History is full of tragic loves. Cleopatra and Marc Antony. Elizabeth Taylor and like half of Hollywood. Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony. Now, the failed marriage of AT&T and T-Mobile. AT&T had this to say for itself:
“The actions by the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice to block this transaction do not change the realities of the U.S. wireless industry. It is one of the most fiercely competitive industries in the world, with a mounting need for more spectrum that has not diminished and must be addressed immediately. The AT&T and T-Mobile USA combination would have offered an interim solution to this spectrum shortage. In the absence of such steps, customers will be harmed and needed investment will be stifled.”
This is one of the stupidest things I’ve ever read. “There’s lots of competition in the wireless industry. (ED: snort) We were trying to put an end to that, but you guys are being jerks about it. We’re taking our legal team and going home.”
Abnormal Use is one of my favorite legal blogs, because they cover products liability cases. If your chainsaw falls apart mid-tree and decapitates your lawn gnomes, or if your car’s GPS tells you to drive off a cliff and you somehow think that’s a good idea, you and your bizarre lawsuit will end up on Abnormal Use.
Their Christmas coverage is pretty fantastic, too. Here’s Steven Buckingham on the classic movie Miracle on 34th Street:
Written and directed by George Seaton, and starring Maureen O’Hara, John Payne, Edmund Gwenn and a young Natalie Wood, the 1947 film is ostensibly a Christmas classic, but really, it’s a cinematic exploration of some of the worst legal malpractice I’ve ever seen.
But please, Steven, tell us how you really feel!
Let’s start out with the most glaring mistake / “legal strategy”: The state calls Santa to the stand. Kringle’s lawyer does not invoke the privilege against self-incriminating testimony. In fact, he waives it while boldly proclaiming, “We have nothing to hide!” Trust me, guy, you’ve always got something to hide. In your case, it’s the fact that your client assaulted the shrink. You might want to sweep that under the rug. Luckily, because the state phoned its performance in, Santa gets away unscathed.
Read the rest at Abnormal Use. And remember, the only thing worse than suing Santa is suing Santa and losing. Merry Christmas!
Every chance they get, someone from Google brings this up as a huge advantage of Android over rivals like iOS. Never mind the fact that a good percentage of the time it’s pure marketing bullshit — why exactly isn’t Google Wallet on Google’s own Galaxy Nexus device? — even when it’s true, there are some very real downsides. The user experience angle has been debated ad nauseam. More interesting is what we’re seeing now. A downside for Google.
It’s an article that raises a lot of interesting points, and also the very stupid one that “Google is surprised that its open-source project is being used for other projects.” Even if Google has a silly definition of what it means to be open, that’s not really proof that the Kindle Fire is a failure of Android as a platform.
In February, Super Bowl XLVI will be the first instance of the biggest game of the year to stream live over the web, via NFL.com and NBCSports.com. The game will also be available to stream on Verizon smartphones through the league’s wireless partner’s NFL Mobile app. (If you’re on another wireless carrier, you’re out of luck; Verizon’s got the exclusive.)
Awesome. Every day, we get a little bit closer to that glorious future when first-run TV happens on the internet, instead of just pirated first-run TV happening on the internet. Don’t get me wrong, I’m thankful for Netflix Instant and Hulu and South Park Studios and all that other good stuff.
