MacBook owners sue Apple over displays

MacBook and MacBook Pro owners, believing Apple made exaggerations about the quality of the MacBook display, have filed a class action lawsuit against Apple that accuses the company of false advertising.

Apple claimed, for instance, that the MacBook could display “millions of colors.” But the MacBook can only perform this feat when dithering is employed.

The plaintiffs claim that Apple’s operating system is the culprit because the display issues vanish when Windows is booted on the MacBook.

(Other general complaints regarding MacBook displays include: graininess, ’sparkly’-ness, uneven illumination, poor color saturation, and poor color contrast. Also, AppleDefects.com states that there are “ridiculous amounts of cathode bleed along the bottom of the display, with patches of light and dark throughout the remainder.”)

This is not the first time Apple has been targeted by unhappy MacBook users. Severals months ago, an earlier class action lawsuit was initiated against Apple in response to the issue of MacBooks shutting themselves down at random.

The MacBook was launched by Apple in early 2006.

[Sources: CNET News, Engadget]

Class Action against YouTube and Google

A proposed class-action lawsuit alleging copyright infringement has been filed against YouTube and Google (the owner of YouTube since November of last year).

The proposed lawsuit was filed on May 4th by Football Association Premier League of England and the music publisher Bourne Co.

The companies allege that YouTube is slow to remove copyrighted material from its site, despite the fact that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act requires prompt removal of such materials.

They also allege that YouTube and Google should be using a filter system to ensure that copyrighted material isn’t posted in the first place. They say that YouTube already filters videos for certain content owners, but that it won’t provide the same service for other content owners.

The lead attorney thinks that this case may eventually be consolidated with a similar case filed by Viacom back in March. In that case, Viacom is alleging infringement on the part of YouTube and is seeking damages of over $1 billion.

Premier League and Bourne, co-filers of the initial complaint, are now actively seeking other content owners to join the proposed class action. For more information on the case and how to join, they’ve set up the website YouTube Class Action.

[Source: The Hollywood Reporter]