Microsoft Co-Prez Warned Colleagues 'Vista Capable' Was Misleading

Senior executives inside the software maker questioned a decision to lower hardware specs for Vista PCs, e-mails show. By Paul McDougall November 18, 2008 Former Microsoft co-president Jim Allchin called the company's decision to allow PC manufacturers to label machines not capable of running all of Windows Vista's features as Vista Capable "terrible" and "misleading," according to new e-mails unearthed Monday as part of a consumer fraud suit against the company. "I believe we are going to be misleading customers with the Capable program," Allchin wrote in an e-mail to a group of Microsoft product executives. PC makers "will say a machine is Capable and customers will believe that it will run all the core Vista features," wrote Allchin, in the April, 2006 message. Other e-mails entered earlier as evidence in the case show that Microsoft had previously lowered the specifications for a Vista Capable PC in order to appease Intel, whose 915 graphics chipset was not capable of running Vista's slick, 3-D Aero interface. "The fact that Aero won't be there EVER for many of these machines is misleading to customers," wrote Allchin, who retired from Microsoft as soon as Vista debuted in January of 2007. He added that he felt the Vista Capable program was "wrong for customers." The e-mails have been entered into evidence in a class action lawsuit that accuses Microsoft of deceptive marketing practices. The plaintiffs contend that Microsoft intentionally duped customers by advertising as Vista Capable computers that lacked the horsepower to fully support Vista. Read on -->Link

18 Nov 2008 by J.TECH Tech News, Legal Issues Permalink

LCD Makers Settle Price-fixing Charges, Agree to Fines

By Grant Gross Nov 12, 2008 Three electronics manufacturers -- LG Display, Sharp and Chunghwa Picture Tubes -- have agreed to plead guilty and pay a combined US$585 million in criminal fines for conspiring to fix the prices of liquid crystal display (LCD) panels, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday. LG will pay $400 million of the fines, which is the second-highest fine ever imposed by the DOJ's Antitrust Division, the DOJ said. The DOJ filed the price-fixing charges in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco Wednesday. The companies, in agreeing to settle the charges, also agreed to cooperate with the DOJ's ongoing antitrust investigation. Thin-Film Transistor LCD panels are used in computer monitors and laptops, television sets, mobile phones, and other electronic devices. In 2006, the worldwide market for TFT-LCD panels was approximately $70 billion, the DOJ said. Companies directly affected by the LCD price-fixing conspiracies are some of the largest computer, television and cellular telephone manufacturers in the world, including Apple, Dell and Motorola, the DOJ said in a press release. Read on -->Link

12 Nov 2008 by J.TECH Tech News, Legal Issues Permalink

Dell hit with $500m discrimination suit

'Old boys network' By John Oates 3rd November 2008 Four former senior Dell HR executives, all women, have filed a $500m class action that accuses the company of systemic gender and age discrimination. The lawsuit, filed last week in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California, alleges Dell unfairly targeted women and employees over 40 in the big round of recent lay-offs, which sees 10 per cent of staff worldwide - about 8,800 in total - losing their jobs. The cull will result in men holding 80 per cent of management positions, according to the lawsuit. Dell is also accused of "gross pay and promotion inequities" in its treatment of women. The lawsuit seeks to change "Dell's discriminatory policies regarding pay, job placement, promotion, and termination. The lawsuit demands $500 million in damages for a class of thousands of current and former Dell female managers and executives, and older employees disproportionately affected by the company's mass layoffs in 2007 and 2008," law firm Sanford Wittels & Heisler said, in a press release. Read on -->Link

03 Nov 2008 by J.TECH Tech News, Legal Issues Permalink

Microsoft sued in China for black screen of death

WGA wins more enemies By John Oates, 22nd October 2008 A Chinese lawyer has filed a legal complaint against Microsoft for installing Windows Genuine Advantage on his computer. He has asked the Ministry of Public Security to file criminal charges against Microsoft. Dong Zhengwei accused the company of hacking into people's computers. He said: "I respect the right of Microsoft to protect its intellectual property but it is taking on the wrong target with wrong measures. "They should target producers and sellers of fake software, not users. The authorities should take action to protect citizens' property and privacy rights," he continued according to China Daily. WGA is installed as an automatic update. If it decides your copy of XP or Vista is pirated it paints your desktop background black and warns you that your software is likely to be an illegal copy. Users can change the background back, but it will return every hour. The nagware has already been used in most of the rest of the world and proved deeply unpopular - especially because it flagged up a lot of false positives. Read on -->Link

22 Oct 2008 by J.TECH Tech News, Legal Issues Permalink

Samsung sued over incompatible Blu-ray players

By Nate Mook, February 11, 2008 It's a story that's been hard to ignore, and now a class action lawsuit has been filed: early Blu-ray players had compatibility problems when new features and DRM were introduced into Blu-ray movies. While Blu-ray Disc Association representatives told BetaNews at CES that early adopters "knew what they were getting into" regarding the changes to the platform, some apparently didn't. Bob McGovern, who has become the lead plaintiff in the case, says his BD-P1200 player from Samsung was unable to view "numerous Blu-ray disc titles." In the New Jersey court filing, lawyers for the plaintiff assert, "There have been numerous complaints about the inoperability of new Blu-ray disc titles without Samsung firmware upgrades that match the new releases. Consumers have verified with the Company that does not intend to provide future firmware updates." The case accuses Samsung of consumer fraud, breach of express warranty and breach of implied warranty. In addition, Samsung is accused of unjust enrichment, which simply means it benefited monetarily by selling the defective Blu-ray players. Read on -->Link

11 Feb 2008 by J.TECH Legal Issues Permalink

Intel Hit with Patent Suit

By Agam Shah, February 09, 2008 Intel was hit with a lawsuit by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation on Wednesday, alleging that the chip maker used a WARF invention in its processor architectures, including the popular Core 2 Duo. The patent infringement lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, alleges that Intel implemented in many of its chips a University of Wisconsin, Madison, invention of a circuit that executes instructions to speed up processor performance. The patent, titled "Table based data speculation circuit for parallel processing computer," was awarded to four university researchers in 1998. WARF is looking for an undisclosed amount of compensation from Intel and an order for the company to stop selling certain processors, including the Core 2 Duo. A court date for legal proceedings has not been set yet, said Janet Kelly, communications director for WARF. Read on -->Link Comment: Makes you wonder how original Intel really is when creating New CPUs doesn't it

09 Feb 2008 by J.TECH Legal Issues Permalink

Dell Fires 900 Employees, Closes Canadian Call Center

By Shane McGlaun - February 1, 2008 Dell suddenly closes Edmonton facility after touting it as the top-performing facility globally. The Edmonton Journal reports that Dell has closed its Canadian call center located in Edmonton after only three years of a 20-year lease was fulfilled. The closing of the call center resulted in the loss of 900 jobs to employees working in the center. Dell recently decided to change its traditional exclusive marketing approach of direct sales and now offers computers in retail outlets. With stiff competition in the computer industry Dell has had to fight hard for market share with the likes of HP, Acer and Apple, and is now attempting to cut costs in an effort to remain competitive. Read on -->Link

02 Feb 2008 by J.TECH Legal Issues Permalink

Microsoft eyes Yahoo to topple Google

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE Feb 2, 2008 Unable to topple Google Inc. on its own, Microsoft Corp. is trying to force crippled rival Yahoo Inc. into a shotgun marriage, with a wager worth nearly $42 billion that the two companies together will have a better chance of tackling the Internet search leader. Microsoft's audacious attempt to buy Yahoo, spelled out in an unsolicited offer announced Friday, shows just how much Google threatens the world's largest software maker's grip on how people interact with computers. For Yahoo, the bid represents another painful reminder of how missed opportunities and mismanagement combined to open the door for Google to supplant it as the Internet's main gateway, decimating its stock price in the process. Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft is trying to avoid a similar fate at Google's hands as more people access services and computer programs online instead of relying on packaged software applications. Although Microsoft remains the world's most valuable technology company, its position will become more precarious unless it can cultivate a more loyal Internet audience and generate more online ad revenue to subsidize the free services taken for granted on the Internet. Read on -->Link

02 Feb 2008 by J.TECH Legal Issues Permalink

Intel Responds to EU Charges With Demands of Its Own

By Jason Mick - January 7, 2008 Intel insists its innocence as it responds to antitrust allegations from the European Union. Intel revels in the glory of being the CPU industry leader, at least for the time being. However, like many industry leaders, they have found themselves the primary target of the crosshairs of criticism. Further, as with any company that is dominating the market, allegations of antitrust violations become a serious threat to the company worldwide. AMD said Intel's anti-competitive practices established a monopoly in the microprocessor market. AMD then sued Intel in U.S. courts in June of 2005. The company since mounted a long-standing legal battle that included ads in major newspapers and the a website chastising Intel who it portrays as sinister and monopolistic. AMD received an ally in the form of the European Union. In July 2007, it announced that based on evidence collected in a multi year investigation, including materials found in a June 2005 raid of European Intel offices, it was filing charges against Intel for engaging in anticompetitive practices. Read on -->Link

08 Jan 2008 by J.TECH Legal Issues Permalink

Dell Hit WIth Patent Infringement Lawsuit

By Sharon Gaudin, December 10, 2007 A company that creates touch-screen technology has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against PC maker Dell Inc. and Motion Computing, Inc., a developer of tablet computers. The complaint, filed by Typhoon Touch Technologies, Inc., seeks an unspecified amount of damages and a permanent injunction enjoining Dell and Motion Computing from continued alleged infringement. The suit was filed Wednesday, Dec. 5, in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Texas. Typhoon filed the suit as co-plaintiff with its licensee, Nova Mobility Systems, Inc., a maker of tablet personal computers and handheld systems. "As alleged in our complaint, we believe that both Dell and Motion Computing are using and profiting from our patented technologies," said James Shepard, CEO and president of Typhoon Touch Technologies, in a statement. "It is our responsibility to ask the court to enjoin Dell and Motion Computing from the continued violation of our patents and seek recovery of lost profits." Read on -->Link

11 Dec 2007 by J.TECH Legal Issues Permalink

<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next >>

The microprocessor is the brain of every computer, a transformational technology in today's world. And as in all markets, innovation in the microprocessor sector depends on competition – the ability of consumers and businesses worldwide to choose solutions based on one microprocessor over another.

Our competitor has harmed and limited competition in the microprocessor industry. On behalf of ourselves, our customers and partners, and consumers worldwide, we have been forced to take action.

We have filed a 48-page, detailed Complaint in federal district court. Because, as our Complaint explains exhaustively, Intel's actions include:

• Forcing major customers to accept exclusive deals,
• Withholding rebates and marketing subsidies as a means of punishing customers who buy more than prescribed quantities of processors from AMD,
• Threatening retaliation against customers doing business with AMD,
• Establishing quotas keeping retailers from selling the computers they want, and
• Forcing PC makers to boycott AMD product launches.

For most competitive situations, this is just business. But from a monopolist, this is illegal.

Read on --> Link