Earlier this week we wrote about the Carrier IQ ordeal, we should have know it was only a matter of time with all the media hype and internet buzz before this whole thing started getting out of hand.

Senator Al Franken is demanding the company provide details about what data it collects and how it’s used and has given the company until December 14^th to respond. Massachusetts congressman Edward Markey has asked the FTC to open an investigation into Carrier IQ. Markey wants the Federal Trade Commission to look into whether or not the rootkit and its creators have violated the privacy of millions of cellphone users and federal wiretap laws.

A class action lawsuit has also been filed against Carrier IQ, HTC and Samsung. The class action lawsuits are seeking hundreds of millions of dollars on behalf of all U.S. residents. All three companies have been accused of violating the Federal Wiretap Act which “protects
 the
 privacy
 of
 wire,
 oral,
 and
 electronic
 communications” of all Americans. A St. Louis lawsuit against HTC states the following:

Plaintiff, Erin Janek owns an HTC Android phone using the Sprint network. At all relevant times Plaintiff used her phone to electronically send over her cell phone network various types of private data. This data was not readily accessible to the general public. She did not know that Defendants were surreptitiously monitoring and collecting this data, nor did she give them permission to do so.

 
So far none of the phone carriers have been included in this class action lawsuit but we have a feeling that may change of the course of the next few days. Sprint and AT&T have both admitted to using the application, and other carriers likely use similar services, but both carriers have denied taking advantage of the software’s ability to spy on customers. Stay tuned for more detail, we have a feeling things are going to get real interesting.

AT&T very own customers have been suing the company for what appears to be their way of showing how disapproved they are about the T-Mobile take over. They say they are suing to voice that this merger will hurt consumers by squashing the competition.

A New York law firm, Bursor & Fisher, filed a 236 page document requesting arbitration for 11 of its clients, alleging the proposed $39 million merger violates the Clayton Antitrust Act. The firm has also created a website for more people to sign up to get into the action….All at the cost of AT&T…

Attorney Scott Bursor says nearly 50 people and counting are interesting in pursuing arbitration in this legal matter.

“We’ve spent months compiling evidence of how this merger will cause higher prices and worse service,” Bursor said, outlining the case. “We’ve hired experts who are prepared to testify at arbitration hearings across the country. And we are prepared to file hundreds of arbitration cases, any one of which could stop this merger.”

Now you may remember AT&T won a Supreme Court case in April that ruled consumers cannot bring a class-action suit against AT&T, upholding the wireless carrier’s attempt to prevent such suits in its customers contracts. But customers can (and are) still requesting arbitration, according to the courts.

AT&T must still pay for each arbitration dispute a customer files against it, and up to $10,000 if the arbitrator find in favor of the plaintiff. In other words if (and that is a big IF) Bursor & Fisher win their filings, AT&T must make a sizable contribution to all consumers involved in arbitration against it.

So with that my AT&T loving PPCGs, will you too file suit and show your outcry about the merger? This could make things heat up for AT&T and if enough people sign and win maybe make AT&T think twice about the merger and the costs associated with it. Will you sign it – tell us below!

Source: Mobiledia

Many of you know of the lawsuits going on between Apple and HTC.  Well, now patent holding firm NTP has issued a statement suing major cell companies for infringing on their intellectual rights regarding mobile e-mail:

“NTP Incorporated, the company founded by Tom Campana, the inventor of wireless email, yesterday filed lawsuits against Apple, Inc., Google Inc., HTC Corp., LG Electronics Inc., Microsoft Corporation, and Motorola, Inc. in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia for infringing NTP’s eight patents related to the delivery of electronic mail over wireless communications systems. Each of the defendants is a manufacturer or developer of either wireless handheld devices or software applications used in the delivery of email across wireless communications systems.”

I find the “inventor of wireless email” pretty a rather interesting concept.  We will see what happens from there.  NTP formerly sued RIM (Research in Motion), the company who makes Blackberry smartphones, over the same intellectual rights and RIM was forced to settle and pay NTP $612.5 million.

NTP stands to make some serious coin if the odds swing in their favor, and based on the RIM settlement and how hard-core they are about enforcing their patents, it looks to be interesting.  Quote:

“The filing of suit today is necessary to ensure that those companies who are infringing NTP’s patents will be required to pay a licensing fee,” Mr. Stout continued.  “In view of the USPTO Board’s ruling, the debate over whether Mr. Campana was an originator in the field of wireless email is over.  No patents in U.S. history have received as much scrutiny as NTP’s patents.  We are delighted that the USPTO Board has recognized the groundbreaking innovation of Mr. Campana by confirming 67 of NTP’s patent” claims.”

What do you think?  Should everyone just chill out with the suit wars?  Or should these companies continue to protect what they believe the be their intellectual property?

via MacRumors