Antigua & Barbuda Prevail Over US in WTO Ruling to Permit Online Gambling Antigua & Barbuda Prevail Over US in WTO Ruling to Permit Online Gambling

Information Technology
April 14, 2004April 14, 20042015-07-08
On March 24, 2004, a WTO panel made its interim finding that the twin island nation of Antigua and Barbuda (population 67,000) was successful in its complaint against the United States: "United States – Measures Affecting the Cross-Border Supply of Gambling and Betting Services" (WT/DS285). The complaint alleged that US federal and state legislation making it an offence for US banks to process online gambling transactions violates the General Agreement on the Trade of Service (GATS). Such US legislation effectively prohibits all supply of gambling services from outside the US, even though US companies carry on gambling businesses both domestically and internationally. In effect, argued the successful complainant, the US had engaged in anti-competitive protectionism of its domestically-owned gambling industry.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/antigua-barbuda-prevail-over-us-wto-ruling-to-permit-online-gambling

Moves and Counter-Moves Affecting Canadian Internet Pharmacies Moves and Counter-Moves Affecting Canadian Internet Pharmacies

Information Technology
April 14, 2004April 14, 20042015-07-08
While the importation of drugs via Canadian Internet pharmacies remains an issue hotly debated in the US by federal and State governments, individual US residents continue to purchase prescription drugs from these pharmacies. Not surprisingly, therefore, pharmaceutical companies are taking steps to constrain this cross-border activity.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/moves-and-countermoves-affecting-canadian-internet-pharmacies

The Antidote to Spam: Law or Technology? The Antidote to Spam: Law or Technology?

Information Technology
April 14, 2004April 14, 20042015-07-08
Almost a year ago, Internet service providers Microsoft, AOL, and Yahoo formed the Anti-Spam Technical Alliance (APTA) and undertook to develop technical standards and guidelines that would work for any software or hardware systems in the fight against spam. These ISPs, together with Earthlink, were in the news recently for launching their first joint legal attack against bulk e-mailers under the US Can-Spam Act, see E-TIPSâ„¢ (Vol 2, No 21, March 31, 2004). However, a technical solution may be more effective than a legal one to combat the continuing flood of spam which, it is estimated, makes up 50 to 90 per cent of all e-mail and costs US companies $1 billion per year in security, human resources and productivity.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/antidote-to-spam-law-or-technology

Next Steps: The Aftermath Following the Dismissal by the Federal Court of Canada of CRIA's Motion For Disclosure In File Sharing Suits Next Steps: The Aftermath Following the Dismissal by the Federal Court of Canada of CRIA's Motion For Dis...

Litigation
April 14, 2004April 14, 20042015-07-08
© 2004, Deeth Williams Wall. All Rights Reserved By: Colin Adams, Student at Law (April 14, 2004) As reported in the E-Tips Special Report (Vol 2, No 21, March 31, 2004), the Federal Court of Canada dismissed the Canadian Recording Industry Association's (CRIA) motion to compel several Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to disclose the names of customers who allegedly traded music on the Internet.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/next-steps-aftermath-following-dismissal-by-federal-court-of-canada-of-crias-motion-for

Special Report: Federal Court of Canada Dismisses CRIA's Motion For Disclosure In File Sharing Suit Special Report: Federal Court of Canada Dismisses CRIA's Motion For Disclosure In File Sharing Suit

Litigation
March 31, 2004March 31, 20042015-07-08
In a highly anticipated decision, the Federal Court of Canada today dismissed the Canadian Recording Industry Association's (CRIA) motion to compel several Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to disclose the names of customers who traded music on the Internet.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/special-report-federal-court-of-canada-dismisses-crias-motion-for-disclosure-file-sharing

Europeans Impose Record Fine on Microsoft for Anti-Competitive Practices Europeans Impose Record Fine on Microsoft for Anti-Competitive Practices

Information Technology
March 31, 2004March 31, 20042015-07-08
On March 24, 2004, the European Commission (EC) concluded a five-year investigation of Microsoft by imposing a fine of €497.2 million (over US$600 million) for anti-competitive practices in relation to its server and digital media player software in the European Union (EU).
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/europeans-impose-record-fine-on-microsoft-for-anticompetitive-practices

CanadaRx Sues Health Canada CanadaRx Sues Health Canada

Food and Drug
March 31, 2004March 31, 20042015-07-08
It was recently noted (in a news report no longer available on the web site), that CanadaRx Corp (CanadaRx) has brought an action in the Federal Court of Canada to prevent Health Canada from inspecting its facility. Although Health Canada has taken the position that the proposed inspection was merely part of its program of random inspections of Internet pharmacies, CanadaRx claims that it was being penalized for selling its cheaper drugs to Americans.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/canadarx-sues-health-canada

CAN-SPAM Act Survey Released CAN-SPAM Act Survey Released

Information Technology
March 31, 2004March 31, 20042015-07-08
The results of a recent survey put into question the effectiveness of the US CAN-SPAM Act, America's first federal anti-spam legislation, which came into force on January 1, 2004. The statute represents an attempt to regulate spamming by prohibiting some common spamming techniques such as falsifying senders' true identities, using misleading subject lines and improperly harvesting e-mail addresses.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/canspam-act-survey-released

US Embargo Against Cuba Affects Canadian Internet Entrepreneurs US Embargo Against Cuba Affects Canadian Internet Entrepreneurs

Information Technology
March 31, 2004March 31, 20042015-07-08
Recently, the decades-old US embargo against trade with Cuba has been invoked against Canadians, this time involving business activity carried on over the Internet. Hola Sun Holidays Limited (Hola) has been designated by the US Treasury Department, Office of Foreign Asset Control, as a Cuban-controlled entity. As a result of this designation, anyone governed by US jurisdiction is prohibited from doing business with Hola under the US Trading With The Enemy Act (1917). (While newspaper reports speculated whether the US designation derived from a mistaken perception that the Toronto owner of Hola, Fidel Ferrer Castro, is a relative of the Cuban dictator, nevertheless the designation stands).
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/us-embargo-against-cuba-affects-canadian-internet-entrepreneurs

Canadian Corporation Meets with Mixed Success in US Internet Litigation Canadian Corporation Meets with Mixed Success in US Internet Litigation

Litigation
March 31, 2004March 31, 20042015-09-23
On February 20, 2004, the District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled on a motion to dismiss several claims advanced by a Canadian plaintiff corporation, IMS Inquiry Management Systems (IMS). The case involved the unauthorized use and alleged content appropriation of IMS' web-based advertising tracking software, "e-Basket", by the defendant, Berkshire Information Systems Inc (Berkshire).
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/canadian-corporation-meets-mixed-success-us-internet-litigation

Long Awaited Supreme Court of Canada Decision on Copyright in Legal Reasons Long Awaited Supreme Court of Canada Decision on Copyright in Legal Reasons

Copyright
March 17, 2004March 17, 20042015-07-08
On March 4th, the Supreme Court of Canada released a landmark decision, CCH Canadian Ltd v Law Society of Upper Canada, overturning earlier rulings that the Law Society of Upper Canada had infringed copyright in certain publishers' works. The Law Society maintains and operates the Great Library, a research library with one of the largest collections of legal materials in Canada. It provides a request-based photocopy service for authorized researchers and self-service photocopiers for use by its patrons. The respondent legal publishers had brought copyright infringement actions against the Law Society in 1993.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/long-awaited-supreme-court-of-canada-decision-on-copyright-legal-reasons

Writings of Writer Lucy Maud Montgomery Fall into the Public Domain Writings of Writer Lucy Maud Montgomery Fall into the Public Domain

Domain Names
March 17, 2004March 17, 20042015-07-08
As previously reported in E-TIPSâ„¢, (Vol 2, No 2, July 3, 2003 and Vol 2, No 9, October 9, 2003), attempts were made through Bill C-36 to amend the Canadian Copyright Act to extend the term of copyright to December 31, 2017 over unpublished works of authors who died between 1930 and 1948. The heirs of Lucy Maud Montgomery, author of the Anne of Green Gables stories, were particularly interested in protecting the 10 volumes of diaries written by Ms. Montgomery, which remained unpublished until after she died in 1942.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/writings-of-writer-lucy-maud-montgomery-fall-into-public-domain

Is Internet Chat Protected by US State Wiretapping Laws? Is Internet Chat Protected by US State Wiretapping Laws?

Information Technology
March 17, 2004March 17, 20042015-07-08
Depending on the outcome of two pending cases in New Hampshire and Illinois, US state law enforcement agencies may have to revise their methods when investigating and collecting information on individuals from Internet chat rooms. Under state wiretapping laws, evidence acquired through software that "recorded" the Internet chat room conversations may be inadmissible in criminal proceedings.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/internet-chat-protected-by-us-state-wiretapping-laws

RFID Now in the Legislative Spotlight RFID Now in the Legislative Spotlight

Regulatory Law
March 17, 2004March 17, 20042015-07-08
Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology has been often in the news lately, including a recent move in California to regulate its use. RFID technology uses radio waves to communicate a signal over a short distance between an RFID tag and a reader. Each tag is able to communicate a unique identifier, just as does a bar code. Because the tags and readers are small and inexpensive, a network of tags and readers can be easily and unobtrusively implemented in a location such as a retail store or a warehouse. The tag's signal is picked up by only one reader at a time. When a reader receives a signal from the tag, the reader's location can be correlated with the tag identifier to get a reasonably accurate location of the tag.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/rfid-now-legislative-spotlight

CIRA Domain Name Dispute Panel Appears to Fail to Follow its Own Rules CIRA Domain Name Dispute Panel Appears to Fail to Follow its Own Rules

Domain Names
March 17, 2004March 17, 20042015-07-08
In a recent arbitration award involving the transference of domain names, a Domain Name Dispute Resolution Panel (Panel) established by the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) refused to rule on the issue of bad faith, in apparent contravention of its Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (CDRP). Diners Club International Ltd (DCI) brought a complaint against Planet Explorer Inc. (PEI), which had registered the domain names and . PEI registered the domain names for the purpose of warning potential customers about DCI's business practices and to gather support for a class action lawsuit against DCI.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/cira-domain-name-dispute-panel-appears-to-fail-to-follow-its-own-rules

California Appellate Court Rules DeCSS Ban Unlawful California Appellate Court Rules DeCSS Ban Unlawful

Litigation
March 17, 2004March 17, 20042015-07-08
On February 27, 2004, in the case of DVD Copy Control Association Inc v Bunner, the California Court of Appeal dissolved a preliminary injunction first granted four years earlier under the state's Uniform Trade Secrets Act (UTSA) prohibiting the defendant, Andrew Bunner, from using or publishing the DeCSS code on a web site or in any other medium. The DeCSS code is software that decrypts the content scrambling system (CSS) code found on DVD movies and allows users to copy the contents of the DVD to a computer in an unencrypted format for later viewing.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/california-appellate-court-rules-decss-ban-unlawful

Canada and the WTO Patented Drugs Policy for Developing Countries Canada and the WTO Patented Drugs Policy for Developing Countries

Patents
March 17, 2004March 17, 20042015-07-08
For many developing countries, the cost of prescription drugs required to fight widespread diseases such as AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria is prohibitive and keeps the drugs out of the hands of many who need them.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/canada-and-wto-patented-drugs-policy-for-developing-countries

Competition Bureau Closes Inquiry into "Evergreening", but Recommends Further Action Competition Bureau Closes Inquiry into "Evergreening", but Recommends Further Action

Information Technology
March 17, 2004March 17, 20042015-07-08
On February 27, 2004, Canada's Competition Bureau announced that it had closed its inquiry into the alleged misuse of Canada's drug patent laws by brand-name drug companies engaged in the practice of "evergreening." Under Canada's Patented Medicines (Notice of Compliance) Regulations (NOC Regulations), a generic drug company seeking marketing approval to sell its own version of a brand-name drug must address each patent listed on Canada's Patent Register for that drug and explain why there is no infringement of the listed patents.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/competition-bureau-closes-inquiry-into-evergreening-but-recommends-further-action

CRIA Launches Canadian Litigation to Force ISPs to Disclose Identities of Uploaders CRIA Launches Canadian Litigation to Force ISPs to Disclose Identities of Uploaders

Litigation
March 3, 2004March 3, 20042015-07-08
Consistent with the example set by its US counterpart, the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) has applied for an order requiring five major Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to divulge subscriber information for 29 suspected music "uploaders". The motion, brought in the Federal Court of Canada, Trial Division, has been adjourned until March 12, 2004 to allow the defendants to review the scope of the order applied for as well as their ability to comply with the order. In the meantime, Justice von Finckenstein has ordered the ISPs to preserve all customer data related to the request.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/cria-launches-canadian-litigation-to-force-isps-to-disclose-identities-of-uploaders

Japan Overtakes Germany in International Patent Filings Japan Overtakes Germany in International Patent Filings

Patents
March 3, 2004March 3, 20042015-07-08
A recent press release by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) regarding filings under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) has revealed some interesting trends. In 2003, for the first time in 13 years the number of patent applications filed by users from Japan (15.2% of all filings, and the second highest, after the US) exceeded those from third-place Germany (12.7%).
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/japan-overtakes-germany-international-patent-filings

Disclaimer: This Newsletter is intended to provide readers with general information on legal developments in the areas of e-commerce, information technology and intellectual property. It is not intended to be a complete statement of the law, nor is it intended to provide legal advice. No person should act or rely upon the information contained in this newsletter without seeking legal advice.

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