Funimation Sued By Kojcast For Patent Infringment
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed written in the bolded paragraph is the opinions and views of the blogger Tawny Hembry and NOT of lovelyti, Lovelyti LLC. and or her Bloggers.
Two lawsuits in the making Funimation is being sued by DBZ Broly voice over actor Vic Mignogna over false allegations of sexual misconduct. By the time Vic and Kojcast gets through with them there will be no FUNimation. I say FIRE Monica Reil, Monica Marchi…. Funimation must like being sued.
Kojicast LLC has sued Funimation Productions over their FunimationNow streaming service being a patent infringement on their ‘683 Patent. The lawsuit was filed back on April 24th, 2019, but it hasn’t been wildly spread around the net until some Twitter users caught wind of it.
Super Girl tweeted out the PDF on May 12th, 2019 for the suit from Kojicast against Funimation set in the eastern district of Texas.
In the suit it alleges that Funimation used the ‘683 Patent in their FunimationNow streaming technology that allows users to stream Funimation content from their mobile device and then pick up and resume that content on additional devices, such as home computers or smart TVs.
This feature was advertised in the FunimationNow ad that’s currently available on YouTube. It was originally published back on March 9th, 2019.
It’s only 22 seconds long, and the relevant part is at the 16 second mark, where it advertises episode progress syncing across devices, so you can play or watch the content across multiple devices.
The lawsuit alleges that Funimation is using the ‘683 Patent that was prioritized by the USPTO back in 2012. The patent described technologies that allow users to stream content and – without restarting the content or break from the stream position – pick-up and resume where they left off on another device.
“Defendant has marketed its video delivery platform under its brand name “FunimationNow,” as well as possibly other brand names. The following is a discussion of the accused FunimationNow system. The FunimationNow system has apps for mobile communication devices, including an app for Apple IOS operating systems and an app for Android operating systems. The FunimationNow app supports casting features, enabling a user to watch a selected media content item on the mobile communication device or “casted” to one or more media playback devices.”
The patent infringement relief asks for Funimation to pay damages that Kojicast suffered as a result of the ‘683 Patent infringement. It also asks to have Funimation pay for Kojicast’s costs, attorney fees, expenses, and interests, in addition to “further relief” as deemed just by the courts. They also want a trial by jury.
This bit of news is already catching fire in the #IstandWithVic communities because this is yet another lawsuit that Funimation will have to battle in court, in addition to having to deal with the $1 million suit that voice actor Vic Mignogna filed against them for tortious interference when he was fired earlier in the year for what appeared to be spurious allegations of misconduct.
The animation distributor is now fighting two legal battles and neither seem to look like they appear to favor Funimation.
[Update:] Take note that there are some reports that Kojicast is a patent troll. Back on December 10th, 2018 TechRights reported that there were firms offering $1,000 to “intercept” Kojicast from utilizing a “weaponized patent”. Whether or not this will play any part in how the Funimation case unfolds remains to be seen.
(Thanks for the news tip Ebicentre, SenpaisntHome and giygas)
Original Source https://www.oneangrygamer.net/2019/05/funimation-sued-by-kojicast-for-patent-infringement-involving-funimationnow/84052/
A Florida man fatally shot his “disrespectful” wife at point-blank range as she sat on a couch — because she wouldn’t shut up
Fernando Leopoldo De Baere, 73, then coolly walked to a neighbor’s home after the shooting at a Plantation home late Wednesday and confessed to killing 47-year-old Marisa Sherman, according to a police report obtained by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
De Baere, whose legs and boxer shorts were spattered with blood, told responding officers that he and Sherman were arguing about her interactions with a former co-worker when he got upset about the disrespectful “way that she was talking to him,” according to the report.
De Baere said he told Sherman to stop, but the offending banter continued, prompting him to grab a .38-caliber revolver and shoot his wife in the face “one or two times” from roughly 3 feet away.
“She still would not listen to him,” the report said.
Sherman was pronounced dead at the scene. No one else was inside the home at the time aside from De Baere, WPLG reports.
De Baere put the gun used in the shooting back inside a closet before going to a neighbor’s house to admit what he had just done, police said. Sherman was found sitting upright on a living room couch with an apparent gunshot wound to the face, according to the station.
Detectives found the suspected murder weapon in a master bedroom closet, where De Baere had told them it would be. Two spent casings were found inside the weapon, the Sun-Sentinel reported.
De Baere remained held without bail Monday at Broward Main Jail in Fort Lauderdale, online records show. It’s unclear if he’s hired an attorney.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/05/13/man-tells-cops-he-fatally-shot-wife-for-being-disrespectful/
Photo Credit: nypost.com/Broward County Sheriff’s Office
Mother forced to pay thousands after switching jobs during maternity leave
WINTERSET, Iowa – Emily Manley is spending her first Mother’s Day with her bundle of joy, 3-month-old Jettson.
Like any new mom, the holiday is filled with snuggles, kisses and all the joys of motherhood. But she is also spending it on the computer, crunching numbers trying to figure out a way to pay her old employer over $2,600.
“I didn’t really know anything about maternity leave or FMLA or anything like that,” Manley told WHO.
Her previous employer, which Manley requested to not be named, didn’t have paid maternity leave, so she used the Federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) for three months of unpaid time off to be with her newborn.
“They had a policy that you had to burn through all of your [paid time off] prior to taking leave, so really you didn’t have a choice, you had to take it all before you could start leave,” Manley said.
During that leave she was offered another job, one that she says was too good to pass up.
“It just offered some different benefits that would work better for having a little one. It’s a company I worked with before,” Manley said.
But when she gave her two weeks notice, her employer sent her a document stating she owes over $2,600 for the company’s share of her health costs, plus the paid time off she used.
And the company wanted the payment in full right away.
“It was kind of a shock. I wasn’t prepared for it. I wasn’t ready for it, but I knew it was a possibility,” Manley said. “I didn’t know it would happen that fast and that I would have to pay it back that fast.”
According to Iowa’s FMLA policy, employers have the choice to recover health benefit payments if the employee does not return to work, unless reasons are due to a serious health condition or circumstances beyond the employees control. That means if a mother gets a new job or decides to become a stay-at-home mom during her leave, she could be billed.
“I can understand the company’s point of view, but at the same time, to do that to a young family is really difficult to be on the other side of it,” Manley said.
The ex-employer expects the payment by the end of June. In an email it states that is “already an extension of one additional month beyond the original plan offered” and is “completely fair given the length of time that has already elapsed since first starting maternity leave that was covered by FMLA on February 11th.”
Manley says that’s still not enough time, considering she went three months unpaid and just started her new job a few weeks ago.
“It’s a lot of money to us. We did our best to save when we got pregnant, knowing that we had bills coming, and did our best for that, but it’s kind of hard to prepare,” Manley said.
Manley did speak with a lawyer. They advised her it would cost more money to fight it with legal fees than it would to just pay them. She hopes her story will give other mothers hope who are going through this same obstacle.
“If there are other women going through this, you’re not alone,” Manley said. “I didn’t work for a large corporation that you would expect something like this to happen. It was a smaller owned local company that you wouldn’t think would exercise that sort of right that they have.”
Photo Credit: pix11.com
4-year-old dies after finding gun from dad, a state trooper
TOLEDO, Ohio — Authorities say the 4-year-old son of an Ohio state trooper found his father’s gun and accidentally shot and killed himself.
A coroner ruled Monday that all evidence points to the boy shooting himself after finding an unsecured weapon inside his home in Toledo. Police say the boy on Sunday had been taken to a hospital where he died.
The coroner identified the boy as 4-year-old Evan Sun. Authorities say he suffered one gunshot wound to the head.
The State Highway Patrol identified the trooper and boy’s father as Fu Sun of its Toledo post.
Toledo police say the investigation is continuing and the patrol says it will look into the division-issued gun involved in the shooting.
via: https://pix11.com/2019/05/13/4-year-old-dies-after-finding-gun-from-dad-a-state-trooper/
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Body found in freezer at Florida warehouse ID’d as woman missing since 2013
MARGATE, Fla. – The body of a woman who vanished over five years ago was found inside a freezer at a Florida scrap business last month, the Sun Sentinel reports.
Business owner Lilian Argueta told the paper she opened the discarded freezer and screamed after seeing what she thought at first was the body of a “witch or a mannequin.”
The body belonged to Heather Anne Lacey, a 29-year-old mother of two who was last seen in November, 2013, according to the Sentinel.
The freezer reportedly belonged to Jonathan Escarzaga, who was found dead in his apartment in February. The manager of the unit reportedly had the appliances sent to the scrap warehouse, where Argueta made the grisly discovery.
She told the paper that it appeared Lacey’s palms were pointed toward the inside of the door, and her legs were drawn up against her body as if she had been trying to push it open.
It’s not yet clear if Escarzaga and Lacey knew each other.
Police are withholding full results of an autopsy by the Broward County Medical Examiner’s Office until the investigation into her death if finished.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Las Vegas woman intentionally drowned 2-year-old daughter on Mother’s Day
LAS VEGAS – A Nevada woman is behind bars, accused of drowning her toddler in a bathtub on Mother’s Day, according to KRIS.
Police said they responded to the woman’s home around 3 p.m. after she called 911. During the phone call, the woman reportedly said her daughter had drowned. She did not remove the girl from the tub or perform CPR on her, and police said it took the woman minutes to answer the door when they arrived.
According to KRIS, the girl was found face-up and fully clothed in a bath filled with water.
The woman is facing a murder charge.
via: https://pix11.com/2019/05/13/police-las-vegas-woman-intentionally-drowned-2-year-old-on-mothers-day/
Photo Credit: pix11.com
Man accused of chasing 3 children with machete, stabbing 9-year-old boy who fell behind
COVINGTON, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky man is accused of chasing three children from a Covington park and then stabbing a 9-year-old boy who fell behind.
The Courier Journal reports 35-year-old Esteban Portugues was arrested Friday and charged with second-degree assault. The child’s family says the boy was playing basketball with two other children Friday night. Covington police say Portugues, armed with a machete, and two other men armed with knives then entered the park.
Police say the children tried to flee, but the “9-year-old was not able to keep up with the older juveniles.” The child was stabbed in the back of his right shoulder, and police described the wound as not life threatening. Spokesman Brian Valenti says the attack may have started over the children playing basketball, but that hasn’t been substantiated.
Photo Credit: kmov.com/Covington Police Department
Girl, 14, crashes mom’s car, then gets shot after fleeing scene, St. Louis police say
ST. LOUIS (KMOV.com) — A 14-year-old girl who crashed her mother’s car in North St. Louis on Sunday was shot after running from the scene, police said.
Police said the girl got into an accident around 8:00 p.m. Sunday and then ran from the scene to the area of Thekla and Oriole. While running, the driver of the other vehicle in the collision chased the girl, police said, and fired a shot at her.
The girl was struck in the hand and is expected to be okay.
No other information was released.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Suspect in O’Fallon, Mo. murder cursed out 911 dispatcher then admitted to shooting wife – “I shot my f!@#ing wife in the shoulder. I’m going to prision. F!@# you.”
O’FALLON, Mo. (KMOV.com) — An O’Fallon, Mo. man was arrested after his wife was fatally shot Saturday evening.
Officers responded to the 200 block of Casalon Parkway just before 8 p.m. where they found a 29-year-old Catherine Rhodes shot.
Police say her husband, Jamal Rhodes, 32, shot her and then called 911, admitted to shooting his wife and used vulgar language when he spoke with a dispatcher.
When they arrived, emergency crews attempted to render aid to save Catherine but she was pronounced dead at the scene. She reportedly leaves three children behind.
Police arrested Jamal shortly afterwards. He was charged with one count of first-degree murder, armed criminal action, and felon in possession of a firearm.
Court records show Jamal has a history of domestic violence and was behind bars for domestic assault charges in 2013. Witnesses told officers that Jamal had been drinking in recent days and that he and Catherine had been arguing. Witnesses also said they heard a gunshot.
Catherine’s mother told officers that Jamal was physically abusive.
Police said they found a Taurus 9mm handgun on the kitchen table, a shell casing on the floor and bullet hole in the wall.
Neighbors told News 4 the Casalon Apartments complex is usually a quiet one.
“It’s awful,” neighbor Joseph Fox said.
Fox said his son heard two people arguing before police rushed to the scene.
“He heard arguing and then he heard someone scream,” Fox said. “But he didn’t hear the actual gunshot though.”
Police said as they were taking Jamal out of the apartment, he told an officer “I shot her.”
Jamal Rhodes is jailed in St. Charles County on a $500,000 bond.
The investigation is ongoing but police said no other suspects are being sought at this time.
Photo Credit: kmov.com/O’fallon PD
The moon is shrinking and shaking, Nasa says
Article via Independent
The Moon is shrinking – and shaking as it does, according to new Nasa data.
Over the last decade, scientists have established that as the inside of the Moon cooled, it shrivelled up a like a raisin. That left it riven with cliffs called “thrust faults”, marked all over its surface.
Now a new analysis, using data from Nasa missions, suggests that the Moon could still be shrinking today. As it does, it is experiencing moonquakes along those thrust faults, with the planet shaking along those cliffs.
Scientists compare the process to the way a grape will gradually wrinkle up, adding lines as it cools and shrinks. But unlike a grape’s skin, the crust around the Moon cannot stretch and is instead brittle, making it break apart as the shrinking happens.
The faults form when the crust moves around, and one part of the crust is pushed up over another. They form unusual-looking cliffs that can be seen from the surface, standing tall and many miles long.
The new research was made possible by the creation of an algorithm that processed seismic data that was taken in the 1960s and 1970s. It helped shed new light on those moonquakes, including allowing for a better understanding of where they are actually coming from.
Once that location data was generated, it could be laid on top of the images of the thrust faults that were taken from a 2010 study that used pictures from Nasa’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Comparing the two, they found that at least eight of the rumbles were coming from movement of plates beneath the Moon’s surface, not from asteroid impacts or other explanations. That helped confirm that the Moon is still experiencing true tectonic activity, according to the new paper published in Nature Geoscience.
The instruments left by Apollo astronauts in the past finished their work in 1977. But scientists think this shaking and shrinking is still happening to this day, with images seeming to show evidence of recent movement, such as boulders and landslides that appear to have recently fallen over.
“We found that a number of the quakes recorded in the Apollo data happened very close to the faults seen in the LRO imagery,” said Nicholas Schmerr, an assistant professor of geology at the University of Maryland, in a statement.
“It’s quite likely that the faults are still active today. You don’t often get to see active tectonics anywhere but Earth, so it’s very exciting to think these faults may still be producing moonquakes.”
The seismic data was taken from instruments that astronauts dropped onto the surface during Apollo missions. The one left by Apollo 11 died after a few weeks – but the rest kept measuring, eventually picking up 28 different, shallow moonquakes between 1969 and 1977.
Of those quakes, eight were picked up near to the faults that could be seen in images of the Moon’s surface. That led them to conclude the two were connected.
What’s more, most of the shakes happened when the Moon was at the point of its orbit furthest away from the Earth. That happens because the stress from Earth’s gravity disrupts its crust.
“We think it’s very likely that these eight quakes were produced by faults slipping as stress built up when the lunar crust was compressed by global contraction and tidal forces, indicating that the Apollo seismometers recorded the shrinking moon and the moon is still tectonically active,” said Thomas Watters, lead author of the research paper and senior scientist in the Center for Earth and Planetary Studies at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.
Scientists now hope to return to the Moon and learn more about what is happening to it. The Trump administration has ordered Nasa to head back as soon as it can, and hopes to have astronauts back on its surface in five years.
“For me, these findings emphasize that we need to go back to the moon,” Schmerr said. “We learned a lot from the Apollo missions, but they really only scratched the surface. With a larger network of modern seismometers, we could make huge strides in our understanding of the moon’s geology.
“This provides some very promising low-hanging fruit for science on a future mission to the moon.”