Tech Law: Germany Strikes Google TOS, TiVO Gets More from EchoStar, More
A look at highlights of the past week in the high tech legal world: courts, regulation, and lawsuits.
German court turns down Google terms — A district court in Hamburg, Germany found in favor of the Federation of German Consumer Organizations, which had sued Google over its terms of use for Gmail, Google Docs, and other services. [Source: AP]
TOS violations no crime — In another story about terms of service, a U.S. district court judge overseeing the trial of Lori Drew, the mother convicted over the cyber-hounding of a teenager that led to the girl’s suicide, ruled that violating an Internet service’s terms of service was not a crime and overturned the conviction. [Source: Courthouse News Service]
More money for TiVO — A judge of the U.S. District Court in Texas ordered EchoStar to pay an additional $200 million to TiVO for its continuing patent infringement. [Source: All Things Digital]
Amazon objects to Google Books settlement — In what must be one of the more ironic moments in class action lawsuits, Amazon has filed a brief in the Google Books settlement, saying that it falls short on copyright and antitrust … oh, and also could cost the retailer a boatload (or is that bookload) of money. [Source: Ars Technica]
Take-Two’s pay for play — Take-Two Interactive Software is settling for $20 million a securities class-action lawsuit that developed over hidden sex scenes in one of the versions of its video game, Grand Theft Auto. [Source: VentureBeat]
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.
BNET User Analysis