lawsuit settlement
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Daily Update for May 29, 2013
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
EA files $27 million settlement in lawsuit, cannot renew current NCAA license [Update]
Electronic Arts reached a settlement in a class action lawsuit that dates back to 2008 for $27 million, and will be unable to renew its exclusive agreement with the NCAA, providing the court upholds the settlement terms.The original lawsuit claimed that EA violated antitrust laws by entering exclusive license agreements with the NFL, NCAA, and AFL. The $27 million settlement fund proposed by EA would, in part, benefit those that purchased any EA Sports football game from January 2005 to today. Specifically, customers that bought any of the included GameCube, Xbox, and PS2 games may get up to $6.79 per game, and $1.95 per Wii, Xbox 360, and PS3 game.EA also agreed to stipulations on future license agreements as part of the proposed settlement, as it will not make any exclusive licensing deals with the AFL for five years, and will not renew its current agreement with the NCAA. Additionally, EA won't be able to enter another exclusive licensing agreement with the NCAA for five years. The company's exclusive NFL trademark licensing deal remains untouched in the proposed settlement, which awaits final approval by the court on September 27.Update: As a clarification, EA Sports' future NCAA license will be non-exclusive. EA sent us the following statement: "We made a business decision to settle this lawsuit and put the matter behind us. We look forward to continuing our partnerships with the NFL and NCAA."
iPads for Madison, WI schools purchased with Microsoft lawsuit settlement funds
A total of about 1,400 iPads are heading to schools in Madison, Wisconsin during 2012, indirectly paid for by none other than Microsoft. The Wisconsin State Journal reports that the school district is acquiring iPads as they are less expensive, easier to use, and more portable than the usual computers purchased for educational use. Bill Smojver, the director of technical services for the Madison School District, referred to Apple's recent educational announcements about iBooks Author, iBooks 2, and digital textbooks as a "significant development." Deputy superintendent of schools Sue Abplanalp said that Madison administrators found that students using tablets were more engaged in the classroom, as evidenced by a demonstration they witnessed in the Chicago Public Schools. The school district will get the iPads through a traditional Apple educational discount for about $479 each, with the final tab being paid for with part of a nearly US$80 million settlement between Microsoft and the state of Wisconsin. That 2009 settlement was the end result of a lawsuit that alleged that Microsoft cheated consumers by overpricing its software for years. [via AppleInsider]
Motorola sues Huawei and several former employees for stealing wireless trade secrets
Man, if you thought the lawsuit action in the mobile space was crazy before, well, you ain't seen nothing yet -- Motorola just sued Huawei and over a dozen former employees for conspiring to steal its wireless trade secrets and other proprietary technology over a period of years starting in 2001. Yeah, it's crazy. The lawsuit was originally filed in 2008 against four former Motorola engineers and a company called Lemko, all of whom Motorola accused of conspiring to stealing trade secrets related to wireless technology. After years of discovery in the case, it appears that Motorola realized the conspiracy went much deeper than it originally thought, leading the company to file a new complaint on July 16th, in which it named Huawei and nine additional former employees, who allegedly schemed to steal plans for a 3G base station called the SC300. According to the complaint, part of the scheme was ultimately blown up when one of the employees was arrested by Customs at O'Hare airport en route to China with $30,000 in cash and over 1,000 pages of documentation regarding Motorola's various communications networking tech, while another employee was caught buying Motorola phones in bulk and sending unlock codes and dump files to Lemko for reverse engineering purposes. Motorola also says that it doesn't yet know the exact relationship between Lemko, Huawei and some of the former employees because "file destruction software" was installed and run on computers before they were turned over as evidence, but the company claims that Huawei was aware it was receiving proprietary Motorola information the entire time it was in contact with the former employees. Yes, it's all very juicy -- we'll be watching this one closely.
