Tag: lawsuits

University of California Sues Five Major Retailers Over Edison-Style LED Bulbs

The University of California is suing five major retailers, including Amazon, Walmart, Target, IKEA, and Bed Bath & Beyond, for infringing on four patents related to “filament” LED light bulbs. Reuters reports: These patents relate to what the university called the “reinvention of the light bulb” by researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara led by professor Shuji Nakamura, who…

Craigslist Founder: Most Online Outrage is Faked For Profit

The Guardian profiles 66-year-old Craigslist founder (and former IBM programmer) Craig Newmark, calling him “a survivor from the era of internet optimism.” He’s now investing “significant sums” to protect the future of the news industry — “and rejects the idea his website helped cause journalism’s financial crisis”
[H]e firmly rejects any notion that all the philanthropy — an estimated $50m in the…

Amazon Can Be Held Liable For Third-Party Seller Products, Court Says

A federal appeals court on Wednesday ruled that Amazon can be held liable for third-party seller products, exposing the online retailer to lawsuits from customers who buy defective products through its website. Reuters reports: Numerous other courts, including two federal appeals courts, have held that Amazon cannot be held liable as a seller of products from third-party vendors. The new ruling…

Texas Appeals Court Says Government Can’t Be Sued For Copyright Piracy

sandbagger writes: Photographer Jim Olive’s helicopter shot of Houston was used by the University of Houston on their website after they removed his watermark, a definite no-no particularly since the image was used for their school of business. The photographer then sent the university a bill for $41,000 — $16,000 for the usage and $25,000 for removing his copyright credit. After…

Israeli Firm Tied To Tool That Uses WhatsApp Flaw To Spy On Activists

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The New York Times: An Israeli firm accused of supplying tools for spying on human-rights activists and journalists now faces claims that its technology can use a security hole in WhatsApp, the messaging app used by 1.5 billion people, to break into the digital communications of iPhone and Android phone users (Warning: source may…

Google Accused of ‘Posing’ on Privacy

“You heard the headline, surely. Google is giving you privacy. Lots of privacy. Privacy here, there and everywhere. You’re free. Rejoice. Leap in the air,” writes Inc. columnist Chris Matyszczyk — arguing that there’s one huge and painful catch: Google needs to know everything about you because, as my colleague Bill Murphy Jr. reported, it’s after as much of the advertising…

For the first time, the feds criminally charged a pharma distributor for the opioid epidemic

Source: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/4/23/18512781/rochester-drug-cooperative-opioid-epidemic-drug-trafficking…

The Giants at the Heart of the Opioid Crisis

Civil suits filed by three states accuse pharmaceutical distributors of flooding the country with opioids while devising systems to evade regulators. Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/22/health/opioids-lawsuits-distributors.html?partner=rss&emc=rss…

7 things we’ve learned about Earth since the last Earth Day

Source: https://www.vox.com/2019/4/21/18223816/earth-day-2019-climate-change-plastic-extinction…