What does the future hold when it comes to e-discovery? On Digital Detectives, co-hosts Sharon D. Nelson, Esq., President of Sensei Enterprises, Inc. and John W. Simek, Vice President of Sensei Enterprises, welcome John Munro, the Vice President and Managing Director of Orange Legal Technologies, to discuss some upcoming trends in e-discovery. John explores the future of predictive coding, shares his thoughts on amending the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, e-discovery in the cloud and the trend toward bringing e-discovery in-house.
AT&T discloses “organized” hacking attempt – BusinessWeek
November 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment
AT&T Inc. says there appears to have been an “organized attempt” to break into mobile customers’ online accounts, but no accounts were breached.
The Dallas company says hackers used automated programs to try to link mobile numbers and account log-in credentials, which they then hoped to use to access customer accounts on AT&T’s website.
via AT&T discloses “organized” hacking attempt – BusinessWeek.
eDiscoveryJournal Founders Officially Launch New Market Research Firm — eDJ Group, Inc. – MarketWatch
October 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The founders of eDiscoveryJournal (eDJ), a leading source of independent and unbiased perspectives on eDiscovery news, trends and best practices, today announced the launch of eDJ Group, Inc. The official formation of the legal industry’s newest market research and consulting firm integrates and showcases the demand for the services eDJ has been providing to its legal, IT and service provider clients since opening in 2009.
“eDJ Group’s ability to cover competitive market dynamics, best practices and trends — not only at the strategic level, but also at a very granular level — sets us apart from other firms,” said Barry Murphy, principal analyst and co-founder of the eDJ Group. “Our unique combination of market research, hands-on eDiscovery experience and IT acumen has established us as the market research leaders covering information governance and eDiscovery requirements.”
eDJ was co-founded in 2009 by Barry Murphy — who, while at Forrester Research, was one of the first analysts in the industry to cover the eDiscovery market — and Greg Buckles, one of the industry’s leading eDiscovery experts with more than 20 years’ experience working in consulting and leadership roles for legal service providers, corporate legal departments, law firms and IT/software development. Last May, eDJ added Jason Velasco as CEO to drive the rapid expansion of the firm’s research products, content and services.
“The expansion and growth of eDJ Group’s consulting and analyst services are being driven by the strong demand we’re seeing in the market today,” said Buckles. “Organizations — from the smallest law firm to the corporate clients — are coming to us for guidance and support because of our unique expertise.”
HTC Sues Apple Using Google Patents Bought Last Week as Battle Escalates – Bloomberg
September 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment
HTC Corp. (2498), Asia’s second-biggest smartphone maker, is using nine patents bought from Google Inc. (GOOG) last week to pursue new infringement claims against Apple Inc.
Google had taken ownership of the patents less than a year ago, with four of the patents originating from Motorola Inc., three from Openwave Systems Inc. and two from Palm Inc., according to U.S. Patent and Trademark Office records. Jim Prosser, a spokesman for Mountain View, California-based Google, wouldn’t discuss reasons for the nine transfers to HTC.
HTC now has more ammunition in its fight to fend off multiple patent-infringement claims lodged by Apple that contend phones running Google’s Android operating system copy the iPhone. Google’s involvement in aiding HTC represents a new front in an industrywide dispute over smartphone technology that has also ensnared Android customers Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc., Barnes & Noble Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co.
via HTC Sues Apple Using Google Patents Bought Last Week as Battle Escalates – Bloomberg.
AT&T Antitrust Suit Draws Line in Sand That Will Affect Other U.S. Mergers – Bloomberg
September 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The lawsuit seeking to block AT&T Inc.’s takeover of T-Mobile USA Inc. shows a more aggressive antitrust stance by the U.S. Justice Department that limits prospects for other big telecommunications deals, antitrust analysts said.
The suit, filed yesterday in Washington federal court, seeks to derail the $39 billion T-Mobile deal, the biggest acquisition announced this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The last transaction the Justice Department challenged whose size even approached the AT&T bid was the 2003 $8.4 billion Oracle Corp.-PeopleSoft Inc. merger.
The T-Mobile deal is the biggest challenged by the Justice Department since it sued in June 2000 to block WorldCom Inc.’s proposed acquisition of Sprint Corp., a deal valued at $152 billion when the companies called off the merger the following month.
With yesterday’s filing, President Barack Obama’s Justice Department departed from its strategy of approving large acquisitions after adding conditions, as it did with Comcast Corp.’s purchase of NBC Universal and Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc.’s merger with Live Nation Inc. Previously, antitrust authorities at the department “backed down,” said Robert Lande, a University of Baltimore law professor.
“They negotiated a compromise,” Lande said. “But this one they said, ‘No, we cannot compromise, this is anticompetitive.’”
via AT&T Antitrust Suit Draws Line in Sand That Will Affect Other U.S. Mergers – Bloomberg.
Amazon Could Disrupt Apple’s Tablet Dominance, Analyst Says – WSJ.com
August 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) could disrupt a tablet market dominated by Apple Inc. (AAPL) if the online retailer is willing to sell its own, widely-anticipated device at a loss, according to research published Monday.
Forrester Research analyst Sarah Rotman Epps wrote that while “Amazon taking on Apple is a bit like David taking on Goliath,” if Amazon proves willing to sell its tablet relatively cheaply and leverage its brand and surplus of online content, it could make a significant mark.
Specifically, if Amazon prices the as-yet-undisclosed tablet at less than $300, the Seattle-based company could sell up to 5 million units in the fourth quarter of this year, the analyst wrote.
Apple currently sells versions of the iPad for prices ranging between $499 and $829.
The Wall Street Journal has reported that Amazon could release its tablet as soon as October.
via Amazon Could Disrupt Apple’s Tablet Dominance, Analyst Says – WSJ.com.
White House pledges new Net privacy approach | Privacy Inc. – CNET News
August 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment
A White House aide today previewed the administration’s forthcoming approach to Internet consumer protection, saying it will provide “privacy law without regulation.”
“Businesses that are engaged in responsible privacy practices today ought not to face any additional burdens,” said Danny Weitzner, associate administrator at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) who’s on assignment to the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy.
Weitzner suggested during a discussion at a Technology Policy Institute conference here that: “You can have stronger privacy law, clearer rules, clearer principles established in law, without the costs and downsides of a traditional regulatory structure.”
In December, the U.S. Commerce Department outlined proposals for how federal laws regulating companies’ data collection practices could be updated, but stopped short of specific recommendations for legislation. An administration-wide white paper is expected this fall.
Lawrence Strickling, the NTIA’s administrator (the agency is part of the Commerce Department) suggested to Congress in March that it should enact a “consumer privacy bill of rights” that would mandate broad privacy protections. Some possibilities–Strickling, too, avoided specifics–include requiring companies to describe the purpose for which they’re collecting data, and keeping it secure once collected.
via White House pledges new Net privacy approach | Privacy Inc. – CNET News.
Microsoft curbs Wi-Fi location database | Privacy Inc. – CNET News
August 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Microsoft has ceased publishing the estimated locations of millions of laptops, cell phones, and other devices with Wi-Fi connections around the world after a CNET article on Friday highlighted privacy concerns.
The decision to rework Live.com’s geolocation service comes following scrutiny of the way Microsoft made available its database assembled by both Windows Phone 7 phones and what the company calls “managed driving” by Street View-like vehicles that record Wi-Fi signals accessible from public roads. Every Wi-Fi device has a unique ID, sometimes called a MAC address, that cannot normally be changed.
Live.com’s database, which published the precise geographical locations of Wi-Fi devices, was working normally last Friday. By Saturday morning, Elie Bursztein, a postdoctoral researcher at the Stanford Security Laboratory who had analyzed the Live.com service, noticed that access had been restricted.
Stanford researcher Elie Bursztein had suggested that Microsoft should curb access to its database.
That follows a similar move by Google, which curbed access to its location database days after a June 15 CNET article appeared. Skyhook Wireless, which provides similar location services, already used a limited form of geolocation to protect privacy.
via Microsoft curbs Wi-Fi location database | Privacy Inc. – CNET News.
Patents ‘Gumming Up’ Innovation: Google – Bloomberg
July 26, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Google Inc. General Counsel Kent Walker said the smartphone industry is using patents in an arms race that hurts consumers, leaving the company trying to “sort through the mess” of litigation.
“It’s hard to find what’s the best path — there’s so much litigation,” Walker said in an interview. “We’re exploring a variety of different things.”
Google is seeking to buy patents that would put it on a level plane with its rivals, and the company will continue to push to have the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office take a closer look at issued patents that are being used in litigation, Walker said. Congress and the Federal Trade Commission also need to do more to rein in software patents and lawsuits, he said.
“The tech industry has a significant problem,” Walker said. “Software patents are kind of gumming up the works of innovation.”
Google, which had $39.1 billion in cash and short-term investments as of June, put in an initial $900 million offer to buy the patents of bankrupt phone-equipment maker Nortel Networks Corp. It was outbid by a group that includes Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Research In Motion Ltd., which all make devices that compete with phones running Google’s Android operating system.
Google Says It Rejected Sun’s $100 Million Java-Android Deal – Bloomberg
July 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Google Inc. rejected an offer by Sun Microsystems Inc to pay $100 million in royalties to use Java in its development of the Android operating system before Sun was acquired by Oracle Corp. (ORCL), a Google lawyer said.
Robert Van Nest, Google’s attorney, said yesterday at a hearing in federal court in San Francisco that the proposed $100 million three-year “all-in” deal in 2006 was for a technology partnership to jointly build Android, rather than for just a patent license.
Separately, Oracle won permission yesterday to question Google Chief Executive Officer Larry Page in a deposition about his knowledge of the search-engine company’s alleged infringement of patents that Oracle got when it acquired Sun.
Oracle, based in Redwood City, California, is seeking as much as $6.1 billion in damages from Google in a lawsuit that claims Android software uses technology that infringes Oracle’s patents. Google denies infringing and asked U.S. District Judge William Alsup at yesterday’s hearing to throw out Oracle’s damage estimate.
Alsup said it appeared that Google “has a product out there that is in direct violation of these patents,” and pressed Van Nest to explain why the Mountain View, California- based company discussed a license with Sun.
“There wasn’t any specific discussion of patents,” Van Nest said. While a few lines of code in Android are “identical” to Java, that code probably came from a third party, he said. “We are investigating that,” Van Nest said.
via Google Says It Rejected Sun’s $100 Million Java-Android Deal – Bloomberg.
