Bleacher Report, an upstart sports site powered by legions of volunteer contributors, has been acquired by Time Warner for a reported $175 million. The deal validates the unusual content creation model of BR’s founders and beefs up TW’s sports spread. Read more at paidContent »
A shell company says it owns the right to insert certain types of ads into online videos. Its lawsuit against popular viral site Buzzfeed shows how the problem of “patent trolling” is touching every part of the technology and media industry. Read more »
Craigslist this week told users that it can use the classifieds they post as the basis for lawsuits against other sites. The claim appears weak from a legal standpoint and even worse from a public relations one. Read more »
Facebook wants a court to approve a deal that will see it pay $20 million to settle the ‘sponsored stories’ controversy. But now, as groups file objections, the judge is questioning whether the settlement’s blacked out financial figures can remain secret. Read more »
Retailers have long complained it’s unfair that online retailers don’t have to collect the same sales tax. Now that a proposed law is about to change that, politicians are warning it will hurt the internet economy. Read more »
Apple’s legal tactics are as carefully designed as its products. Here’s a look at Apple’s distinct efforts to wrap its gadgets in a legal forcefield and drive away competitors. Read more »
Twitter set off its first major public relations crisis this week when it suspended the account of a journalist who had been criticizing the social media site’s corporate partner, NBC, over its Olympic coverage. It is finally trying to fix things. Read more »
Twitter has restored the account a U.K. journalist who is at the center of a firestorm over corporate control of media and speech. And the tweet that landed him in trouble is still visible on his timeline. Read more »
NBC asked Twitter to suspend the account of a journalist who has been a prominent critic of its Olympics coverage. Twitter — an NBC partner — complied. Is this censorship or is there some other explanation? Read more »
Class action lawyers want Steve Jobs’ biographer to hand over his source material to help them prove that Apple and publishers fixed e-book prices. But a judge has agreed that the author can refuse under a law that protects journalists and their sources. Read more at paidContent »
The judge in a highly-anticipated trial over smartphones and tablets sided with Apple on Friday over how a jury should look at four key patents. The ruling means the jury will act as “ordinary observers” instead of relying on detailed legal instructions to understand the patents. Read more »
The long-running lawsuit over Google’s decision to scan millions of books could be nearing the end game. Google’s latest filing, in a case poised to redefine copyright law, cites everything from Mad Men to minority rights to argue that book scanning is “fair use.” Read more at paidContent »
Patent trolls continue to take it to young companies with a vengeance. This time, a shell company that claims to own basic navigation technology wants the maker of a popular location-based “check-in” service to pay up. Read more »
A U.K. judge who found that Samsung didn’t copy the iPad took the unusual step this month of ordering Apple to broadcast that finding to the British public. Now, Apple has won at least a temporary reprieve. Read more »
Everyone likes the idea of a thriving website sustained by a community of local readers. But too often “local” has been the stuff of journalistic ideals rather than real-world business plans. Real estate blog, Curbed, appears to be bucking this trend. How? Read more at paidContent »
Apple is doubling down on efforts to protect the term “app store” at a time when it feels increasingly threatened by Amazon’s push into the app and mobile market. Amazon’s Appstore for Android is much smaller than Apple’s App Store but it brings in good revenue. Read more »
A long-running dance between the European Commission and Google over antitrust allegations is finally coming to an end amidst reports that the two sides have reached an “understanding.” Read more »
Craiglist has followed up on earlier threats and sued popular apartment site PadMapper for dipping into its listings. Who’s to blame — PadMapper for free-riding? Or Craigslist for refusing to innovate? Read more »
This one’s a doozy even by patent troll standards. A shell company that is already suing Apple and Nokia over a common autocomplete feature is now branching out to file dozens of patent claims against online video firms and retailers. Read more »
The Justice Department today answered 868 public comments it received in response to a controversial settlement over alleged price-fixing between Apple and publishers. The Department said it will not change the terms of the deal — and effectively told its critics to jump in the lake. Read more at paidContent »
An insensitive tweet has trigged a rightful cascade of contempt that could stain a dress shop for years. At the same time, the fallout from the tweet shows how social media is changing the nature of crisis communications. Read more »
To keep tabs on clients and competitors, many businesses rely on a handful of Google alerts and Twitter feeds. But this is becoming harder as the digital din grows ever louder. Now, listening platforms are emerging to help businesses monitor their online mentions. Read more at paidContent »
Google offered few details about search advertising on cell phones even while noting that 400 million people are now using mobile devices that use its Android software. Meanwhile, Google’s CEO was unable to speak about the topic at all. Read more »
Google announced Q2 earnings that showed the company is still enjoying strong growth. The company’s results beat expectations but its crucial ‘cost-per-click’ metric for ads continues to decline, likely increasing the pressure on Google to find a way to diversify its reliance on search advertising. Read more »
Twitter announced today that it is filing an appeal in a case that is helping to define privacy rights in the social media era. Read more »
Thirty states have bagged $52 million from publishers as part of a price fixing investigation involving Apple. More money is on the way. While state leaders say the money is for overcharged consumers, legal and antirust experts say the arrangement is unusual. Read more at paidContent »
A British judge raised eyebrows last week when he ruled that Samsung’s tablets did not infringe Apple’s patents because they were not as “cool.” Now, the same judge has followed up with an unusual order. Read more »
The surreal global saga pitting the entertainment industry against a technology cult hero has taken a new twist. The judge presiding over the extradition of Kim Dotcom, founder of file-sharing site Megaupload, has stepped down over a controversial comment about US copyright law. Read more »
The Associated Press continues to evolve from a news service to a broader, one-stop shop for a broad variety of content. AP now has audio offerings thanks to a new alliance with indie music licensor Audiosocket. Read more at paidContent »
The traditional textbook publishing model, based on dead trees and middlemen, can force students to shell out hundreds of dollars for a stack of photocopies. Now, two law professors are offering an alternative at a fraction of the price. Read more at paidContent »
Here are some of the stories people are talking about this morning: As Tablet Race Heats Up, Apple May Try Smaller Device (NYT) Microsoft-NBC JV ends after 16 years, making way for NBCNews.com (paidContent) Does an app store’s size matter if content is the killer app? (CNET) […] Read more at paidContent »
Big data has become the latest front for the patent troll epidemic as a shell company is suing firms for using a common software framework known as the Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS). Read more »
For better or worse, the self-published erotic trilogy ’50 Shades’ is now a bona fide smash, attracting a seven figure deal from Random House and plans for a movie. No surprise then, it’s also spawning a spate of imitations and borderline rip-offs. Read more at paidContent »
Only a handful of very large software and entertainment associations are permitted to use the official FBI logo to warn consumers about the perils of piracy. Until now, that is. Read more at paidContent »
A coalition of submarine cable operators is balking at a proposal that would end their exemption from contributing to the Universal Service Fund, a pool of money intended to improve access to telecommunications across America. Read more »
Canada’s Supreme Court this morning further defined the balance between music owners’ right to be paid and the public’s right to use music in ways that don’t trigger copyright infringement. The Court also likened the internet to a “technological taxi” for online content. Read more at paidContent »
Creative Mobile, maker of popular games like Drag Racer, is the latest company to fight back against a shell company that is demanding app makers pay up if they include a common “in-app purchase” button. Read more »
Here are some of the stories people are talking about this morning: Free-Falling Groupon Has Its Problems, but Bankruptcy Talk Is Bunk (All Things D) …
Diller and Aereo win first round: injunction denied (paidContent) Read more at paidContent »
Here are some of the stories people are talking about this morning: Free-Falling Groupon Has Its Problems, but Bankruptcy Talk Is Bunk (All Things D) …
Diller and Aereo win first round: injunction denied (paidContent) Read more at paidContent »
U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh has abruptly recused herself from a high-profile case in which Facebook had recently proposed to pay at least $10 million to settle accusations that it violated users’ privacy when it used their photos for “sponsored stories” without their permission. Read more at paidContent »
