======================================================================== COMPUTER LAWYER E-NEWS Issue #003 March 20, 1996 News and views on new media, telecommunications and computer law for legal practitioners. ======================================================================== CS FIRST BOSTON FILES SUIT AGAINST AOL PRANKSTER CS First Boston Corp. filed a lawsuit seeking at least $1 million in damages against an America Online user who sent two e-mails to hundreds of CS First Boston employees. The e-mail messages contained defamatory statements and confidential information about the compensation of certain officers. AOL allows its users to create additional "screen names" that also serve as e-mail addresses. The e-mails in question were sent from "FBCbuster" and "FBCbuster2" on AOL. Damages are not being sought from AOL. CRTC SETS A DEADLINE FOR V-CHIP IMPLEMENTATION On March 14, 1996, the Canadian Radio and Television Commission announced a deadline of September 1996 for broadcasters to implement a V-chip-based rating system. As of that date, Canadian programmers will be required to encode the programs they broadcast and distributors, including cable companies, will be required to make V-chip technology available at a low monthly cost to any of their subscribers who want it. Sometime between September 1996 and January 1997, Canadian distributors and cable companies will have to also ensure that foreign signals they distribute are also encoded. For more information see CRTC Public Notice 1996-36 or http://www.crtc.gc.ca UNBUNDLING SOFTWARE CAN BE RISKY Unitron, Inc., a Taiwanese computer manufacturer and former Microsoft licensee, was recently hit with a US$8 million judgement in connection with the illegal manufacture and distribution of millions of dollars of Microsoft operating system software. Microsoft was also awarded US$1.78 million in additional damages against Unitron's CEO and its US subsidiary. The case concludes one of the largest software piracy cases pursued by Microsoft. Unitron had been licensed to distribute Microsoft operating system software with its own computer systems. However, Microsoft claimed that the company and its subsidiary had also manufactured and distributed large volumes of "unbundled" software. HONG KONG GETS TOUGH WITH PIRATES Hong Kong, under pressure from U.S. software vendors, has promised tough action against copyright pirates. It is feared that Hong Kong is becoming a distribution center for pirated computer software manufactured in China. INTERNET TELEPHONY First came Internet Phone - a product that allowed Internet users to make real-time voice calls across the net. Then came Free World Dialup (http://www.pulver.com/fwd), a volunteer server network connected to the public telephone system that can patch a call made by a user of Internet telephony products such as Internet Phone to any telephone number in the local exchange. Some of the long distance carriers have begun to take notice. America's Carriers Telecommunications Association (ACTA), a trade group representing over 130 independent long distance companies, has filed a petitioned with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The petition claims that the use of the Internet to transmit two-way audio is a violation of federal law and of FCC regulations. ACTA seeks to have the FCC exercise jurisdiction over the use of the Internet for what they term are "unregulated interstate and international telecommunications services". ACTA claims that products that allow voice communications to be sent across the Internet provide the ability to by-pass local, long distance and international carriers that are otherwise regulated by the FCC. The incentive to by-pass are great. According to ACTA, the average residential long distance telephone call costs about 22 cents (US) per minute. In contrast, the cost of Internet access from a large online service such as America Online or CompuServe is about 3.3 cents per minute (which off course must be paid by both parties). However, the cost of Internet access from local mom and pop Internet Service Providers can be significantly less. ACTA wants the FCC to stop the selling of software and hardware products that enable the use of the Internet for voice long-distance services. ACTA also wants the FCC to define the types of permissible communications that may be sent over the Internet. It should be noted that ACTA does not represent the large long distance carriers but rather long distance resellers and wholesalers. These are companies that buy bulk long distance from the telephone companies at a regulated rate and resell it at a higher unregulated rate. They therefore have the most to lose from the spread of Internet telephony. The main long distance carriers such as AT&T, MCI and Sprint have not yet shown a concern. INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS IN COURT IN FRANCE According to a recent informational posting by Valerie Sedallian in Cyberia-l... L'Union des Etudiants Juifs de France ( Association of Jewish Students of France) commenced proceedings against Internet Service Providers in France, including CompuServe and Axone (the IBM Global Network). The Association is attempting to get the court to order the defendants to prevent, by whatever technical means they consider appropriate, any connection from their systems to any service or message transmitted through the Internet that patently infringes a French law that provides that revisionism is a criminal offense. The action appears to have been heard and a decision is expected April 12, 1996. WEB BROWSERS AND PRIVACY Many Web browsers can be configured with their user's e-mail address and other information. This information is utilized when accessing the e-mail client built into the browser or when accessing anonymous FTP sites. Internet users who have accessed FTP servers using FTP client software may know that most such servers will ask visitors to enter their e-mail address as the anonymous password in order to gain access to the server. Web browsers take care of this automatically behind the scene. This information (i.e. username and/or e-mail address) can also be requested by Web servers and is then sent automatically by the browser. You can check what information is being handed over by your browser by visiting http://www.uiuc.edu/cig-bin/info WEB SITE IS ADVERTISING The bar associations of Texas and Florida have apparently decided that putting up a page on the Web constitutes advertising. In the case of Texas, an application along with a $50 fee must be paid each time the Web page is "materially changed". [Cyberia-l Digest 955] BILL C-118 AMENDMENTS TO THE CANADIAN CRIMINAL CODE Dov Wisebrod (sherlock@io.org) advises that there is a pending amendment to the Canadian Criminal Code that would revise the Canadian law of search and seizure of computer systems and data. On behalf of the Legal Group for the Internet in Canada (http://www.io.org/~logic), Wisebrod has sent a letter with comments to the Minister of Justice expressing that group's concerns relating to the proposed revisions. According to Wisebrod, the Bill has the potential to create conflict with foreign law. It will greatly diminish the privacy rights of Canadians in their electronic information. And it could force people to incriminate themselves by providing the police access to their password-protected or encrypted data. The proposed amendments to the Criminal Code are contained within Bill C-118 (as it was identified while passing First Reading during the last complete session of the Legislature). LOGIC's concerns relate to section 41 of the Bill. That section proposes to amend the existing Criminal Code section 487, which sets out information required for search warrants. Two new sections would be added: (2.1) A PERSON AUTHORIZED UNDER THIS SECTION TO SEARCH A COMPUTER SYSTEM IN A BUILDING OR PLACE FOR DATA MAY (A) USE OR CAUSE TO BE USED ANY COMPUTER SYSTEM AT THE BUILDING OR PLACE TO SEARCH ANY DATA CONTAINED IN OR AVAILABLE TO THE COMPUTER SYSTEM; (B) REPRODUCE OR CAUSE TO BE REPRODUCED ANY DATA IN THE FORM OF A PRINT-OUT OR OTHER INTELLIGIBLE OUTPUT; (C) SEIZE THE PRINT-OUT OR OTHER OUTPUT FOR EXAMINATION OR COPYING; AND (D) USE OR CAUSE TO BE USED ANY COPYING EQUIPMENT AT THE PLACE TO MAKE COPIES OF THE DATA. (2.2) EVERY PERSON WHO IS IN POSSESSION OR CONTROL OF ANY BUILDING OR PLACE IN RESPECT OF WHICH A SEARCH IS CARRIED OUT UNDER THIS SECTION SHALL, ON PRESENTATION OF THE WARRANT, PERMIT THE PERSON CARRYING OUT THE SEARCH (A) TO USE OR CAUSE TO BE USED ANY COMPUTER SYSTEM AT THE BUILDING OR PLACE TO SEARCH ANY DATA CONTAINED IN OR AVAILABLE TO THE COMPUTER SYSTEM FOR DATA THAT THE PERSON IS AUTHORIZED BY THIS SECTION TO SEARCH FOR; (B) TO OBTAIN A HARD COPY OF THE DATA AND TO SEIZE IT; AND (C) TO USE OR CAUSE TO BE USED ANY COPYING EQUIPMENT AT THE PLACE TO MAKE COPIES OF THE DATA. LOGIC's recommendations to the Minister of Justice were as follows: o Remove the words "or available to" from the proposed amendment. o Require a search warrant for a computer system to describe the type of data authorized to be searched. o Require a search warrant for data to limit the computer systems authorized to be searched. o Do not provide for default authorization to search computer systems. o Do not compel potentially self-incriminatory activity from the person whose property is being searched. I regret that space did not permit reproduction of the entire letter. For further information please contact Dov directly or visit LOGIC's web site. ----------------------------------- Upcoming Conferences ----------------------------------- No new information is available. ------------------- Administrivia ------------------- (c) 1996 by Alan Gahtan (http://www.io.org/~agahtan). Copyright and responsibility for content in individual submissions remain with the author. 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