SanDisk on litigation rampage

Flash memory firm SanDisk`s latest legal action stands out, even in the highly litigious computer industry, says Forbes.

This week, the company simultaneously filed suit against 25 largely Asian companies, claiming they have infringed on its patents for a technology that controls the communication between memory chips and the devices in which they are mounted.

SanDisk filed one action with the International Trade Commission and two in the Wisconsin district court, naming companies including LG Electronics, Imation and Silicon Motion Technology.

It has long been an open secret that many major telecommunications companies, including Internet service providers and cellular data providers, impose specific limits on the volume and type of bandwidth consumed by their customers, says News.com.

"Open" in the sense that these companies almost universally reserve the right to impose such limits, and occasionally make public statements defending their right to do so.

"Secret" because the companies rarely reveal their specific limits, and because it seems like these limits are constantly being rediscovered by people who ought to know better.

Verizon is forcing people to take its once dismissed TV initiatives seriously, says Forbes.

The company announced yesterday that its IPTV service FiOS TV had signed up 500 000 subscribers and, as the Wall Street Journal reports, it is causing increasing consternation in the cable industry.

You can see it in Comcast`s stock price, which has been steadily declining ever since executives acknowledged that telco operators are taking away customers. Expect management to be grilled on this when Comcast reports earnings.