Legal - SlashGear

‘legal’ Stories

T-Mobile USA details “record high break-up fee” from AT&T

Chris Davies, Dec 20th 2011 Discuss [18]

T-Mobile USA owner Deutsche Telekom has gleefully set out exactly what it can expect from AT&T as its break-up fee, after the collapse of the acquisition deal this week. AT&T was originally to pay $39bn for T-Mobile USA; now, with regulators frowning on the deal, the carrier will be forced to cough up what Deutsche Telekom describes as a "record high break-up fee" of $3bn in cash and "a large package" of AT&T's AWS spectrum. A long-term US-wide UMTS roaming agreement is also mandatory. Read The Full Story

HTC: ITC Apple decision “is a win for HTC”

Chris Davies, Dec 20th 2011 Discuss [7]

HTC may have been banned from importing some of its smartphones into the US, but the company is still describing the outcome of its patent suit with Apple as a success. The US ITC "declared an actual victory for HTC" the company told the FT, because out of the ten infringements Apple alleged, only one was found to be valid. Meanwhile half of the claims on a previous ruling have also been rejected. Read The Full Story

AT&T asset sale stalls as T-Mobile deal sours

Chris Davies, Dec 19th 2011 Discuss [0]

AT&T's strategy to sell off assets until regulators looked more fondly at its T-Mobile USA acquisitions have stalled, it's reported, with the carrier simply unable to shed sufficient weight to sway the deal in its favor. Execs at the two carriers had hoped that, by scything off more than 30-percent of T-Mobile USA, the US Justice Department might soften its stance on potential anti-competitiveness concerns about the deal; however, negotiations with Leap Wireless and Dish Network stuttered over the past two weeks, the WSJ reports, amid the growing realization that it still wouldn't be enough to fully convince the agency. Read The Full Story

Google sued by BT in new Android patent case

Chris Davies, Dec 19th 2011 Discuss [13]

UK communications provider British Telecom (BT) has become the latest firm to sue Google over alleged Android patent infringement, claiming the search giant "willfully infringes" on six tech patents it holds. "BT brings this action to recover the just compensation it is owed" the company states in the suit filed in the US District Court of the District of Delaware last Thursday, "and to prevent Google from continuing to benefit from BT's inventions without authorization." According to BT, Google Maps, Google+ and other services all borrow from its IP portfolio, FOSS Patents reports, and says Google still refuses to pay. Read The Full Story

Columns

The Next Apple-Samsung Battle: TVs

Don Reisinger, Dec 18th 2011 Discuss [65]

If you’ve been paying attention to the mobile market over the last several months, you know that Apple and Samsung are at each other’s throats over alleged patent infringement. And with lawsuits flying worldwide, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the war between the firms will spill over into next year.

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Samsung drops iPhone 4S 3G patent attack [Updated]

Chris Davies, Dec 16th 2011 Discuss [3]

Samsung has reportedly abandoned attempts to hound the iPhone 4S with 3G patents it holds, conceding that Apple is covered for their use of the cellular technology through their use of Qualcomm chipsets. The decision was revealed in the latest batch of legal sniping at the Mannheim Regional Court in Germany this morning, patent expert Florian Mueller reports, though Samsung also filed against Apple over a further four patents while the Cupertino company fired back with six suits of its own. Update: The changes aren't so clear-cut after all; more details after the cut. Read The Full Story

Carrier IQ meets with FTC and FCC over rumored inquiry

Chris Davies, Dec 15th 2011 Discuss [0]

Carrier IQ has been questioned by the FTC and the FCC this week over allegations of data privacy transgressions, though the analytics company insists the meetings were at its own behest. News of the meetings was broken by the Washington Post, but Carrier IQ quickly responded by pointing out no official investigation has been undertaken - as far as it knows - in a statement to AllThingsD; "CarrierIQ sought meetings with the FTC and FCC" the company says, "to educate the two agencies about the functionality of its software and answer any and all questions." Read The Full Story

Apple ban of Galaxy Tab made it a Household Name says AU Samsung Chief

Chris Burns, Dec 14th 2011 Discuss [3]

This week as the Samsung 10.1-inch tablet reaches stores after having been banned for weeks in an Apple injunction to do away with sales altogether, Samsung Australia mobile chief Tyler McGee noted that far from destroying sales, Apple has instead made their Android-based slate a "household name." A Sydney court lifted the Galaxy Tab sales ban after an appeal by Apple was denied, this ending a two-month out of store stint while the law made its decision on whether or not it thought Samsung infringed on Apple's iPad product. What McGee is saying now, though he wont reveal any numbers thus far, is that the Apple case and the media coverage it generated will without a doubt provide a boost in sales once they've got their product back in stores. Read The Full Story

Apple fake license app yank prompts coder controversy

Chris Davies, Dec 14th 2011 Discuss [2]

Apple has ignited another app yank controversy, with the creators of a fake driver's license app dismissing concerns that it could be used to produce real fake IDs as rash and the decision to pull it from the App Store as "premature." The contentious software, "Driver License", is designed to help market a test preparation kit produced by DriversEd.com, also available through the App Store, and gained notoriety when US Senator Bob Casey and the Coalition for a Secure Driver's License contacted Apple to complain that the software could be used to falsify personal documents. Read The Full Story

Carrier IQ admits SMS log bug in data collection FAQ

Chris Davies, Dec 13th 2011 Discuss [2]

Carrier IQ has admitted that its cellphone monitoring software contains an SMS bug that can inadvertently collect text message data, though the company says such accidental records are "not human readable." Detailed in a comprehensive Carrier IQ FAQ document supplied to SlashGear - and which you can read after the cut - the bug only exists in embedded versions of the service tracking software, and the company says it has already released an updated version that addresses the issue. Read The Full Story

FBI may be using Carrier IQ for “law enforcement purposes”

Rue Liu, Dec 12th 2011 Discuss [3]

The scandal involving the data and location tracking software called Carrier IQ that's been installed on more than 140 million phones may now involve the FBI. In refusing a Freedom of Information Act request filed by Muckrock, the FBI has inadvertently revealed that it may have been using the Carrier IQ software for law enforcement purposes. Read The Full Story

Google antitrust inquiry over Motorola Mobility buy frozen

Chris Davies, Dec 12th 2011 Discuss [2]

The European Commission antitrust inquiry into the Google acquisition of Motorola Mobility has been suspended, as the organization hunts down more evidence required before it can reach any decision. At question are "certain documents that are essential to its evaluation of the transaction" EC spokesperson Amelia Torres told Bloomberg, with the Commission's site updated to show the investigation has been temporarily frozen. Read The Full Story