We take a look at some foreign and domestic legal efforts to regulate or stifle the Internet, smartphone apps, the U.S. patent system, and streaming media sites, among others. You may be personally affected.
Did you know that texting while driving is illegal in 33 states and the District of Columbia?
This kind of government regulation of technology may seem reasonable, but other government interventions are more controversial.
For example, governments devise various ways to prevent you from visiting websites or downloading apps that lawmakers don't like. Some states have laws that forbid cities to build their own broadband networks, while other states want to impose privacy rules that could affect users all over the world.
Meanwhile, litigation sometimes serves to line the pockets of patent and copyright holders that are willing to file massive lawsuits against individuals, small businesses, and large corporations.
And if you think the Internet is a wild frontier, check out the mess that legislators and courts make as they try to create and interpret laws governing this ever-growing digital medium.
Whether you're for or against more government regulation--online or on your smartphone--here's a look at 10 controversial areas of legal wrangling going on in the halls of power in the United States and in other parts of the world.
Patently Broken System
The Issue
U.S. Patent Office SealThe U.S. patent system is designed to protect innovations created by private inventors. But patenting software has helped foster a situation where, to win a patent, inventors need do little more than write a broad academic thesis paper about a vague idea and call it an invention. These "inventors" then press technology companies to pay licensing fees if they try to implement the inventors' supposedly original concepts.The Controversy
Critics point to lawsuits by patent-holding company Lodsys against small third-party iOS app developers for patent infringement as an example of what's wrong with U.S. patent law.
Intellectual property rights activist and patent blogger Florian Mueller says that companies like Lodsys are able to use property rights to "exploit the miserable state of affairs of the U.S. patent system."
The Result
Despite critical objections to Lodsys's actions, the company is probably looking at a good-size paycheck. Big companies such as Apple may find it cheaper to pay out a settlement to such companies than to endure the uncertainty of an infringement trial, according to Mueller. But Lodsys may have a tougher time than is typical for most patent-holding companies engaging in lawsuits. Apple recently filed to intervene in Lodsys's infringement suit against app developers in a U.S. District Court in Texas. Meanwhile, Mueller says that at least three companies are seeking to invalidate Lodsys's patents in a U.S.District Court in Illinois. These companies include The New York Times Company, market research firm OpinionLab, and customer analytics company ForeSee Results.
Europe's e-G8 Forum: More Harm Than Good?
The Issue
In May, French President Nicolas Sarkozy convened a meeting with some of the world's major Internet figures, including Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales. The stated aim of the e-G8 Forum was to discuss how governments could help maintain the Internet as an engine for innovation while preventing its use as a tool for terrorism, child pornography, and copyright infringement.The Controversy
Sarkozy has said before that he wants to create a "civilized Internet." That notion alone spooked many technology enthusiasts. Critics such as writer and blogger Cory Doctorow saw the meeting as cover for imposing extensive government regulation over the Internet. Blogger, writer, and academic Jeff Jarvis, who attended the e-G8 forum, said in a blog post that he saw the meeting as "government's opening volley against the Internet" to prevent technology from disrupting the traditional role of government. More
