PC Tech World: settles

Showing posts with label settles. Show all posts

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Macmillan settles up with DoJ, Apple now stands alone in e-book price fixing case

It took awhile to read the writing on the wall, but Macmillan has finally settled the antitrust lawsuit brought by the US Justice Department for the publisher's alleged e-book price fixing. In doing so, Macmillan joins Hachette, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster and Penguin in choosing not to go to trial against the DoJ's lawyers. It's an about-face from Macmillan's initial stance in settlement negotiations, when it claimed that the DoJ's terms were far too onerous.

Why settle now? Company CEO John Sargent told the Wall Street Journal that the company changed its tune not because it was guilty, but "because the potential penalties became too high to risk even the possibility of an unfavorable outcome." Should the settlement terms be approved by the court, retailers will be able to discount Macmillan titles, regardless of existing contracts, for 23 months starting from December 18, 2012. With Macmillan bowing out, Apple remains as Uncle Sam's lone legal opponent at the trial scheduled in June. Given Apple's staunch denial of wrongdoing and general willingness to litigate, it seems we may be in for some more legal fireworks this summer.

Follow the Saga E-Book Price FixingMacmillan settles up with DoJ, Apple now stands alone in e-book price fixing caseFeb 8th 2013 2:11PM

Penguin joins publishers settling with the DOJ over e-book pricesDec 18th 2012 8:44PM

Judge approves settlement for Hachette, Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins in e-book lawsuitSep 6th 2012 4:59PM

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Path settles with the FTC over contact privacy violations

Path was quick to mend its ways after a dust-up over collecting contact information from iOS users without their consent, but it wasn't quick enough to avoid FTC claims of violating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. All that is just water under the bridge in the wake of a new settlement. As compensation for collecting contact information from 3,000 children without their parents' permission, Path has agreed to both pay a $800,000 fee and implement a privacy plan that will require audits from an outside party every other year. Consider it a lesson learned for Path and other mobile app firms, which now know that scraping personal data may have unintended consequences.

Via: TechCrunch, The Next Web

Source: FTC

By: Unknown On 8:49 PM

Kodak closes its digital imaging patent sale, settles disputes

Kodak Completes $527 Million Transaction Related to Digital Imaging Patents
ROCHESTER, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Eastman Kodak Company has completed a transaction for the sale and licensing of its digital imaging patents for net proceeds of $527 million.
The transaction, which achieves one of Kodak's key restructuring objectives, follows other recent major accomplishments that include final Court approval last week for the company's interim and exit financing. Kodak's monetization of IP assets further builds on its momentum toward emergence in mid-2013.
A portion of the $527 million was paid by 12 intellectual property licensees organized by Intellectual Ventures and RPX Corporation. Another portion was paid by Intellectual Ventures, which acquired a substantial majority of the digital imaging patent portfolio subject to these new licenses, as well as previously existing licenses.
"The licensing and sale of our digital imaging patents is another major milestone toward successful emergence," Antonio M. Perez, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said. "We are on track to emerge as a profitable, sustainable company."
The completion of the sale enables Kodak to repay a substantial amount of its initial DIP loan, satisfy a key condition for its newly approved financing facility, and position its core Commercial Imaging business for future growth and success.
Kodak retains significant competitive advantages and strong growth prospects in its core Commercial Imaging businesses. In addition to retaining rights to use the 1,100 digital imaging patents sold in the transaction, Kodak maintains ownership of about 9,600 patents, including many focused on its core business.
The transaction includes an agreement to settle current patent-related litigation between the participants and Kodak, which avoids additional litigation costs and helps to ensure that management and the company's resources focus on enhancing core operations.

View the original article here

By: Unknown On 8:48 PM

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Infosys says settles whistleblower lawsuit in the U.S.

Employees of Indian software company Infosys walk past Infosys logos at their campus in the Electronic City area in Bangalore September 4, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Vivek Prakash

BANGALORE | Fri Dec 14, 2012 6:41am EST

BANGALORE (Reuters) - Infosys, India's No. 2 software services firm, said on Friday it settled a lawsuit filed by former employee Satya Dev Tripuraneni.

The lawsuit filed against the company has been withdrawn following successful mediation, the company said in a statement on its website. An amicable settlement has been reached without any admission of liability, Infosys said.

Tripuraneni, an American ex-employee, had said he was harassed by his supervisor after he accused Infosys of visa fraud, according to the lawsuit filed on August 2 in the federal court for the Northern District of California.

A separate lawsuit by another employee Jack Palmer, alleging retaliation after pointing out what he said was the misuse of U.S. B1 visas, was thrown out by a U.S. judge in August.

(Reporting By Harichandan Arakali; Editing by Anand Basu)

View the original article here

By: Dilusha On 4:47 PM