Kogan claims victory in legal stoush

Kogan Mobile has claimed a victory against ispONE in court today. Source: Supplied

KOGAN Mobile has been successful in its legal battle against Telstra reseller, ispONE.

In the High Court of Victoria today the company which resells Telstra phone lines agreed to stop suspending Kogan Mobile users from its network without prior approval, unless in accordance with the companies' suspension policy.

It also abandoned its countersuit against Kogan Mobile claiming "misleading and deceptive conduct".

The reseller also pointed the finger at Telstra, claiming that it was responsible for the suspension of user accounts and asked that it be included in the agreement of operating procedures going forward, technology website ITnews.com.au reported.

However, legal counsel for Kogan Mobile asked that the Telstra reference be removed from the operating procedures.

The Telstra reseller has previously refused to provide the court with documents of its communications with Telstra, ITnews.com.au reported.

Kogan Mobile sued ispONE last month after its customers were booted from the service for allegedly using their phones too much.

A spokesperson for Kogan Mobile told news.com.au that today's victory means its customers can "rest assured that their services will not be unlawfully interfered with by the wholesaler".

"We’re glad the right result was reached, and that the truth about the last few months is now abundantly clear."

The spokesperson said Kogan Mobile entered the telecommunications industry "to shake things up and make mobile access more affordable for all Australians" and that it never expected it would end up in court.

"Today is a win for Australians fed up with paying too much for their mobile phone access," the spokesperson said.

"The migration to Kogan Mobile has been one of the largest in Australian telecommunications history, and with today's result we can only see this migration gathering further momentum."

ispONE declined to comment.

The case has been adjourned until an agreement can be drawn up between the parties. A damages claim by Kogan Mobile will be heard separately.

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Kogan claims victory in legal stoush

Kogan Mobile has claimed a victory against ispONE in court today. Source: Supplied

KOGAN Mobile has been successful in its legal battle against Telstra reseller, ispONE.

In the High Court of Victoria today the company which resells Telstra phone lines agreed to stop suspending Kogan Mobile users from its network without prior approval, unless in accordance with the companies' suspension policy.

It also abandoned its countersuit against Kogan Mobile claiming "misleading and deceptive conduct".

The reseller also pointed the finger at Telstra, claiming that it was responsible for the suspension of user accounts and asked that it be included in the agreement of operating procedures going forward, technology website ITnews.com.au reported.

However, legal counsel for Kogan Mobile asked that the Telstra reference be removed from the operating procedures.

The Telstra reseller has previously refused to provide the court with documents of its communications with Telstra, ITnews.com.au reported.

Kogan Mobile sued ispONE last month after its customers were booted from the service for allegedly using their phones too much.

A spokesperson for Kogan Mobile told news.com.au that today's victory means its customers can "rest assured that their services will not be unlawfully interfered with by the wholesaler".

"We’re glad the right result was reached, and that the truth about the last few months is now abundantly clear."

The spokesperson said Kogan Mobile entered the telecommunications industry "to shake things up and make mobile access more affordable for all Australians" and that it never expected it would end up in court.

"Today is a win for Australians fed up with paying too much for their mobile phone access," the spokesperson said.

"The migration to Kogan Mobile has been one of the largest in Australian telecommunications history, and with today's result we can only see this migration gathering further momentum."

ispONE declined to comment.

The case has been adjourned until an agreement can be drawn up between the parties. A damages claim by Kogan Mobile will be heard separately.

View the original article here

Legal brawl over The Simpsons' house

All this fuss over The Simpson's. It's The Simpson's. Who can get mad over The Simpson's? Picture: Iaki Aliste Lizarralde Source: Supplied

WHAT was meant to be a project designed to bring people joy, quickly turned into a legal battle between two designers who created blueprints and floorplans for the fictional homes on TV shows including The Simpsons, How I Met Your Mother and Mad Men.

Spanish interior designer Iñaki Aliste Lizarralde created hand-drawn floorplans for some of the most famous fictional homes including that of Ted Moseby from How I Met Your Mother, Sheldon, Leonard and Penny's apartments from The Big Bang Theory, the pads belonging to Monica, Rachel, Chandler and Joey from Friends and even Jerry Seinfeld's old place.

Mr Lizarralde told news.com.au that his hobby blossomed out of his love of 1990s sitcom, Frasier, and that he drew the floorplan of protagonist Frasier Crane's apartment as a "personal treat".

It can take up to 30 hours or more to complete a single floorplan, and countless hours of TV watching to nail the layout.

He said he usually watched an entire series or film before attempting a floorplan.

"In the sitcoms the principal set (normally the living room placed in front of the audience) appears in all the episodes," he said.

"The problem is usually locating the secondary sets as the bedrooms and bathrooms."

The interior designer sells his plans on website Etsy from anywhere from $50 to $150.

Mr Lizarralde has received copyright complaints – not from the various TV studios but a rival who also designs and sells floorplans of fictional homes from TV shows and films.

News.com.au has not named the person for legal reasons but approached them for comment.

According to Mr Lizarralde's blogs the rival's lawyer sent him a cease and desist letter saying that his floorplans were "unauthorised derivative works and use the copyright protected works owned by my client's intellectual property rights".

The interior designer says it is obvious he is not copying the rival’s blueprints.

He also said he felt harassed by the competitor who wrote comments about him on articles that had been written about his work.

These alleged actions have caused some of his art to be removed from his DeviantArt account as well as from other websites.

Mr Lizarralde said he had also lost money due to the ongoing battle.

His Simpson's floorplan has had the greatest coverage – shared on social networks including Reddit, Facebook, Twitter and My Space – but he was reluctant to send it on to the show's creator Matt Groening.

He said he was nervous about Groening's opinion as he had already copped criticism from pop-culture pedants.

"Behind the stairs there is a door that sometimes appeared as a wardrobe closet, other times as a cupboard full of shelves and sometimes as an entry to the basement stairs," he told news.com.au.

He said he decided to draw it as a storage space as that was the most common way it was presented, but this was met with criticism from fans.

"If I had drawn the stairs to the basement the same (people) would complain that there (should have been) a closet, so I do not want to think what Matt Groening would say," he said.

Ground floor of The Simpson's Springfield home. Picture: Iaki Aliste Lizarralde Source: Supplied

The first floor of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie's home at 742 Evergreen Terrace, Springfield. Picture: Iaki Aliste Lizarralde Source: Supplied

We'd kill to see Kramer's apartment, complete with hot tub. But Jerry's apartment shall have to suffice. Picture: Iaki Aliste Lizarralde Source: Supplied

For the Dexter fans, try to calculate the square footage of plastic wrap required to sheathe this entire house. Picture: Iaki Aliste Lizarralde Source: Supplied

The floor plan that got the whole thing started. Picture: Iaki Aliste Lizarralde Source: Supplied

Because this story would be incomplete without a reference to The Gilmore Girls. Picture: Iaki Aliste Lizarralde Source: Supplied

 

View the original article here

Legal brawl over The Simpsons' house

All this fuss over The Simpson's. It's The Simpson's. Who can get mad over The Simpson's? Picture: Iaki Aliste Lizarralde Source: Supplied

WHAT was meant to be a project designed to bring people joy, quickly turned into a legal battle between two designers who created blueprints and floorplans for the fictional homes on TV shows including The Simpsons, How I Met Your Mother and Mad Men.

Spanish interior designer Iñaki Aliste Lizarralde created hand-drawn floorplans for some of the most famous fictional homes including that of Ted Moseby from How I Met Your Mother, Sheldon, Leonard and Penny's apartments from The Big Bang Theory, the pads belonging to Monica, Rachel, Chandler and Joey from Friends and even Jerry Seinfeld's old place.

Mr Lizarralde told news.com.au that his hobby blossomed out of his love of 1990s sitcom, Frasier, and that he drew the floorplan of protagonist Frasier Crane's apartment as a "personal treat".

It can take up to 30 hours or more to complete a single floorplan, and countless hours of TV watching to nail the layout.

He said he usually watched an entire series or film before attempting a floorplan.

"In the sitcoms the principal set (normally the living room placed in front of the audience) appears in all the episodes," he said.

"The problem is usually locating the secondary sets as the bedrooms and bathrooms."

The interior designer sells his plans on website Etsy from anywhere from $50 to $150.

Mr Lizarralde has received copyright complaints – not from the various TV studios but a rival who also designs and sells floorplans of fictional homes from TV shows and films.

News.com.au has not named the person for legal reasons but approached them for comment.

According to Mr Lizarralde's blogs the rival's lawyer sent him a cease and desist letter saying that his floorplans were "unauthorised derivative works and use the copyright protected works owned by my client's intellectual property rights".

The interior designer says it is obvious he is not copying the rival’s blueprints.

He also said he felt harassed by the competitor who wrote comments about him on articles that had been written about his work.

These alleged actions have caused some of his art to be removed from his DeviantArt account as well as from other websites.

Mr Lizarralde said he had also lost money due to the ongoing battle.

His Simpson's floorplan has had the greatest coverage – shared on social networks including Reddit, Facebook, Twitter and My Space – but he was reluctant to send it on to the show's creator Matt Groening.

He said he was nervous about Groening's opinion as he had already copped criticism from pop-culture pedants.

"Behind the stairs there is a door that sometimes appeared as a wardrobe closet, other times as a cupboard full of shelves and sometimes as an entry to the basement stairs," he told news.com.au.

He said he decided to draw it as a storage space as that was the most common way it was presented, but this was met with criticism from fans.

"If I had drawn the stairs to the basement the same (people) would complain that there (should have been) a closet, so I do not want to think what Matt Groening would say," he said.

Ground floor of The Simpson's Springfield home. Picture: Iaki Aliste Lizarralde Source: Supplied

The first floor of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie's home at 742 Evergreen Terrace, Springfield. Picture: Iaki Aliste Lizarralde Source: Supplied

We'd kill to see Kramer's apartment, complete with hot tub. But Jerry's apartment shall have to suffice. Picture: Iaki Aliste Lizarralde Source: Supplied

For the Dexter fans, try to calculate the square footage of plastic wrap required to sheathe this entire house. Picture: Iaki Aliste Lizarralde Source: Supplied

The floor plan that got the whole thing started. Picture: Iaki Aliste Lizarralde Source: Supplied

Because this story would be incomplete without a reference to The Gilmore Girls. Picture: Iaki Aliste Lizarralde Source: Supplied

 

View the original article here

Jobs website 'a legal minefield'

Have you got a horrible boss? The InsideTrak website has caused a stir by encouraging current and past employees of more than 50,000 businesses across the country to post anonymous reviews of their workplace and culture. Picture: Warner Bros. Source: Supplied

A NEW Australian jobs website that allows employees to anonymously rate and review their employers is a "legal minefield'' that could land users with serious lawsuits, experts say.

InsideTrak.com.au invites current and past employees of more than 50,000 businesses across the country to rate them as employers out of five stars, from terrible to excellent, and post anonymous reviews of their workplace and culture.

Users can write up to 215 words describing the "pros'' and "cons'' of a workplace without having to prove they actually worked there, and reviews are published without moderation.

The website also actively encourages users to conceal their identity, with notices warning against listing exact job titles and cities "if you believe it will reveal your identity''.

Reviews are displayed alongside matching job ads for each business, which are automatically pulled from online feeds and Google listings.

Hundreds of businesses, including 71 in New South Wales, 67 in Victoria, 17 in South Australia, 43 in Queensland, 24 in Western Australia and one in Tasmania, have so far been anonymously rated as "poor'' or  "terrible''.

Among the negative reviews are:

*A coffee shop in Castle Hill, NSW, criticised for its "nastiness'' and described as ``the worst experience of my working history'';

*A retail store in Melbourne's Kensington described as "absolutely terrible'' and with "lousy management'';

*A South Melbourne craft shop slammed as "a very boring and monotonous workplace'';

*A Sydney shoe store in which the only "pro'' was "going home at the end of the day'';

*A New South Wales council described as "not a happy work environment'';

*A restaurant in Cleveland, Queensland described as "terrible'';

*An Adelaide internet provider decried for "bad management'';

*An Adelaide plumber described as being "in the dark ages'';

*A South Australian wine company criticised for having "plenty of ****s high up'' and "useless sales teams''.

Similar websites like TripAdvisor, which lists user reviews of hotels and restaurants, have faced legal action overseas for malicious and defamatory comments left by anonymous users.

InsideTrak CEO Mark Larsen, a former senior executive of recruitment website Monster.com, said the site was aimed at job seekers wanting to get the "inside story'' on a potential employer.

"We're providing a platform for people to get some insight about a workplace, take all of the opinions that you see and do with those what you will,'' he said.

Mr Larsen said while the reviews were not moderated before publication they were filtered for offensive language, and any posts "naming names'' or aimed at individuals would be removed.

"If someone notifies us that they believe a review is defamatory or offensive we will review that immediately, and if we agree we'll take it down,'' he said.

Internet law and defamation expert at the University of Queensland Peter Black said under Australian law anyone posting negative reviews on the site could be liable for defamation if their comments were aimed at an individual or company with 10 or fewer staff.

Mr Black said while sites like TripAdvisor are protected under American law, Australian-based websites like InsideTrak are at risk.

"Sites like this do have a high risk of being potentially liable for defamation when someone posts a comment, both the person who posted the comment would be liable and also the website itself,'' he said.

"Under Australian law there's no clear immunity for the website that would allow it to operate in that way.''

View the original article here

Jobs website 'a legal minefield'

Have you got a horrible boss? The InsideTrak website has caused a stir by encouraging current and past employees of more than 50,000 businesses across the country to post anonymous reviews of their workplace and culture. Picture: Warner Bros. Source: Supplied

A NEW Australian jobs website that allows employees to anonymously rate and review their employers is a "legal minefield'' that could land users with serious lawsuits, experts say.

InsideTrak.com.au invites current and past employees of more than 50,000 businesses across the country to rate them as employers out of five stars, from terrible to excellent, and post anonymous reviews of their workplace and culture.

Users can write up to 215 words describing the "pros'' and "cons'' of a workplace without having to prove they actually worked there, and reviews are published without moderation.

The website also actively encourages users to conceal their identity, with notices warning against listing exact job titles and cities "if you believe it will reveal your identity''.

Reviews are displayed alongside matching job ads for each business, which are automatically pulled from online feeds and Google listings.

Hundreds of businesses, including 71 in New South Wales, 67 in Victoria, 17 in South Australia, 43 in Queensland, 24 in Western Australia and one in Tasmania, have so far been anonymously rated as "poor'' or  "terrible''.

Among the negative reviews are:

*A coffee shop in Castle Hill, NSW, criticised for its "nastiness'' and described as ``the worst experience of my working history'';

*A retail store in Melbourne's Kensington described as "absolutely terrible'' and with "lousy management'';

*A South Melbourne craft shop slammed as "a very boring and monotonous workplace'';

*A Sydney shoe store in which the only "pro'' was "going home at the end of the day'';

*A New South Wales council described as "not a happy work environment'';

*A restaurant in Cleveland, Queensland described as "terrible'';

*An Adelaide internet provider decried for "bad management'';

*An Adelaide plumber described as being "in the dark ages'';

*A South Australian wine company criticised for having "plenty of ****s high up'' and "useless sales teams''.

Similar websites like TripAdvisor, which lists user reviews of hotels and restaurants, have faced legal action overseas for malicious and defamatory comments left by anonymous users.

InsideTrak CEO Mark Larsen, a former senior executive of recruitment website Monster.com, said the site was aimed at job seekers wanting to get the "inside story'' on a potential employer.

"We're providing a platform for people to get some insight about a workplace, take all of the opinions that you see and do with those what you will,'' he said.

Mr Larsen said while the reviews were not moderated before publication they were filtered for offensive language, and any posts "naming names'' or aimed at individuals would be removed.

"If someone notifies us that they believe a review is defamatory or offensive we will review that immediately, and if we agree we'll take it down,'' he said.

Internet law and defamation expert at the University of Queensland Peter Black said under Australian law anyone posting negative reviews on the site could be liable for defamation if their comments were aimed at an individual or company with 10 or fewer staff.

Mr Black said while sites like TripAdvisor are protected under American law, Australian-based websites like InsideTrak are at risk.

"Sites like this do have a high risk of being potentially liable for defamation when someone posts a comment, both the person who posted the comment would be liable and also the website itself,'' he said.

"Under Australian law there's no clear immunity for the website that would allow it to operate in that way.''

View the original article here