Responses are due Oct. 27 to revelations by U.S. District Judge William Conley in Madison, Wisconsin, that he owned Apple stock when presiding over Nokia-Apple patent litigation more than a decade ago, said a letter posted Monday in docket 3:10-cv-00249 and signed by Joel Turner, the court’s deputy chief clerk. Conley contacted Turner to tell him the Apple stock ownership was “brought to his attention,” but that it “neither affected nor impacted his decisions in this case,” said the letter. His ownership of Apple shares would have required his immediate recusal under the code of conduct for federal judges, said Turner: "Judge Conley directed that I notify the parties of the conflict." Court records show the litigation before Conley ended in January 2011 when he granted Apple’s motion, over Nokia's opposition, to transfer the case to U.S. District Court in Wilmington, Delaware, for convenience and other judicial reasons. Responses by the Oct. 27 deadline “will be considered” by Chief Judge James Peterson without Conley’s “participation,” said Turner. Attempts to reach Nokia and Apple lawyers Monday were unsuccessful. Conley's chambers didn't respond to questions.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is seeking comments by Oct. 11, rebuttals Oct. 25, identifying online and physical markets it should consider including in its 2021 “notorious markets” report, says Monday’s Federal Register. The annual report lists markets singled out for “substantial copyright piracy or trademark counterfeiting,” said USTR. Its “issue focus” for 2021 “will examine the adverse impact of counterfeiting on workers involved with the manufacture of counterfeit goods,” it said.
Frontier Communications' requested stay of piracy litigation brought by various music labels (see 2108130033) in U.S. Bankruptcy Court to consolidate a trio of such claims, but only the U.S. District Court in Manhattan can do that, the labels told the Manhattan court in an opposition (in Pacer, docket 21-cv-05050) Friday. They said they were forced to split their claims between U.S. District Court and Bankruptcy Court by the deadline for filing administrative proofs of claim in Frontier's bankruptcy. Frontier counsel didn't comment.
Music label copyright litigation against Frontier Communications (see 2108110011) and related movie company claims brought in U.S. District Court are an attempted "end-run" around U.S. Bankruptcy Court, where the claims originally were filed, Frontier told the U.S. District Court in Manhattan Friday in a motion to stay (in Pacer, docket 21-cv-5050). Citing "basic fairness and efficiency," Frontier said the Manhattan court should stay the complaints pending adjudication of what it said were duplicative claims in Bankruptcy Court. Outside counsel for the music label plaintiffs didn't comment.
Propping up the online pirating of TV shows, movies, games and live events is an estimated $1.34 billion in annual revenue from ads on websites and illicit streaming apps, said a report Thursday by Digital Citizens Alliance and White Bullet. It said website advertising dominates, getting about $1.1 billion of that, though apps appear to be more profitable and are growing rapidly. When combined with subscription revenue, piracy platform operators generate an estimated $2.34 billion revenue annually, it said. The study said major Fortune 500 brands paid pirate operators an estimated $100 million last year, and 25% of ads on piracy apps are from well-known companies. It said big brands have made a concerted effort in the past eight years to stop their ads from showing up on illicit websites.
Universal Electronics Inc. got a favorable initial determination in an International Trade Commission patent infringement case against Roku. UEI CEO Paul Arling said the ITC judge recommended issuing a limited exclusion and cease and desist order. The finding is under review by commissioners, with a final determination, “including the issuance of the limited exclusion and cease and desist orders,” expected by Nov. 10, he told investors Thursday. See Q2 materials here and here and our report 2108060033. Roku didn't comment Friday. Arling said LG, Microsoft and Samsung license UEI’s IP. The patents involve QuickSet, he said. UEI stock closed up 7.4 Friday at $48.03.
A judge asked if district court proceedings should be stayed until the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules on Florida's appeal of a preliminary injunction against the state's social media law. Parties should respond by Aug. 18 in case 21-cv-00220-RH-MAF, U.S. District Court Judge Robert Hinkle ruled Wednesday. Hinkle set trial for June 6 next year after discovery wraps Feb. 7. Florida wanted until May for discovery (see 2108030053).
CEO Jon Kirchner highlighted Xperi's media IP business on a Q2 call. (See Q2 materials here.) He called it a top strategic growth area as its pay-TV business declines along with industry trends. Revenue in that segment fell 9% year on year to $54 million, Kirchner said Tuesday. IP licensing revenue was $101.8 million, media IP revenue up 40% as Comcast, Fox, Google and others renewed and/or expanded licenses. Total Xperi sales fell 4.7% to $222.3 million.
ViacomCBS and Cox Communications signed a multiyear distribution deal keeping the programmer's cable content on the MVPD's channel lineup and covering retransmission consent of CBS stations in Los Angeles, ViacomCBS said Tuesday. This expands Cox subscriber access to ViacomCBS streaming services.
Amid ransomware attacks, the Advanced Television Systems Committee takes security of the 3.0 standards and deployment “very seriously,” said President Madeleine Noland. “We are vigilant” about security, she told us Friday. “It is not an afterthought. It is absolutely one of the most important parts of the standard.” 3.0 security “was built in and considered from the very beginning,” she said. The A/360 document in the suite of 3.0 standards on security and service protection was approved two years ago and was last updated in February. A third A/360 amendment on updated system encryption is in the candidate standard process that runs through Dec. 31. The 3.0 standards say “all the executable code shall be signed” cryptographically with a specified “key structure,” she said. “The receiver is able to look at that signature and determine whether or not the executable came from a bona fide source.” And “all the signaling structures” for audio and video, emergency alerting and other service features “must be signed” by the broadcaster, Noland said. “It would be very difficult for a man-in-the-middle attack to come in and sort of take over.” ATSC’s S36 specialist group on 3.0 security, chaired by Sony Director-Technical Standards Adam Goldberg, “meets on a regular basis, and they always have their ear to the rail,” Noland noted. Broadcasters have been hit by other ransomware attacks. (See our recent report here.)