Tech Law

Microsoft has whittled the number of states appealing its antitrust settlement with the U.S. federal government to one, reaching a deal with West Virginia that will require the software giant to pay at least $21 million in total to consumers, businesses and state agencies. West Virginia's decision t...

AOL Time Warner and Microsoft have agreed to a far-reaching settlement in which the software giant will pay $750 million to AOL to dispose of allegations that it acted unfairly to monopolize the Web browser market. The settlement ends the browser wars that began eight years ago and clears the way fo...

EMC and Hitachi have settled simmering patent infringement lawsuits with a long-term agreement that calls for cross-licensing and cooperative development of new technology. As part of the deal, Tokyo-based Hitachi will make undisclosed payments to EMC, which first filed suit against Hitachi last Ap...

In the latest round of a corporate boxing match that has persisted for more than five years, Microsoft has filed a court brief accusing Sun Microsystems of unfair competition and violation of a previous settlement agreement. The brief is part of an ongoing private antitrust case brought against Micr...

The complaints are essentially the same, but the venue is different. Microsoft is under attack again for leveraging its monopoly and bundling its products, but this time its lines of defense are concentrated on the European front. In fact, it seems that so far, Europe's antitrust investigation has b...

Microsoft's rivals have opened a new front in the battle over the software giant's alleged monopolistic behavior, saying Windows XP violates existing European antitrust law. The Computer & Communications Industry Association, which counts AOL, Sun, Nokia and Yahoo among its members, claims "new ...

A judge has given Microsoft a reprieve from an order that required it to begin including Sun Microsystems' Java software with its Windows operating system by the end of April. But even though the stay buys Microsoft some time and virtually guarantees that its epic legal battle with Sun will continu...

In a ruling hailed by some as a major victory in the recording industry's battle against online piracy -- but decried by others as a threat to Web privacy -- a judge has ordered an Internet service provider to disclose the identity of a voracious file-swapper to the RIAA. The RIAA has not said wheth...

Russian software firm ElcomSoft has been acquitted of copyright infringement in the first-ever criminal prosecution under the United States' controversial Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The decision seems likely to reopen debate on the law's future. In the case, Adobe alleged that one of E...

In a closely watched case about DVD hacking and Web publishing freedoms, the California state Supreme Court has thrown out a lawsuit filed by the DVD Copy Control Association, which had accused Texas resident Matthew Pavlovich of posting a program on his Web site that enabled users to bypass DVD cop...

Saying it has cleared the way for even more innovation, Microsoft hailed a ruling that an antitrust settlement reached with the U.S. Department of Justice is punishment enough for its past misbehavior. Investors seemed to agree, sending Microsoft shares up 7 percent in early trading to $56.84, after...

When Apple and Microsoft signed a pact five years ago formalizing their relationship, the two companies laid out a detailed road map for the future. Fast forward to the summer of 2002. The agreement expired, no extended proposal has been put in place, and published reports have questioned the state ...

A coalition of consumer groups has petitioned the Federal Trade Commission to step up its efforts to ban spam. The groups told the commission that the sending of unsolicited commercial e-mail should be classified as an unfair and deceptive trade practice. "Americans are drowning in commercial spam e...

AOL Time Warner's positive earnings report this week was tempered by news that the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission is looking into the way the company's online division has handled its accounting. The company shrugged off the SEC inquiry, and Yankee Group analyst Mike Goodman told the E...

Just a day after Amazon.com halved its purchase threshold for free shipping from $99 to $49, e-tailer Buy.com has gone one step further, announcing it will offer free shipping with no minimum purchase. Buy.com founder and CEO Scott Blum made no attempt to hide the fact that the move was a direct com...