02/26, 7:58pm
Corporate amicus curae brief filed with Supreme Court
Apple is joining with at least 60 other large corporations in submitting a filing to the Supreme Court in support of extending marriage rights to gay people and against California's Proposition 8, continuing the iPhone maker's long record of supporting equal rights for homosexual couples. Other "friend of the court" filings are coming from diverse sources, including one that includes over 75 well-known Republican leaders -- including New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, among others.
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07/13, 7:05pm
New ruling removes textbook copy fees, video game music tax
The Supreme Court of Canada issued a sweeping set of rulings in the five copyright cases it heard last December, including a case covering iTunes store song sample length. The court has affirmed that "fair dealing" ("fair use" in the US) must be interpreted on the side of the user, and not on the side of copyright holders, except in the case of extreme abuse of the fair dealing statute. In the same session, the court ruled that supplemental taxes applied on downloadable video games weren't a legal "communications" tariff.
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05/21, 5:19pm
Previously lowered then reinstated damages award upheld
The Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal against a $675,000 damages award to the RIAA and Sony in a file-sharing trial, reports Wired. Attorneys for Joel Tenenbaum, formerly a Boston college student, argued the defendant should be protected against "unrestrained discretionary jury damage awards against individual citizens for copyright infringement," but was denied by the court without further comment.
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01/23, 12:50pm
Supreme Court demands warrants on GPS searches
The US Supreme Court in a ruling (PDF) has decided that warrantless use of GPS to track suspects is illegal. A unanimous vote determined that attaching a GPS unit to a car or otherwise tracking suspects by GPS without consent would violate the Fourth Amendment's blocks against unreasonable search and seizure. Justices were split evenly as to why, arguing equally that attaching a tracking device by itself and the violations of privacy expectations were at fault.
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08/25, 3:20pm
Customers forced to use arbitration for disputes
The Third US Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia ruled late Wednesday that Verizon Wireless customers must use arbitration to resolve disputes over alleged fraudulently made telephone calls rather than resort to class action. In ruling this way, the court reversed itself on a decision it had made last year in favor of the customers. The court cited a recent Supreme Court decision as the basis for its shift in attitude.
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06/27, 10:40am
Supreme Court says games backed by 1st Amendment
The US Supreme Court determined in a ruling (below) that video games were protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution. It struck down a California law that banned renting or selling games to those under 18. Judge Scalia and four supporting judges determined that games, like books, movies, and plays, get a message across through "fammiliar literary devices" and can't be censored solely because it contained violence.
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03/21, 4:40pm
Solicitor General files amicus brief
Although the Supreme Court has yet to hear formal arguments in the patent infringement dispute between Microsoft and Canadian developer i4i, the government appears to be supporting earlier rulings against the Redmond-based software giant. Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal has filed an amicus brief that backs the lower court's decision.
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03/01, 6:25pm
Supreme Court overrules AT&T privacy rights
The Supreme Court has ruled on Tuesday that AT&T and other corporations will be required to disclose federal government records. The ruling was unanimous and overturned a ruling by a US appeals court in favor of AT&T, according to reports. The court agrees with the Obama administration's stance that personal privacy exemption under the Freedom of Information law applied to individuals and not corporations.
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01/21, 3:55pm
Court Rebuffs Porn Law
The US Supreme Court today rejected an appeal by the Justice Department to uphold the Communications Decency Act. The law, first put into place in 1998, was intended to force adult-oriented sites to use logins or payment to prevent unintentionally exposing children to sexual material. The Supreme Court has ruled the law unconstitutional for violating free speech rights by dictating too broadly how site owners present their content.
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