Tech Law

Verizon has filed a response to the lawsuit AT&T brought against its snarky "We've Got a Map for That" advertising campaign. Unlike typical legal briefs, the carrier's filing is replete with witty rejoinders and sarcasm, echoing the ridiculing tone of the ads at the center of the dispute. "Betwe...

Verizon has filed a response to the lawsuit AT&T brought against its snarky "We've Got a Map for That" advertising campaign. Unlike typical legal briefs, the carrier's filing is replete with witty rejoinders and sarcasm, echoing the ridiculing tone of the ads at the center of the dispute. "Betwe...

Intel and AMD have finally put a long and bitter disagreement to bed, and in the end, all it took was a little open communication and understanding, along with one and a quarter billion dollars. The two have been at it for years -- accusations, threats, lawsuits. AMD said Intel engaged in anticompet...

Rival chip companies Intel and Advanced Micro Devices have forged an agreement to settle their legal conflicts. AMD has agreed to drop its litigation against Intel. In exchange, Intel will pay AMD $1.25 billion and promise to follow certain business rules as the two continue to compete head to head....

The Supreme Court on Monday heard arguments in Bilski v. Kappos, a case that has been making its way through the legal system for more than 10 years -- and along the way has morphed into the software industry's worst nightmare. "It's been called 'the case of the century,' and to a large extent I hav...

The FBI official in charge of major cybercrime investigations told a international gathering of computer security experts last week that financial services companies have suffered massive thefts due to hackers. "The financial services sector has seen losses in the hundreds of millions of dollars in ...

Social networking site Facebook has been awarded US$711 million in damages from prolific spammer and social network scammer Sanford Wallace for bombarding its users with spam, Facebook attorney Sam O'Rourke reported in a blog post. Judge Jeremy Fogel of the U.S. District Court in Northern California...

So you've sought intellectual property protection for your patentable invention, or you've trademarked your logo. Do you think your startup is now protected? This alone may not be enough. Technology entrepreneurs may understand the importance of protecting their intellectual property, such as tradem...

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has introduced the Internet Freedom Act of 2009, legislation that would negate many of the principles underlying the concept of Net neutrality, which aims to ensure that Internet users have equal and unfettered access to all services available on the Web. The McCain bill c...

On October 30, 2008, the Court of Appeals that handles all appeals of patent cases in the U.S. issued a landmark decision. The Federal Circuit's opinion in In re Bilski, sent shockwaves through the high-tech legal community. The court held that in order to be patentable, a method must either be "t...

If the Internet is indeed "a series of tubes," as famously described by former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, then the mother of all plumbing snakes would be needed to unblock the press releases and emails sent over the last two weeks by those backing and opposing Net neutrality. That would include Mon...

The European Commission on Wednesday announced that it will test a new Microsoft plan that could end a long-running battle the two entities have been having over Web browsers. Microsoft has, in essence, agreed to offer Windows users a choice of browsers bundled into its Windows operating system. It ...

For six years, Uniloc and Microsoft have duked it out in the courts over charges that Microsoft infringed on Uniloc's patent. A jury said it did and awarded Uniloc what was purported to be the fifth largest patent verdict in history. However, in a 66-page decision, Rhode Island's District Judge Will...

I often hear people express fear at the "threat" of future regulation by a government agency. I have to admit I have the opposite reaction. As leaders in the world of e-commerce and online communication, we are in the driver's seat to either show that we are serious about ethics -- or that we need a...

The net neutrality debate has officially taken a left turn into weirdness, following weekend revelations that AT&T has asked the Federal Communications Commission to investigate the Google Voice application as a potential violation of open communications policies. This would be the same AT&T...