Sweden's Supreme Court Won't Hear Pirate Bay Appeal

Sweden’s Supreme Court announced it won’t agree to hear an appeal by The Pirate Bay’s founders, meaning the jail sentences and fines imposed by the Swedish Court of Appeals will stand. In other words, Peter Sunde, Fredrik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm and Carl Lundström, who started file-sharing site The Pirate Bay in September 2003, face jail time and have to collectively pony up a fine of 46 million Swedish kronor (US$6.7 million).

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ITC Judge Rejects Barnes & Noble Claim Against Microsoft

Barnes & Noble Inc.’s claim that Microsoft Corp. is misusing patents to undermine competition from Google Inc.’s Android operating system was thrown out by a U.S. trade judge. U.S. International Trade Commission Judge Theodore Essex rejected Barnes & Noble’s arguments the patents should be held unenforceable, Microsoft Deputy General Counsel David Howard said in a statement.

Europe Opens Antitrust Probe of Samsung's Patents

The European Commission opened a new front in the global patent war between Samsung Electronics and rivals including Apple Inc. with a formal investigation into whether the South Korean technology giant's use of patents is breaking EU antitrust rules. The investigation is based on concerns that Samsung is using special patents, known as "standards-essential," to distort the market for mobile devices such as phones and tablets in Europe.

Germany Upholds Ban on Samsung Tablet

Samsung Electronics lost a bid to overturn a ruling barring its local unit from selling its Galaxy 10.1 tablets in Germany, handing a symbolic legal victory to Apple Inc. in efforts to keep its lead spot in the tablet computer market. A higher regional court in Duesseldorf, Germany, said that Samsung may not sell the older version of its Galaxy tablet in Europe's biggest economy.

Google Explains Changes to Privacy Policies

Planned changes to Google Inc.'s privacy policies that have caught the attention of U.S. lawmakers would not take away the control its customers have over how data is collected and used, the company said in a blog post. Google, whose offerings include its flagship search engine, Gmail, YouTube and Google+ products, announced last week that it was unifying 60 of its privacy policies.

Obama Seeks Compromise on Anti-Piracy Legislation

In response to a question during his first Google+ hangout with a handful of voters about whether the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act would levy "too much censorship on the Internet," President Obama stopped short of saying he opposes the legislation. "I think that it's going to be possible for us" to find a workable approach, Obama said during the event broadcast on YouTube, predicting that it's possible to protect Hollywood's interests without "affecting the fundamental integrity of the Internet as an open, transparent system."

Verizon Sues 'Serial Cybersquatters' Over 660 Websites

In a case that shines light on the world of professional cybersquatters, Verizon is suing a website and a domain name registrar that placed ads on hundreds of sites with Verizon-like names. In a complaint filed in Los Angeles federal court, Verizon accuses “serial cybersquatters” Parked.com and registrar DNLtd of controlling more than 660 websites.

FDA Monitored Scientists' Personal E-mail Accounts

The Food and Drug Administration secretly monitored the personal e-mail of a group of its own scientists and doctors after they warned Congress that the agency was approving medical devices that they believed posed unacceptable risks to patients, government documents show. The surveillance -- detailed in e-mails and memos unearthed by six of the scientists and doctors, who filed a lawsuit against the FDA in U.S. District Court in Washington -- took place over two years as the plaintiffs accessed their personal Gmail accounts from government computers.

High-Tech Companies Cooperate to Fight Phishing

Major tech firms including Google, Facebook and Microsoft have teamed together to fight email phishing scams. Members say the partnership will lead to better email security and protect users and tech brands from fraudulent messages. The group, which calls itself DMARC -- for Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance -- says it wants to help reduce email abuse by standardizing how email receivers perform authentication.

U.S. Cybersecurity Efforts Prompt Privacy Concerns

The federal government's plan to expand computer security protections into critical parts of private industry is raising concerns that the move will threaten Americans' civil liberties. In a report, The Constitution Project warns that as the Obama administration partners more with the energy, financial, communications and health care industries to monitor and protect networks, sensitive personal information of people who work for or communicate with those companies could be improperly or inadvertently disclosed.

Prosecutors Shield Identities to Guard Against Hackers

Federal law-enforcement officials say they are concerned about cyber-retaliation against agents and prosecutors, in light of suspicions that people linked to the hacker collective Anonymous targeted the private life of a government official investigating WikiLeaks. The concern prompted the government to take the rare step of keeping officials' names out of news releases and public statements when the government shut down the website Megaupload.com, charging company officials with violations of copyright law.

Ex-Groupon Sales Reps Countersue Google

Former Groupon Inc. sales representatives sued by that company after leaving for Google Inc. have filed a countersuit, claiming their former employer is pursuing "sham" litigation to keep them from joining rivals. Groupon, which runs the world's largest online coupon website, had accused Nikki Dorough, Brian Hanna and Michael Nolan of taking confidential trade secrets when they moved to the world's largest Internet search company.