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Did Patent Hawk Violate Contracts In Suing Microsoft?Today

During the summer, we wrote about how Greg Odom, perhaps better known as The Patent Hawk for his patent consulting business, had sued Microsoft over a patent on user-configurable toolbars. Odom has been known to comment here, using a style all-too common among some of our critics: insult liberally while refusing to offer any actual points. Joe Mullin has turned up a lot more details on this particular case, including the fact that not only was Microsoft a former client of Odom, but as part of his contract he promised not to file for certain patents himsefl or file patent infringement lawsuits against the company. On top of that, while working for Microsoft, he had access to confidential Microsoft info, including the company's patent strategy.

Odom, not surprisingly, disputes Microsoft's version of the events -- and points out that whatever contracts he signed are no longer relevant, since he has not worked with Microsoft in years. However, there are some questions concerning when he filed this particular patent, and whether or not he disclosed that activity to Microsoft or the law firm that he worked for during some of this period. Interestingly, Odom also is perfectl

Does It Make Sense To Have Libel Be A Criminal Offense?Today

For the most part, libel is a civil issue between the person who made the libelous statements and the person harmed by those statements. However, there are some states that do have criminal libel laws on the books -- though they're rarely enforced. The state of Colorado, however, apparently is willing to use the law, and the law itself seems fairly broad. It was written over a century ago and says that "tending to blacken the memory of one who is dead" or to "expose the natural defects of one who is alive, and thereby to expose him to public hatred, contempt or ridicule" counts as libel. Libel should be about making materially false statements about someone. If you're exposing the real natural defects of someone, it's difficult to see how that should be considered libel.

Either way, that law is being tested once again, as a man is being charged with criminal libel for posting disparaging messages about his ex-girlfriend (and mother of his child) and her lawyer on Craigslist. The guy says he was only venting -- but it certainly does sound like he was libelous in what he posted. The question, though, remains whether it makes sense for the lawsuit to be criminal, or a civil issue to be taken up directly between the libeled parties and the guy who posted the remarks. Making it a criminal charge seems like a waste of gov't a

UK DNA Database Found To Violate Human RightsToday

A European court has slapped down the UK for violating human rights with its fingerprint and DNA database, in that it retained the data on people not convicted of crimes. Until now, the UK police recorded fingerprints and DNA info on everyone arrested, but two guys who weren't convicted felt that their info should be deleted from the database, and the court has now agreed. The UK's defense was that "this info is important in fighting crime." Of course, so would be forcing everyone to wear a GPS device and record everything they do on cameras only the police can watch -- but we don't allow that because it's a violation of privacy. Either way, the UK now needs to start destroying info in its database and purge its data on other people who weren't convicted.

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Ontario Government Considers Facebook ConsultationToday

The Ontario Premier says he wants to engage young people in dialogue on Facebook (via Michael Geist) over protests against proposed restrictions on young drivers. The strict, zero-tolerance proposals have caused many young people to speak out on Facebook, and one protest group now has over 140,000 members. The Premier has responded publicly, "I think we need to find a way to get on Facebook... I think we need to find a way to engage in a dialogue in a social network where they are," noting that most young people won't come to the traditional legislative meetings. There's one snag though -- government computers currently block Facebook.

This isn't the first time a Facebook group has caught the attention of Canadian politicians (it's also not the first time this Ontario government has proposed controversial driving laws). Over the past year, a Facebook group, created by Geist, protesting proposed copyright legislation, was mentioned repeatedly by the opposition in federal parliament. This time, the government itself is bringing an online

Will Local TV News Be The Next To Have Its Reckoning Day?Today

The change in the newspaper business is undeniable, with many newspapers' fortunes looking bleaker and bleaker as they continue to misunderstand, underestimate and ignore the internet. But with a downturn in ad spending hitting TV stations hard, will local TV news be the next to go through industry-wide upheaval. While newspapers have struggled, TV news has puttered along, but the cost pressures of the current market could change that as stations pursue resource-sharing agreements or other measures to cut their newsgathering costs. The fundamental question, as PaidContent asks, is is there too much local TV news? And as they conclude, it's hard not to answer no. With three or four (or more) affiliates in many markets -- and even smaller markets getting their own 24-hour stations -- there's a lot of airtime to fill, and a lot of overlap with other news sources, many of which do a better job of reporting or delivering news to readers. The basic thought seems to be that more local TV news is better, particularly as stations have added more and more slots to fill (such as the 5 o'clock and 4 o'clock broadcasts that have been added over the years). But with the slowdown in ad spending a