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Google+Software won’t replace lawyers, but it will reduce the demand for certain routine legal services and raise the complexity of litigation. Those without the software will be at a disadvantage. It will also cut into the work of paralegals. But not lawyers.
software
Terms of use for application programming interfaces (TOS for APIs)
Terms of use are critical. Most allow for the revocation of access if the API provider decides to do so. If that happens to you, you may have little recourse. Make sure you understand the terms before you build a business on top of someone else’s API.
Trademarks and the Apple App Store
Apple’s “app store” continues to generate controversy through its rejections. I must agree with the following analysis that use of icons–especially as provided through an API expressly for that purpose should not violate trademark law (or copyright for that matter).
Microsoft update leaves Firefox users unexpectedly vulnerable
An add-on that Microsoft silently slipped into Mozilla’s Firefox last February leaves that browser open to attack, Microsoft’s security engineers acknowledged earlier this week.
Modern media centers: the hard 20% is socio-legal
Cory Doctorow points out that the first 80% of creating a media center is easy: a decent computer (I used an old Pentium III and an old PowerBook, but you can use newer tech if you’re not a poor student), video out (S-Video to an old-school TV, VGA or HDMI to a new HDTV), big hard drives, maybe network sharing (I used an Airport Extreme I inherited) so you can access media from multiple rooms. But what about content — “the other 20 percent”?
Could you scrap Microsoft Office applications?
IBM’s Lotus Symphony is a free-of-charge alternative to the ubiquitous Microsoft Office suite, based on Sun’s open source OpenOffice software. It purports to remain compatible with Microsoft’s “.doc” format (and newer incarnations), while removing licensing costs (but, not of course, support costs, since people still need training, technical support still costs money, etc.). Now they’ve decided to walk the walk.
New law journal launches that focuses on open source
There’s a new law journal in town: “The International Free and Open Source Software Law Review (IFOSS L. Rev.) is a collaborative legal publication aiming to increase knowledge and understanding among lawyers about Free and Open Source Software issues. Topics covered include copyright, licence implementation, licence interpretation, software patents, open standards, case law and statutory changes.”
WordPress and the GPL
Any WordPress theme is so entwined with the main WordPress code as to make it a “derivative work,” and thus subject to WordPress’ copyright and licensing (which is the GPL).
Narratives and evidence in the litigation of high-tech patents
Colleen Chien has a paper in SSRN, dated April of 2009, that explores the narrative of patents, from the epithet of “troll” applied to patent owners who seek only to leverage their patent through licensing, and not application, and including our rather romantic perception of an inventor.
Evolution vs. Revolution: Overcoming Resistance to Change
Image via CrunchBase Speaking in the context of technology, Michael Crandell at GigaOM writes: Take yourself back for a moment to 1990, to the era of dueling operating systems: OS/2 and Windows. At the time, many people still used MS-DOS, … Continued
Thomson Reuters Lawsuit Against Zotero Dismissed
Image via Wikipedia Sean, a Zotero co-director, announced yesterday that the lawsuit filed by Thomson Reuters (makers of EndNote) was dismissed yesterday: I’m delighted to announce that this morning the Fairfax Circuit Court dismissed the lawsuit filed against Zotero by … Continued
In re Bilski Revisited: Business-Method Patents to Go Before the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear In re Bilski, a case that may well invalidate business-method patents.
What You Write Could Get You Sued
Image by AFP/Getty Images via Daylife From the Wall Street Journal comes an article cheerfully titled Bloggers, Beware: What You Write Can Get You Sued – WSJ.com Be careful what you post online. You could get sued. In March 2008, … Continued
An Evidence-Based Approach to Law and Science
John Pfaff has been writing a series of articles for PrawfsBlawg over the last month or so, focusing on “Empirical Legal Scholarship” (ELS). ELS brings empirical social science research, including especially statistical studies, into the realm of the law. (Law … Continued
Reusable Example Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
So you’ve decided your new Web site needs a privacy policy or terms of service. Why? Perhaps you are collecting personal information, or providing a service that visitors may come to depend on. (Or maybe you’re just a lawyer and … Continued
Copyright as Antidote to DRM
Image via Wikipedia Consider this idea: without copyright protection for digital media, we would have even more Digital Rights Management. Why? Because without it, recouping up-front investment without restricting distribution would be difficult or impossible. Since I often see a … Continued
