'Rethinking Relations and Regimes of Power in Online Social Networking Sites: Tales of Control, Strife, and Negotiations in Facebook and Youtube.'

For those of you who are interested in my doctoral thesis, I have included the abstract below: 

This doctoral thesis investigates the potentially complex power effects generated in Online Social Networking Sites (‘OSNS’), such as YouTube and Facebook, when legal values, such as copyright and personal data, are protected and/or violated. In order to develop this analysis, in Chapter Two, I critically analyse key academic writings on internet regulation and argue that I need to move away from the dominant ‘regulatory’ lens to my Actor-Network Theory-Foucauldian Power Lens (‘ANT-Foucauldian Power Lens’) in order to be able to capture the potentially complex web of power effects generated in YouTube and Facebook when copyright and personal data are protected and/or violated. In Chapter Three, I develop my ANT-Foucauldian Power Lens and explore how key ANT ideas such as translation can be used in conjunction with Foucauldian ideas such as governmentality. I utilise my ANT-Foucauldian Power Lens in Chapters Four to Seven to analyse how YouTube and Facebook are constructed as heterogeneous, contingent and precarious ‘actor-networks’ and I map in detail the complex power effects generated from specific local connections. I argue five key points. Firstly, I suggest that complex, multiple, and contingent power effects are generated when key social, legal, and technological actants are locally, contingently, and precariously ‘fitted together’ in YouTube and Facebook when copyright and personal data are protected and/or violated. Secondly, I argue that ‘materialities’ play key roles in maintaining the power effects generated by specific local connections. Thirdly, I argue that there are close links between power and ‘spatialities’ through my analysis of the Privacy Settings and Tagging in Facebook. Fourthly, I argue that my relational understandings of YouTube and Facebook generate a more comprehensive view of the power effects of specific legal elements such as how specific territorial laws in YouTube gain their authority by virtue of their durable and heterogeneous connections. Finally, I argue that we can extrapolate from my empirical findings to build a small-scale theory about the power effects generated in OSNS when legal values are protected and/or violated. Here I also consider the contributions made by my research to three distinct fields, namely, internet regulation, socio-legal studies, and actor-network theory.

Weekly Cyber-Law News Round-Up

What a week it has been!! Here are my personal picks of the highlights of last week`s news which relate to internet law. As always privacy and intellectual property issues are dominating the legal landscape of cyber-law news!

Google

Intellectual Property · Google clarifies AdWords policy to satisfy French competition regulator http://bit.ly/atAR6g · Google's 'copied Java code' disowned by Apache #androidlawsuit http://ow.ly/32pPL · Great and thorough analysis of Viacom v YouTube and impact of safe harbour #copyright #DMCA #Viacom= #YouTube #in http://ow.ly/30Jtk · Google Goes After YouTubeSocial For #Trademark Infringement Streetview · UK MPs question Google over Street View data breaches #privacy #in http://ow.ly/32pV7 · MPs accuse Google on wi-fi data http://bbc.in/aOjlTC · FTC sends letter to Google - drops Google WiFi case, but tells Google its privacy processes are inadequate #privacy http://bit.ly/aPEQcL · Google says its cars grabbed e-mails, passwords http://ow.ly/2Zpnj #privacy · Italy Orders #Google To Clearly Label Street View Cars, Advertise Routes http://ow.ly/2Zpjn · Regulators closing in on Google http://ow.ly/2ZsLf #StreetView #privacy · Google investigated over household data privacy breaches by ICO http://ow.ly/2YLpq YouTube · Turkey lifts two-year ban on YouTube #censorship #regionalblocking http://ow.ly/32pVY · Great and thorough analysis of Viacom v YouTube and impact of safe harbour #copyright #DMCA #Viacom= #YouTube #in http://ow.ly/30Jtk · Google Goes After YouTubeSocial For #Trademark Infringement

Facebook

Privacy · Facebook app developers sold user info http://ow.ly/32q21 #privacy #in · Facebook locks down private user data after app controversy #privacy #in http://ow.ly/32pSA · Court Orders Disclosure of Facebook and MySpace Passwords in Personal Injury Case · Facebook Allows Users To Turn Off Group Chat http://ow.ly/2ZpvT · Firesheep Exposes Flaw In #Facebook Log-In Security http://ow.ly/2Zptw #security Intellectual Property · Facebook Files for #Patent on Inferential Ad Targeting http://ow.ly/30Jm8 · Facebook comes down hard on Faceporn for #trademark infringement http://ow.ly/2YLk2

Limewire

· As LimeWire Shuts Its Doors, Other P2P Clients See a Surge in Usage #copyright #in #filesharing http://ow.ly/32pWO · Limewire shuts down after receiving permanent injunction #copyright http://ow.ly/308HB

Other Intellectual Property News

· Twitter Issues New Guidelines for the Tweet Trademark http://ow.ly/32pXh #trademark #in · Apple sues Motorola over smartphone #patents http://ow.ly/32pQH · Taiwanese company threatens Apple with legal action over iPad name #trademark http://ow.ly/30J6r

Other Privacy News

· Berlin Privacy Commissioner Dix proposes principle of Anonymization and Pseudonymization. #OECD30 #privacy · #EFF Urges EU Data Protection Authorities to Call for the Repeal of the EU Data Retention Directive http://ow.ly/2ZpfB #dataretention

Personal Jurisdiction

· Email and phone contacts help to establish personal jurisdiction in US case VEDICSOFT v. MILLENNIUM CONSULTING http://bit.ly/9lTaZ6

Defamation

· Hoteliers Look to Shield Themselves From Dishonest Online Reviews http://ow.ly/2Zpq4

Cyber-Warfare

· Emergency Powers in Cyberspace http://ow.ly/32pRE #cyber-warfare · US Air Force #cyberwarfare manual goes public http://ow.ly/2ZpiB

Weekly Cyber-Law News Round

Wow this week has flown by so quickly: where did it all go?!! It has been quite exciting week in terms of legal developments in the area of cyberspace. The usual suspects are in the news: Google Street View, Facebook, piracy, and privacy. But it has also been a week of great significance for copyright laws in the UK (adoption of the Gallo report), and some surprising developments in trademarks law (woman claiming trademark protection for her name).

My pick of the top cyber-law news for this week in descending chronological order:

• Legal row over who can use the word 'pod' #Apple #USPatentOffice http://tinyurl.com/36gcvqw

• Channel islanders attack Street View car http://tinyurl.com/3yy5kck

• US Senate considers update to Electronic Communications #Privacy Act http://bit.ly/9prdfQ

• Spanish court rules that #YouTube is nt liable 4 breach of #copyright re YouTube/#Telecinco copyright dispute http://tinyurl.com/2fmx23z

• Facebook Ends Conversion Tracking For Ads http://tinyurl.com/2e55a9h

• Google tackles rogue pharmacies in court #consumer protection http://tinyurl.com/33zf5pp

• EU Parliament adopt #Gallo Report on pan-European #copyright laws http://tinyurl.com/2ueykrw

• Proposed US law could force ISPs to block websites on piracy allegations http://tinyurl.com/34k935z

• Ontario Privacy Commissioner says Facebook has addressed privacy concerns http://tinyurl.com/295ywcy

• Google's 'Street View' banned for privacy invasion Czech Republic's privacy watchdog says Google http://bit.ly/cgJrA9

• Lawsuits Filed Over “Zombie” Cookies http://tinyurl.com/3966lop #privacy

• US Autodesk decision gives software company the tool to prevent the resale of licensed software by unauthorised third parties http://tinyurl.com/33u2bev #in

• Google's new Transparency Report logs government requests for personal info, takedown requests and blocking: http://bit.ly/dueLKf
  

• Lawyers Sued Over Blog Posts Criticizing Referral Hotline for Personal Injury Cases http://is.gd/flsUg

• Street View prompts privacy code in Germany http://tinyurl.com/3xsfmwq

• Code That Tracks Users’ Browsing Prompts Lawsuits http://tinyurl.com/39dl8lj

• Online hotel bookings to be probed for price-fixing by OFT http://tinyurl.com/33jr89p

• HP and Oracle settle dispute over Mark Hurd #confidentiality http://tinyurl.com/342wlvy

• Woman Trademarks Her Name, Says No One Can Use It Without Her Permission http://ow.ly/2GSXx

• Germany opposes Google Street View switch-on http://tinyurl.com/3xsfmwq

Hope you guys enjoy the new weekly cyber-law news round!

To pay or not to pay, that is the question.

Blizzard has won $6m in damages in the trial it brought against MDY earlier this year. In a nutshell, Blizzard brought a claim against MDY on the grounds that Glider, a software produced by MDY infringed the copyright of Blizzard in the World of Warcraft ('WoW').

The US District Court ruled that Glider did in fact break the terms of the licence which users of WoW agree to before playing WoW. Commentators have argued that the award of damages could have been more substantial if MDY did not succeed on some of the grounds it presented to the Courts. It remains to be seen whether MDY will appeal against the judgement. Readers of CyberPanda will remember the reservations advanced by CyberPanda in an earlier post on the legal reasoning used by the Courts to reach its ruling. These concerns are still very much present at the moment and in the view of CyberPanda, MDY should seriously consider appealing the ruling as the legal reasoning used to determine liability in this instance is very much overstretched and illogical.

The case is far from over as MDY is due to appear in court again at the start of 2009 when the Courts will rule whether or not has breached the provisions of the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act and whether Mr Donnelly will have to pay the damages from his own pocket.

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Good news for YouTube?

CyberPanda has been silent for a few days after taking some much needed holiday!!! But it is back on form and catching up with the various legal developments in cyberspace since last week. And boy are there many!! Cyberspace never stops surprising, evolving and posing new, interesting and controversial questions and this is shown by the flurry of cases that have popped up since last week.

One case that has caught the attention of CyberPanda is the decision by the federal court in California in the case of IO Group Inc v Veoh Networks. The lawsuit was filed by the Plaintiffs on the ground that the Defendant, a online video sharing website, was infringing its copyright as videos of IO Group were being uploaded on the website of the Defendant without the authorisation of the rights owner.

The judge ruled that the Defendant was not infringing the copyright of the Plaintiffs and that the former was protected by the safe harbour provisions contained in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The judge also took into account the 'active steps' taken by the Defendant to reduce infringing acts and its 'diligent' work to keep unauthorised works off its website when reaching its decision.

This case is of particular interest as it is very much reminiscent of the ongoing lawsuit between Viacom and YouTube. Although this case can not serve as a precedent in the latter case which will be heard in a federal district court in New York, it may still have some impact on the ensuing ruling in the lawsuit between Viacom and YouTube. It is also important not to over-inflate the impact of this ruling which was very much decided on the precise facts of the case. Viacom`s lawyers will no doubt run an argument along the lines that the Google/Viacom case can be factually distinguished from the IO Group case and as such the courts should not consider the ruling in that case when deciding their case. It will be interesting to see whether this argument will work in court and the impact of this ruling in the Viacom/Google case.

A case of obvious breach and much more.

The new website Mygazines.com has caught the attention of CyberPanda. The website enables users to upload and copy various current magazines including The Economist and Men`s Health.

The web site is reported to have approximately 16,000 users who are all clearly in breach of copyright laws,

The position of the website is that the copies available on the site is similar to copies of magazines available in the waiting room of a doctor or at a hair salon. However this argument is clearly hogwash as the nature of the use in a doctor`s room and the nature of the use online is completely different. There is no infringing copying involved in the former.

The right owners are currently considering their options. The main problem is one of enforcement as the domain name of the website is registered in Anguilla. Hence US may potentially not have jurisdiction over the matter. This case presents interesting issues including copyright, jurisdiction and enforcement of judgment and it will be interesting to see how this evolves.

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The overnight metamorphosis of Scrabulous.

Following the lawsuit filed by Hasbro, which was reported on this e,arlier last week, (the owner of Scrabble`s rights in the US and Canada), the creators of Scrabulous have uploaded a more novel version of Scrabulous on Facebook, namely, Wordscraper.

A number of changes have been incorporated in the new game other than the name change in an attempt to avoid liability including circular word tiles, re-arrangements of the scores of the tiles, and introduction of tiles earning quadruple

points.

It will be interesting to see whether the Courts will rule that these changes are sufficient for the owners of Scrabulous to escape copyright/trademark infringement liability.

Absolutely Fabulous Scrabulous? Or Absolutely Fabulous Infringing Game?

Today, BBC News has reported that Hasbro, the right owner of Scrabble in the USA, is suing the creators of Scrabulous, which is available on Facebook, on the grounds that Scrabulous infringes its copyright and trademark.

Before filing the lawsuit, Hasbro requested Facebook to take down the application back in January 2008, but the latter refused to do so. The fact that Scrabulous in one of the most popular applications on Facebook and attracts over 595,000 active users daily might have had something to do with this decision.

At this stage, Facebook has not been joined to the lawsuit but it might be at a later stage. In addition, the rights to Scrabble outside the US are owned by Mattel which is not involved in this current lawsuit.

It will be interesting to see how this case evolves and how the proliferation of similar applications (e.g. Starbucks, Swarovski & Louis Vuitton applications on Facebook) can be successfully regulated and monitored.

A sensible option in some cases, might be for the rights owners and the creators to negotiate an agreement with which both parties are equally comfortable rather than the imposition of a downright prohibition on use which might not be in the interest of creativity. A fine balance has to be maintained between the protection of the rights of owners and the opportunity for creativity by developers.

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Here comes the "look and feel" debate.

The Financial Times has reported that Facebook has filed a lawsuit in the US against StudiVZ which is a popular social networking website in Germany.

Facebook alleges that StudiVZ has breached its copyright by copying "the look, feel, features and services" of Facebook. Facebook alleges that StudiVZ has copied a substantial number of the design features of Facebook including the "Wall" which is unique to Facebook. Finally, Facebook alleges that the difference between the two website is only "nominal" and consists only of the red colour scheme of StudiVZ instead of the blue colour scheme of Facebook.

StudiVZ strongly denies these allegations has issued a statement issued over the weekend stating that Facebook is "arrogantly laying claim to an international monopoly" and denied having received any legal complaint from Facebook so far.

Having quickly road tested StudiVZ, I have to agree that it does seem to be a similar website to Facebook and that its design is quite similar to Facebook`s design. Does this similarity amount to copying the look and feel of Facebook is however a far more complex question than that. Some cynics argue that this lawsuit is fresh on the heels of Facebook`s unsuccessful attempts to break the German market.

In my view, this is far too simplistic an approach. Surely Facebook faces competition in various jurisdictions with the emergence of new social networking sites. And surely, it will be the most costly marketing tool, if it sues each site which is more popular than itself. In my view, there is a lot of merit in the lawsuit of Facebook and it will be interesting to see how this case evolves.