From the monthly archives:

January 2010

Judge Young Issues Mea Culpa on Expert Witness Testimony in Patent Case, Orders a Do-Over

January 27, 2010
Thumbnail image for Judge Young Issues Mea Culpa on Expert Witness Testimony in Patent Case, Orders a Do-Over

Massachusetts U.S. District Court William Young has been teaching evidence law for as long as I can recall, even as far back as his pre-federal court days, when he was on the Superior Court bench (Judge Young was appointed to the federal bench in 1985, and had been a Massachusetts Superior Court Judge from 1978

Read the full article →

“$2 Million for Stealing 24 Songs for Personal Use is Simply Shocking” Says Minnesota Federal Judge, Issuing Remittitur Order

January 23, 2010
Thumbnail image for “$2 Million for Stealing 24 Songs for Personal Use is Simply Shocking” Says Minnesota Federal Judge, Issuing Remittitur Order

Out of more than 30,000 cases filed against downloaders by the record companies only two end-user download cases have gone to trial and judgment: the Tenenbaum case in Boston, and the case against Jammie Thomas-Rassett in Minnesota. In the second case, the jury awarded the copyright owners $2 million for downloading (and allegedly distributing) 24

Read the full article →

The Boston Area Technology Sector is a Lot Like Silicon Valley/Santa Clara County …. Not.

January 22, 2010
Thumbnail image for The Boston Area Technology Sector is a Lot Like Silicon Valley/Santa Clara County …. Not.

A table from Branko Gerovac’s website, Empirical Reality compares the technology areas of Massachusetts and Silicon Valley The two areas are far more alike, on the statistical level, than I had realized.

Read the full article →

If the Feds Oppose Him, Tennenbaum (and Nesson) Must be Right! – Joel Fights Back

January 20, 2010
Thumbnail image for If the Feds Oppose Him, Tennenbaum (and Nesson) Must be Right! – Joel Fights Back

Joel’s last chance before Massachusetts Federal District Court Judge Gertner (“Joel Fights Back”) is his post-judgment motion to set aside or reduce the damages award against him on the grounds that the judgment is unconstitutional – after all, what government would punish a student to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars for a

Read the full article →

The Road Goes on Forever, But the Lawsuits Never End: ConnectU, Facebook, Their Entourages

January 18, 2010
Thumbnail image for The Road Goes on Forever, But the Lawsuits Never End: ConnectU, Facebook, Their Entourages

The ConnectU/Facebook legal saga is truly astounding.  Imagine a mature Oak tree.  Now give the it properties of Kudzu vine (the “vine that ate the South”).  Each branch of this tree is another lawsuit involving ConnectU, Facebook, the principals, and their lawyers. Now, a new branch has burst forth.  Wayne Chang has sued ConnectU and

Read the full article →

What a Phish …

January 18, 2010

A phish I received this weekend.  These are getting better and better (no typos, no foreign language malapropisms), and I can easily see some small percentage of recipients getting “caught” by this phishing expedition.  These links get shut down almost immediately, but I have disabled this link, in the same spirit that I’d be careful

Read the full article →

Mister Softee Bitten By Waiver Under FRCP 50

January 18, 2010

I’ve written before about how dangerous waiver is for lawyers.  It lurks everywhere, like sharp coral just a few inches beneath the water off an inviting tropical beach. In Microsoft’s recent loss to i4i in federal court in Texas affirmed by the Federal Circuit, Mister Softee (stock trader slang for Microsoft), found itself hung up

Read the full article →