will suspend the use of a domain name if the first person to register =
the name does not relinquish it to a company that owns the trademark. =
(Wall Street Journal, 7/27/95, B14.)
Fry's Electronics, Inc., a California company, filed suit against =
Frenchy Frys and Network Solutions, Inc., (the company that assigns =
Internet domain addresses), among others, over use of the Internet =
domain name "FRYS.COM." In addition to unfair competition
and trademark infringement, Fry's Electronics included a claim under =
the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act of 1970 (RICO). =
__Fry's Electronics, Inc. v. Octave Systems, Frenchy Frys, Network =
Solutions, Inc., et al.__, No. C95-2525-CAL (N.D. Cal.
filed 7/13/95).
Two California lawyers and a law professor filed a class action suit =
against America Online, Inc., claiming breach of contract, fraud and =
unfair trade practices over the alleged inflation of time charges. The =
complaint in __Hagen v. America Online, Inc.__, No.
971047 (S.F. Sup. Ct. filed 7/14/95), alleges that America Online =
rounds up fractions of minutes to full minutes and fractions of 46 =
seconds or more are rounded up with an additional minute tacked on.
Computer hacker Kevin Mitnick agreed to transfer of his case from =
North Carolina to Los Angeles, where he faces charges including =
probation violation. Mitnick, charged with 23 counts of computer fraud, =
also agreed to plead guilty to one count of illegally using 15
stolen phone numbers to dial into computer databases, for which he =
faces 8 months in jail. (San Jose Mercury News, 7/8/95, 2D.)
The European Council of Ministers formally adopted a Directive on the =
Protection of Personal Data. The Directive includes an obligation to =
collect data only for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes, and =
to be held only if it is relevant, accurate, and up-to-date.
Data subjects are granted important rights, including the right of =
access to data, to know where it originated, and to rectify inaccurate =
data. Sensitive personal data can only be processed with an individual's =
consent, except in important public interest cases where
safeguards have to be established. Where data is transferred to non-EU =
countries, the Directive prevents EU rules from being circumvented.
A computer programmer in East Germany posted confidential information =
about Intel's Pentium processor on the Internet. (San Jose Mercury News, =
7/7/95, 1F.)
Congressmen Christopher Cox (R - CA) and Ron Wyden (D - OR) =
introduced a bill named the "Internet Freedom and Family Empowerment =
Act," which would bar the government from regulating content on the =
Internet or commercial on-line services and allow
service providers to filter out some objectionable material without =
being held liable for what they do not block. (San Jose Mercury News, =
7/1/95, 1D.)
The Federal Communications Commission approved Pacific Telesis' Video =
Dialtone service, offering consumers services such as movies on demand, =
home shopping, video games, and high-speed Internet access. (San Jose =
Mercury News, 7/20/95,1F and C3.)
Packard Bell Electronics Inc. settled a class-action lawsuit claiming =
the company put used or returned parts in computers it sold as new =
without informing buyers. Packard Bell could pay out more than $2 =
million in customer refunds and PC repairs. (New York
Times, 7/15/95, p.27.)
The Federal Trade Commission requested information from Compaq =
Computer Corp. and Packard Bell Electronic Inc. on their policies for =
returned equipment and use of used parts in new computers. (San Jose =
Mercury News, 7/16/95.)
The U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia =
upheld regulations that prohibit radio and television stations from =
carrying sexually-oriented "indecent" programming between 6 a.m. and 10 =
p.m. The Court found the Government had a "compelling
interest" in shielding children from indecent materials. (New York =
Times, 7/1/95, p.7; San Jose Mercury News, 7/1/95, 2D.)
The Federal Communications Commission struck down the 25-year old =
prime-time access rule, which prevented broadcast networks from =
supplying programs for one hour in the evening (7 to 8 p.m. in the =
East). (New York Times, 7/29/95, p.17; San Jose Mercury
News, 7/29/95, 1D.)
President Clinton endorsed Congressional proposals to require =
television makers to install computer chips that can screen out programs =
coded as violent. (New York Times, 7/1/95, A1.)
Federal Communications Commission officials will solicit public =
comments about how airwaves should be used in the digital age. The FCC =
will determine, among other things, when broadcasters must give up =
analog and shift over to digital transmissions, as well
as how, or if, broadcasters will be granted a second slice of airspace. =
Proposals under consideration may eliminate high-definition television =
(HDTV) in favor of a wide range of wireless communication services. (San =
Jose Mercury News, 7/27/95, 3E.)
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ordered the =
Federal Communications Commission to delay an auction for licenses for =
personal communications services, blocking the FCC from reserving a =
block of licenses for small businesses. The order
comes in response to a complaint from Omnipoint Corp., which argues the =
FCC made it too easy for small companies to serve as fronts for large =
companies. (New York Times, 7/28/95, C4.)
The Justice Department withdrew a disputed subpoena requesting a =
broad array of information from Microsoft Corp., saying it has enough =
information to determine whether to proceed with an antitrust action =
against the company over packaging of access software
for the Microsoft Network with its Windows 95 operating system. The =
three leading online services, CompuServe, America Online and Prodigy, =
have received requests from the Justice Department on how much they pay =
computer manufacturers to install their
software on new computers. (San Jose Mercury News, 7/22/95, 1D; New =
York Times, 7/22/95, p.19.)
The Justice Department will support IBM's petition to have a U.S. =
District Court lift antitrust restrictions IBM accepted in a 1956 =
consent decree. (San Jose Mercury News, 7/20/95, 1F.)
Conner Peripherals Inc. and IBM ended their patent disputes by =
reaching a 5-year agreement giving each other access to their patent =
portfolios. (San Jose Mercury News, 7/27/95, 1E.)
Computer Associates International reached an agreement with the =
Justice Department that will allow it to complete its acquisition of =
Legent Corp. without giving up some of Legent's more valuable product =
lines. (New York Times, 7/29/95, p.21; San Jose Mercury
News, 7/29/95, 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.