Etilize catalogs antitrust suit against CNET
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Patent suit over reseller data feeds CNET today turned from newsgather to newsmaker when it got a lawsuit accusing it of anti-competitive behavior.â¦
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CNET has a great set of brands. But its cost structure is out of whack.
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The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has settled a complaint with an online company it says was illegally selling telephone records.
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Retailer Sears, Roebuck & Co has been hit with a lawsuit seeking class-action status that alleges a company Web site compromises customers' private information.
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By Christopher Boyce, St. Louis Post-Dispatch  Feb. 3--MEMC Electronic Materials is defending itself in lawsuits filed  by two companies, each alleging that the St. Peters-based silicon wafer  producer breached supply contracts.
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Less than three months after Microsoft lost a landmark antitrust case in Europe, a Norwegian software company filed a new complaint Thursday, challenging the software giantâs bundling of its Web browser with its Windows operating system.
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Apple has filed a federal lawsuit accusing three members of the Apple Developer Connection Program of posting a developer release of Mac OS X Tiger onto Web sites where they could be downloaded
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GEICO's case alleges that keyword advertising programs infringe on its trademark.
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Electronics retailer Best Buy is facing a lawsuit over deceiving customers into paying higher prices once in store by having two websites, one accessed by employees and another available on the Internet.
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(InfoWorld) - The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has filed a complaint against digital music service BurnLounge Inc., accusing the company of operating an illegal pyramid scheme, the FTC announced Tuesday. The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California June 6, asks the court to permanently shut down the alleged illegal pyramid practices, the FTC said in a press release. BurnLounge recruited customers through the Internet, telephone calls and in-person meetings, the FTC said. In its sales pitch, BurnLounge told customers they were likely to make substantial income if they would buy one of its product packages, ranging from US $29.95 to $429.95 per year. The more expensive packages purportedly provided participants with an increased ability to earn rewards through the BurnLounge compensation program. BurnLounge, based in New York, called its business model "unique and revolutionary," in a press release in response to the FTC court filing. "BurnLounge will continue to afford its customers the opportunity to enjoy sharing their tastes in music and films, while providing an avenue for them to express their entrepreneurial talents," Sheldon Sloan, attorney for BurnLounge, said in a statement. So far, the court has refused to grant a temporary restraining order, Sloan added in his statement. The denial is "a significant victory, and furthers the company's belief that it has conducted its business lawfully," he added. BurnLounge, which launched its service in mid-2006, calls itself the "world's first fan-driven download community." Customers open their own digital music stores and sell music and movies they recommend to friends. But the FTC alleges that the BurnLounge compensation program primarily provided payments to participants for recruiting of new participants, not on the retail sale of products. Retail sales would result in a substantial percentage of participants losing money, the FTC said. The FTC accuses BurnLounge and its owners of operating an illegal pyramid scheme, making deceptive earnings claims, and failing to disclose that most consumers who invest in pyramid schemes don't receive substantial income, but lose money, instead. The FTC has asked the court to halt the alleged deceptive practices and misrepresentations and to freeze the defendants' assets, pending a trial. At a June 8 hearing on the FTC's request for a temporary restraining order, BurnLounge's attorneys asked for more time to respond fully, and U. S. District Court Judge George Wu ordered that a full hearing on the FTC's request for a preliminary injunction and asset freeze be held on June 19.
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Amazon.com was accused in a lawsuit of infringing a Cendant patent for a Web site feature that makes recommendations to consumers based on past purchases.
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CNET News.com answers your questions about the court case that set the software maker against the U.S. Department of Justice.
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A company that sells Internet domain names is facing criticisms for holding some in reserve as a consumer-protection measure, a move that also prevents interested parties from shopping around for better prices.
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(InfoWorld) - Google's claims thatÂ Microsoft's built-in Vista desktop indexing and search tool violates its antitrust agreementÂ could be difficult to prove even if the software does slow down the performance of Google's competitive Google Desktop offering. As long as a user can run alternative software to Microsoft's Instant Search software, it's unlikely that U.S. federal antitrust officials would consider coming down on the software giant, analysts and users said. Google's claims are far different than the ones posed by Netscape during the browser wars that led to the Department of Justice's antitrust suit in the 1990s, said Rob Helm, research director at Directions on Microsoft. "Microsoft beat Netscape in part by leveraging its relationship with PC manufacturers," he said. "This is a lot subtler." Google seems to be alleging that "if two pieces of software don't play together, then it must be an anticompetitive tactic of Microsoft's," Helm said. "I don't recall any past antitrust cases asserting something so broad," he said. The presence of Microsoft's Vista desktop search could be slowing down Google's product merely as an accident of product design, not because of any malicious intent by Microsoft, Helm said. "Even if Microsoft's software was perfectly written, the way Google interacts with it might be bad, and either company might be at fault," he said. "They could have both done the right things in different ways that might conflict with each other." According to a report in The Wall Street Journal Monday, Google sent a white paper to U.S. federal and state antitrust officials in April to try to convince them that Vista makes it difficult for consumers to use rival desktop search software. In its white paper, Google claims that Vista's search boxes and bars -- available in several places in the OS, including the Start menu and in the Windows Explorer file manager -- work only with Microsoft's search and indexing tool. The company also said it is nearly impossible to turn off Vista's indexing, which means a competitor must add a second indexer that slows down a PC. Google spokesman Ricardo Reyes confirmed the company's charge against Microsoft Monday. Microsoft is disputing Google's charges and said that it has worked closely with federal officials to ensure its Vista OS, released to consumers in January, fosters rather than inhibits competition in the area of desktop search. Users can disable Vista's desktop search service, but the company has not made it simple for them to do so, acknowledged Jack Evans, a Microsoft spokesman. He said this is because the company designed Vista's desktop search specifically "to not affect performance and back off any other programs running" -- including any third-party desktop search software -- in a way that should resolve any claims of anticompetitive behavior, Evans said. Andrew Brust, chief, new technology of consulting firm Twentysix New York, said he used Google's desktop search when it first came out but switched to Microsoft's product when it became available for Windows XP because he preferred it. "Microsoft chose to integrate into Windows, whereas Google decided to be browser-based," he said. "Plus, at least back then, Google installed its own local Web server as part of the product and I really didn't like all that baggage. Microsoft's was just more useful." Brust, who has used Vista in beta form, said integrating desktop search into Vista is "common sense" and suggested that Google's complaints might be sour grapes over Microsoft's own antitrust charges against the search vendor when it unveiled plans toÂ purchase online advertising and marketing powerhouse DoubleClick. Samir Bhavnani, research director for analyst firm Current Analysis West, said that Microsoft's integration of desktop search into Vista was a response to Apple's inclusion of desktop search in their Mac OS, not a move against Google. He said it wouldn't be fair for Google to accuse Microsoft of being anticompetitive without leveling the same charge at Apple. However, Helm contradicted this reasoning and said that Apple was not found in a U.S. court to have a monopoly on PC OSes, while Microsoft was in the DoJ case. "I don't have the impression that Google is worried about Apple," he said.
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Company sues Mac enthusiast site and others, lending credibility to hot rumors surrounding product plans.
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A broker-dealer firm sued brokerages  watchdog NASD and the New York Stock Exchange on Friday to  block a deal to merge oversight functions, saying the  arrangement would be unfair to NASD members.
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The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has settled a complaint against a company that owns patents to a widely used Ethernet standard, saying the patent owner was attempting to collect huge license fees despite a prior commitment to the contrary.