A number of cables from the Berlin embassy reveal the US concern on Germany’s position in the SWIFT, TFTP and the bilateral US-Germany data sharing agreements. A revealing cable from December 2009 (09BERLIN1528) on the SWIFT agreement describes how German Minister of Interior de Maiziere overruled Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger and abstained from voting at the November 30 COREPER vote in Brussels on an interim U.S.-EU agreement to continue the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program.
Wikileaks cables describe US pressure on Germany in context of data sharing agreements « The Lift – Legal Issues in the Fight against Terrorism
November 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Apple Lawyers Up for Patent Showdowns With Nokia, Motorola – Bloomberg
November 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Steve Jobs made Apple Inc.’s iPhone one of the best-selling smartphones on the market with its touch screen, fast Web connection and access to more than 300,000 downloadable applications. Now he’s adding lawyers to the mix.
This week, Apple is squaring off against Nokia Oyj, the world’s largest mobile-phone maker, before the International Trade Commission. The dispute, in which each side alleges intellectual property violations, is also a precursor to Apple patent battles with Motorola Inc. and HTC Corp.
At stake is leadership in the U.S. smartphone market. Cupertino, California-based Apple is trying to protect its right to import the iPhone, while shutting out rivals, particularly those whose phones are powered by Google Inc.’s Android operating system, the world’s most popular smartphone software. Android-based phones also are made abroad.
via Apple Lawyers Up for Patent Showdowns With Nokia, Motorola – Bloomberg.
Apple Lawyers Up for Patent Showdowns With Nokia, Motorola – Bloomberg
November 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Steve Jobs made Apple Inc.’s iPhone one of the best-selling smartphones on the market with its touch screen, fast Web connection and access to more than 300,000 downloadable applications. Now he’s adding lawyers to the mix.
This week, Apple is squaring off against Nokia Oyj, the world’s largest mobile-phone maker, before the International Trade Commission. The dispute, in which each side alleges intellectual property violations, is also a precursor to Apple patent battles with Motorola Inc. and HTC Corp.
At stake is leadership in the U.S. smartphone market. Cupertino, California-based Apple is trying to protect its right to import the iPhone, while shutting out rivals, particularly those whose phones are powered by Google Inc.’s Android operating system, the world’s most popular smartphone software. Android-based phones also are made abroad.
via Apple Lawyers Up for Patent Showdowns With Nokia, Motorola – Bloomberg.
Leaked U.S. document links China to Google attack – Computerworld
November 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment
The cache of more than 250,000 U.S. Department of State cables that WikiLeaks began releasing on Sunday includes a document linking China’s Politburo to the December 2009 hack of Google’s computer systems.
The U.S. Embassy in Beijing was told by an unidentified Chinese contact that China’s Politburo “directed the intrusion into Google’s computer systems,” the New York Times reported Sunday, citing a single leaked State Department cable.
“The Google hacking was part of a coordinated campaign of computer sabotage carried out by government operatives, private security experts and Internet outlaws recruited by the Chinese government. They have broken into American government computers and those of Western allies, the Dalai Lama and American businesses since 2002, cables said,” the Times reported.
The cable is another piece of evidence, albeit thinly sourced, linking China to the Google attack. Wikileaks is gradually releasing this latest set of cables, and the document in question was not available on WikiLeaks’ Web site at press time. The Times, along with a handful of other newspapers, was given early access to the documents.
via Leaked U.S. document links China to Google attack – Computerworld.
Fraud Files: U.S. FCPA Rules Against Foreign Bribery Hit Companies in the Wallet – DailyFinance
November 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment
One major worry for American companies doing business overseas is the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), a 1977 federal law that prohibits the bribing of foreign officials. Those familiar with this regulation know it has many pitfalls, and even the most careful companies can run afoul of the law due to the actions of their employees.
FCPA enforcement isn’t new, but in recent years, such corporate misbehavior is receiving more attention and increased enforcement, which is making executives nervous. Violations can mean both civil and criminal penalties for companies and their executives, and the monetary costs can be huge. Beyond the price of defending itself against a government investigation, a company with FCPA violations will pay penalties and incur ongoing costs for remediation and monitoring of activities.
It’s not a stretch to suggest that the federal government may have increased its vigilance on the corporate bribery front lately due to the possibility of bringing in billions of dollars through FCPA enforcement. Or perhaps the Obama administration is just more interested in ensuring good, clean business operations by U.S. companies. Either way, Lanny Breuer, assistant attorney general for the Criminal Division of the Justice Department, has declared publicly that FCPA enforcement is a priority.
via Fraud Files: U.S. FCPA Rules Against Foreign Bribery Hit Companies in the Wallet – DailyFinance.
Jury Orders SAP to Pay Oracle $1.3 Billion in Infringement Case – Law Blog – WSJ
November 24, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Well, we all figured that the jury in the dispute between Oracle and SAP would find that SAP owed Oracle some money. That SAP infringed Oracle’s copyrights was never in dispute.
But on Tuesday afternoon, an Oakland, Calif., federal jury awarded Oracle Corp. $1.3 billion, significantly more than SAP’s lawyers had argued the company should be made to pay. Click here for the early report from the WSJ; here and here for earlier LB posts on the conflict.
The ubiquitous David Boies, representing Oracle, on Monday argued that SAP owed Oracle company between $288 million and $3 billion, while Robert Mittelstaedt, an attorney representing SAP, said the company should pay between $28 million and $41 million.
The verdict came in the fourth week of a trial to determine how much SAP should pay Oracle for copyright infringement by a discontinued business unit called TomorrowNow, the culmination of lawsuit Oracle first brought in March 2007.
via Jury Orders SAP to Pay Oracle $1.3 Billion in Infringement Case – Law Blog – WSJ.
