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Posts with tag LawSuit

eBay Buyer Leaves Neutral Feedback, Gets Sued for $10,000 by Seller

eBay Buyer Leaves Neutral Feedback, Gets Sued for $10,000 by SellerA few months back eBay made the controversial decision to remove the ability for sellers to leave negative feedback about buyers. The site said it got too many complaints and decided that the system wasn't worth the trouble. So, with that ability gone, when a seller of some collectible coins felt jilted by a less than positive review from a buyer, he did the purely logical thing, which was to sued said buyer for $10,000.

Steve Shellhorn was the buyer in this transaction and didn't like the packaging job done by the seller. When he received the package, he found that many of the coins were unprotected in an envelope. So, when the seller requested feedback, Shellhorn left him a less than complementary, but still not negative, report. The seller responded with the lawsuit, which was ultimately tossed out of court, but only after Shellhorn had to pay $500 for an attorney. That's the kind of auction fee that nobody needs. [Source: King5, via Fark]

Couple Sues Google Over Street View of Its House

Couple Sues Google Over Street View of Their House

We are all in agreement, Google Street View is freaking creepy, but is it lawsuit worthy? Aaron C. and Christine A. Boring (yes, their real names) are suing Google because images of their home appear on Google Maps' Street View. According to the Boring suit filed in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Oakridge Lane is a private road and the "reckless conduct" of Google has "exposed plaintiff's private information to the public."

Never mind that there is clearly no Private Road sign at the beginning of Oakridge Lane when viewing it in Google Maps Street View, or that photos of the Boring home, its approximate value, taxes paid, and details of the internal structure are all available on the Allegheny County Web site.

All of that is even completely irrelevant, since taking photographs of homes from public streets is clearly protected by the First Amendment. Just ask Barbara Streisand who sued an aerial mapping company for including photographs of her home in its products. Streisand lost that suit and was forced to pay the companies legal fees.

From Newsvine

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Apple Slapped With Class Action Suit Over Misleading iMac Ads

Apple Slapped with Class Action Suit Over Misleading iMac Ads
Apple, no stranger to class action law suits at this point, is under the gun again. This time for misleading claims about the screens on its 20 inch model iMac PCs. Apple claims that its screens can display millions of colors -- 16,777,216 to be exact -- and while that is true of the 24-inch model and the previous generation 20- and 24-inch models, the recent update to the iMac line brought a downgrade for the 20-inch model.

Instead of using the same 8 bit in-plane switching screens as the previous generation, the new 20-inch iMacs went with an older technology called 6-bit twisted nematic film. This older technology limits the screens to 262,144 simultaneous colors, which limits the viewing angle and negatively effects color accuracy, making the screen completely ill-suited for video editing and digital imaging and photography.

The suit has been filed by the California based law firm Kabateck Brown Kellner.

From Consumerist

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Apple Questions NYC's GreeNYC Program and Logo

Apple Gets Arrogant, Attacks NYC's GreeNYC Program and LogoApple Gets Arrogant, Attacks NYC's GreeNYC Program and Logo

New York -- 'The Big Apple' -- has filed for a trademark for it's new GreeNYC logo that is being plastered on the city's new hybrid taxis and buses. Thats the logo above, the infinity sign as an apple, with stem and leaf. Next to that is the Apple (formerly Apple Computers) logo. The silver apple shape with a leaf and a bite taken out of it.

Apple thinks the GreeNYC logo is a bit too similar to the Apple logo and has asked that the city's trademark request be denied. Apple claims the new logo will cause confusion and "seriously injure the reputation which [Apple] has established for its goods and services."

But before we go off carrying torches and pitchforks to Steve Jobs' front door perhaps we should see what a patent lawyer has to say about it. Nilay Patel at our sister site Engadget says that this is actually standard practice. Thousands of these types of petitions are filed every year by just about every company out there. Its part of the initial 30 day vetting process of any trademark request. In the end Patel seems to think its likely that Apple and the city of New York will come to some licensing agreement and everyone will just forget this ever happened. And we were really looking forward to forming an angry mob...

We still think this is a bit absurd. New York has been known as the Big Apple since the 1920s, more than 50 years before there was an Apple Computers to speak of.

From Wired and Engadget

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Ex-Con Sues Google For "Crimes Against Humanity"

$5 Billion Google Suit Claims In a lawsuit filed in Pennsylvania Federal Court in Scranton, Google has been accused of "crimes against humanity" and the plaintiff is seeking $5 billion in damages. You might be thinking this has something to do with Google scanning private Gmail messages to better target ads or the company's willingness to filter its search results for the Chinese government. But, no. A man named Dylan Stephen Jayne has accused the Internet giant of somehow orchestrating things so that Jayne's social security number, when turned upside-down and then shuffled around, looks a lot like the word "GOOGLE". According to court documents, Jayne indicates that the Philadelphia 76ers basketball team is also a co-conspirator in this plot against him. He has brought the lawsuit against Google because he has a "responsibility to fight the war on terrorism" and that his "Constitutional right to privacey [sic] is being violated."

Jayne, who recently spent two years in jail for public drunkenness and resisting arrest, is clearly delusional. But, you have to feel bad for the guy who, in documents submitted to the court (and available online), lists his sole possessions as a $200 Burton snowboard and an over-drafted checking account.

And though Jayne's got quite the challenge ahead of him if he's to prove any of this, at least his case is stronger than that of the Nebraska Senator who sued God earlier this week for causing "fearsome floods, egregious earthquakes, horrendous hurricanes, terrifying tornados, pestilential plagues ..."

From Newsvine

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Google Asks Colbert and Stewart to Testify



In what promises to be the most entertaining court trial since 'My Cousin Vinny,' Google is throwing down a challenge to Viacom, which is suing the search company cum omnipresence to the tune of $1 billion for copyright infringement. The challenge: Google wants two of Viacom's best known personalities -- Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert -- to give depositions.

Before Viacom and YouTube ever dealt with each other officially, Stewart's 'Daily Show' and Colbert's 'Colbert Report' were among the most popular videos on YouTube. When the two sides initially agreed to syndicate content in October 2006, the two programs were included in the deal (that is until February, when Viacom demanded that all content to be removed from the site). And, fans of Colbert will remember that last year, he challenged his fans to make him a viral video star when he swung a lightsaber around in front of a green screen so that users could drop in their own backgrounds and edit together custom clips. Becoming a viral video star might be a little difficult without YouTube, now wouldn't it?

In addition to the two comedians, Google also requested depositions from some 30 others, including Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone and CEO Philippe Dauman. Whether the two comedians will actually be deposed is unlikely. Viacom is sure to attempt a block of the depositions, claiming that any testimony Stewart or Colbert could provide would be irrelevant to the case.

But, you never know. And if they do testify, here's to hoping the judge allows video cameras in the courtroom, because this will be huge ... on YouTube.

From BetaNews

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'Second Life' Sexual Genitalia Spawns Lawsuit

Second Life Gets Sexy LawsuitSecond Life is becoming more and more of a mirror of the real world. Real estate, relationships, sex and commerce. Where there's commerce, there are lawsuits. The 3D virtual world now has its first, not-so virtual, copyright lawsuit. Kevin Alderman, owner of SexGen, is suing an avatar (virtual game character) named Volkov Catteneo.

SexGen changes your Ken and Barbie-esque 'Second Life' avatar into an anatomically correct model with 3D-rendered genitalia. The software package also adds a collection of "sexy" animations for your avatar to perform.

Alderman alleges that the man behind Volkov cracked his copy protection scheme and sold illegal copies of the SexGen software. When confronted, Volkov taunted Alderman saying, "What are you going to do? Sue me?" So Alderman sued him. The case is rooted in basic copyright infringement law, and is drawing attention more because of the sexual nature of the content and the fact the lawsuit started in a virtual world.

From USA Today

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