7 Internet Law Predictions for 2012

1. Hollywood Retreats

The entertainment industry thought it had bought enough politicians, plus foolish support by GoDaddy (now retracted), to ram through SOPA/PIPA legislation. Pretending to be about property rights, this horrible legislation would cripple ecommerce while allowing politicians in power to crush free speech online.

Now that Google, Amazon, Facebook, etc. are fighting back, together with civil rights groups and social media, it looks like Hollywood will retrench and regroup until after the November 2012 elections. This battle isn’t over by a long shot. Look for the entertainment industry to try one last shot to push through SOPA/PIPA when Congress critters return to D.C. More lipstick will be put on this legislative pig and it will come back in 2013 under a different name (Protect the Children Act, Save the Puppies Act, Don’t Starve Grandma Act, etc.) designed to create more sympathy.

Let’s hope large ecommerce sites continue to fight and GoDaddy has learned its lesson.

2. Privacy Changes

As Congress deadlocks on Internet privacy legislation, look for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to move forward with additional regulatory protection for children. Either in 2012 or the following year, look for bans or severe restrictions on GPS tracking of children by smart phone apps.

In the meantime, the private sector will come up with additional ways to both protect and circumvent Internet privacy. Whatever comes out of Washington will be obsolete before it becomes law.

3. New Biz Opp Disclosure Requirements Ignored

Effective March 1, 2012, there are new FTC biz opp/work-at-home disclosure requirements. Expect most Internet marketers to ignore this requirement. Some will make disclosures that contain misleading information designed to fool consumers. Few will get caught. The FTC will grab some headlines by suing and confiscating assets of a couple of the really bad apples.

4. Internet Sales Taxes Move Forward

The Federal “main street fairness” Internet sales tax legislation will have the support of both Wal-Mart and Amazon. Expect crony capitalists at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to jump on the bandwagon.

Broke states (California, Illinois, etc.) will push heavily for a federal Internet sales tax on the mistaken assumption they will receive a chunk of the tax money from D.C.

The primary advantage that small business website owners have is that the November 2012 elections provide no incentive for the Republican House and the Democrat Senate to cooperate on agreeing to the time of day or anything else. Plus, there seem to be few Republicans in either house that want to face their constituents to defend imposing a new tax in the middle of an economic recession.

5. Want to bet?

It looks like the U.S. Department of Justice is rethinking its use of a 1961 law to arrest and prosecute the owners of Internet gambling sites. Expect broke state governments to push heavily for legalization of intra-state Internet gambling. In other words, these state governments are going to want the federal government to permit gambling sites to be licensed on a state-by-state basis for gambling only by residents within the one state where each site is licensed.

It remains to be seen whether traditional offline gambling interests will support or oppose such plans. Some of the major U.S. casino companies are already investing in joint ventures with European gambling sites with the expectation of rolling out U.S.-based sites once they become legal.

6. Denial of Service

In the interest of “homeland security,” the U.S. government will continue to arbitrarily shut down websites without affording due process in court. There will not be a backlash until the government overreaches and shuts down a social media website that has political backers on Capitol Hill willing to subpoena and grill those involved.

7. Icann of .Coke

The FTC will continue to pressure Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) about the foolish decision to sell .brands generic top level domain extensions for six figures. If ICANN proceeds, expect a wave of lawsuits to swamp the courts as Competitor A buys the .CompetitorB extension to steal traffic away from Competitor B.

…Wishing you the best in the coming year. Let’s hope the politicians don’t muck up ecommerce for small business owners. Congress doesn’t understand the Internet so it should just stay on the sidelines instead of ruining it for the rest of us.

 

Filed Under: Copyrights, Domain Names, Federal Trade Commission, Intellectual Property, Internet Lawsuits, Internet Lawyer, Internet Sales Tax, MPAA, Privacy, RIAA, Social Media, Taxes Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Copyright infringement: Google versus New Zealand

Why did New Zealand pass copyright infringement legislation regulating the internet?

Politicians in New Zealand recognized the abuses intellectual property rights owners (like motion picture studios and record companies) suffered at the hands of internet pirates, and sought to better protect their interests.

In an age in which hackers and profiteers can illegally reproduce digital media with little effort, the government of New Zealand enacted legislation to curb that trend. With record companies, motion picture studios, and other organizations losing upwards of several billions of dollars per year to their product being distributed, free of charge, by pirates over the internet, the New Zealand government felt the only fair thing to do was to pass a law protecting those corporate interests.

What does the New Zealand copyright infringement law do?

The New Zealand copyright infringement law allows those rights holders to ask Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to send suspected internet pirates a series of three notifications to cease and desist illegal activities online. If the pirates ignore the series of warnings given them by their ISP, the rights holder has the option of bringing the controversy before the Copyright Tribunal. If found guilty, suspected pirates could suffer fines up to $15,000.

Originally, the bill faced opposition by New Zealand’s Labour Party, but when the authors of the bill removed account termination from the Copyright Tribunal’s list of sanctions, Labour helped pass the act. Labour concedes that an account can still be terminated, but to do so would require a cabinet minister and the Governor General collaborating and signing a specific order. To the Labour Party, the rareness of this occurrence seemed like adequate protection for the rights of alleged pirates.

Why does Google not like New Zealand’s new copyright infringement law?

Though New Zealand’s Labour Party accepted the bill despite its original reservation, Google has constantly opposed the act. Specifically, Google claims that the act presumes the guilt of alleged pirates without need of a positive finding of infringement. To Google and other groups, requiring alleged infringers to prove their innocence seems the very anathema of the Common Law legal system from which New Zealand law derives.

Google Australia and New Zealand public policy and government affairs manager Ishtar Vij has thus requested that the clause in New Zealand’s bill suggesting a presumption of guilt be removed. On behalf of Google, Vij requested that the Copyright Tribunal be required to find some positive evidence of copyright infringement before an accused individual suffers the potentially vast consequences the bill includes. Google fears that unless altered, New Zealand’s law will biasedly favor the interests of major media companies with large litigation capabilities against individuals merely suspected of piracy.

Of course, if you have any questions about New Zealand copyright laws and the Internet, you should talk with a Kiwi intellectual property attorney.

 

Filed Under: Copyrights, Intellectual Property, Internet Lawyer Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Spain’s New Sinde Law Fights Internet Piracy

What does the new Spanish Internet Piracy law do?

Spain recently enacted Internet piracy legislation which would curb the ability of thieves to illegally reproduce and distribute digital media content in the country.

Named after the country’s cultural minister Angeles Gonzales-Sinde, the ‘Sinde Law’ marks a new aggressiveness Spain will employ to protect intellectual property from abuse at the hands of internet pirates. Specifically, the ‘Sinde Law’ makes an effort to shut down file-sharing web sites that allow for the easy distribution of copyrighted material.

Why did the Spanish government decide to pass the new Internet Piracy law?

Until the passage of the Sinde Law, internet pirates distributed materials online virtually free from any restraints whatsoever. As such, the sale of DVDs, CDs, and movie tickets swiftly declined, thus infuriating the rightful holders of the copyrighted information who saw their products enjoyed, for free, by a large number of Spaniards. This state of virtual anarchy over the preservation of intellectual property rights from abuse over the internet inspired some companies, especially the large media companies based in the United States, to consider leaving Spain entirely.

Considering their economic situation, Spanish officials decided the last thing their highly unemployed nation needed was for job-providing companies to flee the country. Amid claims from various multimedia companies to both remain in and expand to Spain if strict intellectual property measures were implemented, Spanish officials determined legislation was needed. Some even expect illegal distributors of copyrighted goods to change their business strategy and to become legal distributors of digital media as a result of the legislation.

Why are people opposed to the new Internet Piracy law?

Some people feel that the bill goes too far in its attempt to stamp out Internet piracy. Arguments have been made to the effect that the bill will curb free speech by preventing individuals from spreading ideas and content freely over the medium of the internet. These detractors also claim that the copyrighting system in Spain suffers from corruption and misuse, as evidenced by a police raid on the country’s main administrator of copyright for suspected embezzlement and money laundering.

The head of Spain’s film academy, Alex de la Iglesia, even resigned in opposition to the new legislation. In his view, the internet has revitalized an interest in Spainish cinema, and any attempt to curb the influence of the internet’s propagation of Spanish film should not be allowed. These concerns, plus the concerns of some on the others side of the spectrum who worry that the bill is simply not strong enough to deter internet piracy, will continue to play their part in changing Spanish politics.

Filed Under: Copyrights, CyberCrime, Intellectual Property, Internet Lawyer Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,
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