Thursday will be an important day in the antitrust lawsuit brought by 38 states and D.C. to break Google’s alleged monopolies in the Android app and in-app purchasing ecosystems. That’s when U.S. District Judge James Donato for Northern California in San Francisco convenes an evidentiary hearing into the states’ allegations that Google deleted Google Chat conversations and other instant messaging chats crucial to the states' case that Google's anticompetitive behavior harms consumers and app developers (see 2210170005).
Paul Gluckman
Paul Gluckman, Executive Senior Editor, is a 30-year Warren Communications News veteran having joined the company in May 1989 to launch its Audio Week publication. In his long career, Paul has chronicled the rise and fall of physical entertainment media like the CD, DVD and Blu-ray and the advent of ATSC 3.0 broadcast technology from its rudimentary standardization roots to its anticipated 2020 commercial launch.
Amazon and the Washington Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) exchanged dueling reply briefs Friday in Amazon’s constitutional challenge of the state’s workplace safety compliance rules (see 2211210088).
What makes Instagram a “profitable enterprise” for Meta “is precisely what harms its young users,” alleged plaintiff David Hemmer in a product liability and negligence complaint Thursday (docket 4:23-cv-00055) in U.S. District Court for Northern California in San Francisco. He brought the action on behalf of himself and his minor daughter, identified only as “M.H.,” asserting she's one of the young women “harmed by Instagram in just the ways Meta’s researchers anticipated.”
Amazon, Best Buy, Target, Walmart and others are unlawfully selling unlicensed DVD and Blu-ray copies online of the 1981 film Just Before Dawn, alleged independent film company Redoak Communications in a complaint Wednesday (docket 9:23-cv-80008) in U.S. District Court for Southern Florida in West Palm Beach.
Crown Castle needs to view documents filed under seal in its legal fight in the district court to force Pasadena, Texas, to approve the installation of small-cell nodes in the city’s rights of way, said its motion Wednesday (docket 22-20454) at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Pasadena is appealing the district court’s decision granting summary judgment in Crown Castle’s favor, and Crown Castle said it needs the documents to prepare its responding brief.
Educational Credit Management Corp. (ECMC), a student loan servicer, recorded its phone conversations with plaintiff Cynthia Lepur without her consent, in violation of the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA), alleged her class action Nov. 15 in San Diego County Superior Court. ECMC removed the complaint Wednesday (docket 3:23-cv-00014) to U.S. District Court for Southern California in San Diego
Google wants relief from a costly data preservation burden in the Chrome privacy case in which it won summary judgment. It asked U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan van Keulen for Northern California in San Jose for an order absolving the company from its data or cost obligations, now that the plaintiffs in the case are appealing the summary judgment order to the 9th Circuit, said a supplemental submission Tuesday (docket 4:20-cv-05146).
The U.S. District Court for Southern Illinois in East St. Louis should reject arguments by Monroe County, Illinois, that AT&T waited too long to challenge the timeliness of the municipality’s denial of its cell tower application (see 2212200022), said the carrier’s reply brief Tuesday (docket 3:20-cv-01327).
Two former employees of Vox Network Solutions, a supplier of contact center and network support services, conspired with Gage Technologies to steal Vox’s trade secrets for the purpose of "poaching" Consumer Cellular as a client when they resigned to join Gage's leadership team, alleged a Dec. 28 complaint (docket 3:22-cv-09135) in U.S. District Court for Northern California in San Francisco. Gage Technologies (formerly Gage Telecom) is Vox's direct competitor.
With the first statewide digital right-to-repair bill (SB 4104-A) in the U.S. now bearing the signature of New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), attention turns to whether tech groups like CTA and CTIA will litigate to block the statute from taking effect July 1. Neither group responded to our queries seeking comment about the bill’s signing or the prospects of taking the statute to the courts.