Tag archive: Pennsylvania

Computer maker Dell has agreed to pay some $3.35 million to settle 34 states' allegations that the company's warranty, financing, and rebate offers were deceptive and misled consumers. The agreement has Dell paying $1.5 million into a restitution account; impacted consumers will be able to submit claims for compensation. The other $1.85 million will go towards the states' legal costs. “More than the money, this… Read More

Rural Internet users left out of the loop by mainsteam Internet solutions like cable and DSL may soon have a new option thanks to a deal IBM has hammered out to begin providing broadband over power lines. On Wednesday, the company announced it had signed a $9.6 million deal with IBEC, a broadband-over-power-line (BPL) provider, to begin equipping several rural test markets with BPL technology. Under the agreement, IBM will supply project… Read More

Imagine someone gave you $89. The only instruction was to split it with someone you didn’t know, and who had no idea how much money was involved. How much of it would you give away? That was the basis for a test conducted by business professors at Rutgers, Lehigh and DePaul universities to establish how people lie in writing. 48 students were given the money, and results showed that 92% of them lied when using e-mail to split the… Read More

Earlier this week, the FCC made it official (PDF) and ordered U.S. cable operator Comcast to end discriminatory network management practices that deliberately blocked certain types of network use by its customers. In Comcast's case, this means peer-to-peer file-sharing applications like BitTorrent and Gnutella; during periods of network congestion, last year Comcast was revealed by the Associated Press to be forging reset packets that… Read More

What is Google’s stance on privacy? That’s the question being asked, at least by Ken Boehm of the National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) after The Smoking Gun website reveal court papers filed by the search giant in a privacy suit over its Street Views mapping tool. In its filing Google asserts that “complete privacy doesn’t exist.” But, says NLPC’s Boehm, Google had responded to a politician by saying… Read More

Less than a year after finally ending its legal tussle with Immersion over rumble technology patents in controllers, Sony has once again found itself in hot water over controller patents, and this time Nintendo is right alongside on the hot seat. According to Ars Technica, Copper Innovation Group has slapped both companies with a lawsuit claiming they infringed on a patent it holds for a “Hand held computer input apparatus and… Read More

Families from New York, Texas, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina have filed suit against News Corp's enormously popular social networking Web site MySpace, alleging gross negligence, fraud, and negligent misrepresentation after their underage daughters were sexually abused by adults they met via the Web site. Each case alleged that an adult member of MySpace contacted the girls through the site, obtained personal information, and later… Read More

Following immediately on its settlements with Texas and California, music label Sony BMG has agreed to pay some $4.25 million as part of settlement agreements with 39 U.S. states and the District of Columbia regarding copy protection software included on some of the labels music CDs which caused computers to malfunction and exposed users to security threats. The terms of the agreement are similar to earlier settlements with Texas and… Read More

Representative Michael Fitzpatrick (R) of Pennsylvania has introduced the “Deleting Online Predators Act of 2006,” (text is still on the way to the GPO) which would bar minors from social networking sites like MySpace, FaceBook, and Friendster, and prohibit libraries from making such access available. The bill reportedly defines “social networking” in a vague manner which could conceivably bar minors from Web… Read More

Verizon and Yahoo! today announced a new co-branded broadband service for users of Verizon's high speed FiOS Internet service. Verizon Yahoo! for FiOS is now available for Verizon customers in parts of California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas and Virginia. Verizon Yahoo! for FiOS, the two companies said, combines… Read More

Electronic Arts and developer Digital Illusions today announced two

Microsoft went after software pirates today as it announced ten lawsuits against companies for allegedly pirating software and against people for allegedly selling not-for-resale software to consumers. Seven lawsuits filed against nine individuals from California, Maryland, New York, Texas and Virginia allege breach of a software agreement by which the individuals obtained a number of Microsoft Action Pack Subscriptions. The… Read More

Satellite television provider DirecTV has agreed to pay $5 million and restitution to thousands of customers to settle a 21-state investigation into complaints about the company's advertising and marketing practices, undisclosed fees, channel availability, and cancellation policies. The settlement was announced by the office of New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. The investigation began in early 2003 in response to consumer… Read More

Altec Lansing is calling it quits as a stand alone company. The maker of portable and powered audio systems today announced in a joint press release today that they were being acquired by headset manufacturer Plantronics in a $166 million deal. Once the acquisition is complete, Altec Lansing will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Plantronics. They will remain headquartered in Milford, Pennsylvania. Bob Garthwaite, who has served as… Read More

“Napster says the patents are invalid based on prior art and has requested that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office re-examine them. Last month a federal judge in Pennsylvania denied SightSound's request for a preliminary injunction and stayed its lawsuit pending action by the PTO. SightSound is appealing the ruling. Napster attorney Charles Verhoeven said the case has implications for other online subscription services,… Read More