Cisco is appealing to the European Union, which has a history of regulatory advocacy in technology, to impose requirements on Microsoft to ensure openness in future generations of video telephony and communications. There’s good logic behind Cisco’s argument, and it will ultimately benefit resellers.

A New Jersey federal court has dismissed motions by Avaya that would end the lawsuit brought by independent service provider Continuant. The case will go to trial, and the outcome could change the way vendors and customers work with “authorized” partners.

The year couldn’t end without one more trip to court, and this time it’s Juniper Networks slapping firewall challenger Palo Alto Networks with a patent infringement lawsuit. It’s just the latest legal maneuver in a year full of technology lawsuits and legal protests.

Juniper Networks is suing upstart Palo Alto Networks for allegedly infringing on six firewall patents. The legal case could set the stage for a battle to control the next-generation firewall market.

Mark Allan James faces charges of wire fraud and money laundering in a scheme to exploit Hewlett-Packard’s “Big Deal” incentive program to procure computers and other products at steep discounts for unauthorized resale.

A Kansas man is going to federal prison for his role in importing counterfeit Cisco gear for resale in the U.S. market. And it wasn’t just the networking gear he copied; he also produced fraudulent manuals.

Documents obtained by Bloomberg BusinessWeek find the Assad regime is getting prohibited U.S. and European security and storage equipment to use in systems for cracking down on protesters through an Italian partner. The disclosure reveals issues of ethics and corporate responsibility in politics and social justice.

Chun-Yu Zhao, who posed as a legitimate Cisco reseller, will spend the next five years in jail and lose most of her assets as punishment for an elaborate scheme to manufacture and import millions of dollars in bogus Cisco networking gear.

A federal court is expected to issue a ruling next week ordering the Department of the Interior to hire an independent expert to determine if Google Apps meets the government’s cloud security requirements. The decision is a blow to Microsoft’s dominance in the federal IT market.

Solution providers often feel at a disadvantage when vendors change the terms of partner agreements, especially when it costs them money. Every business has options for conflict resolution, and not all of them require going to court.