High Court OKs Trademark Protection for Booking.com
The Supreme Court ruled 8-1 that companies with “.com” in their names are eligible for federal trademark protection, even if their monikers are otherwise generic.
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Dominique Wilkins
NBA great Dominique Wilkins sued 89 online sites in federal court, claiming they’re trading on his name to sell bogus memorabilia and other products.
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Online Shopping a Steep Learning Curve for Cuba
Cuba’s catch-up with the world of e-commerce, encouraged by its communist rulers during the coronavirus lockdown, has left many users angry.
Read moreQualified Immunity
The Fourth Circuit vacated and remanded a ruling granting state agencies qualified immunity in false claims allegations concerning money for expanding rural broadband in West Virginia because the fraud allegations implied money had been taken from the government.
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Google Loses Appeal Against $56 Million French Fine
France’s highest administrative authority on Friday dismissed a challenge by Google against a fine of $56 million for failing to provide adequate information on its data consent policies.
Read moreEurope Slams US Withdrawal From Tech Tax Talks
European countries are slamming the Trump administration’s withdrawal from negotiations over a major tax on big tech companies.
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Pandemic Pushes Japan Geisha to Get Online
Japanese geisha “Chacha” sits on her knees with her fingertips neatly placed on the wooden floor, gracefully bowing to an audience sitting not in front of her but miles away, watching online.
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Top EBay Employees Charged With Harassment
Six former eBay employees have been charged with waging an extensive campaign to terrorize and intimidate the editor and publisher of an online newsletter with threats and disturbing deliveries to their home, including live spiders and cockroaches, federal authorities said Monday.
Read moreEagles’ Don Henley Asks Congress to Reform Copyright
Eagles songwriter Don Henley urged Congress on Tuesday to “Take It to the Limit” to protect artists from online pirating, wading into a copyright fight pitting Hollywood and the recording industry against big tech platforms like Google’s YouTube.
Read moreAmazon Class Action
A class action claims Amazon.com unfairly suspended its Prime shipping service on March 17 because of the Covid-19 pandemic without crediting subscribers for the suspended service, in Queens County (N.Y.) Supreme Court.
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Twitter, Reddit Blast Social Media Disclosure Rules for Visa Applicants
Twitter, Reddit and a lobbying group for internet companies are supporting filmmakers in a lawsuit challenging a policy that requires visa applicants to register their social media handles with the U.S. government.
Read moreRealty Antitrust
The PLS.com filed a federal antitrust complaint against The National Association of Realtors, the California Regional Multiple Listing Service et al., claiming they effectively monopolize MLS listings.
Read moreThe Push to Modernize California Courts Hits a Budgetary Wall
The California Judicial Council’s push for a digital courthouse is up in the air as the judiciary faces $216 million in budget cuts due to the viral pandemic.
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Trump Targets Social Media Platforms After Twitter Fact Check
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday that could limit legal protections for social media companies over what gets posted on their sites, two days after Twitter added a fact-checking notice to a pair of his tweets.
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Australian Researchers Record World’s Fastest Internet Speed
University researchers have developed and recorded the fastest internet data speed in the world from a single optical chip, holding the capacity to download 1,000 high-definition movies in a split second, according to new research revealed Friday.
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Court Curbs German Spies’ Foreign Internet Surveillance
Germany’s foreign intelligence service violated the constitution by spying on internet data from foreigners abroad, the nation’s top court ruled Tuesday in a victory for overseas journalists who brought the case.
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Venezuelans Struggle to Educate Kids Amid Pandemic Lockdown
María Figueroa often climbs onto the rooftop of her building in Venezuela’s capital clutching a phone and laptop looking for a signal and has paid to run an internet cable to her neighbor’s home, as she struggles to educate her children remotely amid a coronavirus lockdown.
Read moreSchool Shooting
A former student who was shot six times at Santa Fe High School in Texas by a classmate who killed 10 and wounded 13 sued Luckygunner.com, of Tennessee, et al., claiming it sold the shooter guns and ammo online though he was not old enough to buy them legally, in federal court.
Read moreJustices Tackle Trademark Protections for Dot-Com Era
After the pandemic shut its physical doors, the Supreme Court aired its first livestream Monday, teleconferencing on whether the travel website Booking.com is too generic for trademark protection.
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Internet Domain Watchdog Rejects Sale of Dot-Org to Private Equity Firm
Privacy and free-speech advocates feared a for-profit enterprise would cave to pressure from corporations and authoritarian governments seeking to suppress critical voices.
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