Digital Trends
In a move that’s making waves through the entire mobile industry, an Alamedia County Superior Court judge has issued a tentative ruling ruled that the early termination fees Sprint charges its customers for prematurely backing out of their cell phone contracts violate California law. Judge Bonnie Sabraw also found Sprint must pay some $18.2 million to customers who have been charged the fees, and stop attempting to collect some $54.7 million in fees they’ve assessed to other customers.
“The immediate impact of today’s ruling is twofold: massive uncertainty and the likelihood of massive legal bills. The Court has done little to provide a clear path for legitimate innovators and manufacturers to avoid lawsuits related to copyright infringement over legitimate products and services.
“With this ruling the Supreme Court has handed a powerful new tool to litigious content creators to stop innovation. Innovators must now consider new murky legal rules and potentially overwhelming legal costs before bringing their product to market – or even moving forward with an innovative idea. It is essentially a ‘full employment act’ for plaintiff’s attorneys and a guarantee for further lawsuits.
The ruling is expected to have very little impact on consumers and their online habits, but it does hold a devastating punishment for peer-to-peer software companies that could be considered ‘promoters’ of illegal file swapping.
In Monday’s ruling, the court said that Gokster Ltd. and Streamcast Networks Inc., both developers of P2P software, did not try to prohibit the sharing of illegal content and therefore can be sued because they are encouraging its users to swap files that could be considered copyrighted content.
In her ruling on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Marilyn Patel, who issued an injunction against the original Napster in 2000, permitted the case to proceed through its discovery phase, saying the plaintiffs, including music publishers, songwriters and record labels, had the right to try to prove their allegations.
Read more at Reuters Technology.
The ruling, which is set to be announced on Wednesday, is expected to include a fine approaching $617 million (500 million Euros), according to a source. In addition, the commission is expected to endorse its preliminary finding that Microsoft abused its monopoly power and to order the company to offer a version of Windows without Windows Media Player.
Read the full story at CNET News.com.
Rambus today announced that the suit brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) against the company has been dismissed in its entirety in a ruling issued today by Judge Stephen J. McGuire, the FTC’s chief administrative law judge presiding over the case.
A 330-page initial decision explaining the ruling is expected to be issued to the public on Monday, February 23, 2004. Today’s ruling came after a three-month evidentiary hearing and is subject to potential further review by the full Commission and review by a United States Court of Appeal.
The ruling allows Vonage and other VoIP providers to sell phone service in Minnesota without having to obtain a telephone operator’s license or pay fees to support 911 emergency services.
Read the whole article at News.com.
“Yesterday’s ruling marks a dark day for privacy, free expression, and technological innovation. If this ruling stands, anyone claiming to be a copyright owner will be able to obtain the identity of Internet users without any prior legal determination that the user has engaged in an illegal activity.
“No American should live in fear that their ISP will be required to turn over their identity to any self-asserted copyright holder simply because someone claims you are doing something illegal.
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