Every great invention is copied somewhere on this planet. No, I’m not talking about in China but about Germany. Yes, you read correctly – Germany – the fatherland of modern innovation. In a ruling this week in a copyright infringement case, the State Court in Cologne, Germany ruled against Facebook for in favor of its “clone”, StudiVZ, which is home to a reported 13+ million German speaking social networkers.
Congress Taps Into Steroids, now Apple iPhone
Posted by thelawprofessor on June 22, 2009 | 4 Comments »As if it wasn’t enough for Congress to be wasting its time and spending millions in taxpayer dollars to fight the war for professional sports leagues against steroids. Now four members of Congress have decided to call for an investigation into whether AT&T should be able to have an exclusive agreement with Apple for distrubution of the iPhone and use on its network. I’m unaware that our Constitution provides for the right to have an iPhone on any carrier of one’s choosing.
Football Star Gets 30 Days Jail for DUI Manslaughter
Posted by thelawprofessor on June 18, 2009 | 2 Comments »It was reported on June 16 by major media outlets that National Football League star wide receiver, Donte Stallworth, received just 30 days in jail for killing a man as a result of his driving under the influence of alcohol. It was reported yesterday that Stallworth also reached a financial settlement with the 59 year old victim’s family and begin serving his sentence. It shocks the conscience that any person – star or other – could kill another human being as a result of being intoxicated and spend just 30 days to reflect on their misdeeds. What message does this to drunk drivers – if you have money to settle civilly and the victim’s family needs the cash, there are different laws for you?
Microsoft to Unbundle Internet Explorer
Posted by thelawprofessor on June 13, 2009 | Comments OffDue to the European Commision’s decision to recently rule that Microsoft was in violation of antitrust law for years by bundling Internet Explorer with Windows operating system software, Microsoft Deputy General Counsel Dave Heiner reported in his blog that Windows 7 would feature IE unbundled with an optional install in Europe. The European Union spun this decision as Microsoft providing less rather than more, e.g. a decision to include other browsers as optional installs within Windows 7, such as Norway’s Opera. It is interesting that the EU decided to take this action almost an entire decade after this issue was decided in the U.S. Might this have anything to do with the recent economic turmoil leaving governments to find inventive ways to find new revenues?
The Law Professor is Online!
Posted by thelawprofessor on June 12, 2009 | Comments OffOddly enough, of all the things I’ve done, I haven’t really kept a “blog” of what has been going on in my busy life. Quite frankly, I didn’t (and still don’t) feel that self-important to share with the world every small step I take! But after much discussion, I was forced to accept the fact that when you’re heavily immersed in this world of social networking and the law, you just have to pull up your belt, get a gell-filled wrist rest and type away… but I’ll save my efforts for something worth reading if I’m going to sacrifice the early onset of carpal tunnel syndrome. So thank you all for waiting, there should be plenty to read!
About The Law Professor
Michael M. Wechsler is an experienced technology attorney, Internet entrepreneur, noted speaker and quoted author. He founded Apple online community EastNet in 1992 (featured by David Pogue in Macworld Magazine) and later founding TheLaw.com. For several years he served as legal counsel to iVillage, was as an e-discovery legal consultant for Kroll Ontrack, was recently SVP of Business Strategy at Zedge, and is currently at the helm of The Law Network.
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