Tech Law: Sun Suits, Former EMCer Barred from HP, UK Software Patent, More
A look at highlights of the past week in the high tech legal world: courts, regulation, and lawsuits. And a busy week it has been.
Sun may have broken bribery laws — In a regulatory filing, Sun Microsystems said that it found “potential violations” of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and said that it took “remedial action.” The FCPA is encompassing and a violation could as easily be from something that a distributor or entity acting on Sun’s behalf did as from an action by Sun itself. [Source: CNET, Reuters]
Sun shareholders sue over Oracle acquisition — Groups of Sun shareholders are suing to block Oracle’s acquisition of the company. [Source: Computerworld]
FTC eyes Google, Apple board relationships — Just last week we mentioned that the Department of Justice was investigating the proposed settlement between Google and book publishers and authors for antitrust issues. Now the Federal Trade Commission is investigating the Apple and Google boards having two directors in common. Google CEO Eric Schmidt says that he expects more government scrutiny. Ah, but when will he start acting that way? [Source: CNET, Reuters]
Calif. judge may have blunted state false email ad law — A California judge may have taken the edge off a state law regulating commercial email when he granted summary judgment to ValueClick in a suit against the company. [Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSTRE5440DL20090505">Reuters]
Two companies successfully sue for game title — Genius Products and Numark Industries have won an injunction against Activision and California 7 Studios over control of Scratch — The Ultimate DJ. [Source: GameDaily]
Craigslist to talk to AGs about hooker hails — Craigslist is meeting with a number of attorneys general about online prostitution ads. [Source: Computerworld]
Court nixes former EMC exec from working at HP — A Massachusetts court, citing a signed non-compete, issued a temporary restraining order preventing former EMC exec David Donatelli from working at HP. [Source: Computerworld]
UK to increase IP breach fines ten-fold — The U.K. is planning a ten-fold increase in the fines for criminal breaches of intellectual property. [Source: Out-Law.com]
Another consumer class action attempt targeting Apple — There’s another potential class action targeting Apple, this time over a claim that the MagSafe cable on MacBooks and MacBook Pros eventually fray and could cause a fire hazard. [Source: Apple Insider]
UK approves software patent — The UK patent office has granted a software patent to Nokia after a court ruled that the body was too quick in dismissing the application. [Source: TechDirt]
Gavel image via Flickr user Thomas Roche, CC 2.0
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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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