Legal
Oh, we know all about doin’ time. We watched both Oz and The Wire in their entirety, and have seen Let’s Go To Prison , like, eight times. For instance, we know that you only do two days in the joint: the day you go in, and the day you go out. And we know that tattoo guns are readily available (if you have access to an old walkman or Playstation ).We also know that cellphones are contraband, and rightfully so: you wouldn’t want an inmate ordering a hit on someone, or running their record label from in “the stir.” That’s why we stand with the CTIA in support of S.1749, or The Cell Phone Contraband Act of 2010. Approved in April by the Senate, and passed by the house yesterday, this amendment to title 18 of the United States Code prohibits “possession or use of cellphones and similar wireless devices by Federal prisoners.” And once it’s signed into law by the President, we’re sure that the no-goodniks will stop sneaking handsets in and we can forget all that silly talk of prison cellphone jamming once and for all. House passes Cellphone Contraband Act of 2010, prisoners go back to writing letters originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Jul 2010 16:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Is anyone safe from the wrath of Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization ? It’s looking unlikely, with the company expanding its patent lawsuit furor to cover three more major players: AT&T, Verizon Wireless, and T-Mobile. These three are the latest cherry-picked to be on the receiving end of CSIRO’s mighty 802.11a/g patent hammer. Companies like Dell, Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony all chose to settle rather than challenge this patent bully, giving it the encouragement (and cash) to bring the fight to these three new players, apparently named simply because they sold WiFi devices. Sadly, there are more to come according to Executive Director Niger Poole: I’m not going to be exposing what the legal strategy is to a journalist. There’s a legal strategy here that has been thought through very carefully and to a lay person it looks like a pincer movement. You’ve got court action against upstream chip makers and you’ve got court action against downstream carriers. Ever pass on an old WiFi-equipped gadget on eBay or gave it to a friend in exchange for a case of beer? Lord Humongous is coming for you next . [Thanks, Chris] CSIRO’s patent fight targets more victims: AT&T, Verizon Wireless, and T-Mobile originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 May 2010 07:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Google’s attempt to swoop in and buy AdMob out from under Apple was looking like a Pyrrhic victory for a second there, as Federal Trade Commission approval of the deal hung in the balance based on concerns that El Goog would control far too much of the online advertising market. It’s ironic, then, that Apple’s acquisition of Quattro Wireless and the introduction of the iAd platform in iPhone OS 4 is what convinced the feds to let Google’s acquisition go through — the FTC says that Apple’s entry into the market will provide significant competition to AdMob, regardless of whether or not it’s owned by Google. That means Google’s free to pursue all the ad-based initiatives in Froyo it announced yesterday at I/O, and it means we should see the already-heated rhetoric between Mountain View and Cupertino get another notch hotter. It’s going to be a wild summer, folks — get ready. Update: Here’s a statement from AdMob founder and CEO Omar Hamoui on the deal — he’s got a fuller piece on his blog, linked below. “We are extremely pleased with today’s decision from the Federal Trade Commission to clear Google’s acquisition of AdMob. Over the past six months we’ve received a great deal of support from across the mobile industry – and we deeply appreciate it. Our focus is now on working with the team at Google team to quickly close the deal.” FTC approves Google’s AdMob buy, cites Apple’s iAd competition originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 May 2010 12:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Okay, we’ve just gotten the full complaint HTC filed with the International Trade Commission this morning, alleging that the iPhone, iPad, and iPod infringe five of its patents and asking for sales and imports to be halted. What’s odd here is that HTC hasn’t yet filed a lawsuit in federal court, which could mean a lot of things — HTC could just be banking on the ITC’s somewhat faster process to force Apple’s hand, or it could be less sure of its patent claims and avoiding the harsher scrutiny of a courtroom in favor of an administrative decision. We can’t say for sure what the reasoning is — but we can read the ITC complaint and break down the claims, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do. It’s all after the break, grab the PDF or check out the gallery and follow along. Continue reading HTC’s complaint against Apple examined HTC’s complaint against Apple examined originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 May 2010 18:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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HTC hasn’t filed its official reply to Apple’s patent lawsuit in court yet, but the company just gave us an updated and expanded statement on the case, saying that while it “strongly advocates intellectual property protection,” it disagrees with Apple’s actions and will “fully defend itself.” Natch. HTC obviously wasn’t eager to divulge whether or not that means it’s going to countersue Apple with its own patents, but we’re sort of expecting it — we’ll find out more when lawyers do their thing in a few weeks. Oh, and we also asked HTC if and when Google would get involved, but didn’t get an answer — we’ll let you know if we hear anything. Full statement after the break. Continue reading HTC responds to Apple’s patent lawsuit, will ‘fully defend itself’ HTC responds to Apple’s patent lawsuit, will ‘fully defend itself’ originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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How do we know we’re years away from a final resolution to the Nokia / Apple patent lawsuit? It’s been six months since Nokia first filed its complaint , and the two parties are just now starting to argue about which specific substantive claims they’re eventually going to argue about. Let’s do a quick refresh: at the heart of the lawsuit is a conflict over Nokia’s wireless patents , some of which are almost certainly essential to how cell data and WiFi operate. As a member of the ETSI and the IEEE licensing groups which oversee GSM and WiFi, Nokia’s required to license its patents to anyone who asks on fair terms, but those terms aren’t set in stone — Nokia can negotiate separate licenses as it sees fit, and it apparently wanted Apple to cross-license its touchscreen patents as part of the deal. Apple said no, and now we’re all in court, with both sides alleging patent infringement in three different lawsuits (one of which is on hold ) and Apple claiming that Nokia is also liable for breach of contract, because it promised fair licensing terms and didn’t deliver. Got all that? Right. So that brings us to yesterday, when Nokia asked the court to dismiss all of Apple’s contract-related claims, saying that they’re simply a distraction from the real issue, which is patents, and that its license offers aren’t unfair simply because Apple doesn’t like them. In short: Apple and Nokia’s patent lawsuit is currently not really about patents at all, but about whether or not it should also be a fight about contract terms in addition to a fight about patents, and that question won’t be resolved for months. And that’s why vigilante justice is the future of America’s tarnished civilization something like 90 percent of patent cases eventually settle out of court. P.S. Oh, and in case you’re wondering, today Reuters reported that the first trial date isn’t expected until 2012 . So, yeah. Nokia asks court to dismiss part of Apple patent lawsuit originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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There’s no delicate way to put this: at least part of Apple’s patent lawsuit against HTC appears to be a proxy fight for a larger issue with Android as a whole. Apple’s complaint with the International Trade Commission makes an explicit distinction between HTC’s Android devices and its WinMo phones (referred only to as “DSP Products”), and the Android sets are repeatedly called out for infringing certain patents. We don’t know exactly what Apple’s issue is yet — the problem could be the specific way HTC implements Android, rather than Android itself — but it’s certainly a big shot across Google’s bow. We’ll keep reading and let you know what else we find out. Apple specifically going after Android in HTC lawsuit originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Mar 2010 12:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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In the confusing world of cell phone carriers, finding the right carrier and the right plan to fill your needs can be a daunting task. One carrier that stands out, and has nationwide name recognition is AT&T Wireless . …
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If you are planning to get a prepaid phone , what are the things that you should consider? Is a prepaid phone plan really the best choice for you? Should you subscribe to a post paid or switch to a prepaid wireless phone service? …
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In this day & age we are getting barraged with new technology from every direction. Sometimes its hard to keep up, & you almost need to be Einstein to.
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