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ReplayTV owners part of lawsuit
08/22/2002
A federal judge in Los Angeles has included
ReplayTV owners as plaintiffs in a copyright infringement lawsuit.
The suit seeks to protect technology that allows consumers to skip
commercials and share recorded programming over the Internet.
U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper combined the lawsuit, filed by
the Electronic Frontier Foundation
on behalf of the consumers, with one filed by
Sonicblue, maker of the ReplayTV 4000. The judge denied an entertainment
industry motion to dismiss the EFF lawsuit.
The 27 Hollywood movie studios and television networks say that the new
ReplayTV model allows copyright infringement on their properties. But
five owners of the personal video recorder and the EFF contend that
skipping commercials and sharing of stored programming are fair use.
Television industry plaintiffs say the PVR could cause them financial
damage if ReplayTV owners are allowed to avoid recording commercials
while recording their broadcasts.
The consumers note that Hollywood subjected Sony's Betamax to the same
legal challenges and lost in a 1984 U.S. Supreme Court decision.
Shark attack image on the prowl again
Don't worry. That scuba diver supposedly being attacked by a shark while
dangling from a low-flying helicopter is just fine.
Millions of this "Photo of the Year" image are being passed off as real
in a resurgence of a year-old hoax. They arrive in e-mails embedded in a
Word document entitled "And You Think Your (sic) Having a Bad Day at
Work."
Urban Legends guide
David Emery reports the image is actually a composite of a leaping great
white shark superimposed on top of an actual National Guard sea rescue
exercise in San Francisco Bay.
A similar, less adept photo composite made big waves last year after
some well-publicized shark attacks along the Florida coast. Mr. Emery
says the latest version began zipping around the Internet exactly a year
after an 8-year-old girl was mauled by a shark near Pensacola Beach, Fla.
Junk mailer slaps foe with attorney's fees
Washington state's anti-spam laws allow residents to recover up to $500
for each piece of junk e-mail received. But the state's statutes
apparently can be used by accused spammers to torment those who use it.
A Seattle man who has been filing lawsuits against out-of-state spammers
has been socked with a $7,000 judgment to cover one target's attorney
fees, the Seattle Times reports.
The judgment was entered after a state district judge, citing
jurisdictional concerns, dismissed a case brought by Joel Hodgell
against a Florida man known for sending out mass mailings promoting
anabolic bodybuilding supplements.
Mr. Hodgell has pledged not to pay the judgment and to refile the case
at a higher level.
Net notes
Consumers may be shelling out less for their computers, but a new survey
shows they are increasingly unhappy with the customer support they
receive after purchase. A recent Web site poll by
Consumer Reports magazine shows customer satisfaction with
technical support is down across the industry.
Yahoo has
introduced a new version of its instant messaging program that improves
Webcam support for real-time video communication. With the added
features of
Yahoo Messenger Super Webcam, the company hopes to distinguish itself from
IM rivals America
Online and Microsoft.
Compiled from staff and wire reports
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