Courts

Two U.S. Federal judges have approved a proposed $2.45 billion settlement in a case filed against Nortel by shareholders. Judges Richard Berman and Loretta Preska issued their approval of the deal earlier this week. The settlement has Nortel paying ... $575 million in cash to shareholders. It also has the company issuing shares equal to about 14.5 percent of its current outstanding equity, or $1.64 billion based on Nortel's current stock value. (Source: hachinthebox.org ) The settlement will be paid to investors who purchased common stock or sold options between April 24, 2003 and April 27, 2004 ... (view more)

If you illegally download music via a file-sharing program, you better watch out -- music companies may file a lawsuit against you. Or at least that's what they want you to think. Earlier this week, the case on Patti Santangelo was dropped and ... refiled, this time implicating Santangelo's two children. Santangelo was sued -- along with many others -- as part of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)'s campaign to stop the illegal pirating of online music. Unlike the others, however, Santangelo refused to settle, instead choosing to go through costly litigation. (Source: slyck.com ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Patrick L. writes: " Dear Dennis, I love your articles! I was just wondering: many sites out there, including eBay members are selling copies or 'cracked' software. Some use 'kegen' programs to generate software keys in order to ... unlock software. I always purchase new software and from the company itself -- example: Adobe, Corel, etc. However, my friends want to purchase keygens and cracked software so they do not pay full retail. So my question is, aside from viruses or such, can programs like keygen and such be harmful to your computer? " My response: The short-and-sweet ... (view more)

Careful where you place a face. That's a lesson Yahoo might be learning, shortly after its recent legal troubles involving New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. The three-time Super Bowl champion (who once dated Tara Reid, by the way), is ... angry that Yahoo used his likeness to promote its online fantasy football league. Whether Tom's completely opposed to tame gambling or simply not proud of the picture in question is unclear. But, it spells bad news and bad press for Yahoo. The ad in question wasn't actually posted on the web, in fact. Instead, Brady's unauthorized mug was presented in ... (view more)

Think those goons infecting your computer with spyware are mischievous? How about a company that persuades users that they have an infected computer, and then sells them a $49.95 program to clean the "infection" that never existed in the first ... place? Doesn't sound so bad, unless you're considering the case of Secure Computer, which recently settled a lawsuit against it alleging that the company falsely informed people of possessing spyware. The original suit was filed in January, and cited the New York state-based Secure Computer as violators of the 2005 federal Computer Spyware Act. Those in ... (view more)

Microsoft sure is having some difficulty with this whole patent business. While the company struggles to calm a stormy sea caused by CEO Steve Ballmer's statement that recent partner Novell is infringing on Microsoft's intellectual property , it ... appears the software giant must now face the loss of patent rights in South Korea, a major Asian market. The problem stems from court cases dating back months, which recently reached a very unfavorable decision for the Redmond-based company. The patent infringement -- in this case -- surrounds a local university professor's claims that he first ... (view more)

Besides increased efficiency, widespread access to information, and improved communication, the advent of the Internet brought something else: confusion over legal rights. Recently, IBM joined the slew of snubbed patent owners and filed two lawsuits ... against Amazon.com, citing patent infringement. (Source: slashdot.org ) The lawsuits, which were filed in U.S District Court in Texas, allege that Amazon is using five IBM patents at the core of their operations. Ari Fishkind, Public Affairs Manager at IBM, stated that the patents "include technology that help present applications, store data, ... (view more)

Phishers, beware. In the past eight months, Microsoft's anti-phishing initiative has resulted in the filing of 129 lawsuits across Europe and the Middle East, the company said last Wednesday. Phishing activities, in which individuals attempt to ... deceptively obtain sensitive information, such as bank account information by posing as a credible source, have ballooned in the past few years. A recent research report released by Symantec has revealed that the number of attempts to trick individuals into handing over their bank account details has doubled in the first half of 2006. (Source: reuters. ... (view more)

Love 'em or hate 'em, thus far TomKat's marriage has been a rosier adventure than the recent joining of Microsoft and Novell, which, just weeks in is already on rocky footing. That's because the two tech companies are already squabbling over certain ... patent rights disclosed within the deal, and the result could lead to anything but a worthwhile relationship between the powerhouse companies. Most of the outrage is the result of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's recent remark that Novell's signing of the deal acknowledges that the company is infringing on MS intellectual property. Apparently, Novell ... (view more)

Who hasn't sued Microsoft? A quick Google search reveals lawsuits over music downloads, Xbox 360 defects, Xbox Live, Xbox internet, and Excel. And that's just the first page! And now, you can add an alleged name infringement to the list. At the ... heart of the situation is Microsoft's new line of Forefront security products (previously released under the MS "Client Protection" brand). Dexter + Chaney, a Seattle-based software company, is claiming the rights to the Forefront name. "Construction companies throughout the United States know and respect the 'Forefront' name," Dexter + Chaney vice ... (view more)