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Judge affirms jury's verdict in Tesla racism lawsuit but reduces $137 million payout
A federal judge has reduced the damages awarded to Owen Diaz to $15 million.
California judge finds Prop 22 gig worker measure unconstitutional
A California judge has ruled that Proposition 22 is unconstitutional.
Judge temporarily blocks Trump's order banning TikTok downloads
A US judge has ruled that a ban on TikTok ordered by the Trump administration will not go into effect as planned today. The decision means that the app will remain available to Americans for new downloads on Android and iOS stores.
Judge grants Amazon’s request to put Microsoft’s Pentagon contract on hold
For months, Amazon has been making a fuss over the Pentagon's decision to award Microsoft the $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) contract. The company has said that President Trump's "personal vendetta" cost it the contract, and it has filed a lawsuit to challenge the decision. Now, a judge has ordered a temporary block on the JEDI contract in response to the suit, CNBC reports.
Our favorite games of 2019
The end of 2019 is nigh, which means it's time for us to take stock of this year's crop of games. And it's been quite a year -- not quite the heights of 2017, to be sure, but still more than we here at Engadget can reasonably play between all the gadgets we review and events we attend. So rather than declare a list of winners, we'll tell you about the titles that captured our hearts and minds this year, the games of 2019 that made our days just a little better and will stick in our memories as we round the corner into the next decade and beyond.
Judge recommends bitcoin ‘creator’ turn over earnings in lawsuit
The self-proclaimed creator of bitcoin, Craig Wright, has been ordered to hand over half of his bitcoin earnings and intellectual property (IP) -- earned before 2014. They'll go to the estate of David Kleiman, who may or may not have co-created the cryptocurrency. The ruling, reported by CoinDesk, is the latest development in a $10 billion lawsuit. In 2018, Kleiman's brother accused Wright of fraudulently claiming that Kleiman signed over ownership and control of W&K, a company Kleiman ran. Wright was allegedly after Kleiman's Bitcoin earnings.
Judge demands Facebook hand over data privacy records
Facebook will have to hand over emails and records related to how it handled the Cambridge Analytica scandal. In September, shareholders sued the company in order to obtain information pertaining to the leak. Today, a US judge sided with shareholders, ordering Facebook to release the documents.
US federal judge rules that UberBlack drivers are not employees
Uber has been fighting the perception that its drivers should be employees for quite some time. Both the UK and the state of California have concluded that drivers should be considered employees and entitled to silly things like minimum wage, holiday pay and other benefits. Now, however, a US judge in Philadelphia has ruled that UberBlack drivers are not, in fact, employees under federal law.
Judge rules NYPD needed a warrant before using cell-site simulator
A Brooklyn judge has ruled that because the New York Police Department (NYPD) used a cell-site simulator, also known by the brand name Stingray, to track down a murder suspect without a warrant, some evidence against the suspect will be thrown out. As the New York Times reports, the NYPD initially denied using such a device in this case, but later conceded that it had. Following the suspect's arrest, he was picked out of a lineup by another victim, and that's what is being tossed out.
EFF says border control needs a warrant to search your tech
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has submitted a court filing arguing that federal agents at international airports should obtain a warrant before snooping through passenger laptops, phones and other digital devices. Warrantless border searches are currently permissible under an exception to the Fourth Amendment, but as EFF notes, the number of these searches has more than doubled since President Trump moved into the White House.
Facebook hires U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Grewal
Facebook is expanding its legal team -- perhaps just in time -- and its newest hire comes from behind the bench. U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Grewal will join the company in late June as its Deputy General Counsel, after serving in the North District of California since being appointed in December of 2010. The Recorder first reported the move, noting that Grewal pulled out of several cases involving Facebook in January. In his time on the bench he has ruled on cases involving the social network before, like this ruling on parents trying to access messages in their dead daughter's account, or another case over an outside developer's storage and use of customer data.
Judge blocks Staples and Office Depot merger
Last year around this time, Staples announced that it had purchased Office Depot, in a deal that would have created one enormous outlet for office supplies, computers, 3D printing services and more. However, US regulators thought the new company would be too enormous, and convinced a court to kill the merger on antitrust grounds. US District Judge Emmet Sullivan ruled that the acquisition "will substantially impair competition," especially to business customers, and that blocking it was "in the public interest."
Blame Canada: Google ordered to block website links worldwide
A minor Canadian court dispute has resulted in a judge's far-reaching decision that Google must block a website's search results worldwide, not just in Canada. It arose from a case involving a company that stole its ex-partner's intellectual property and fled abroad to sell pirated equipment online. Following a court order, Google Canada pulled the rogue firm's search results, but it put up new sites faster than they could be erased. As a result, a judge ordered Google to spike all its links worldwide -- an unprecedented ruling against a search company. Google said that it would appeal to BC's highest court, claiming the judge overstepped her jurisdiction. Many legal critics also found the ruling puzzling, saying it could set a legal precedent limiting the right to free speech.
Samsung may have spied on sealed Apple-Nokia documents to aid patent deals
If you're going to horse-trade on patents, it might help to know how much other companies have paid for them, no? Samsung has now been accused of corporate spying for exactly that purpose. The company's legal negotiator, Dr. Seungho Ahn, apparently told Nokia that its terms with Apple "were known to him," despite the fact they were marked "highly confidential -- attorneys' eyes only." This means they should have been for Samsung's outside counsel only, and strictly off-limits for gaining leverage in any negotiations. Court documents show that up to 50 Samsung employees were given non-redacted copies of Apple agreements with not only Nokia, but Ericsson, Sharp and Philips, too. Samsung denied any wrongdoing, saying that "such a violation can only occur willfully" and denied the need for further discovery. Still, US judge Paul S. Grewal ordered Samsung to release selected documents and emails to Apple and provide testimony from Dr. Ahn. The result of that will determine the severity of any sanctions, and perhaps make Dr. Ahn regret another thing he told Nokia: "all information leaks."
Federal appeals court rules search warrants not needed to seize cellphone records
Cast your memory back to 2011 and you may remember a Texas judge ruling that the seizure of cellphone records without a search warrant violated the Fourth Amendment. Fast-forward to today, and the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals has just overturned that very decision, arguing that law enforcement's collection of such data does not violate the Fourth Amendment, and doesn't need to pass the probable cause test. Instead, as the info is considered a service provider's business records, authorities can get ahold of it so long as they have "reasonable grounds" and obtain a court order. The data in question can include numbers dialed, the date and time of communications and info allowing officials to suss out the phone's location at the time of a call. Despite the gavel's recent action, the issue is far from settled. As the Associated Press notes, a New Jersey Supreme Court recently ruled search warrants must be used when officers request access to location information from phones details, while Maine and Montana passed legislation earlier this year requiring the same. To dive into the nitty gritty details of the case for yourself, give the bordering source link a click.
Miami judge accuses Google, Apple of using the courts 'as a business strategy' (updated)
Miami U.S. District Judge Robert Scola had choice words for Apple and Samsung Google during a patent dispute between the pair, accusing the two of of having "no interest in efficiently and expeditiously resolving this dispute" and instead using such proceedings "as a business strategy." The Florida case began in 2010 and has since swelled to over 180 claims, causing the pair to ask the court to reduce the scope of the case. That caused Judge Scola to rail against the combatants, saying "without a hint of irony, the parties now ask the court to mop up a mess that they made," adding that he would "decline this invitation." Instead, he gave them four months to streamline the case themselves, lest it be placed on hold until all the nearly 100 terms in dispute are defined to everyone's satisfaction -- but we know how that's gone before. Update: The original post mentioned Samsung and Apple as the disputants, but it's actually a suit involving Google and Apple. Thanks for all who pointed it out.
Judge who accused Apple of 'lack of integrity' joins Samsung's legal team (update)
As famous judges go, Sir Robin Jacob doesn't quite rank up there with some others we can think of (like that handsome fella on the left). But he is well known in legal circles, thanks largely to an important judgement he made against Apple last year. Sir Robin was among three British judges who forced Apple to apologize for accusing Samsung of stealing tablet designs, and he was especially heavily quoted in the press after he highlighted a "lack of integrity" in the way Apple had presented its case. Fast forward to now, however, and Sir Robin is in the limelight for a very different reason. He's quit the role of impartial arbiter in order to become an "expert" who is "working on behalf of" Samsung in a separate dispute with the ITC. We're certainly not accusing the guy of any wrongdoing, but it's interesting that the system allows people to switch between roles just like that. Lawyers, eh? Update: Here's a word on the matter from Samsung: "Sir Robin Jacob is not a legal representative of Samsung Electronics. A highly reputed intellectual property expert and academic, Sir Robin has been contracted as an expert by a law firm that represents Samsung Electronics in its case against Ericsson."
Judge urges Apple, Samsung lawyers to seek 'global peace'
Samsung and Apple faced off again on Thursday in a California courtroom. The pair met with Judge Lucy Koh to discuss a variety of topics including Apple's injunction against Samsung, the fairness of the US$1 billion award and the credibilty of jury foreman Velvin Hogan. During the proceedings, Koh encouraged the two sides to settle their differences, saying it would be good for consumers and for the industry. The two sides have repeatedly tried to negotiate a compromise, but they have failed to reach an agreement. The patent infringement dispute between the two companies spans multiple cases in several countries worldwide. Each side has won small victories, but the war between the two industry leaders is still going strong. [Via Engadget and The Verge]
Beyonce tries to escape Gate Five lawsuit again, fails again
Singer Beyonce has failed, once again, to get herself extricated from the impending lawsuit against her by developer Gate Five Studios. Gate Five claims Beyonce agreed to help make a video game called Superstar: Beyonce late last year, but then backed out of the deal, causing severe financial damage to the studio. Beyonce's lawyers attempted to get a summary judgment in April, claiming Gate Five hadn't pulled in the financing needed to make the game, but that attempt was denied.Now the appeal of that judgment has failed. This doesn't mean Beyonce's lost the case, but it does mean that it'll likely go to trial, where a jury will have to determine if Beyonce was within her contract to leave the project, or if she somehow broke the agreement. The main issue seems to be that Beyonce required a certain amount of financing to stay on board, which she says the studio didn't get. Gate Five has suggested that there was an agreement to get the money Beyonce's contract required very soon, and that she knew that deal was all set to take place.Beyonce, we're really happy for you, and we're going to let this finish and all, but Axel Rose had one of the best video game lawsuits of all time. One of the best video game lawsuits of all time!
Apple publishes 'Samsung did not copy' statement through gritted teeth
Whatever you think of the continual legal tussles between Apple and Samsung, a UK court's decision to force the former into publicly acknowledging that the latter did not copy its design will have seemed a little egregious even to the most ardent sammy-sympathiser. Well, that post is now live -- on Apple's site at least -- and as you might expect, is studiously manicured to almost not feel like an acknowledgement at all. The opening legalese notes that Samsung did not infringe "registered design No. 0000181607-0001," before going on to point out in perfect lay-terms the positive comments Judge Colin Birss made about its own slates. While Apple does confirm that the UK decision was further upheld by the court of appeal, it is also keen to remind you that other European legal jurisdictions (namely Germany) don't share this opinion. Head to source to read the statement in full.
