Opposition delays anti iPod bill
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Lawmakers at the Senate have delayed a controversial bill that would make it easier to sue online file-trading networks because there is too much opposition to it.
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Citing the deaths of three pedestrians, state Sen. Carl Kruger plans to file legislation banning the use of iPods and other electronic devices that might distract people crossing streets in major New York cities.
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In yet another chapter in the sibling rivalry-esque battle between Apple and Real Networks, Apple has announced that the next generation of its iPod music player will actively block Realâs attempts to make the player more open.
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(InfoWorld) - A group of five Republican senators is seeking a delay in legislation, supported by several large tech vendors, that would overhaul the U.S. patent system. The five, including Senators Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Sam Brownback of Kansas, have asked for more hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee moves ahead with the Patent Reform Act, which is scheduled to be amended and approved in a Thursday hearing. The five sent a letter Monday to the Judiciary Committee asking for more hearings. "Many prominent American businesses on the cutting edge of innovation are expressing concerns about the impact of sweeping patent reform," said the letter, also signed by Senators Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, Jon Kyl of Arizona and Jeff Sessions of Alabama. "These concerns merit thoughtful deliberation." Many observers have called the Patent Reform Act the most sweeping reform of U.S. patent laws in decades. The bill would make it tougher for inventors to obtain new patents, make it easier to challenge patents, and reduce the legal penalties for patent violations. Microsoft Corp., Cisco Systems Inc. and IBM Corp. have praised the bill, saying it's too easy for the owners of questionable patents to sue tech companies and collect large damages or shut down entire product lines with court injunctions when one small piece of a product allegedly infringes a patent. "This important measure ensures that our patent system continues to foster innovation and economic growth by promoting improvements in patent quality [and] discouraging litigation abuse," Microsoft said in a statement when the bill was introduced. But five Republican senators raised concerns about the bill, echoed by some small tech companies and other members of the Coalition for 21st Century Patent Reform, a group calling for less sweeping changes to the U.S. patent system. The senators questioned the bill's attempt to apportion patent award damages. The bill would limit the damages a patent holder can collect when an infringing technology is part of a larger product, based on the value of the patented technology itself, instead of the value of the larger product. Courts now generally consider the value of the larger product when assessing damages. The senators also questioned the bill's provisions to allow new ways to challenge patents after the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has granted them. These changes "need to be more carefully examined to ensure that they do not undermine innovation, increase frivolous litigation, or undermine property rights," the letter said. The letter also calls on the committee to look harder at ways to improve patent quality.
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In our gadget-hungry society, where iPods have become the accessory du jour, one lawmaker wants device devotees to wake up and hear the traffic. He's pushing a proposal to make plugging in on New York streets a crime.
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Opposition lawmakers put up a human wall in parliament, delaying approval to extend the deployment of South Korean troops in Iraq.
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Efforts stalled in the U.S. House of   Representatives to pass a bill that would make it illegal to   obtain private telephone records surreptitiously, as was done   in the Hewlett-Packard Co. HPQ.N scandal.
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Proposed law could prevent the government from offering broadband access.
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Republican senators are trying to delay a bill that would overhaul the U.S. patent system.
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French lawmakers gave final approval Friday to legislation that could force Apple Computer Inc. to make its iPod and iTunes Music Store compatible with rivals&#039; music players and online services.
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Against all expectations, the final vote on the European software patents directive was postponed this afternoon. The Polish Minister of Science and Information Technology, Wlodzimierz Marcinski, made a special
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KIEV -- Supporters of opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko lost a round in Parliament yesterday, when pro-government legislators helped block legal changes intended to prevent fraud in the Dec. 26 repeat of the country's presidential runoff.
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Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid on Monday abruptly postponed until next month consideration of a measure to give immunity to telephone companies that participated in President George W. Bush's warrantless domestic spying program.
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Washington, D.C.'s City Council on  Tuesday delayed its first vote on a debt and tax-funded  baseball stadium proposal by two weeks so the council  chairwoman could consider an alternative.
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After four days of painstaking negotiations, technology and consumer groups said they have failed to reach a consensus with the entertainment industry on the language of the Induce Act, a proposed bill making it illegal to encourage copyright infringement
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A bill inspired by the Virginia Tech shootings is bogged down by objections over funding and who should be barred from buying a firearm.
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A handful of lawmakers, law professors, and consumer groups have raised objections to a new U.S. copyright bill that could significantly increase the fines for copyright infringement.