EFF fights Facebook

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is challenging Facebook's legal claims that a third-party site violates criminal laws, says The Register.

Facebook filed a lawsuit against Power Ventures saying it is violating California's criminal hacking law as Facebook's terms of service prohibits users from accessing their information through automatic means.

The EFF says users of the social networking site have a legal right to choose how they access their account, arguing that Facebook attorneys are misapplying California's criminal hacking statutes to prevent account holders from using alternative methods of accessing their data.

The patent infringement case brought against Red Hat and Novell by company IP Innovations has been declared invalid, writes OSNews.

The patent dispute arose over the concept of virtual desktops. "The claims asserted by the plaintiffs were deemed invalid based on the existence of extensive prior art," says Rob Tiller, vice-president and assistant general counsel for intellectual property at Red Hat.

"The jury's decision shows that the open source community can stand up to coercion based on bad software patents, and that juries can see through arguments based on FUD," concludes Tiller.

Microsoft has signed a patent agreement with HTC, states Mobile News Direct.

The agreement provides HTC with a broad coverage under Microsoft's patent portfolio for HTC's mobile phones, while Microsoft will receive royalties from HTC.

“HTC and Microsoft have a long history of technical and commercial collaboration, and today's agreement is an example of how industry leaders can reach commercial arrangements that address intellectual property. We are pleased to continue our collaboration with HTC,” says Horacio Gutierrez, corporate vice-president and deputy general counsel of Intellectual Property and Licensing, Microsoft.