lawsuits

A federal judge said today he sees merit in an activist hedge-fund manager's lawsuit against Apple but did not issue a ruling on whether to block next week's shareholder vote on a proxy proposal.

U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan declined to immediately rule on a request by Greenlight Capital to stop a February 27 vote because he wasn't sure the plaintiff would suffer "irreparable harm" if the vote was allowed to be held as scheduled.

"Candidly, I do think the likelihood of success is in favor for Greenlight," Sullivan said today in … Read more

Zynga and Electronic Arts have agreed to drop their lawsuits against each other, according to a court document filed today.

The two gaming companies had been throwing legal punches since August, when EA accused Zynga of ripping off one of its social games. Zynga countersued EA shortly thereafter, accusing EA of unfair hiring practices.

Both parties have decided to dismiss their cases with prejudice, according to the document, which means they can't file future lawsuits about the same accusations. The companies are picking up the tabs for their own legal fees.

Zynga confirmed that the suits were resolved but … Read more

The folks behind Pirate Bay are upset over a new Web site from antipiracy group CIAPC that looks just like their own site.

To kick off its latest antipiracy campaign, the Finland-based CIAPC (Copyright Information and Anti-Piracy Center) set up a new Web site urging people to find more legal means to download music, TV shows, and other digital content. To hammer home its point, the CIAPC site intentionally borrowed the exact design and style of the Pirate Bay site.

The group even duplicated the CSS stylesheet used by the Pirate Bay, ensuring that its site is a virtual duplicate, … Read more

Instagram has asked a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit over controversial terms-of-service changes the popular photo-sharing service announced last year.

The lawsuit, which was filed in December and seeks class-action status, accused the service of breach of contract and trying to "grab for customer property rights" after announcing revisions to its terms of service that many feared gave the service perpetual rights to sell users' photographs without payment or notification.

After a user backlash, Facebook-owned Instagram soon backpedaled on the changes and announced that the terms would revert to the version in place since the service launched … Read more

Things may be looking up for Facebook in the dozens of lawsuits it's facing from peeved shareholders over its botched initial public offering.

U.S. District Judge Robert Sweet ruled in favor of Facebook today and dismissed a group of these cases, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The social network became embroiled in this extensive legal battle shortly after its $16 billion IPO last May. The company's stock opened on the Nasdaq priced at $38 a share and, aside from a slight uptick right at the start, proceeded to plummet in the days and weeks following. Defendants … Read more

Apple accused an activist hedge fund manager of attempting to hold investors "hostage" in his effort to get the electronics giant to share more of its massive cash reserves with investors.

The charge came today in Apple's response to a lawsuit filed last week by Greenlight Capital, which asserts that the company needed to distribute preferred stock to current shareholders and that Apple had balked at the idea when it was first discussed. The filing comes a day after Apple CEO Tim Cook called the lawsuit a "silly sideshow."

"Shareholders should not be held … Read more

Looks like there's a second act for Apple's "silly sideshow."

Another Apple shareholder is suing Apple, Reuters reported today. This time, it's over Apple's executive compensation policy, in addition to the company's intent to eliminate preferred stock for investors.

Pennsylvania resident Brian Gralnick has filed suit against Apple in an attempt to stop Apple from holding a shareholder vote on the two matters. The vote is scheduled for February 27. Gralnick has been a shareholder since 2007, but it's unclear how much of a stake in Apple he owns.

We've contacted … Read more

Despite losing its infringement battle with Google, Oracle is still willing to wage a war over an earlier ruling in the matter.

The company earlier this week filed an appeals brief with the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, saying that Google's use of Java in Android was "decidedly unfair," according to Reuters, which obtained a copy of the filing. Oracle said that copyright is designed to protect all kinds of works, including "a short poem or even a Chinese menu," but what it created in Java was "vastly more original, creative, and labor-intensive.&… Read more

As Apple's patent infringement lawsuits against Samsung drag on, it appears that not everyone in Apple brass was in favor of suing the South Korean electronics giant.

Tim Cook, who succeeded Apple co-founder Steve Jobs as chief executive after seven years as chief operating officer, was opposed to suing Samsung, mostly because of the company's role as a key supplier of components for the iPhone and iPad, sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. The Cupertino-based company was Samsung's biggest customer in 2011, reportedly buying some $8 billion worth of screens and chips.

After signing a … Read more