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The FCC can’t limit excessive inmate phone call rates
The FCC of 2015 pushed for limits to "excessive and egregious" rates for prison-based telephone calls. This was a progressive move to limit the ability states and private prisons to make money off of prisoners, who have no choice in choosing how much a phone call costs. When the new Trump administration took over, however, the FCC stopped defending its policy on caps. In what seems to be the final blow, an appeals court has ruled that the FCC cannot, in fact, cap rates for prisoner phone calls within states.
Government using sci-fi, fantasy to justify iPhone unlocking
San Bernardino County's district attorney has made its argument as to why Apple should unlock Syed Farook's iPhone and it's, it's something. Ars Technica dug out the court filings in which officials claim that the device could have been used to introduce a "dormant cyber pathogen" onto government networks. Of course, there's no official definition of what that means, unless it's a fantastical euphemism for virus. The documents are so weirdly alarmist (and, you know, wrong) that San Bernardino itself has distanced itself from the filing.
US appeals court rules Google's book-scanning project is legal
Google's goal of scanning millions of out-of-print books for online access has drawn the ire of authors and publishers for years. Today, a US appeals court ruled that the practice is in fact legal. Claims of infringement brought by the Authors Guild and a group of writers were rejected by the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in New York. The court says Google Books offers a public service by posting pieces of text online and that it doesn't encroach on laws that protect intellectual property. Instead, the practice falls under "fair use." This isn't the first time the legal system has sided with Mountain View, despite repeated attempts by authors, publishers and rival tech companies to combat the book-scanning project. Back in 2011, a $125 million settlement was rejected by a judge in New York who originally approved the deal in 2009 four years after the first lawsuit was filed. Perhaps today's ruling will be the last we hear of the Google Books saga. But then again, probably not. [Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images]
Google on Apple v. Samsung: most infringed patents 'don't relate to the core Android operating system'
When the jury in Apple v. Samsung handed down its verdict on Friday, we watched Apple take a victory lap and heard Samsung warn of hampered competition, but one company remained conspicuously silent: Google. This weekend, though, Mountain View finally released a statement, insisting that while Samsung lost the trial, the ruling doesn't actually implicate Android. "The court of appeals will review both infringement and the validity of the patent claims. Most of these don't relate to the core Android operating system," the company said, noting that several of these patents are being revisited by the US Patent Office. Still, buried in that statement is an implicit acknowledgement that if Samsung can't reverse the decision on appeal, innovation among Android devices might well be stifled: "The mobile industry is moving fast and all players - including newcomers - are building upon ideas that have been around for decades. We work with our partners to give consumers innovative and affordable products, and we don't want anything to limit that." Of course, Samsung has indeed said it intends to appeal (and an internal memo reported by CNET corroborates this), so it would seem that the proxy battle against Android is far from over, and the drone of legalese is sure to continue.
Schiller testifies, says Apple considered car and a camera, and Samsung's phone's a 'rip off'
Apple's Phil Schiller took the stand this afternoon, wearing a sharp suit, in Apple's ongoing case with Samsung in a California court. He revealed a few hints at Apple's iPhone development and took some solid shots at Samsung. In terms of Apple history, Schiller revealed that, before Apple began exploring the world of smartphones, it considered making a camera or a car. I'd love to see Apple make either one of those things, but of course they went with a cellphone, and the iPhone is that product. Schiller also had strong words for Samsung, reportedly saying "copy," "steal" and "rip off" to describe Samsung's work. Objections to his testimony were reportedly overridden. During Schiller's cross-examination, it sounds like Samsung tried to get him to agree that the iPhone's design wasn't entirely original, in that many of the designs included are simply functional, defined by common sense rather than Apple's design prowess. But according to the reports, Schiller didn't give much ground (and he still found room, at least, to correct the cross-examiner's pronunciation of designer Sir Jonathan Ive's last name -- it's NOT pronounced "Ivy," in case you were wondering). All in all, it sounds like Schiller is doing plenty for Apple's case in the ongoing litigation. He's starting out from a biased point, obviously, but if Apple can convince the judge in the case that Samsung did infringe on copyright, Apple's ownership of the modern smartphone design will be locked down once and for all. The AllThingsD running commentary notes that Scott Forstall followed Schiller as a witness, but didn't get a chance to say much before the lunch recess. He did recount the story of Steve Jobs barging in on his job interview with NeXT in 1992. #next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }
India launches antitrust investigation against Google
Google remains tied up in a censorship case with the Indian government, and things aren't looking rosy for the search giant in the interim period before its May 23rd court hearing. The Wall Street Journal reports that the Competition Commission of India is launching an antitrust investigation of Google to examine the company's alleged "discriminatory and retaliatory practices relating to AdWords." The antitrust probe follows a complaint from Consim Info Pvt. Ltd., an Indian web conglomerate which apparently requested that the Competition Commission step in to ensure fair competition in online advertising. The exact reach of this investigation is unclear; the commission will initially focus on AdWords, though it's keeping the door open for examining other Google services as deemed necessary. Hear that sigh? That, friends, is the sound of Google gearing up for one long Indian summer.
140 characters to the clink: Occupy Wall Street protester loses battle to block Twitter subpoena
In a decision that's sure to be lost on this generation of over-sharers, Occupy Wall Street protester Malcolm Harris, arrested this past October during a Brooklyn Bridge demonstration, has just lost a legal battle to block prosecutors' attempts to subpoena three month's worth of his tweets. Chalking the ruling up to Twitter's terms of service, Judge Matthew Sciarrino Jr. concluded that the posted updates belong to the social networking company under license and, therefore, are fair game for use in the case "given their relevance." Harris, as expected, is in the process of filing a motion to reargue, but let this be a fair warning to our open online culture: what happens on the internet, stays on the internet forever. So you better watch what you tweet.
Indian court drops censorship case against Microsoft, Google and Facebook still on the hook
With so many patent trolls out and about, you'd be forgiven if the Indian government's censorship case against Google, Facebook, Microsoft and other web companies slipped under your radar. Indeed, not a whole lot has happened since then, but Microsoft, at least, is making an early exit from the proceedings. Delhi High Court has dropped the outfit from the list of companies accused of failing to rid their sites of offensive material -- specifically, perceived religious attacks, or anything else that might violate local laws against inciting communal tensions. (In particular, according to a three-months-old New York Times report, technology minister Kapil Sibal, pictured above, took note of comments criticizing Sonia Gandhi, widow of the assassinated former Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi). For now, this leaves Google and Facebook to defend themselves, though the two internet giants are moving to have their cases dismissed as well. The High Court will hear those petitions on May 3, with the trial set to resume on May 23.
Court upholds Fifth Amendment, prevents forced decryption of data
When our forefathers were amending the constitution for the fifth time, they probably didn't have TrueCrypt-locked hard drives in mind. However, a ruling from the 11th Circuit Appeals Court has upheld the right of an anonymous testifier to not forcibly decrypt their data. The case relates to a Jon Doe giving evidence in exchange for immunity. The protection afforded to them under this case wouldn't extend to any other incriminating data that might be found, and as such Doe felt this could lead to violation of the fifth amendment. The validity of the prosecution's demands for the data decryption lies in what they already know, and how they knew it -- to prevent acting on hopeful hunches. The prosecutors were unable to demonstrate any knowledge of the data in question, leading the 11th Circuit to deem the request unlawful, adding that the immunity should have extended beyond just the current case. This isn't the first time we've seen this part of the constitution under the digital spotlight, and we're betting it won't be the last, either.
British judge doesn't like the cut of Newzbin 2's jib, orders BT to block it
Shiver-me-timbers, it looks like the movie studios' latest legal broadside just scored a direct hit against the big bad pirate ship. A UK judge has ordered telecoms giant BT to block its subscribers from visiting Newzbin 2, a site which aggregates Usenet downloads, on the simple basis that BT knows some of its customers are using the site to breach copyright law and therefore has a duty to stop them. This counts as an unprecedented victory for the Motion Picture Association, who brought the case, and it potentially arms them with a new weapon to force ISPs to block other sites in future. Could that be Newzbin 3 we spy on the horizon?
Hacker pleads guilty to AT&T iPad breach
Nearly six months after his arrest, one hacker pleaded guilty to charges that he exposed the email addresses of over 100,000 AT&T iPad 3G users. It's been a year since Daniel Spitler and his compatriot, Andrew Auernheimer, coaxed Ma-Bell servers into delivering the goods, with a brute force script they lovingly named the iPad 3G Account Slurper. The hacker's plea agreement suggests a 12 to 18-month sentence, which is a lot more lenient than the 10-year maximum we hear he could face. Spitler's collaborator is apparently still in plea negotiations with the prosecutor. Both men initially claimed they were just trying to draw attention to a security hole, but maybe next time they'll think twice before embarking on such altruistic endeavors.
Jen-Hsun Huang is 'looking forward' to court date with Intel, sees no reason to settle (video)
Sometimes companies spar out their differences behind closed doors, and sometimes they have guys like Jen-Hsun Huang at their helms and the whole world gets to know how they feel and what they intend to do about it. The Tegrasaurus Rex has taken a recent interview with Fortune magazine as an opportunity to eloquently lay out his side's case in the epic cross-licensing dispute between NVIDIA and Intel, and to let us all know that he sees "no reason" to settle with the Atom-making giant. Describing Intel's argumentation as "completely nonsense," NVIDIA's fearless leader tell us that he's eagerly anticipating the court clash scheduled for later this year. We can't yet confirm whether or not he finished it off with a "bring your popcorn" instruction, but all his recorded words await in video form just after the break.
AT&T sued by Washington DC for unused balances on calling cards
Here's a superficially curious, but fundamentally quite important, bit of legal wrangling for you. Reuters is reporting that the District of Columbia has filed suit against AT&T Corp for the recovery of unused balances on calling cards purchased from the telecom giant. Estimated at somewhere between 5 and 20 percent of the overall value of the cards, the so-called breakage -- leftover credit that customers neglect to use -- has typically remained with the carrier as a sort of predictable bonus. The DC Attorney General, however, is seeking to have breakages treated as unclaimed property, which under district law means that after three years they must be returned to the state. Whichever side of the fence you sit on, the decision on this case will set a significant precedent for the future of such prepaid services.
Standoff over breathalyzer source code in DUI case
Not too long ago, we reported on a case brought to the Minnesota Supreme Court wherein a defendant in a DUI case asked (and was allowed) to view the source code of the breathalyzer machine which was used on him. Well, there's a new chapter in this book, it appears, as Minnesota authorities have missed the deadline for handing over the code to defense attorneys, thus dramatically increasing the chances that the defendant will be getting his case dismissed. Apparently, the Minnesota state public safety commissioner would not supply the source code, and the Department of Public Safety offered no explanation for the refusal. The state previously argued that it doesn't have the rights to hand over the data, as it is actually the copyrighted property of CMI -- the company who manufactures the machines. CMI has not been forthcoming with the source code in the past, leading to blunted or thrown out cases, though Court judges say the state must do whatever it takes to procure the software, even if it means suing CMI. A court hearing scheduled for September 19th will likely decide the defendant's fate, though we doubt this is the last we've heard of this case.
Man wins breathalyzer source code in court case
It looks like those alleged drunken drivers in Florida trying to get their hands on the source code to the breathalyzer that deemed them intoxicated may have been on to something, as the Minnesota Supreme Court has now granted just that to a defendant currently facing DUI charges in an unrelated case. According to CNET, the court ruled that CMI, makers of the Intoxilyzer 5000EN, must turn the breathalyzer's source code over to the defense attorneys, who said they needed it because "for all we know, it's a random number generator." Apparently, the case wound up focusing largely on whether the source code was actually owned by CMI or by the state, with the court ultimately siding with the latter camp, although not without a good deal of dispute. No word on a next move from either party, but we have a sneaking suspicion that it won't be too long before someone starts lobbying for the code to go open source.
Russia drops piracy case against teacher
Remember that Russian schoolteacher from a few days back, the one charged with piracy, and the one for whom Bill Gates and Microsoft declined to intervene? Well it turns out that Alexander Ponosov didn't need any help from Gates -- or Mikael Gorbachev, for that matter -- as the Perm-based court tasked with trying the case has dismissed all charges and labeled the incident as "trivial." As you probably recall, Ponosov is the teacher / principal of a small, 380-student school in the Urals village of Sepych which purchased 12 computers that Ponosov claimed had already been pre-loaded with pirated copies of Microsoft software. Amusingly, in its public rebuff of Gorbachev's request, Redmond argued that it was "sure that the Russian courts will make a fair decision" because of the "government's position on the importance of protecting intellectual property rights" -- and although most observers would probably agree that this is the fairest outcome, we doubt it's the one that Microsoft had in mind. When informed of the court's decision, Ponosov stated that "of course, it was trivial," and went on to inform the press that "we're off to drink champagne now" -- and with all that money he saved on software, there's definitely gonna be some Cristal in the house tonight.
