intellectual property

The Justice Department is examining antitrust issues regarding a proposed settlement of Google Book Search lawsuits with the search giant, according to reports in the Wall Street Journal and New York Times on Tuesday, citing unnamed sources.

It's unclear what might come of the reported talks, but the Justice Department is not to be treated lightly. The department leads enforcement of antitrust law, and Google backed down from its threatened antitrust lawsuit against it in 2008 regarding a search-ad partnership with Yahoo.

The proposed settlement with the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers, announced in October, would … Read more

This post was updated at 5:53 p.m. PDT with details about an extension request of the May 5 deadline filed by seven authors.

Google said Monday it's seeking 60 more days to find authors and persuade them of what it believes are the merits of a settlement involving its online Book Search service.

The proposed settlement of the 2005 case filed by the Authors Guild and the American Association of Publishers involves Google's right to show information from books online--in particular "orphan" works that are still covered in copyright but that are in limbo, … Read more

This was originally published on CBSNews.com.

When times are hard, people adjust their priorities--even the president. When an unexpected economic disaster imploded as Barack Obama was entering office, some of his technology agenda was put on hold.

Almost 100 days into his presidency, Obama has yet to advance most of the strong technology policies he promised during the campaign.

Thanks in large part to the economic crisis, Obama has yet to put forward his new cybersecurity strategy, or even fill some important technology-related vacancies. At the same time, the downward-spiraling economy has let him to push forward in other … Read more

Editors' note: This is a guest post. See Michael Songer's bio below.

Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, we have seen a number of well-known legal disputes: legality of peer-to-peer services such as Napster and Grokster, cybersquatting, laws (trying) to regulate porn, even "veejay" Adam Curry trying to use the MTV domain name.

As we head into 2010 and beyond, here are some legal issues that are likely to careen through cyberspace in the next few years.

1. Lawsuits related to stupid/silly conduct shown on the Internet. The assimilation of broadband brought with it those "viral videos": … Read more

Qualcomm and Broadcom announced Sunday that they have agreed to end patent litigation between the companies worldwide, with Qualcomm paying Broadcom $891 million, according to the announcement.

On Wednesday, Qualcomm delayed its second-quarter earnings statement, citing advanced settlement discussions with Broadcom.

Qualcomm made this statement Sunday: "Qualcomm and Broadcom today announced that they have entered into a settlement and multi-year patent agreement. The agreement will result in the dismissal with prejudice of all litigation between the companies, including all patent infringement claims in the International Trade Commission and U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, as well as the … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--A federal judge sealed a courtroom on Friday after attorneys for the Motion Picture Association of America and another Hollywood group claimed that confidential information might be disclosed during testimony about DVD-encryption technology.

U.S. District Judge Marilyn Patel kicked the public out of the courtroom at around 2:30 p.m. PDT, overruling objections from CNET News and RealNetworks, which also said it opposed the unusual request.

An attorney for the DVD Copy Control Association, which is involved in a lawsuit here over DVD-backup software sold by RealNetworks, said details about the technology used to encrypt DVDs justified … Read more

Vice President Joe Biden lauded Hollywood at a gala dinner in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday evening, assailed movie piracy, and promised film executives that the Obama administration would pick "the right person" as its copyright czar.

Just days after four Pirate Bay defendants were found guilty in Sweden, Biden warned of the harms of piracy at a private event organized by the Motion Picture Association of America in the sumptuous, newly renovated Great Hall of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.

"It's pure theft, stolen from the artists and quite frankly from the … Read more

As industry and public interest groups wait for the president to fill the remaining positions in his administration, such as the new position of intellectual-property enforcement coordinator, opposing sides of the copyright debate are speaking up.

The Copyright Alliance, along with 40 other groups representing intellectual-property holders, sent a letter (PDF) to President Obama on Monday arguing that intellectual-property protection stimulates creativity and creates jobs.

The letter was sent in response to an earlier letter, sent by 19 different groups, that urged the president to choose administration officials who "reflect the diversity of stakeholders affected by IP policy." … Read more

Corrected April 13: An earlier version of this story incorrectly characterized the source of Consumer Watchdog's revenue.

A proposed settlement in a copyright lawsuit involving Google's book search has drawn applause, envy, and from a handful of critics, an attempt to derail the deal.

The settlement covers orphan works, meaning books that are still copyrighted but whose copyright holders can't be located. Google would like to scan in and digitize those books as part of its efforts to create a digital library of impressive breadth and scale.

Millions of orphaned works are currently hidden away in library … Read more