Activist asks to halt Google

A privacy advocacy group has asked the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to pull the plug on Gmail, Google Docs, Google Calendar, and the company's other Web apps until government-approved "safeguards are verifiably established", cnet reports.

If the FTC grants the request, hundreds of millions of Internet users would be unable to access their e-mail or documents until the agency's formidable collection of lawyers became satisfied with the revised applications.

The outage would extend to businesses that pay for access to Google Apps.

Amazon is being sued by Discovery Communications for allegedly infringing an electronic book technology patent by selling its Kindle reading device, according to MarketWatch.

Discovery filed suit in the US District Court in Delaware, alleging that Amazon's sales of the Kindle device infringes a patent awarded to Discovery in 2007.

Discovery provides cable and satellite programming in the US, including the Discovery Channel and Animal Planet, and operates a digital media business to deliver its programming via the Internet and on mobile devices.

The US District Court judge in Tyler, Texas, has dismissed a lawsuit brought against the gaming giant, Nintendo, by Fenner Investments, reports I4U News.

The suit stemmed from an allegation that the Wii console and its controllers, along with the GameCube, infringed on a patent held by Fenner Investments.

Judge Leonard Davis dismissed the case, citing that no jury trial was needed.