Law - SlashGear

Posts Tagged ‘law’

Verizon sued by AT&T over “misleading” 3G adverts

By Chris Davies on Wednesday, Nov 4th 2009 1 Comment

AT&T’s occasionally janky 3G coverage has become a generally acknowledged thorn-in-the-side for iPhone users, but the carrier still isn’t pleased that arch-rival Verizon Wireless have called them on it. Verizon’s “There’s a map for that” adverts compare AT&T’s 3G network with their own, an act which the latter claims is “misleading” and – as you’d imagine was Verizon’s intention, really – has caused them to lose “incalculable market share”. While subscribers would be happy with AT&T deciding to fill in those gaps, the carrier has taken the easier option and filed a lawsuit against Verizon.

Verizon There_s a Map for That commercial

Continued »

Spring Design reveal NDA details over B&N nook copy case

By Chris Davies on Wednesday, Nov 4th 2009 No Comments

We’re used to copyright and industrial espionage claims being more like cases of trademark squatting these days, so to find something ostensibly as straightforward as Barnes and Noble’s alleged “copying” of Spring Design’s Alex concept is almost refreshing. The startup claims B&N led them to believe that they were interested in producing the Alex dual-display Android ebook reader, before breaking off contact and then, shortly after, announcing the nook. Now Spring Design has shared their NDA agreements and details of the lawsuit with Engadget.

spring design alex barnes and noble nook 540x433

Continued »

Barnes and Noble nook stole Spring Design secrets claims ebook lawsuit

By Chris Davies on Tuesday, Nov 3rd 2009 No Comments

Back in the run-up to Barnes and Noble’s launch of their nook ebook reader, hitherto-unheard of Spring Design grabbed some headlines with their Alex dual-display ebook design. At the time there was some speculation that the two devices were one and the same, though that turned out not to be the case; according to Spring Design and a lawsuit against B&N, however, the two do in fact share some design DNA. Spring Design allege that B&N knowingly “misappropriated trade secrets and violated the parties’ non-disclosure agreement” in designing the nook.

spring design alex barnes and noble nook 540x433

Continued »

Game & DVD age restrictions undermined after UK legal blunder

By Chris Davies on Tuesday, Aug 25th 2009 No Comments

Retailers in the UK are currently under no legal obligation to observe the age classifications on violent or sexually-explicit video games or DVDs, thanks to a legal blunder. The issue is being blamed on an administrative oversight by the Conservative government 25 years ago, where they neglected to inform the European Commission about the 1984 Video Recordings Act.

Continued »

AT&T ban class action suits in Terms of Service [Updated]

By Chris Davies on Monday, Aug 10th 2009 No Comments

att death star logo AT&T have changed their terms of service to preclude class action suits, seemingly in an attempt to single out contrary customers and avoid facing expensive group challenges. The company’s agreement – which applies to both new and existing customers – now states that “by entering into this Agreement, you and AT&T are each waiving the right to a trial by jury or to participate in a class action.”

Update: AT&T have commented on the situation, including pointing out that the arbitration clause has been been this way since January 2001. More after the cut

Continued »

Apple, Microsoft, iriver & more face Tsera touchpad patent lawsuit

By Chris Davies on Monday, Jul 20th 2009 No Comments

ipod nano touchpad Apple, Microsoft, Bang & Olufsen and iriver are among the defendants named by Tsera LLC, a company claiming to own a touchpad patent which has been vigorously infringed. The lawsuit concerns Tsera’s patent “Methods and apparatus for controlling a portable electronic device using a touchpad”, and basically describes recognizing different touchpad swipes without requiring visual feedback.

Continued »

Bluetooth class-action suit settled: Lawyers unsurprisingly the biggest winners

By Chris Davies on Monday, May 4th 2009 No Comments

Motorola, Plantronics and Jabra have offered to settle in a class action lawsuit that accused them of insufficiently warning of the possible impact Bluetooth headsets could have on a user’s hearing. Since the number of headset users are so great, however, the financial compensation – $100,000 – is going to hearing-loss related charities; the real winners are the lawyers, who will likely take in excess of $2m.

bluetooth headset class action 480x257

Continued »

LA Man pleads guilty to leaking Guns N’ Roses Tracks

By Daniel Lim on Monday, Dec 15th 2008 1 Comment

gunes and roses chinese democracy Think twice next time you upload any copyrighted media files to a content sharing web service or your blog. A man has been accused of illegally posting the veteran rock band Gun N Roses newest Album on his web site (antiquiet) before the album went on an official release.

Kevin Cogill from LA was found guilty of violating federal copyright laws by uploading nine of GNR Chinese Democracy tracks on his website. Not a smart move, and he should be glad that the court didn’t made an example out of him. He pleaded a deal, the charge was reduced from a felony to a less serious misdemeanor. In exchange, Kevin agreed to cooperate with the authorities in any future investigations of the case and assisting in identifying the originated leaks.

He will face sentences coming this March; more likely will be put behind bar, look forward to being-somebody-boyfriend for a year in federal penitentiary, a $100,000 fine and five years probation.

Sprint sued by employees over unpaid commission

By Chris Davies on Wednesday, Nov 26th 2008 No Comments

sprint logo Sprint is being sued by its own sales staff, over allegedly failing to pay them commission. More than 19,000 current and former employees are affected by the case, which has been approved by a Kansas City judge this week, each of whom missed out on between $100 and $500 per month. The legal team for the employees are predicting that Sprint could face total damages in excess of $5m.

Continued »

Apple file against Psystar for EULA, trademark & copyright infringement

By Chris Davies on Tuesday, Jul 15th 2008 No Comments

Rating around “no surprise” on the predictability chart, Mac-clone manufacturer Psystar has just received some unpleasant legal documentation from Apple, alleging counts for violation of its shrink wrap license, trademark and copyright infringement. The suit, filed at the federal district court for the northern district of California, suggests Apple has been infuriated not only by Psystar contravening their EULA, but by the potential damage to Apple’s reputation what with the Psystar machines proving less than popular with owners and reviewers alike.

Psystar Apple lawsuit