Utah’s Trademark Bill; Opposed by Google
Utah’s Trademark Bill; Opposed by Google
This is nothing for Utah legislators, who for years have attempted to initiate tighter control on the internet to prevent spyware and pornography. Utah’s lawmakers have referred to the internet as the “Wild West” unregulated and full of internet bandits. Utah has long been known as a moral leader in law legislation with their alcohol and drug laws, but this law has created a windstorm, which may prove to be devastating. Some Utah Lawmakers are over stepping their boundaries in trying to control interstate commerce, which is strictly prohibited in the U.S constitution. Eric Goldman of University School of Law in Santa Clara CA says, “We’ve got some scientists in the Utah Legislature cooking up some really bad experiments”.
Since the bills creation Google Inc has announced publicly its plans to challenge the ruling in court on the basis that the law violates interstate commerce and free speech. In an e-mail to The Salt Lake Tribune, Google spokesman Adam Kovacevich said “This law hurts consumer, violates free speech, and is inconsistent with both established U.S trademark law and our capitalist system”. This should come as no surprise to Utah Lawmakers though, Utah’s own General Counsel as well as Unspam Technologies CEO Matthew Prince both advised lawmakers of the implications of the bill. Prince stated that “I warned them during the session that this would make Google mad,”.
Some wonder if this bill was a backdoor maneuver crafted by the Draper, Utah company 1-800 Contacts which helped create anti-spyware bills in the past. A lobbyist for 1-800-Conacts Jay Magure supports the bill but questions if it will survive court. “Historically it’s very hard to tailor a state law that just protects the interest of state and doesn’t go beyond the borders,” Jay Magure. The Trademark Protection Act was crafted by Unspam Technologies, a company that also helped craft the child-protection registry; a law which would require sellers of adult material to submit their e-mail lists to Unspam inorder to remove minors from the list.
Whether or not this bill survives, this showcases the effect a single law can have on an entire industry. The search engine optimization industry is greatly affected but keyword regulation. Internet marketing firms everywhere would be affected, not just Goliaths like Google and Microsoft.
Utahs Trademark Bill Opposed by Google - To learn more about this author, visit William Atkin's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
On March 19th Utah’s own Governor Jon Hunstman signed the “Trademark Protection Act” which won by a unanimous vote. With little fanfare, this bill drew almost no attention, that is until Google and other major corporations started to notice. The new law would allow companies to create electronic trademarks to prevent competitors from using those marks. While this law sounds innocent, the implications are far reaching and affect most companies doing business on the internet, most of all those in search engine marketing.
This is nothing for Utah legislators, who for years have attempted to initiate tighter control on the internet to prevent spyware and pornography. Utah’s lawmakers have referred to the internet as the “Wild West” unregulated and full of internet bandits. Utah has long been known as a moral leader in law legislation with their alcohol and drug laws, but this law has created a windstorm, which may prove to be devastating. Some Utah Lawmakers are over stepping their boundaries in trying to control interstate commerce, which is strictly prohibited in the U.S constitution. Eric Goldman of University School of Law in Santa Clara CA says, “We’ve got some scientists in the Utah Legislature cooking up some really bad experiments”.
Since the bills creation Google Inc has announced publicly its plans to challenge the ruling in court on the basis that the law violates interstate commerce and free speech. In an e-mail to The Salt Lake Tribune, Google spokesman Adam Kovacevich said “This law hurts consumer, violates free speech, and is inconsistent with both established U.S trademark law and our capitalist system”. This should come as no surprise to Utah Lawmakers though, Utah’s own General Counsel as well as Unspam Technologies CEO Matthew Prince both advised lawmakers of the implications of the bill. Prince stated that “I warned them during the session that this would make Google mad,”.
Some wonder if this bill was a backdoor maneuver crafted by the Draper, Utah company 1-800 Contacts which helped create anti-spyware bills in the past. A lobbyist for 1-800-Conacts Jay Magure supports the bill but questions if it will survive court. “Historically it’s very hard to tailor a state law that just protects the interest of state and doesn’t go beyond the borders,” Jay Magure. The Trademark Protection Act was crafted by Unspam Technologies, a company that also helped craft the child-protection registry; a law which would require sellers of adult material to submit their e-mail lists to Unspam inorder to remove minors from the list.
Whether or not this bill survives, this showcases the effect a single law can have on an entire industry. The search engine optimization industry is greatly affected but keyword regulation. Internet marketing firms everywhere would be affected, not just Goliaths like Google and Microsoft.
Utahs Trademark Bill Opposed by Google - To learn more about this author, visit William Atkin's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
| |||
 |
No article feedback found. | ||
|
Leave Your Feedback | ||
|
|||
 Utah’s Trademark Bill; Opposed by Google
| |||
| Utah's attempt at regulating the internet is opposed by most other states as well as major corporations. |
|||
|
How to Register a Trademark
| |||
| So, you finally settled on the perfect name for your product or service – it describes the business without being overly descriptive, it tells your customers exactly what you want them to know and it's catchy. That'... |
|||
|
Do You Need a Registered Trademark?
| |||
| It's less of a need than a want. Registering a trademark is NOT mandatory. However, are you a business owner, or do you work with a business that does not currently have a trademark registered or pending with the US... |
|||
|
Trademark a Name and Logo: Together or Separate?
| |||
| Trademarks can be names of products or services, logos, slogans, packaging and even sounds and smells. In essence, a trademark can be almost anything that is used to identify a particular product or service. Registe... |
|||
|
Why Trademark?
| |||
| If you own a business, you spend a significant amount of time and effort building it up to be successful. You need to protect it the same way that you protect anything else that is valuable to you. What is the bes... |
|||
| |||
|
To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us. | |||
 | |
 William Atkin (Visit William's Website) William Atkin is a writer for the web design/internet marketing company Utah Web Services, a subsidiary of Wiworks Inc. For over 9 years they have provided regional and national web services to clients in all industries. We have provided Utah Search engine optimization to business nationwide.
|  |
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
| Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media |
|
|
 |
| Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details. |
 |
 | ||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
|
| ||
|
|
|
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
|
|
|
 |
 Make Attitude Your Ally Entrepreneurship Or Job? Women Entrepreneurs Home Party Plan Mistakes Goal Setting |
|
 | ||
 |
Top 50 HR Blogs 2009
Top 50 HR Blogs 2009 | |
 |
Top 50 Geek Business Blogs
Top 50 Geek Business Blogs | |
| ||
 |
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
|
||||||||||||
