News, Law aspects

Google is investigated under 9 cases brought against it with the EU regulators, according to the sources with the knowledge of the matter.

So far the European Commission confirmed 4 cases against Google. The new complaints will extend EU regulator’s current investigation.

"The Commission has nine formal complaints now. The new complaints come from small companies," said one of the sources who declined to provide details because of the sensitivity of the matter.

The Federal Trade Commission granted an approval for video game maker Electronic Arts to purchase PopCap Games.

In a move to better position itself in a competitive social game market EA decided to enter into a deal estimated at up to $1.3 billion to acquire PopCap that owns licenses for such popular video games as "Bejeweled" and "Plants vs. Zombies."

The FTC put the deal on a list of approved transactions. It issues the list several times a week.

On Thursday Microsoft Corp stated that a review of its US tax obligations in past years by a government would negatively impact its financial statements in case it is not resolved in its favor.

Among other things the Internal Revenue Service was looking at Microsoft's use of transfer pricing, or methods of booking prices and sales between subsidiaries which allows big companies to avail of opportunities to report earnings in lower-tax jurisdictions.

An Australian police remanded a 35-year-old man from the country town of Castlemaine in Victoria for making an order of bomb-making equipment on eBay at an amount of $AU17,000.

Talking at the Bendigo Magistrates Court, Phillip Marsh explained that his aim was to “make fireworks” out of his purchased materials that included potassium nitrate, charcoal powder, sulphur, detonator cord, and military paraphernalia including anti-personnel mines.

Motorola Solutions Inc was declined to dismiss a class action lawsuit filed against the company over allegations that it misled its shareholders about deteriorating prospects for its cellphone business, resulting in investment losses.

On Monday, US District Judge Amy St. Eve in Chicago ruled there is a "genuine dispute" as to whether predecessor company Motorola Inc in 2006 and early 2007 hid key information about its ability to compete with such rivals as Nokia Oyj and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd.

A top HTC executive stated this week that the company will still appeal against a preliminary decision by the International Trade Commission in a case brought by Apple.

Winston Yung, a Chief Financial Officer at HTC, said Wednesday that the company has not yet considered a settlement in the case, though he would not rule out any possibilities.

"We are going to appeal. We are confident that we have a strong case," said Yung.

On July 15, the International Trade Commission (ITC) made a preliminary ruling that HTC infringed on two of Apple's patents.

Samsung LED Co Ltd is asking US International Trade Commission to ban imports of LED products from Siemens' (SIEGn.DE) light bulb unit Osram and affiliates Osram Opto Semiconductors and Osram Sylvania Inc.

In a Sunday statement Samsung LED said it had also filed a lawsuit with the US District Court for Delaware over patent infringement "to seek damages and a permanent injunction barring Osram's infringement."

On Friday the Korean vendor filed separately the complaint and the lawsuit with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) and the Delaware court.

WikiLeals filed an official complaint with the European Commission against Visa and MasterCard on allegations the credit card networks reject processing donations to the whistleblower website. The complaint was filed in association with Icelandic IT company DataCell.

Visa and MasterCard blocked WikiLeaks from collecting funds from donors in December 2010.

According to the filing submitted with the Directorate-General for Competition of the European Commission, Visa and MasterCard breached antitrust provisions set out by Articles 101 and 102 of the EU Treaty.

European Union court ruled this week that eBay might become liable for trademark infringements made by its users who sell counterfeit goods under the established global brands if the ecommerce giant is found playing active role in this.

The auction site may also have to actively monitor its customers to ensure their offers for sale are lawful, the court ruled.

After a pho-hacking stir in Britain, News Corp is facing an investigation by US authorities for possible violation of the bribery laws. Employees of News of the World tabloid were accused of hacking into personal voicemail and paying bribes.

News Corp could face scrutiny in the United States if any of the allegations is found true and violate the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

That law makes it a crime for any company with U.S. ties to bribe foreign officials to obtain or retain business.

In a move to fend off the online piracy companies united to launch a set of rules to slow or restrict the Internet access to consumers found illegally downloading copyrighted films, music or TV shows.

Verizon Communications Inc, Comcast Corp, Time Warner Cable Inc, Cablevision Systems Corp and AT&T Inc agreed to alert customers, up to six times, when it appears their account is used for illegal downloading. Warnings will come as e-mails or pop-up messages.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp sued ex-Chief Executive of IndyMac Michael Perry to recover over $600 million in damages and costs in the case of risky loans made by the lender.

According to the court documents, Perry “negligently” allowed the issue of more than $10 billion in "risky," residential loans intended for sale to a secondary market in 2007.

The lawsuit was filed in the district court of California.

The New York Post reported Tuesday that prosecutors in the United States will drop the charges against ex-IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn when he again appears in the court in two weeks, or earlier, because the credibility of the alleged victim is highly doubted.

The New York Post cited an unnamed top investigator in the case who assured the eventual dismissal of charges "a certainty."

"We all know this case is not sustainable," The New York Post quoted its source as saying.

WikiLeaks will sue Visa and MasterCard for their refusal to process donations to the website. The whistle-blower service is now working with the lawyers in Denmark and Iceland along with its credit card processing partner DataCell to launch a lawsuit against the card schemes for "engaging in an unlawful, US influenced, financial blockade".

The case against former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn is reportedly to fall apart as the evidences previously considered as firm and irrevocable are in fact dubious and worthless. This may open a way for Strauss-Kahn to participate in the presidential elections in France.

On May 14 Strauss-Kahn was arrested and charged with assaulting a hotel maid in New York. Now prosecutors had some doubts about the credibility of the maid as the whole case was built absolutely on her allegations.