Apple

In lieu of our class discussion about trademarks, Apple Inc. and Cisco resolved their dispute over the new Apple phone called iPhone. Cisco, a supplier of network equipment and network management company for Internet products, recently dropped their lawsuit against Apple accusing them of infringing on a trademark of the term iPhone set forth by Cisco. Cisco held a trademark for the term iPhone since 2000, when it developed an Internet connected telephone. Cisco created many products bearing the iPhone logo relating to voice over Internet protocol, or VoIP, used for making telephone calls over the Internet. The two company's reached an agreement stating that they intend on creating products to be used together and "in the areas of security, and consumer and enterprise communications."
This trademark suit leads me to believe that companies will do anything in their power to get what they want. Apple had tried for quite some time to get permission from Cisco to use the iPhone name, but were denied. After Apple had released the new phone to the public bearing the iPhone name sparked the lawsuit against them. Apple Inc. did not have the right or the legal prowess to do so but after the release of the new product to the public and a dispute with Cisco, the company was able to get what they wanted. To use the iPhone name. I'm pretty sure the dispute cost Apple Inc. some money, but in the end they were able to use the now popular iPhone name. This is just another way powerful companies are able to flex their muscles and get what they want.

At what point does the government go too far with national security and the invasion of privacy? Two cases were recently argued, U.S. v. Romm and U.S. v. Ickes, both ruled in favor of the government permission to search the contents of laptop computers when traveling internationally. Computers store a tremendous amount of information on their hard-drive including temporary Internet files when surfing the web. The United States is founded on being a free country, but at what point is surfing the Internet an illegal action? Suppose a travelling business person were downloading pornography while waiting for a return flight home. The government will search the computer and find information regarding the downloads. Is this going too far away from our founding principals? Should I be given the right to search the governments computer contents when I surf the web for federal monetary policy concerns? I think not, nor should they be given the right to search my computer contents.