racketeering
Latest
Best Buy, Microsoft get racketeering appeal rejected
For those keeping an eye on the summer's funnest (only?) court case involving Microsoft and the big box retailer the world loves to hate, here's the latest. Today, the Supreme Court "rejected an appeal by Microsoft and a unit of Best Buy in a lawsuit alleging the two companies fraudulently signed up customers for Microsoft's online service," which means that the appeals court's ruling may now stand. Unfortunately, further details and consequences of the decision were not yet disclosed, but it's fairly safe to assume that the two won't soon be engaging in any similar activities.
Microsoft, Best Buy face revived racketeering charges
Pop quiz: What do Microsoft and Best Buy and John Gotti and Michael Milken have in common? Surprisingly, all four have at one time or another been charged with racketeering under the 1970 RICO Act, with the former two entities facing revived charges surrounding an alleged ongoing fraud that began more than seven years ago. Specifically, San Francisco's 9th US Circuit of Appeals has "reversed and remanded" an earlier dismissal of a suit in which plaintiff James Odom claimed that Microsoft and Best Buy colluded to sign him and other unsuspecting customers up for paid MSN subscriptions when they purchased a PC at the big box retailer. Although Microsoft began doling out refunds to those whose credit cards had been illicitly charged as early as 2003, interested parties still seem keen on winning a verdict against the software giant, and were seemingly unswayed by offers of increased Hotmail storage and free Zunes -- and now, as the case heads to US District Court in Seattle, even the mighty Geek Squad's powers are completely useless.
Activist lawyer drops RICO charges against Take Two, others
Phew, that was close. And to think, he almost discovered our master plans ...Infamous Miami lawyer Jack Thompson has thoroughly revised his complaint and counterclaim against Take Two. Concerning his counterclaim, Thompson shortened it from nearly 20 pages to a single paragraph that makes no mention of previous racketeering charges that listed Penny Arcade, the ESA, Joystiq, Kotaku and others as collaborators and conspirators.Of course, Joystiq was left unaware what racketeering really was, having ignored Denis McCauley's thorough explanation for enlightenment via Tycho and Gabe's funny pictures.In light of this pseudo-victory, Joystiq is celebrating with cake, ice cream and engaging in illegal business activities usually associated with organized crime.
