Law Technology

Microsoft Employee Spying Patent

Posted on January 16, 2008
Well, it is not really a spy patent, and I know no one would ever conceive of using Microsoft's new invention for such a thing. I am just saying some boss, somewhere, might be inclined to use this obviously pro-employee system of monitoring their bodily functions for evil, rather than for good...

2007 Blawg Review of the Year

Posted on January 15, 2008
Congratulations to Colin Samuels of Infamy or Praise for his Blawg Review of the Year Three-Peat. Although Mr. Samuels was more than gracious in nominating several other blawgs for the honor, the glitterati has spoken, awarding him Blawg Review's top honor for a third year in a row...

Guy Without Pants Claims Patent on Wii

Posted on January 14, 2008
Ex-Midway Amusement Games employee Patrick Goschy, is claiming his patent on a video game accelerometer covers Nintendo's infamous Wii controllers. The patent actually lists Midway, not Mr. Goschy, as the owner of the patent. I wonder if he addressed this apparent minor glitch before going public...

Second Life - Run on the Banks

Posted on January 11, 2008
Second Life Second Life, Linden Labs' online simulator of everyday life, is starting to look a lot more like First Life. Started in 2003, the online, multiplayer video game does not have traditional winners and losers. You convert real money into Linden Dollars and use that money in the virtual world...

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Infamy or Praise

Posted on January 11, 2008
The Two-Time, Undisputed, Undefeated Blawg Review Champion of the World, Colin Samuels of Infamy and Praise, is not only going for a three-peat this year, but has also posted a very nice review of CyberLaw: A Legal Arsenal For Online Business. Right now, Colin is tied for the lead in votes this year with another fantastic blogger Eric Turkewitz of the New York Personal Injury Blog (they voted for each other and I voted for them both)...

Network Solutions Destroys Its Brand In One Fell Swoop

Posted on January 09, 2008
I finally found something more annoying than getting RickRolled. I am not surprised I found it, it is just that I would have bet against Network Solutions being the one doing it. Thank goodness the sportsbooks do not have a line on domain name registrars striking Faustian deals...

Carpe Y'All Some CyberLaw

Posted on January 08, 2008
As all i-list bloggers know, Project Management sage Timothy Johnson is the author of the award-winning blog Carpe Factum. As you may not know, his latest post is a review of my most recent book, CyberLaw: A Legal Arsenal For Online Business. Regular readers of BlawgIT are well aware of my inability to provide an unvarnished critique of my own scintillating work...

Bill Gates - Inventor

Posted on January 04, 2008
Bill remains a busy boyAccording to Todd Bishop's Microsoft Blog, Bill Gates has been named as at least co-inventor in over twenty recently published Microsoft patent applications. Is that news? I mean Bill is the captain of the ship. Didn't he simply tell the Borg to put his name on those patent applications? No, he couldn't, at least not without making every single one of the patents invalid...

But Can Your Phone Make a Deli Sandwhich?

Posted on January 03, 2008
Possibly. That is if you have an iPhone and Apple has anything to say about it. According to PC Magazine, a new Apple patent application published last month describes a system by which you order something (say a deli sandwich) with your iPhone, which is then prepared and ready for your pick up when you arrive...

I-List Plus

Posted on December 31, 2007
Rush Nigut just posted an updated version of Mike Sansone's and Drew McLellan's I List. The I-List is a list of Iowa Bloggers which underscores the incredible power of Iowa blogs. More that any other state, Iowa bloggers continue to remain close knit, despite their constantly increasing numbers...

Blawg Review Nominations

Posted on December 30, 2007
What is a Blawg Review?Every week the editor of Blawg Review selects one blogger "host" to cull thorough all of the week's law blog shark jawing. The host then selects the most interesting posts and, hopefully, links to them, in an entertaining format, from their own law blog...

Piracy - Now Approved by the World Trade Organization

Posted on December 28, 2007
The Hollywood Reporter reports that the World Trade Organization has authorized the Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda to infringe United States copyrights to the tune of $21 million. The ruling is in response to the United States blocking online gambling entities from access in the United States market, while allowing online betting on the ponies...

Apple Tries to Patent Your Grandpa

Posted on December 27, 2007
D@mn Kids and Their New Fangled ApplePodsAccording to Engadget, Apple has filed a patent application on an iPod which automatically lowers the volume level as you listen. The system keeps track how long and how loudly you have been listening to the music to calculate the appropriate amount of prophylaxis for your cochlea...

Did Your Lawyer Sell You an Old Shoe?

Posted on December 26, 2007
Old ShoesDid you just pay a lawyer to draft you a contract? Where did it come from? Historically, lawyers have always used old templates, updated and customized to address your specific transaction. Because clients never had access to the templates, you never knew how much customization your lawyer actually did...

Microsoft Checks are in the Mail

Posted on December 21, 2007
Just in time for Christmas I received my share of the $179,950,000 Iowa Antitrust Microsoft settlement. Although $90 is a somewhat smaller check than other Iowa attorneys received from the case, admittedly all I did to receive mine was bang my numbers into the online form...

More Wacky Patents

Posted on December 19, 2007
While 1976 still holds the record for patents that would actually shock the frightened turtle right out of you, 2007 has had some interesting contenders. Niro foil, Patent Troll Tracker, has just posted the top ten silly patents of the year. Included in the list are ways for keeping teddy bears hot in the winter and snowmen cool in the summer...

Marketing Firms Take Note

Posted on December 18, 2007
When Marketers Gets LazyA friend of mine, who just happens to be my favorite author, John Shirley, tipped me onto something rather interesting. It appears that the marketing arm of a web company decided creating something on their own was just a waste of time...

Microsoft Patent Means More Worms in Your Honeypot

Posted on December 17, 2007
Newly published Microsoft patent application (publication number 20070289018) has a rather interesting way of outlining the problem of detecting hackers attempting to misuse your system resources:Various techniques have been developed and used to help detect the presence of such malware; unfortunately, detection of some malware has proved to be difficult...

Is Your Marketing Firm Looking Out For You?

Posted on December 14, 2007
SureI have a great marketing plan for your company. You can choose one of these options:A) I jump out of a burning plane, without a parachute, into a shark tank, filled with poisonous razor blades, with your corporate logo emblazoned across the back of my suit; ORB) YOU do it...

Anyone Can Get A Patent

Posted on December 12, 2007
Well, almost anyone. As Duncan Bucknell, of the IP Think Tank Blog puts it "You can (almost) always get a granted patent - but what's it really worth." If your patent attorney drafts a bad patent application, fails to fight on your behalf, or the prior art and/or patent examiner are stacked against you, you might still end up with a patent...

Making a Copy of Your Own CD is a Crime

Posted on December 11, 2007
At least according to the head of Litigation for Sony BMG, Jennifer Pariser. Ms. Pariser stated that making a copy of your CD for your own personal use constitutes stealing. And the RIAA appears to agree. A post by arstechnica, notes that just last week the RIAA filed a brief in Atlantic v...

Patent Troll Cases Jump 40% in 2007

Posted on December 10, 2007
According to Troll Tracker, the anonymous blogger with the bounty on his head, while the number of patent cases has not increased much from 2006 to 2007, the number of actual defendants in those cases has increased significantly during than period. Troll Tracker attributes to this increase to Patent Trolls running rampant in our court system...

Attorney General Enforcing Privacy Policies

Posted on December 07, 2007
Texas AG getting out the big gunsAccording to ARS Technica, Texas Attorney General Gregg Abbott is suing two website owners for violations of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). COPPA requires the Federal Trade Commissioner to issue and enforce regulations that regulate the ability of online entities to collect personal information from children under the age of 13...

Apple Gaming Patent

Posted on December 06, 2007
Although not issued yet, Apple filed US patent application number 2007/0279394 A1 on September 11, 2006. What makes this application notable, however, in that it appears to cover a touch screen gaming application, real estate Apple has typically surrendered to Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony...

Your Toilet Might Save Your Life

Posted on December 06, 2007
Although I assume some people would rather be burned alive rather than use it, William Holmes has invented a low cost breathing apparatus for use in case of fire. If you find yourself trapped in a burning building, or just jonesing for a hit of jenkem, you merely have to slip Mr...

O! Blog

Posted on December 06, 2007
I am consistently surprised (although I don't know why I should be) by the frequency with which Des Moines' own Blogga Nostra attracts national attention. Reading Timothy Johnson's Carpe Factum, I ran across the latest accolade, Troy Worman's O! Blog...

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