The FBI called for new legislation that would allow federal police to monitor the Internet for "illegal activity." The proposal from FBI Director Robert Mueller, which came during a House of Representatives Judiciary Committee hearing, appears to go beyond a current plan to monitor traffic on federal-government networks.
FBI Director Grilled Over Abandoned Computer System
At a U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee hearing, former committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) grilled FBI Director Robert Mueller about what he deemed a "fiasco" -- a failed case-management system overhaul known as Virtual Case File. Sensenbrenner accused Mueller of "continuously frustrating" his committee's attempts to find out how much money had been spent before the failed program was abandoned about three years ago.
Number of Trojan Programs Up 300%, Report Says
Cyber-criminals are behind a dramatic rise in stealthy programs called "trojans" that infect computers to sell rogue software, send unwanted e-mail or steal personal data, a study has found. In a report released in London, Microsoft said the number of trojans removed from computers around the world in the second half of 2007 rose by 300 percent from the first half.
Activists Work Hard to Fight Chinese Internet Censors
Fighting Chinese censors every step of the way is an army of self-described "hacktivists" such as Bill Xia, a Chinese-born software engineer who lives in North Carolina. Xia and others are engaged in a kind of technological arms race, inventing software and using other tactics to allow ordinary Chinese to beat the "Great Firewall of China" and access information on sensitive subjects such as Chinese human rights and Tibet, the province where pro-independence sentiment has boiled over in recent months.
Google Sued for Charging Advertisers Without Consent
A lawsuit filed in federal court accuses Google of deceiving its customers into paying for ads they didn't expressly request. The lawsuit, filed by the firm of Kabateck Brown Kellner in U.S. District Court in San Jose, Calif., and seeking class action status, says that when customers do not bid for ads on third-party sites Google places ads there anyway and are automatically charged the amount they specified for ads on Google.com.
FCC Chairman Questions Comcast's Internet Limits
The top U.S. communications regulator said that an investigation of how Comcast Corp. manages its network had raised further concerns about tactics the company has used to restrict Internet users who share movies and other material. Testifying before Senate lawmakers, U.S. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin said Comcast had used a "blunt" technique to impose broad restrictions on peer-to-peer file-sharing.
N.J. Court Restricts ISPs from Dislosing User Data
Internet service providers must not release personal information about users in New Jersey without a valid subpoena, even to police, the state's highest court ruled. New Jersey's Supreme Court found that the state's constitution gives greater protection against unreasonable searches and seizures than the U.S. Constitution.
Court Says Customs Search of Laptop Reasonable
A U.S. Customs inspection of a laptop computer that found child pornography does not constitute an unreasonable search and seizure, a U.S. federal appeals court ruled. Michael Arnold argued the U.S. Constitution's protections against searches without reasonable suspicion should have barred a 2005 search of his laptop at Los Angeles International Airport upon returning from the Philippines.
MPAA Sues Site for Linking to Pirated Movies, TV Shows
The Motion Picture Association of America sued Pullmylink.com, a Web site featuring links to free -- and allegedly pirated -- movies and TV shows, claiming the site promotes and profits from copyright infringement. The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles federal court, is the seventh action filed by the MPAA against content aggregators in the United States since late last year and is part of a larger anti-piracy campaign that included a criminal raid on the UK headquarters of one such site, TV Links.
EU Wants Better Protection Against Violent Video Games
Videogame makers and shops have two years to come up with a widely accepted industry code of conduct to better protect children from violent images, the European Union's executive body said. "Creators have to enjoy freedom of expression but at the same time it's an industry that impacts society," EU Information Society Commissioner Viviane Reding told a news conference.
PayPal to Block "Unsafe Browsers" to Fight Phishing
Web payment firm PayPal has said it will block "unsafe browsers" from using its service as part of wider anti-phishing efforts. Customers will first be warned that a browser is unsafe but could then be blocked if they continue using it.
Hacker Briefly Redirects Obama's Website to Clinton's
Someone exploited a weakness in Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama's Web site and redirected visitors to rival Hillary Clinton's site, according to a posting on the blog of security firm NetCraft. Basically, visitors to the community blogs section of Obama's site were sent to Clinton's site.
Sports Bloggers Raise Legal Questions About Rights
Tension over sports blogging is one of the strains between sports franchises, leagues and reporters to have emerged during the digital age. The dispute has grown lately between the press and organized sports over issues like how reporters cover teams, who owns the rights to photographs, audio and video that journalists gather at sports events, and whether someone who writes only blogs should be given access to the locker room.
EU Agrees on Laws to Fight Terrorists' Use of Internet
EU states agreed on tight laws against incitement to terrorism in order to clamp down on militant groups' use of the Internet. EU justice and interior ministers also agreed in Luxembourg on an action plan to try to stop groups getting explosives.
Largest French Commercial Broadcaster Sues YouTube
France's largest commercial broadcaster, TF1, has filed a lawsuit against the video-sharing site YouTube and is seeking damages of 100 million euros ($158.3 million), the website of French business daily Les Echos said. A YouTube spokesman quoted by the newspaper said the suit had been received a few days ago in California but would be judged in Paris.
Student Arrested in Egypt Credits Twitter for Release
James Karl Buck says he has Twitter to thank for his freedom. Buck, a journalism grad student, was arrested in Egypt, and his only communication to the outside world was through his cellphone, which he used to post a message on the micro-blogging site.
EarthLink Server Setup Faulted for Security Risk
A vulnerability in servers used by EarthLink to handle mistyped Web page requests may have allowed attackers to launch undetectable phishing attacks against any Internet site, according to a noted Internet security researcher. The bug, which has been patched earlier, underscores a fundamental security risk in the way that some ISPs are attempting to generate advertising revenue from mistyped Web addresses, said Dan Kaminsky, director of penetration testing with IOActive, a security consulting firm.
Consumers Face Dilemma in Protecting Privacy Online
For consumers trying to protect their privacy on the Internet, it's a Catch-22.0. Advertisers often track Web surfers' activities so they can deliver targeted ads. One of the best ways to avoid this is to install a tiny piece of software that lets computer users opt out of the practice. But the trouble is that the digital stop sign is often wiped out by other programs designed to protect people's privacy and security.
Assigning Country-Code Domains Proves Tricky
About 250 country-code domain names exist for various nations or territories around the world, used as suffixes in the Internet addresses crucial for computers to find Web sites and route e-mail. Outside the United States, these suffixes are often preferred over the global ".com" as a source of national pride. But deciding who gets to have one -- or keep one -- can be tricky.
Woman Pleads Guilty to Seeking Hitman on Craigslist
A Michigan woman who advertised online for a hitman to kill her lover's wife pleaded guilty to the murder-for-hire scheme, prosecutors said. Anne Marie Linscott, 49, faces 10 years in prison for each of three federal charges, including intent to commit murder, the U.S. Attorneys for the Western District of Michigan and the Eastern District of California said in a joint statement.
