The 2d Circuit frowns on the idea of awarding monetary damages under ACPA to domain names registered prior to ACPA’s enactment in 1999.  Note: the defendant in this case is not related to me and spells his last name differently.

Vermont Teddy Bear Company v. Schwimer, 03-7030 (2d Cir July 1 2004).

SCO, scourge of the LINUX world, has filed a trademark application for UNIX SYSTEMS LABORATORIES, which had been a registered mark belonging to, oddly enough, Unix System Laboratories.  As far as I can tell, the registration went from USL to Novell to X/Open, which let the thing lapse in 2000.

The folks at Slashdot and GrokLaw are upset by this filing but it appears that SCO had Novell assign it a registration for UNIXWARE, and that registration isl valid.  In fact, that appears to be the only valid registration that incorporates UNIX, covering software.  And it’s more than 5 years old and has had its Sec 8/15 accepted, so it’s invulnerable to some (but not all) challenges.

MSNBC article reporting a study where 28% of email users were fooled by email with fraudulent email addresses.

This story has something for everyone: The U.S Army is reportedly purchasing knock-off Kalishnikov rifles to outfit Afghani and Iraqi security forces.  A Russian company, Izhmash, claims patent rights, and is not happy.  The real Kalishnikov is the ‘most wide-spread weapon in the world’ (sic).  The knock-offs come from Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary. Via the International Herald Tribune. 

Other fine Izhmash products here.

Something I wrote on The Blawg Channel on the THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND parody.

A ZDNET article on supposed David and Goliath cases that says what needs to be said over and over again: Don’t make assumptions.

LEGO LITTLE PEOPLE-like biblical figures (connection to LEGO disclaimed).  Worth it to see the Holy Ghost Little People figure here.

Via Chris Rush Cohen, a political satire of THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND here.

Via CopyFight, an iPOD satire here.

Things to think about.  What percentage of the original work is copied?  Is the ‘target’ of the satire/parody the original work, or some other topic?  Does the satire/parody compete with the original work?  Is the satire/parody a form of political speech?  Is the satire/parody funny (that question isn’t legally relevant but is a consideration if you decide to repeat the joke to friends).