Everyone should be able to choose how they use the Internet, including being able to screen out material they don’t want and protect themselves from malicious software. The principle is core to empowering users and to ensuring that technology works… Read More ›
Tag Archive for ‘Legal Analysis’
Inventergy Backs Away from Nuisance Lawsuit over GPS Patent
EasyTracGPS is a family-owned business that provides GPS tracking solutions to commercial shipping fleets. Recently, EasyTracGPS faced a litigation threat from Inventergy LBS, LLC, which accused it of infringing U.S. Patent No. 8,760,286. That patent supposedly claims a “[s]ystem and… Read More ›
Patents Are About Sharing Information with the Public. Don’t Shroud Them in Secrecy.
Patents give their owners the power to stop people (and companies) from doing whatever the patent claims as an “invention” for twenty years. But that power doesn’t come for free: it’s a trade. In exchange for the right to sue… Read More ›
The FCC Is Siding With Landlords and Comcast Over Tenants Who Want Broadband Choices
In December of 2016, the city of San Francisco boldly enacted the “Occupant’s Right to Choose Communications Services Provider” ordinance (also known as Article 52) that hinders a payola scheme cooked up between big cable companies like Comcast and landlords…. Read More ›
California’s ISP Deregulation Law Allows Recording VoIP Calls without Consent
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has been opposing A.B. 1366, legislation by Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez, which would renew a law that effectively shields a huge part of the telecommunications industry from state and local regulation. Comcast and AT&T law backed this… Read More ›
AT&T Sues California to Prevent Oversight Over IP Based 911 Calls Using State Law AT&T Supported and Wants Renewed
The California legislature in 2011 passed a law to remove state and local authority over the broadband access market to “ensure a vibrant and competitive open Internet that allows California’s technology businesses to continue to flourish and contribute to economic… Read More ›
National Emergencies: Constitutional and Statutory Restrictions on Presidential Powers
When a president threatens to exercise the power to declare a national emergency, our system of checks and balances faces a crucial test. With President Trump threatening such a declaration in order to build his proposed physical border wall, that… Read More ›
Texas Supreme Court Subtly Provides Stronger Protections for Anonymous Speakers
The Texas Supreme Court upheld protections for anonymous online speakers in a January ruling, albeit in a way that sidestepped thorny legal questions but will likely have the effect of vindicating First Amendment rights going forward. The case, Glassdoor, Inc…. Read More ›
Victory! Supreme Court Says Fourth Amendment Applies to Cell Phone Tracking
The Supreme Court handed down a landmark opinion today in Carpenter v. United States, ruling 5-4 that the Fourth Amendment protects cell phone location information. In an opinion by Chief Justice Roberts, the Court recognized that location information, collected by… Read More ›
While the Net Neutrality Fight Continues, AT&T and Verizon are Opening a New Attack on ISP Competition
In 1996, Congress passed the Telecommunications Act in order to inject competition into the telephone market and set the stage for a nascent commercial Internet. Last month, US Telecom, the trade association of AT&T and Verizon, filed a petition with… Read More ›