Organizational Statements

From: Politico

By: Kim Hart

Twitter is expanding its Washington presence.

The San Francisco-based social networking company announced Monday — via tweet, of course — that telecom policy veteran Colin Crowell will become Twitter’s head of global public policy.

Crowell was a long-time senior aide to Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), where he handled the biggest technology and telecom issues in front of Congress over the past two decades. In 2009, he became senior adviser to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, helping to shape some of the commission’s early broadband policies and Open Internet order.

From: Phandroid

by Chris Chavez

Here we go again. Today, in a trial before the International Trade Commission in Washington, the world’s largest software maker, Microsoft, accused Motorola Mobility of infringing on 7 of their patents (thanks in part to Android) and is requesting a halt on imports of several Motorola handsets — namely the Droid 2, Droid X, Cliq XT, Devour, Backflip and Charm. Microsoft’s corporate vice president and deputy general counsel for litigation David Howard had this to say,

“We have a responsibility to our employees, customers, partners and shareholders to safeguard our intellectual property. Motorola is infringing our patents and we are confident that the ITC will rule in our favor.”

Fox Rothschild LLP

John R. Gotaskie, Jr.

Recently, the blogosphere has been all “atwitter” regarding the fact that, unbeknownst to the consumer, Apple Computer has been capturing location data from iPhones and iPads — meaning, if your employees and customers have these devices, Apple knows precisely where they have been. The captured location data is stored on an iPhone or iPad for up to one year and is uploaded to Apple’s servers every time a user syncs the device with iTunes.    

Editor’s Note:  The following article from FairSearch, a coalition funded by IT companies including Microsoft which has experienced its own antitrust controversies.   In the brief discussion below, the coalition states that “consumers and businesses alike, deserve more transparency and fairness from Google.”  FairSearch does not address their own members’ track records on the issue.

FTC Investigation Focuses on Android, Preferential Placement, Demoting Competitors

Six weeks after Google confirmed that the FTC is investigating its business practices, the Wall Street Journal reports that the investigation will extend to Google’s Android mobile operating system and other search related services. According to the report, FTC antitrust officials have been asking:

From: Lexology