lawyer

From the Life-Is-Unfair Files: You’re Welcome, Winklevii. Love, Zuck.

Kara Swisher in Social on February 3 at 8:40 am PT

That’s right, folks, the rich do get richer, especially if they pursue their case well past the point of shame.

Airbnb Hires Former Yahoo Legal Eagle Belinda Johnson as General Counsel

Kara Swisher in Commerce on December 9, 2011 at 7:44 am PT

Here’s the lawyer who’s going to write that ironclad lease — that promised espresso maker better be there! — for the lovely apartment in Italy we rented.

Exclusive: Microsoft Mulls Legally Poking Facebook Over Ad Talent Raid

Kara Swisher in News on March 2, 2011 at 4:10 pm PT

Microsoft–furious over a recent talent grab of its top advertising exec by Facebook–has been considering a wide range of options, including legal action to block the move, according to sources close to the situation. While it might not come to that, tensions between the two companies, who have partnered closely in the past, are running high over the hiring of Carolyn Everson. She had been head of global ad sales at Microsoft and has been hired to be VP of global sales at Facebook.

Jennifer Granick, Lawyer to Hackers, Joins Zwillinger Genetski

Arik Hesseldahl in Enterprise on December 2, 2010 at 10:58 am PT

San Francisco lawyer Jennifer Granick, until recently civil liberties director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, is joining the Washington, D.C.-based law firm of Zwillinger Genetski. Granick gained a reputation as a lawyer willing to defend accused computer hackers.

Google's Groupon Offer: $5.3 Billion, With $700 Million Earnout

Kara Swisher in News on November 29, 2010 at 10:58 pm PT

According to sources close to the situation, Google has offered $5.3 billion for Groupon, in what would be its largest acquisition yet, if completed. Sources said the deal for the Chicago-based social buying site seems likely to be struck, even as early as tomorrow, although it certainly could fall apart right up to the end. But, if done, it will move the search giant instantly to the top spot in local commerce online and give it huge troves of data about consumer buying habits and merchant information across the globe.

Microsoft’s Plan B to Make Money in Phones: Patents

Ina Fried in Mobile on November 29, 2010 at 9:37 pm PT

Although Microsoft is still hoping that Windows Phone 7 proves to be a hit, the company doesn’t see its success as the only way to make a profit. Top lawyer Brad Smith said tonight that Redmond’s vast patent portfolio related to smartphones could provide another revenue stream to help recoup the company’s massive investment in mobile technology.

Would That the Real Mark Zuckerberg Talked as Much as the Facebook Movie Mark Zuckerberg

Kara Swisher in News on October 2, 2010 at 4:01 pm PT

Mark Pincus can sure talk a blue streak. Mark Cuban can easily be classified as a chatterbox, both online and off. And Marc Andreessen certainly knows how to keep up his end of the conversation. In other words, the pantheon of famous digital entrepreneurs is full of blabby Marks. But Mark Zuckerberg, not so much.

Hollywood Groups Weigh In on FCC Internet Reclassification

Kara Swisher in News on August 12, 2010 at 5:35 pm PT

An alphabet soup of entertainment-industry groups submitted filings to the Federal Communications Commission today as part of its request for comment on a framework for broadband services. Specifically, whether or not to reclassify the Internet as a telecommunications service, which would trigger all kinds of juicy regulatory power. There are all kind of complex issues at stake, from net neutrality to piracy to open Internet to broadband access.

Pulse iPad App Gets Steve Jobs's Praise in Morning…Then Booted From App Store Hours Later After NYT Complains

Kara Swisher in News on June 8, 2010 at 12:53 am PT

Yesterday morning, the pair of Stanford University graduate students who made the hot news-reading iPad app, Pulse News Reader, were ecstatic to be mentioned first–for being among the most promising developers for the new tablet device–by Apple CEO Steve Jobs in his keynote address to the Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco. But by afternoon, that flush of entrepreneurial success had turned sour, when Apple informed the two that Pulse was being pulled from the App Store after it received a written notice from the New York Times Company declaring that “The New York Times Company believes your application named ‘Pulse News Reader’ infringes The New York Times Company’s rights.” Pulse was down completely by 6:30 pm PT last night.