Thoughts Unboxed

The inevitable has happened. Apple has finally come under serious scrutiny from the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) after the latter has sued the company for illegal monopoly over the smartphone market. The lawsuit is filed by the Justice Department alongside 16 other state and district attorney generals. The lawsuit alleges Apple has violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act by monopolizing or attempting to monopolize the smartphone market. The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, accuses Apple of maintaining a monopoly over smartphones through contractual restrictions on developers and withholding critical access points. Apple's actions hinder the development of apps, products, and services that could reduce reliance on iPhone, promote interoperability, and lower costs. The company leverages its monopoly power to extract more money from consumers, developers, and various other entities. The Justice Departm

Holiday season is typically a busy season for shoppers, but right now, it's a busy season for the corporate lawyers across the technology industry. We have seen a ton of high-profile lawsuits over the past few months and now, Apple has been dragged into one as well. Daniel Ackerman, Editor-in-Chief of Gizmodo and author of "The Tetris Effect," has initiated legal proceedings against Apple and other parties associated with the Tetris Movie. Ackerman alleges that the movie has unlawfully appropriated elements from his work, "The Tetris Effect." Published in 2016, Ackerman's "The Tetris Effect" seamlessly intertwines historical events with his personal research. The lawsuit contends that the movie improperly borrows from his work, particularly framing the game's release within the context of a "Cold War spy thriller." According to the lawsuit: The movie entitled "Tetris" demonstrated the confiscation of Dan

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has lost its motion for a preliminary injunction to halt Microsoft's acquisition of Activision-Blizzard. The case involved presentations from both parties over a span of five days, with the federal judge tasked with deciding whether to grant the FTC's request for an emergency injunction to prevent the deal from closing. While the FTC still has the option to file an appeal with the federal appellate court, it remains to be seen whether they will pursue that route or drop the lawsuit entirely. In her decision , Federal Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley stated: This Court’s responsibility in this case is narrow. It is to decide if, notwithstanding these current circumstances, the merger should be halted—perhaps even terminated—pending resolution of the FTC administrative action. For the reasons explained, the Court finds the FTC has not shown a likelihood it will prevail on its claim this particular vertical merger i

In what can only be described as a dream season for corporate attorneys, FTX has stepped into the legal arena by filing a lawsuit against its former compliance officer, Daniel Friedberg. The lawsuit alleges that Mr. Friedberg's actions were the catalyst behind the misappropriation of billions of customer funds by individuals such as Sam Bankman-Fried and others. FTX suffered a major setback towards the end of last year when the excitement of the crypto boom came crashing down, and life slowly returned to normal in the post-COVID era. Here are the allegations as laid out in the lawsuit: Friedberg and others facilitated the routing of billions of dollars in purported profits of the FTX Group to the FTX Insiders, and their families, friends, and other acquaintances through purported personal ‘loans,’ bonuses, ‘investments,’ and all other means of transfer, including real estate purchases and hundreds of millions of dollars in charitable and

Microsoft finds itself entangled in multiple legal battles, proving that its fight knows no rest. While the tech giant prepares to challenge the block on its proposed acquisition of Activision-Blizzard in both the UK and the United States, it also faces a smaller yet significant side battle—a lawsuit brought forth by a group of gamers. The lawyers representing the gamers recently unveiled an alleged internal email exchange between Matt Booty, the Head of Microsoft Xbox Game Studios, and Tim Stuart, Microsoft's CFO for Xbox. Although the exact contents of the email remain redacted, it is said to contain "uncontroverted evidence" that Microsoft aimed to eliminate its main competitor, Sony PlayStation, from the market. Microsoft has countered the claims by stating that the email was sent in 2019 and is unrelated to the acquisition of Activision-Blizzard in early 2022. However, when approached by Axios , the company refused to disclose the c

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has requested a preliminary injunction to temporarily halt Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision-Blizzard. The FTC has filed a lawsuit to block the merger in December 2022, expressing concerns about the potential negative impact on competition in the gaming industry. FTC fears Microsoft could manipulate Activision's gaming products, such as by restricting availability or increasing prices on other platforms, which would harm competitors like Sony. FTC argues in the complaint: Both a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction are necessary because Microsoft and Activision have represented that they may consummate the proposed acquisition at any time. The FTC's temporary injunction attempt aims to prevent Microsoft and Activision from proceeding with the acquisition until the case is fully reviewed. This development comes as the July 18th deadline for the deal appro

Get ready for a whirlwind week in tech! From surprising resurgences to massive fines, lawsuits, and AI impact, it's been an eventful time. Join our Weekly Recap for a concise summary of the biggest stories and developments in tech and current affairs. Stay informed with key highlights and noteworthy announcements in this comprehensive roundup.   China's Misinformation Crackdown China's Cyberspace Administration (CAC) completed a two-month probe targeting social media activities, resulting in the deletion of over 1.4M posts and 67K accounts. The crackdown focused on issues like impersonation of government officials and spreading misinformation. The CAC's actions raise concerns about online integrity and freedom of expression. YouTube bids farewell to Stories YouTube is discontinuing its Stories feature, originally introduced in 2017, due to lackluster adoption. Users will no longer be able to upload new stories, and existing stories will expire after 7 days. YouTube shi

In a highly anticipated move, TikTok has taken decisive action against Montana's recent law that seeks to ban its app within the state's borders. The company has filed a federal lawsuit against the state, marking a significant response to the legislation set to take effect on January 1st, 2024. The crux of TikTok's lawsuit centers around the belief that the ban infringes upon the fundamental right to free speech, constituting unconstitutional censorship. TikTok argues that the state's prohibition violates the First Amendment by unlawfully restricting core freedoms. TikTok firmly refutes the concerns expressed by Montana regarding potential data access by Chinese officials and the exposure of harmful content. The company's legal representatives dismiss the Montana law as an "extraordinary and unprecedented measure driven solely by unfounded speculation." According to a TikTok spokesperson,  We are challenging

  Supreme court ruled in favor of Google and Twitter over the lawsuits filed based on Anti-Terrorism Act by the families of those who were killed during two different terrorist attacks. The first lawsuit was filed by the relatives of Nawras Alassaf who alongside other 38 victims was killed during the Reina Nightclub shooting in Instanbul on January 1st, 2017. The lawsuit alleged Twitter failed to police its platform of ISIS related accounts that resulted in the shooting incident. The second lawsuit was filed by the family of the exchange student killed in Paris during 2015 shootings . The family alleged Google's YouTube platform should be held liable for the incident. In both cases, the court sidestepped the requests to limit a Section 230, a law that protects social media platforms from lawsuits over content posted by their respective users. In case of Twitter, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote: Plaintiffs' allegations are insufficient to establish that these defendants aided and