App Developers Dropping Out Of US Out Of Fears Over Patent Lawsuits

from the innovation! dept

A whole bunch of you have been submitting this story about how mobile app developers around the globe have begun pulling their apps from the US Apple iOS and Android Market stores because they're afraid of getting hit by patent lawsuits in the US. This shouldn't surprise anyone. Plenty of folks in the tech industry have been warning for well over a decade about the problems with our patent system and how it's basically being used to extract money from innovators, rather than to encourage innovation. The article quotes a bunch of developers, some of whom say that they're "concerned about my future as a software developer due to these patent issues."

At what point will people finally admit that the system is broken? Totally and completely broken?

And yet, what did Congress do? It took them five or six years, but they passed a totally toothless bit of patent reform that won't address a single one of the problems we all know are facing the system. But how can people deny that the patent system is a problem when it's clearly keeping innovation out of the US market?

Filed Under: android, innovation, ios, patents, trolls, us

Verizon Tells Customer To Get A Lawyer & A Subpoena To Get An Itemized Bill

from the judge-tells-verizon-to-get-stuffed dept

I've noticed in the last couple years that major telcos have really ramped up their customer service. I've had very positive exchanges with folks at Sprint and AT&T -- two companies, which used to have reputations for horrible customer service. Sprint, in particular, appears to have made it abundantly clear to customer service agents that they should bend over backwards to help customers. Apparently, Verizon has gone in a different direction. A woman, who called Verizon to try to find out about the $4.19 she was being charged for six local calls, was told by Verizon reps that the only way it would provide her an itemized bill was to get a lawyer and have the lawyer get a subpoena to force Verizon to disclose the information.

Instead, the woman went to court (by herself) and a judge told Verizon to hand over the itemized bill info.

It is a basic matter of fair business practice that a consumer should be able to contact a utility about a charge on a bill and learn what the charge is for and learn that the charge was correctly applied. The only verification that Verizon's witness could offer that a charge like [the customer's] $4.19 measured use charge was accurate and billed correctly was her faith in the accuracy of Verizon's computer system. The only way that Verizon would offer any information about a past charge in response to a consumer inquiry was to require that customer to hire a lawyer and subpoena their own usage information. By no reasonable standard could this be considered reasonable customer service.

The judge has also suggested Verizon should be fined $1,000 for its failure here, and that suggestion will be reviewed by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission.

Filed Under: itemized bill, subpoena
Companies: verizon

You Don't Own What You Thought You Bought: Verizon Breaks Phones; Turns Off Feature

from the how-nice-of-them dept

Yet another reminder that, in this day and age, you often don't actually own the products that you've purchased. The latest to make this point is Verizon, who has begun remotely crippling Android smartphones, turning off a feature that let people use the phones as mobile hotspots. The reason? Well, to make you pay more to re-enable the feature you used to have:

Verizon this week began pushing smartphone updates that cripple some devices' innate ability to be used as a mobile hotspot -- for free. Specifically, Verizon pushed an update to the HTC Thunderbolt that blocked the devices embedded hotspot functionality, making the device less valuable and less useful to consumers. Why? Verizon wants to ensure that users have to pay an additional $20 a month mobile hotspot fee.

The company has also received some help from Google, getting the Android maker to remove any tethering apps from the Google marketplace, thereby making it (somewhat) more difficult to workaround this feature-kill. As Karl Bode notes in the post linked above, this seems the opposite of "open", which both Verizon and Google have been pushing when it comes to Android.

Filed Under: android, freedom to tinker, phones, tethering
Companies: google, verizon

Microsoft Opens Its WiFi Data Collection Source Code; Why Doesn't Google Do The Same?

from the important-questions dept

Google's been facing a lot of difficulty lately due to its ridiculously dumb implementation of its WiFi access point data collection software. Lots of companies use such software to try to create a location map that can be used in the absence of GPS. Both Microsoft and Apple have similar projects, and yet it's really only Google that's gotten in trouble for theirs, mainly for the way it collected data. Now comes the news that Microsoft is releasing the source code of their WiFi data collection software, which only serves to raise more questions about why Apple and Google haven't done the same.

Filed Under: data collection, open source, wifi
Companies: apple, google, microsoft

Google Wants Another Court To Determine If Accessing Open WiFi Is Wiretapping

from the maybe-someone-who-understands-tech dept

After an apparently, technically clueless judge ruled last week that WiFi is not a radio communication, and thus suggested Google's collection of open WiFi data represents illegal wiretapping, Google has asked for an immediate appeal on that point, noting that "reasonable judges could disagree," and that fighting a whole trial on other points wouldn't make sense if another court says WiFi is, in fact, a radio communication and, thus, an open WiFi network is not subject to wiretap laws.

Filed Under: open wifi, packet sniffing, street view, wifi, wiretap
Companies: google

Patents As Theft: How Oracle & Microsoft Seek To Profit From Android Despite Having Nothing To Do With It

from the shameful dept

People talk about patent laws as if they're about "protecting property." If only that were true. In most cases, they seem to be about the exact opposite. They're about getting paid for things that don't belong to you and which you had absolutely nothing to do with. Take, for example, Google's Android operating system. Microsoft has been using its patents to demand a cut of every Android phone. In fact, people have pointed out that Microsoft is likely going to make more money from Android than it makes from its own competing mobile operating system. Now add to that Oracle's decision to demand $15 to $20 for every Android device, and what you get seems like highway robbery. You have two companies -- Oracle and Microsoft -- who have done absolutely nothing to contribute to Android in any way, but who are both using large questionable patent portfolios to demand a cut. That's not protecting or encouraging innovation. That seems like the exact opposite. It seems to be shaking down people for cash that they have no right to. I'd argue that's much more like "theft" than anyone who infringes on a patent by building something the market wants.

Filed Under: android, licenses, patents, smartphones
Companies: google, microsoft, oracle

Judge Who Doesn't Understand Technology Says WiFi Is Not A Radio Communication

from the seriously? dept

Well, this is disappointing. As you probably know, about a year ago, Google admitted to accidentally collecting some data from open WiFi networks via its Google Street View cars. The cars were setup not just to photograph streets, but to do some location-based tracking by cataloging WiFi networks (a very common location setting technique). If you understand basic technology, you can understand what they were doing, and how it was almost certainly not to capture data from the network, but just to determine location info. Furthermore, the only data it collected was from open WiFi networks where people were transmitting unencrypted data in the open. This was data that was being broadcast.

But, lots of people don't understand technology and people around the world, including in governments, freaked out about this data collection. So, of course, people started filing highly questionable class action lawsuits. As more and more such lawsuits were filed, they were all consolidated into a single court. Earlier this year, we noted that the judge was trying to determine if Google's actions amounted to an illegal wiretap under ECPA (the Electronic Communications Privacy Act).

If you understand how wireless networks work, the idea that this is wiretapping is hilarious. And wrong. This is data that is broadcast in the open. Anyone can read it. You don't need special equipment or anything. You just need basic software to see what data is traveling across the network.

Tragically, the judge has gone the other way on this point (so far). Google had asked for the wiretapping/ECPA claim to be dismissed, as it claimed (quite reasonably) that it wasn't wiretapping. The judge put together an astoundingly confused ruling that decides otherwise. While the link here blames the wording of ECPA, which is certainly partly to blame, I think the judge's confusion over the technology is equally at fault. Basically, it's true that ECPA is somewhat vaguely worded, but it does say that:

It shall not be unlawful under this chapter or chapter 121 of this title for any person... to intercept or access an electronic communication made through an electronic communication system that is configured so that such electronic communication is readily accessible to the general public

Furthermore, the statue defines "readily accessible to the general public... with respect to a radio communication" by saying that it is the case if the communication is "not scrambled or encrypted."

So, this should be open and shut. An open WiFi network is clearly readily accessible to the general public by its nature. And the statute doubles down on that point by noting that the communication was not scrambled or encrypted, and thus is, by the definition in the statute, "readily accessible to the general public."

So we're done here. Right? Not unlawful. Except... no. The judge instead goes through some of the most convoluted reasoning imaginable to try to claim that data transmitted over WiFi is not radio communication. Say what now? It is true that ECPA was drafted before WiFi existed, but that doesn't mean it's not a radio communication. That's what all wireless communication is. It's a form of radio communication. That's just basic technology. But not to this judge. And, thus, Google doesn't get to dismiss the wiretapping charges. Hopefully they'll appeal and somewhere up the chain this will be corrected.

Filed Under: data, ecpa, open wifi, radio communication, street view, wifi, wireless, wiretapping
Companies: google

Nortel Patents Sold For $4.5 Billion To Apple, EMC, Microsoft, RIM, Ericsson & Sony

from the this-won't-end-well dept

Well, it wasn't too difficult to see this one coming. A year ago, all that was left of Nortel was a giant patent portfolio that everyone knew would result in a bidding war. At the time, people predicted the portfolio was worth an astounding $1.1 billion. Back in April, Google made news by placing a $900 million "stalking horse" bid for the patents, which had many people shaking their heads at the size of the bid. Google had made it pretty clear that it was seeking to buy the patents to keep them from being used by others to sue and block Google. Of course, Microsoft whined and complained to the government about how unfair it would be if Google won the patents. The government was apparently unconcerned.

So, Microsoft apparently got together with Apple, EMC, Ericsson, RIM and Sony... and coughed up an insane $4.5 billion. It's kind of brilliant in a nefarious way. With six companies together, they could each spend less than the $900 million initially pitched by Google... and then just all agree not to sue each other, but leave open the option to sue anyone else. And, given just how aggressive these companies have been with patents lately, you can rest assured that "license" demands will be made and there will almost certainly be lawsuits. Progress via the courtroom, apparently.

Filed Under: patents, wireless
Companies: apple, emc, ericsson, google, microsoft, nortel, rim, sony

Arizona Police Told To Search Arrestee iPhones For Anti-Police Apps

from the unreasonable-search-and... dept

Last week's big LulzSec (pre-disbandment) dump of Arizona police info apparently included some documents telling police to search the iPhones of arrestees for specific apps, including OpenWatch, a simple app for recording people (targeted at authorities) without it displaying on the phone that they're being recorded. The police were also told to look for speed trap identifying apps and an app that lets people spoof caller ID numbers. As we've discussed a few times, there are some legal questions about whether or not cops can just search your iPhone during, say, a routine traffic stop, but tragically a few courts have said it's fine. That seems rather troubling, as the cops can search your phone after just a routine traffic stop... and then potentially get you in more trouble just because they don't like the types of apps you have?

Separately, the article notes that the Justice Department has been sending around notices to local law enforcement, telling them to be aware that iPhone users have a feature that lets them remotely wipe their phones. This is part of the mobile me service, and the wiping has a perfectly legitimate purpose: to let someone who has lost their phone or had it stolen, to wipe the data from the phone. It's pretty useful, really. But, to police who are seizing phones and want to search them later, they're scared that evidence can be destroyed this way, so the Justice Department is telling them to store the phone in Faraday bags to keep them disconnected from any network, so they can't receive the "wipe" signal.

Filed Under: apps, iphones, lulzsec, police