Technology

Top NY Court Nixes GPS Tracking Unless a Search Warrant is Obtained

An apparent New York State Police practice of using GPS tracking devices on suspects’ vehicles for extended periods is a violation of their constitutional privacy rights unless a search warrant is obtained, according to a divided New York Court of Appeals ruling. In its 4-3 ruling today, the state’s highest…

May 12, 2009 6:19 PM CDT

Web Advocacy Group & BluWiki Sue Apple Over Chat Board Shutdown Demand

In an effort to enforce its iTunes copyright, Apple Inc. threatened last year to sue BluWiki.com if the website didn’t remove from its discussion board a project called iPodhash. The project focused on how one might retrofit iPods and iPhones with open-source software allowing them to work without iTunes. BluWiki…

Apr 28, 2009 6:37 PM CDT

EU Sues UK Over Phorm Tracking of Users’ Web-Surfing

Saying that use of controversial tracking software created by a British company apparently violated Internet users’ privacy rights, the European Union has sued the United Kingdom government for allegedly failing to do enough to protect its citizens. The EU is calling on the country to revise its laws to strengthen…

Apr 14, 2009 7:26 PM CDT

Curb Out-of-Control Discovery, Report by Trial Lawyers Group Recommends

Out-of-control discovery in civil cases can be so expensive that it prevents parties from litigating legitimate disputes, a joint report (PDF) by two legal organizations says. Prepared by the American College of Trial Lawyers task force and the Denver-based Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System, it calls…

Mar 11, 2009 5:17 PM CDT

Legal: Speedo LZR Racer; Not: Alleged Target Version of ‘Foxers’ Line?

In the hotly contested world of competitive sports, high-tech materials and innovative designs can shave critical seconds off an athlete’s time. So use of certain equipment, such as the Speedo LZR Racer suit many consider state-of-the-art, has been hotly debated in the governing bodies of various sports, and even the…

Feb 21, 2009 1:24 AM CST

Plaintiffs Question Judge’s Son’s Law Firm Link in Medtronic Case

U.S. District Judge Richard Kyle says he didn’t have any idea that his son’s law firm had performed work, in unrelated matters, for a defendant in a massive case he was hearing. But after plaintiff lawyers found out about Fredrikson & Byron’s connection to the litigation against Medtronic Inc., some…

Feb 13, 2009 6:04 PM CST

Copyright in the Age of YouTube

As user-generated sites flourish, copyright law struggles to keep up

Feb 2, 2009 4:29 AM CST

Wilson Sonsini Lays Off 45 Lawyers, 68 Staff, Freezes Associate Pay

Last week it was Cooley Godward Kronish. And now Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati is announcing more than 100 attorney and staff layoffs. Despite other efforts to reduce costs, the worsening economy is now making it necessary for the famed Silicon Valley-based firm to cut 45 attorneys and 68 staff…

Jan 26, 2009 10:19 PM CST

Federal Law Bans Texas Prison Plan to Jam Cell Phones, State AG Says

Seeking to block inmates from using smuggled cell phones, Texas prison officials were planning a test later this week of a a technique to jam cell phone transmissions without affecting legitimate prison and emergency communications. “But the demonstration was summarily canceled Monday after Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott told them…

Dec 16, 2008 6:49 PM CST

Parents Sue School for Use of Increasingly Popular ID Scan Technology

A Texas couple has filed suit against their local school district in what is believed to be the first legal challenge of an increasingly popular background check system that screens school visitors against a privately maintained sex offender registry. The parents aren’t on any sex offender registries, but they object…

Dec 2, 2008 10:37 PM CST

Big Brother’s View Expands in UK

George Orwell was right, at least as far as residents in metropolitan areas of the United Kingdom are concerned: Big Brother is watching. Surveillance cameras are seeking not only to spot terrorists but to see whether dog-walkers are properly picking up after their pets, reports Bloomberg. A London Times article…

Oct 10, 2008 6:26 PM CDT

Judge Sides With MIT Students, Lifts Gag Order in Transit Case

A federal anti-hacking law wasn’t intended to prohibit the disclosure of public information about computer security flaws and hence doesn’t prohibit three MIT students from discussing with fellow academics how they learned to circumvent the Boston transit fare system, as part of a class project. That’s what a federal judge…

Aug 19, 2008 8:31 PM CDT

Music Is Here To Stay, But Change Is Needed, Insiders Say

In what may be an ABA Annual Meeting first, presenters at the Section of Science & Technology Law’s session on the future of music and technology digitally recorded, remixed, replayed and then uploaded their version of the Rolling Stones’ “Last Time” before a rapt audience of music aficionados, recording industry…

Aug 7, 2008 8:26 PM CDT

The Good, the Bad, and the Tiny

ABA projects focus on legal issues relating to the increasing use of nanotechnology

Jul 1, 2008 7:01 AM CDT

Tech Companies Seek to Head Off Patent Trolls With IP-Buying Group

Several high-tech companies have joined a group that seeks to deny sustenance to patent trolls. The group plans to buy rights to intellectual property, beating patent trolls to the marketplace, the Wall Street Journal reports (sub. req.). The so-called trolls buy patent rights and then sue companies for infringement. The…

Jun 30, 2008 12:18 PM CDT