Tech Law

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by America Online against a group of Florida computer technicians, whom AOL had accused of maintaining computer networks that were used to batter its e-mail servers with spam targeting its millions of users. AOL had claimed the defendants violated Virg...

Saying its business would be much larger today if Microsoft had not pushed to create a "new monopoly" in the media player market, RealNetworks said it has filed a civil suit against the software giant seeking $1 billion in lost revenue and damages. The complaint alleges that Microsoft restricted how...

Just two days after President Bush signed national antispam legislation, Microsoft has announced that a six-month investigation it conducted with New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer led to a slew of lawsuits against an e-mail marketing ring believed to be responsible for sending billions of spam...

With perhaps another 18 months before its case against IBM for copyright infringement goes on trial, SCO has chosen (perhaps ironically) to take its battle against open source out in the open. On Thursday, company CEO Darl McBride posted the first of what he said would be "a series of letters ... ex...

A federal judge in Utah has given The SCO Group 30 days to respond to demands that it reveal more information about the proprietary Unix source code it claims IBM infringed when Big Blue contributed Unix code to the Linux platform. IBM claims SCO has provided it with nearly 50 CDs containing thousan...

In a legal move that ultimately could affect the size of search engines' revenue stream, Google has asked a court to clarify whether or not its keyword-based advertising program is infringing on company trademarks. Google filed the request following complaints from American Blind & Wallpaper Fac...

Leaving little doubt about its resolve to pursue the legal issues surrounding its claimed ownership of part of the Linux source code, SCO Group said it has set aside millions of dollars in cash and stock to pay its high-profile legal team. The company also indicated it may move to block Novell's pla...

Oracle Corp. has asked a court to toss out PeopleSoft's customer assurance program, saying the company's cash guarantees amount to an attempt to block Oracle's hostile takeover bid and lock in pay packages for PeopleSoft executives. In the motion filed with the Delaware court that is handling other ...

Following a spate of civil suits filed against music consumers in September, the RIAA has launched the next phase of its war on digital piracy. The organization has sent a total of 204 letters to individuals, each of whom, it claims, has made at least 1,000 songs available for upload on peer-to-peer...

The SCO Group has landed $50 million in private financing from Baystar Capital, which it said it will use to expand its business and add strength to its multibillion-dollar legal battles with IBM and others. Those lawsuits focus on alleged use of SCO's proprietary Unix code in the Linux operating sy...

Since March, when the SCO Group filed suit against IBM for allegedly using proprietary SCO Unix code in its Linux systems, it has made headlines nearly every week. And in the last 52 weeks, SCO's stock price has soared from as little as 78 cents per share to more than $20 per share. Regardless of in...

In response to its recent loss to Eolas Technologies in a $521 million patent case, Microsoft has announced it will make "modest" changes to Windows and Internet Explorer to address issues raised in the case. Many of the planned code changes will affect various plug-ins, such as Macromedia Flash, Ap...

A California woman has filed what could become a class-action suit against Microsoft, claiming the software giant's flaw alert and patching system is inadequate and fails to protect consumers. The action, being handled by a California attorney known for taking on big business on behalf of consumers,...

IBM has expanded its countersuit against The SCO Group, saying SCO has harmed Big Blue's Linux business with its claims that IBM incorporated SCO's proprietary Unix code into AIX and Linux products. In addition, the high-tech giant has turned the tables by arguing that SCO actually stole some of IBM...

Hewlett-Packard has announced it will indemnify users of its Linux-based solutions from legal action being pursued by The SCO Group. The move seeks to reassure potential Linux customers while possibly making HP hardware more attractive to lawsuit-wary enterprises. However, SCO said the move "reaffir...