Tech Law

EU Fines Microsoft $731M for Flubbing Browser Deal
March 06, 2013

After Denmark announced it was seeking US$1 billion in back taxes from Microsoft, the tech giant was hit with a $731 million fine from the European Union. The fine is for Microsoft's failure to promote a range of Web browsers, not just Internet Explorer.

White House Support for Unlocked Phones May Dial Up Pressure on Congress
March 05, 2013

The White House agreed Monday with consumers who want to be able to legally unlock their mobile phones and tablets and move them to the carrier of their choice. The Obama administration's statement was in response to a petition on the White House's We The People forum.

FBI Wins Skirmish in War on Dotcom
March 05, 2013

Kim Dotcom experienced a legal setback late last week when the New Zealand Court of Appeal overturned a lower court ruling that had required the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation to disclose all of its evidence against him. However, his fight to avoid extradition is nowhere near closure.

German Lawmakers Get Weak on Google
March 04, 2013

Google and other aggregators won a partial victory Friday in the lower house of the German parliament, where lawmakers approved legislation that would allow publishers to protect their digital copyrights by charging to fully reproduce their content. Questions remains about whether other countries -- particularly the U.S. -- could follow Germany's example.

Judge Vaporizes Big Chunk of Apple's Billion-Dollar Win in Samsung Case
March 04, 2013

U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh on Friday struck more than $450 million from the damages a jury awarded to Apple in last summer's blockbuster verdict against Samsung. The jury found that Samsung had willfully copied a number of Apple's design and software patents for the iPhone and ruled that it should pay more than $1 billion in damages.

Lights, Camera, Console: Xbox Live Premieres Its 1st Original Movie
March 04, 2013

A comedy film called Pulp will skip theaters and DVDs and instead premiere on the Xbox 360 -- the first time a feature-length film has ever been distributed exclusively on the video game console. The film chronicles the adventures of a comic book publisher recruited by police to stop a crime syndicate.

EC Poised to Unleash Its Wrath on Microsoft
March 01, 2013

It will be déjà vu all over again for Microsoft, which apparently is about to be slapped with a stiff fine for violating the European Union's antitrust rules. The European Commission reportedly will impose a penalty by the end of March for Microsoft's violation of a 2009 pledge to allow European users of its Windows operating system to choose among competing browsers.

China Returns US Cyberattack Volley
March 01, 2013

What, China was just going to say nothing? On the heels of a report that China's military has for years been engaging in cyberespionage against the U.S., China's Ministry of Defense claimed that a pair of its military websites were attacked more than 100,000 times per month in 2012.

Judge Nixes Samsung's Request to Ban Apple Devices in Japan
March 01, 2013

Apple won a victory over Samsung in a Japanese district court Thursday that will allow it to continue to sell iPads and iPhones in that country. Samsung tried to block the sale of the Apple devices in Japan because it said they stepped on some data transfer patents that the company owned.

Cook Cheers Investors While Saying Very Little
February 28, 2013

CEO Tim Cook presided over Apple's annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday, where he fielded questions about a lawsuit filed by activist investor David Einhorn. In his complaint, Einhorn demanded that Apple unbundle scheduled votes that he claimed would require shareholders to consider separate matters in one ballot. Cook called the lawsuit "silly," but the judge ruled in favor of Einhorn.

The Center for Copyright Information is ready to start implementing the Copyright Alert System, it said Monday. Under the system, content partners, such as music and movie producers, will alert participating ISPs of alleged P2P copyright infringement by their customers. The ISPs will then forward those copyright alerts to the supposed offenders.

Planting Seeds of Injustice
February 26, 2013

At the oral argument in Bowman v. Monsanto, Chief Justice Roberts cut off Bowman's attorney seconds into his delivery, questioning his thesis, which undermined the purposes of patent law. "Why in the world would anybody spend any money to try to improve the seed if as soon as they sold the first one anybody could grow more and have as many of those seeds as they want?"

FTC Gives HTC a Good Shaking Over Bungled Security
February 25, 2013

The Federal Trade Commission last week reached a settlement with HTC America over charges the company failed to take reasonable steps to secure the software in its smartphones and tablet computers. The security flaws could have compromised the privacy of millions of consumers, the agency said. This is the FTC's first case against a mobile device manufacturer.

Einhorn to Apple: Time to Pay the Piper
February 22, 2013

Hedge fund manager and rogue Apple investor David Einhorn hosted a conference call for shareholders Thursday as he continued his campaign to steer more cash from the company's balance sheet toward investors. Einhorn, a manager at Greenlight Capital, used the call as part of his broader strategy to pressure Apple to issue a stockholder dividend rather than let the company's $137 billion lay idle.

Oracle Tries Again to Get Satisfaction in Java Case
February 20, 2013

Oracle is not letting go of its Java patent infringement beef against Google despite its sound drubbing last spring when U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup ruled that programming APIs were not subject to copyright protection. Last week, Oracle took the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Getting to the Root of Patent Exhaustion
February 19, 2013

Patent laws remain in the crosshairs, despite the passage and near final implementation of the infamous America Invents Act of 2011. The Supreme Court is again hearing a case that has far-reaching implications for future innovation in self-replicating systems in fields such as nanotechnology, cell and DNA lines, new medical treatments and others.

German Court OKs Facebook's Keep-It-Real Policy
February 16, 2013

Facebook's policy of requiring that users post profiles under their real names was upheld by a German court on Thursday. The decision reversed last year's Independent Center for Privacy Protection ruling that Facebook had to permit the use of pseudonyms in Germany. The ULD -- the privacy regulator for the German state of Schleswig-Holstein -- had cited the country's Telemedia Act as its rationale.

Joint Effort Snares Gang of Cyberthugs
February 14, 2013

Europol announced Wednesday the breakup of a gang of cybercriminals who allegedly ran a ransomware scheme to extract money from online users in 30 countries. Spanish police, working alongside Europol's European Cybercrime Center, made 11 arrests in an action dubbed "Operation Ransom."

Of Apps and Antitrust: FTC Monitoring Kicks Into High Gear
February 13, 2013

Periodically we are reminded that the Federal Trade Commission plays a major role in regulating the Internet. For instance, the FTC is in charge of protecting privacy on the Internet in the U.S. and continually starts new privacy initiatives as the use of the Internet evolves.

US Tech Giants Face Pricing Questions in Australia
February 11, 2013

Apple, Microsoft and Adobe reportedly have been summoned by the Australian Parliament to explain why their products cost so much more in Australia than elsewhere. The tech trio was called by the House Committee on Infrastructure and Communications, which is overseeing an inquiry into why hardware and software, ranging from e-books and music to computer games and consoles, are pricier Down Under than in the U.S., UK and Asia.