Microsoft and others sued over shrinkwrap licenses

A California woman is suing Microsoft, Symantec and some software retailers, claiming the companies "concocted a scheme" to mislead consumers by requiring them to consent to software licensing agreements they haven't read. The suit, filed Friday in Marin County Superior Court in San Rafael, Calif., was filed on behalf of all Californians who've bought software including Norton Antivirus 2002, Norton Systemworks and Windows XP Upgrade.

The consumer lawsuit claims that people who didn't accept the terms of the "EULA" (End User License Agreement) cannot return the "opened" software to the stores. According to the suit, the plaintiff tried to return the Microsoft and Symantec software to CompUSA after refusing to consent to the licensing terms. However, CompUSA refused to take the software back, saying the packages had been opened, according to the complaint.

Consumers fight back in ReplayTV case

Consumers, including Craig Newmark (founder of Craigs List), file suit in Federal Court against the Major Movie Studios and ask the Court to declare that they are not infringing on Copyrights by skipping commercials with their Digital Video Recorders in Newmark v. Turner et al (ReplayTV case). The Rothken Law Firm and EFF are serving as co-counsel for the consumer plantiffs in the case.

DoubleClick settles consumer privacy class action

Over a dozen separate federal and state suits had been filed against the New York-based Internet advertising company charging that it invaded users' privacy, the first such lawsuit was filed in California by the Rothken Law Firm. The suits were later consolidated into a single federal suit, which was settled in March. A final settlement was approved Tuesday by Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald in Federal District Court in Manhattan. Among the terms of the deal, DoubleClick is required to create an easy-to-read privacy policy the better protects user privacy rights.

Included in the terms of the settlement are rules that require DoubleClick to do the following:

• Create a privacy policy that is easy to read, outlines the company's use of cookies and pixel tags, and explains its online ad servicing service.

• Launch 300 million banner ads on sites across the Internet that explain how consumers can protect their privacy, opt out of having a DoubleClick ad server cookie placed on their computers and how cookies are used and data is collected.

• Purge various user information that the company has collected on consumers on a regular basis, and

• Hire an accounting firm to audit its compliance with the terms.

Sunncomm cloques music CDs

Sunncomm and Music City records are sued in California for allegedly using cloquing 'DRM" technology on Music CDs, without proper notice, to impair functionality and prevent consumers from copying songs to their MP3 players.

MP3 search engine defends itself against the RIAA

MP3Board search engine defends itself against allegations from the RIAA and Major Recording Studios regarding the issue of whether or not mere passive hyperlinking arising out of Internet search engine results can constitute secondary copyright infringement in Arista Records et al. v. MP3Board, Inc./ MP3Board, Inc. v. RIAA.