An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: U.S. Attorney General William Barr on Wednesday questioned whether Facebook, Google and other major online platforms still need the immunity from legal liability that has prevented them from being sued over material their users post. “No longer are tech companies the underdog upstarts. They have become titans,” Barr said at a public meeting…
Tag: lawsuits
EFF Files Amicus Brief In Google v. Oracle, Arguing APIs Are Not Copyrightable
Areyoukiddingme writes: EFF has filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in Google v. Oracle, arguing that APIs are not copyrightable. From the press release: “The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) today asked the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that functional aspects of Oracle’s Java programming language are not copyrightable, and even if they were, employing them to create new…
‘Music Copyright Lawsuits Are Scaring Away New Hits’, Argues Rolling Stone
A new article in Rolling Stone argues that the forgotten 2013 hit song “Blurred Lines”, which a court later ruled infringed on a 1977 song by Marvin Gaye, turned copyright law into “a minefield” — for the music industry. While copyright laws used to protect only lyrics and melodies (a prime example is the Chiffons’ successful suit against George Harrison in…
Equifax’s Stock Rose More Than 50% In 2019
“There’s still time to file a claim for a share of the $425 million that Equifax agreed to cough up after hosing almost half of the country in its massive data breach a few years ago,” writes a Pennyslvania newspaper columnist, pointing victims to equifaxbreachsettlement.com. “But unless you can prove you were an identity theft victim who lost money, or had…
Court Rules Apple Doesn’t Owe Patent Troll $503 Million
An appeals court ruled that Apple doesn’t have to pay $503 million to VirnetX, a company often accused of being a patent troll. The court didn’t reverse the original patent-infringement decision though, it just said the amount must be recalculated or a new trial held. Cult of Mac reports: VirnetX Holding Corp is sometimes referred to as a patent troll because…
Uber Embraces Videotaping Rides, Raising Privacy Concerns
For several months, some Uber passengers in Texas have been recorded on video as they have been driven to their destinations. The video has been stored online and could have been reviewed by members of Uber’s safety staff if the driver had reported a problem with the passenger. From a report: The video recordings are part of a broad initiative at…
US Court Shields Internet Subscribers From Futile Piracy Complaints
A New Jersey district court has issued a devastating order against Strike 3 Holdings, the most active filer of piracy lawsuits in the US. In four separate cases, the court denied a request to obtain identities of alleged BitTorrent pirates. The court argues that the underlying complaints are futile. Even if they held up, other issues such as the privacy of…
Equifax Used ‘admin’ as Username and Password for Sensitive Data: Lawsuit
AndrewFlagg writes: When it comes to using strong username and passwords for administrative purposes let alone customer facing portals, Equifax appears to have dropped the ball. Equifax used the word “admin” as both password and username for a portal that contained sensitive information, according to a class action lawsuit filed in federal court in the Northern District of Georgia. The ongoing…
US Using Trade Deals To Shield Tech Giants From Foreign Regulators
The Trump administration has begun inserting legal protections into recent trade agreements that shield online platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube from lawsuits, a move that could help lock in America’s tech-friendly regulations around the world even as they are being newly questioned at home. From a report: The protections, which stem from a 1990s law, have already been tucked into…
TSMC Accuses GlobalFoundries of Infringing 25 Patents For Node Processes
AmiMoJo quotes ZDNet: Semiconductor manufacturer Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd (TSMC) has filed multiple lawsuits against its competitor GlobalFoundries, saying the US company allegedly infringed upon 25 patents related to its node processes. TSMC said on Monday that the lawsuits are seeking injunctions to stop GlobalFoundries from manufacturing and selling semiconductor products that allegedly infringe upon the patents in question… The…