class

Judge nixes class action suit in employee poaching case for now

A federal judge has decided not to elevate an antitrust lawsuit over non-poaching agreements to class action status. But the ruling is far from final.

In a decision announced today, U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh said there was not yet enough evidence to turn a present civil suit against seven technology companies into a class action lawsuit, according to Reuters.

The case refers to a civil suit filed in 2011 by five workers against Google, Intuit, Apple, Intel, Adobe, Pixar, and Lucasfilm, claiming that the companies tried to keep down wages through non-poaching agreements.

Six of the companies … Read more

Synchronize note-taking with recordings, with Pear Note for Mac

For students or professionals who often have to take notes during lectures, organizing them can prove difficult. Pear Note for Mac works well to track audio and typed notes in one program for later reference and organization.

While the full program costs $39.99 to purchase, a free, 14-day trial is available. Download and installation of Pear Note for Mac were fast, and startup occurred without any user interaction beyond accepting a licensing agreement. No instructions were easily available, but the interface is fairly easy to interpret and use. The program's basic graphics were a disappointment, but the layout … Read more

Take and share notes via e-mail, with some exceptions

The iPad is a perfect device for taking and sharing notes. There are dozens of apps available that provide this exact functionality, so ClassMateLite is only one of many options in a very crowded field. This is partially what makes it so hard to recommend the app as a viable solution for note taking. The app is designed to look and feel like a notebook, but the actual interface consists almost entirely of large, often stretched buttons, an awkward text input and blocky instructions.

While the app has only a handful of features, it took us some time to find … Read more

The 404 1,210: Where where we survive on ramen and taxes (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- How a movie changed one man's vision forever.

- Google's stock breaks $800 for the first time.

- Report: OfficeMax, Office Depot discussing merger.

- Microsoft moves Outlook.com out of preview.

- Dow 14,000: Stocks near new crest.

- Middle class remains stuck.

- Free File: Do your Federal taxes for free!… Read more

Judge tosses some shareholder suits over Facebook's IPO flop

Things may be looking up for Facebook in the dozens of lawsuits it's facing from peeved shareholders over its botched initial public offering.

U.S. District Judge Robert Sweet ruled in favor of Facebook today and dismissed a group of these cases, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The social network became embroiled in this extensive legal battle shortly after its $16 billion IPO last May. The company's stock opened on the Nasdaq priced at $38 a share and, aside from a slight uptick right at the start, proceeded to plummet in the days and weeks following. Defendants … Read more

Plaintiffs named in suit over Facebook's troubled IPO

A U.S. judge has named the lead plaintiffs in the dozens of class-action lawsuits brought against Facebook over its bungled initial public offering, according to Reuters.

District Judge Robert Sweet has been assigned 42 cases against the social network, which he consolidated in October. Today he picked a handful of plaintiffs to head the suits. The lead plaintiffs include several state pension funds, such as the North Carolina Retirement Systems, Arkansas Teacher Retirement System, the Fresno County Employees' Retirement Association, and Banyan Capital Master Fund. Collectively, this group claims a combined loss of $7.1 million.

"Its members … Read more

Uber faces new legal challenge, at home in San Francisco

It looks like Uber has yet another legal hurdle to surmount, this time on its home turf in San Francisco.

The popular ride-summoning startup, which has recently dealt with regulatory challenges in Washington D.C., New York, and Chicago, is now being sued in San Francisco by the city's cab drivers, who are claiming unfair business practices.

The fast-growing service, which allows customers to use smartphones to arrange transportation in several U.S. cities, announced last month that in the San Francisco market it was testing out a taxi service option within the Uber app, alongside its existing sedan … Read more

Sony PSN hacking lawsuit dismissed by judge

A California district judge has dismissed a handful of charges that plaintiffs brought against Sony, including negligence, restitution, and unjust enrichment in its handling of a PlayStation Network data breach last year.

Several lawsuits were filed against Sony PlayStation Network in the wake of a major security breach of the personal data of more than 75 million customers in April 2011.

On Friday, Judge Anthony Battaglia of the U.S. District Court in Southern California ruled that one of those class action suits is invalid, according to Courthouse News.

When the attack happened in 2011, more than 75 million customer … Read more

Watchdog calls eBay's user policy 'underhanded'

A consumer rights group accused eBay of making it tough for users to pursue litigation against the company and said the auction site operator's new user policy goes against the company's "commitment to openness."

Public Citizen, which called eBay's new user agreement "underhanded," takes issue with a section in eBay's policy that details how eBay and users' will handle legal disputes. In the agreement (scroll down to the section about legal disputes), eBay says that all claims that arise against eBay should be "resolved exclusively through final and binding arbitration," … Read more