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Monday, August 9, 2004
Free falling
Indy MacDonald of San Diego, Calif., wipes out after
In attempt at the Skateboard Big Air Competition at the
ISPN X Games X in Los Angeles on Sunday at the Staples
lenter. MacDonald took home the bronze medal in the
DAVE MORRIS • THE BATTALION
event, which features a 65-foot-tall ramp and 70-foot gap
in a large half pipe. MacDonald built the first ever big
air setup in his parents' backyard in 1999, and set a
Guiness World Record for his creation.
NEWS IN BRIEF
Iharp decline in jury trials
loses dilema for lawyers
ATLANTA (AP) — Jury trials are in a sharp
ecline. More accused criminals are opting
r plea deals and companies are finding it
Iheaper to settle disputes through arbitration
u other means.
1 The nation’s largest lawyers group is not sure if
liere is anything it could _ or should _ do about
lie situation, which is changing the way law schools
(ducate future attorneys and making skilled nego-
tators in greater demand than trial lawyers.
1 About 40 years ago, more than 11 percent
(f civil cases in federal courts were resolved
ly trials. Today it is under 2 percent. Federal
criminal trials have fallen by one-third over the
past 40 years. Federal judges who once heard
nearly 40 trials a year now preside over fewer
than 13.
All this has dismayed lawyers and some judges.
Lawyers accept part of the blame, acknowl
edging their costly fees and massive paperwork
demands before a trial. Some lawyers recom
mend that clients settle out of court because they
have more control and the results often can be
kept secret.
So far, the 400,000-member ABA has not taken
up any policy suggestions. But Robert Grey Jr.,
a lawyer from Richmond, Va., who becomes the
group’s president this week, is making juries a
centerpiece of his agenda.
In streaming video dispute,
company aims at colleges
Rv Tiistin Pone vear. Bob Berman, the comnanv’s general c
By Justin Pope
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
After a recent legal setback, a California company
that claims its patents cover the streaming video tech
nology used by adult Web sites is boosting efforts to
collect money from a very different group of stream
ing video users: colleges and universities.
Newport Beach, Calif.-based Acacia Media
Technologies Corp. has sent letters to dozens of colleges
in recent days claiming the schools’ use of streaming
video in areas like distance learning and video lectures
violates company patents. The message:
pay up, or risk getting sued.
“Certainly for colleges that do a lot of
distance education, this could be a major
problem,” said Steve Worona, director
of policy and networking programs at
EDUCAUSE, an association of campus
information technology centers.
Several colleges say the letters
make even broader claims, extend
ing beyond distance learning to cover
almost anything a college does that
involves moving audio and video
files on computer networks.
Washington College in
Chestertown, Md., was told that by
Acacia that a minimum annual license
fee of $5,000 was likely to cover the
company claims it’s owed. But Acacia
said the deal is only on the table until
Sept. 15. Afterward, the price might go up and Acacia
might sue for past infringement.
The school calls it extortion.
“I think it’s kind of like highway robbery or black
mail,” said Billie Dodge, director of information
technology at the college of 1,400 students. It uses
streaming video for things like making lectures avail
able online and showing alumni sports highlights.
While some companies that have agreed to licenses
with Acacia pay hundreds of thousands of dollars per
Certainly for
colleges that do
a lot of distance
education, this
could be a major
problem.
— Steve Worona
EDUCASE director of policy
and networking programs
year, Bob Berman, the company’s general counsel,
said he doubts any university streams enough video
to owe that much.
It’s only fair, he said, that colleges pay up.
“Many colleges have patented technologies that
their research departments have gotten issued,” he
said. “On the one hand, they like the revenue they
make from their patents. On the other hand, they’re
saying we should allow them to ignore ours.”
Acacia’s digital media patents, granted to the
founders of Greenwich Information Technologies in
the 1990s, weren’t enforced until Acacia bought them
in 2001. Acacia has since secured doz
ens of licensing deals with companies
ranging from adult entertainment sites
to The Walt Disney Co. It has also sued
large cable and satellite providers.
Last year, Acacia sent an initial round
of letters to a number of colleges, seeking
similar licensing deals. A handful signed
agreements, but most have resisted.
Now it appears to be making another
big push. Berman declined to say how
many schools had been sent letters in
what he acknowledged was a “second
wave.” But as of Friday, at least 48
colleges had notified the American
Council on Education that they’d
received letters and asked for advice
on how to respond.
ACE and the Electronic Frontier
Foundation, a legal group that
opposes Acacia’s patent claims, are both advising
colleges not to pay.
“There’s a lot of scared schools out there,” said
Sheldon Steinbach, general counsel for the ACE.
In a preliminary ruling in Acacia’s dispute with
adult entertainment sites last month, a federal
judge ruled that several terms in Acacia’s pat
ents were indefinite, a verdict that could weaken
potential Acacia cases against other streaming
video users.
Iraq reinstates capital punishment
By Sameeer Yacoub
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraq rein
stated capital punishment for peo
ple guilty of murder, endangering
national security and distributing
drugs, the government announced
Sunday, saying the death penalty
was necessary to help put down the
country’s persistent insurgency.
The announcement came a day
after the government offered an
amnesty to Iraqis who commit
ted minor crimes since the fall of
Saddam Hussein’s regime last year.
The two laws were part of a carrot-
and-stick approach by the govern
ment to try to put down the 15-
month-old campaign of violence.
Capital punishment was sus
pended during the U.S. occupation.
Under Saddam’s regime, some 114
offenses could gamer the death pen
alty. The new law was more restric
tive than that had been.
“This is not an open door to exe
cute anyone and everyone, or people
whom the government dislikes. This
is not Saddam’s law,” Minister of
State Adnan al-Janabi said.
Many Iraqis also wanted the death
penalty reinstated so it could be
applied to Saddam, who faces trial
on war crimes charges. It was not
immediately clear how the new law
would effect Saddam.
In announcing the law, Janabi and
Human Rights Minister Bakhtiar
Amin said they regretted the need
to bring back the death penalty, but
it was needed to fight the militants
destabilizing the country with car
bombings, kidnappings, sabotage
and other violence.
“The tough task in front of us in
this country is maintaining securi
ty and stability, combatting terror
and organized crime,” Amin said.
“I assure you that none of us in the
government are comfortable with
reinstating capital punishment.”
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