provide access to the Internet.
t
The second-level domain (SLD)—the part of the name to the left of the period—is chosen by the business entity or individual registering the domain name.
t
Trademark dilution occurs when a trademark is used, without authorization, in a way that diminishes the distinctive quality of the mark.
t
Unlike trademark infringement, a claim of dilution does not require proof that consumers are likely to be confused by a connection between the unauthorized use and the mark
t
When you download an application on your smartphone, tablet, or other mobile device, for instance, you are typically entering into a license agreement. You are obtaining only a license to use that app and not ownership rights in it.
t
Three issues
unsolicited e-mail, domain names, and cybersquatting,
Spam
unsolicited email must have a way to opt-out of spam to be legal
Cybersquatting
when a person registers a domain name that is the same as, or confusingly similar to, the trademark of another and then offers to sell the domain name back to the trademark owner.
One of the goals of the new gTLD system was to address the problem of
Cybersquatting
A domain name is part of an
Internet Address
The ACPA makes cybersquatting illegal when both of the following are true:
The domain name is identical or confusingly similar to the trademark of another. The one registering, trafficking in, or using the domain name has a "bad faith intent" to profit from that trademark.
Using another's trademark in a meta tag without the owner's permission normally constitutes
Trademark Infringment
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a nonprofit corporation, oversees the
distribution of domain names and operates an online arbitration system
Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)
established civil and criminal penalties for anyone who circumvents (bypasses) encryption software or other technological antipiracy protection. Also prohibited are the manufacture, import, sale, and distribution of devices or services for circumvention.
