AT&T Inc. and Time Warner Inc.'s AOL unit have agreed to purge their Internet servers of Web sites that traffic child pornography, New York state's attorney general said. The pacts with two of the largest U.S. Internet service providers follow similar agreements last month with Verizon Communications Inc., Sprint and Time Warner Cable.
IRS Warns Taxpayers of Phishing-Related Scams
The Internal Revenue Service warned taxpayers of a rash of identity theft scams where thieves try to steal personal information by promising tax benefits or threatening penalties. The tax agency said taxpayers reported almost 700 attempted incidents of identity theft, or phishing, in May and June alone.
Rambus Sues Nvidia for Infringing 17 Memory Patents
Rambus Inc. filed suit against Nvidia Corp. for violating 17 of its memory patents. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, extends a long string of court actions involving Rambus to companies outside the memory industry. The lawsuit alleges at least six of Nvidia's product lines infringe the Rambus patents.
Viacom, YouTube Fighting Over Employees' Habits
Viacom wants to know which videos YouTube employees have watched and uploaded to the site, and Google is refusing to provide that information, CNET News has learned. This dispute is the reason the two companies, and lawyers representing a group of other copyright holders suing Google, have failed to reach a final agreement on anonymizing personal information belonging to YouTube users, according to two sources close to the situation.
Curiosity Leads Swastika to Top of Google's Search List
The swastika, the symbol of Nazism, still provokes strong feelings of fear and anger. So it was something of a shock when the swastika suddenly hit the top of Google's Hot Trends page, which tracks the 100 terms that U.S. Google users are searching for most furiously.
Syrian Hackers Unlock Software in Opposition to U.S.
Small, thin and pale, with a reddish beard, Abdul-Rahman Mahaini estimates that he has stolen millions of dollars' worth of software, hacking his way into the most complex programs in the world. For a few bucks, the Syrian programmer will unlock the security codes for any program you send him via e-mail or online chat.
Security Researchers Find Big Flaw on Internet
Security researchers said they had discovered an enormous flaw that could let hackers steer most people using corporate computer networks to malicious websites of their own devising.
E-mails About U.S. Attacking Iran Linked to Worm
Recent e-mails stating that the U.S. has already attacked Iran and, in some cases, also offering links to a video purportedly from a soldier, are not to be believed, according to Websense. The security vendor said in an advisory that it has linked the provocative e-mails to the Storm worm.
Auditor, Yahoo Working to Combat Click Fraud
Click Forensics, one of the largest independent click-fraud auditors, has teamed up with Yahoo to take some of the pain out of the process for advertisers that want to recoup costs associated with fraudulent clicks. Click Forensics said it built software in partnership with Yahoo that lets advertisers automatically query Yahoo when Click Forensics detects click fraud in a search-advertising campaign.
Qwest Blocking Access to Child Porn Websites
Qwest Communications will now block customer access to known child pornography Web sites through a voluntary agreement with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The national center works with law enforcement to identify and list Web sites containing child pornography.
ISPs Pushing to Collect More Data, Despite Opponents
Many ISPs want in on targeted advertisements. From their perspective, they are the best source for user data. Google can only track what users do on its sites. But since ISPs control the flow, they can monitor everything a customer does online.
New Top-Level Domains Expected to Increase Cybersquatting
Intellectual property lawyers and industry groups say a global Internet body's decision to allow more generic top-level domain names will boost cybersquatting and related arbitration and litigation. They also criticize the organization's new fees targeted at abusive temporary domain-name registrations, or so-called "domain-name tasting," as inadequate to stop cybersquatters from cashing in on short-term registrations.
Thieves Steal PC with Data on Google Employees, Others
Google revealed that on May 26, thieves broke into the offices of Colt Express Outsourcing Services of Walnut Creek, Calif., and stole several PCs containing the personal information of Google employees, along with employees of CNET Networks and other clients of the firm.
Google Using New Tool to Block Fake eBay, PayPal E-mails
Google said it is now using an e-mail authentication technology to keep phishers from luring Gmail users to fake eBay and PayPal Web pages in order to steal usernames and passwords. The technology, DomainKeys, uses cryptography to verify the domain of the sender of an e-mail.
Rosetta Stone Sues Competitor Over Google, Yahoo Ads
A maker of language software is suing a smaller competitor for alleged trademark violations in an effort to combat what it claims is "piggybacking," a practice in which companies use major players' brand names or other trademarked words in the text of search ads to lure Web surfers to their own sites. The case highlights a particular struggle for companies that rely heavily on the Internet for advertising and putting their brands before the public.
EU Considers Penalties for Illegal File Sharing
Europeans suspected of putting movies and music on file-sharing networks could be thrown off the web under proposals before Brussels. The powers are in a raft of laws that aim to harmonise the regulations governing Europe's telecom markets.
Microsoft Tells EU Court Fine is Excessive
Microsoft has told a European Union court that an antitrust fine of 899 million euros ($1.4 billion) against it is both excessive and disproportionate, the EU's Court of First Instance said. On Feb. 27, the EU's European Commission imposed a fine after finding that Microsoft used high prices to discourage competition and failed to carry out earlier sanctions imposed against it as part of a long-running case.
Russian Man Sentenced for Calling Police "Scum" Online
A Russian man who described local police as "scum" in an Internet posting was given a suspended jail sentence for extremism, prompting bloggers to warn of a crackdown on free speech online. Savva Terentiev, a 28-year-old musician from Syktyvkar, 1,515 kilometers (940 miles) north of Moscow, wrote in a blog last year that the police force should be cleaned up by ceremonially burning officers twice a day in a town square.
Virgin Media Sends Warning Letters to 800 File Sharers
Virgin Media has sent about 800 letters to customers warning them that they should not be downloading illegal music files via file-sharing sites. It is part of a 10-week campaign it is running in conjunction with the BPI to "educate" users about downloads.
Controversial Content Faces Varying Protection
Rant all you want in a public park. A police officer generally won't eject you for your remarks alone, however unpopular or provocative. Say it on the Internet, and you'll find that free speech and other constitutional rights are anything but guaranteed.
