Legal Archive

The Open Innovation Network has found a few of Microsoft's patents in dealing with the past TomTom/FAT case a bit fishy and have therefore submitted them for review of prior-art to the Linux community at large.

"It's possible to use Apple's iPods and iPhone with third-party software, and BluWiki's users wanted to make sure the world could find out how. Apple, however, was not fond of the situation and threatened BluWiki with legal action if the information was not removed. Now, BluWiki's operators are suing Apple in hopes of protecting the free speech of their users and getting a declaratory judgment that posting information does not violate the DMCA."

Old World 1, New World 0. The four defendants in the landmark The Pirate Bay case, taking place in Sweden, have all been found guilty, and sentenced to one year in jail. They also received a hefty fine of USD 3.58 million to 17 American media companies, among which are Warner Bros. Entertainment, MGM Pictures, Columbia Pictures Industries, Twentieth Century Fox Film, Sony BMG, Universal, EMI, Blizzard Entertainment, Sierra Entertainment, and Activision. The defendants have already stated they will appeal the decision.

Microsoft on Wednesday confirmed a report that it had received a one-week extension from European antitrust regulators to respond to charges that it had sought to thwart rivals by bundling its web browser with Windows systems. "Microsoft confirms that the new deadline for the company to respond to the Commission's statement of objections is 28 April," a spokeswoman said, referring to an unsourced reference to a new deadline reported on the website of the Financial Times. A spokeswoman for the European Commission said she could not immediately comment.

Navigation device maker TomTom and Microsoft have resolved their patent dispute by entering into a settlement agreement out-of-court. The outcome of the agreement is that TomTom will license the infringed patents, but that they will remove the encumbered code from their implementation of the Linux kernel within two years.

Nvidia filed a countersuit against Intel for breach of contract yesterday, in which it alleged Intel had made misleading statements in an effort to weaken the graphics chipmaker's licensing rights. The suit is also seeking to kill off Intel's licence to Nvidia's graphic processing and 3D computing patents. "Having breached the contract and irreparably injured Nvidia, Intel has lost the right to continue to enjoy the considerable benefit of its license to Nvidia's patent portfolio," reads the filing.

Winner of this and last year's PWN2OWN contest Charlie Miller made some bold statements last week, stating that Mac OS X is easier to exploit than Windows. In a new interview with Tom's Hardware, Miller explains that that doesn't mean users should avoid Mac OS X for security reasons. He also gives a little more insight into his winning exploits, and what exactly they do.

We always try to avoid politics like the plague here on OSNews, but sometimes, it's hard to avoid it. Take the case of Joel Tenenbaum, who could be liable for over 1 million USD if the Recording Industry Association of America gets its way. While many hoped for a change of pace when it comes to these matters, Barack Obama's Department of Justice has squarely sided with the RIAA.

Following Microsoft's patent claim against TomTom, the Dutch mobile navigation device maker has countersued Microsoft, claiming the company infringes upon four of its patents. "The GPS device maker, based in The Netherlands, filed the countersuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on Monday. TomTom says Microsoft's Streets and Trips products infringe on four patents it owns related to vehicle navigation software."

Well, it's a bit of a Microsoft day today, for better or worse. In any case, the European Commission has announced that it will scale back its monitoring of Microsoft. According to the EC, Microsoft has made progress in complying with the 2004 Statement of Objections - in fact, the company has already provided all the necessary documentation required by the EC's ruling.

As seen in this TechFlash article, Microsoft has launched a patent suit against TomTom, a seller of (Linux-based) navigation devices. "It's believed to be the first time Microsoft has filed a patent suit over Linux, after claiming for years that elements of the open-source operating system violate its patents. However, Microsoft says open-source software is not the intended focal point of the action." The lawsuit focusses on several navigation techniques, and includes a few patents related to Linux. LWN lists the individual patents in question.

Thanks to people familiar with PsyStar, we know now that the mediation procedure between PsyStar an Apple, a compulsory attempt at settling out of court, has failed to produce any outcome. It was mostly a going through the motions, according to WorldOfApple.

An interesting story is making it rounds across the internet the past few days about someone who made a system to get his cat to agree to the EULAs she was presented with. While that's just a funny joke, it does raise a very interesting point: if person A agrees to an EULA, does its power extend to person B?

Intel has filed suit against NVIDIA seeking a declaratory judgment over rights associated with two agreements between the companies. The suit seeks to have the court declare that NVIDIA is not licensed to produce chipsets that are compatible with any Intel processor that has integrated memory controller functionality, such as Intel’s Nehalem microprocessors and that NVIDIA has breached the agreement with Intel by falsely claiming that it is licensed. Intel claims that it has been in discussions with NVIDIA for more than a year attempting to resolve the matter but were unsuccessful. As a result Intel is asking the court to resolve this dispute. Shall we rename OSNews to CourtNews?