Tag - Lawsuit
Best of MacNN: Lawyer sues Apple for not preventing his porn addiction
Editor's Note: Over the last week, we have been highlighting some of the more memorable stories from MacNN's archive, re-running them and providing some updates on what happened afterward. While some selections have been important moments in the site's history, items such as the 2013 story of a lawyer suing Apple because it's devices didn't prevent him from viewing pornography are chosen for their sheer absurdity.
Best of MacNN: Apple Canada sued for demise of Time Capsule
Editor's Note: crazy lawsuit stories are a special favorite among the staff as we reminisce on the stories that stood out as particularly memorable, and we have plenty of them. For every legit-but-ultimately-unsuccessful patent lawsuit or the exceedingly rare occasion where Apple is found guilty of something, there's a dozen "huh?" lawsuits. We are proud of our in-depth analysis and reporting of the Samsung-Apple battles, or the DOJ-Apple court fight, or our coverage of the California hiring-agreement case, where Apple was very clearly in the wrong. Forgive us, though; its hard to summarize those complex cases, and easy to smile at the memories of hopeless schemers and dreamers who tried to work the system and cash in quick on dubious claims.
Florida man files $10B suit against Apple
Florida resident Thomas S. Ross on Monday filed a lawsuit with the Florida Southern District Court alleging that Apple infringes upon his unpatented 1992 submission of an "Electronic Reading Device" that does imagine a device not dissimilar to the Newton, and is seeking $10 billion in damages and a 1.5 percent royalty on all of Apple's iOS devices. The court filing notes that the plaintiff "was the first to file a device so designed and aggregated," but admits that the patent application was declared abandoned in 1995 because Ross never paid the required application fees.
Straight Path Group joins assault on FaceTime technology
A fourth lawsuit against Apple over alleged infringement of patents used by FaceTime has been filed, this time by Straight Path Group. The lawsuit, filed in the Northern California District Court, claims that FaceTime infringes on five patents previously owned by NetSpeak, which made the popular VOIP application WebPhone in the mid-1990s. As with previous suits underway by patent trolls VirnetX, VOIP-Pal, and Uniloc, the suit covers older and more general audio-video patents allegedly used by Apple in its FaceTime and Messages technologies.
US District Court drops 'Error 53' case for lack of standing, evidence
A lawsuit borne of the short-lived "Error 53" issue that happened to some iOS devices where the Touch ID button had been replaced or repaired by unauthorized non-Apple personnel was dismissed on Tuesday by a US District Court judge, who rejected both the plaintiff's original complaints and their amended claims following Apple's release of a tool to restore iPhones bricked by the anti-tampering feature, which was designed to prevent third-parties from altering or hacking into the Touch ID sensor.
Apple starts paying customers affected by e-book price-fixing affair
Apple is starting to pay customers who purchased e-books from the iBooks store in the past, as part of its $450 million settlement to end a lawsuit over alleged e-book price fixing. Starting from today, affected consumers will receive a store credit from the company, with the law firm Hagens Berman advising the $400 million allocated to customers would be paid out at different levels, depending on the popularity of the books in question.
Apple fights attempted iPhone 6 ban in China over physical design
Apple has become the subject of another bout of litigation, this time one relating to the iPhone 6 in China. A small Chinese smartphone producer called Baili has complained to the Beijing Intellectual Property Office, claiming consumers cannot tell the "minute differences" between the 100C Android smartphone and the design Apple employed for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, with the regulator ordering a ban of the offending iPhones from sale in the market.
AT&T sued by Citigroup over use of word 'thanks' in customer rewards
Citigroup is suing AT&T in response to the telecommunication company's "thanks" program it rolled out earlier this month. In a court filing made earlier this week, the banking giant claims that the program is too close to its "thankyou" program thematically and linguistically, and will cause market confusion if AT&T is allowed to continue the program's branding.
Gawker files for bankruptcy protection following Hogan lawsuit loss
Major online publisher Gawker Media has filed for bankruptcy protection today, in the wake of the company's defeat in a lawsuit earlier this year. Owner Nick Denton made the Chapter 11 filing at the Southern District of New York Bankruptcy Court, declaring its assets are not able to cover the $140 million judgment against the company awarded to former wrestler Hulk Hogan in a privacy trial earlier this year.
DOJ: Supreme Court should send Apple vs Samsung back to trial courts
The seemingly never-ending courtroom saga between Apple and Samsung has taken a new twist, reports Reuters. In an amicus brief supplied to the US Supreme Court in Wednesday, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) has recommended that the Supreme Court should send back the case to trial courts in order to determine whether a new trial should be undertaken over a component of the case that was won by Samsung on appeal. If the Supreme Court accepts the DOJ's appeal, the court case which dates back to 2011 could be set to stretch out for some time to come.
Now AAPL Stock: 159.23 ( + 2.02 )
Cirrus creates Lightning-headphone dev kit
Apple supplier Cirrus Logic has introduced a MFi-compliant new development kit for companies interested in using Cirrus' chips to create Lightning-based headphones, which -- regardless of whether rumors about Apple dropping the analog headphone jack in its iPhone this fall -- can offer advantages to music-loving iOS device users. The kit mentions some of the advantages of an all-digital headset or headphone connector, including higher-bitrate support, a more customizable experience, and support for power and data transfer into headphone hardware. Several companies already make Lightning headphones, and Apple has supported the concept since June 2014. http://bit.ly/29giiZj
Apple Store app offers Procreate Pocket
The Apple Store app for iPhone, which periodically rewards users with free app gifts, is now offering the iPhone "Pocket" version of drawing app Procreate for those who have the free Apple Store app until July 28. Users who have redeemed the offer by navigating to the "Stores" tab of the app and swiping past the "iPhone Upgrade Program" banner to the "Procreate" banner have noted that only the limited Pocket (iPhone) version of the app is available free, even if the Apple Store app is installed and the offer redeemed on an iPad. The Pocket version currently sells for $3 on the iOS App Store. [32.4MB]
Porsche adds CarPlay to 2017 Panamera
Porsche has added a fifth model of vehicle to its CarPlay-supported lineup, announcing that the 2017 Panamera -- which will arrive in the US in January -- will include Apple's infotainment technology, and be seen on a giant 12.3-inch touchscreen as part of an all-new Porsche Communication Management system. The luxury sedan starts at $99,900 for the 4S model, and scales up to the Panamera Turbo, which sells for $146,900. Other vehicles that currently support CarPlay include the 2016 911 and the 2017 models of Macan, 718 Boxster, and 718 Cayman. The company did not mention support for Google's corresponding Android Auto in its announcement. http://bit.ly/295ZQ94
Apple employees testing wheelchair features
New features included in the forthcoming watchOS 3 are being tested by Apple retail store employees, including a new activity-tracking feature that has been designed with wheelchair users in mind. The move is slightly unusual in that, while retail employees have previously been used to test pre-release versions of OS X and iOS, this marks the first time they've been included in the otherwise developer-only watchOS betas. The company is said to have gone to great lengths to modify the activity tracker for wheelchair users, including changing the "time to stand" notification to "time to roll" and including two wheelchair-centric workout apps. http://bit.ly/2955JDa
SanDisk reveals two 256GB microSDXC cards
SanDisk has introduced two 256GB microSDXC cards. Arriving in August for $150, the Ultra microSDXC UHS-I Premium Edition card offers transfer speeds of up to 95MB/s for reading data. The Extreme microSDXC UHS-I card can read at a fast 100MB/s and write at up to 90MB/s, and will be shipping sometime in the fourth quarter for $200. http://bit.ly/294Q1If
Apple's third-quarter results due July 26
Apple has advised it will be issuing its third-quarter results on July 26, with a conference call to answer investor and analyst queries about the earnings set to take place later that day. The stream of the call will go live at 2pm PT (5pm ET) via Apple's investor site, with the results themselves expected to be released roughly 30 minutes before the call commences. Apple's guidance for the quarter put revenue at between $41 billion and $43 billion. http://apple.co/1oi1Pbm
Twitter stickers slowly roll out to users
Twitter has introduced "stickers," allowing users to add extra graphical elements to their photos before uploading them to the micro-blogging service. A library of hundreds of accessories, props, and emoji will be available to use as stickers, which can be resized, rotated, and placed anywhere on the photograph. Images with stickers will also become searchable with viewers able to select a sticker to see how others use the same graphic in their own posts. Twitter advises stickers will be rolling out to users over the next few weeks, and will work on both the mobile apps and through the browser. http://bit.ly/29bbwUE
