Court Upholds $675,000 Award for File-Sharing

A federal court in Massachusetts upheld a $675,000 damages award against Joel Tenenbaum, who was accused of illegally downloading 31 songs from a fire-sharing Web site and sued by the main recording companies in the U.S. U.S. District Court Judge Rya W. Zobel rejected Tenenbaum's request for a new jury trial, saying jurors had appropriately considered the evidence of Tenenbaum's actions -- downloading files for two years despite warnings -- and the harm to the plaintiffs.

Twitter Users Protest India's Blocking Threat

The Indian government faced an angry backlash from Twitter users after ordering Internet service providers to block about 20 accounts that officials said had spread scare-mongering material that threatened national security. The backlash came as New Delhi turned up the heat on Twitter, threatening "appropriate and suitable action" if it failed to remove the accounts as soon as possible.

LG Files Patent Suit Against Toshiba-Samsung Venture

LG Electronics Inc. of South Korea sued a joint venture of Toshiba Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co. in federal court in Delaware alleging infringement of four U.S. patents for optical-disc technology. Lawyers for Seoul-based LG said in today’s complaint that Toshiba Samsung Storage Technology Corp. of Tokyo knew about the inventions because it licensed the patents until the end of 2010.

DHS Warns of Possible Hacker Attack on Power Plants

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has issued an alert warning that hackers could exploit code in Siemens-owned technology to attack power plants and other national critical infrastructure. Security researcher Justin Clarke exposed the flaw at a Los Angeles conference, claiming he discovered a way of spying on encrypted traffic in hardware owned by a Siemens subsidiary, RuggedCom.

U.S. Seizes Three Domain Names Used for Illegal Apps

The U.S. Department of Justice, in a first for the agency, said it shut three Websites that allegedly catered to customers seeking illegal copies of copyrighted apps for the Android-based mobile devices and seized the domain names: applanet.net, appbucket.net and snappzmarket.com. The seizures are the latest in an ongoing effort by DOJ to target piracy on the Internet.

German Copyright Bill Would Require Search Engine Fees

Germany is considering a copyright bill that would force search engines to pay licensing fees for reproducing newspapers' headlines and the first paragraphs of articles, a measure that has Google up in arms. According to the draft law, search engines would be utilizing copyrighted material by reproducing headlines and paragraphs of news stories, so they would have to pay fees accordingly.

Complaints Accuse Sites of Children's Privacy Violations

A coalition of nearly 20 children’s advocacy, health and public interest groups plans to file complaints with the Federal Trade Commission, asserting that some online marketing to children by McDonald’s and four other well-known companies violates a federal law protecting children’s privacy. The law, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, requires Web site operators to obtain verifiable consent from parents before collecting personal information about children under age 13.

Jury in Apple-Samsung Patent Case Gets Instructions

After three weeks of arguments, the jury in the high-stakes patent dispute between Apple and Samsung has finally been given its instructions on what, exactly, jurors should be deciding in the high-stakes case. A ruling for Apple could ban imports of certain Samsung products and force the Korean company to change its designs or pay licensing fees, while a ruling for Samsung could damage Apple’s reputation as an innovator and lead to more iPhone look-alike designs.

India Pushes Sites to Remove 'Inflammatory' Content

India pressed social media websites including Facebook and Twitter on to remove "inflammatory" content it said helped spread rumors that caused an exodus of migrants from some cities. The government said in a statement it had already blocked access to 245 web pages it said contained doctored videos and images, and the telecommunications secretary, R Chandrashekhar, threatened legal action against the websites if they did not fully comply with the requests to take down the offending pages.

Hackers Deface Moscow Court's Website

The website of a Moscow court that convicted three members of punk band Pussy Riot to two years in jail each for belting out a profanity-laced anti-Kremlin song inside a cathedral was hacked. A slogan denouncing President Vladimir Putin was posted on the site as was an appeal for the trio's release along with a video clip of one of the band's latest anti-Putin songs and a clip by Bulgarian singer Azis, local media reported.

AT&T Limits on FaceTime Raise Net Neutrality Questions

When Apple releases its next version of its mobile operating system iOS this fall, iPhone customers will have the option to place FaceTime video calls over the cellular network, whereas before they could do so only on Wi-Fi. On the AT&T network, however, that privilege will be available to customers only on a certain type of data plan, which has raised debate on whether or not the carrier is violating government rules.

Samsung, Apple CEOs Discuss Patent Settlement

Samsung Electronics Co.’s chief executive officer will talk with his counterpart at Apple Inc. to see whether they can resolve their smartphone patent dispute before a U.S. jury begins deliberating, according to a person familiar with the matter. The companies’ lawyers will report to U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in federal court in San Jose, California, on the outcome of the telephone discussion between Apple’s Tim Cook and Samsung’s Kwon Oh Hyun, according to the person, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private.

European ISPs Defend UN Proposal for Internet Fees

European network providers defended their proposal submitted to a United Nations body that would allow them to levy fees on content providers including Google, Facebook, Apple, and Netflix. "We believe that this situation is putting at risk our capacity to invest," said Luigi Gambardella, chairman of the executive board of the European Telecommunications Network Operators, or ETNO.

Motorola Says Apple Features Infringe Its Patents

Google Inc.'s Motorola Mobility unit said it filed a new patent-infringement case against Apple Inc. claiming that features on some Apple devices, including the Siri voice-recognition program, infringe its patents. The complaint at the U.S. International Trade Commission claims infringement of seven Motorola Mobility patents on features including location reminders, e-mail notification and phone/video players, Motorola Mobility said.

Google’s Motorola Files New Patent Case Against Apple By Susan Decker - Aug 18, 2012 12:00 AM ET

Facebook Share LinkedIn Google +1 53 Comments Print QUEUE Q

Google Inc. (GOOG)’s Motorola Mobility unit said it filed a new patent-infringement case against Apple Inc. (AAPL) claiming that features on some Apple devices, including the Siri voice-recognition program, infringe its patents.

The complaint at the U.S. International Trade Commission claims infringement of seven Motorola Mobility patents on features including location reminders, e-mail notification and phone/video players, Motorola Mobility said yesterday.

Judge Rejects Facebook 'Sponsored Stories' Settlement

A U.S. judge rejected Facebook Inc's proposed legal settlement to resolve allegations that the social networking company violated its members' rights through the its 'Sponsored Stories' advertising feature. In an order, U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg in San Francisco listed several concerns with the proposed settlement, including a request for more information on why the agreement does not award any money to members.

Judge Won't Dismiss Antitrust Claims Against ICANN

A case pitting adult entertainment companies against the gatekeepers of Internet domain names cleared a key hurdle, when a federal judge in Los Angeles largely allowed antitrust claims over the controversial .xxx domain to go forward.  U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez partly granted motions to dismiss filed by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the non-profit organization in charge of the domain name system, and ICM Registry, LLC, the registry running the .xxx domain.

Subscribe

The GigaLaw Firm helps companies of all sizes protect their brands online, using domain name dispute policies – such as the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) – and other legal tools available to copyright and trademark owners on the Internet.