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The federal courts have already given up on net neutrality
The head of the Federal Communications Commission, Ajit Pai, has not been quiet about his plans to gut net neutrality, and the US legal system is taking him seriously. A federal court on Monday denied a group of internet service providers the chance to re-argue their case against net neutrality rules implemented by former President Barack Obama's administration. The judges' reasoning? The FCC is about to get rid of those regulations anyway.
Kim Dotcom asks the Supreme Court to hear him out
Kim Dotcom, the founder of file-sharing website Megaupload, is taking his case to the United States Supreme Court. He's petitioned the highest court in the land to overturn a ruling allowing US authorities to keep $75 million in assets seized during a 2012 raid on Dotcom's house in Auckland, New Zealand.
Samsung can't use in-box warranty to kill Galaxy S4 lawsuit
Oh Samsung. When the company isn't busy recalling cellphones and washing machines for being safety hazards, it's busy fighting its customers in court. In 2015, Daniel Norcia contended that he was misled by Samsung about the capabilities of his Galaxy S4. Specifically, its speed, performance and memory capacity, according to Consumerist.
Apple faces a price-fixing suit over App Store purchases
Apple is in court once again. This time, the company is part of an anti-trust lawsuit over the strict limitations over where users can buy iOS applications. Specifically, the requirement that all apps be purchased through the Cupertino company's App Store. The suit alleges that by not allowing customers to buy apps from third-party services, Apple was price fixing and that customers could sue as a result, according to Bloomberg.
Former Uber drivers can appeal bans in New York City
If Uber kicks out a driver, that's usually all she wrote. They have to look for new work, even if the final offense was something beyond their control. In New York City, however, it's a different story. A newly instituted appeals process, the result of negotiations with the Independent Drivers Guild, will let ex-drivers challenge certain bans and potentially resume their ridesharing. They'll face a panel of five other drivers (jointly picked by the Guild and Uber) who can reverse deactivations where there's some room for dispute, such as excessive cancellations or passing on too many rides.
Microsoft victory protects overseas data from US warrants
For the past three years, Microsoft has been locked in a legal battle with the New York district court over a deceptively simple question: does a US Judge have the right to issue a warrant for data stored overseas? According to a new ruling from the US Court of Appeals Second Circuit, the answer, is no.
Net Neutrality upheld by appeals court
An appeals court in Washington DC has upheld the FCC's Open Internet Order, affirming that Net Neutrality can live to fight another day. While the appellate judges have had to rule in favor of telecoms companies in previous cases, the FCC's law is now watertight and is acting within its powers. The decision is likely to stick in the craw of many networks, including AT&T and Verizon, which fought bitterly against provisions to maintain a free and fair market online. Unfortunately, Net Neutrality still has plenty of critics in high places, and several Republican politicians have attempted to gut the FCC in the hope of getting their own way.
Apple's $120M patent victory over Samsung overturned on appeal
The never-ending Apple vs. Samsung patent wars just had another chapter written today, long after most of us stopped caring. A US appeals court overturned the $120 million jury-appointed verdict that was awarded to Apple way back in May of 2014. Specifically, the court said that a variety of older Samsung phones (including the Admire, Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy Note, Galaxy Note 2, a host of Galaxy S II variants and the Galaxy S3) didn't infringe upon three Apple patents. The patents in question covered swipe to unlock, auto-correct and a quick link feature that lets links in one app open up another app.
Microsoft takes on the US government over data held overseas
Do you think that America's law enforcement agencies should have free access to the emails of your friends over in Ireland? It's the question that an appeals court is being asked to consider in a matter that has serious consequences for everyone in the world. The issue began when drug enforcement officials wanted to access to messages that were stored on a Microsoft server in Dublin. As far as Microsoft was concerned, that was a matter for the Irish government, but the g-people tried to hold the company's US arm accountable. Disturbingly, the US won the first two legal challenges, and now New York's 2nd circuit is about to hear to the appeal on behalf of Microsoft, with some cheering on from the rest of the technology industry.
Walmart vs. Netflix DVD battle snags $12 each for 1.2 million people
Ready for a blast from the past? Ten years ago, Walmart's plan to undercut Netflix on DVD-by-mail rental pricing failed, and the retail giant turned that part of its business over to the movie service in exchange for a cut of the revenue, referral bonuses and Netflix promoting Walmart's DVD sales to rental customers. A class action lawsuit against the two followed in 2009, with customers alleging they illegally restrained trade and kept prices high. Walmart settled the case for $27 million in 2011, which will turn into about $12 (paid out in gift cards or cash) for the 1.2 million people who filed claims. While the deadline to file has long passed, the payout has been held up due to appeals in the 9th Circuit Court in San Francisco against Walmart and Netflix -- until now.
Appeals court sides with ex-NFL players in Madden likeness suit
A federal appeals court struck down Electronic Arts' appeal to dismiss a 2010 lawsuit in which retired NFL players alleged that the publisher used their likenesses without permission in Madden NFL 09. A three-judge panel unanimously declined EA's motion to dismiss the lawsuit on the grounds of First Amendment protections under "incidental use." Madden 09 included over 140 historic NFL teams as well as the stats and positions of thousands of retired athletes to celebrate the series' 20th anniversary, and EA allegedly altered jersey numbers and removed the players' names to avoid paying licensing fees, according to the August 2010 lawsuit. The judges referred to another recent likeness lawsuit in the opinion, in which former college athletes sued EA in May 2009 over the use of their likenesses in NCAA Basketball and NCAA Football games. EA proposed a $40 million settlement to that lawsuit in September 2013, resulting in those players earning up to $951 for each year their likeness was featured in the games. The publisher added $8 million in expenses related to that lawsuit in May 2014. EA introduced similar First Amendment-based defenses in its appeal for the retired NFL players lawsuit save for one additional argument: That the likenesses were protected under the First Amendment as incidental use. The judges "held that Electronic Arts's use of the former players' likenesses was not incidental because it was central to Electronic Arts's main commercial purpose: to create a realistic virtual simulation of football games involving current and former National Football League teams." The decision upholds a California court's March 2012 dismissal of EA's attempt to prevent the suit from going to court. Among the plaintiffs listed in the lawsuit is Sam Keller, a former Arizona State, Nebraska and Oakland Raiders quarterback that filed the original likeness lawsuit related to the publisher's college sports games. [Image: EA]
Court rules that Sky must offer Sky Sports channels to BT YouView customers
Sky and BT may now be locked in a battle over sports broadcast rights for their own services, but for more than four years, the two have also been fighting over Sky Sports broadcasts. Today, the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) finally brought things closer to a resolution, after it ruled that BT must be allowed to offer its rival's sports channels to YouView customers for the first time. Ofcom had previously ruled that Sky must offer Sky Sports 1 and 2 at a 23 percent wholesale discount, but the case dragged on through the courts while BT readied its own sports TV service. Sky says it will fight the interim ruling, noting that BT is now in a significantly stronger position than it was four years ago. It also hopes that the landscape will shift once again when Ofcom concludes a new review on how companies offer wholesale channels. BT says it "looks forward" to offering the channels to YouView customers "very shortly," allowing it to join Virgin Media in broadcasting all of the remaining live Premiership football matches this season.
Intel forced to pay record $1.4 billion fine for unfair sales tactics
The European Union's second-highest court has upheld a $1.4 billion fine levied against Intel for anti-competitive practices against chip foe AMD. In the original decision, way back in 2009, the European Commission found that Intel harmed its rival and consumers by giving unlawful rebates to retailers and PC makers like HP, Dell and Lenovo. Intel then appealed, saying the commission "ignore(d) the reality of a highly competitive microprocessor marketplace." But the Luxembourg General Court found that Intel had a long-term game plan to shut out AMD and "attempted to conceal the anti-competitive nature of (those) practices." It therefore ruled that the record fine representing 4.15 percent of Intel's 2008 revenues was fair, saying the EU could have levied a penalty as high as 10 percent. Intel expressed disappointment with the decision, but it does have one more shot at an appeal: the EU's Court of Justice. So far, however, it hasn't said whether it's willing to drag out the six-year-old case any further.
Cult classic adventure Outcast rebooted for PC
Indie developer Fresh3D recently launched a Kickstarter project to fund a high-definition remake of Outcast, the 1999 Infogrames-published PC adventure game. The open-world game will feature re-designed objects, textures, environments and characters, each made from scratch to run in 1080p HD at 60 frames per second. The developer is targeting $600,000 by Wednesday, May 7, to fund the game. So far it's achieved more than $140,000. Fresh3D includes three designers from Appeal, the developer of the original cult classic adventure game: Yann Robert, Franck Sauer and Yves Grolet. Grolet is involved in the project as a gameplay advisor, while Robert and Sauer are technical and creative directors, respectively. The three designers purchased the rights to Outcast in July 2013. [Image: Fresh3D]
Judge denies re-retrial in never-ending Apple v. Samsung patent battle
It turns out we're not the only ones who are ready to see this patent battle royale come to an end. Last night, Judge Lucy Koh denied Samsung a retrial in the case that will not die, but took the opportunity to shame Apple's lawyers for bringing the Korean company's foreignness into the equation. The court-appointed shaming comes as a result of closing arguments made during a partial retrial that saw a portion of Apple's original award bumped from $450 million down to $290 million in damages. At the time, Apple's attorney argued that Samsung's infringement of Apple's patents could have an impact on the US economy. When I was young, I used to watch television on televisions that were manufactured in the United States. Magnavox, Motorola, RCA. These were real companies. They were well known and they were famous. They were creators. They were inventors. They were like the Apple and Google today. But they didn't protect their intellectual property. They couldn't protect their ideas. And you all know the result. There are no American television manufacturers today. Samsung originally moved for a mistrial in that case based on those comments, but was denied. Instead, Koh informed the jury to avoid letting prejudice inform its decision. While Koh didn't see the need for yet another trial, she repeatedly referred to the comments as "troubling," saying they "could have been perceived as invoking racial or ethnic prejudice."
Silicon Knights loses appeal for ruling on lawsuit with Epic Games
A United States Court of Appeals judge has upheld a lower court's decision concerning the legal battle between Silicon Knights and Epic Games. The post-trial motions for the previous ruling ordered Silicon Knights to destroy all unsold copies of their games that used Unreal Engine 3, which included Too Human and X-Men: Destiny. Epic was also awarded more than $9 million in the ruling - $4.45 million for damages, with the rest covering the studio's legal fees and prejudgment interest. The dispute began back in 2007, when Silicon Knights claimed Epic delivered Unreal Engine 3 six months late while withholding a superior version just to be used for Epic's internal projects. Epic Games Vice President Mark Rein described the allegations as "unfounded and without merit," noting Epic's intention to defend themselves. Silicon Knights' ability to pay the sentence is currently uncertain, as the studio followed the initial ruling by laying off "a small number of people." A report from last May also stated that the Silicon Knights offices were empty, with former studio head Denis Dyack gone and involved with a sequel to Silicon Knights' Eternal Darkness called Shadow of the Eternals. That project is an effort from Precursor Games and is uninvolved with Silicon Knights, but Precursor noted its team was "taking a break" in September and that the project is on hold after failing to meet funding goals.
Google denied dismissal of wiretapping claims in Street View data snooping suit
Google's already vowed to pony up $7 million and destroy passwords, emails and other data collected from unsecured WiFi networks through its Street View cars, but the damage won't stop there. The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has denied the company's attempt to dismiss wiretapping claims in a class action suit over the debacle. Page and Co. argued their actions could pass under a wiretap exemption since data transmitted over WiFi is an electronic communication that's easily accessible to the public. However, the panel of judges didn't buy the search giant's argument. "Wi-Fi transmissions are not 'readily accessible' to the 'general public' because most of the general public lacks the expertise to intercept and decode payload data transmitted over a Wi-Fi network," Judge Jay Bybee explained. Secondly, the court ruled that the data transmitted over WiFi can't be classified as mostly audio, so it falls "outside of the definition of a 'radio communication.'" "We are disappointed in the Ninth Circuit's decision and are considering our next steps," a Google spokesperson told Bloomberg. Now that Mountain View isn't getting off this hook, expect it to dish out more compensation soon.
DOJ defends Apple e-book price fixing injunction, says publishers had it easy
The US Department of Justice isn't buying publishers' arguments that proposed injunctions against Apple for alleged e-book price fixing are excessive and contradictory. DOJ attorney Lawrence Buterman claims in a response letter that the penalties against Apple are necessarily harsher, since it didn't settle the accusations like its reported co-conspirators. The group objection even justifies Apple's punishment, Buterman claims; it suggests that publishers are just waiting until the end of a two-year ban on agency pricing to raise prices once again. The five-year restriction imposed on Apple could keep prices down for longer, the lawyer says. Apple, meanwhile, isn't done with its objections. In addition to an earlier request for a stay on proceedings pending an appeal, it now contends that the court excluded or ignored testimony while giving Amazon and Google witnesses too much credibility. The company will present more of its opinion at a conference today with both the DOJ and the presiding judge, but we're not expecting a quick resolution -- neither side is budging at this stage.
Outcast devs form Daoka, will build new games in series
Developers from AMA Studios and Appeal, the team responsible for the 1999 PC game Outcast, have started a new studio called Daoka, based in Belgium. Daoka has been working on a game for two years already, set to launch on next-gen consoles in the "near future." The team will also work on games in the Outcast franchise. The original developers of Outcast – Yann Robert, Franck Sauer and Yves Grolet – recently bought the IP from Atari for a "revival of the franchise," and they are working with Daoka to make this happen. Outcast is a sci-fi adventure set in the distant, wild future of 2007, starring former Navy SEAL Cutter Slade as he travels with a group of scientists to another dimension to stop a black hole from forming. You know, the sort of stuff that happens all the time in the 21st century.
EA and NCAA's appeal rejected in likeness lawsuit
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected an appeal by EA and NCAA that college athletes' likenesses were protected by the First Amendment with regard to the development of EA's college football and basketball games. Just yesterday, EA motioned to dismiss a third amended complaint that added six current NCAA student athletes to certify the class in the lawsuit. The majority opinion held by the court stated that "EA's use of the likenesses of college athletes like Samuel Keller in its video games is not, as a matter of law, protected by the First Amendment." This began with former Nebraska quarterback Samuel Keller filing a class-action lawsuit against EA in May 2009. The suit has since been combined with that of former UCLA basketball player Ed O'Bannon, according to Bloomberg. NCAA opted to not renew its contract with EA for development of the NCAA Football series earlier this month. EA stated that it will move forward in developing college football games with licensing provided by the Collegiate Licensing Company for the next three years on a non-exclusive basis.
