Law & Order

Zenith Infotech Barred from Selling Cloud Assets (0) May 7, 2012 An India court issued an injunction against the cloud and backup company after determining a previously submitted assessment of its asset value is incomplete. The ruling comes amid speculation that Zenith Infotech was getting ready to shed more assets.
Oracle Sues Two VARs over Gray Market Support (1) February 23, 2012 Oracle has filed federal lawsuits against ServiceKey and DLT Federal Business Systems Corp. for allegedly misrepresenting their partner status and offering unauthorized support for Sun hardware and software products. The lawsuits are part of a broader crackdown on gray market services.
Logic Backs Cisco’s Objection to Skype Deal (1) February 20, 2012 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.
Continuant Scores Win in Avaya Antitrust Lawsuit (0) January 31, 2012 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.
2011: The Year of the Tech Lawsuit (1) December 20, 2011 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 Alleges Patent Infringement by Palo Alto (0) December 19, 2011 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.
Faux VAR Indicted for Scamming $10m from HP (0) December 16, 2011 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.
Fake Cisco Partner Heading to Club Fed (0) November 7, 2011 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.
Syria Crackdown Aided by the Channel (0) November 4, 2011 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.
Cisco Counterfeiter Gets 5 Years in Jail (0) September 12, 2011 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.
Google’s Federal Cloud Protest Moves Forward (0) September 2, 2011 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.
Lawsuits, Protests and Other Conflict Resolutions (0) September 2, 2011 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.
The Prosecution of Peter Alfred-Adekeye (1) August 8, 2011 The former Cisco engineer turned channel entrepreneur has been tied up in legal battles for years with his former employer and the U.S. government. Now, he faces a new round of court challenges following his indictment on hacking charges. What makes Alfred-Adekeye the most prosecuted man in the channel?
Oracle Wants HP to Drop Jones Lawsuit (0) July 29, 2011 In new court filings, lawyers say HP’s core evidence that former channel chief Adrian Jones stole trade secrets are “indisputably false.” The revelations are the latest twists in the ongoing legal battles between Oracle and HP.
VARs Flee from Massive NYC Fraud Case (5) June 21, 2011 TechnoDyne was once a rising star in the channel, cited for its rapid growth and technical prowess. Now it’s out of business, its 200 employees are on the street, and its owners are international fugitives from charges related to defrauding and laundering millions of dollars in a NYC software project.
Convicted Cisco Counterfeiter Posed as a VAR (0) May 27, 2011 Federal prosecutors announced the convictions of a Chinese national and U.S. citizen who conspired to build and distribute millions of dollars worth of bogus Cisco gear through a Va. front company posing as a reseller.
Symantec Gets Legal with eDiscovery Acquisition (0) May 20, 2011 Big Yellow is diving into eDiscovery through the acquisition of long-time technology partner Clearwell Systems. The new product line will give Symantec a play in the legal compliance market and potentially enhance its existing security and storage products.
Cisco VAR Gets Prison Time for Warranty Fraud (0) May 6, 2011 Iheanyi Frank Chinasa, the owner of a Md. hardware reseller, will spend the next seven years behind bars for defrauding Cisco of $27 million in networking equipment. Here’s how he did it, and why it will hurt law-abiding solution providers.
IT Consultant Legal Drama Made for Reality TV (2) April 29, 2011 Law enforcement officials allege computer consultant William Lanham bilked the New York City Public Schools out of $3.6 million to fuel a lavish lifestyle. The particulars of the case – a complex fraud scheme involving IBM and Verizon, an estranged wife and a fleet of fast cars – is even too rich for some titillating reality TV shows.
Kaspersky Lab Operating "Business as Usual" Amid Family Crisis (0) April 22, 2011 Reports are conflicting, but all indications are the son of Eugene Kaspersky, founder of Kaspersky Lab and popular executive figure in the IT channel, is missing and some reports indicate this is a kidnapping case.
WikiLeaks Shows Need for Deeper DLP Adoption (0) December 2, 2010 Army private Bradley Manning may become the patron saint of data loss prevention (DLP). Thanks to his supplying WikiLeaks with hundreds of thousands of sensitive and classified government documents, Manning has done more to raise the level of awareness of insider security threats and the risk posed by unchecked portable media.
Google, Partner Scores Big with Federal Agency (3) December 1, 2010 The Obama administration is pushing federal agencies to take a “cloud first” approach to solving IT problems effectively and at a lower cost. The Government Services Agency today became the first department to migrate its 15,000 employees to a Web-based email system – Google Apps. The contract win signals a growing opportunity in the federal market for cloud services and the heating up of the war between Google and Microsoft.
Google Sues Feds over Microsoft Email Bid (0) November 2, 2010 Government resellers should watch the new legal battle launched by Google and one of its Google Apps resellers against the Department of the Interior over how the government should buy web-based email services. At issue: a government request-for-proposal specifying Microsoft as the supplier of cloud-based email services.
Battle for Mobility Heads to Court (0) October 4, 2010 On the eve of Windows Phone 7 finally coming to market, Microsoft launched an unusual legal battle against rival Google by filing a patent infringement lawsuit against Motorola. Yes, you read that right: Microsoft is suing Motorola for patent infringement for the way Google’s Android operating system synchs email and files on smartphones.
Lawyers, Guns and Money in the Channel (1) August 25, 2010 There’s simply no denying it: We live in a litigious society where everyone has the right to seek recourse before the law. Everyone has the right to sue, provided they have minimal grounds for filing a grievance. And, of late, the channel and general technology industry have been breeding grounds for big lawsuits over anticompetitive practices, breaches of contracts and – some cases – corporate espionage.