GameZnFlix is on track to achieve various goals this year, including opening several new distribution centers by the holiday season, executives of the online game and DVD rental service told investors in a Web conference. They said the company, meanwhile, is eagerly awaiting the arrival of Blu-ray movies, and PS3 and Wii videogames as it eyes possible expansions into additional platforms and markets as well.
The U.S. govt. helped kill a proposal for an Internet red-light district, ICM Registry will say today (Fri.) in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) appeal being filed in U.S. Dist. Court, D.C. The suit alleges the Commerce (DoC) and State Depts. wrongfully withheld information on their roles in ICANN’s consideration -- and recent rejection of -- ICM’s application for a new .xxx sponsored top-level domain (sTLD). The FOIA appeal seeks more evidence that NTIA, at first seen as favoring .xxx, bowed to pressure from right-wing religious groups and international opposition to the domain.
BALTIMORE -- Small ISPs should fight to keep telecom bills off the House and Senate floors, David Isenberg, founder of Isen.com, said Wed. at ISPCON here. Should the bills reach reconciliation, the closed-door sessions likely would see even a weak net neutrality provision under consideration be yanked, especially in “lame duck” session, with politicians eyeing the door. The net neutrality debate has been skewed by the “lies” of cable carriers and telcos, Isenberg said. ISPs should get into the fight and set the record straight, he said.
BALTIMORE -- Small ISPs should fight to keep telecom bills off the House and Senate floors, David Isenberg, founder of Isen.com, said Wed. at ISPCON here. Should the bills reach reconciliation, the closed-door sessions likely would see even a weak net neutrality provision under consideration be yanked, especially in “lame duck” session, with politicians eyeing the door. The net neutrality debate has been skewed by the “lies” of cable carriers and telcos, Isenberg said. ISPs should get into the fight and set the record straight, he said.
It’s rare for liberal blogger Markos Moulitsas and GOP Web guru Patrick Ruffini to agree, but they were in accord Mon. that the blogosphere won’t be the ticket to winning the communications wars of the 2006 congressional campaign. They joined Townhall.com editor Jonathan Garthwaite and Democratic National Committee Internet Dir. Joe Rospars in making predictions for this year’s midterms and beyond at the annual Personal Democracy Forum in N.Y.C.
Privacy advocates expressed dismay Mon. over a new draft of legislation that would make it easier for the executive branch to conduct electronic surveillance without a warrant. The bill, sponsored by Senate Judiciary Chmn. Specter (R- Pa.), would extend the oversight of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court, which would get the ability to authorize a domestic surveillance program.
There’s no “general rule” in favor of automatic injunctions when patent infringement is found, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in eBay v. MercExchange Mon. The U.S. reversed the Appeals Court, Federal Circuit’s longstanding rule and gave eBay a win, nominally. But the Court warned judges against denying injunctive relief solely on certain mitigating factors, like a plaintiff’s willingness to license its patent. In a relatively brief opinion and 2 concurrences, the Court reiterated the supremacy of the traditional 4-factor test for deciding when injunctive relief is appropriate, chiding the trial and appeals courts for adding their own patent-specific conditions to the test. The case involved eBay’s fixed-price auction feature, deployed after licensing negotiations for MercExchange’s patent failed. Mon.’s decision largely tracked with justices’ questions and statements in oral argument (WID March 30 p1).
The FCC’s defense of the July 1, 2007, cable set-top integration ban took hits from judges Thurs. hearing oral arguments in cable’s petition at the U.S. Appeals Court, D.C., to have the order vacated.
The FCC’s defense of the July 1, 2007, cable set-top integration ban took hits from judges Thurs. hearing oral arguments in cable’s petition at the U.S. Appeals Court, D.C., to have the order vacated.
ICANN’s decision to reject the proposal for red-light top-level domain (TLD) .xxx was a “clear case of political interference” by the U.S. govt. in Internet governance, the spokesman for EU Information Society & Media Comr. Viviane Reding told the news media Thurs. Directors voted 9-5 Wed. to jettison the application by ICM Registry for .xxx, based, ICANN said, on issues involving the criteria for the sponsored TLD and the terms of the registry agreement floated by ICM. The board action underscored the need to make ICANN independent from the Commerce Dept., the Commission spokesman said.