A divided Virginia Supreme Court affirmed the nation's first felony conviction for illegal spamming, ruling that Virginia's anti-spamming law does not violate free-speech rights. Jeremy Jaynes of Raleigh, N.C., considered among the world's top 10 spammers in 2003, was convicted of massive distribution of junk e-mail and sentenced to nine years in prison.
Judge Drops Injunction Against Wikileaks Domain Name
Wikileaks is getting its domain name back. After spending 90 minutes or so hearing arguments from a raft of attorneys -- two representing the Swiss bank that fought to get the site's plug pulled and about 10 who are trying to get the site back online -- a federal judge here has has ruled in favor of Wikileaks.
Yahoo Sued Again in Chinese Dissident E-mail Case
Yahoo and at least one subsidiary face their second major lawsuit by Chinese dissidents claiming the company aided Chinese authorities by handing over e-mails and other electronic communications that ended up landing one plaintiff in jail. The current lawsuit, filed by plaintiffs Li Zhi, Zheng Cunzhu, and Guo Quan in the U.S. District Court of Northern California, seeks damages for their suffering at the hands of Chinese officials after Yahoo and Yahoo Hong Kong allegedly provided access to e-mails, e-mail records, and user identification information and other data to authorities in China.
Microsoft Says Vista Price Cuts Will Help Fight Piracy
Microsoft Corp., the world's biggest software maker, will cut the retail price of its Windows Vista operating system by as much as 48 percent to encourage customers to upgrade and to cut piracy in countries such as China.
EBay Settles $30 Million Patent Case with MercExchange
Ebay Inc. has settled a long-running patent dispute with technology company MercExchange LLC. The San Jose online auctioneer says it has agreed to buy the three MercExchange patents it has been accused of violating.
Academics to Lead Study for Protecting Children Online
Leading Internet scholars at Harvard University will convene a year-long task force to explore how children can avoid unwanted contact and content when using MySpace and other popular online hangouts. The Internet Safety Technical Task Force is the result of an agreement that MySpace reached with all state attorneys general except Texas in January.
Lawmakers Question Plan to Monitor Government Sites
A new Bush administration plan to capture and analyze traffic on all federal government networks in real time is generating privacy worries from congressional Democrats and Republicans alike. At a hearing convened by the U.S. House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee, politicians directed pointed questions to Department of Homeland Security officials about their plans to expand an existing "intrusion detection" system known as Einstein.
RNC Says It Won't Retrieve Deleted White House E-mail
After promising last year to search its computers for tens of thousands of e-mails sent by White House officials, the Republican National Committee has informed a House committee that it no longer plans to retrieve the communications by restoring computer backup tapes, the panel's chairman said. The move increases the likelihood that an untold number of RNC e-mails dealing with official White House business during the first term of the Bush administration -- including many sent or received by former presidential adviser Karl Rove -- will never be recovered, said House Democrats and public records advocates.
Swiss Bank Moves to Shut Website on Secret Accounts
Swiss bank Julius Baer defended taking legal action to shut down a Web site that published what the site said were details of secret accounts linked to tax schemes. Baer's statement came as international pressure mounted on neighboring Liechtenstein to lift the veil on bank secrecy that many countries such as Germany and the United States say is used to evade paying tax.
Music Groups File Copyright Suit Against Baidu.com
Two industry groups representing China's local musicians and songwriters have filed a lawsuit against the country's Web search leader, Baidu.com Inc, accusing it of copyright violation. The move signaled that domestic artists as well as international firms are disgruntled at the firm's free music search service.
EU Levies Record $1.35 Billion Fine Against Microsoft
The European antitrust regulator levied a record $1.35 billion fine against Microsoft in a ruling designed to send a clear message to the world’s biggest software maker -- and to any other company -- of the dangers of flouting its competition rulings. The size of the penalty, which surprised lawyers and legal experts, was a clear assertion of the power of the European Commission, which has emerged from a lengthy legal battle with Microsoft as arguably the world’s most activist regulator.
Pakistan Disclaims Responsibility for YouTube Block
Pakistan has rejected claims that it was responsible for blocking global access to the YouTube video clip site. "We are not hackers. Why would we do that?" Shahzada Alam Malik, head of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), told the AP news service.
German Court Says PC Surveillance Violates Privacy
Government surveillance of personal computers would violate the individual right to privacy, Germany's highest court found, in a ruling that German investigators say will restrict their ability to pursue terrorists. The Karlsruhe-based Federal Constitutional Court said in a precedent-setting decision that data stored or exchanged on a personal computer is effectively covered under principles of the constitution that enshrine the right to personal privacy.
Nuvio Files Trademark Suit Over Nuviphone Name
Internet telephone provider Nuvio Corp. said it has sued navigational device marker Garmin Ltd. over the name of Garmin's new wireless phone. Nuvio, which is based in Overland Park, Kan., filed suit in U.S. District Court in Kansas, saying Garmin's proposed Nuviphone name infringes on its own Nuvio trademark.
Federal Agencies Fail to Safeguard Computer Data
Despite a steady stream of embarrassing computer security breaches, many major federal agencies still are doing too little to safeguard the sensitive personal information in their possession, according to congressional investigators. Only two of 24 agencies studied by the Government Accountability Office in a report had implemented all five security measures recommended by the Office of Management and Budget to protect personal information.
Pakistan Lifts Restrictions Against YouTube
Pakistan's telecoms regulator has lifted the restrictions it imposed on video-sharing website YouTube. The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority has told Internet service providers to restore access to the site, according to a spokeswoman.
N.Y. Attorney General Issues Subpoena to Comcast
The New York attorney general's office has requested information from Comcast Corp. on the company's handling of Internet traffic. Comcast, the nation's largest cable company, is the subject of several complaints to the Federal Communications Commission and has been sued by customers over its throttling of file-sharing traffic on its cable-modem service.
Groups Ask Judge to Reconsider Order Against wikileaks.org
A coalition of media and public interest organizations went to federal court in San Francisco to urge a judge to reconsider shutting down a muckraking Web site that publishes business and government documents leaked from around the world. Lawyers for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the American Civil Liberties Union and several news organizations told U.S. District Jeffrey White that two orders he issued to take wikileaks.org off the Internet were a prior restraint on free speech that violated the First Amendment.
Lawmakers Battle Over "Lost" White House E-mails
Democrats and Republicans were warring over reports that the White House has "lost" -- or simply failed to keep -- archives of e-mails belonging to the president and his advisers. Since last spring, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has been investigating reports that an estimated 5 million messages from 473 days between 2003 and 2005 allegedly vanished from e-mail servers housed within the president's office.
Senators Introduce Anti-Phishing Consumer Protection Act
Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson (Fla.) and Republicans Olympia Snowe (Wash.) and Ted Stevens (Alaska) introduced a bill called the Anti-Phishing Consumer Protection Act. "This legislation empowers states and the federal government to pursue these criminals with significant fines and imprisonment," Stevens said.
