3 Count: Double Tap

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1: Two Florida Judges Reject Copyright Troll Fishing Expeditions

First off today, Timothy B. Lee at Ars Technica writes that, in Florda, two separate judges have put an end to one tactic in mass-Bittorrent litigation. Copyright law is usually handled by Federal Courts but in Florida plaintiffs there have attempted to use a quirk in state law called “pure bill of discovery” to compel ISPs to turn over information on suspected pirates without having to go through the expense of Federal litigation. However, in two separate cases, judges have sided with ISPs shooting down those efforts, in one case tossing the suit and in the other quashing the subpoenas. However, some of the nearly 1,000 defendants listed in the two cases may have already had their information turned over. There is no word on what the plaintiffs in the matters will do next.

2: Oracle, Google Still Far Apart as They Prepare for April 16 Trial on Copyright, Patent Case

Next up today, the Associated Press is reporting that Oracle and Google are digging in their heels ahead of a planned trial that pits the two tech giants against each other. The case stems from rights that Oracle acquired in the JAVA language, including both patent rights and copyrights that Oracle accuses Google of violating as part of its Android mobile operating system. Oracle is seeking hundreds of millions in damages from Google and there has been no significant push for a settlement. However, now the two sides are even disagreeing on minutia such as the planned length of the trial, which Google says can be shortened. This is in addition to estimations on how much Google will have to pay if found liable for infringement on certain patents. The trial is currently scheduled for April 16 and is slated to last 8 weeks.

3: Hungarian President Stays in Office Despite Plagiarism Claim

Finally today, Gergo Racz of the Wall Street Journal writes that Hungarian President Pal Schmitt is under fire over plagiarism allegations but is refusing to resign his post despite repeated calls to do so. A committee at Budapest’s Semmelweis University did find that Schmitt “transposed” works from others as part of his thesis but that the thesis “met formal requirements of the time” and chided Schmitt’s school for not providing better guidance on attribution. Schmitt released a statement that he was satisfied with the committee’s report and said that there was no reason for this matter to lead to his resignation.

Suggestions

That’s it for the three count today. We will be back tomorrow with three more copyright links. If you have a link that you want to suggest a link for the column or have any proposals to make it better. Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. I hope to hear from you.

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