The parliamentary recommendation was handed down just as global bankers met in Switzerland and agreed to new international banking rules [BBC report] that would prevent a repeat of the global financial crisis. The rules would call for some banks to raise more capital from shareholders and could have the effect of limiting lending. The new rules could go into effect if they are ratified by heads of government at the G-20 [official website; JURIST news archive] summit in November. The Icelandic financial crisis began in 2008 as a result of the financial crisis [JURIST news archive] emanating from securities related to the US mortgage market. The Icelanic government took over three ailing banks, which collectively held debt equaling more than 900 percent of the country's gross domestic product. This caused the economy to collapse and necessitated governmental reliance on loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) [official website]. The country considered seeking accession [JURIST report] to the EU after current Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir [official profile] argued that adopting the Euro would help stabilize the economy. In 2008, the UK used anti-terrorism laws to freeze $4 billion [JURIST report] in assets held by Landsbanki [corporate website], one of the ailing banks, after its takeover by the Icelandic government.

Autodesk retained title to the software and imposed significant transfer restrictions: it stated that the license is nontransferable, the software could not be transferred or leased without Autodesk's written consent, and the software could not be transferred outside the Western Hemisphere. ... Thus, because Autodesk reserved title to [the software] and imposed significant transfer and use restrictions, we conclude that its customers are licensees of their copies of [the software] rather than owners. ... Therefore, Vernor did not [have] title to the copies ... and accordingly could not pass ownership on to others. ... Vernor's sales infringed Autodesk's exclusive right to distribute copies of its work.

The decision overturns the judgment of the US District Court of the Western District of Washington, which granted summary judgment [opinion text] in Vernor's favor. The case was brought against Vernor after he sold unopened copies of Autodesk's software he obtained at a garage sale on eBay. In April, the Supreme Court granted certiorari [JURIST report] in Costco v. Omega, in which it will review another decision of the Ninth Circuit regarding the first sale doctrine. The Ninth Circuit held in 2008 that the first sale doctrine does not apply to imported goods [JURIST report]. The case turns on whether the Supreme Court has already overturned the Ninth Circuits' jurisprudence on the first sale doctrine in the previous decision of Quality King Distributors, Inc. v. L'anza Research International, Inc. [opinion text].