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Riot Games has cleared its CEO of harassment following investigation
After conducting an internal investigation, Riot Games said it found "no evidence" of harassment by CEO Nicolo Laurent against a former employee.
'Valorant' pro Sinatraa has been suspended amid sexual assault allegations
Riot and Sentinels are investigating following accusations from the player's ex-girlfriend.
Quibi sued over patent infringement for its 'Turnstyle' video feature (updated)
The short-form, mobile video streaming platform Quibi is scheduled to launch on April 6th, but it's already facing a patent infringement dispute. Eko, a New York-based company that creates interactive videos, claims Quibi used patented tech and stolen trade secrets to develop its "Turnstyle" technology, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Leaked documents suggest Huawei violated Iran sanctions
Internal documents reviewed by Reuters show that Huawei shipped computer equipment made by Hewlett-Packard to Iran's largest mobile operator in 2010. The documents provide strong evidence that Huawei was involved in alleged trade sanction violations. They could potentially be used to strengthen the United States' multifaceted case against Huawei.
Alphabet’s David Drummond is leaving months after allegations surfaced
Alphabet's chief legal officer David Drummond is leaving the company. Drummond claims he's retiring "to make way for the next generation of leaders," but allegations that he had affairs with employees could cast some doubt on his motives.
NY Attorney General sues Juul for deceptive marketing
Yesterday, California filed a lawsuit against e-cigarette company Juul for allegedly targeting underage Californians with its marketing and sales practices. Today, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced a similar lawsuit against Juul "for deceptive and misleading marketing of its e-cigarettes, which contributed to the ongoing youth vaping epidemic in New York State."
California is suing Juul for allegedly targeting minors
California is suing e-cigarette maker Juul. The lawsuit alleges that Juul targeted underage Californians with its marketing and sales practices, failed to warn consumers of their exposure to chemicals linked to cancer and birth defects, failed to properly verify the age of its customers and violated the privacy rights of minors by retaining their email addresses even when they failed age verification. Attorney General Xavier Becerra, Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey and the County of Los Angeles announced the lawsuit today.
Uber reportedly tells its staff not to disclose potential crimes
Uber has faced numerous sexual assault charges against its drivers in its time, but has repeatedly assured its users that it's taking steps to strengthen security for riders. Now, The Washington Post has revealed that despite these measures, Uber's customer service department is reportedly skewed in favor of the company, no matter how serious the complaints -- the majority of which involve sexual assault.
LGBTQ+ creators file lawsuit charging YouTube with discrimination
In a federal lawsuit filed yesterday, a group of LGBTQ+ video creators claims YouTube discriminates against their content. The group alleges that YouTube suppresses their videos, restricts their ability to monetize their channels and enforces its policies unevenly, giving more leeway to producers with large audiences. According to The Washington Post, the suit argues that YouTube deploys "unlawful content regulation, distribution, and monetization practices that stigmatize, restrict, block, demonetize, and financially harm the LGBT Plaintiffs and the greater LGBT Community."
Lyft acknowledges its response to sexual harassment has fallen short
Lyft acknowledges that its response to sexual harassment has fallen short in some instances. Despite the ridesharing company's attempts to position itself as a mission-driven brand with a "friendly, hospitality-oriented personality," a growing number of women say they've been harassed by drivers. To make things worse, they say, the company's response is often tone-deaf and insufficient.
Major broadcasters sue nonprofit TV service over copyright infringement
CBS, ABC, NBC and Fox have joined forces in a fight against Locast, a nonprofit streaming service funded in part by AT&T Inc and Dish Network Corp. The service is marketed as a distribution alternative for people who can't get local TV signals through their antenna, but it's also earned a reputation as a free alternative for consumers who are tired of their cable bills. According to The Wall Street Journal, the four networks claim Locast is retransmitting their local TV signals without permission, therefore violating copyright law.
White House: Google’s work in China is not a security risk
Earlier this month, Facebook board member and billionaire investor Peter Thiel accused Google of working with China's government. Today, The Wall Street Journal reports that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that he and President Trump have no national security concerns about Alphabet Inc.'s work in China.
Monsters Ate My Birthday Cake dev accused of stealing artwork [Update]
Monsters Ate My Birthday Cake has been accused of copying its map artwork from another artist, Athens, Greece-based Ilias Sounas. The illustrator posted a blog comparing art they completed in 2012 for Karios Games' MonsterUp Adventures to that of SleepNinja's game, which was funded on Kickstarter to the tune of $26,096 in February 2013 and just launched this week on iOS and Android. "My dispute is over the game map, not the mechanics and overall style, which is identical to the world I had created for MonsterUp Adventures," Sounas told Joystiq. The blog compares the two games' monsters and overworlds, each being an island with markedly similar features such as trees, hills and shadows. Sounas began uploading his creations for the game to the Dribbble design community site in April 2012 as well as the Behance portfolio site in July 2012. Sounas said he contacted both SleepNinja and publisher Cartoon Network regarding the allegations and "their replies are pending." Likewise, Cartoon Network replied to an inquiry from Joystiq, noting the publisher is "looking into this" and "will be in touch with a response."
Cisco reportedly drops sales pact with ZTE after claims of roundabout Iran dealings
ZTE might already be feeling heat from Congressional suspicions, but the company could soon take a more direct hit to the pocketbook. Cisco has reportedly dropped an already rocky seven-year deal with ZTE after it learned that the Chinese firm had been selling Cisco's networking gear to the Telecommunication Company of Iran as recently as July of last year. Being implicated in an end-run around US trade sanctions isn't great for business, as you'd imagine. While Cisco CEO John Chambers wouldn't directly confirm the severed link in a chat with Reuters, he noted that we would "not see that [sort of deal] happen again" -- an indication that his company at least isn't happy with the current state of affairs. ZTE isn't waiting for any public acknowledgment to voice its frustration and says it's "highly concerned," although it's not helped by allegations from its own US general counsel that there was an attempt to cover up the Iranian link. Nothing is definite until the investigations go public, but the Iran connection could make it that much harder for ZTE to keep US customers regardless of its distance from the Chinese government.
Huawei and ZTE 'cannot be trusted' in the US, says Congress report
A Congress committee will today publish the results of an 11-month investigation into ZTE and Huawei and the alleged risks these companies pose to US national security. Somehow, Reuters has already gotten hold of a draft of the report and, judging from the conclusions that have now been made public, it's anything but diplomatic. The document accuses both Chinese manufacturers of refusing to cooperate with the US's investigation, of failing to properly explain their ties with the Chinese government, and – at least in the case of Huawei -- of being the subject of "credible allegations" of "bribery, corruption, discriminatory behavior and copyright infringement." Many details seem to have been reserved for a longer, classified version of the report, but the Intelligence Committee's chairman, Mike Rogers, has already appeared on 60 Minutes to tell Americans to "find another vendor" rather than do business with either company – a stance that could potentially affect their handset sales as well as their telecoms infrastructure operations. In response, ZTE has complained that it "should not have been the focus of this investigation to the exclusion of the much larger Western vendors" and says it "profoundly disagrees" with the findings. A Huawei spokesman has described the Congress report as a "baseless" attack that will "recklessly threaten American jobs and innovation." Indeed, it published the same arguments in greater depth three weeks ago, when it was clearly anticipating (and no doubt dreading) today's headlines.
German prosecution charges HP staff with bribing Russian officials to clinch PC contract
The legal system's engines can take awhile to get churning, but there's no questioning the impact when they're at full bore. German prosecutors have wrapped up an almost three-year investigation into allegations of HP managers' bribery by charging the executives involved. Hilmar Lorenz, Päivi Tiippana and Ken Willett, along with claimed accomplice Ralf Krippner, have all been indicted for supposedly funneling €7.5 million ($9.7 million) in bribes through a German subsidiary and far-flung shell accounts to land a €35 million ($45.3 million) PC supply deal with Russia's Prosecutor General Office early in the previous decade. While only the people directly attached to the scandal currently face any consequences if found guilty, German lawyers are motioning to have the PC builder attached to the case, and there's a chance the formal charges could fuel an ongoing US investigation. HP is cooperating even as it's trying to distance itself from the indictments as much as possible -- these are for old allegations and a "former HP company," it says. While we don't yet know the whole story, it may be a protracted tale knowing that at least Tiippana and Willett plan to fight the accusations.
Former Funcom CEO investigated for insider trading
Trond Arne Aas, who stepped down as CEO of Funcom the day before The Secret World launched, is back in the spotlight. Norwegian authorities are investigating Aas for allegations of insider trading. An anonymous source reported to The Escapist that Aas' position change to a chief strategy advisor allowed him to attempt to sell off company stock without attracting scrutiny. As of press time, 650,000 of his 1.5 million shares have successfully sold. Stocks were valued at $17.60 a share when the game launched on July 2nd, but were worth $2.17 as of yesterday. Investigators are questioning whether Aas sold his stocks based on insider knowledge or if it was just coincidental timing.
E-book price fixing court date set for 2013
The Justice Department has been ready to take Apple to task over these recent allegations of e-book price fixing, and now a court date has been set: Apple will have to face the music almost a year from now, on June 3, 2013. Apple, Macmillan and the Penguin Group are the targets in the case, and while each of them has denied any formal price-fixing in the past, the court will do a little formal digging into those claims. A year is quite a long ways away, but stay tuned and we'll see exactly what case the Justice Department plans to lay out against Apple and the other publishing companies then. [via Engadget]
Apple strikes settlement with NYC vendors accused of selling counterfeit products
Remember that lawsuit Apple filed against a pair of Queens stores accused of selling fake iDevice accessories? Well, it looks like it's coming to a close. According to Reuters, Cupertino has reached a settlement with the two Chinatown-area retailers, both of which have agreed to hand over all products emblazoned with the Apple name or logo. If the settlement is approved, the two vendors, Fun Zone and Apple Story, will have five days to clear all counterfeit iPod and iPhone accessories from their inventories, along with any allegedly trademark-infringing promotional materials. The defendants, who maintain their innocence, would also be barred from destroying any records of sales, manufacturing or distribution of the unauthorized cases and headphones -- presumably as part of Apple's ongoing crusade against counterfeiters. Apple Story, meanwhile, would have to change its name, which bears an obvious similarity to another well-known outlet. The proposed settlement was filed with a Brooklyn District Court on Thursday and now awaits the approval of US District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto. Neither Apple nor the defendants have commented on the case.
Apple cracks down on counterfeit products sold in NYC, files lawsuit against Queens vendors
There may be more than a few fake Apple Stores in China, but for the moment, Cupertino's anti-KIRF crusade seems focused squarely on New York City. According to Reuters, Apple has filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against two stores in Queens, alleging that they sold unauthorized cases, headphones and other accessories for the iPhone, iPad and iPod. In the complaint, the company claims that the products in question were all emblazoned with its familiar fruit logo, along with the phrase, "Designed by Apple in California. Assembled in China." The suit also demands that one of the stores, called Apple Story (seriously), change its name to avoid confusion with the real retail outlet and that both vendors disclose full lists of people who both supplied and purchased the goods. It all began when company representatives visited the Chinatown-area stores on "multiple occasions over several weeks," where they bought and examined the items, described in court records as "exact duplicates" of their authentic counterparts. On July 27th, Apple executed a few ex parte seizure warrants, which allowed authorities to seize any goods bearing its logo. US District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto has already granted an injunction to stop the stores from selling the alleged knockoffs, but hasn't yet decided whether Apple Story will have to change its name. The complaint also seeks undisclosed monetary damages and asks that all existing counterfeit goods be destroyed, though court documents suggest that both sides are close to reaching a deal. Neither Apple nor the defendants have commented on the accusations, but we'll let you know as soon as we learn more. In the meantime, check out this KIRF "iPhone 5" we found in Beijing -- a Java-powered handset that's slimmer than the Galaxy S II and a bit laggy, but boasts a multitouch capacitive screen. Asking price? ¥680, or about $106. %Gallery-131124%
