Volume II

Issue : 8: April 15, 2004

• U.S. Broadband Industry May be Forced to Share Following Cable Modem Decision
• UN E-commerce Group Releases Revised Draft Convention on the Use of Data Messages in International Contracts
• Supreme Court of Canada to Hear Criminal Spam Case
• U.S. Senate Bill Introduced to Grant Federal Government Exclusive Regulatory Authority Over VoIP
• U.S. Advocacy Groups Lobby FCC to Protect VoIP from Regulations
• CRTC Releases Preliminary View on VoIP Services
• PGA Tour Wins Battle over the Internet Posting of Real-Time Golf Scores
• British Columbia and Alberta Exempt from PIPEDA
• Canadian Privacy Commissioner's E-kit for Businesses
• Eight European Nations Fail to Implement the E-Privacy Directive
• Google Mail Alleged to Violate European Privacy Laws
• Florida Court Orders RIAA to Bring Individual Suits against Alleged File Swappers
• Federal Government Called Upon to Ban Internet Pharmacies
• Internet Pharmacy Sues Health Canada

Home > Volume II > Issue 8: April 15, 2004 > PGA Tour Wins Battle over the Internet Posting of Real-Time Golf Scores

PGA Tour Wins Battle over the Internet Posting of Real-Time Golf Scores

In Morris Communications Corp. v. PGA Tour Inc., the 11^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the PGA Tour can prevent Morris Communications, as well as other media companies, from selling "Real-Time" golf scores online. At issue was Morris' claim that the PGA Tour violated antitrust laws by insisting that the media delay publishing "Real-Time" scores.

The PGA Tour developed its own "Real-Time Scoring System" to make scoring available to reporters; however, it required the media to delay reporting the scores until they were either posted on the PGA Tour's official website or at least 30 minutes had elapsed. Morris often posted scores before the scores appeared on the PGA Tour's website.

The Court held that the PGA has a legitimate interest in keeping media companies from disseminating tournament scores online as they happen and held that "a company that expends time and money to create a valuable product does not violate the antitrust laws when it declined to provide that product to its competitors for free."

For a full copy of the 11^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision, visit:
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/11th/0310226p.pdf