U.S. District Judge James Robart on Thursday determined that Google’s Motorola Mobility unit was not entitled to the $4 billion per year it sought from Microsoft for its standard-essential patents. Motorola was seeking royalties from Microsoft’s Xbox gaming system, which utilizes the company’s technology concerning video decoding wireless connectivity. Instead of the $4 billion per year Google had valued Motorola’s patents, the judge decided that the appropriate annual payment was closer to $1.8 million. More →
Google may wind up settling with antitrust officials in the European Union but it likely won’t get away virtually scot-free like it did in the United States. The Associated Press reports that Google is offering some more concessions to European antitrust regulators, including an agreement to “display links to three rival specialized search services close to its own services, in a place that is clearly visible to users.” In other words, whenever Google shows sponsored search results for its own services, it must also display links to rivals’ services nearby. Previously, Google had agreed to clearly label its own services in searches as sponsored results in an attempt to satisfy critics who claimed that the company is pushing down rivals’ products to promote its own.
Depressing but true: Google’s decision to publish details on government takedown requests hasn’t slowed governments’ zeal for removing content from the Internet. As a matter of fact, it seems that just the opposite has happened over the past three years. Google this week reported that government content removal requests surged from 1,811 in the first half of 2012 to 2,285 in the second half of 2012. 39% of all takedown requests were related to cases of alleged defamation, Google said, while only 18% of requests were related to privacy and security concerns. Among other things, Google said it received “a request to remove a YouTube video that allegedly defames the President” of Argentina “by depicting her in a compromising position”; a “request from legal representatives of a member of the executive branch” of Israel’s government “to remove two YouTube videos for alleged defamation”; and a “request to remove a YouTube video that allegedly defamed a presidential candidate” in South Korea.
Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson on Thursday ordered UNcarrier T-Mobile to correct “deceptive advertising that promised consumers no annual contracts while carrying hidden charges for early termination of phone plans.” T-Mobile, which recently did away with standard cell phone service contracts and typical smartphone subsidies, is accused of misleading consumers by advertising no-contract wireless plans despite requiring that customers sign an agreement that makes them responsible for the full cost of their handsets should they cancel service prematurely. More →
Apple has been hit with a fine in China after being found to have illegally distributed copywrited materials. China Daily reports that the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court ruled against Apple in a case brought by book writers claiming their works were being sold in Apple’s eBook store without their permission. The court determined that it was indeed Apple’s job to verify that works uploaded to its iOS book store for the iPhone and iPad were the property of the parties uploading them, and it fined Apple 730,000 yuan, or approximately $118,000, for its irresponsible verification policies. More →
The lulz have been few and far between for hacker collective LulzSec lately since several of its members are facing prison terms, and now Australia’s ABC News reports that Australian police have arrested an unnamed 24-year-old man who is purportedly the self-proclaimed leader of LulzSec. Police said that the alleged LulzSec hacker, who is known as “Aush0k” online, is “a senior Australian IT professional who works for the local arm of an international IT company.” The Australian Federal Police arrested the man for allegedly accessing a restricted computer system and for altering data with intent to cause harm. If convicted he could face a maximum of 12 years in prison.
The United States International Trade Commission on Monday evening ruled that Apple’s iPhone does not infringe on technology Google gained when it acquired Motorola Mobility in 2011. The company had been seeking an import ban against the iPhone 4 because it allegedly uses Motorola’s protected technology. A panel of judges upheld an earlier decision, however, that found the proximity sensor patent Motorola was asserting is invalid. A Google spokesperson told Reuters that the company was “disappointed with this outcome and are evaluating our options.” The decision can now be appealed the to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
HTC may have made the world’s best Android phone with the HTC One, but the company has had trouble getting the device to potential customers in a timely manner. In addition to the HTC One’s delayed release date, the device is now facing an injunction granted by a Dutch court to rival manufacturer Nokia, which is alleging that key microphone components used for the HTC One violate an exclusivity deal between Nokia and ST Microelectronics. An unnamed source tells Engadget that “the issue is likely to be a breach of an NDA between Nokia and ST Electronics as the phone maker asserts that the ‘microphone components [were] invented by and manufactured exclusively for Nokia.’” While this sort of case may be irritating for European consumers who are hoping to get their hands on the HTC One, Engadget helpfully notes that at least it isn’t yet another patent dispute.
The Hamburg Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information has issued a fine of €145,000 to Google for illegally accessing and recording data from unencrypted Wi-Fi networks. Regulators called the company’s acts “one of the most serious cases of violation of data protection” in German history. It was discovered that between 2008 and 2010, Google accessed insecure Wi-Fi networks with its Street View vehicles and illegally downloaded large quantities of personal data including emails, passwords and photos. The company has admitted wrongdoing and has since deleted the data from its servers. Regulators still aren’t satisfied, however. More →
Good news for Daily Show fans: You’ll still be able to watch clips of Jon Stewart on YouTube. The Los Angeles Times reports that Viacom has lost a major copyright suit against YouTube after “a federal judge in New York on Thursday ruled that YouTube had not violated Viacom’s copyright even though users of the popular online site are allowed to post unauthorized video clips from some of Viacom’s most popular shows.” U.S. District Judge Louis L. Stanton dismissed Viacom’s lawsuit and said that a safe-harbor provision within the Digital Millennium Copyright Act protects YouTube from copyright infringement charges. In response to the ruling, Google’s general counsel Kent Walker said that “this is a win not just for YouTube, but for people everywhere who depend on the Internet to exchange ideas and information.”
A hacker affiliated with LulzSec, a spin-off of hacking group Anonymous, has been sentenced for breaching computers belonging to Sony Pictures Entertainment and distributing information to other members in 2011. A U.S. District Judge in Los Angeles on Thursday sentenced 24-year old Cody Kretsinger to a year in prison, followed by home detention and 1,000 hours of community service, Reuters reported. The hacker, who was known online as “Recursion,” pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and one count of unauthorized impairment of a protected computer last April. Sony has said that Krestinger and other LulzSec members cost the company more than $600,000 in damages.
The Federal Trade Commission’s new chairwoman doesn’t trust advertising companies to play by the honor system. AdWeek reports that FTC chair Edith Ramirez said this week that “consumers await a functioning Do Not Track system, which is long overdue,” thus implying that the current Do Not Track system is inadequate. Instead, Ramirez said that web users needed “a persistent Do Not Track mechanism that allows consumers to stop control of data across all sites, and not just for targeting ads.” Both Google and the Digital Advertising Alliance last year agreed to adhere to a Do Not Track system that lets users restrict the data that websites can collect about them through cookies. However, the DAA drew some significant criticism last year when it announced that its members would not honor the Do Not Track settings of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser because it made Do Not Track the default option for users.
