Lawsuits

Google Book Settlement Gets Preliminary Approval; Hearing in 2010

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 20, 2009 - 11:02am.

New York - The judge overseeing the settlement agreement between Google (NASD: GOOG) and authors and publishers over the direction of its massive book-scanning project has pushed a hearing on a revised settlement back to Feb. 18, while at the same time granted preliminary approval to the new deal. "The preliminary approval order sends a positive initial message; this agreement promises to benefit readers and researchers, and enhance the ability of authors and publishers to distribute their content in digital form," Google said in a statement.

Facebook, Zynga Face Class Action Suit Over Offer-based Ads

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 23, 2009 - 11:35am.

Sacramento, Calif. - A class action suit has been filed against Facebook and social network gaming firm Zynga, over "offer-based" advertisements that allegedly resulted in users being billed for unwanted services, Valleywag reported.

Judge Shutters Websites Selling "Re-Recorded" Beatles Tunes

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 19, 2009 - 11:17am.

Los Angeles - A federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction against two websites, BlueBeat.com and Basebeat.com, that had been selling unauthorized downloads of songs from the Beatles and other artists on the cheap, the Associated Press reported.

Studios Sue Swedish ISP, Demand Closure of OpenBitTorrent

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 18, 2009 - 11:54am.

Los Angeles - Several Hollywood movie studios have filed suit against a Swedish ISP that is hosting OpenBitTorrent, an independent BitTorrent file-sharing tracker site that was launched in the wake of the The Pirate Bay's announced sale to Global Gaming Factory, TorrentFreak reported. The studios sued hosting provider Portlane, demanding that it shutter the OpenBitTorrent website.

Digimarc Files Patent Claims Against Music ID Firm Shazam

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 17, 2009 - 11:49am.

Beaverton, Ore. - Digimarc (NASD: DMRC), a developer of digital watermarking and other technologies, has filed patent infringement claims against Shazam, the maker of mobile music identification software.

Google, Authors Submit Revised Book Settlement to Court

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 16, 2009 - 11:49am.

New York - A revised settlement agreement was submitted on Friday, in the closely-watched case of Google (NASD: GOOG) and the authors who sued the company over the details of its plans to scan the world's books into a digital index. The revised settlement addresses many key issues raised by the U.S. Justice Dept., copyright and consumer advocates, although some concerns remain. Under the agreement, the scanning of out-of-print books will now be limited to works published in the U.S., U.K., Canada and Australia.

RealNetworks Appeals Injunction Against Sales of RealDVD

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 11, 2009 - 11:20am.

San Francisco - RealNetworks (NASD: RNWK) has filed an appeal of a judge's injunction against the sale of the company's RealDVD software, which can make copies of DVDs, CNET News.com reported.

Swedish ISP Black Internet Appeals Pirate Bay Shutdown Order

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 10, 2009 - 10:36am.

Stockholm, Sweden - The Pirate Bay's former bandwidth supplier, Black Internet, has been given leave to appeal a Swedish court's order to disconnect the file-sharing hub, TorrentFreak reports.

Norwegian Court: ISP Telenor Need Not Block The Pirate Bay

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 6, 2009 - 9:57am.

Oslo, Norway - International record label trade group IFPI has lost its court case that sought to compel Norwegian ISP Telenor to block its subscribers' access to file-sharing hub The Pirate Bay, TorrentFreak reported.

Judge Orders Site Selling Beatles Tracks to Cease

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 6, 2009 - 9:04am.

Los Angeles - A federal judge has ordered BlueBeat, a company selling unauthorized Beatles recordings online, to immediately cease the practice.

Skype Litigation Settled; Sale by eBay to Investors to Proceed

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 6, 2009 - 8:35am.

San Jose, Calif. - Skype parent company eBay (NASD: EBAY) announced on Friday that litigation between an investor group looking to acquire Skype and the creators of the Internet telephone service has been settled, and that its sale of a majority stake in Skype will now proceed. As a result of the settlement, the acquisition deal has been restructured, and Skype creators Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis will now join the investor group, led by Silver Lake, and make a "significant capital investment" in exchange for a 14% stake in Skype.

No Doubt Sues Activision Over Avatars in "Band Hero"

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 5, 2009 - 11:13am.

Los Angeles - The rock band No Doubt has filed a lawsuit against "Band Hero" video game publisher Activision (NASD: ATVI), alleging the company overstepped the permission granted by the band to include their likenesses within the game, Reuters reported. According to the lawsuit, the band did authorize its likenesses to be used to create avatars to perform its own songs within the game, but did not authorize the No Doubt avatars to perform songs by other bands.

Beatles to Release Re-mastered Catalog on $279 USB Drive

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 4, 2009 - 10:38am.

London - The Beatles' record label, Apple Corps, and EMI Music have announced plans to release a limited edition apple-shaped USB drive, containing the entire Beatles re-mastered catalog in FLAC and MP3 format. The 30,000 USB apples will become available on Dec. 7 in the U.K. and Dec. 8 in North America, with a price tag of $279.

Report: Skype Creators, eBay, Investors Near Settlement

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 4, 2009 - 9:29am.

San Francisco - Litigation between the inventors and former owners of Internet phone service Skype, current owner eBay (NASD: EBAY), and an investor group looking to acquire Skype from eBay, could be nearing a settlement, The New York Times reported, citing several people who have been briefed on the situation. Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis -- the inventors of Skype and the peer-to-peer technology behind file-sharing service Kazaa and video portal Joost -- sued the investor group in a bid to block their acquisition of Skype from eBay.

Facebook Awarded $711 Million in "Spam King" Lawsuit

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 30, 2009 - 9:47am.

Palo Alto, Calif. - Facebook has won a $711 million judgment against an alleged spammer who the company said accessed members' accounts without permission and sent phony wall posts and messages.

Swedish Court: Pirate Bay Operators Must Stop Running Site

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 29, 2009 - 7:45am.

Stockholm, Sweden - A Swedish court has ordered two of the operators of file-sharing hub The Pirate Bay to cease their involvement in operating the site, or else face fines of $71,000 each, TorrentFreak reported. The story notes that neither Gottfrid Svartholm nor Fredrik Neij currently reside in Sweden, nor is The Pirate Bay itself currently hosted on servers within Sweden.

Dutch Court Orders Pirate Bay to Remove Torrents; Block Access

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 22, 2009 - 10:51am.

Amsterdam - The Amsterdam Court on Thursday gave the operators of file-sharing hub The Pirate Bay three months to remove a list of copyrighted torrents, and block access to portions of the site from Dutch users, or else face penalties of $7,500 each per day, TorrentFreak reported.

Lawsuit Claims Apple iPhone Infringes Nokia Patents

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 22, 2009 - 8:34am.

Espoo, Finland - Cell phone maker Nokia (NYSE: NOK) has filed a patent infringement against Apple (NASD: AAPL), claiming that the iPhone uses technology covered by ten Nokia patents without permissions. Filed in federal court in Delaware, the lawsuit alleges that Apple is infringing Nokia patents related to GSM, UMTS and wireless LAN standards, and technology such as wireless data, speech coding, security and encryption.

Pirate Bay Appeal Postponed Until Summer 2010

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 19, 2009 - 9:20am.

Stockholm, Sweden - The appeal of the copyright infringement convictions of the four operators of file-sharing hub The Pirate Bay has been delayed, likely until at least next summer, as questions over potential conflicts of interest of several judges assigned to hear the appeal are considered, TorrentFreak reported.

Pirate Bay Four Appeal Judge Bias Claims to Supreme Court

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 16, 2009 - 8:49am.

Stockholm, Sweden - The four operators of file-sharing hub The Pirate Bay have taken their conflict of interest challenge against two of the judges assigned to hear their appeal of a conviction on copyright infringement charges to the Supreme Court in Sweden, TorrentFreak reported.

Google Book Settlement Gets Preliminary Approval; Hearing in 2010

Facebook, Zynga Face Class Action Suit Over Offer-based Ads

Judge Shutters Websites Selling "Re-Recorded" Beatles Tunes

Studios Sue Swedish ISP, Demand Closure of OpenBitTorrent

Digimarc Files Patent Claims Against Music ID Firm Shazam

Google, Authors Submit Revised Book Settlement to Court

RealNetworks Appeals Injunction Against Sales of RealDVD

Swedish ISP Black Internet Appeals Pirate Bay Shutdown Order

Norwegian Court: ISP Telenor Need Not Block The Pirate Bay

Judge Orders Site Selling Beatles Tracks to Cease

Skype Litigation Settled; Sale by eBay to Investors to Proceed

No Doubt Sues Activision Over Avatars in "Band Hero"

Beatles to Release Re-mastered Catalog on $279 USB Drive

Report: Skype Creators, eBay, Investors Near Settlement

Facebook Awarded $711 Million in "Spam King" Lawsuit

Swedish Court: Pirate Bay Operators Must Stop Running Site

Dutch Court Orders Pirate Bay to Remove Torrents; Block Access

Lawsuit Claims Apple iPhone Infringes Nokia Patents

Pirate Bay Appeal Postponed Until Summer 2010

Pirate Bay Four Appeal Judge Bias Claims to Supreme Court

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