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Apr

In California, Using Your Maps App Is Just As Illegal As Texting While Driving, Court Says

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Legal, News

Texting and driving is a pretty heinous crime. Bad enough that it's spawned entire ad campaigns devoted to educating the public on the dangers of such acts. Of this, you are no doubt aware. What you may be less aware of is the fact that figuring out where you're going is exactly as dangerous as sending someone a message that says "Doesn't the Peachoid look like a giant..."

California, despite having no known Peachoids, knows this very well and a court has ruled that using a mapping application is just as bad (and illegal) as texting behind the wheel. This isn't the first time California has come down hard against GPS in cars.

Mar

DxO Labs Issues DMCA Takedown Requests On 12 GitHub Repositories, Some CyanogenMod Repos Affected

Posted by Cody Toombs in Legal, News

A French image processing company by the name of DxO Labs has filed a DMCA takedown request targeting 12 GitHub repositories containing device-specific code for ROMs, most of them maintained by CyanogenMod team members. The notice is vague, only citing:

[3] I have a good faith belief that the file downloads identified below (by URL) are unlawful under these copyright laws because among other things, the files circumvent effective access controls and/or copyright protection measures;

[4] Reason:

Content Type: "Custom Firmware" files

Violation(s): Trafficking a device that circumvents effective access controls and/or trafficking a device that circumvents effective copyright protection measures.

Mar

Now We're Getting Somewhere: U.S. Senator Introduces Bill To Allow Carrier Unlocking Phones For Interoperability Purposes

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Legal, News

Two days ago, the White House announced its support for carrier unlocking handsets. The administration promised an FCC/NTIA investigation as well as a willingness to "work with Congress" on legislation to fix the problem. So, we can probably count on the President's support of the new Wireless Device Independence Act, introduced last night by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR). The bill, which is only three pages long, has a simple goal: amend the DMCA such that it explicitly allows the unlocking of cell phones, obviating the need for a tri-yearly exemption.

The following language would be added to the DMCA's section on anti-circumvention policies:

SEC.

Mar

Judge Koh Vacates $450m From The $1b Samsung Owes Apple, Second Trial To Reassess Damages

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Legal, News

Last Updated: March 3rd, 2013

Last year, Apple won what was perhaps the largest legal victory in its war on Android when a court ruled that Samsung infringed its patents on a significant number of devices and owed the Cupertino company in excess of a billion dollars. Today, however, that same judge is vacating $450m from that total until a second damages trial with a new jury can commence.

That amount won't be stripped away entirely, mind you. The problem comes from the fact that the jury made some errors when it passed judgment on 14 of the infringing devices. Samsung's lawyers broke down the numbers for its damages and discovered that there were certain flaws in the way they were calculated.

Feb

Paid Apps Return To The Taiwan Play Store After Kerfuffle With Local Laws

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Google, News

Around a year and a half ago, Google removed access to paid apps from the Taiwanese Play Store after a complaint was issued claiming that the company violated a local law demanding a seven day return window. A surprisingly short court battle ensued and 8 months later Mountain View walked away with a $34k fine (you read that right), and a losing appeal. The company opted, at that point, to simply remain out of the Taiwanese market. Until now.

We reached out to Google to confirm that it was, indeed, offering paid apps again. The company had this to say:

“Google Inc.

Dec

Lawsuit Claims Airpush Ads Responsible For Shady Premium Rate Charges

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in News

As if you needed another reason to hate the very concept of Airpush ads in Android apps, there is now a lawsuit alleging that these ads have been used to bilk consumers out of some real cash. The class-action complaint, filed in U.S. District Court of Colorado takes aim at developer GoLive Mobile and the Airpush ad network. If the claims are accurate, there has been some seriously seedy stuff going on.

Maybe you've never seen an Airpush ad on your device, but plenty of users have. Airpush basically sticks ads in your notification area that often look like real system notifications.

Nov

HTC, Apple End Patent Quarrels, Settle On Ten-Year Licensing Deal

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, HTC, Legal, News

It would appear that the patent battle between HTC and Apple, which has been going on since early 2010, is finally closed, with the two companies agreeing to opt for a ten-year licensing agreement.

The dispute began over two years ago when Apple levied a complaint regarding twenty patents at HTC, claiming infringement. Of course after that the two slapped each other with dispute after dispute, and the fight has boiled on ever since. The sudden conclusion comes as something of a shock, since – as the Verge reports – HTC Chairwoman Cher Wang said just three months ago the Taiwanese manufacturer had no plans to settle its spat with Apple.

Nov

Federal Judge Dismisses Apple's Wisconsin Lawsuit Against Motorola With Prejudice

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Google, Legal, Motorola, News

Google announced in a statement today that Wisconsin Judge Barbara Crabb has dismissed Apple's lawsuit against Motorola Mobility claiming the Google-owned Moto's practices related to standards-essential patent licensing were unfair.

The lawsuit was set to go to trial in US District Court in Madison, Wisconsin this afternoon but was, according to Google, dismissed with prejudice by Judge Crabb this morning. Readers may remember that a similar Apple vs Motorola trial was canceled in Illinois by Judge Richard Posner earlier this year.

For those just tuning in, the case was centered around the licensing of some of Motorola Mobility's patents (which Google bought along with the company in May).

Nov

Apple Posts Revised Court-Ordered Apology, Skips The Passive Aggressive, Judge-Undermining Remarks

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Legal, News

Let this be a lesson to you all: if a judge orders you to issue a statement saying X, it might not be a good idea to say "Well, that guy said X, but everyone else in the world thinks he's an idiot, so it doesn't really matter." That's roughly what Apple did when it posted this court-ordered concession on its website. When the UK judge came back and said, "Um, no, try that again," the Cupertino company was forced to issue a new version, sans snark. Here it is in full:

Samsung / Apple UK judgment

On 9 July 2012 the High Court of Justice of England and Wales ruled that Samsung Electronic(UK) Limited’s Galaxy Tablet Computers, namely the Galaxy Tab 10.1, Tab 8.9 and Tab 7.7 do notinfringe Apple’s Community registered design No.

Oct

New DMCA Exemptions Allow Rooting Phones (But Not Tablets), Unapproved Phone Unlocks Will Be A Thing Of The Past

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Legal, News

Good news, bad news, and really bloody ridiculous news, Android fans. Today, the latest round of DMCA exemptions has been passed and if you've ever jailbroken or rooted a phone, you'll be happy to know that this will continue to be legal. At least, for your phones. If, however, you want to gain su access to your tablet, you're fresh out of luck. Also, phones purchased after January 2013 cannot be legally unlocked for use on a carrier that didn't give you explicit permission. Yeah, it's kind of a mess.

Wait, What Are DMCA Exemptions?

A brief intro, for the uninitiated: the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, signed into law in 1998, has a certain set of rules concerning circumvention of DRM.