Author Archives: Michael Froomkin

If I Were Still Teaching Trademark

Posted on August 7, 2007 by Michael Froomkin

If I were still teaching Trademark, I could make something of JewTube. It's not quite an exam question, but it's at least a good class discussion. Is it a trademark violation? The chance of confusion is low. YouTube has considerable fame, however, so actual likelihood of confusion may not be required. There's clearly some overlap in what the sites do: serve up little movies. And the parody defense may be inapplicable, because JewTube does not appear to be a parody — it seems to be serious, for all that there's not much content there, and what there is won't detain you long…

But maybe it's not commercial, so the site survives, so long as it never runs a banner ad.

Anyway, I don't teach Trademark any more, so I don't have to worry about any of it, except why the site is so lame.

Posted in Law: Trademark Law | Comments Off on If I Were Still Teaching Trademark

Grim Outlook for Internet Radio Equality Act

Posted on August 6, 2007 by Michael Froomkin

Wired.com reports SoundExchange Entrenches Position as IREA Faces Music:

A federal bill that would reset music royalties at a more affordable rate for thousands of internet radio stations is losing steam in the House of Representatives, raising new fears for the future of webcasting.

Looks bad for Pandora…

Posted in Law: Copyright and DMCA | Comments Off on Grim Outlook for Internet Radio Equality Act

Funny. But.

Posted on August 6, 2007 by Michael Froomkin

This is very funny. And it isn't.

The Laboratorium: Today's Telemarketing Fun

Can I speak to Mr. and Mrs. Grimmelmann?

Speaking …

I'm calling from the [name omitted] Sweepstakes, and you've been entered in a drawing to win $25,000 or a trip to Hawaii. The sweepstakes is also available to cardholders with a Visa, Mastercard, or American Express. Do you have one of those?

Yes. When did you say the trip to Hawaii is?

The winners will be announced August 31.

Oh, I'm sorry. August 31 isn't good for us. Is there another time we could take the trip?

No, you'll find out on August 31 whether you've won.

Okay, then. We'll take the money instead. Now, you'll put that directly on the credit card, right?

I tell you what. We'll get in touch with you if you win, okay?

James ends by commenting, “I’m getting better at this.”.

Now I certainly emitted a number of evil chuckles at this one. And a chunk of me wishes I had the reflexes to do something like this in real time.

But the problem is, that horrible person on the other end of the phone is a wage slave. They are only a tiny bit responsible for the call; the whole thing is orchestrated by someone better paid. Maybe they could find something else to do, but maybe they can't.And I remember the time that phone sales was the only summer job I could find with my newly minted high school diploma. That would be shortly before I discovered people would pay you money to do programming even if you had no formal training. I found something else to do. I am lucky.

So I laughed. Then I felt guilty.

Posted in Econ & Money | 3 Comments

Torture

Posted on August 5, 2007 by Michael Froomkin

Upsetting — extremely well done — article by Jane Mayer for the New Yorker, on the CIA's 'Black Sites'.

Short version, and some reactions, in Report: Harsh Methods Used On 9/11 Suspect from the Washington Post. (Note the Officially Approved Euphemism here: “harsh methods” indeed.)

War crimes, I tell you.

Posted in Torture | Comments Off on Torture

FISA Amendments

Posted on August 5, 2007 by Michael Froomkin

That the Democrats were supine in letting the FISA (Wiretap) bill rush through with minimal scrutiny is clear. What the bill does, though, I haven't quite figured out to my satisfaction.

It's another couple of degrees towards boiled frog; no, it's mostly sensible; no, it's a blank check for the executive, with meaningless oversight.

It's for six months — or is that a year? — and will, I predict be renewed once.

Posted in Civil Liberties | 1 Comment

What Does the ICANN Board Do?

Posted on August 3, 2007 by Michael Froomkin

As part of my now nearly complete service on the ICANN Nomcom, I had to think about what skills make for a good member of the ICANN Board of Directors. It seemed to me one way to think about it was that skills should be defined by what I wished the Board did; but that another way to think about it was that that skills should be defined by what the Board actually does.

But what does the ICANN Board actually do? I decided to find out. Or rather, I made my research assistant find out. The results surprised me, and I've posted them now at ICANNWatch, under the title What Does the ICANN Board Do?.

Here's the first paragraph:

In an effort to identify the skill set that would best serve future Board members, we conducted a quick and crude analysis of the most visible evidence available of what the ICANN Board actually does: the ICANN Board meetings. We recognize that this is perhaps not the best evidence imaginable: much of what the Board does is done in secret, and Board meetings have been criticized as somewhat scripted. Nevertheless, many Board members reject these critiques, and even if it were true that meetings are scripted, they remain important events and do memorialize many of the most important things that ICANN does. Besides, one has to start somewhere.

Posted in Internet | Comments Off on What Does the ICANN Board Do?