The Court Docket 11.5.10

Gavel

Some interesting legal tidbits:

»  Apparently, 3 percent of Germans don’t want their houses visible in Google Street View, which is leading to some unusual-looking cyber-landscapes in places like Oberstaufen, Bavaria. [CNET]

»  How many companies would relish the chance to drag Google down? You get some insight into that by looking at the list of players supporting Rosetta Stone’s trademark appeal against Google (NSDQ: GOOG). They include ones that have sued Google in the past, like GEICO (trademark) and Viacom (NYSE: VIA) (copyright), but also some strange fellow-travelers, like Sunkist, Ford Motor Company, and the Burlington Coat Factory. [Eric Goldman]

»  Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) wants to move to 90-second song samples on iTunes, up from the current 30-second limit. According to CNET, the big labels have already signed off on it, and Apple is still working to get some indie labels on board. Negotiations with music publishers and MBI, which collect performance-rights dues, are ongoing. [CNET]

»  With Republicans taking over the House of Representatives, the chances of even getting a temporary deal on a net neutrality bill will be slim to none, Politico reports after talking with the incoming chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) That will leave service providers like Verizon more power to manage internet traffic. Upton said he wants to avoid an “overbearing” FCC, and prefers to “[allow] companies to compete in an unregulated forum.” [Politico]

Comments have been disabled for this post