An attack directed at the DNS provider for some of the Internet's larger e-commerce companies -- including Amazon, Wal-Mart, and Expedia -- took several Internet shopping sites offline two days before Christmas. Neustar, the company that provides DNS services under the UltraDNS brand name, confirmed an attack, taking out sites or rendering them extremely sluggish for about an hour.
Comcast to Pay $16 Million in Net Neutrality Case
Cable giant Comcast agrees to pay $16 million to make a 2007 class action lawsuit go away. The lawsuit claimed Comcast blocked or throttled peer-to-peer traffic in violation of Comcast's user's agreement, charges the FCC subsequently investigated. The FCC found the company in violation of its network neutrality principles.
Hackers Claim to Crack Protections on Kindle
Hackers say they've successfully cracked copyright protections on the company's Kindle e-reader, making it possible to export e-books to other devices. One hack reportedly resulted from a Kindle DRM challenge issued on Israeli forum Hacking.org.
Microsoft to Pay $200 Million in Word Patent Case
Microsoft must alter its popular Word software or stop selling the product after it lost its appeal of a $200 million patent-infringement verdict won by a Canadian company. The company, based in Redmond, Washington, was given until Jan. 11 -- five months from the original order issued in August -- to make the change by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington.
Chinese Dissident Sentenced to 11 Years in Jail
Leading Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo has been jailed for 11 years for "inciting subversion of state power", after a trial condemned in the West. The trial, from which Western diplomats and journalists were barred, followed Mr Liu's co-authorship of a document last year urging political reform.
Russians Concerned About Use of Cyrillic Domain Names
Cut off for decades under Communism, Russians revel in the Internet's ability to connect them to the world, and they prize the freedom of the Web even as the government has tightened control over major television channels. But now, computer users are worried that Cyrillic domains will give rise to a hermetic Russian Web, a sort of cyberghetto, and that the push for Cyrillic amounts to a plot by the security services to restrict access to the Internet.
Judge Allows Subpoena for Google, AT&T in GQ Case
A federal judge has cleared the way for the publisher of GQ magazine to subpoena Google and AT&T in an attempt to learn the identity of a computer intruder who stole unpublished editorial content and posted it online. Sometime in September, an unknown thief accessed the computer network of Conde Nast and made off with more than 1,100 files containing pictures and editorial content for the December issue of GQ, Vogue and Lucky magazines, according to papers filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
Google's Lawyers Rest Defense in Italian Privacy Case
Lawyers for Google rested their case in defense of four executives charged in Italy with failing to comply with privacy laws, telling a judge that the company has a mechanism in place to rapidly remove objectionable video from its site. The attorneys, Giuliano Pisapia and Giuseppe Vaciago, said that Google removed a video showing high school students bullying an autistic classmate just hours after it learned it had been posted.
White House Expected to Cybersecurity Adviser
Nearly seven months after highlighting the vulnerability of banking, energy and communications systems to Internet attacks, the White House is expected to name a technology industry veteran to coordinate competing efforts to improve the nation's cybersecurity in both military and civilian life. The decision to appoint Howard A. Schmidt, an industry executive with government experience who served as a cybersecurity adviser in the Bush administration and who also has a military and law enforcement background, is seen as a compromise between factions.
FBI Probing Hacker Theft of Million at Citibank
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is probing a computer-security breach targeting Citigroup Inc. that resulted in a theft of tens of millions of dollars by computer hackers who appear linked to a Russian cyber gang, according to government officials. The attack took aim at Citigroup's Citibank subsidiary, which includes its North American retail bank and other businesses.
China Creates "Whitelist" of Approved Websites
China has issued new Internet regulations, including what appears to be an effort to create a "whitelist" of approved websites that could potentially place much of the Internet off-limits to Chinese readers. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology ordered domain management institutions and internet service providers to tighten control over domain name registration, in a three-phase plan laid out on its website.
Original Source of "Wolverine" Leak Unidentified
The FBI has accused the man who allegedly was first, or among the first, to upload a pirated copy of "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" that circulated online in April. What authorities have apparently yet to do is identify the original source of the leak.
French Court Rules Against Google for Digitizing Books
A Paris court found U.S. Internet giant Google guilty of violating copyright by digitizing books and putting extracts online, following a legal challenge by major French publishers. The court ruled against Google's French unit after the La Martiniere group, which controls the highbrow Editions du Seuil publishing house, argued that publishers and authors were losing out in the latest stage of the digital revolution.
"Iranian Cyber Army" Briefly Blocks Access to Twitter
Hackers briefly blocked access to the popular Internet messaging service Twitter, steering traffic to another website where a group reportedly calling itself the "Iranian Cyber Army" claimed responsibility. Users trying to reach Twitter were redirected to a Web page that CNN reported had a picture of a green flag and a message that said, "This site has been hacked by the Iranian Cyber Army."
Company Files Trademark Suit Against Microsoft Over "Bing"
A small St. Louis company is suing Microsoft for using the name "Bing" without permission for its recently launched search engine. The small company claims it has been using the Bing name since 2000 and has applications pending to register the trademark, while Microsoft only launched Bing in May 2009.
Companies Aim to Protect Smartphones from Hackers
Mobile phones are becoming ever more like personal computers. That means they are also becoming more vulnerable to traditional computer menaces like hackers and viruses.
Privacy Group Files Complaint Over Facebook's Changes
In a complaint filed with the Federal Trade Commission, a privacy organization is charging that Facebook's recent changes to its privacy policies constitute "unfair and deceptive trade practices." The Electronic Privacy Information Center, or EPIC, says that Facebook's recent changes "violate user expectations, diminish user privacy, and contradict Facebook's own representations."
White House to Release $2 Billion for Broadband Access
The Obama administration released details of a $2 billion program in grants and loans to help dramatically expand Americans' broadband Internet access and create tens of thousands of jobs. The funds, to be released over the next 75 days, are among $7.2 billion set aside in President Barack Obama's $787 billion economic recovery package to bring broadband access to unserved or underserved U.S. communities.
China Imposes New Limits on Internet Usage
China's government censors have taken fresh aim at the Internet, rolling out new measures that limit its citizens' ability to set up personal Web sites and to view hundreds of Web sites offering films, video games and other forms of entertainment. The authorities say the stricter controls are intended to protect children from pornography; to limit the piracy of films, music, and television shows; and to make it hard to perpetuate Internet scams.
FCC Unveils Proposals to Expand High-Speed Internet
The Federal Communications Commission unveiled a laundry list of proposals to meet a congressional mandate to give every U.S. home access to high-speed Internet service. The recommendations, which come just two months before the agency must present its final national broadband plan to Congress, include revising a rural phone subsidy program, revamping the market for television set-top boxes and redirecting more airwaves to wireless services.
