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September 19, 2007

legal

Under the gavel: the Danes are fit to Burst

Posted Sep. 19, ’07, 12:15 PM PT by Dan Moren
Category | Legal

herecomesthejudge.jpgOh ho, it’s another edition of Under the Gavel for your legislative perusing enjoyment. We know how much you like to be kept abreast of the latest developments in Apple’s wonderful world of law, so grab your gavel and join us in the public gallery for the trial of the century.

That might be overstating it a bit. And frankly, if Apple gets their way, there won’t even be a trial. The company filed a motion for dismissal in the lawsuit leveled against them by Burst.com, who has accused Apple of violating several patents with the iTunes Music Store, iTunes, iPod, and QuickTime Streaming Server (quick, guess which one is the odd man out). Earlier this year, Apple asked a judge to dismiss four of Burst.com’s patents, resulting in the aforementioned countersuit. In a statement, Apple’s lawyer, Matthew Powers said “It’s not some epiphanous, oh my God, when you put all these things together you have an iPod.” Really? Huh. Frankly, I’m disappointed: I’d imagined this holy light shining all around Jonathan Ive as he held the iPod over his head like Moses coming down from on high. Oh well.

If that’s not enough legality for you, we’ve got more news breaking from our very favorite European country, Denmark—home of Legos, melancholy princes, and dinosaurs. Well, two out of three anyway. When last we left the home of acclaimed physicist Niels Bohr, they were accusing Apple of a design flaw in certain models of the iBook G4. In a crazy move that will be sure to keep legal minds a’guessin’, Apple has admitted wrongdoing and agreed to refund the customer’s money. Don’t get too hopeful: there’s a class action suit under way in California for similar reasons, and Apple’s asked to have that sent packing. More Danish consumers are coming forward, so if you happen to be in the vicinity and have a naughty iBook G4, you should see if you can get a few krone back.

That’s it for this edition of Under the Gavel. Until next time: we’ll see you in court!

Update: Looks like the fat lady has yet to sing. Says Apple, “Apple disagrees with the DCCB’s findings based on our own investigation, and has a strong track record for customer satisfaction.” Despite said disagreement, Apple agreed to refund the customer’s money anyway. Link to the updated story is above.


2 Comments

Dave-O said:

Page not found. I had loaded that in a tab from Macworld's main page, suddenly it was gone. So Apple didn't admit to wrongdoing after all?

September 19, 2007 1:23 PM
john evers said:

Don't be too fast to dismiss that ibook G4 flaw. That is a real problem that just happened to my wifes ibook G4. THere is an online petition to get the flaw fixed that is signed by almost 3000 people who have had that exact problem. I just paid apple 300 bucks to fix it, so I would definetly like some of that back.

September 19, 2007 2:11 PM

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