Untangling Justice: The case of Aaron Swartz

Aaron Swartz

Commentary: I spent much of Saturday trying to reconcile two very different approaches to justice meted out by the Obama Administration. The first is old (mid-December) news: British bank HSBC launders money for at least a decade and is fined four weeks earnings. I learned about it Friday from The Daily Show. Blatant laundering, moving “tainted… Read More…

Microsoft, Apple, others beat Google with $4.5B bid for giant Nortel patent trove

newNortel

A consortium that includes Microsoft, Apple and Sony bid a whopping $4.5 billion in cash to win more than 6,000 patents and patent applications formerly held by bankrupt telecom company Nortel Networks. They beat out Google, which had started the bidding with a $900 million offer. Nortel announced the results of the auction today. Others… Read More…

Google bids $900M for Nortel patents, but Microsoft already has them in the bag

newNortel

[Post updated at 1:45 p.m. with clarification of Microsoft's rights to these patents under a previous licensing deal with Nortel.] An executive with bankrupt Nortel Networks calls its intellectual property holdings “one of the most extensive and compelling patent portfolios to ever come on the market.” Of course, he’s inherently biased. But Google today suggested… Read More…