TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Sagan Lawsuit Thrown Out: Astronomer Carl Sagan’s lawsuit against Apple Computer Inc., which used his name last year as a code name for a personal computer it was developing, has been dismissed, court papers show. U.S. District Judge Lourdes Baird found that Apple did not use the name to promote its mid-level PC, which was renamed and sold as Power Macintosh 7100/66. The code name was known only to employees and project developers sworn to secrecy, but it was leaked to the media. Baird dismissed the claims for copyright, unfair competition and right to publicity. The judge ruled that Apple did not libel Sagan when it changed the code name to “Butt-Head Astronomer.”