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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.
Virginia court says fingerprint-locked smartphones are fair game
Here's some trivia for your next trip to the pub. Did you know that, in Virginia, you don't have to tell the cops your phone's unlock code, but you're obliged to open it if you use a fingerprint based passcode? It's a quirky piece of legal precedent that's just been established in the state after a key piece of legal evidence was believed to be trapped on the defendant's smartphone. According to The Virginian-Pilot, the court ruled that the fifth amendment's provisions against self-incrimination protect against giving up your passcode, but that since a fingerprint is already taken by the police - same as DNA or handwriting samples - it's fair game. Naturally, this is just one circuit court judgment in one state, but we imagine this is the sort of thing winding up at the supreme court in a few years time.
Uber banned across Germany
Despite putting the brakes on injunctions in both Berlin and Hamburg, Uber has once again felt the effects of a ban, but this time it's effective on a national level. Earlier today, a court in Frankfurt ruled that the car-hailing service doesn't have the necessary permits or insurance under German law. Despite facing a potential €250,000 fine for each unsanctioned journey and the risk that its directors could face time behind bars, Uber says the ban is unenforceable and has pledged to continue picking up passengers while it launches an appeal. Industry body Taxi Deutschland is happy with the ruling, though, describing Uber as a "form of locust share-economy" and also adding that smartphone ratings should not replace proper accreditation by authorities. The ruling comes just days after the company announced its intention to double capacity in the country by year-end. Despite today's court action hanging over its head, even the threat of a national ban doesn't appear to have distracted Uber from meeting its goal.
Rockstar: Lohan's GTA 5 lawsuit just Jonas-ing for publicity
Lindsay Lohan's Grand Theft Auto 5 lawsuit was "filed for publicity purposes" according to creator Rockstar and parent company Take-Two Interactive. Lohan sued Rockstar and Take-Two for damages back in July over the in-game character of Lacey Jonas, a troubled young actress who struggles with an eating disorder and dealing with the paparazzi. The case claimed Lohan's image, voice and styles from her clothing label were all used to depict Jonas, forming an "unequivocal" reference to the Mean Girls star. As the Associated Press reports, Rockstar is having none of it. Manhattan court papers made public this week show Take-Two and its subsidiary not only want the suit dismissed, but the company wants Lohan to pay its legal fees. As far as Take-Two is concerned, Jonas only resembles Lohan in being a young, blonde woman.
Former Silicon Knights dev sentenced in child pornography case
Former Precursor Games and Silicon Knights designer Ken McCulloch was sentenced this week in an Ontario Court of Justice in St. Catharines, Canada on child pornography charges. Judge Joseph Nadel sentenced McCulloch to 12 months of time served; McCulloch has been jailed since his arrest in late June 2013, after he pleaded guilty to making child pornography available. According to The Welland Tribune, Niagara Regional Police also charged McCulloch with sexual assault, forcible confinement and sexual interference during his time in jail in the past year. McCulloch will remain in custody, returning to court on August 26 to answer to those charges. As a result of the initial sentencing, McCulloch will be added to the provincial sex offender registry for the next 20 years. Judge Nadel also ordered McCulloch to stay away from any child under the age of 16 and from schools, parks, recreation centers and public pools for 10 years.
Court approves settlement over Sony's 2011 PSN breach
The US District Court for the Southern District of California approved a settlement for the class action lawsuit resulting from Sony's 2011 PSN data breach. The settlement may result in Sony doling out as much as $17.75 million, which includes an offer for one free game (PS3 or PSP only), three PS3 themes or credit for three months of PlayStation Plus membership (valid only for new subscribers). The claimant groups are divided based on whether PSN account holders prior to May 15, 2011 took advantage of the "Welcome Back" program following the intrusion. Those that did not accept the PSN Welcome Back offer can claim two of the benefit options among the games, themes and PS Plus membership credit on a first come, first served basis until a $6 million allocation from Sony is reached. For those that did take advantage of the program, they will receive one of the benefits above until a $4 million allocation is reached.
Supreme Court said Aereo is a cable company, so now it wants to be treated like one
Despite Aereo's best efforts, the Supreme Court decided that its service was too much like cable TV and therefore its unlicensed streaming of TV broadcasts were illegal. Now, after putting its service on pause, Aereo has filed a letter with the US District Court saying that since the Court said it's like a cable system, it is entitled to the same statutory license that cable companies pay broadcasters. CEO Chet Kanojia sent a message to users and supporters explaining "The Path Forward" with a link to the letter, but hasn't laid out a timeline for the service's return. That's one of the reason's broadcasters are still fighting the new move, saying (in the same letter) that it's "astonishing for Aereo to contend the Supreme Court's decision automatically transformed Aereo into a 'cable system' under Section 111 given its prior statements to this Court and the Supreme Court." [Image credit: AP]
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.
Kim Dotcom offers whistleblowers $5 million to help Megaupload's case
The basic facts of how Megaupload was shut down in 2012 are public knowledge. But the founder of the file-sharing service, Kim Dotcom, believes there's a subtext to what really happened -- and he's looking for your help to prove it. In essence, he claims to be the victim of a "corrupt" plot between two back-scratching parties: the US authorities, which supposedly wanted to secure the re-election of President Barack Obama, and the movie moguls of Hollywood, who allegedly offered influence over votes in return for having Megaupload terminated for copyright abuse. The only problem? Dotcom will actually have to prove all of this to a New Zealand court, otherwise he'll face extradition to the US, not to mention a string of further civil lawsuits. And so far, it isn't going well.
ArcheAge player sentenced to 13 hours in jail by peers
ArcheAge's court system came into the limelight yesterday when a player in beta was sentenced to over 13 hours of in-game jail time by a jury of his or her peers. Players who break the various laws in the game and then die have a choice to either accept a short prison sentence or go to court and plead their case to a jury of five other players. These players then vote on the defendant's guilt or innocence, and in the case of the former, sentence the defendant to prison. Prisoners can wait out their sentence, play soccer in the jail courtyard, or attempt to tunnel their way to freedom. This particular player had over 100 criminal charges, which incurred a high amount (770 minutes) of jail time. If you want to learn more about ArcheAge's criminal justice system, check out the video after the break!
Before the iPhone was announced, Android didn't support touchscreen input
Ahead of Apple revealing its first smartphone, Google's plans for Android back in 2006 involved physical keys for control and no touchscreen input support. Revealed in court documents from the ensuing Apple-Samsung legal fray, the early specification says that "the product [Android] was designed with the presence of discrete physical buttons as an assumption. However, there is nothing fundamental in the product's architecture that prevents the support of touchscreen in the future." (The above render is from Google's initial SDK, but by then, touchscreen integration was now part of the official spec.) In this 2006 documentation, many of the Android staples (both in software and hardware) get a mention, including removable storage, third-party application support, widgets, notifications and all those Google services. Between the announcement of the iPhone and finalizing Android's software requirements, touchscreen input was not only supported -- multi-input touch was required, and our phones were never the same again.
Aereo wins a grace period from injunction, keeps Denver and Salt Lake City open
Some broadcasters might have recently scored a victory against Aereo in court, but they can't party just yet. The startup just got a 14-day grace period from a six-state preliminary injunction (it has won its share of court battles, and this is considered its biggest legal setback thus far) handed down last week. That means the over-the-air TV service can continue any expansion plans in Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming... at least for a while. Current customers in Salt Lake City and Denver, sites in the affected states where Aereo is already available, should be able to continue enjoying the OTA service, as well. According to Deadline, the court granted Aereo a brief reprieve, because it "finds some benefit in allowing [its] customers uninterrupted service" while waiting for the Tenth Circuit's decision regarding the firm's appeal. Aereo, which is very, very used to being sued by now, will also face TV networks at the Supreme Court on April 22. If the startup wins, it could lead to an acquisition or, amusingly enough, a sudden boom in Aereo copycats.
Apple and Samsung to spar over iPhone 5, Galaxy Note II at next trial
Perpetual court combatants Apple and Samsung have revealed their final list of allegations ahead of a trial starting March 31st. Though each started with five disputed patents, Samsung only has four now since a multimedia sync patent was knocked out earlier by Judge Lucy Koh. She also gave Apple a summary judgement win on its auto-complete IP, putting it ahead before the trial even begins. As for the rest, it's worth noting that all of Apple's patents are related to user interaction, while two of Samsung's are standards-essential (FRAND) patents -- which companies are normally obligated to license out. Samsung did have one point in its favor, however: the USPTO has agreed to take a second look at the validity of Apple's aforementioned auto-complete patent. As for the devices accused of infringing those patents, none are very recent models and many aren't even on the market anymore. However, the historical sales of each will affect the size of any award given by the court if an allegation is upheld. That's a lot of infringement for ultra-popular models like the Galaxy Note II, Galaxy S III, iPhone 5 and iPhone 4s, which have far outsold disputed models from the previous trial (like Samsung's original Galaxy S). Other names on the list include the Galaxy Nexus and Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 from Samsung, along with Apple's iPad 2, iPad with Retina display (3rd-gen), iPad with Retina display (4th-gen) and iPad Mini (the original, without a Retina display). Of course, there's always the upcoming negotiations between company CEOs to avoid all that, but... nah, who are we kidding.
Blizzard sues Hearthstone copycat
Blizzard isn't taking kindly to a Chinese ripoff of its Hearthstone and is suing to protect its upcoming online card game. Blizzard and its Chinese partner NetEase filed a suit against mobile game Legend of Crouching Dragon and its developer Unico to the tune of $1.65 million and possible closure of the game for an infringement of intellectual rights. Legend of Crouching Dragon uses characters from Romance of the Three Kingdoms and bears a striking similarity to the design and function of Hearthstone. The mobile game has been in beta for both Android and iOS platforms.
HTC One Mini banned in the UK following Nokia patent win
Of all the great patent animosities that have raged in the smartphone world over the past couple of years, that between HTC and Nokia could be one of the most brutal. Having already forced HTC to change the microphone and the radio inside its One handset, Nokia has now won a key ruling that bans the HTC One Mini from being sold in the UK, effective from December 6th. The HTC One is also still at risk of a sales block, but the judge in this case has acknowledged that banning this flagship model as well as the Mini could cause "considerable" damage to a manufacturer that is already at risk from rapidly declining sales, so he's given HTC some time to appeal. For its part, HTC is arguing that the offending hardware component is too small to justify an outright ban on the One, but it'll still have to suspend UK imports until that second hearing comes to a conclusion.
TV news cameras can film in some UK courts, can't be pointed at anyone interesting
It may seem slightly old-fashioned to the OJ generation, but British journalists have been campaigning for more than a decade to bring TV news cameras into courtrooms. Today they got a breakthrough: the UK's Ministry of Justice has partially lifted its ban on filming in a total of five courtrooms in the Court of Appeal, permitting on-the-day news coverage of certain trials. There'll be strict conditions, however, including the right for the judge to retrospectively cancel recording anytime he reaches for the Jameson's (thanks to a built-in time delay) and also a requirement that cameras only be pointed at lawyers and judges, rather than defendants, victims or witnesses. In other words, it looks like an important step for transparency in British courts, but we probably shouldn't expect to see any hugely dramatic judicial escapades right at the start.
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."
Original Madden NFL designer awarded $11 million in EA lawsuit
A US District Court jury in the Northern District of California has ruled in favor of Robin Antonick, the original credited designer for EA's Madden NFL series, in his lawsuit against publisher Electronic Arts, awarding him $11 million. Antonick's lawsuit against EA sought unpaid royalties for iterations in the series released between 1990 and 1996. The jury found that games released during that time "were virtually identical to the original version of Madden NFL Football, developed by Antonick," according to a press release issued by Hagens Berman, the law firm representing Antonick. The release also notes that Antonick and his attorneys will "seek to appeal previous rulings that excluded Super Nintendo games and fraud claims from the jury deliberations." Antonick's case will now move forward to the next phase, in which the court will decide whether EA owes Antonick royalties for games in the series that launched from 1997 to today.
Utah ISP breaks silence over government server installed on its network
When the government comes knocking on your door, you kind of have to cooperate with them or face the consequences. That's the situation Pete Ashdown, CEO of Utah ISP XMission, was faced with in 2010 after receiving a warrant under the Foreign Intelligence Service Act (FISA). The warrant, coming in at just three or four pages, was perfectly clear: install a rack-mount server on your network to track every last bit going in and out from one of your customers, and don't say anything to anyone about this. Ashdown's lawyer said the request was indeed legit, and the box stayed there for a little over half a year. So why talk about it now? Because Pete, like the rest of us, wants a bit of transparency, even if there's a risk the G-Men will come "come back and haunt" him.
US government to declassify Yahoo legal docs on FISA, secret court opinion
Yahoo had claimed that it fought against PRISM since 2008, and now it's about to land previously-secret court documents to prove it. A Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court has ruled that the US Department of Justice must declassify the firm's legal briefs and the court's decision on the search giant's attempts to resist the government's request for user data. Uncle Sam has until July 29th to provide an estimate of how long the declassification will take, and the docs can still have classified portions redacted. As The Daily Dot notes, this is only the second known civilian victory in a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) courtroom, and it follows a win by the EFF just a few days ago. Mayer and Co. still won't be able to outline exactly how many FISA data requests they've gotten, but we'll take any transparency from the federales we can get.
