Legal

Perhaps there are many of you who keep ninja throwing stars beneath your pillows in order to be prepared for unexpected intruders.

I won't ask where or when you obtained them, but I will tell you that a strange, already refuted allegation has emerged from Japan that Apple CEO Steve Jobs attempted to bring some of these stars back with him after a recent trip to that lovely country.

Among other related news accounts, Bloomberg cites a report from the Japanese tabloid SPA, saying Jobs was detained while attempting to board his private plane. An official reportedly discovered these … Read more

Sony is apparently taking its fight against PS3 jailbreaks a step beyond court injunctions with a new firmware update that blocks hacks meant to let users play pirated games on the system.

System software update 3.42, made available for download Monday, contains features that PS3 owners report patch the exploit used for PS JailBreak, a USB dongle that would allow PlayStation 3 owners to dump borrowed games onto the system's hard drive. It's probably the most publicized of the hacks; PSGroove, open-source code that allows homemade games to be played on the console, is also reportedly impacted by the firmware update.

Sony, for its part, made just a brief statement on its PlayStation blog, calling the update "minor" and noting that it includes unspecified "additional security features." The update is mandatory for those wanting to access PlayStation Network features.

Even though Sony wouldn't confirm whether the v3.42 update disables the functionality of the PS Jailbreak, visitors to the PlayStation blog's message boards were quick to make the connection. "I think we all know what this update is really for," one wrote.

Wrote another: "Oh, come now. At least be honest about the update. We all know it's the first of an expected hundred-plus firmware updates to block the Jailbreak. Now you'll be doing these every day like with the PSP instead of actually taking the time to give us updates we actually need or working on making the system/service better."

Other users applauded the update. … Read more

A trade group representing music publishers and songwriters informed Apple on Tuesday that the company could not go ahead with a plan to extend the length of iTunes song samples without the publishers permission.

On Monday, CNET reported Apple had plans to boost the amount of time iTunes users would be given to sample a song from 30 seconds to 90 seconds. Sources with knowledge of the plan said Apple could announce the song samples as early as Wednesday during the company's media event in San Francisco. Apple had already reached agreements to extend song samples with the four … Read more

Once there are clinics for an addiction, it must be real.

And so it seems to be with video games. Once doctors declared that "World of Warcraft" was "the crack cocaine of gaming," everyone seemed to accept that gaming addiction was yet another human frailty.

Yet gaming companies chose to protect themselves with an end-user agreement that limited their own liability in creating something that might get others hooked.

However, Craig Smallwood, a Hawaii man who claims to be hooked on "Lineage II," has succeeded in the first round of what might be a … Read more

Not even the Jedi Mind trick could get LucasFilm to change its opinion on Jedi Mind's name.

The small software developer announced on Tuesday that it has changed its name to Mind Technologies. In a statement, the company said it decided to change its name "to avoid potential infringement of trademarks owned by LucasFilm."

Mind Technologies has also redirected its former Web site, JediMindinc.com, to its new MindTechnologies.com.

Mind Technologies' name was just one part of the issue LucasFilm had with the company. It also didn't like that it used "Jedi" in … Read more

A search of Apple manager Paul Shin Devine's house earlier this month by federal agents turned up more than $150,000 in cash stored in shoe boxes, according to statements made by prosecutors Monday.

Devine, an Apple global supply manager, was arrested last week for allegedly taking kickbacks from several suppliers to Apple. He pleaded not guilty to 23 counts of wire fraud, money laundering, conspiracy, and accepting kickbacks last week. The indictment says he used his role at Apple to acquire confidential information, which he then sold to several suppliers to help them negotiate better contracts with his … Read more

An Apple manager was arrested Friday for allegedly accepting kickbacks from Asian suppliers, totaling more than $1 million.

Paul Shin Devine worked at Apple as a global supply manager and allegedly used his position to obtain confidential information from the company, according to the San Jose Mercury News. The information was then allegedly sold to the suppliers, helping them negotiate more favorable contracts with Apple.

"Apple is committed to the highest ethical standards in the way we do business," Apple spokesman Steve Dowling said in a statement. "We have zero tolerance for dishonest behavior inside or outside … Read more

Regulators from the European Union are getting involved in the Federal Trade Commission investigation of Apple's business strategies that was opened up in June, according to a New York Post report on Tuesday.

The inclusion of the EU regulators means the investigation could now stretch "another four to six months" before the FTC reaches any official conclusions, according to the Post's sources.

The focus of the probe, which remains unconfirmed by the FTC, centers on Apple's App Store developer agreement. In early April, Apple adjusted its wording in a way that outright barred developers from using third-party development tools … Read more

Most gadget owners know that leaving any piece of electronic equipment in the direct sunlight isn't a great idea. Now an iPad owner, who claims their touch-screen tablet overheats and turns off when left in the sunlight, is suing Apple.

Bloomberg reported Tuesday that the complaint was filed Friday in federal court in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The suit is seeking class-action status and asks for unspecified damages because the device "overheats so quickly under common weather conditions." The suit says Apple's iPad "does not live up to the … Read more