Legal

Apple's agreements with European wireless carriers that sell its iPhone are being scrutinized by European Union regulators for possible antitrust violations after several carriers complained that terms of the deals squelched competition, according to the New York Times.

While no formal complaints have been filed, a group of European operators submitted details of their Apple agreements to the Commission, an unnamed source told the Times. The antitrust accusations reportedly center on agreements with French carriers, although operators in other countries may be involved.

The European Commission confirmed that it was examining the deals but cautioned that it has not … Read more

We tend to react with feelings first and thoughts a little later.

Many in the last 24 hours have reacted with feeling (and the occasional thoughtfulness) to the visit paid by police to the New Jersey home of Shawn Moore.

Should you have been hospitalized after accidentally impaling yourself on a deer antler at your local gun club recently, here's the back story: Moore posted a picture to Facebook of his 11-year-old son, Josh, clutching (very properly) a .22-caliber rifle that looked like a little more than a .22-caliber rifle.

It was his birthday present.

As is ever more … Read more

iPhone owners who drop their phones could avoid serious damage if an Apple patent filing ever results in real technology.

Published today by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, an Apple patent application dubbed "Protective Mechanism for an Electronic Device" describes a couple of methods to help a dropped iPhone or other electronic device better survive its fall.

In one method, on-board sensors would detect how far and how fast the phone is falling and reorient its position. As such, the phone would actually be rotated mid-flight to land on a more durable spot, such as its … Read more

Intertrust, a company that received hundreds of millions from Microsoft over a patent infringement case in 2004, is now suing Apple.

The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company announced today that it has filed a patent infringement suit (PDF below) for 15 patents on "security and distributed trusted computing."

Intertrust is asking the court for an injunction to stop Apple from selling or importing products in the U.S. that fall under the patents, and it wants Apple to pay for allegedly using the patents without licensing, according to the complaint. The company is asking for damages and a "… Read more

If Scotland passes proposed legislation, it's possible that a Jedi officiant, complete with brown robe and lightsaber, could stand before two lovers and say, "Dearly beloved: We have come together in the presence of the Force to witness and bless the joining together of these two people in Jedi-blessed matrimony."

The Marriage and Civil Partnership Bill (PDF) backs several other updates to marriage law, including same-sex marriage. But the BBC reports that the allowance of a Jedi-managed wedding has incensed some religious conservatives in the region. The Free Church of Scotland spoke out against the bill, which opens the door for leaders of Jedism and other movements to officiate at weddings.… Read more

A judge scolded Apple today over how it has handled document discovery in a privacy lawsuit, warning that the iPhone maker may face court-ordered penalties.

Noting that Apple's document production "has more than doubled since the court got involved," U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul S. Grewal suggested plaintiffs' attorneys pursue sanctions against Apple, according to a Bloomberg account of the proceedings.

During a hearing today in San Jose, Calif., Grewal asked Apple lawyers why documents were submitted only after the court ordered a review of its document-production process. It "doesn't sound like you did a … Read more

Before long, you might be able to point your iPhone or other device at an object and call up an overlay of information.

Awarded to Apple today by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, a patent dubbed "Synchronized, interactive augmented reality displays for multifunction devices" highlights an augmented-reality system that would capture a live video feed of a real object to display on a portable device. The technology would then overlay information about that object on the device.

In one example cited in the patent, a user could point the camera of a portable device at a … Read more

Intellectual Ventures, the controversial patent and technology firm founded by former Microsoft executive Nathan Myhrvold, has sued security company Symantec once again.

In a new complaint (PDF), filed in the U.S. District Court of Delaware, Intellectual Ventures accused Symantec of infringing on three of its patents in some of its products.

The complaint targets Symantec's Replicator, Veritas Volume Replicator, and ApplicationHA products specifically, and claims the company "actively, knowingly, and intentionally" infringed on IV's patents with those products.

"We have been unable to reach an agreement with Symantec, and, in addition to their infringement … Read more

In the latest criminal prosecution to alarm Internet activists, a security researcher who accessed a non-password protected portion of AT&T's Web site was sentenced today to 41 months in prison and three years of supervised release.

Andrew Auernheimer, who goes by the nickname "Weev" and was convicted by a federal jury last year of hacking, was sentenced today by a federal judge in Newark, N.J. "No matter what the outcome, I will not be broken," Auernheimer said this morning after hosting an all-night party in Newark and making an unsuccessful appearance on … Read more