Wires Crossed #91 – July 6

Apple Vs Samsung – It’s On Again
Yet again to of the world’s leading CE companies are going hammer and tongs at each other over patents infringements. Apple and Samsung are at each other’s throats, and once again Apple is the aggressor. Earlier this year, Apple tried to stop the sale of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab slates because of infringement issues regarding some of the similar technology used in the iPad. Now it is trying to stop Samsung selling the Nexus smartphone in the US – again due to patent issues. The cynic in us says, that if the Nexus smartphone is anything like the Galaxy Tab, maybe alleged patent infringements aren’t the real issue – the standard of the product might be more closer to the mark

Israeli Employees Accused Of Industrial Espionage
Then again, instead of allegedly ‘stealing’ patents, some people take the more direct approach as members of one Israeli security firm have been accused of doing.  In what prosecutors are saying is a case of industrial espionage gone wrong, three members of an Israeli firm are alleged to have to and stolen OLED technology from LG and Samsung. Prosecutors allege that the three people who stealing the information on behalf of Taiwanese and Chinese companies. This could get ugly!

Toshiba Fined $87 Million Over Price Fixing – But Won’t Pay A Cent
Wow, when it rains it pours. This time it’s Toshiba in the firing line, who has been fined a whopping $87 million for price fixing in the United States. But before shareholders get antsy about their share prices, there are a couple of silver linings. While $87 million is a huge chunk of money to us mere plebs, with revenue of just over $80 billion we’re sure they’ll be OK. However, on top of that because other defendants in the case have already paid hefty fines, Toshiba believes it won’t have to pay a cent because those defendants have covered the cost. They also plan to appeal the decision and are still claiming innocence.

Judge Order Twitter To Release Tweets
Some civil libertarians in the US might see this as a direct violation of their First Amendments rights with regard to free speech, but a Judge in Manhattan, New York, has demanded that Twitter release deleted tweets by Occupy Wall St protester Malcolm Harris. This particular instance isn’t the problem as the matter is rather trivial, but what is upsetting the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is where it will all end. Private speech is protected under the First Amendment of the US Constitution, but increasingly judges in America believe that postings on social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook are in the public domain. As expected the ACLU has filed a brief stating that prosecutors need to obtain a search warrant from a judge to access deleted tweets. This one isn’t going away any time soon.