appeals court

Jammie Thomas asks Supreme Court to take file-sharing case

Acting on her promise, Jammie Thomas-Rasset has finally fought her music uploading case all the way to the Supreme Court. Her lawyers announced today that they have filed an official petition asking the Supreme Court to review her long-running case, which has moved up through the courts over the past five years.

In 2007, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) accused Thomas-Rasset of copyright infringement for sharing 1,700 copyrighted songs -- the equivalent of 150 CDs. But the RIAA whittled down the number to 24. A jury heard the evidence against her and rendered a $222,000 verdict.… Read more

Google, Yahoo win Argentine celebrity search case

Google and Yahoo have been cleared in the case of an Argentine performer who alleged that she was defamed by search results that pointed to sexual and pornographic Web sites bearing her name and image, according to a Friday report in The New York Times.

The appeals court in Argentina overturned the 2008 ruling of a lower court that had found the companies liable for defamation in the case of Virginia Da Cunha. The Argentine entertainer is one of many celebrities in the country who have been trying to force the search engines to block any sexual-oriented Web sites that … Read more

Facebook goes Places

Links from Thursday's episode of Loaded: Update your Facebook Places Verizon on the iPad Google Chrome Web Store leaks Intel to buy McAffe Personal spy game with the iPhone

Court orders shorter sentence for ex-Qwest chief

A federal appeals court in Denver on Friday ordered a reduced prison term for Joseph Nacchio, the former Qwest Communications chief who had been sentenced to six years for insider trading.

The U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the trial court had overstated Nacchio's stock market gains and he was therefore entitled to resentencing, according to court documents.

"On remand, the district court should focus on arriving at a figure that more closely approximates Mr. Nacchio's gain resulting from the offense of insider trading," the ruling read (PDF).

Nacchio, who served as the phone company's CEO from 1997 until 2002, … Read more

Patent ruling good or bad for tech?

Now that the U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled that abstract processes, or business methods, cannot be patented, it's important to look at how this could affect the tech industry.

The case in question was rejected because the patent at issue was a process not tied to a "machine," which is one standard for patentability.

Overall, it seems like a ruling that should favor companies that make hardware and software because while it narrows the types of patents that can be filed, in return should protect them from the frivolous patent suits that have flooded the … Read more

Where the opinions of Phil J. Ryan are not necessarily those of the 404

The legendary Phil Ryan makes his last appearance on The 404 as a CNET employee as we talk about the Netflix player, the 3G iPhone, and strange clouds above China right before the earthquake. It's an interesting show today, sorry if we came close to offending you! OK, we're not sorry. EPISODE 103 Download today's podcast