Antigua's WTO Dispute to Begin
The islands of Antigua and Barbuda are about to argue their case against the United States before a World Trade Organization dispute panel. The islands argue that U.S. policies prohibiting the cross-border supply of gambling services are in violation of their general agreement on trade and services. The policy is devastating the island economies, which are highly dependent on interactive gaming.
The dispute panel has finally been established after the United States blocked its authorization in June, and the parties were unable to agree upon its members at the end of August.
Good Neighbor Policy
Six Asian Racing Federation jurisdictions on Sept. 1 signed on to the Good Neighbor Policy that Hong Kong and Japan had initiated last year.
Australia, India, Korea, New Zealand, Singapore and Turkey have been added to the pact, pledging that none of them shall advertise in the other jurisdictions or provide wagering to residents of the other jurisdictions without permission.
The policy is an attempt to curb the increasing popularity of offshore bookmakers and betting exchanges.
Coalition on Online Identity Theft
Amazon.com, Business Software Alliance, Cyveillance, Inc., eBay, McAfee Security, Microsoft, RSA Security Inc., TechNet, Verisign, Visa U.S.A., WholeSecurity, Inc. and Zone Labs, Inc. have joined the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) to form the Coalition on Online Identity Theft.
The coalition seeks to fight online identity theft by expanding consumer education programs, promoting technology, sharing non-personal information upon emerging fraud trends, and working with governments to ensure effective enforcement of crimes and sufficient penalties.
The ITAA will serve as secretariat for the group that formed just as the Federal Trade Commission reported that more 10 percent of the U.S. adult population has been the victim of identity theft.
Record Industry Strikes Back
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has launched what it calls the first wave of many lawsuits, filing 261 lawsuits against Internet users who share more than 1,000 tracks on peer-to-peer networks.
The RIAA is also offering an amnesty to file-sharers, promising that it will not sue those who cease sharing.
The Electonic Frontier Foundation warns file-sharers against accepting the amnesty.
EFF staff attorney Wendy Seltzer said, "Rather than demanding that 60 million people sharing music files turn themselves in with a so-called 'amnesty' program, the recording industry should take this opportunity to make file-sharing legal in exchange for a reasonable fee. Stepping into the spotlight to admit your guilt is probably not a sensible course for most people sharing music files online, especially since the RIAA doesn't control many potential sources of lawsuits."
District Judge Rules Pop-ups OK
U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee ruled Sept. 5 that pop-up ads do not violate trademark laws, even if they appear over rival company's Web sites.
The ruling is the result of the U-haul vs. WhenU.com case. WhenU.com provides freeware that comes with a program called SaveNow that monitors user surfing habits and launches pop-ups that coincide with the habits. For example, a surfer who visits a gambling site is likely to later see a gambling pop-up, and a surfer who visits a U-haul site might later see a pop-up from rival company Ryder.
Lee's decision ultimately means that users agree to pop-ups when they accept WhenU's licensing agreement.