Tech Law: Google Loses in France, GPL Suits Target Many, IBM Sued, More
A look at highlights of last week in the high tech legal world: courts, regulation, and lawsuits.
Total LCD U.S. price fixing fines reach $860 million -- Taiwanese manufacturer Chi Mei was set to pay $220 million to the U.S. for its part in the LCD panel price-fixing case brought against a number of vendors by the Department of Justice. [Source: Engadget]
GPL suit targets 14 electronics companies -- The Software Freedom Law Center has brought suit against electronics-related companies -- including Best Buy, Samsung, Westinghouse, JVC, and Western Digital -- for selling products containing the application BusyBox in violation of the GNU Public License version 2 that governs its use. [Source: ZDNet Between the Lines]
IBM sued for alleged unfair competitive practices -- Neon Enterprise Software is suing IBM, alleging that the company made false statements to its customers to hinder Neon's sales. [Source: InfoWorld]
EU drops last antitrust case against Microsoft -- The European Union ended its last pending antitrust case against Microsoft when the latter agreed to let European customers choose a browser from a menu. [Source: AP]
French court rules against Google in copyright case -- A French court ruled that Google must pay $430,000 to La Martiniere, which owns a publisher in France, for copyright violation from scanning books. [Source: CNET]
Converse Technology settles option backdating class action -- Converse Technology has agreed to pay $225 million to settle a securities class action suit over stock option backdating and other accounting issues. [Source: Barron's Tech Trader Daily]
Citadel Broadcasting files for bankruptcy -- Citadel Broadcasting filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. [Source: AP]
Gavel image via Flickr user Thomas Roche, CC 2.0.