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DOJ sues Oracle for alleged overcharging

The U.S. Justice Department has joined a whistleblower suit against Oracle that accuses it of defrauding the U.S. government.

Filed back in May 2007 under the False Claims Act, the suit claims Oracle overcharged the federal government tens of millions of dollars by failing to offer it the same deep discounts the company offers commercial customers. That's a real problem, because Oracle was obligated to do just that under the terms of the General Services Administration contract by which it was bound.

"The whole idea of GSA schedule discounts is that the government, in the aggregate, … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1236: Let the healing begin (podcast)

Facebook rolls out its new privacy changes live during our show! How nice of them. In a nutshell, near as we can tell, everything is going to be simpler and Facebook is really sorry that they really mean it about the whole privacy thing. And we get that, but we need some time to get over it, you know? Also, the DOJ may be looking into Apple's iTunes monopoly and we have a big discussion about the future of American space shuttle. Get your emails ready now.

Justice Dept. dismisses text-messaging probe

The U.S. Department of Justice has closed its investigation of cell phone text message pricing without any action taken against wireless operators, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

The Justice Department launched its investigation into text message pricing in September 2008, after Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wisc.) asked the agency to look into why wireless operators had doubled text-messaging rates from 10 cents per message to 20 cents per message sent and received. Kohl said he was concerned that the industry had colluded to increase rates at roughly the same time.

Wireless companies denied that they had colluded to set rates. … Read more

More time needed for revised Google Books deal

Google and groups representing authors and publishers have asked for more time to revise their controversial settlement over the rights to scan digital books.

Judge Denny Chin approved the request to extend the deadline to Friday, which was submitted ahead of a Monday night deadline for the parties to submit a revised settlement after the U.S. Department of Justice objected to the settlement as previously worded. After it was sued in 2005 by The Author's Guild and other groups representing the publishing industry over its decision to scan certain types of books without explicit permission, Google reached a settlement a year ago … Read more

November deadline for new Google Books deal

The Google Books case will drag on for at least a few more months, as a judge in New York has set a November deadline for the submission of a new settlement.

Google's original settlement with groups representing publishers and authors over the right to digitize certain kinds of books was met with howls of objection from authors, privacy advocates, and perhaps most importantly, the U.S. Department of Justice. A hearing on whether to approve that settlement was originally scheduled for Wednesday, but last month the publisher and author groups asked for more time to work out a new deal … Read more

Google Books hearing officially delayed

The judge overseeing Google Books settlement has agreed to the plaintiffs' request for a delay of the final hearing scheduled to approve the controversial settlement, which is being reworked by the parties.

Judge Denny Chin of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York had been scheduled to oversee a October 7 hearing about whether to approve a 2008 settlement between Google and several groups representing authors and publishers. However, the settlement, which gives Google sweeping rights to digitize out-of-print but copyright protected books, has drawn staunch opposition from many corners of the literary world as … Read more

Parties seek Google Books hearing delay; new deal brewing

Updated 2:18 p.m. PDT with comment from Google.

The parties involved in the Google Book Search settlement have asked a federal court to postpone an October hearing to approve the proposed settlement while they work out a new deal.

When the Department of Justice made it clear last Friday that it could not support the settlement as written--which would give Google unique rights to scan out-of-print books still protected by copyright law--it said the parties were in talks to amend the settlement. In a joint brief (click for PDF), lawyers the Authors Guild, the Association of American Publishers, … Read more

DOJ: Google's book settlement needs rewrite

The U.S. Department of Justice late Friday urged the court overseeing Google's book search settlement with authors and publishers to reject the settlement in its current form, although it strongly hinted that the parties are flexible on certain provisions.

"As presently drafted, the Proposed Settlement does not meet the legal standards this Court must apply," the DOJ said in a 32-page filing (click for PDF) with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. "This Court should reject the Proposed Settlement in its current form and encourage the parties to continue … Read more

Report: DOJ looks into telecom dominance

The Department of Justice is looking into whether big U.S. phone companies such as AT&T and Verizon Communications are abusing their market power, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal on Monday.

The newspaper cited unnamed sources who said that the Justice Department is reviewing potential anticompetitive practices. No formal investigation has been launched, and the review is in its early stages, the Journal article said. It's not clear yet if a formal investigation will follow.

Part of the inquiry is likely to focus on whether wireless carriers are harming smaller competitors by striking … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 865: Solidarity, my ape-hands brother

Tom and Jason have an ape-like bonding moment on today's show; Brian Tong calls "bull" on rumors of a $99 iPhone 3G; we find out that Google went right up against the DOJ deadline before it finally yelled "chicken" and walked away from its ad deal with Yahoo; Apple raises an awesome conspiracy theory in its Psystar lawsuit; and Monster Cable can just go straight to you-know-where. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 865

Listener co-host details: Email buzz@cnet.com with your name, phone number, preferred time of day (with time zone). We … Read more

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