Apple Settles Music Patent Claims Brought by Sharing Sound

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Cupertino, Calif. – Apple (NASD: AAPL) has settled a patent infringement
lawsuit brought by Sharing Sound, which alleged the company’s iTunes Store
infringed on its patent that describes "distribution of musical products
by a website vendor over the Internet."

Any financial terms were not
disclosed.

Sharing Sound sued Apple in May, as well as Microsoft, Napster,
Rhapsody, Sony, Amazon, Netflix, Wal-Mart and others over its music
distribution patent.

TechCrunch notes that most of the other defendants, except
for Rhapsody and Kazaa owner Brilliant Digital Entertainment, have moved to
settle claims from Sharing Sound.

 

Related Links:

http://tinyurl.com/2bngjbf
(TechCrunch)

http://technology.law360.com/articles/197674

Jury Orders Apple to Pay Mirror Worlds $200M in Patent Damages

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Tyler, Texas – A federal jury has ordered Apple (NASD: AAPL) to pay $208.5
million in patent infringement damages to Mirror Worlds, over the company’s
Cover Flow album and Time Machine data display features, Bloomberg reports.

Texas-based
Mirror Worlds sued Apple in 2008, alleging infringement of several of its
"document streaming" patents.

Apple’s Cover Flow displays album
artwork in a scrollable visual view, while its Time Machine automatically saves
copies of everything on a user’s Mac, and displays this data in a similar
manner as Cover Flow.

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/2fw3sju
(Bloomberg)

http://tinyurl.com/2dlqemf
(Ars Technica)

http://tinyurl.com/2ccp3p2
(Mirror Worlds patent)

Ad Groups Plan "Opt-Out" Button for Web Behavioral Ads

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

New York – A consortium of U.S. media and marketing trade
groups on Monday announced the launch of a new voluntary program to help consumers
control and "opt-out" of online behavioral advertising.

Companies in
the space are being encouraged to add an Advertising Option Icon on pages that
feature behavioral ads, which would link to a disclosure of data collection and
use practices — as well as an easy-to-use opt-out option.

The effort is being
led by the Association of Advertising Agencies (4A’s), the American Advertising
Federation (AAF), the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), the Direct
Marketing Association (DMA), and the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB).

It comes
in part as a response to the Federal Trade Commission’s call for more robust
and effective self-regulation of online behavioral ad data collection and usage
practices, and a way for consumers to opt-out of the practice.

The participants hope to offer the
ability on their AboutAds.info site later this fall for consumers to opt-out of
some or all participating companies’ online behavioral ads in one action.

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/22v9uof

http://www.aboutads.info

Report: Skype to Name Cisco Exec Tony Bates as New CEO

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

San Francisco – Ahead of a planned initial public offering
(IPO), Internet telephone service Skype has named former Cisco senior vice
president Tony Bates as its new CEO, The New York Times reported, citing
sources.

Bates headed Cisco’s enterprise, commercial and small business unit,
which saw $20 billion in annual revenues.

He will replace Joshua Silverman, a
former eBay executive who has served as Skype’s CEO since 2008.

 

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/2ffd6s2
(N.Y. Times)

http://www.skype.com

Twitter Names COO Dick Costolo as New CEO

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

San Francisco – Twitter on Monday announced that it has
appointed Dick Costolo as its new CEO, replacing co-founder Evan Williams, who
said in a blog post announcing the switch that he will now focus completely on
product strategy. Costolo has served as Twitter’s chief operating officer since
late 2009; previously, he co-founded RSS service Feedburner, which sold to Google in
2007 for a reported $100 million.

Costolo was also an early investor in
Twitter.

"I am most satisfied while pushing product direction. Building
things is my passion, and I’ve never been more excited or optimistic about what
we have to build," Williams wrote in a blog post.

"This is why I have
decided to ask our COO, Dick Costolo, to become Twitter’s CEO. Starting today,
I’ll be completely focused on product strategy."

Williams noted that,
during his two-year tenure as chief executive, Twitter has grown from 3 million
registered users to more than 160 million, while traffic has grown from 1.25
million daily tweets to 90 million today.

 

 

Related Links:
http://blog.twitter.com/2010/10/newtwitterceo.html

Report: Qualcomm to Shut Consumer FLO TV Mobile TV Service

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

San Diego – Wireless developer Qualcomm (NASD: QCOM) will shutter the
direct-to-consumer version of its FLO TV mobile TV subscription service by
year’s end, PaidContent reported, citing sources.

The company is reportedly in
talks with distribution partners AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ) about the future of FLO
TV, which launched via partners in 2004 and debuted its direct-to-consumer
version in 2008.

The spectrum alone dedicated to FLO TV is "worth almost
$2 billion," Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs told PaidContent this summer.

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/2fadznw
(PaidContent)

http://www.flotv.com

Report: Porn Studios to Sue Suspected Movie Downloaders

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

San Francisco – The Adult Copyright Company plans to sue up
to 10,000 suspected downloaders of adult films on behalf of three studios in
coming weeks, CNET News.com reported.

The U.S. District Court for the Northern
District of West Virginia will handle the cases brought by the firm on behalf
of Third World Media and two other porn producers.

The lawsuits will seek the
identities of suspected porn downloaders via an IP address, which will be used
to subpoena an ISP for the corresponding customer’s identity.

Last week, a
British law firm also engaged in suing suspected porn downloaders suffered a
hacker attack, during which their servers were compromised and the names of
alleged file-swappers and the porn titles they downloaded were leaked.

 

Related Links:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-20018358-261.html

Facebook Effects 5-for-1 Stock Split

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Palo Alto, Calif. – Facebook effected a 5-for-1 stock split
on Friday, a move intended to lower the price of the company’s privately-owned
shares.

“The reason is that the stock has risen significantly since our last
split, and this allows us to bring it into a similar price range as other
private companies,” Facebook spokesman Jonny Thaw told CNET.

“It also
allows us to give everyone larger stock unit grants without increasing dilution
for shareholders.”

The transaction is the third stock split at Facebook
since its launch six years ago.

 

Related Links:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-20018326-36.html

Google Acquires Mobile Device Typing Aid BlindType

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Mountain View, Calif. – Google (NASD: GOOG) has acquired BlindType, a developer
of technology that auto-corrects a user’s typing on a mobile phone.

San
Francisco-based BlindType announced the deal in a blog post; financial terms
were not disclosed.

"We know that typing on your mobile device can be a
frustrating experience, which is why we’ve worked hard to make touch typing
easier and faster than ever — the way it should be," BlindType said.

"We’re excited to join Google, and look forward to the great opportunities
for mobile innovation that lie ahead."

 

Related Links:
http://www.blindtype.com/blog.html?entry=temp

Microsoft Taps New Presidents for Mobile, Entertainment, Office

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Redmond, Wash. – Microsoft (NASD: MSFT) announced on Friday the promotions
of new presidents to several of its business groups, following the departure of
Robbie Bach and Stephen Elop in recent months. The company named Andy Lees
president of its mobile communications unit; Don Mattrick was named president
of interactive entertainment; and Kurt DelBene will become president of
Microsoft’s Office division.

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/27stcpq

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