Jason Schultz Notes Downside of Internet Patents

The Recorder, July 17, 2009 by Zusha Elinson
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202432339946&

A_Decade_Later_Amazon_Finds_Itself_on_Other_Side_of_Click_Patent_Battle
Jason Schultz, an IP lawyer at UC Berkeley School of Law, said Cordance’s Internet commerce patent on an “object-based online transaction infrastructure” is “just as suspect” as the Amazon 1-click patent.… “This is the hard lesson that Amazon learned and that a lot of software companies learn,” Schultz said. “You think these patents are great when you own them, but really it’s a minefield.”

Maria Blanco Rebuts Criticism of Sotomayor

Los Angeles Times, July 17, 2009 by David G. Savage
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-sotomayor17-2009jul17,0,7388549.story

“I think Judge Sotomayor performed very well,” said Maria Blanco, executive director of the Earl Warren Institute at UC Berkeley. “In the face of comments that she was hot-tempered and adversarial, she answered those charges by exhibiting a calm, thoughtful and unflappable manner. And she came across as having an extremely sharp legal mind.”

John Yoo Reiterates Need for Warrantless Wiretapping in Wartime

The Wall Street Journal, July 16, 2009 by John Yoo
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124770304290648701.html#printMode

Unlike, say, Soviet spies working under diplomatic cover, terrorists are hard to identify. Yet they are vastly more dangerous. Monitoring their likely communications channels is the best way to track and stop them. Building evidence to prove past crimes, as in the civilian criminal system, is entirely beside the point. The best way to find an al Qaeda operative is to look at all email, text and phone traffic between Afghanistan and Pakistan and the U.S. This might involve the filtering of innocent traffic, just as roadblocks and airport screenings do.

Robert Cooter and Aaron Edlin Recommend UC Layoffs, Not Pay Cuts

Los Angeles Times, July 16, 2009 by Robert Cooter and Aaron Edlin
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-cooter16-2009jul16,0,2957340.story

Our plan would be simple. To meet Yudof’s savings targets, a number of employees would be laid off sufficient to save 8% of the payroll. The choices in staff cuts would be difficult, but they are necessary if the regents are unwilling to raise tuition further. Specific decisions on whom to lay off would be decentralized to campuses, and within campuses to schools or departments.

Christopher Hoofnagle Believes Google Could Do More to Remove Family’s Credit Info Online

CBS-5 TV News, July 15, 2009 by Anna Werner
http://cbs5.com/local/credit.card.numbers.2.1085913.html

He points out that in the past, Google has taken additional steps to protect individuals’ privacy, such as blurring faces on the company’s “Street View” mapping feature. “Google has taken some steps here and there to obscure information to protect privacy,” Hoofnagle said. “And there are a number of things one could do to make the document disappear if you really wanted them to.”

Pamela Samuelson and Tara Wheatland Criticize Huge Music Damage Awards

Minnesota Daily, July 14, 2009 by Editorial Board
http://www.mndaily.com/2009/07/14/inequitable-punishment

As stated by University of California- Berkley Law School professors Pamela Samuelson and Tara Wheatland, the legal system has failed to “develop a jurisprudence to guide decision-making” in what is fair and just in awarding damages in copyright cases. Until a fairer legal structure is developed, organizations such as the RIAA will continue to take the livelihoods of thousands of Americans.

María Blanco Puts Sotomayor Hearings in Historical Perspective

PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, July 14, 2009 Host Jim Lehrer
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/law/july-dec09/sotoanalysis_07-14.html

I think all the Supreme Court nomination hearings that we’ve seen over the last 10 to 12 years always have this subtext of, what is the two or three or four different views of the interpretation of the Constitution? And they are more than confirmation hearings. They are sort of garnering support for one particular view of how the Constitution should be interpreted by the Supreme Court, the narrow, originalist view, or the more expansive view. And, in some ways, the senators on both sides played to their base, and—as many have said—it is political theater that goes beyond the qualifications of the nominee.

James Rule Says Centralized Medical Databases Raise Privacy Concerns

The Sacramento Bee, July 14, 2009 by James B. Rule
http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/story/2023379.html

Creating an authoritative, fully centralized trove of all medical data on every American would focus and intensify demand for routine and acknowledged access by a range of government and private-sector interests. The ultimate result could be to render anyone’s medical history about as private as his or her credit or marital history—that is, not very private at all.

Eric Rakowski Believes Do-It-Yourself Wills are Fine in Straightforward Cases

Los Angeles Times, July 14, 2009 by David Colker
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-wills14-2009jul14,0,266613.story

“Let’s say you are happily married, 30 years old, and have two kids, and all you want to do is leave everything to your spouse, and if he or she goes first, then to the kids,” said Eric Rakowski, a UC Berkeley law professor who teaches wills and trusts. “Then it would probably be OK to use forms. But there are risks.”