Netflix released its Q2 2011 financial report today and it contains a lot of useful information. One of the topics listed is Facebook integration. Netflix says it plans to integrate Netflix into Facebook before it releases its Q3 earnings report in Canada and Latin America. But why is it that the United States isn’t on that list? People share videos on Facebook all the time, so why are things different for Netflix? It all deals with the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA).

Samsung is facing a lawsuit brought on by Apple. Last Friday, Apple filed a suit that accuses Samsung of trademark infringement and unfair competition due to Samsung’s Galaxy phones and tablets. Simply put, Apple believes Samsung copied the physical and software designs of the iPhone and iPad. Apple is seeking financial compensation and possible injunctions. If granted, Samsung may have to change the design of its phones and tablets.

When Amazon released its Cloud Drive and Cloud Player for Android, it was met with a little bit of backlash. Amazon had not secured all the necessary licenses from record companies to make their music a part of Amazon’s new service. Amazon didn’t feel that it needed those licenses before launching Cloud Drive. The questionable legalities of Amazon’s actions is an issue to some, but you can’t argue with results. By cutting through the red tape and beating competition to market, Amazon has seen an increase in MP3 sales.

A couple days ago, HTC filed a court document with the US District Court in Seattle over its right to use the HTC Inspire trademark. This filing was made in response to a letter Samsung sent HTC on March 3. Samsung claims that HTC’s use of the word “Inspire” for its smartphones would confuse costumers. Samsung was granted a trademark for the word “Inspiration” before HTC’s trademark for “HTC Inspire” was approved.

A Maine construction firm had nearly $600,000 stolen from its bank account and is suing the bank, claiming they are to blame for not monitoring accounts more closely. Hackers hit Patco Construction Co.’s bank account at Ocean Bank of Delaware (also known as People’s United Bank) in May, ripping off the funds in 6 separate more »

The U.S. Department of Justice is deepening their investigation into the Yahoo!-Bing deal. They’ve asked both Microsoft and Yahoo! for more information about their search engine deal. In July, the two companies announced a deal that would have Microsoft’s Bing power Yahoo’s search with a split of the ad revenue. Both said the DOJ’s request more »

TiVo has won a suit it filed against Dish Network and now the satellite TV giant must pay up to the tune of $200 million. The original suit was filed back in 2004 when TiVo sued EchoStar, which is now part of Dish Network, for a patent violation involving DVR technology. A jury found in more »

A few weeks ago we learned that Microsoft was to halt the sale of Word, one of its most popular applications. The ban of Word came from a patent dispute with the Canadian company i4i that holds the patent for “custom XML.” The suit saw Microsoft having to pay damages and halt the sale of more »

*UPDATED BELOW When word broke that eBay was considering selling Skype, Google was the first company to come to mind for many. Google Voice would be a great fit with the VoIP enabled Skype and hopes became high for a nifty solution and good home for the unit, but Google walked away. eBay bought Skype, more »

West Virginian Senator Jay Rockefeller is working on a bill that would give President Obama control over the Internet in the event of what he terms a “cybersecurity emergency.” The bill would allow him to declare such an emergency and take control of private-sector networks. It doesn’t however specify what would constitute such an event more »