The National Trial Lawyers
  • Home
    • Meet Our Team
    • Contact Us
    • Mission & Goals
    • FAQ
  • Webinars
  • News
  • Membership Directory
    • Top 100 Map – Civil Plaintiff
    • Top 100 Map – Criminal Defense
    • Top 40 Under 40 Map – Civil Plaintiff
    • Top 40 Under 40 Map – Criminal Defense
  • Top 100
    • Civil Plaintiff Officers / Executive Committee
    • Criminal Defense Officers / Executive Committee
    • Benefits
    • About
    • Top 100 Presidents Message
    • Diplomat
    • Membership Renewal
    • Member Profile Updates
    • Top 100 Badge
  • Top 40
    • Civil Plaintiff Officers / Executive Committee
    • Criminal Defense Officers / Executive Committee
    • Top 40 Under 40 Trial Academy Bootcamp
    • Benefits
    • About
    • Top 40 Presidents Message
    • Membership Renewal
    • Member Profile Updates
    • Top 40 Badge
  • Specialty Assoc
    • About
    • Shop
    • Officers
    • Membership Renewal
    • Member Profile Updates
  • Nominate
    • Top 100
    • Top 40
    • Specialty Association
    • Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame
    • Trial Lawyer of the Year
    • Trial Team of the Year
    • America’s Most Influential Trial Lawyer
    • America’s Most Influential Law Firm
    • Lifetime Achievement Award
  • Shop
  • Magazine
    • A-List
  • Education and Networking Agenda
    • Trial Lawyers Summit
    • Top 40 Under 40 Trial Academy Boot Camp
    • Mass Torts Made Perfect
    • The Lanier Trial Academy Master Class 6.0
    • The Business Of Law
    • Webinars
  • Hall of Fame
    • Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame

Google’s List of Paid Bloggers Not Sufficient, Judge Says

Posted on December 10, 2012 by webadmin

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 20 (Reuters) – Google Inc failed to comply with a court order to disclose the bloggers and other commentators on a patent and copyright case who might have been influenced by payments from the Web company, a judge said on Monday.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup gave Google until noon on Friday, Aug. 24 to provide an amended list of public commentators on the high-profile case between Google and Oracle Corp who have received payments as consultants, contractors, vendors or employees.

“Just as a treatise on the law may influence the courts, public commentary that purports to be independent may have an influence on the courts and/or their staff if only in subtle ways,” wrote Alsup.

Earlier this month, Alsup riveted technology and legal circles with a highly unusual order that Google and Oracle identify all writers who commented on the companies intellectual property lawsuit and who received money from the technology giants.

The lists, submitted by the companies on Friday, contained no huge surprises. Oracle acknowledged it hired blogger Florian Mueller, who often comments on patent issues, as a consultant – a relationship that was already known.

Google acknowledged contributions to various groups but said it has not paid any of them to comment on issues in the case.

But Alsup said on Monday he was interested not only in authors that the companies paid to comment specifically on the case.

“Rather, the order was designed to bring to light authors whose statements about the issues in the case might have been influenced by the receipt of money from Google or Oracle,” Alsup wrote.

He cited Oracle’s disclosure of Mueller as an appropriate response: “Even though the payment was for consulting work, the payment might have influenced the blogger’s reports on issues in the civil action.”

Oracle sued Google in federal court in 2010, claiming Google’s Android mobile platform violated Oracle’s patents and copyright to the Java programming language. It sought roughly $1 billion on the copyright claims.

Earlier this year, after the jury decided in Google’s favor, Alsup ruled Oracle could not claim copyright protection on most of the Java material that Oracle took to trial. Oracle has said it will appeal.

In his initial order, Alsup said he was “concerned” about relationships between commentators and the companies, but the judge has not revealed what specifically has prompted him to act.

The case attracted heavy coverage from the mainstream media and technology-focused blogs.

Alsup said in his order that the payments in which he is interested do not include advertising revenue received by the commentators, and he said gifts to universities can be ignored. He noted that Oracle must supplement its list if the order clarifies any issues for Oracle.

“Google suggests that it has paid so many commenters that it will be impossible to list them all,” Alsup wrote. “Please simply do your best but the impossible is not required. Oracle managed to do it.”

The case in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, is Oracle America, Inc v. Google Inc, 10-3561.

http://newsandinsight.thomsonreuters.com/Legal/News/2012/08_-_August/Google_s_list_of_paid_bloggers_not_sufficient,_judge_says/

 

Posted in Blog | Tagged bloggers, Google

Comments are closed.

Recent Posts

Salmon Purchasers Reach an $85 Million Price Fixing Settlement

Salmon Purchasers Reach an $85 Million Price Fixing Settlement

May 27th, 2022

According to Reuters, who had seen the proposed settlement after it was filed on 25 May, the settlement will r[Read More...]
Ford Agrees to Pay $19 Million to Settle False Fuel Economy and Payload Claims

Ford Agrees to Pay $19 Million to Settle False Fuel Economy and Payload Claims

May 27th, 2022

Ford Motor Company as agreed to a $19.2 million multistate settlement among 40 attorneys general that concluded an investigat[Read More...]
Total Settlement in Surfside Condo Collapse Tops $1 Billion

Total Settlement in Surfside Condo Collapse Tops $1 Billion

May 25th, 2022

The proposed settlement reached nearly a year after the catastrophic Surfside building collapse along the South Flo[Read More...]
UCLA Will Pay Nearly $700 Million in Abuse Lawsuits

UCLA Will Pay Nearly $700 Million in Abuse Lawsuits

May 25th, 2022

The University of California system announced Tuesday it will pay nearly $375 million to more than 300 women who said they we[Read More...]
Things to Consider When You Sue an Insurance Provider

Things to Consider When You Sue an Insurance Provider

May 24th, 2022

We are all too acquainted with insurance coverage in our everyday lives. According to Investopedia, everyone should have[Read More...]

Contact Us | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy

Attorney information and content provided on this website is provided for the benefit of members of The National Trial Lawyers and as a public service by Legal Associations Management, Inc. The website and all data are the property of Legal Associations Management, Inc. Data, including without limitation attorney information and content, on the site may not be mined, sold, or used commercially for any purpose without the explicit written consent of Legal Associations Management, Inc. This site may not be accessed by any automated program for extracting data for any use. By accessing and using the site you agree that you will not develop, support or use software, devices, scripts, robots, or any other means or processes (including crawlers, browser plug-ins and add-ons, or any other technology) to scrape data or otherwise copy profiles and other data. Unauthorized use or attempted unauthorized use of this system may subject you to both civil and criminal penalties.