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Uber settles background check lawsuit in California
Uber promises never to describe its service as the "safest ride on the road" or call its background check process "the gold standard" again. That's one of the terms it agreed to when it hashed out a settlement agreement with the San Francisco and Los Angeles District Attorney's offices. They filed a lawsuit against Uber back in 2014 over "false and misleading statements to consumers," specifically its claims that it conducts very thorough background checks. Unlike taxi operators, the company doesn't vet its drivers' fingerprints. If the ridesharing provider is caught breaking the DAs terms within the next two years, it will be legally obligated to pay $15 million on top of the $10 it has to hand over in 60 days.
Lost iPhone warrant withdrawn, Gizmodo agrees to cooperate in investigation
The search warrant against Gizmodo editor Jason Chen has been withdrawn, the EFF reports today. Chen's house was searched a few months ago after the Gawker blog reportedly purchased the lost iPhone 4 prototype, but the San Mateo District Attorney has decided to drop the warrant and return all seized items to Chen. Gizmodo tells the Wall Street Journal that it has "reached an agreement" with authorities, and they confirm that the site will "cooperate with our investigation." That means, says the EFF, that the matter isn't completely over. There was some back and forth about whether the materials seized by authorities could have been so taken under journalist protection laws, and it's possible that the San Mateo DA simply withdrew the warrant in order to keep from violating any California shield laws. If the police still felt there was worthwhile evidence in Chen's possession, they could subpoena that material separately, thus going around any questions of journalistic protection. Indeed, as Gizmodo has already agreed to give the authorities materials that the court "deems relevant to the case," the investigation into the lost iPhone is not yet entirely over. But it doesn't seem likely that Gizmodo would face any charges -- if the police are still pursuing a case at this point (and that's a big if), it would seem to be against the iPhone's original finder, who may have broken the law by selling the iPhone to Gizmodo. We'll have to wait and see if any more charges are filed. [via TechCrunch]
District attorney on trial for building monster gaming rig with state money
A district attorney in Rockwall County, Dallas, is under scrutiny from the FBI due to a PC he built as a backup server -- using office money. Ray Sumrow claims he was using the system for business, but the "server" actually seems to be a tricked out gaming rig, featuring two hard drives, seven fans, high end graphics and sound cards, WiFi, and cables which "glow under ultraviolet light." Rod Gregg, the FBI examiner on the case says, "I would not configure a backup computer in that way," and added, "When I saw that, I did not think of anything related to a government agency." Charges of forgery, theft, and records tampering have been made against Mr. Sumrow due to his use of the district attorney's "fee fund," which is meant to be used for office supplies or employee salaries. Testimony will take place through the week, and prosecutors expect to hear how it was imperative to Mr. Sumrow's legal work that he, "Frag the crap out of dudes."[Via Penny Arcade]
