Hasta La Gadget!

This one’s been in the works for a little while now, but the EU has just taken another step toward making 4G coverage a continental reality. Last week, the European Commission, European Parliament and member states of the European Council reached what they’re calling an “informal compromise” on a new radio spectrum policy. Under the proposed agreement, member countries would have to free up (read: “auction off”) their 800MHz frequency bands for broadband service by January 1, 2013, as part of Parliament’s plan to accelerate broadband rollout by using spectrum once devoted to analog TV frequencies. The idea is to allocate 1200MHz to mobile traffic sometime after the year 2013, but before the end of 2015. Government authorities would retain the right to allocate their country’s radio frequencies as they see fit, though distribution across ISPs and users falls under the EU’s aegis — which is where the proposed Radio Spectrum Policy Programme comes in. A draft of the deal has already received approval, though a final version must still be ratified by the European Parliament’s Industry, Research and Energy Committee on November 10th, before making its way to Parliament for a full vote.

Continue reading EU wants member countries to free up spectrum for 4G rollout, eyes 2013 deadline

EU wants member countries to free up spectrum for 4G rollout, eyes 2013 deadline originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Nov 2011 08:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pirates just can’t catch a break these days. Way back in July, a British judge ordered telecom company BT to block its subscribers from visiting a site called Newzbin 2, on the grounds that the ISP had “actual knowledge” of customers using the platform access copyright infringing content. An appeal was soon filed, but yesterday, it was shot down by a high court. Under the order, BT will have 14 days to seal off access to Newzbin 2, and will have to do so on its own dime — something the provider was aiming to avoid. The decision marks the first time that an ISP has been forced to block access to a filesharing site, something the Motion Picture Association heralded as “a win for the creative sector.” BT, meanwhile, didn’t have much to say about the ruling, stating only that “it is helpful to have the order now and the clarity that it brings.” Less certain, however, is the impact this order will have on future copyright lawsuits and web censorship, in general. Find the ruling in its entirety at the coverage link, below.

UK court orders ISP to block Newzbin 2 filesharing site within two weeks, Hollywood smiles originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Oct 2011 09:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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'No, your honor, we didn't copy the iPad. In fact, we've never even seen one before.'

One thing Samsung doesn’t seem to be able to copy from Apple is the success of its crack legal team. The latest court to ban the sale of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet is Australia, which upheld a temporary injunction against selling the device in Oz.

Samsung’s defense appeared to largely take the form of shouting “it’s not fair.” The South Korean company’s lawyers argued that if the tablet wasn’t allowed to go on sale, it would be “commercially dead” and wouldn’t be able to make any money from Christmas sales. Maybe Samsung should have thought of that before making its iClone.

According to the Wall Street Journal, “Samsung hinted it may appeal the Sydney court ruling.” “Hinted” isn’t exactly fighting talk, which was reserved for the company’s only real recourse — get nasty over alleged patent violations. In a statement, Samsung said “We will continue to legally assert our intellectual property rights against those who violate Samsung’s patents and free ride on our technology.”

That’s more like it.

The fact that Samsung is lying down quietly, and even making changes to its Tab 10.1 in order to get it back on store shelves, seems to show that courts are convinced that it has ripped off the iPad’s design. That Samsung is retaliating with patent threats is even more telling of its confidence to beat these injunctions.

Apple Wins Block on Samsung Tablet in Australia [WSJ (Use Google to get around the paywall)]

See Also:

• Courts Ban Sale of Samsung Galaxy Tab in Europe
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9. Seriously?
• The Copyist
• IClones

It’s been a long, weird and winding road, but it appears that the saga surrounding the leaked iPhone 4 prototype that got Gizmodo editor Jason Chen’s home raided is finally over. The two men accused of selling the device to Chen, Brian Hogan and Sage Wallower, pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of theft of lost property. The two were sentenced to a year probation, 40 hours of public service and told to pay $250 in damages to Apple. The rest of the $5,000 they received for the prototype is theirs to keep. Through it all Chen and Gizmodo have escaped prosecution and, with the two who found and sold the device receiving barely a slap on the wrist, it looks like its time to close the book on this tale. Perhaps crime doesn’t pay, but it doesn’t appear to cost a whole heck of a lot either.

The saga of the leaked iPhone 4 prototype comes to an anticlimactic end originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Oct 2011 09:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wiretapping Act could spell ‘finito’ for Italian Wikipedia originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Oct 2011 14:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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