Politics and Law

A ringtone can make a star--or at least a one-hit-wonder--out of a musician, as the likes of T-Pain can attest to. So it should come as no surprise when musicians such as the Allman Brothers Band focus on the profits from ringtone sales, downloaded singles, and other electronic sources of revenue.

The popular group sued UMG Recordings in federal court on Monday, Reuters reported, claiming that it was the victim of "digital exploitation." The band is asking for a larger cut of recordings sold through third parties, demanding at least $13 million, plus additional royalties from CD sales … Read more

Thanks to tech and multimedia companies like Yahoo and the Politico, the traditional grandstanding of the Democratic and Republican conventions will no longer be limited to audiences of political insiders.

The two organizations announced Monday they will be partnering with traditional newspapers to host public forums at both the Democratic National Convention in Colorado and Republican National Convention in Minnesota. Both Yahoo News and Politico will make the forums available online.

There will be eight public breakfast panels, which according to a press release, "will set the tone for each day of the convention." The panels will be … Read more

If you enjoy buying music from iTunes, movies from Amazon.com's Unbox, or computer software from anywhere, be warned: the halcyon days of tax-free digital purchases may be over.

With retail e-commerce sales now estimated to exceed $130 billion a year, and iTunes song purchases topping 5 billion, state politicians and tax collectors have begun to levy new fees on digital downloads.

Call it the iTax. In 2008 alone, at least nine states have considered digital download taxes, and at least five of those states have enacted them into law. Nebraska's governor signed a digital download tax bill … Read more

Updated at 2:10 PM PDT with analysis from attorney Heather McDonald.

Tiffany & Co. announced on Monday that it is appealing a recent federal court decision that said eBay is not responsible for policing counterfeit listings on its auction site.

In July, U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan ruled that eBay could not be forced by trademark law to examine individual auction listings. "The law is clear," he wrote. "It is the trademark owner's burden to police its mark."

"We believe that legal errors were made in this decision, and we have every … Read more

In response to a Congressional inquiry about targeted advertising, Yahoo announced Friday that consumers will be able to opt out of customized advertising on Yahoo.com.

The news comes one day after Google announced the addition of DoubleClick ad tracking across its sites with an opt-out capability for users.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee on August 1 sent a letter to 34 companies about concerns that privacy protections already in place for consumers may not be applicable to customized advertising. The letter asked the companies to respond to 10 questions about their targeted ad policies, including, "If your … Read more

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has reversed course on its earlier move to grant Dell trademark rights to the term "cloud computing." Dell received a preliminary notice on July 8 saying it could have the trademark, but it was withdrawn on Thursday.

Dell spokesman Jeff Blackburn said the company could not speculate on the likelihood of the trademark being eventually approved. "We are waiting just for the decision," he said.

The Patent Office declined to comment on the specifics of Dell's application, but Cynthia Lynch, an administrator for trademark policy and procedure, said … Read more

Mobile devices today are far more capable, and capacious, than the analog bricks of decades past. That also creates new security risks, which the feds are asking the public to address in comments due Friday.

"Mobile devices are expected to continue to become more powerful and communicate at higher speeds, eventually giving people the power and functionality of a full desktop," the National Institute of Standards and Technology says in its draft of Guidelines on Cell Phone and PDA Security. "Besides increasing productivity, such improvements are rapidly turning cell phones into extensive data reservoirs capable of holding … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Transitions between presidential administrations are typically influence-peddling, power-consolidating, appointee-vetting exercises run by Washington insiders. Perhaps that's why the quintessential Washington think tank, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, is trying to insert itself into the process.

The private organization, which has close ties to the U.S. military and counts Henry Kissinger on its payroll, has gathered about 35 people and awarded them the official-sounding title of "Commission on Cyber Security for the 44th Presidency." Adding to the formality are some closed-to-the-public meetings and ex-officio members from federal agencies, congressional offices, and the nebulous "… Read more

The whopping housing bill that President Bush signed into law last week does far more than merely address the nation's real estate woes. Some sections have raised serious privacy concerns.

Tucked in near the end of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act is a requirement that banks and online payment networks annually collect and report to the IRS electronic payments made to online merchants. It takes effect in 2011, and will affect what information companies like PayPal collect from their sellers and could raise privacy and auditing complications.

The housing bill also finalized the SAFE Mortgage Licensing Act. As … Read more