appeals

D.C. court to hear challenges to Net Neutrality rules

Challenges to the Federal Communications Commission's Net neutrality rules will be heard in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, a situation supporters of the rules had hoped to avoid.

On Thursday, the D.C. Circuit was chosen at random to be the court where challenges to the new rules, which prohibit broadband Internet providers from deliberately slowing or blocking subscribers' network traffic, will be heard. The rules were passed by the FCC in 2010. And they were officially registered with the government last month, opening up the process for legal challenges before the rules … Read more

This Day in Tech: Google vs. Facebook; HTC loses patent ruling

Too busy to keep up with the tech news? Here are some of the more interesting stories from CNET for Friday, July 15.

The social network wars continue. Google is taking on Facebook and its using its philosophy of openness to convince users to stay. Facebook hasn't been making it easy for users to export their data. With the Google platform, users can take their data elsewhere with just a couple of clicks.

The U.S. International Trade commission ruled that HTV violated two of Apple's patents. In other related Apple news, Apple's A6 chip is in … Read more

A Google a Day

Links from Tuesday's episode of Loaded:

Amazon.com offers a cheaper. ad-supported Kindle

Google launches a trivia page called A Google a Day

A U.S. Court of Appeals rules that the Winklevoss twins who sued Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg

must accept their settlement of $65 million and just be quiet already

Google plans to invest $168 million in a solar power plant in the Mojave Desert

New legislation may propose a sales tax on all online transactions

Sony introduces two new OLED monitors

Facebook foes lose appeal

The real-life drama between Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg appears to be over, as a federal appeals court judge tells the twin brothers to accept their $65 million settlement with Facebook and move on.

On Monday the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth District ruled in favor of Facebook, and upheld the 2008 settlement agreed to by Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss and their partner Divya Narendra (See the ruling here (PDF)).

In that settlement, the Winklevosses and Narendra agreed to accept $65 million in exchange for dropping their lawsuit against Zuckerberg. … Read more

Supreme Court to hear Microsoft I4i patent appeal

Microsoft's patent fracas with Canadian firm I4i has been given new life, as the U.S. Supreme Court has decided to hear the software giant's appeal.

The case, which went in favor of I4i last year, centered around Microsoft's use of XML technology within its Word software. Following I4i's victory, Microsoft was required to strip the functionality from its software as part of an injunction.

"We are gratified by the court's decision," Microsoft's corporate vice president and deputy general counsel for litigation David Howard said in a statement. "It's a … Read more

Google, Yahoo win Argentine celebrity search case

Google and Yahoo have been cleared in the case of an Argentine performer who alleged that she was defamed by search results that pointed to sexual and pornographic Web sites bearing her name and image, according to a Friday report in The New York Times.

The appeals court in Argentina overturned the 2008 ruling of a lower court that had found the companies liable for defamation in the case of Virginia Da Cunha. The Argentine entertainer is one of many celebrities in the country who have been trying to force the search engines to block any sexual-oriented Web sites that … Read more

Facebook goes Places

Links from Thursday's episode of Loaded: Update your Facebook Places Verizon on the iPad Google Chrome Web Store leaks Intel to buy McAffe Personal spy game with the iPhone

RealNetworks set to file appeal in RealDVD case

RealNetworks, a maker of media software, has said it will file an appeal and ask that a district court decision to ban sales of its DVD-copying software, RealDVD, be overturned.

In August, a federal district judge issued a preliminary injunction to halt sales of the $30 software, which enables users to create digital copies of DVDs and then store them on a hard drive. Real said in court documents that sometime before November 9, the Seattle-based company will file an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

The film studios claimed in a 2008 lawsuit … Read more

Court orders shorter sentence for ex-Qwest chief

A federal appeals court in Denver on Friday ordered a reduced prison term for Joseph Nacchio, the former Qwest Communications chief who had been sentenced to six years for insider trading.

The U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the trial court had overstated Nacchio's stock market gains and he was therefore entitled to resentencing, according to court documents.

"On remand, the district court should focus on arriving at a figure that more closely approximates Mr. Nacchio's gain resulting from the offense of insider trading," the ruling read (PDF).

Nacchio, who served as the phone company's CEO from 1997 until 2002, … Read more

Patent ruling good or bad for tech?

Now that the U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled that abstract processes, or business methods, cannot be patented, it's important to look at how this could affect the tech industry.

The case in question was rejected because the patent at issue was a process not tied to a "machine," which is one standard for patentability.

Overall, it seems like a ruling that should favor companies that make hardware and software because while it narrows the types of patents that can be filed, in return should protect them from the frivolous patent suits that have flooded the … Read more