By Tyler Lacey Founders of The Pirate Bay Internet Piracy Site Convicted, Sentenced to Prison The New York Times reports that on April 17, a Swedish court convicted four men, including the three founders of The Pirate Bay website, on charges of promoting copyright infringement. The men were sentenced to one year in prison and ordered to pay the equivalent of $3.6 million in damages to the holders of the infringed copyrights. The Pirate Bay continues to provide links that ... Read More...

By Caity Ross British Web Tracking Tool Violates European Union Privacy Laws This Tuesday, the European Union issued a legal warning against Britain for not applying EU data privacy rules to Phorm, a new advertising technology that tracks the Web movements of internet users. BT, Britain’s largest service provider, used Phorm without its customers’ consent during 2006 and 2007. As reported in the New York Times, the European telecommunications commissioner stated that the “European privacy rules are crystal clear: a ... Read More...

District Court Upholds First Amendment Challenge to the URAA By Caitlyn Ross – Edited by Stephanie Weiner Golan v. Holder D. of Colorado, April 3, 2009, No. 01-cv-01854-LTB Memorandum Opinion (hosted by the Stanford Fair Use Project) On April 3rd, the United States District Court for the District of Colorado granted plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment, upholding the First Amendment challenge to Section 514 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA), codified in 17 U.S.C. §104A. The case was on ... Read More...

By Evan Kubota The JOLT Digest is proud to reintroduce the Flash Digest! Flash Digest posts will provide brief summaries of recent news and developments in law and technology, along with links to more in-depth discussions. Flash Digest will allow us to expand our coverage to legal issues that have not yet reached the courts or passed through Congress, but that will likely be of interest to our readers. We have posted Flash Digests in the past, but we hope ... Read More...

S.D.N.Y. Determines Family Guy Parody Is Protected by Fair Use By Leocadie Welling – Edited by Joshua Gruenspecht Bourne Co. v. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation S.D.N.Y, March 16, 2009, 07 Civ. 8580 Opinion (hosted by Exclusive Rights) On March 16, 2009, Judge Batts of the Southern District of New York granted summary judgment for the defendants in a copyright infringement suit against the creators, producers and broadcasters of the television series Family Guy. Plaintiff Bourne Co. is the sole ... Read More...