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Apple Store Privacy Issues

Do you trust Apple Store employees when they take away your phone to fix it?

Staff in a Brisbane Apple Store reportedly lifted photos from some Apple customers' iPhones and took more than 100 close-up and explicit photos of female customers and staff without their knowledge.

This raises both privacy and copyright issues.  It is also creepy.

See Brisbane Times

Swipes per minute

In one minute, there are 4,166,667 Facebook likes, 347,222 tweets, 590,279 Tinder swipes and 284,722 Snapchat snaps.  See BRG

Revenge Porn

A story in the NY Times about a revenge porn civil case, and whether the decision by prosecutors to drop a corresponding criminal case will have any impact on the civil case.

"In recent years, federal prosecutors in Los Angeles have earned a reputation for being particularly aggressive in pursuing cases against both former boyfriends and hackers selling unauthorized sexually explicit videos to websites. One notable case was the successful prosecution of Hunter Moore, who ran a now-defunct website that specialized in posting revenge porn videos that were stolen from people’s computers and posted without their permission.

The decision to drop the charges against Mr. Elam may illustrate the difficulties in pursuing such cases because they require a jury not to hold the victim partly responsible for creating the sexually explicit images in the first place and either sharing them with a former partner or storing them on a cellphone."

See NY Times

Consequential Loss After Hacking Decision from the USA

An interesting decision from the United States (11th Circuit appeals court) in Silvertop Systems -- decision here.

There is an interesting discussion of consequential loss, that starts at the heading "LMT's Counterclaim for Breach of Contract"

Facts were these:

·         Supplier (Silverpop) provided an email marketing service.  Customers loaded up email addresses and Supplier would send out mass emails in a form specified by the customer to addresses on the list.
·         Hackers got into the Supplier’s system and got access to several customer’s marketing lists, including LMT’s list.
·         The contract between Silverpop and LMT had a confidentiality clause (obligation to protect the list against unauthorised disclosure to third parties) and an exclusion of consequential loss.
·         Amongst the claims and counterclaims, was a claim from LMT that Silverpop had breached the confidentiality obligation and that the damage suffered by LMT was the sale value of the marketing list, which they said was now worthless.

This is what the court decided – assuming it was correct that the value of the marketing list was now zero, that was a consequential loss.  The court discussed the difference between general damages and consequential damages (which is remarkably similar to the old English decision of Hadley v Baxendale).  The direct loss which would have been recoverable by LMT if there had been a breach of the confidentiality obligation was the loss of the value of the service (but that is not what LMT claimed).

Discount Accommodation and Affiliate Payments

Online travel agents make commissions of approximately 15% to 25% of the price of the accommodation booked.  Some share that commission with travellers through loyalty programs.  Others give discounts upfront, or share some of the commission with "affiliates" who refer other customers.  One such service is JetSetter, who has discount quality accommodation, and shares 5% with the guest and 5% with the referring affiliate.  See Jetsetter.  (I use this service by the way, and it is good.   I have stayed in luxury accommodation at great prices.)

Another good referral program is OFX (OzForex) which is an international wire money transfer business.  It is in competition with Western Union, and is much better value.  See OFX website.

Echo from Amazon

The relatively new Echo device from Amazon is getting great press.  It will be interesting to see what legal issues arise from a voice controlled device in your home that connects with other systems.

There is also the new Amazon Tap.

Any why is Amazon opening physical book stores?


 

Apple v The Government

If you are following the Apple v US Government legal process over the FBI request to brute force break of the passcode on Syed Farook’s work phone, the link below has a good summary and also a link to the 65 page motion.

Copyright in Instagram Photos

See this article regarding a copyright claim in respect of Instagram photos.

Story here.

I have met a number of people who are earning good money promoting products on Instagram and on blogs.

Business Method Patents In Australia

After a long delay, the Australian Federal Court (Appeals Division) has finally decided the case of Commissioner of Patents v RPL Central Pty Ltd [2015] FCAFC 177.  This is an appeal from an appeal from a decision by the Commissioner of Patents not to grant a patent to a method and system for computerised collection of information relevant to assessment of a person’s competency for a recognised qualification standard.

The case considered whether this invention was patentable subject matter in Australia.

The Court decided that this invention was not patentable subject matter in Australian.

"A claimed invention must be examined to ascertain whether it is in substance a scheme or plan or whether it can broadly be described as an improvement in computer technology. The basis for the analysis starts with the fact that a business method, or mere scheme, is not, per se, patentable. The fact that it is a scheme or business method does not exclude it from properly being the subject of letters patent, but it must be more than that. There must be more than an abstract idea; it must involve the creation of an artificial state of affairs where the computer is integral to the invention, rather than a mere tool in which the invention is performed. Where the claimed invention is to a computerised business method, the invention must lie in that computerisation. It is not a patentable invention simply to “put” a business method “into” a computer to implement the business method using the computer for its well- known and understood functions.

Is the mere implementation of an abstract idea in a well-known machine sufficient to render patentable subject matter? Is the artificial effect that arises, because information is stored in RAM and there is communication over the Internet or wifi, sufficient? Does any physical effect give rise to a manner of manufacture? Are the mere presence of an artificial effect and economic utility, without more, sufficient to determine manner of manufacture?

... it is apparent that, other than the integers providing that the computer processes the criteria to generate corresponding questions and presents those questions to the user, the method does not include any steps that are outside the normal use of a computer. It is not suggested that the creation of the plurality of assessable criteria themselves form the basis of the claimed invention. They are present on the NTIS website from which they are retrieved. It is not suggested that the presentation of the questions or the processing of the user’s responses involve ingenuity themselves or that this constitutes the requisite manner of manufacture. 

We conclude that the claimed invention is to a scheme or a business method that is not properly the subject of letters patent."

See also IP Whiteboard

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