With Internet-based intellectual property lawsuits on the rise, the question has to be: how will Internet law keep up with the freedom of speech issues – and to what degree will these laws affect the web hosting industry as a whole? The effects of some recent Internet litigation, and its impact on the web hosting industry are presented and examined below.
Patent Litigation
Recently, a Canadian company claimedinfringing a patent it owns, in relation to Resource Description Framework (RDF), a software based on Extensible Markup Language (XML). Using this technology allows programmers to write software digital photos to access web resources, such as web page content, music files and. Vancouver-based UFIL Unified Data Technologies, U.S. patent 5684985, a''method and apparatus utilizing bond ID performed on access an endo-dynamic information node''awarded in November 1997. According to the Patent Enforcement and Royalties Ltd. (PEARL) web site, as many as 45 companies may be infringing on the patents. It is believed that the patent also interfere with the RDF Site Summary standard (web content as HTML is written in something else). For example RSS (originally developed by Netscape Communications, now owned by AOL Time Warner), and content sites can exchange information.
TheWorld Wide Web Consortium (W3C), which evaluates and recommends standards for web technology, has endorsed the RDF standard. Pearl is trying to work with UFIL which claims to enforce, since 1999. According to information provided by the W3C, Daniel Weitzner, Technology and Society Domain Leader, indicated that the Consortium had not been directly approached on the patent issue. Mr. Weitzner stated,''We believe that it is very important that the fundamentaltechnology specifications such as RDF should be able to put on a duty free basis implemented. If there is anything to our attention indicating that it is not possible, we will pay attention to legal owners out there, but at the same time, RDF was developed in the open by a very wide range of web community. Freedom speech problems
An amicus brief was recently filed by Yahoo Inc. in his lawsuit against LaLigue contre le Racisme et l'Anti-Semitism, Case No. 01-17424 (9th Cir.). Later this year, federal appellate court will not decide whether a French anti-discrimination legislation may France restricted freedom of speech on the US-based web sites that are accessible to.
In 2000, a Paris court ruled that the Yahoo! web site violated French law, due to the fact that its users offered certain Nazi artifacts for sale. In order to comply with the order to compel, to French plaintiffs seek enforcement of aU.S. court. In response, Yahoo! sought a declaratory ruling and a federal district court ruled that enforcement of the French order would violate First Amendment. The case is now on appeal. The Yahoo! case presents the question whether the Internet should be controlled by many local censorship laws from around the world. American courts have uniformly held that the Internet should receive the protection the highest degree of First Amendment. Web patent. Com's and Intellectual Propertywith the web hosting company, Hostopia
In July 2006, Atlanta-based web hosting, managed email, ecommerce and online business applications giant Web. Com
in a non-exclusive license agreement with web hosting company, Hostopia.com Inc., granting Hostopia the rights to two patents for Web. com's more than five years on a non-transferable basis .. com Web's portfolio of 19 registered, andnumerous pending, U.S. patents relates to several core technologies necessary for the web hosting industry.
The licensed patents broadly cover methods for website building and web hosting control panels. Under the agreement, Hostopia paid Web revenue. Com a right equal to 10% of their gross U.S. retail sales for five years. In addition, companies have introduced a cross-licensing agreement in which Web. Com was granted rightsthousands of HTML and FLASH website templates and a license to additional intellectual property in the future at no additional cost. The companies also agreed to a mutual covenant not to sue for patent infringement.
for the Web. spokespersons com had this to say about the license agreement with Hostopia:
Web''. Com has a portfolio of 19 registered patents with several additional pending patents.'s Web. Com patents touch on a number of key technologiesnecessary for the web hosting and software-as-a-service industry was. com Web.'s first patent-licensing deal a milestone for the company as it confirmed Web. com's belief in the value of its patents. Hostopia paid Web. Com an amount that was roughly equal to 10% of Hostopia's U.S. retail sales revenue over five years will. Web. Com patent rights to use his as a means of extending its brand and its technology so create value forits shareholders and its innovations to protect.''
Regarding the legalities of Internet content, Web. Com's representative gesê''Copyright Website owners and other writers (such as bloggers, for example) the owner of the content they create under general principles of copyright. Copyright grants the author of "work" the exclusive right to copy and reproduce that work. Copyright extends not only to the written word, but also to music, dramatic works (like playsand moves), art, sculpture any other form of creative expression in a tangible medium of expression is established. Conflicts arise easily on the web because web technology makes it easy for Web users to copy and download content such as music, video, photos and text. While the author of an article may not be against a user who links to a copy written article, the author will object if someone copies his article and republish it as being anew section. Generally, web hosts are not responsible if one of their customers violate a copyright holder's rights by illegally copied content on the client's website. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act creates a "safe harbor" from liability for web hosts that follow a specific process to respond to notices of alleged copyright infringement copyright holders of content on a client's website. Among other requirements, web host must suspend a client'ssite to the host receives a formal notice that meets the statutory requirement. The host, the client's site generate, but if the client responds with a sworn statement denying any wrongdoing as long as the client's denial also comply with the law. As long as the host follows the specific requirements of the law, which the host is not liable even if a court ultimately determines that the client is another party's copyright infringement was.''
As for content – branded, Web. Conflicts com spokesperson to repeat:''Involvement trademark disputes are more difficult for hosts to manage, however. Unlike copyright law – which protects the author of an original work – trademark law protects the name of a seller of goods or services. A potential copyright infringement is often easy to see whether the breach site blatantly copies words or images that are copyrighted. Copyright infringement is harder to spot, but as atrademark right in most cases will only extend to the "extent of the use of" covered by the holder's goods or services. For example, if Company A sells "brand name" widgets, it may have trademark rights to "brand". However, Company A's rights, in most cases will not prevent Company B from using brand name but a sale of goods or services different from those sold by Company A. The challenge for Web hosts occurs when a client website advertises brand goods or services, thirdparty claims trademark rights to "brand". How can the host know if the third party's rights are better? How to tell the host if the client's products in the third party's "scope of use."
To avoid liability for participating in a client's possible copyright infringement, web hosts will be made to develop processes to follow to respond to allegations of copyright infringement and to ensure that clients resolve those claims. Among other things, a savvy web hostwill ensure that his client agreement required the customer to resolve claims and indemnify the web host for any liability it may have on the customer's failure to do so.''
Web. Com's representative concluded, commenting on the issue of publication liability, said dat''Nog a type of potential content problem for web hosts involves liability for defamation. Defamation is a cause of action (or potential lawsuit) that arises when a partypublishes a false statement, knowing it is false, and that the publication of another person harm. For example, if a client posted on its website the statement: "Company X's products cause cancer and if the client knew the statement was false, the client could be liable for defamation to Company X. If the client honestly believed the statement is true, but the client will generally not be held liable. Defamation liability should the web hosting industryimpossible if it were not for the Communications Decency Act passed by Congress in the late 1990s. Under the Communications Decency Act (or "CDA"), web hosts and other "Internet service providers" are not liable for the publications (or statements) of their customers as long as they are not contributors to those statements.''
V. IBM Amazon.com
Amazon.com is engaged in patent litigation with IBM, in two separate lawsuits. Five patents are allegedviolated, as far as the 1980s, all regarding cataloging and data references, including change of online content. It has been reported in press releases by IBM that ongoing negotiations since 2002 have failed, and hundreds of other companies have licensed the same patents, and IBM tried to license trade negotiations with Amazon. Since Amazon.com is largely based on web technology and the ability to quickly process transactions over the Internet,It seems that if it is a mere matter of licensing, they will not be a problem. It may be that they feel IBM's patents are too broad, and cover technology that they developed themselves in the house.
Net Neutrality
One of the most important freedom of speech aspect of the Internet is that no one party owns or controls it. However, as telephone and digital companies continue to grow through mergers and acquisitions, Internet and related laws, and conceptsand issues that it regulates, came to the forefront as a new and legitimate concern for all netizens.
Issues such as network (''net'') neutrality, has become controversial areas of law in the United States. Internet giants like Google, eBay and Amazon, fearing that the network owners will have a biased two-level Internet system creates unfair farm telco services first, in addition to the concern that network owners may seek to completely censor or block content at their own discretioncreate bias. The terms of the debate neutralists (such as the Internet's largest content providers), against free-marketeers (including telcos) who argue against such regulation, deeming it to be counterproductive and even unconstitutional.
The fact remains that the exercise of rights related to freedom of speech and the Internet, places a high premium on the right and responsibility of those who use it, both in the information they acquire and in theinformation they disseminate. In order for web hosting companies to survive, it is essential that consumers realize and understand that when they receive information via the Internet, web hosting companies can not monitor, verify, warrant, or vouch for the accuracy and quality of information available.
Thus, a material posted to the Internet may be subject to patent and / or copyright infringement, deemed unsuitable for certainages, or otherwise offensive. As web hosting companies are not in a position to monitor or censor the Internet, they can not accept any responsibility for the consequences that may result from potentially violate inaccurate, offensive, inappropriate, or otherwise illegal Internet communications.
While each borrower good judge to exercise common sense and in connection with the services they use on the internet, web hosting companieshave terms of service rules in place, such things as spamming rule and preservation of open SMTP relays. It is ultimately the users the best possible view exercise in reliance on information obtained from the Internet. When users and / or consumer information dissemination through the Internet, they must also keep in mind that web hosting companies do not see change censor, or take responsibility for any information its users, customers or subscriberscreation. The very same liability as other authors for copyright infringement, defamation and other harmful speech, applies to users of the Internet.
The result of the recent Internet patent litigation will most certainly begin to set precedents
In many cases, the judge and / or jury is asked decisions to make as deep issues of technological equivalence as to fast advancement of technology at a particular point in time, which greatly affect how we continue to do business onInternet and future laws that may result from such litigation.
Many patents, have implications far beyond the alleged violation specified. A patent found valid by a jury obtain more than the normal status van''vermoede validity,''so that it can be used against other parties. All future parties, whether a party to the lawsuit, are affected. Therefore, patent validity lawsuits have the power to more than just two parties to make an impact,Unlike other business litigation.
Given the fact that Internet law as a whole is still largely in unchartered territory, the question of what positive role government can play a regulatory regime, remains to be seen. Along with the fear that new technology laws governments or big business may allow society to suppress, giving them the means freedom of speech rights to block as shown published material and other forms of censorship, the spectrum of views onInternet regulation may seem to be endless. The only thing we know for sure is that the Internet is here to stay. As such, the core issues surrounding the nature and extent of the Internet, such as freedom of speech, just neutrality, patent infringement and content will continue to be at the forefront. The Congress rules on bills to address net neutrality, the Communications, Consumer's Choice and Broadband Deployment Act in the Senate, and the Internet Freedom andNondiscrimination Act in the House, will the Internet affect the way the public uses the time, and finally, companies can determine the success or failure of online businesses and web hosting.
