The Florida State College of Law Research Center Blog

Computer Hacker Albert Gonzales Indictment

In what is probably the biggest identity theft prosecution in US history, computer hacker Albert Gonzales has been indicted.  His hacking may have exposed data from as many as 130 million credit and debit cards. 

You can see the indictment here. 

Posted by Jon Lutz

Microsoft Files Emergency Motion in Word Verdict

On Friday Microsoft filee an Emergency motion with the US District Court for Eastern Texas to block a ruling that would make it stop selling Word.  Here's an excerpt from an article in WindowsITPro:

Tiny i4i sued Microsoft in 2007 for infringing on its patent for custom XML, charging that several of the software giant's products—including Word 2007 and 2003, .NET, and Windows Vista—contained functionality that was covered by the patent. However, Judge Davis said that only Word "unlawfully infringed" on the i4i patent. He ordered that Microsoft stop selling Word in its current incarnation within 60 days but didn't require the company to amend versions already in the marketplace.

In a bit of courtroom drama, $40 million of the $290 million in fines was directed at Microsoft's lawyers, who the judge said engaged in trial misconduct. They argued that i4i was a "non-practicing patent owner" and that it was thus "improper" that they sue for monetary damages. The judge also admonished a Microsoft lawyer for "equating i4i's infringement case with the current national banking crisis [and] implying that i4i was [like] a banker seeking a 'bailout'."

Read more here: 

Posted by Jon Lutz

Legal Research Pits Casemaker vs. Fastcase

Law.com LegalTechnology provides a comparative review of Casemaker and Fastcase. Here's an excerpt.

Two legal research services are in a head-to-head competition to win the loyalty of America's lawyers. No, I am not talking about Westlaw and LexisNexis. This battle is between Casemaker and Fastcase.

Each markets itself as a member benefit to state and local bar associations. Casemaker has the bigger share of the market, with 28 bars representing 475,000 lawyers. But Fastcase is fast on its heels, with 17 state bars and other smaller bars representing 380,000 subscribers.

Read the whole article here. 

Posted by Jon Lutz

SCOTUS Insiders Discuss Changing Court Dynamics

From the ABAJournal Law News Now the article: SCOTUS Insiders Discuss Changing Court Dynamics as Souter Exits.   Here's an excerpt:

The U.S. Supreme Court in the Obama era may be more conservative than under President George W. Bush because retiring Justice David H. Souter was the only one who could sweet-talk Justice Anthony M. Kennedy into voting toward the left.

Read the whole article here.

Posted by Jon Lutz