E-TIPS

The United States District Court for Northern California has ordered Sony Computer Entertainment (Sony) to stop selling its PlayStation and PlayStation 2 game consoles in the United States and to pay nearly US $90.1 million to Immersion Corporation (Immersion) for patent infringement.

The meta-search engine "Sharelook" is liable for defamatory content, a Berlin court has ruled. The suit involved a popular local television host, Babette Einstmann, whose name appeared connected to an online adult site when the search term "naked" was entered.

In a case which may have wide implications for US telecommuters, the New York Court of Appeals, in a 4-3 split decision, has ordered an out-of-State man to pay tax to New York on 100% of his income, although he spent no more than 25% of his working time in New York State.

One of the largest insurance companies in the US, MetLife Inc, has a new program for its nearly one million homeowner and renter insurance policyholders – free assistance to resolve identity theft cases. The program, which will be outsourced to a company that specializes in ID theft resolution services, will include preparing affidavits, notifying the police and contacting credit bureaus on behalf of the victimized policyholder.

Last week Canada moved one step closer to dealing with some of the thornier intellectual property issues of the digital era. The proposed amendments to Canada's Copyright Act chart a "made-in-Canada" course to implementing the WIPO 'Internet Treaties', which Canada signed in 1996, turning away from the US and Australian approaches in a number of key areas.

In a Discussion Paper released on March 8, 2005, Canada's Patented Medicines Prices Review Board (PMPRB) has raised the question of whether Canada is on the verge of a experiencing a major shift in the pricing of patented medicines.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) recently held that The Gillette Company (Gillette) could not prevent a competing manufacturer of razor blades from holding out to consumers that its blades were compatible with a particular brand of razor manufactured by Gillette.

Creative Commons is a US-based non-profit organization that promotes the sharing of intellectual works. To support this goal, Creative Commons makes available to creators free pre-made forms of licence. Using these licences, a creator can make works available to the public without charge, but can limit the ways in which the work can be used under the licence.

Recently, the Hamburg High Regional Court held that an online offer for sale which did not clearly disclose added delivery costs breached German consumer protection laws.

In December 2004, a lower court in Quebec convicted a Quebec-based corporation, Produits Métalliques CMP Ltée (CMP), of a breach of the province's Official Languages Act (Languages Act) in allowing information to be published on its web site solely in English. A fine of $500 was imposed.

In a recent article in The Globe and Mail, the newspaper speculated about the implications of a major federal legislative review of telecommunications regulation. In the 2005 Federal Budget Plan, which was released last week, several initiatives were announced that will change how Canadians interact with the industry.

Most computer users receive their news about newly released viruses from virus protection companies or through e-mails forwarded by well meaning friends. In some cases, the information is provided by mainstream media outlets. Now, in an effort to reach more people with the warnings, governments are stepping into the picture.

One of Canada's largest banks, CIBC, has been sued over the disclosure of customers' sensitive personal information to a third party in the US. The suit seeks damages of $9 million and claims breach of contract, breach of duty of care and a breach of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act.

The proliferation of spam appears to be prompting more aggressive action by ISPs, but questions are being asked whether the countermeasures have overshot the mark.

The Canadian Competition Bureau (Bureau) recently joined 76 governmental agencies worldwide, including its partners in the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN), in a two-day surveillance and enforcement program targeting scams communicated by spam over the Internet.

The Family Entertainment and Copyright Act of 2005 was passed swiftly with unanimous consent by the US Senate on February 1, 2005 following introduction of the bill on January 25, 2005.

On the advice of the Treasury Board Secretariat on February 1, 2005, the Canadian Cabinet brought into force the Secure Electronic Signature Regulations (SOR/2005-30). The Regulations define secure electronic signature for the purposes of both the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act and the Canada Evidence Act.

Canada will adopt measures intended to blunt the unwanted potential 'long-arm' effects of the USA PATRIOT Act. The initiative comes on the heels of recommendations by the federal Privacy Commissioner of Canada and her provincial counterpart in British Columbia. The federal Privacy Commissioner had recommended that the government re-examine the circumstances under which it allows personal information about Canadians to be processed outside Canada. The BC Privacy Commissioner had published a study on the potential impact of the USA PATRIOT Act on personal information outsourced to US-linked companies by governments in Canada (E-TIPSâ„¢, Vol 3, No 11, November 10, 2004).

In a collaborative effort, Pfizer Inc (Pfizer) and Microsoft Corp (Microsoft) have launched parallel lawsuits against two "international pharmacy spam rings" designed to promote and sell illegal versions of Pfizer's blockbuster drug, Viagra.

The online news service IT-Business.ca reports that, Canada, having ranked first in the Accenture report "eGovernment Leadership: High Performance, Maximum Value" for the fourth year in a row, is being courted by 15th ranked Norway for guidance in egovernment implementation.