Flawed court system to cost $2bn

An audit from the Bureau of State Audits found the California courts' administration failed to adequately plan a massive court computer system now in development, allowed bills to balloon and hasn't ensured the quality of the system that could ultimately cost $2 billion, reveals SacBee.

"Moreover, the AOC [Administrative Office of the Court] has consistently failed to develop accurate cost estimates for the state-wide case management project, which is now at risk of failure due to a lack of funding," according to the state auditor.

The California Court Case Management System has been in the works since 2001. But since its inception, the project has morphed from a modest upgrade in a few counties to a system linking all state courts across California.

Two recent patent infringement court rulings in Taiwan have sent a chill through US technology companies operating there, notes IEEE Spectrum.

Intellectual property suits brought by these companies have helped fend off competitors in Taiwan's market for semiconductor and LCD manufacturing equipment.

And in the past decade, US companies have sought speedier decisions through reforms and a dedicated IP Court. But now that the court is in session, the new legal system is speedily dismissing US patent holders' claims.

US authorities have charged a group of hedge fund managers with making millions of dollars by allegedly stealing private financial details from some of the country's top technology companies, reports M&G.

The new charges expanded an insider trading scandal that began last week, when the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), a government regulator, charged six individuals who allegedly sold the information to the hedge funds.

On Tuesday, the SEC charged New York-based hedge fund Barai Capital, three individual hedge fund managers and one analyst with insider trading for acting on the private information. The charges have been brought in a New York federal court.