Recent Entries in Wireless and the Law
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Touchy iPhone Patent Issues Continue HTC Defends Firsts, First
HTC disagrees with Apple's legal actions, especially in the touchscreen department. Apple contends that HTC's phones infringe on 20 of its patented technologies such as iPhone two-finger screen recognition.Peter Chou, chief executive officer, HTC Corporation said "From day one,...
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Kodak Files Lawsuits Agaisnt BlackBerry and iPhone for Image Preview and Digital Camera Process Patent Infringment
Eastman Kodak Company a has filed lawsuits against Apple Inc. and Research In Motion Limited (RIM) alleging the infringement of Kodak digital imaging technology. The Kodak complaint, filed with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), specifically claims that Apple's iPhones...
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Nokia Sues Apple Over Patent Infringment
Nokia announced it has filed a complaint with the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) alleging that Apple infringes Nokia patents in virtually all of its mobile phones, portable music players, and computers. The seven Nokia patents in this complaint...
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Class Action Lawsuit Alleges Palm Pre/Pixi Users Suffered from Data Loss
A Bay Area man filed a class action lawsuit against Palm and Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S) for losing most all the contacts, appointments and other data stored by many of the hundreds of thousands of Sprint users of the popular Palm...
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CTIA Approves FCC's Approval of "Shot Clock"
Today, CTIA-The Wireless Association® President and CEO Steve Largent issued the following statement after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to approve a "shot clock" for tower siting applications: "On behalf of CTIA and the wireless industry, I would like to...
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Sign Up for Mobile Content Cash Action Award from Mobile Content Settlement
If you have ever been charged without your permission for mobile content, a combined lawsuit settlement, may owe you payments or free services. A Cook County, Illinois court granted preliminary approval to a global settlement agreement which combines 30 separate...
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More SideKick Outage: Forum Complainer Ousted, $20 Contract-Out Offered & SideKick Not 4 Sale
Yesterday, we learned about the @#$%& data loss problem due to a Microsoft Danger server outage for T-Mobile SideKick customers. Customers weren't thrilled with the offer of two months of free service. Today, T-Mobile is offering $20 towards and new...
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FCC Wants to Know Why Google Voice Doesn't Serve Rural
Google Voice doesn't call everybody in the country and the FCC wants to know why. On Friday, they sent a letter to Google's attorneys. They want know the wherefore of why Google Voice is blocking calls to rural areas, how...
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Auto Safety Group Petitions US Dept. of Transportation
Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety (Advocates) filed a petition with the U.S. Department of Transportation to prohibit or restrict the use of unsafe electronic devices, for talking, texting and other purposes, by operators of commercial motor vehicles, such as...
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AT&T Sort of Supports FCC's Open I, Except for Broadband
AT&T issued a statement in favor of FCC Chairman Genachowski’s speech outlining a open Internet. They are concerned when it extends to mobile broadband. “We commend Chairman Genachowski for his speech today, which begins a public process of considering very...
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Cell Dectection to Stop Illicit Cells in Prison Demoed, CTIA Pleased
CTIA-The Wireless Association, President and CEO Steve Largent issued astatement in response to the State of Maryland’s demonstration of cell detection and managed access technology to end contraband cell phone use in prisons....
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Verizon Gets More than Squat ($33.15 Million) from Cybersquatter
Verizon wants the world to know that the largest cybersquatting judgment, ever has been upheld by a federal court in the Northern District of California. The court denied the motion of the defendant -- OnlineNIC, an Internet domain registration...
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Verizon Supports Senate's Ban of Texting /Emailing While Driving
Yesterday, legislation was introduced in the U.S. Senate that would ban texting and e-mailing while driving. The proposed legislation, called the ALERT Act, was introduced by U.S. Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), and Kay Hagen...
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AT&T Wins Battle Against Prepaid Mobile Traffickers Awarded $51 Million
AT&T obtained final judgments and permanent injunctions against defendants in four federal lawsuits stopping the unauthorized bulk buying and resale of prepaid mobileAT&T has filed 14 lawsuits against companies and individuals in Texas, Florida, California, and New York in an...
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Wireless Contributes to Economy, Jobs, and Capital, Says CTIA
Yesterday, CTIA-The Wireless Association filed an ex parte with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to show the significant contributions the wireless industry is making to aid the revitalization of United States short and long-term economic health. Some believe that the...
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Mobile Advocacy Coaltion Formed to Lobby FCC
The Mobile Advocacy Coalition (http://www.mobileac.org) was formed in June 2009, in response to the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit's ruling in Satterfield v. Simon & Schuster, Inc. They claim that the Court's decision to remand includes instructions that twist...
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Verizon to Pay Restiution for "Free" Mobile Content, Settles with FL
Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum announced his office has reached an agreement resulting in millions of dollars in refunds to Florida Verizon Wireless and Alltel consumers for third-party charges on their cell phone bills. Verizon Wireless, LLC has also agreed...
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Let My Phones Free! Hopes Free Press
Media reform group, Free Press has been generating a lot press regarding wireless and phone matters. They are pleased with the FCC's actions, launched FreeMyPhone and believe that AT&T allowing video for some services but not others should be prohibited.Acting...
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Auto Warranty Robocallers Sued by FTC
Have you ever gotten those annoying calls saying your warranty for a old battered auto is expiring? We have even gotten them on cell phones.Those flaky services have raked in over $10 million dollars and make more than 1.8 million...
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Verizon Fights Text Spammer, Files Lawsuit
Verizon Wireless has filed a lawsuit against Pennsylvania-based Money Warehouse, Inc. (doing business as All State Mortgage Lender) and other John Does alleging they sent at least 800,000 wireless spam messages promoting mortgage products to Verizon Wireless customers and employees...
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MyWireless.org Calls for Tax Break on Wireless
As Americans all over the country recover from filing taxes, yesterday, the national consumer advocacy coalition MyWireless.org called for a 5-year break for consumers from new, discriminatory state and local wireless taxes. Bi-partisan legislation, entitled the ‘Cell Tax Fairness Act...
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T-Mobile Wins Injunction and $5 Million in Damages from Prepaid Phone Traficker DK Wireless
T-Mobile USA announced it obtained a final judgment and permanent injunction to combat the unauthorized bulk purchase and resale of T-Mobile's prepaid mobile phones and accessories.The order, handed down by a federal court in Brooklyn, N.Y., permanently enjoining DK...
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AT&T Rebaters Will Get $2.63 Million in New Visa Gift Cards, Says NY Attorney General
A $2.63 million agreement with AT&T Mobility over a misleading and deceptive sales promotion involving rebate offers that were fulfilled with onerous and condition-laden rebate cards by the New York's Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo. AT&T is required to provide...
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Google Cleared from Fraudulent Ringtones Case
Google is not liable for fraudulent ringtone advertisements on its AdWords platform. The ruling by District Court Judge Jeremy Fogel states that the federal Communications Decency Act clears Google from any liability for pay-per-click ads created via AdWords. "Providing third parties...
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LA DA Targets Voicemail Hacking & False Vociemail Safety Claims,
Voicemail was not safe from hacking and voicemail hacking is not legal in California. T-Mobile, AT&T and SpoofCard have been told to stop their misrepresentations by Los Angeles District attorneys.A New Jersey firm that provided customers unauthorized access to the...
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New Key Stops Texting and Cell Phone Calls While Driving
University of Utah engineers have invented a wireless car key device that stops teenage motorists from talking on their cell phone or sending text messages while driving. The University of Utah has done a lot research to prove you should...
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OMB Rejects Cell Tower Backup Prop
The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) rejected an FCC proposal to require all cell phone towers be equipped with backup power for up to eight hours. CTIA, President Steve Largent noted that the FCC failed to...
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Apple Sued for Web Surfing Patent Infringement
Jeffer, Mangels, Butler & Marmaro has filed a patent infringement lawsuit on behalf of EMG Technology, LLC against Apple Inc.for the way the iPhone navigates the Internet that infringes on EMG's patents that deal with the rendering of web...
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Razor Dog Will Sniff Out Banned Cell Phones in FL Prisons
Cell phones smugglers in Florida prisons may end up spending up to five years in one under a new law enacted October 1, 2008 that makes the introduction of cell phones into prison a third degree felony.Cell phones smuggled into...
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$150 Per Text Paid to Timberland Text Getters from Lawsuit
A settlement has been reached with GSI Commerce, Inc. and The Timberland Company in a class action lawsuit relating to the alleged transmission of unsolicited text message advertisements to the cell phones of consumers nationwide. The $7 million dollar fund...
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Haiku News 2Day - Text/Cell Phone Banned by CA Rail Safety
Cells phone use is bannedFor all train operators By state rail safety....
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m-Qube to Pay $500K for Unauthorized Billing
Florida’s Attorney General Bill McCollum announced that his office has reached a settlement with a company involved in billing for cell phone content. Massachusetts-based m-Qube is a billing aggregator, meaning it acts as an intermediary between wireless carriers and third...
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Annoying Recorded Telemarketing Calls Banned by FTC Soon!
According to Telecommunications Industry News the Federal Trade Commission will put into effect rules, that put an end to those nasty, annoying, aggravating, prerecorded sales calls.Starting September 1, 2009 telemarketers can make recorded calls only to people who have agreed...
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Refunds for Unauthorized Mobile Content Available for Mobile Messenger
A settlement has been reached with Mobile Messenger in class action litigation involving claims that unauthorized charges for "mobile content" were placed on the cell phone bills of consumers throughout the country. The settlement, which was preliminarily approved by...
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Prepaid Phone Traffickers Stopped by T-Mobile & Court Injunctions
T-Mobile USA has obtained two final judgments and permanent injunctions as part of the company's ongoing efforts to combat the unauthorized bulk purchase and resale of T-Mobile prepaid mobile phones. One judgment was entered against defendant Rafiq Wazir Ali, individually...
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Thumbs Down Class Action Lawsuit Against Thumbplay
Chicago attorney Myles McGuire on behave of Nikolay Antonov has filed a class action complaint in Cook County, against Thumbplay Inc. a mobile content provider that claims that the billing methods used have no “checks and safeguards.” to protect consumers’...
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Nokia & Qualcomm Settle Patent Dispute
Qualcomm will receive royalties from Nokia for licensing Qualcomm technology for 15 years to settle the patent dispute. An analyst estimated that the settlement could mean $400 million to Qualcomm and save $200 million in legal fees.The technology Nokia is...
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AT&T and AOL Partner with NY Attorney General
New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo has recruited AT&T, and AOL to help stop child pornography. Both companies have agreed to eliminate access to related Newsgroups, a major supplier of these illegal images. They will also purge their...
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Verizon Pays $21 Million to Settle ETF Class Actions
Verizon has settled class action suits regarding Early Termination Fees to the tune of $21 million dollars to pay off plaintiffs and attorney's fees.The settlement comes after the start of a trial last week in California. Verizon has not admitted...
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Hands-Free Law Reminder for CA
Remember what happens on July 1 in California.Drivers under the age of 18 may not use a wireless telephone, pager, laptop or any other electronic communication or mobile services device to speak or text while driving in any manner, even...
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Free Headsets from Freeheadset.org in Time for July 1 Laws
If you are worried about the impending enforcement of hands free laws starting July 1, you can get a free compatible headset and just pay for shipping charges form FreeHeadset.org, offering free headsets to California drivers.The FreeHeadset.org organization is a...
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Driving Tips for Travelling from Verizon
Verizon Wireless reminds customers who choose to talk on a wireless phone while driving to do so responsibly and safely when travelling over the holidays: Drive Responsibly Drivers should use common sense and obey all vehicular laws if they choose...
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FCC Supports Regulating Wireless Cancellation Fees
The head of the FCC said he wants to regulate fees charged to cell phone users who cancel their wireless contracts early, reports the Associated Press.At a news conference, FCC chief Kevin Martin said he supports regulating the fees...
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Sprint Loses Patent Infringment Lawsuit in L.A.
Dovel & Luner LLP today announced that a Los Angeles jury has found Sprint Nextel liable for infringing two patents owned by California company Enovsys LLC. The jury returned its verdict late Friday, May 16, 2008, and awarded Enovsys past...
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FTC to Police Mobile Marketing
During The Federal Trade Commission's Town Hall meeting on May 6-7, 2008, FTC commissioner Jonathan Leibowitz announced that the FTC intends to take enforcement action against deceptive or unfair content offers from cellphone content providers who should do a better...
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Consumers Should Be Safeguarded in WAP Commerce, Says Watchdog Groups
The Center for Digital Democracy and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (USPIRG) announced today that they intend to amend their 2006 complaint on interactive marketing techniques and threats to consumer privacy to include newly emerging mobile marketing practices. The...
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UK Regulators Deal with Mobile Premium Complaints
PhonepayPlus, a regulating watchdog agency in the UK announced it will review of the U.K.'s mobile premium services due to consumer complaints. That included:In the first three months of this year, PhonepayPlus received more than 4,500 complaints related to mobile....
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Samsung Chairman Resigns After Indictment
Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee resigned after indictment for tax evasion and breach of fiduciary trust. He publicly apologized on TV. It is suspected that Lee hid about $4.5 billion worth of Samsung stock in accounts with borrowed names. He is...
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CTIA Asks Congress for Hiatus of Wireless Taxes
CTIA, The Wireless Association and its member companies are urging Congress to pass legislation requiring a five-year hiatus on new discriminatory state and local wireless taxes. To achieve this goal, Representatives Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) and Chris Cannon (R-UT) introduced the...
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Verizon Calls Attention to Caller ID Spoofing Telemarketers with Law Suit
Verizon Wireless saidit has filed a lawsuit to stop unknown telemarketers from calling its customers and employees with an offer of an extended car warranty. The lawsuit, filed in New Jersey Superior Court, alleges the telemarketers illegally used an autodialer...
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Backup Power to Towers Rule by FCC Not Backed by Carriers
To avoid problems of cell towers not having power during a disaster, which happened during Katrina, when cell phone uses could call because there was no power. The FCC passed regulation to require carriers to have at least 8 hours...
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$100 Fine for Texting or Handset Cell Phoning While Driving in NJ
New Jersey residents starting March 1, can be fined $100 and surcharged $250 for texting or talking on a cell phone without a hands-free device while driving. The law allows police officers to cite motorists solely for talking on hand-held...
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AT&T to Pay $2.5M for Charging for Free Cell Phone Content in Florida
Florida, Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that AT&T Mobility will be the first wireless company in the nation to police representations made in internet advertising for cell phone content to ensure fair and full disclosure. The company will also...
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SMS Class Action Suit Filed Against T-Mobile
There has been a class action law suite filed against T-Mobile for charging customers for text messages who did not want text messages. The suit filed in Seattle, Washington, claims that T-Mobile charges for text messages regardless of whether customers...
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Palm Closes Stores, Settles Suit with Rebates
Palm Inc., the company who first brought the smartphone to the public is closing its 35 retails stores including stand alone stores and stores in airports.Palm also announced what to meet the terms of a class-action lawsuit, it will give...
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Broadcom Wins Patent Settlement
A federal judge has barred Qualcomm from selling three multimedia EV-DO chips that infringe on Broadcom patents. A "sunset provision," allows Qualcomm to continue selling older versions of the same products through January 2009, as long as Qualcomm pays Broadcom...
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New Cell Phone Laws for Drivers in 2008 Reminds AAA
The California Auto Club reminds motorists of the following laws that will not take effect until July 1 2008: Cell Phones and Driving. SB 1613 prohibits the use of handheld cellular telephones while driving. Starting July 1, 2008, an adult...
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Santa Snow Globe Slashers Caught After Leaving Cell Phone
According to Newsday, two young Santa and snow globe slashers were caught by a homeowner firefighter, after they left a cell phone at the scene of the crime....
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Unsolicted Facebook SMS Suit Settled
A lawsuit filed in October, accused Facebook of sending unsolicited text messages to out of date/recycled numbers. Plaintiff Lindsey Abrams of Patriot, Ind, said Facebook kept sending her numerous text messages, for which she was charged 10 cents apiece and...
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Sprint Secret Codes for Unlocking Phones Available Soon
As part of a class action lawsuit settlement, Sprint is agreeing to give their customers the unlocking code so that their handsets can be available for other CDMA networks....
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Internet Tax Ban Extended by House
The House voted this week to temporarily extend a moratorium on Internet access taxes until November 2011. The moratorium was created by the Internet Tax Freedom Act in 1998. It prevents state and local governments from taxing Internet access, including...
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iPhone Customers Sue Apple & AT&T
Two class action lawsuits in California federal and state courts, claiming that the software upgrade and locking of the iPhone to AT&T are monopolistic, were filed in San Jose on Friday. The complaints were filed by law firms Folkenflik &...
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Sprint & Vonage Settlement Reached
Sprint Nextel has settled its long running patent infringement dispute with VoIP provider Vonage. Sprint has agreed to license its VoIP portfolio or more than 100 patents to Vonage. The settlement payment to Sprint is estimated to be $80 million...
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Schwarzenegger Signs Ban on Teen Cell Phone Use While Driving - Government Technology
Sep 14, 2007, from GovTech News Report Thursday, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed SB 33 by Senator Joe Simitian which bans teenage drivers from using all electronic devices -- such as cell phones, pagers and laptops -- while behind...
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