Courts

Seems there is a punishment for all that nasty spam you accumulate over the course of the average workday. Two men have recently been convicted by the United States Department of Justice under the Can-Spam Act, and sentenced to more than five years ... in a penitentiary. The judgment came down last Friday, and sends Jeffrey A. Kilbride, 41, and James R. Schaffer, 41 to prison for 72 and 63 months, respectively. Kilbride hails from Venice, California, while Schaffer is a Paradise Valley, Arizona resident. Neither can expect much of a paradise in the slammer. If any of their cell mates are familiar ... (view more)

The Record Industry Association of America (RIAA) is currently embroiled in the first American trial of a person accused of illegally sharing music. According to the organization itself, it won't be the last. Although we've been hearing for a long ... time that there can be real trouble for those who skip the CD store to visit Torrents and, in the past, protocols like Kazaa, to some it has seemed an empty threat. While 26,000 lawsuits have been filed since 2003, only this most recent trial proves the RIAA is taking such matters very seriously. According to Cary Sherman, president of the RIAA, "We ... (view more)

In a ruling that's expected to have far-reaching implications, the European Union (EU) Court of First Instance upheld European Commission claims that Microsoft abused their dominant position in the operating system (OS) market, siding with ... regulators in an antitrust case. The law suit began in early 2004. (Source: CNET News ) "The court ruling is welcome for its confirmation of the Commission's decision and its underlying policy, but nevertheless, it is bittersweet, because the court has confirmed the Commission's view that consumers are suffering at the hands of Microsoft" said Neelie Kroes ... (view more)

For many of us in the tech world, security is of absolute importance. We invest in anti-virus and anti-spyware software, use cryptic passwords, and look over our shoulder whenever entering log-in names. Few of us would expect that none of these ... measures could protect us from one foe: the FBI. How many of us support the U.S. government's Patriot Act, a measure instituted by the Bush administration not long after the September 11th attacks? Many simply don't realize what the Patriot Act includes; although Michael Moore touched on it in his controversial documentary Fahrenheit 9/11, the act ... (view more)

Apple and several major music labels will find themselves under the gun later this month as they take part in the European Commission (EC)'s antitrust hearings. The hearings, scheduled for September 19 and 20, will be a forum for the EC's concerns ... over unfair pricing and sales practices in the European iTunes Store. Representing the next step in the investigation, the EC has emphasized that the hearings will not lead directly to a judgment. The EC has not yet set a date for a final decision. (Source: arstechnica.com ) The EC accused music labels EMI, Universal Music Group, Sony BMG and Warner ... (view more)

Who's to blame for illegal file-sharing? Although in the past the immediate response has been to blame the individual physically downloading a movie, album, or video game, that could be changing. The new culprit may just surprise you. In some North ... American cities, a drunk driver isn't the only one fingered for wrong-doing. In many cases, the bar that got the perpetrator drunk is also found guilty of negligence, and can have its liquor license suspended for weeks, even months. Now, that idea is creeping up on the world of technology. Although the Record Industry Association of America, or ... (view more)

The recording industry must be smiling. A US federal judge has just ruled that making songs available on P2P networks violates copyright laws. The ruling comes from the case Atlantic v. Howell, in which the Recording Industry Association of America ... (RIAA) sued an Arizona resident for copy infringement. The defendant, whose IP address had been turned over to the court, was targeted since he made his songs available for download on the Kazaa P2P network. Members of the RIAA then hired MediaSentry Services to look into the contents of the shared folder; inside, the company found 2,329 MP3 tracks ... (view more)

A lawsuit filed in April alleging that Microsoft misled consumers with labels on Windows XP machines touted as "Windows Vista Capable" will be allowed by a federal judge to proceed. The suit alleges many of the computers labelled by the ... Redmond-based company as "Windows Vista Capable" couldn't run some of the highly touted features of Vista. After listening to oral arguments in Seattle, U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman denied Microsoft's motion to dismiss two of the law suits claims: allegations that Microsoft's marketing violated Washington state's Consumer Protection ... (view more)

The success of Apple can be seen in the figures reporting 450,000 iPhones sold within its first two days of sales. For one consumer though, Apple has left out a major drawback of the iPhone: the limited battery life. Jose Trujillo is suing Apple, ... claiming that the company neglected to inform users of the limited life of the iPhone battery or that replacement batteries cost $86 each. (Source: iht.com ) Trujillo has filed his case in Illinois state court, accusing Apple of consumer fraud. Trujillo also hopes for class-action status in addition to subsequent monetary damages. Larry Drury, ... (view more)

At the Stanford Summit in Palo Alto, California, IT heavyweights such as Google and Apple discussed the U.S. patent system -- and not everyone was thrilled with the its current state. Google's head of patents, Michelle Lee, described the U.S. patent ... system as being "in crisis." She explained that there are too many businesses that use patents mostly as a means of making money. These businesses, called trolls, have proven profitable for many tech companies, but the large number of patents is backing up the system. "The Patent Office is overburdened," she said. "The volume of patents going in ... (view more)