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Though it may not seem like it at the moment, there was a time in the mid-1990’s when Microsoft and its Windows operating system dominated the computing world. Of course, the Department of Justice sued under antitrust laws, eventually reaching a settlement in 2001. That settlement came to an end last week, but the lessons of the Microsoft antitrust era are still incredibly pertinent. The Microsoft antitrust lawsuit and settlement were primarily concerned with the company’s use of its dominance in the operating system market to boost sales of Internet Explorer....

Nut butter spreads are being associated with a salmonella outbreak that has caused 11 people in 9 states to fall ill between July and November. Almost all those diagnosed said that they ate nut butters within a week of experiencing food poisoning symptoms. JEM Raw Chocolate LLC, an American nut butter manufacturer, announced last week that it is voluntarily recalling all its nut butter spreads due to potential salmonella contamination, CNN reports....

In a journey begun in October 2006, one intrepid Trekkie attempted to boldly go where no man has gone before: to sue Christie’s for $7 million for selling him phony Star Trek merchandise. Unfortunately for him, the New York Court of Appeals had about as much sense of humor regarding this suit as bunch of Klingons. On Tuesday, December 22, the plaintiff’s case was dismissed. Moustakis also claims he discovered the props were not genuine in a rather startling manner....

On Sunday, several thousand demonstrators conducted a silent march down Fifth Avenue in New York to protest the NYPD’s stop and frisk policies. The protest was led by members of labor unions, the N.A.A.C.P., student groups, Occupy Wall Street members, and even a group of Quakers, reports The New York Times. If you knew some of the statistics involving minorities and New York’s stop and frisk policy, you probably would have protested too....

It’s a story almost too odd to already be cliche: Hammond, Indiana police literally pulled the plug on a holographic Chief Keef performance. It’s the second time in as many weeks that such a Keef show has been shut down, after a similar appearance was previously shut down in Chicago. Performing as a hologram is somewhat necessary for Chief Keef in the Midwest, due to several outstanding arrest warrants. The performance shutdowns were allegedly based on safety fears....

Nutraloaf is perhaps the most reviled food in the nation. It’s a meatloaf-like substance designed to meet a prisoner’s nutritional needs, and is often composed of leftover fruits, vegetables, meats and grains. It’s bad-tasting and is often used as a form of punishment. And according to a recent decision from the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, it could actually be used for something far worse. The court has reinstated a lawsuit brought by prisoner Terrance Prude....

In a victory for affirmative action advocates, the Supreme Court upheld the University of Texas’s admissions criteria that takes an applicant’s race into account. The case was brought by a white female applicant, Abigail Fisher, who was denied admission to the university in 2008 and claimed that the school’s holistic “Personal Achievement Index” (which considered race as a factor in admissions) violated the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. The Court disagreed, saying schools are permitted “considerable deference” when seeking diversity in their student body....

More cell phone users may want to put a lock on their phones to prevent the dreaded social faux pas of “butt dialing.” For those of you who don’t know, a butt dial is when you accidentally dial the person you spoke to last from a cell phone that is in your pocket. While it may be considered a harmless faux pas, albeit embarrassing, for one Illinois man it brought a whole SWAT team in for a false alarm....

A Massachusetts teenager is under arrest in connection with the stomping death of a town’s beloved duck. Ozzie, a Muscovy duck and the unofficial mascot of Stanley Park in Westfield, Mass., was killed in the Nov. 11 attack. Ozzie had lived in the park for at least three years, The Republican reports. The duck’s untimely stomping death has hit the town hard. Residents shared their sorrow with WSHM-TV in a report you can watch here:...

Reuters reports that Merck & Co. was granted a motion for summary judgment in a lawsuit brought by the Texas Attorney General’s office against the drug maker over its pain killer Vioxx. The Texas AG brought the suit for alleged violations of the state’s Medicaid Fraud Prevention Act. The lawsuit sought a refund for the money that was spent for Vioxx pain treatment. Vioxx was withdrawn from the market over safety concerns....

The dangers of driving are many and you must pay close attention when you’re on the road. Not only do you risk serious injury or even death when you’re distracted, but there is also the possibility of being stopped by the cops and being charged with a traffic infraction or crime. Aggressive driving and road rage are not crimes in and of themselves. But they do lead to reckless driving, which is an offense....

Bayer AG announced today that it is suspending worldwide sale of the anti-bleeding drug Trasylol (also called aprotonin), until results of a recent drug trial can be properly evaluated. In October 2007, a Canada-based drug study of cardiac surgery patients was halted because Trasylol appeared to increase the risk for death compared to other anti-bleeding drugs used in the study. In a Company Press Release, Bayer AG stated that the decision to pull Trasylol from the market was made “following consultation with the German Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM), the U....

The special prosecutor in the Trayvon Martin murder case publicly released more than 180 pages of documents Thursday, more than a month after accused murderer George Zimmerman’s defense team requested them. The documents include transcripts of 911 calls, results of Martin’s autopsy, and a description of Zimmerman’s injuries the night of the shooting in Sanford, Fla. The documents are posted on FindLaw’s Courtside blog. The documents have renewed debate and speculation about what happened Feb....

Have you ever had the urge to jailbreak your phone? Perhaps millions have done it. But Apple has been contending that it is illegal. So what’s wrong with jailbreaking your phone? Nothing, ruled the U.S. Librarian of Congress on Monday. Jailbreaking is the practice of changing the software on smartphones, to allow outside applications to function on the phone. The Library of Congress found that jailbreakers should be exempted from prosecution under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)....

Attorney Roni Deutch, a daytime TV mainstay known as the “Tax Lady,” runs incessant ads extolling her ability to get anyone out of a jam with the IRS. Well, the “Tax Lady” may well be headed to jail. California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris has asked a judge to lock up the Tax Lady after accusing Deutch of refusing to refund clients as required by court order and for allegedly destroying thousands of documents sought in a lawsuit accusing her of scamming thousands of consumers, Reuters reports....

It is not illegal to secretly photograph underneath a person’s clothing (known as “upskirting”), Massachusetts’ highest court has ruled in privacy decision that may prompt lawmakers to update state law. The state’s highest court ruled (see decision below) that a man who took cellphone photos up the skirts of women on the Boston subway did not violate state law because the women were neither nude nor partially nude. “A female passenger on a MBTA trolley who is wearing a skirt, dress, or the like covering these parts of her body is not a person who is ‘partially nude,’ no matter what is or is not underneath the skirt by way of underwear or other clothing,” wrote Justice Margot Botsford of the state Supreme Judicial Court....

“Whale Wars” captain Paul Watson has quit his position at his conservation society after a federal court issued an injunction against his group’s anti-whaling activities. Watson became famous for his televised attempts to disrupt Japanese whalers on his show “Whale Wars,” airing on Animal Planet. However, last month, a Japanese firm secured an injunction against Watson and his Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in a U.S. court, reports CNN. The injunction prohibits Watson from coming within 500 yards of the plaintiffs, which would effectively ruin Watson’s attempts to disrupt the Japanese whaling industry....

For six weeks this winter, while most of us were just going about our daily routines, the US Department of Justice, in conjunction with local law enforcement, was conducting a massive sweep of 12 cities, arresting 13,000 people. The action targeted repeat offenders that the DOJ considers most dangerous, including many murderers it turns out. Operation Violence Reduction, as this sweep was called, focused on cities where crime has been rising....

If you’ve watched any cop show or cop movie, you can probably recite the warning from memory: That admonition comes from a famous criminal law case, Miranda v. Arizona, and must be given to any person prior to custodial interrogation. But there are three major exceptions to what’s become known as the Miranda rule or Miranda rights. You have the right to remain silent; If you do say anything, what you say can be used against you in a court of law; You have the right to consult with a lawyer and have that lawyer present during any questioning; If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be appointed for you if you so desire....

The Supreme Court will consider the future of television on Tuesday when it hears arguments about the legality of Aereo, an Internet-television service that uses tiny remote antennas to capture broadcast TV signals and redistributes them online. If the High Court says Aereo is legal it could usher in a revolution that shapes the way we watch and pay for television. Aereo’s technology is a threat to both the lucrative cable bundles and the networks that receive big-time fees for inclusion in cable packages....