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This weblog was created to share ideas about the development of Computer Law and Cyberlaw issues that receive attention in federal court litigation, particularly those issues that reach the U.S. SUPREME COURT. This blog is edited by:
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Torrent Spy gets logged by court

15 06 07 - 22:18 A federal judge in Los Angeles, U.S. Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Chooljian, ruled that a computer server's RAM, or random-access memory, is a tangible document that can be stored and must be turned over in a copyright infringement lawsuit by the MPAA against the Netherlands-based Torrent Spy website. The decision is widely viewed as illustrative of the mistakes judges make in applying law in a case when they do not understand the facts.

The error in this case - - albeit, the case concerns Federal Rule of Civil Procedure - Rule 34(a) - - echoes the error that judges make in copyright and patent cases involving software. Namely, courts are confused as to how best to determine whether electronic data is stored in a tangible, fixed manner.

The appropriate answer depends on an understanding of computers and software, in part, and on legislative (or, policy-making) guidance. The limited tools of legal analysis are inadequate for the task. Hence, Judge Jacqueline Chooljian based her decision on the inadequacy of legal precedent. The judge looked for analogies in the law and found one in a case that, itself, was based on the inadequacy of legal precedent when it was decided (Mai Systems v. Peak (9th Cir. 1993). Consequently, we have courts bootstrapping bad law to make more bad law. What a mess these courts are making.

Given the increasing importance of electronic commerce, I am shocked and, at times, horrified by the continuing troublesome outcomes produced by some of our courts when the target of litigation is technology.

Even when the lawyers practicing before them well-understand the fine points of the technologies targeted by the litigation, too many courts (judges or juries) seem to lack the expertise to engage in reliable fact-finding.

Judge Jacqueline Chooljian was presiding over a case involving the MPAA and TorrentSpy. The movie industry challenged TorrentSpy by accusing it of copyright infringement. The court concluded that RAM data was discoverable by plaintiffs in a copyright infringement lawsuit. I suppose you cannot fairly express disapproval of plaintiffs' lawyers who zealously pursue dubious claims, if it is widely viewed that it is the court's duty to decide whether the claim is dubious. Yet, this system works well only when the court is up to the task before it.
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» Electronics:
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» New Rule The U.S. Supreme Court proposes revised Rule 25.8 on electronic filing: "An electronic version of every brief on the merits shall be transmitted to the Clerk of Court and to opposing counsel of record at the time the brief is filed in accordance with guidelines established by the Clerk. The electronic transmission requirement is in addition to the requirement that booklet-format briefs be timely filed." Effective August 1, 2007.   two comments |
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» Tech Today
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» Software Patents Does Microsoft v. ATT raise analogic implications for software patents? I say yes. And, consider the USPTO's instruction concerning subject matter patents.

"Similarly, computer programs claimed as computer listings per se, i.e., the descriptions or expressions of the programs, are not physical "things." They are neither computer components nor
statutory processes, as they are not "acts" being performed. Such claimed computer programs do not define any structural and functional interrelationships between the computer program and other claimed elements of a computer which permit the computer program's functionality to be realized. Accordingly, it is important to distinguish claims that define descriptive material per se from claims that define statutory inventions."

Thinking in terms of the Court's holding in Microsoft v. ATT, would Windows on a CD-ROM constitute a physical thing or a textual expression? Should the treatment of the software be the same under subject matter analysis as well as a section 271(f) issue?   one comment |
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