Tech Law: AOL v. Yahoo, NetApp Pays Big, More
A look at highlights of the past week in the high tech legal world.
AOL seeks court ruling on Yahoo patents — AOL sought declaratory relief in a patent infringement suit that Yahoo brought against online advertising company Quigo, which AOL bought a couple of years ago. [Source: Reuters]
EU sues UK over data privacy rules — The European Union is suing the UK for not applying mandated data privacy rules to online behavioral marketing. [Source: Associated Press]
NetApp to pay government $128 million over fraud charges — Data storage firm NetApp has agreed to pay $128 million to the General Services Administration to settle whistleblower charges that the company made false statements about discounts it gave to other customers. Under GSA contracts, a company must offer the US government the best level of discount it provides to any customers. [Source: Washington Post]
DOJ wants to keep oversight on Microsoft — The Department of Justice has asked for an extension to the oversight of Microsoft’s antitrust compliance. [Source: Ars Technica]
FBI uses spyware — The FBI is using a special version of spyware to help identify suspects in cases as diverse as extortion, child molestation, and for-hire murder. No word on how many people who haven’t done anything might also have the spyware on their machines. [Source: CNET]
Man please guilty to selling counterfeit software — A Virginia man pleaded guilty to selling, via eBay, counterfeit Adobe software worth $1 million at retail. [Source: Computerworld]
Gavel image via Flickr user Thomas Roche, CC 2.0.
Erik Sherman is a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in Newsweek, the New York Times Magazine, Technology Review, the Financial Times, Chief Executive, and other publications. Follow him on Twitter.
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