Author: Joe Mullin

(credit: Peter Kaminski / flickr)

SAN FRANCISCO—Oracle lawyers argued in federal court today that their copyright trial loss against Google should be thrown out because they were denied key evidence in discovery.

Oracle attorney Annette Hurst said that the launch of Google Play on Chrome OS, which happened in the middle of the trial, showed that Google was trying to break into the market for Java SE on desktops. In her view, that move dramatically changes the amount of market harm that Oracle experienced, and the evidence should have been shared with the jury.

"This is a game-changer," Hurst told US District Judge William Alsup, who oversaw the trial. "The whole foundation for their case is gone. [Android] isn't 'transformative'; it's on desktops and laptops."

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Thanks to a judge's order, Google must face another proposed class-action lawsuit over its scanning of Gmail. The issue is a lingering headache for the search giant, which has faced allegations for years now that scanning Gmail in order to create personalized ads violates US wiretapping laws.

In a 38-page order (PDF), US District Judge Lucy Koh rejected Google's argument that the scanning takes place within the "ordinary course of business."

"Not every practice that is routine or legitimate will fall within the scope of the 'ordinary course of business'," Judge Koh wrote.

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The owner of a patent on podcasting is hoping to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

Personal Audio and its owner, Jim Logan, lost their patent last year after lawyers from the Electronic Frontier Foundation showed the US Patent and Trademark Office that various types of Internet broadcasts pre-date the patent, which claims a 1996 priority date.

The podcasting patent became famous and received national media attention after it was used to sue several high-profile podcasters, including Adam Carolla, who raised $500,000 and fought back for a time before reaching a settlement in 2014. Personal Audio had also sued several big TV networks, and its case against CBS went to a jury in September 2014. The jury found the patent valid and awarded Personal Audio $1.3 million, a victory that Personal Audio's lawyers have noted in their appeal arguments.

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The Federal Trade Commission has sued online retailer 1-800 Contacts, saying the company illegally restrained competitors from buying search advertisements. It's a dramatic move that could mold the shape of online trademark law for years to come.

In the administrative complaint (PDF) filed Monday, FTC lawyers say that 1-800 Contacts reached deals with at least 14 competing contact lens sellers, in which they agreed to limit their advertising on search engines like Google and Bing. In the FTC's view, those agreements constituted unfair competition, because they limited truthful advertising and restrained price competition.

The 14 competitors aren't named in the FTC's lawsuit, but some of them are likely to be companies that Utah-based 1-800 Contacts sued in court. In 2008, 1-800 Contacts filed a lawsuit (PDF) LensFast.com, saying their keyword advertising violated trademark law; in 2010, ContactLensKing.com got sued (PDF) on similar grounds.

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A copyright dispute between Oracle and Google was resolved in May by a federal jury, which found that Google's Android operating system didn't infringe copyrighted code owned by Oracle. A post-trial skirmish over once-confidential Google information is heating up, though, with Google asking for sanctions against one of Oracle's lead attorneys.

Now, Google says (PDF) it should get additional fees because Oracle attorney Annette Hurst disclosed Android revenue and profit figures in open court. She also revealed that Google paid $1 billion to be the default search bar on Apple's iPhone. Those figures should have stayed confidential, say Google lawyers, but once a Bloomberg reporter got hold of a transcript of the hearing, they became headline news.

Yesterday, Oracle filed court papers (PDF) responding to the accusations. Oracle points out that Hurst's statements were made "in response to probing questions from Magistrate Judge Ryu," and were an "on-the-fly rebuttal of mischaracterizations made by Google's counsel." The statements didn't violate the protective order, Oracle argues, and they fall short of the legal requirements for contempt.

(credit: Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

SAN FRANCISCO—FBI Director James Comey has some phones—650 of them, to be exact—that he'd really, really like to take a look at.

Right now, the FBI can't read the data on those phones, because it's encrypted. For Comey, that's a problem. In remarks to the American Bar Association on Friday, he made it clear this is an issue he intends to bring up before Congress next year.

While nothing other than the election will get politicians' attention during the next few months, Comey told the audience that he intends to gather data about how the problem of encryption, which he calls "going dark," is affecting his agents' work. Then, he'll present the findings to Congress.

Ahmed Mohamed, on a family visit to Sudan in October 2015. (credit: ASHRAF SHAZLY/AFP/Getty Images)

Ahmed Mohamed, who was arrested last year after showing a home-made clock to a teacher at his high school, has filed a lawsuit against his former school district, its principal, and the city of Irving, Texas.

Mohamed's lawsuit (PDF), filed earlier today, claims that the school district has a history of racial discrimination, and that the treatment he received violated both US civil rights laws and his 14th Amendment right to equal treatment under the law.

The suit begins by reprinting in full "The New Colossus," the Emma Lazarus poem inscribed on the Statute of Liberty. The suit goes on to describe the history of discrimination against immigrants in the US, dating back to the 17th century.

BlackBerry has filed a patent lawsuit (PDF) against internet telephony firm Avaya. The dispute marks a turning point for Blackberry, which pushed into the Android market last year but has been struggling.

In making its case that Avaya should pay royalties, BlackBerry's focus is squarely on its rear-view mirror. The firm argues that it should be paid for its history of innovation going back nearly 20 years.

"BlackBerry revolutionized the mobile industry," the company's lawyers wrote in their complaint. "BlackBerry... has invented a broad array of new technologies that cover everything from enhanced security and cryptographic techniques, to mobile device user interfaces, to communication servers, and many other areas."

The bugged courthouse. Redwood City, California. (credit: Jimmy Emerson)

The FBI violated the Fourth Amendment by recording more than 200 hours of conversation at the entrance to a county courthouse in the Bay Area, a federal judge has ruled.

Federal agents planted the concealed microphones around the San Mateo County Courthouse in 2009 and 2010 as part of an investigation into alleged bid-rigging at public auctions for foreclosed homes. In November, lawyers representing five defendants filed a motion arguing that the tactic was unconstitutional, since the Fourth Amendment bans unreasonable searches.

"[T]he government utterly failed to justify a warrantless electronic surveillance that recorded private conversations spoken in hushed tones by judges, attorneys, and court staff entering and exiting a courthouse," US District Judge Charles Breyer wrote in an order (PDF) published yesterday. "Even putting aside the sensitive nature of the location here, Defendants have established that they believed their conversations were private and they took reasonable steps to thwart eavesdroppers."

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A patent-holding company that won a huge court victory against Apple had its victory wiped out today, and its stock plunged by more than 40 percent.

Nevada-based VirnetX won a jury trial against Apple earlier this year. An East Texas jury ruled that Apple must pay $625.6 million to VirnetX for infringing four patents. The patents are said to cover Apple's VPN on-demand feature, as well as FaceTime.

US District Judge Robert Schroeder, who oversaw the trial, published an order (PDF) on Friday that vacates the verdict and orders a new trial to begin in September.