A federal judge in Detroit, Avern Cohen, dismissed charges against Jake =
Baker, 21, who had been arrested and jailed for 29 days earlier this =
year on charges of transmitting threats over a fictional rape and murder =
story Baker wrote and posted to an Internet area
reserved for sex stories. (San Jose Mercury News, 6/22/95, 1E; New York =
Times, 6/22/95, A11.)
The U.S. Senate approved a sweeping telecommunications reform bill. =
Included in the bill is the Exon amendment, a measure that imposes heavy =
fines and prison terms on people who distribute "indecent" material over =
the Internet. Although the measure includes
protections for on-line services that merely act as a conduit for =
individuals that use their networks to disseminate sexually-explicit =
material, the commercial on-line industry fears that it might still be =
held liable for message content where their moderators monitor
on-line discussion groups. Another part of the bill would require =
television manufacturers to install a computer chip that allows parents =
to prevent children from watching violent programs. Other provisions =
permit local phone companies to provide long-distance service,
permit both types of phone companies to offer computer-based and video =
programming as well as, in certain cases, to own a cable company and a =
phone company in the same area, and to free cable companies from most =
regulation by the Federal Communications
Commission. (San Jose Mercury News, 6/14/95, 20A; 6/16/95, 1A, 6/15/95, =
1A; New York Times, 6/15/95, A1; 6/16/95, A1 & C4.)
Three software companies, Microsoft Corp., Netscape Communications =
Corp. and Progressive Networks Inc., agreed to form the Information =
Highway Parental Empowerment Group to develop technology to allow =
computers to identify and block certain information and
images on the Internet. (San Jose Mercury News, 6/14/95, 1F; New York =
Times, 6/15/95, C2 & C6.)
A three-judge federal appeals court panel reinstated a July 1994 =
antitrust settlement between the Justice Department and Microsoft Corp., =
ruling that Judge Stanley Sporkin overstepped his authority in rejecting =
it. The panel disqualified Judge Sporkin and ordered the
case reassigned to a different judge, to be picked at random. In its =
decision, the appeals court objected to Judge Sporkin's reliance on the =
book "Hard Drive," by James Wallace and Jim Erickson, for examples of =
what were said to be Microsoft's unfair business
practices, and to the admission of briefs filed by a Silicon Valley =
lawyer, Gary Reback, on behalf of three anonymous clients. (San Jose =
Mercury News, 6/17/95, 1A; New York Times, 6/17/95, p.17.)
The Federal Communications Commission issued rules curbing the =
unauthorized switching of long-distance phone service, a practice known =
as "slamming." The rules forbid, among other things, promotional =
campaigns -- such as prize giveaways or sweepstakes -- to
entice consumers to switch long-distance carriers. Consumers who =
receive higher bills as a result of being slammed may only have to pay =
the charges they would have owed to their original carrier. (New York =
Times, 6/16/95, C4.)
The California Public Utilities Commission has appealed to the U.S. =
Court of Appeals, challenging the Federal Communications Commission's =
plans to establish a national "caller ID" system by December 1, 1995. =
(San Jose Mercury News, 6/8/95, 1E.)
Describing itself as a beleaguered victim of a "campaign of harassment" =
and "abusive behavior" by the Justice Department, Microsoft Corp. filed =
a petition in federal court asking that a civil investigative demand be =
set aside. The Justice Department is investigating
whether Microsoft's plan to bundle its upgraded operating system, =
Windows 95, with access software for its on-line service will give it an =
unfair advantage in the on-line business. The European Community will =
conduct a similar investigation. The three leading
commercial on-line services, America Online, CompuServe and Prodigy, =
have also received civil investigative demands for information from the =
Justice Department. (New York Times, 6/27/95, C3; 6/22/95, C1; 6/15/95, =
C6; 6/10/95, p.15; 6/9/95, 2C; San Jose Mercury
News, 6/16/95, 1C.)
The Justice Department made a "second request" for information from =
Computer Associates International Inc. and Legent Corp. (the two largest =
independent software developers for big computer systems) on their =
planned merger, a sign government prosecutors plan
to spend more time than usual looking into the competitive effects of =
the combined firms. (San Jose Mercury News, 6/17/95, 11D; New York =
Times, 6/17/95, p.20.)
A coalition backed by Pacific Bell asked the California Public =
Utilities Commission to delay the start of competition in the local =
phone market until protections for "universal service" are in place. =
Pacific Bell also requested changes in rules governing the way
long-distance and cable companies enter the market. All California =
markets are to be open by January 1997, and the PUC has proposed interim =
rules that would open the market one year earlier. (San Jose Mercury =
News, 6/10/95, 1D.)
Advanced Micro Devices filed a patent infringement suit against Cypress =
Semiconductor Corp. over Cypress' FLASH 370 programmable logic devices. =
(San Jose Mercury News, 6/10/95, 1D.)
CyberLex (tm) is published solely as an educational service. The author, =
a California attorney, is Executive Editor of LEXIS COUNSEL CONNECT =
CALIFORNIA. He may be contacted at cyberlaw.us@counsel.com or =
cyberlaw@cyberlaw.com. Questions and comments
may be posted on America Online (go to keyword "CYBERLAW") or CyberLaw =
World Wide (http://www.portal.com/~cyberlaw/), made possible with =
support from Portal Communications Co.. CyberLex is a trademark of =
Jonathan Rosenoer. Copyright =A9 1995 Jonathan
Rosenoer; All Rights Reserved.