Business
Certain laws like infringement, copyright, and plagiarism are just a few aspects that relate business, law, and the Internet.
Patents on the Internet | Back To Top
Many users do not realize that they may be liable for patent infringement due to their activities on the Internet. The problem was recently brought home by the announcement of CompuServe that all providers of software using the "GIF" format, a common data compression format for images, would have to be licensed by CompuServe due to a patent held by Unisys. The announcement, which appeared on December 29, 1994 and required that the vendors enter into agreements with CompuServe by January 10, 1995 created uproar. The initial CompuServe announcement did not make clear whether it applied only to those who provided software, which used the GIF, format or whether it applied to all documents and images saved in the GIF format. The timing and ambiguity to the announcement created an enormous negative reaction against CompuServe.
However, it brought home the fact that activities on online services (and the Internet) will be subject to patent liability. The claim arose under a Unisys patent, which protects the LZW compression algorithms used by the GIF format. Although several alternatives exist, GIF is one of the more commonly used formats on the Internet and online services. It now appears that many users shift to other formats in order to avoid potential liability.
The Domain Name Dispute | Back To Top
To exist on the Internet, you must have an address, called a "domain name" (such as "stoel.com" for the author's firm). The ".com" suffix denotes commercial entities. Other suffixes in use are ".org" for nonprofit organizations, ".edu" for educational institutions, ".mil" for the military, ".gov" for government agencies, and ".net" for associations. For instance, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's home page is found at "uspto.gov."
Domain names are issued on a first-come, first-serve basis by Network Solutions, Inc. of Hearndon, Virginia, under an agreement with the National Science Foundation, as part of the Internet National Information Center ("InterNic"). InterNic does not check to see if domain names are already registered as trademarks or are owned by other parties. If the exact name is not already in use as a domain name, you may register under that name.
This has led to a number of well-publicized disputes over domain names. For instance, Sprint Communications Corporation decided to rattle the cage of its arch competitor, MCI Telecommunications, by registering "mci.com." MCI now has the name back, but Sprint's gambit undoubtedly raised some eyebrows at MCI.
A couple of months ago InterNic assigned "homeimprovement.com" to a person in Minnesota who has nothing to do with the Emmy award-winning television program, "Home Improvement."
In a more widely publicized case, which resulted in a lawsuit, an MTV VJ registered "mtv.com" as his domain name, while still employed by MTV, and continued to use it following his on-the-air resignation. The resulting case, MTV v. Adam Curry, eventually settled, and MTV now has its domain name back.
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