Tech Law

The 9th United States Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled, in essence, that Google broke federal wiretap laws when its Street View cars collected data from unencrypted WiFi networks. The federal court affirmed a district court's order denying Google's motion to dismiss the claim. Google's data collec...

Protection of intellectual property is a major element in the highly competitive world of information technology. The scope of protection affects not only providers such as software developers but also the users of software products. Software patent litigation has increased significantly, according ...

A federal court in Seattle this week upheld Microsoft's claim that Motorola Mobility refused to license its standard essential patents at a fair and reasonable cost, resulting in an award to Microsoft of $14.5 million in damages. Microsoft claimed that the license fees Motorola Mobility initially de...

An October 2010 class action lawsuit against Google included allegations that "Google transmitted user search queries to third parties without knowledge or consent in order to enhance advertising revenue and profitability." Following three years of litigation, Google and the plaintiff users this Jun...

Despite being hit by a lawsuit from T-Mobile over its use of the color magenta in its marketing materials, AT&T subsidiary Aio Wireless has announced plans for a nationwide online rollout starting mid-September. The Aio no-contract mobile device service is currently available to customers in Flo...

Despite being hit by a lawsuit from T-Mobile over its use of the color magenta in its marketing materials, AT&T subsidiary Aio Wireless has announced plans for a nationwide online rollout starting mid-September. The Aio no-contract mobile device service is currently available to customers in Flo...

Apple must hire an external monitor to ensure it does not engage in fixing the prices of e-books, U.S. District Court Judge Denise Cote said Tuesday. Cote had found Apple guilty of price-fixing in a trial that concluded last month. Cote's latest decision followed discussions over penalties between A...

In an abrupt about-face, Instagram has begun cracking the whip over developers using "insta" and "gram" in the titles of their apps. In a letter sent to several developers earlier this week, Instagram said it had "clarified" its guidelines and determined that "use of 'INSTA' and 'GRAM' for an applic...

Google is contesting the right of UK Safari users to bring a case against it in the UK, according to a statement from the plaintiffs' law firm. To emphasize its stance, in fact, the search engine did not accept notice of the lawsuit in the UK but forced the plaintiffs to file in California instead -...

The U.S. Interior Department has embarked on a major transition to cloud technology that could result in its spending $10 billion on the program over nine years. DOI selected 10 vendors to participate in the program last May, and since then the vendors have been announcing definitive contracts with...

Most of us have a hard enough time keeping track of the security implications of the services we've signed up for, but recently an assertion was made that should send chills down the spine of virtually anyone who ever uses the Web. Namely, Google can scan and use the electronic communications not ju...

Dell posted its Q2 earnings report Thursday, reporting a 72 percent drop in net income. The report comes in the throes of a long-running battle for Dell's future. Founder and CEO Michael Dell is leading an effort to take the company private through a $25 billion deal, but activist shareholder Carl I...

United States Internet businesses have spent much time and energy avoiding regulation by other countries -- and in particular, the European Union. One way companies protect themselves is to include a provision in their Terms of Service making the U.S. the jurisdiction and controlling law for use of ...

Following the voluntary shutdown of two secure email services to prevent the NSA from obtaining information about their subscribers, Internet bad boy Kim Dotcom's cloud-based file hosting service Mega is stepping up. The company is working on a secure, encrypted email service that will extend the en...

Almost a week after the Obama administration overturned a ban issued by the International Trade Commission against the import of certain Apple items, the ITC made a similar ruling -- this time, against Samsung. The commission on Friday banned the import of two older versions of the Galaxy smartphone...