Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard buy will benefit gamers, employees and competition globally, “as multiple industry participants and antitrust regulators around the world have recognized,” said Activision’s answer Friday (docket 3:23-cv-02880) in U.S. District Court for Northern California in San Francisco to the FTC’s June 12 complaint to block the transaction (see 2306120074). Activision’s answer followed a five-day evidentiary hearing that ended June 29 on the FTC’s motion for a preliminary injunction to stop the transaction from closing (see 2306150001).
As U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley for Northern California in San Francisco wrapped up a five-day evidentiary hearing Thursday on the FTC’s motion for an injunction to block Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard buy, Microsoft answered the commission’s June 12 complaint (see 2306120074) by asserting the agency was wading into unprecedented waters.
Amazon denies claims of negligence and breach of warranty in plaintiff Edna Bowles’ April 26 complaint over allegedly defective Bluetooth earbuds she bought from Amazon (see 2304270062), said Amazon’s answer Wednesday (docket 3:23-cv-00317) in U.S. District Court for Middle Louisiana in Baton Rouge. Amazon also denies it bears “any burden of proof as to any” of the allegations, it said.
The personal information of over 181,000 individuals was compromised in a hacking incident due to data security failures at Great Valley Cardiology, alleged a class action (docket 3:23-cv-01050) Friday in U.S. District Court for Middle Pennsylvania in Scranton.
Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer took the stand Friday in U.S. District Court for Northern California on the second day of the evidentiary hearing on the FTC’s motion for a preliminary injunction to block Microsoft’s Activision buy (see 2306220070). Under direct examination from FTC lead attorney James Weingarten, Spencer testified he views Sony PlayStation as hostile to Xbox’s survival, and acknowledged participating in internal Microsoft discussions about withholding Activision content from PlayStation if the deal goes through, though he said he couldn’t recall specific conversations.
Eileen Raposa's and Michael Raffo's consolidated class actions asserting claims over connected vehicle services that went dead after AT&T discontinued its 3G wireless services in February 2022 (see 2303030039) “suffer from various flaws that require dismissal,” said a Volkswagen Group of America (VWGoA) memorandum June 16 (docket 2:22-cv-06230) in U.S. District Court for New Jersey in Newark in support of its motion to dismiss. VWGoA simultaneously filed a motion to compel the Raposa and Raffo disputes to arbitration that, if granted, would render the motion to dismiss moot, it said.
FTC and Microsoft attorneys, in opening statements of Thursday’s evidentiary hearing on the commission’s motion for a preliminary injunction to block Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard buy, spent considerable time debating the fate of Activision’s signature Call of Duty franchise on Microsoft’s rival Sony PlayStation platform if the transaction goes through. The hearing is scheduled to continue over portions of the next four days (see 230615000).
T-Mobile “obviously” is aware of the change in Delaware corporate law that now permits corporations to amend their certificates of incorporation to limit the personal liability of most senior officers for monetary damages if the officers breach their fiduciary duty of care, President-CEO Mike Sievert told T-Mobile’s annual meeting virtually Friday. T-Mobile is “tracking” the change in Delaware corporate law “as a company and as a board," said Sievert in Q&A. “But we have not made any changes to the certificate of incorporation at this time,” he said. “The duty of care is very important and taken very seriously by both our board and our management. If there is an update to our policies, we’ll make sure to disclose that publicly to you.” It was the only shareholder question raised online during Q&A, and it's not known who raised it because neither Sievert nor T-Mobile Chairman Timotheus Hottges, who read the question from a monitor, didn't identify the questioner.
Plaintiffs Donald Owens and Aida Albino Wimbush and members of their proposed class suffered “ascertainable losses” from Onix Group’s failure to secure and safeguard the private information of 319,500 patients in a recent data breach and ransomware attack, alleged their class action Thursday (docket 2:23-cv-02301) in U.S. District Court for Eastern Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Onix’s negligence cost the plaintiffs and class members out-of-pocket expenses and lost time trying to remedy or mitigate the effects of the attack, including the “imminent risk of future harm caused by the compromise of their sensitive personal information,” it said.
Microsoft’s past conduct “provides a preview” of a combined Microsoft/Activision if the tech giant consummates its acquisition of the video games company, said the FTC’s Monday complaint (docket 3:23-cv-02880) in U.S. District Court for Northern California in San Francisco, seeking a temporary restraining order against the deal. "Microsoft and Activision have represented ... that they may consummate the Proposed Acquisition at any time without any further notice" to the commission, said the redacted complaint.