Tech Law: Facebook to Open Code, Twitter Sued Over Patents, More

(MoneyWatch)  A look at highlights of the past week in the high tech legal world: courts, regulation, and lawsuits.

Facebook must cough up source code -- No software company (other than those in the open source movement) likes to show its source code. But that's what Facebook may have to do, according to an order by a judge involved in the patent suit brought by Leader Technologies. [Source: TechDirt]

TechRadium sues Twitter -- Public safety notification company TechRadium is suing Twitter for patent violation. Didn't anyone tell them that the Whale still isn't making any money? [Source: TechCrunch]

Criminal prosecution of domain name theft -- A New Jersey resident, arrested for domain name theft, appears to be facing the first criminal prosection for the practice. [Source: Domain Name News]

Microsoft and Yahoo start the deal paperwork -- Microsoft and Yahoo are starting the process to obtain regulatory permission for their ad deal. [Source: All Things Digital]

SCO may head into bankruptcy -- A judge has denied SCO permission to sell itself in a deal with Gulf Capital Partners and has appointed a bankruptcy trustee for the company. [Source: Ars Technica]

Brutal Legend dispute may be over -- Apparently, Activision and Double Fine have come to terms in their long-standing action over the video game title, Brutal Legend. [Source: GameDaily]

Gavel image via Flickr user Thomas Roche, CC 2.0.