<
106s
•
106
Bratz Dolls Wins Stay - Dec 10 MGA
Entertainment Wins Reprieve on Bratz Dolls Recall
(tviNewsUpdate: Mattel Inc. v. MGA
Entertainment, 09-55673, U.S. Court of Appeals for
the Ninth Circuit (San Francisco)
•• •
Dec. 10, 2009 - Bloomberg reported that
MGA Entertainment Inc. won a temporary halt to the
court-ordered recall of its Bratz dolls that
were found to infringe the copyrights of rival
toymaker Mattel Inc. and the companies must try to
reach a settlement.
•• •
"The parties are ordered to attempt to
settle the dispute through expedited participation
in this court's mediation program," a three-judge
panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals said in an order
yesterday.
•• •
Former U.S. District Judge Stephen Larson
had ordered a recall of MGA's dolls that was to go
into effect next month. Larson's order followed a
jury verdict last year that a Mattel designer
created the Bratz name and characters and secretly
took the idea to closely held MGA.
••• •
"The court hasn't issued a decision in the
appeal," Mattel said in an e-mailed statement. "It
has issued an order staying the equitable relief,
and also ordering expedited participation in the
Circuit's mediation program. Since the
appeal process is still pending, we cannot comment
further." •
CLICK
FOR MORE Barbie
vs
Bratz /// •
COMING - 113-AcroynymsPotus.rtf
-- What's in the name AFTRA, SAG, SMART90 or
POTUS? Everything
according to the Pacific Sunrise International
organization, which now wants to be known only as
pacificsunrise.org. The rationale for the ".org
word" -- The Internet access.
•
•
Q
- Did Google's YouTube Really Infringe on
Viacom Copyrights?
•••
NO,
Says. U.S. District Judge Louis Stanton in
New York ON Jun 24, 2010.
As
U.S.
District Judge Louis L. Stanton in New
York explained,
Congress recognized that the Internet
couldn't function if broadband providers,
search engines and hosting services were
held liable for every unauthorized copy
made on their networks. The Digital
Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 protected
those companies from liability as long as
they acted quickly to remove any
infringing material identified by
copyright holders.
•••
Viacom argued that YouTube didn't qualify
for this protection because infringements
were common and central to the company's
fortunes. Echoing earlier rulings,
however, Judge Stanton held that the law
doesn't require YouTube to police its
network for bootlegged videos. Instead, it
only has to remove the items singled out
by copyright holders. That's sensible --
copyright owners are far better positioned
to know whether a clip was used legally or
not. In fact, many of the clips cited in
the original lawsuit weren't infringing.
At least 100 had been posted by marketers
employed by Viacom.
•••
Google Inc.'s
YouTube didn't violate Viacom Inc.
copyrights when content including clips
from its MTV and Comedy Central cable
television channels were posted on the
video-sharing website, the judge
ruled.
•••
Judge Stanton in New
York said YouTube wasn't liable for
infringement. Viacom, controlled by Sumner
Redstone, had sought at least $1 billion
in damages, according to a revised
complaint filed in April 2008.
•••
Stanton agreed with
YouTube that it was protected by the
safe-harbor provision of the federal
Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which
says a service provider isn't liable for
infringement if it removes material from
its site when notified by the copyright
owner.
•••
"The provider must
know of the particular case before he can
control it," Stanton said in the ruling.
"The provider need not monitor or seek out
facts indicating such
activity."
•••
More than 24 hours
worth of video is uploaded to the YouTube
site every minute, the judge said. YouTube
had a policy of removing infringing
content from its site and banning users
after three such offenses, according to
the ruling.
••
•In the
past Hollywood Entertainment producers,
and their Associations have asked the
courts repeatedly for help in coping with
online piracy, but the results have been
decidedly mixed.
••
•
Although judges have come down hard on
numerous file-sharing networks and search
engines that specialize in bootlegs,
they've ruled in favor of several websites
whose content is generated by users, even
if it wasn't authorized by the copyright
holders.
••
• The
latest may be the most significant: Judge
Stanton dismissed Viacom allegations that
Google's YouTube had built its business by
turning a blind eye to widespread
copyright infringements.
••
Both companies asked
Judge Stanton in March to decide the case
in their favor without a trial. Viacom
said YouTube benefited financially by
allowing users to post and share programs
including "The Daily Show With Jon
Stewart" and "South Park" on its website
without authorization. The ruling,
which Viacom plans to appeal, reaffirmed
the crucial principle that online
companies should be held responsible for
what they do, not what others do with
their services.
(Source: Bloomberg. Harris/Jeffrey).
•••
The LA Times
reported that some analysts assert
that the ruling increases the burden on
entertainment companies, but it really
just rebuffs another effort to shift
copyright holders' responsibilities onto
the middlemen who have opened new
distribution pathways online.
••
• Those
efforts are understandable, given how
quickly works can spread around the world,
and how many sites can become unauthorized
sources. But speedy, low-cost distribution
is one of the great advantages of the
Internet, not a flaw.
••
• Many
entertainment companies have come to
accept that reality, striking deals with
YouTube and others to generate revenue
from the material that fans post
online.
••
•
Meanwhile, YouTube and its competitors are
adding filtering technologies that enable
this monetization, as well as giving
copyright holders more say over what gets
posted. That kind of cooperation in the
marketplace is a more effective response
to online piracy than years of futile
litigation.
•
CLICK
FOR MORE - Eric Schmidt
• 102-
Google TV project at I/O 2010. The Open
Platform will Bring the Internet to the
big TV Screen.
•••
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (May 20, 2010)
&emdash; Today at the Google I/O developer
conference in San Francisco, leading
industry players announced the development
of Google TV&emdash;an open platform that
adds the power of the web to the
television viewing experience, ushering in
a new category of devices for the living
room. Intel, Sony, and Logitech, together
with Best Buy, DISH Network and Adobe,
joined Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) on stage to
announce their support for Google TV.
•••
Over the past decade, the Internet has
created unprecedented opportunity for
innovation and development across the
world, but so far the web has largely been
absent from living rooms. With Google TV,
consumers will now be able to search and
watch an expanded universe of content
available from a variety of sources
including TV providers, the web, their
personal content libraries, and mobile
applications.
•••
Google, Intel, Logitech and Sony have all
Joined Together to Deliver Google TV
Platform. Sellers of the
product: DISH
Network, Best Buy, Adobe to Support the
group to Bringing in the Devices to
Market. •
CLICK
FOR MORE - Eric Schmidt
•
Ted
Turner - Chairman of the United Nations
Foundation.
•••
Throughout his career, Ted Turner
has received recognition for his
entrepreneurial acumen, sharp business
skills, leadership qualities, and his
unprecedented philanthropy. Whether in
billboard advertisement, cable television,
sailing, environmental initiatives or
philanthropy, Turner's vision,
determination, generosity and
forthrightness have consistently given the
world reason to take
notice.
•••
Turner is Chairman of the United
Nations Foundation, Co-chairman of the
Nuclear Threat Initiative and Chairman of
the Turner Foundation. He is the founder
of numerous cable networks including CNN,
TNT and Cartoon Network, and a partner in
the Ted's Montana Grill restaurant chain.
Turner is also Chairman of Turner
Enterprises, Inc., which manages his
business interests, land holdings and
investments, including the oversight of
two million acres in 12 states and in
Argentina, and more than 50,000 bison
head. •
CLICK
FOR MORE Ted Turner -
PEOPLE
/
///
Eat & Drink / Downtown
Destinations ***Los
Angeles boasts a dynamic downtown that
embraces all aspects of the
community. From the Walt Disney
Concert Hall, the Museum of Contemporary
Art and Little Tokyo to the Historic El
Pueblo, Fashion, Arts and Jewelry
Districts, there is round-the-clock energy
and opportunities. ***An
impressive lineup of downtown restaurants,
lounges and clubs will welcome film
festival attendees with special discounts
and offerings. A complete list will
be available on June 1, including J Lounge
& Restaurant, Starry Kitchen, Bottle
Rock, ESPN Zone at L.A. LIVE, all of 213
Downtown LA Nightlife and more. *CLICK
Direct FOR MORE LA FESTIVITIES -
Restaurants and
Hotels *All
Offers Only Valid From Tuesday June 15th -
Saturday July 3rd
•115
Event: FILMFEST MUNCHEN - 2010 June 25th
July
3rd •
Special Events: Munich, Germany • 24 June
2010•••
• filmtonart. Film Music
Day
• 26 June
/•••
• Bozen Film Festival
Sören Bauer • 8.30 pm
• 28. June /
••
• teamWorx Reception •
9.30-11.30 pm
• 29. June /
•••
• ZDF Reception • 11.30
am /
• 30. June
/•••
• ARD Brunch • 11.30 am -
2.00 pm
• 01. July to 03 • Closing
Event
• CLICK
FOR MORE EVENT DATES - MUNICH
DIRECT
•
107-
Arts Entertainment - VRA To Release New
WebPlay
vContent å•••
Universal City, CA -- March 2010 /
Video Record Albums of America, (VRA
TelePlay) announces the release of more
than 100 new CD and DVD volumes of
vContent, and software for WebPlay sales,
that include the license for
RadioPlay.
•••
Each CD and DVD features musical stylings,
and seamlessly software to play the Troy
Cory Show, including Troy's vMusic Stage
Concerts performed in the U.S., China,
England, Germany - EU -- since 1968. His
TV-shows went into syndication in 1972.
•
CLICK FOR MORE TCS PRO-187 Software
INFORMATION.
•
107- Los Angeles Times Travel &
Adventure Show / February 13-14 / TVInews
Journalist Attending: Gary Sunking, Josie
Cory.
/
General
Info: The annual Los Angeles Times Travel
& Adventure Show will be held Saturday
& Sunday, February 13-14, 2010.
•
•
Los Angeles Convention
Center
•
•
1201 South Figueroa
Street
•
•
Los Angeles, CA
90015
•
•
Hours Public Hours &endash; 10am to 5pm,
Saturday and
Sunday
•
•
Travel Trade Hours &endash; 8am to 10am,
Saturday
only:.
•
•
General Admission:
$10
•
•
The box office on site will open at 9:30
A.M. each day. Or get $2 off by purchasing
in advance online! Purchase tickets in
advance.
•
•
Travel Agents and Children 16 and under
free (children must be accompanied by an
adult)
•
•
The Los Angeles Times Travel &
Adventure Show will take place at the Los
Angeles Convention Center in the WEST
HALL. CLICK
FOR MORE LA TIMES INFO.
•
Feature
Story
/
102GoogleScanDealOrphanBooksGoogle vs
Microsoft. Microsoft, Yahoo and Amazon
forms coalition to offset Google Orphan
Book
Settlement..•• •
August 22, 2009 /
Three powerful technology companies have
banded together to oppose Google Inc.'s
proposed settlement with the Authors Guild
and the Assn. of American Publishers over
the Internet search giant's book scanning
project. •
CLICK FOR MORE 02GoogleScanDealOrphanBooks
STORY
•
•
101CTIA-reported
that WiTel Mobile phone usage keeps
growing
•• •
Americans used more than 1.1
trillion minutes in the last half of 2009,
an increase of 38 billion from the same
period in 2008.
•• •
U.S. mobile phone users are
talking, texting and surfing the Web more
than ever, according to new data from a
wireless industry trade
group.
•• •
CTIA's latest semiannual industry
survey by CTIA -- the Wireless Assn.
showed that in the last half of 2009,
consumers used more than 1.1 trillion
minutes, up 38 billion from the same
period in 2008.
•• •
Consumers sent almost 5 billion
text messages per day in the last half of
2009.
•• •
The group did not offer a
comparable figure for text messaging from
2008, but it did say that the number of
multimedia messages -- those that contain
a picture or video -- more than doubled
year over year.
•
Google,
Baidu and Yahoo wins Neutrality FREEBIES
over Telcos - AT&T,
etc.
•• •
•AT&T, the
nation's largest land-line and wireless
carrier, complained that changing
government rules a year after wireless
companies spent billions of dollars in an
FCC auction to lease what they thought
were unencumbered public airwaves "creates
the impression of a 'bait and switch.'
"
Federal Communications Commission Chairman
Julius Genachowski has announced the rules
and mandates that he says will keep online
Internet traffic moving freely. The
proposals would also cover wireless
Internet service. Wireless carriers have
given his proposal a thumbs down. •
CLICK
FOR MORE Google Wins Neutrality FREEBIES
over Telcos - AT&T,
etc.
•
111s-TCScloseUp-TakeTwo.htm. A year
ago, I wrote a D-Diary memo identifying
long-term barriers to permanent
transformation of the Service Mark
Collections.
•••
Since that time I've written a lot of
memos and direct story about the
transparent fraudulent activities created
by those certain rule makers over the
years in preparation for the collection of
moneies now all due and payable by Telco
organizations. To prevent Lawsuits, and
any misunderstanding between existing
Telcos, the Library of Congress, the
USPTO, FTC, and FCC, the new series of
TVInew aticles, "CloseUps," and Take2, was
prepared at the request of the WTQCA
association. That's something that never
would have happened before the
Monetary
Crash of 2008.
<111-
• < 100 - TroyTVInews100-108w.jpg
•
•••
Back then, in the pre-Obama era, I and my
many D-Diary memos would have been
summarily shredded. But under Pres. Obama,
not only is outside criticism invited, he
assigned himself as the chief salesman to
work through the issues. While the road to
permanent transformation stretches a long
way in front of us, there is a key reason
that we are on it at all.
•••
Pres. Obama has been an extraordinary
leader who has recast the White House's
approach to governing. In my opinion, and
with a talented team, a determined federal
judge and an unusually capable congress,
Pres. Obama will accomplished a remarkable
turnaround of a government that had defied
all previous interventions to rein in its
both Pro and Con Hot Topic behavior. <111-
TroyCSnews111-108w.jpg
•••
But no president could completely alter
the DNA of the goodtime Charlie's of Wall
Street. Permanent reform will take much
longer, and it will happen only if the
president can continue to drive the
mandate down to the financial, foriegn
trade, and health industries, where there
are still holdouts itching to reverse
course.
•••
Pres. Obama will leave behind a blueprint,
but in some ways the next president will
have a more difficult job. He or she will
need determination to make the changes
stick, a deep knowledge of th U.S.A.
culture, the ability to win the buy-in the
middle class consumer and the courage to
touch less on the problems created by
Unions and there issues. •
<102- tcsCloseUp-logo108w.jpg
•
These must be the next chief's top
priorities:
• Make Service Your First Priority,
Not Success and Success Will Follow
• Your tviNew HotTopic list might
look like this:
• 1. Family
• 2. Meaningful work
• 3. Health and well-being
• 4. Financial freedom
• 5. Travel and adventure
• Your list might look like
this:
•
Does your list indicate you're not
spending you time doing what you say is
most important to you?
• Are you spending time accomplishing
other people's priorities, but not your
own?
• Memorize your list of priorities,
and use it as a guideline for every demand
that is made on your time.
• Don't let anything come between you
and what truly matters most to
you!
• Focus on Innovation
• Maximize Vendor Partnerships
• Collaborate with Other Business
Leaders
• Harness the value of TVInews
Services
<101g
- <101-AmbrosBand&TroyInput.jpg
101g- 101-Ambros
Seelos
Band&Troy <
AmbrosBand&Troy101s-
Ambros Seelos Orchestra Tours the
Globe •••
Ambros Seelos, and Troy Cory shown in
photo, colaborated on a host of original
songs recorded in
Munich.
The
Ambros Seelos Orchestra featured
Sylvester Levay,
Grammy winner for "Fly Robin, Fly," who
later had great success with his musical
"Elisabeth," and was the co-writer with
Troy, and Ambros on Troy's BBC recordings,
"Hurricane," "Hey, Sweet Honey, Honey,"
and "Relax."
•••
During the last two
decades of Troy Cory's China concert
tours, Ambros Seelos delivered the
big-band background sound for many of
Troy's TV-stage performances, "Jeepers
Creepers" being a favorite amongst the
Chinese
audiences.
•••
Back in 1972 Ambros was chosen as the
official band for the Olympic Games in
Munich. Having toured the whole world, he
also performed together with giants of
Jazz like Louis Armstrong, Count Basie and
Ella Fitzgerald, Grammy-winning Hollywood
film composer and musical writer Sylvester
Levay ("Hot Shots," "Airwolf,"
"Elisabeth,") who also worked as a
producer for the living music legends
Elton John and Donna Summer. CLICK
FOR MORE Celebrity Scene's Ambros
STORY
<106s-
FCClogo•
102.09FCCworkout'netneutrality'rules
/ Oct23,
2009. •••
During the NBS
WiTEL press conferance held at Hollywood
Digital confab on October 23, 2009,
FCC
Chairman Julius Genachowski won a victory
on his first major policy issue at the
agency. The
Federal
Communications
Commission
announced they would begin a
data-gathering process. Commissioners may
consider whether regulations should apply
to not just Internet access providers but
also those that feed content to the
Web.
• CLICK
FOR MORE STORY
•
102.09FCCworkout'netneutrality'rules /
Oct23, 2009.
•106
Hewlett Packard Co. settles China
ServiceMark infringement suit. HP,
reported on • March
18, 2010 -- that
it had reached settlements with three
companies that have been accused of
infringing on the printer company's
patents for ink
cartridges.
•• •
HP filed a complaint with the U.S.
International Trade Commission in
September, seeking to ban imports of ink
cartridges by 11 companies.
•• •
Two of those companies &emdash;
InkPlusToner.com of Canoga Park, Calif.,
and Comptree Inc. of City of Industry,
Calif., have agreed to stop the imports
and paid HP an undisclosed sum. HP expects
to reach a similar agreement with Smartone
Services LLC of Hayward,
Calif.
•• •
Zhuhai Gree Magneto-Electric Co. of
China has asked an administrative law
judge to end the commission's
investigation after agreeing to cease
importing these ink
cartridges.
•• •
A default judgment was entered
against the remaining seven companies:
Mipo International Ltd. of Hong Kong,
Mextec Group Inc. of Miami, Fla., and five
Chinese companies, Shanghai Angel Printer
Supplies Co. Ltd., Shenzhen Print Media
Co. Ltd., Zhuhai National Resources &
Jingjie Imaging Products Co. Ltd., Tatrix
International and Ourway Image Co.
Ltd.
•• •
HP said it expects the commission
to rule in favor of banning the
importation of these goods from the
companies.
•• •
HP's ink business has long been a
cash cow, only recently being supplanted
as HP's most profitable business by its
services division. HP's printer and ink
division had 2 1/2 times the operating
profit as the personal computer division
in the last fiscal year, even though the
PC group's revenue was higher. •
Hewlett-Packard says it has resolved several patent violation
complaints filed against manufacturers of
compatible inkjet cartridges.panies.Last
September, the tech giant--arguably best
known as a printer maker--had filed its
latest complaint with the U.S.
International Trade Commission (ITC).
•• •
HP at that time roported that
several makers of cartridges for use in
inkjet printers were infringing on HP
patents by importing and selling their
products in the United States. Following
an investigation by the ITC, 11 different
companies were found to have violated
patents related to HP's 02 inkjet
cartridges.
•• •
Among the 11 companies charged with
patent infringement, InkPlusToner.com and
Comptree Ink reached settlements with HP.
Both have paid HP an undisclosed amount in
damages and have promised to stop selling
the compatible 02 cartridges in the U.S.
HP added that it expects to reach a
similar agreement with SmartOne
Services.
•• •
The ITC also approved the request
of another company, Zhuhai Gree
Magneto-Electric, to stop the
investigation into alleged patent
violations as long as it promises not to
import or sell future compatible inkjet
products in the U.S. Finally, HP said it
expects the remaining seven companies to
receive notices from the ITC ordering them
to stop importing and selling the
cartridges in
question.
•• •
HP is pleased with the outcome on
these matters, and remains committed to
vigorously pursuing legal enforcement
against practices that do not respect HP's
IP [intellectual property]
rights," said Stephen Nigro, HP's senior
vice president for Inkjet and Web Services
Business, Imaging and Printing Group, in a
statement
Thursday.
•• •
HP has a long and fierce history of
going after makers of compatible inkjet
cartridges, typically charging them with
patent infringement. Most of these cases
have been settled with the manufacturers
paying HP damages and promising to stop
selling the cartridges in question.
/// • As for
•
106Google, and its China problem will it
eventually wear off? • •
Google reported -- that it would
delay rolling out in China mobile
applications that run on Android phones
after its Chinese partners came under
government pressure to pull out of deals
with Google.
•• •
Access to Google's Hong Kong search
site has been spotty. Google responded to
mounting concerns of business users of
Gmail and other Google services with a
blog post that offered some technical
solutions that would allow business users
in mainland China to access a corporate
network offshore, similar to what other
businesses do.
•• •
The company
acknowledged that China could block access
to those services at any time. It has set
up a dashboard on its website displaying
which services are accessible and which
ones are being blocked or partially
blocked.
•• •
"My concern is that
lots of Google's mobile services are based
on search," said Kevin Wang, director of
China research for iSuppli Corp. "Now we
don't know if we'll still have their
search engine in
China."
•• •
As long as the
search engine is accessible, Google will
be positioned to capture a growing share
of mobile advertising, analysts said,
noting that the company's strategy is to
get as many Web-enabled phones as possible
into the hands of
consumers.
•• •
That requires
driving costs down for such devices --
known as smart phones because they combine
the features of a regular phone and a
computer.
•• •
Google offers its
platform for free to pass savings on to
developers and trump competitors such as
Microsoft, which charges a licensing fee
to adopt its cellphone
software.
•• •
The company also
made Android an open-source system to
allow manufacturers and mobile providers
to modify the platform as they see
fit.
•• •
China's leading
telecommunications company, China Mobile
Ltd., already has outfitted a line of
third-generation, or 3G, signal devices
named
OPhones.
•• •
China's two other
state-run telecommunications companies,
China Unicom and China Telecom, also have
included Android-based phones in their
strategies to attract users of smart
phones, though to a lesser
extent.
•• •
Wireless data usage
continues to rise. The association counted
more than 257 million data-capable devices
in circulation at the end of 2009,
compared with 228 million a year earlier.
Carriers saw revenues from data services
jump 25.7% year over year, to more than
$22
billion.
•• •
Total wireless
service revenues increased slightly, to
$77 billion from $75 billion. Industry
analysts have said that carriers may soon
introduce new pricing plans, including
tiered pricing for data users, because
revenues are not keeping pace with data
consumption.
///
•
106CarbonMonoxideLaw
/ New law to require home carbon monoxide
detectors
•••
May 7, 2010 / California homeowners
will be required to install carbon
monoxide detectors starting in July 2011
under a bill signed Friday by Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger that is aimed at preventing
deaths and injuries caused by poisoning
from the odorless, colorless gas.
•••Up
to 40 California residents die each year
from carbon monoxide poisoning, according
to state Sen. Alan Lowenthal (D-Long
Beach), whose legislation was signed by
the governor.
•••
"SB 183 will help put an end to the
senseless deaths and injuries Californians
suffer due to accidental carbon monoxide
poisoning every year," said Kevin Nida,
president of the California State
Firefighters' Assn.
•••
The California Air Resources Board
says an average of 30 to 40 "avoidable
deaths" occur in California each year
because of unintentional carbon monoxide
poisoning. Lowenthal said there also are
hundreds of "avoidable" emergency room
visits and hospitalizations in the state
each year.
•••
The bill requires that alarm
devices, which can cost less than $30, to
be installed in existing single-family
homes that have a fossil-fuel burning
appliance, fireplace or attached garage,
starting in mid-2011. All other
residential units will have to have the
detectors in place by Jan. 1, 2013.
•••
In addition to the firefighters
association, the legislation also was
supported by the California Alarm Assn.
and Home Depot.
///
• 106
- Can an Arab get a bill passed in
Israel? •• •
During the last Knesset, Ahmad TiBi
passed four [Israel Kaws]. "Before
that, I passed another four or five," he
said in a recent May 2010 LAtimes
interview. ("But it's very difficult for
an Arab MK to pass even one motion. Mine
were all universal laws that were good for
both Jews and Arabs, about medical issues,
environment, anti-corruption. But if I
brought a law on the issue of land
allocation or cessation of discrimination,
it would immediately be brought
down.
•• •
I tried it three months ago with a
motion that said simply the allocation of
land by the state should be equal for all
citizens. I didn't mention "Jewish" or
"Arab" citizens. Automatically the vast
majority of the Knesset voted against me.
Any motion with the principle or word
"equality" will fail. There is not one
basic law in the Knesset talking about the
value of equal rights. Every Knesset I try
to pass it.
///
•
106FCCRoadMapToWiTEL-VoIPMix
/•
May 6, 2010 / The Federal Communications
Commission plans to unveil its road map
for regulating braoadband providers in
response to a feederal court ruling last
month that cast doubt on the agency's
authority over high-speed Internet
access. •••
TheFCC is expected
to impose additional rules on broadband
providers to ensure that the government
has the authority for a plan to bring
high-speed connections to all Americans
and prohibit Internet providers from
discriminating against some kinds of
online traffic. •••
The agecy now treats
broadband as a lightly regulated
information service. But since the ruling,
the FCC has been debating whether to
impose "common carrier" obligations that
make telecom services share their
networks. The agency says it will seek a
third way.
///
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Copyrights •
113.09iiNetNeutralityRule
/ September 21, 2009 / FCC Ensuring
Net neutrality. Julius Genachowski, the
new FCC chairman is right to want new
rules that would keep service providers
from limiting selected data traveling
through their networks.
•• •The
FCC took a tentative stab at the issue in
2004, when then-Chairman Michael Powell
announced four crucial (4
Freebies) "Internet Freedoms":
the ability of Internet users to access
any legal content, software or services
online, and to connect to the Net through
any compatible device. Genachowski laid
out two more: Broadband providers
should not
discriminate against particular websites
or applications, nor conceal how they
manage data. He also said that the
commission should translate these
principles into formal rules rather than
leaving them in legal limbo. •• •Lobbyists
for phone and cable TV companies argue
that there's little evidence of ISPs
playing unfairly or violating Powell's
four freedoms. Yet when the FCC moved to
stop Comcast from surreptitiously
interfering with a legal file-sharing
application last year, Comcast sued,
claiming the commission had no power to
enforce the principles. It's paradoxical
that the government should have to
regulate the Internet to preserve its
unregulated essence. But with so little
competition in broadband service, the
major phone and cable companies have the
power and the incentive to stop worthy but
disruptive innovations in the name of
"managing congestion." The FCC should set
clear rules that enable ISPs to keep data
flowing from all legal services and
applications, not just favored ones.
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113.09iiNetNeutralityRule
•• •
U.S. mobile phone users are
talking, texting and surfing the Web more
than ever, according to new data from a
wireless industry trade
group.
•• •
CTIA's latest semiannual industry
survey by CTIA -- the Wireless Assn.
showed that in the last half of 2009,
consumers used more than 1.1 trillion
minutes, up 38 billion from the same
period in 2008.
•• •
Consumers sent almost 5 billion
text messages per day in the last half of
2009.
•• •
The group did not offer a
comparable figure for text messaging from
2008, but it did say that the number of
multimedia messages -- those that contain
a picture or video -- more than doubled
year over year. • As for
•
106Google, and its China problem will it
eventually wear off? • •
Google reported -- that it would
delay rolling out in China mobile
applications that run on Android phones
after its Chinese partners came under
government pressure to pull out of deals
with Google.
•• •
Access to Google's Hong Kong search
site has been spotty. Google responded to
mounting concerns of business users of
Gmail and other Google services with a
blog post that offered some technical
solutions that would allow business users
in mainland China to access a corporate
network offshore, similar to what other
businesses do.
•• •
The company acknowledged that China
could block access to those services at
any time. It has set up a dashboard on its
website displaying which services are
accessible and which ones are being
blocked or partially
blocked.
•• •
"My concern is that lots of
Google's mobile services are based on
search," said Kevin Wang, director of
China research for iSuppli Corp. "Now we
don't know if we'll still have their
search engine in
China."
•• •
As long as the search engine is
accessible, Google will be positioned to
capture a growing share of mobile
advertising, analysts said, noting that
the company's strategy is to get as many
Web-enabled phones as possible into the
hands of
consumers.
•• •
That requires driving costs down
for such devices -- known as smart phones
because they combine the features of a
regular phone and a
computer.
•• •
Google offers its platform for free
to pass savings on to developers and trump
competitors such as Microsoft, which
charges a licensing fee to adopt its
cellphone
software.
•• •
The company also made Android an
open-source system to allow manufacturers
and mobile providers to modify the
platform as they see
fit.
•• •
China's leading telecommunications
company, China Mobile Ltd., already has
outfitted a line of third-generation, or
3G, signal devices named
OPhones.
•• •
China's two other state-run
telecommunications companies, China Unicom
and China Telecom, also have included
Android-based phones in their strategies
to attract users of smart phones, though
to a lesser
extent.
•• •
Wireless data usage continues to
rise. The association counted more than
257 million data-capable devices in
circulation at the end of 2009, compared
with 228 million a year earlier. Carriers
saw revenues from data services jump 25.7%
year over year, to more than $22
billion.
•• •
Total wireless service revenues
increased slightly, to $77 billion from
$75 billion. Industry analysts have said
that carriers may soon introduce new
pricing plans, including tiered pricing
for data users, because revenues
/// •106
Hewlett Packard Co. settles China
ServiceMark infringement suit. HP,
reported on • March
18, 2010 -- that
it had reached settlements with three
companies that have been accused of
infringing on the printer company's
patents for ink
cartridges.
•• •
HP filed a complaint with the U.S.
International Trade Commission in
September, seeking to ban imports of ink
cartridges by 11 companies.
•• •
Two of those companies &emdash;
InkPlusToner.com of Canoga Park, Calif.,
and Comptree Inc. of City of Industry,
Calif., have agreed to stop the imports
and paid HP an undisclosed sum. HP expects
to reach a similar agreement with Smartone
Services LLC of Hayward,
Calif.
•• •
Zhuhai Gree Magneto-Electric Co. of
China has asked an administrative law
judge to end the commission's
investigation after agreeing to cease
importing these ink
cartridges.
•• •
A default judgment was entered
against the remaining seven companies:
Mipo International Ltd. of Hong Kong,
Mextec Group Inc. of Miami, Fla., and five
Chinese companies, Shanghai Angel Printer
Supplies Co. Ltd., Shenzhen Print Media
Co. Ltd., Zhuhai National Resources &
Jingjie Imaging Products Co. Ltd., Tatrix
International and Ourway Image Co.
Ltd.
•• •
HP said it expects the commission
to rule in favor of banning the
importation of these goods from the
companies.
•• •
HP's ink business has long been a
cash cow, only recently being supplanted
as HP's most profitable business by its
services division. HP's printer and ink
division had 2 1/2 times the operating
profit as the personal computer division
in the last fiscal year, even though the
PC group's revenue was higher. •
Hewlett-Packard says it has resolved several patent violation
complaints filed against manufacturers of
compatible inkjet cartridges.panies.Last
September, the tech giant--arguably best
known as a printer maker--had filed its
latest complaint with the U.S.
International Trade Commission (ITC).
•• •
HP at that time roported that
several makers of cartridges for use in
inkjet printers were infringing on HP
patents by importing and selling their
products in the United States. Following
an investigation by the ITC, 11 different
companies were found to have violated
patents related to HP's 02 inkjet
cartridges.
•• •
Among the 11 companies charged with
patent infringement, InkPlusToner.com and
Comptree Ink reached settlements with HP.
Both have paid HP an undisclosed amount in
damages and have promised to stop selling
the compatible 02 cartridges in the U.S.
HP added that it expects to reach a
similar agreement with SmartOne
Services.
•• •
The ITC also approved the request
of another company, Zhuhai Gree
Magneto-Electric, to stop the
investigation into alleged patent
violations as long as it promises not to
import or sell future compatible inkjet
products in the U.S. Finally, HP said it
expects the remaining seven companies to
receive notices from the ITC ordering them
to stop importing and selling the
cartridges in
question.
•• •
HP is pleased with the outcome on
these matters, and remains committed to
vigorously pursuing legal enforcement
against practices that do not respect HP's
IP [intellectual property]
rights," said Stephen Nigro, HP's senior
vice president for Inkjet and Web Services
Business, Imaging and Printing Group, in a
statement
Thursday.
•• •
HP has a long and fierce history of
going after makers of compatible inkjet
cartridges, typically charging them with
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106 FCC Click For People Section •
Julius
Genachowski
