From ZDNet:
Oracle has found itself on the losing side of a judgement by Europe’s top court, which ruled on Tuesday that software licences can be sold on a second-hand basis, even when the software in question is downloaded rather than sold on physical media.
The best part from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) statement:
Therefore, even if the licence agreement prohibits a further transfer, the rightholder can no longer oppose the resale of that copy.
This makes sense to me. I wonder how online download services like Steam will react to this judgement.
Senator Al Franken (D-MN)—showing interest in the potential privacy issues surrounding the use of Carrier IQ’s mobile device monitoring software—sent a letter on Wednesday to Larry Lenhart, CEO and President of Carrier IQ, asking exactly how the software, and collected data is being used. Of considerable interest is how the software may violate federal laws. From the letter:
These actions may violate federal privacy laws, including the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. This is potentially a very serious matter.
Carrier IQ has until December 14, 2011 to provide answers.
I have written about Samsung’s use of RAND (or FRAND) patents against Apple, describing it “like fighting a forest fire with a water pistol.” Whereas Apple is waging its legal wrath against Samsung on the basis of copying its products, Samsung volleyed with its own suit alleging Apple infringed on their 3G patents. Unfortunate for Samsung, their patents are part of the 3G standard and fall under the FRAND (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory) requirement.
The European Union’s top antitrust authority has now launched their investigation into Samsung’s use of 3G patents against Apple. From Computerworld:
Samsung has sued Apple in five E.U. countries alleging infringement of its patents on 3G mobile technology. The European Commission will now consider whether the South Korean company is abusing the principle of fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) licensing in these cases.
I wouldn’t be surprised to find Apple benefiting from this investigation, and Samsung coming out with a skinned knee.
The legal battle Down Under between Samsung and Apple continues, with Samsung now requesting access to the iPhone 4S’s firmware, as well as Apple’s agreements with Australia’s major carriers. From Smart Office:
In Federal court today Samsung counsel Cynthia Cochrane said her client would need the source code for the iPhone 4S and agreements Apple had with major carriers Vodafone, Telstra and Optus in order to make a legal case for a ban before the court.
Apple denies the infringement, claiming they have licensed the three RAND patents from Samsung through an international agreement, which Samsung claims was not extended to Australia.
Samsung’s request to have the iPhone 4S banned from selling in Italy has been denied. It appears their RAND patents on 3G weren’t enough for Italy to consider banning the new iPhone model. From AGI:
Milan Courts take time to review Samsung’s requests to have iPhone 4S sales stopped in Italy. In today’s first hearing on the matter, Milan judges turned down the request and agreed to both Samsung and Apple’s request to submit further evidence, which will be reviewed on December 16.
This is the latest blow against Samsung’s legal attempts to ban Apple from selling the iPhone 4S internationally. Earlier this month, the Dutch denied Samsung’s request to ban the iPhone 4S in the Netherlands, and last week a French court postponed their heaing until November 15.
