By Chinh Vo Google, Verizon Offer Proposal for Regulating Internet, Face Criticism CNET reports that Google and Verizon have announced a joint proposal for regulating Internet service that offers a legislative framework for net neutrality. The proposal states that Internet service providers should not be allowed to discriminate against lawful online content producers and gives the FCC authority to deal with violators. The proposal, however, contains exceptions for Internet access over mobile networks and new services distinguishable from traditional broadband ... Read More...

By Ian B. Brooks Pennsylvania Takes on Teen Sexting On August 2 The Philadelphia Inquirer reported on Pennsylvania’s proposed bill addressing “sexting” by minors. Sexting is the sending of nude photos between electronic devices, primarily cell phones. Currently, child pornography laws, intended for adults, provide the only ammunition for prosecuting these acts in Pennsylvania. With penalties including felony charges and sex offender registration, some believe the existing laws are too harsh. To strike a balance between dealing with sexting concerns ... Read More...

Informing a Patient of a Method’s Effect is Insufficient to Render the Method Patentable By Harry Zhou – Edited by Chinh Vo King Pharms., Inc. v. Eon Labs, Inc., No. 2009-1437, -1438 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 2, 2010) Slip Opinion On August 2, 2010, the Federal Circuit affirmed the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York’s entry of summary judgment invalidating two patent claims held by King Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“King”). In addition, the court vacated summary judgment ... Read More...

By Sharona Hakimi Gates Denounces WikiLeaks disclosure of sensitive documents from Afghanistan On July 29, Wired and the New York Times reported that Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen publicly condemned WikiLeaks for publishing 75,000 secret documents relating the Afghanistan War.  During a Pentagon press briefing, Mullen said that the activists who run WikiLeaks “might already have on their hands the blood of some young soldier” or an Afghan partner whose identity was ... Read More...

Fifth Circuit Limits DMCA by Distinguishing Circumvention to Access Software and Circumvention to Violate Copyright By Ian B. Brooks – Edited by Helen He MGE UPS Systems, Inc. v. GE Consumer and Indus. Inc., No. 08-10521 (5th Cir. July 20, 2010) Slip Opinion The Fifth Circuit affirmed the ruling of the District Court for the Northern District of Texas, which dismissed MGE UPS Systems Inc.’s (“MGE”) Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) claim against Power Maintenance International, Inc. (“PMI”) and General ... Read More...