Items tagged with Lawsuit
Nintendo of America has filed a pair of lawsuits in the United States to shut down resellers that are selling Nintendo Switch mods allowing users to play pirated video games on the console. One of the lawsuits was filed against Tom Dilts Jr., who is believed to be behind a website called UberChips. The second lawsuit that Nintendo filed was against multiple unnamed defendants who operate multiple websites. From those websites, the defendants allegedly sell products from an anonymous group of hackers known as Team Xecutor. Nintendo's lawsuit says the defendants "unlawfully" design and manufacture an "unauthorized operating system" and "piracy tools" that allow gamers to bypass protections in place...
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Most people are very familiar with Google’s various services, especially their popular search engine. However, is Google using its ubiquity to intentionally hamper their competition? It was recently reported that the United States Department of Justice and a group of state attorneys general are likely planning to sue Google for violating antitrust laws. According to The Wall Street Journal, the Department of Justice (DOJ) is currently drafting a lawsuit and will likely file it this summer. Some state attorneys general plan to follow the DOJ’s lead this autumn. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton recently remarked, “We hope to have the investigation wrapped up by fall. If we determine...
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Zoom has seen its business boom and its stock price grow in recent months in large part due to the coronavirus outbreak and an increasing number of people working from home. Its video conferencing service was one of the many that schools and businesses adopted to keep operating during the shelter-in-place orders in effect around the country. Zoom has now been hit with a class-action lawsuit by shareholders alleging that the company failed to disclose issues with the privacy and security of the platform. The lawsuit was filed by investor Michael Drieu in the US District Court for the Northern District of California. The lawsuit alleges that concerns over security and privacy flaws in the...
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AM General is the company that produces the military vehicle known as the Humvee. The Humvee is an iconic military vehicle that has been used in film and many video games over the years. One of the video games that prominently features the Humvee is Activision's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. Activision was sued by AM General over alleged trademark infringement for using the Humvee in its games. This week a federal judge ruled in favor of Activision and the company's argument that it had a First Amendment right to depict contemporary warfare in its game by featuring the Humvee. The judge overseeing the case was US District Court Judge George B. Daniels granted summary judgment in favor of...
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The coronavirus/COVID-19 epidemic may have started in China, but it has spread to most of the world at this point. One of the hardest-hit countries in the world is Italy. Italian healthcare providers are fighting a company that is putting profit ahead of saving lives. A hospital in Brescia in northern Italy was in desperate need of special valves that are required in breathing equipment needed to keep COVID-19 patients in the ICU alive. The problem was the manufacturer was unable to provide the required valves because of increased demand. Knowing that being unable to secure the parts through normal channels meant people could die, doctors and tech experts in the city set about looking for a 3D...
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Video game publisher Ubisoft has filed a lawsuit in a California courtroom against an alleged distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack website. The lawsuit lists multiple people from around the globe as defendants. Ubisoft announced last year that it had a plan to stop players that utilized DDoS attacks during games. These attacks create lag in multiplayer matches and can cause server crashes. The game publisher claimed that it had seen a 93 percent drop in the frequency of attacks after sharing its plan to combat them. Ubisoft is now aiming to kill the source of the attacks by filing a lawsuit against the website called SNG.one. The website allegedly sells subscriptions for up to $299.85...
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Sonos has filed lawsuits against Google and accuses the search giant of copying its patented speaker technology and is using that "stolen" technology to undercut it on the open market. The two lawsuits cover five different patents it holds for the design of wireless speakers. Sonos is also seeking to have a sales ban placed on Google laptops, phones, and speakers in the U.S. under a separate complaint to the International Trade Commission (ITC). Sonos says that Google stole its technology after gaining access to what were essentially blueprints for Sonos devices in 2013. Sonos handed over that proprietary information under a partnership that would allow Google's music service to stream...
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Many argue that Apple has their finger on the pulse of technology trends. This claim may be more literal than originally anticipated. A cardiologist is currently suing Apple for stealing his Atrial fibrillation (AFib) detection technology and using it in Apple Watches. Dr. Joseph Wiesel is a cardiologist and clinical assistant professor at New York University’s School of Medicine. In 2006, Dr. Wiesel filed a patent with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for a method and apparatus for detecting atrial fibrillation or irregular heartbeats. The patent states that the heartbeat is detected either through an inflatable cuff or “light transmitted through a body appendage, such...
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Epic Games, the creator of the incredibly popular game Fortnite, has had a former news anchor, Matthew Geiler, threaten to sue it and send a cease and desist over a dancing emote that was part of the Fortnitemares Halloween event. Geiler created a character called "Dancing Pumpkin Man" during his time on-air that shows him dancing in front of a generic graveyard scene in a black unitard wearing a pumpkin mask. Geiler says in the cease and desist letter that the company is using his character's likeness without permission and threatened to sue Epic Games. However, Epic has asked a New York Federal Judge to declare that the dancing pumpkin feature "Pump It Up" doesn't infringe on the copyright...
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Fortnite Chapter 2 was recently released and featured several changes and surprises for longtime fans. Epic Games teased the new chapter with a few trailers, but several trade secrets were also revealed by a leaker. Epic Games has decided to sue the former employee that leaked information about Fortnite Chapter 2. Epic Games has filed a civil lawsuit against former employee Ronald Sykes with the District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. Sykes was a “User Experience” tester and was able to play Fortnite Chapter 2 before it was released to the public. Sykes tweeted on his main account that he had “played S11 and can tell you the new stuff”. He then proceeded...
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Video games are supposed to be fun, and can be a great way to relieve stress and connect with friends in person and online. One of the most popular video games on the market today is Fortnite from Epic Games. Unfortunately, Epic is facing a lawsuit in Canada that is seeking class-action status. The lawsuit alleges in-part that Epic made Fortnite too addicting, with its developers specifically targeting young children. The lawsuit was filed by a Montreal legal firm on behalf of the parents of two minors, age 10 and 15. Documents in the lawsuit liken Fortnite to cocaine, noting that much like the narcotic drug, Fortnite releases the chemical dopamine in the brain and then kids can become dependent...
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GlobalFoundries rocked the tech industry yesterday when it announced that it had filed multiple lawsuits in the United States and in Germany alleging patent infringement abuses by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and its partners/customers. At the heart of the lawsuits are 16 patents covering 28nm, 16nm, 12nm, 10nm, and 7nm product lines. “For years, while we have been devoting billions of dollars to domestic research and development, TSMC has been unlawfully reaping the benefits of our investments," wrote GlobalFoundries SVP Gregg Barlett in a statement yesterday. "This action is critical to halt Taiwan Semiconductor’s unlawful use of our vital assets and...
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Apple has never taken kindly or turned a blind eye to companies that try and make copies of its devices or software. It has in the past crushed companies that were trying to make Mac clones, and Apple has now filed a lawsuit against a company called Corellium that specializes in virtualized environments and software virtualization. Corellium of course also makes a virtualized copy of iOS that is meant to be a security tool for researchers. Apple doesn't see the benefit in offering such a service and says that the "true goal is profiting off" what Apple calls blatant infringement. The lawsuit was filed in the Southern District of Florida. Corellium markets products that allow the creation of virtual...
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A court has approved Google's Pixel and Pixel XL smartphone settlement. The class-action lawsuit alleged that Google knowingly sold devices with defective microphones. Owners of those devices are eligible for cash reimbursement in the settlement, but there a few conditions Pixel owners must meet with the most important being that they purchased the Pixel or Pixel XL before January 7th, 2017. The biggest payout possible in the settlement is up to $500, and to get that much from the $7.25 million settlement you must be able to document your microphone woes with the Pixel devices. All owners of the Pixel or Pixel XL that purchased before the January 7th, 2017 deadline are eligible for up to $20....
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Some owners of the Google Nexus 6P smartphone had serious issues with the device that led to a class action lawsuit being filed against Google and Huawei, the maker of the smartphone. The law firm that handled the class action lawsuit has announced that impacted owners of the Nexus 6P can now file their claims and has a website standing by to process those claims. The claim website gives owners of the Nexus 6P the ability to file an online claim through September 3, 2019. To get reimbursed in the settlement, users have to submit documentation that proves they purchased a Nexus 6P smartphone between September 29, 2015, and May 3, 2019. Users also have to choose one of three filing options and...
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Apple is no stranger to class action lawsuit; it's caught in a legal row right now that has to do with the so-called loop disease defect on the iPhone 7 smartphone. Apple is also facing an EU probe into antitrust complaints raised by Spotify. Apple is now facing another lawsuit that pertains to iTunes. Apple is being sued by three iTunes users who allege that Apple disclosed their listening habits to advertisers. The three people suing Apple are from Rhode Island and Michigan, and the trio claims that Apple violated laws protecting records of entertainment purchases in those states. The three are seeking class-action status with other residents of those states. The lawsuit alleges that...
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Qualcomm shares soared when it was announced that it had reached a multi-year deal with Apple to settle the pair's long-running global patent licensing fight. Today, Qualcomm shares are heading the opposite direction after a U.S. judge ruled that the company's patent licensing practices are both unlawful and anticompetitive. QCOM is down 11 percent today as of this writing. The ruling was handed down by U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh, whose name should be familiar to those that have followed lawsuits involving "big tech" over the past decade. Koh ruled that given its position as the leading supplier of 4G LTE modems found in modern smartphones, it has unfairly backed its customers into...
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Owners of the original Google Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones who have devices that were manufactured before January 4, 2017, may get some money from Google. Google has agreed to a proposed settlement for a class action lawsuit that was brought by owners of the original Pixel devices who claim they were sold devices with defective microphones. The settlement could see owners getting up to $500 from Google. Google finally admitted that there was an issue with the microphone in some of the smartphones in March of 2017 when it said that less than 1% of Pixel phones had a hairline crack in the solder connection on the audio codec. That crack caused issues for affected users when calling and when...
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Sammy Davis Jr. offered up some helpful advice to would be criminals in a theme song he sang for Baretta, a detective show that ran in the late 1970s. He said, "Don't do the crime if you can't do the time." But what if you didn't do the crime in the first place? Well, if you're an 18-year-old student in New York, you apparently sue Apple for $1 billion. That is the amount Ousmane Bah is seeking for being falsely accused and arrested for theft at an Apple Store, according to a lawsuit filed today. In the lawsuit, Bah claims he was at his senior prom in Manhattan when the alleged thefts occurred. So how exactly did he get accused of the crime to begin with, if he wasn't even there? We only have...
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In what is a somewhat surprising turn of events, Apple and Qualcomm have agreed to settle all ongoing litigation between the two companies. The two have been going back and forth with lawsuits around the globe over patent licensing relating to 4G LTE modems used in Apple's iPhone and iPad products. Apple accused Qualcomm of using monopolistic practices to extract exorbitant licensing fees from its customers. Qualcomm countered by saying that Apple infringed on many of its patents, which resulted in successful sales bans both in China and in Germany. However, it appears that all of those past battles are now just water under the bridge. Apple has agreed to pay...
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Epic Games is the company behind the incredibly popular battle royale game Fortnite. However, Epic Games has been facing a series of lawsuits from people claiming that the dance moves characters in the game perform are copies of dances they invented. One such suit and the first to go to court is from a rapper called 2 Milly, whose real name is Terrance Ferguson. The rapper sued Epic Games claiming that the Fortnite dance called "Swipe It" is based on the dance he invented called "Milly Rock" and was used in the game without his permission. Epic has asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit stating that the suit is "fundamentally at odds with free speech principles." Epic also claims in the suit...
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Well, you could see this one coming from a mile away. Remember that Group FaceTime bug we wrote about yesterday? The one that Apple apparently knew about since at least last week? Predictably, someone has gone and filed a lawsuit and is seeking unspecified punitive damages on claims of negligence, product liability, misrepresentation, and warranty breach. In case you missed it, the bug allowed users to exploit the Group FaceTime feature in iOS to spy on another iPhone, iPad, or even a Mac user. We say "allowed" (past tense) not because the bug has been squashed (soon, but not yet), but because Apple has disabled Group FaceTime while it works on a fix. Before that happened, a user could place...
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