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Jury Finds Google Liable
May 14, 2012 by admin
Filed under Around The Net
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A jury has found Google liable for copyright infringement in its use of Java in Android, but so far has not decided whether that infringement was protected by rules governing “fair use.”
The verdict, delivered Monday after a week of deliberations by the jury, is a partial victory for Oracle in its lawsuit against Google. But Oracle will have to wait longer — possibly for a retrial — to see whether Google will escape liability by claiming fair use.
Google’s attorney, Robert Van Nest, immediately told the judge that Google would file for a mistrial. Google’s argument will be that the same jury must decide both the copyright infringement and fair use issues.
The jury also decided that Sun’s public statements about Java might have suggested to Google that it did not need a license for Java.
But in another setback for Google, it decided there was insufficient evidence to show that Google relied on that information.
Is Apple Taking Work Conditions Seriously?
February 20, 2012 by admin
Filed under Consumer Electronics
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Apple “takes working conditions very seriously”, the firm’s CEO Tim Cook said at a conference yesterday.
Cook was speaking at a Goldman Sachs technology conference, according to Mac Rumours. He said the company is committed to making sure working conditions are up to standard, and that Apple’s top priority will be to eliminate underage workers. He added, “If we find a supplier that intentionally hires underage labor, it’s a firing offence.”
Cook said, “Apple takes working conditions very seriously, and we have for a very long time. Whether workers are in Europe or Asia or the United States, we care about every worker.”
He added, “I’ve spent a lot of time in factories, personally. Not just as an executive. I worked at a paper mill in Alabama and an aluminium plant in Virginia. Many of our top executives visit factories on a regular basis. We have hundreds of employees based there full time.
“We are very connected to the process and we understand working conditions at a very granular level. I realize that the supply chain is complex and I’m sure that you realise this.
“The issues around it are complex. Our commitment is simple: every worker has the right to a fair and safe work environment, free of discrimination, where they can earn competitive wages and they can voice their concerns freely. Apple’s suppliers must live up to this to do business with Apple.
“No one in our industry is doing more to improve working conditions than Apple. We believe transparency is so very important in this area.”
Yesterday, Apple asked the Fair Labor Association (FLA) to conduct audits at Foxconn’s factories in China. In a statement, Apple said that factories in Shenzhen and Chengdu will be audited at its request. Audits have already begun.
Hitachi-LG Executives Plead Guilty
December 19, 2011 by admin
Filed under Consumer Electronics
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Three executives at Hitachi-LG Data Storage (HLDS) have agreed to plead guilty and serve prison time in the U.S. for their participation in a number of conspiracies to rig bids and fix the prices of optical disk drives sold to large computer manufacturers, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday.
Young Keun Park, Sang Hun Kim and Sik “Daniel” Hur conspired with others to suppress competition by rigging bids for optical disk drives sold to Dell and Hewlett-Packard and to fix prices for optical disk drives sold to Microsoft, the DOJ said. The conspiracies happened at various times between November 2005 and September 2009, the DOJ said.
Under a plea agreement in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Park and Kim each have agreed to serve eight months in prison and Hur has agreed to serve seven months in prison. Each has also agreed to pay a US$25,000 fine.
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at&t Vows To Continue Quest
December 14, 2011 by admin
Filed under Smartphones
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AT&T Inc plans to forge ahead with its deal to acquire Deutsche Telekom’s U.S. wireless unit despite regulatory opposition, and it has the financial resources to close the acquisition quickly, a top executive said on Wednesday.
“We continue to move forward with our efforts to complete the T-Mobile transaction…and we will continue to pursue the sale,” AT&T Chief Financial Officer John Stephens said at the UBS media conference in New York.
Oracle Vs. Google Gets Postponed
The US Court has postponed the trial that could see an agreement reached between Oracle and Google over the use of Java in the Android operating system.
The case has been in court for over a year and was expected to finish at the end of October, but yesterday US District Judge William Alsup put it on hold.
According to Reuters the decision had been expected, but perhaps less likely was the judge’s other bit of news, that he might hand the case over to another judge.
Perhaps no one expected the case to go on this long, or perhaps it was just whoever controls Alsup’s diary, as he explained that he has another criminal trial to deal with, one that might last until February next year.
“Your case is huge and needs the attention of somebody who can give it more time than I can,” Alsup said, despite his familiarity with the case.
Oracle Claims It Lost Over 1 Billion
Oracle now estimates it has lost $1.16bn from Google’s alleged copyright and patent infringement by the Android operating system.
Last year Oracle sued Google claiming that its popular Android operating system infringed Java patents and copyrights. Since then the two sides have been trying to come to an agreement on any damages Google might have to pay.
Initially Oracle claimed $6.1bn from Google, but Judge William Alsup quickly told Oracle to come back with something more realistic. Oracle did just that yesterday with a figure $2.2bn, a figure that Google has urged the court to reject. Now Oracle claims it has lost $1.16bn due to Google’s Android, though this figure is not related to the damages claim it made yesterday.
Google on the other hand has claimed that Oracle’s expert witness Iain Cockburn, who calculated the damages, was a little too zealous in adding up his figures. Judge Alsup has already rebuked Google twice, once for trying to downplay the significance of Android and a second time for trying to use failed licensing talks with Sun to reduce any damage award.
Samsung Sues Apple
April 25, 2011 by admin
Filed under Around The Net
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In the uber competitive world of mobile device development suing is fast becoming a sport engaged in by all of the titans of technology. Add another lawsuit to the pile as Samsung Electronics hits Apple with lawsuits in three countries alleging infringement of patents on smartphone technologies. Last week Apple sued Samsung for allegedly copying the designs of Apple’s iPad, iPod Touch and iPhone in its Galaxy smartphone and Galaxy Tab tablet PC.
On Thursday, the South Korean electronics maker sued Apple in Seoul alleging five patent infringements, in Tokyo over two alleged infringements and in Manheim, Germany, over three.
“Samsung is responding actively to the legal action taken against us in order to protect our intellectual property and to ensure our continued innovation and growth in the mobile communications business,” the company said in a statement.
According to Samsung, the lawsuits say Apple infringed on patents concerning reducing data transmission errors in WCDMA (Wideband CDMA) mobile networks, tethering mobile phones to PCs so the PC can use the phone’s wireless data connection, and reducing power consumption when transmitting data over HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) networks.
Apple’s lawsuit filed on April 15 in the U.S. says Samsung copied external design features on the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. The lawsuit further alleges that Samsung designed application icons for that come close to icons on Apple’s devices.