Articles Tagged with Microsoft

The US Government  responded yesterday to the FISC’s order to conduct a declassification review in the Yahoo case. Their response asks for 45 and 60 days to complete the full review. They cite the need for interagency coordination, the volume and type of materials, and multiple FOIA requests in support of this request.

In the Microsoft and Google cases, the Government asked for a third extension of its deadline to respond to Microsoft’s motion. Microsoft and Google both consented to the extension.

In other news about the FISA Court, Reggie B. Walton, the presiding judge, responded to Sen. Patrick Leahy’s request for more information about the court processes and procedures. On July 18, Sen. Leahy requested this information in preparation for a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the implementation of FISA Authorities (scheduled for July 31).

On Wednesday, New York City unveiled a new surveillance system powered by Microsoft that would provide near-real-time analysis of camera footage across the city. In its press release, the City boasts that the system features “the latest crime prevention and counterterrorism technology.” The security-minded among us may cheer this development as providing heightened protections against terrorism and other planned acts of violence, but for those of us who are more interested in privacy, this announcement reeks of “Big Brother.”

Aerosoft GMBH, the German software company that makes the ‘Airbus X’ game, add-on program to Microsoft’s Flight Simulator, sued a host of unknown ‘Does’ in federal court, claiming the defendants engaged in copyright infringement via peer-to-peer (‘P2P’) file-sharing of plaintiff’s game.

The Airbus X might have been a game that convicted al Qaeda conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui would have liked to play, given his self-avowed goal of piloting Boeing or Airbus ‘Big Birds.’

Any antitrust concerns about Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility were satisfied in Europe and the United States today. Regulatory hurdles were cleared when the European Union and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division each approved Google’s purchase of the telecom unit.

The deal bolsters Google’s patent portfolio, and is anticipated to add substantial value to the company’s Android mobile operating system.

Hi Friends,

We put up a Website with the new civil case filings in the US District Courts with links into Pacer for the full docket and filing information and News, Finance, Web and Blog Internet resources. The URL is: http://dockets.justia.com

It allows you to search and track when new cases are filed by State, Court, Lawsuit Type (eg Patent Law) or Party name… or any combination. We are updating this daily (but note the courts often post the filings a day or two after they are received).

Lately, Google has been involved in a lot of lawsuits: book publishers, DOJ subpoena, Microsoft, France….

However, last month, in a novel twist, a plaintiff, Mark Anderson, convinced the Beverly Hills Small Claims Court to direct Google to remove a number of documents that mention him from the Google index, including newspaper articles and public documents such as a U.S. Bankruptcy Court order.

Specifically, the Court ordered Google to remove “all references to [1 individual and 3 companies] from the Google search engines and search results.” This is not the removal of the documents from the Internet, just from the Google search results. Attached to the order was an exhibit listing the Web pages to be removed from the Google index. Chilling Effects has posted the court order and exhibit on its Web site.

The San Jose Mercury News reported that the Feds have subpoenaed Google in a bid to obtain their search records. In an act reminiscent of certain countries in “Old Europe,” Yahoo, Microsoft and AOL all surrendered, leaving Google to fight it alone.

Here are copies of the motions. I’ve OCR’d them so that they are searchable and copy-and-pasteable.

• Notice of Motion, and Motion to Compel Compliance with Subpoena Duces Tecum