Legal Briefs - December 29, 2000

Original Temptations member Otis Williams is trying to stop a Dec. 30 concert billed under the band's name. The concert is to feature Dennis Edwards, another former member of the Motown band, but Williams owns the Temptations name.

"This is a continuing problem we have," Williams' attorney, Howard King, said. "You'll have people use the Temptations name and through that will be able to command 20 or 30 times the usual performance fee they would get. We have a constant battle worldwide."

Edwards' group is billed as the Temptations Revue featuring Dennis Edwards, a name sanctioned by a 1998 court order, group manager Ben Crosby said.

But King alleges that the full name of the group was not used in advertisements for the show. If the concert isn't canceled, King said he will proceed with contempt charges against the group and the Township concert hall in Columbia, S.C.

Township director Marshall Perry said the venue was misinformed about the act, and the marquee and tickets now reflect the proper billing.

A feud between two big pizza chains over television commercials could be settled by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Pizza Hut this week asked the high court to overturn a lower court's ruling and stop competitor Papa John's International Inc. from using the slogan "Better Ingredients, Better Pizza," which Pizza Hut says isn't true.

Dallas-based Pizza Hut, the nation's largest pizza chain, said it has waged a two-year battle against Papa John's to uphold truth-in-advertising.

Papa John's said the spat is ridiculous.

"The American public doesn't need the Supreme Court to tell them which pizza they like better," Papa John's spokeswoman Karen Sherman said.

Pizza Hut sued No. 3 Papa John's in 1998 about the slogan and commercials that suggest Papa John's uses better stuff.

A jury sided mostly with Pizza Hut, and a federal magistrate ordered Papa John's to stop using the slogan and never again compare its product with Pizza Hut's.

But in September, three judges at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the verdict, ruling that the Papa John's slogan is puffery — an exaggerated advertising claim that doesn't deceive consumers by itself.

China's legislature passed a law Thursday against online subversion, ratifying the communist government's sweeping efforts to extend its political controls into cyberspace.

The measure makes it illegal to produce or transmit computer viruses or break into military computer networks, the Xinhua News Agency said without giving details on penalties.

The law adds to mounting efforts to regulate online activity after a period when largely unregulated cyberspace offered a forum to government critics.

Official task forces already try to block access to Web sites deemed undesirable. Service providers are required to guard against political activity, and businesses that offer Web access without required licenses have been closed in a series of crackdowns.

Free Internet access pioneer NetZero Inc. has filed a patent- infringement lawsuit over advertising windows used by rival Juno Online Services.

Westlake Village, Calif.-based NetZero filed the lawsuit Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. The company has declined further comment on the lawsuit, spokeswoman Allison Chesher said Wednesday.

NetZero claims that its patent covers the technology used to present an onscreen advertising window that pops up separately from an Internet browser.

The window serves as a navigational tool and displays advertisements and customized messages while a computer user is online.

NetZero offers free dial-up access to users who are willing to provide information about their Internet surfing habits and allow a stream of advertisements to appear in a portion of their screen while online.

Juno officials Wednesday denied infringing on NetZero's patent.

Juno, with about 3.7 million subscribers, is the nation's third-largest Internet service provider behind America Online and EarthLink.