A divided Federal Communications Commission ruled that Comcast violated federal policy when it blocked Internet traffic for some subscribers and ordered the cable giant to change the way it manages its network. In a precedent-setting move, the FCC voted 3 to 2 to enforce a policy that guarantees customers open access to the Internet.
House Committee Seeks More Data on Web Ads, Privacy
A congressional committee wants the nation's largest telecommunications and Internet companies to explain whether they target online advertising based on consumers' search queries and Web surfing habits. In an expanding inquiry into the state of consumer privacy on the Internet, House Energy and Commerce Committee leaders sent letters to more than 30 companies, demanding to know whether they track where their users go online and use that information to deliver personalized advertising.
IOC President Denies Deal on Internet Limitations
Olympic officials have denied agreeing to curbs on internet access for foreign journalists covering the Beijing Games. Reporters found a number of politically sensitive websites blocked, and some senior Olympic officials said they had been aware of it.
Man Arrested for Internet Videos on Poisoning
A man was arrested after he allegedly claimed in hoax Internet videos that he had poisoned millions of bottles of baby food, some with cyanide or rat poison, because he wanted to kill black and Hispanic children. Gerber Products Co. and the Food and Drug Administration have found no evidence of tampering with Gerber products.
Judge Rejects Class-Action in Video Game Sex Suit
A federal judge has put the brakes on a lawsuit filed over sex scenes buried in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. In a decision, United States District Judge Shirley Wohl Kram wrote that purchasers of the game could not be lumped together in a class action.
Information on Cyber Security Center Kept Secret
The Bush administration's newly created National Cyber Security Center remains shrouded in secrecy, with officials refusing to release information about its budget, what contractors will run it, and how its mission relates to Internet surveillance. In correspondence with the U.S. Senate posted, the Bush administration said it would not provide that information publicly.
New Emphasis on Data Security Needed, Symantec CEO Says
Government agencies and private companies need to move their focus away from single-point security solutions to more holistic, information-based security, Symantec officials advised. "Clearly we've moved to a point in time where our customers have to be much more focused on protecting the information itself, as opposed to protecting the PC or protecting the network," John Thompson, Symantec's chairman and CEO, said at the company's government symposium in Washington, D.C.
China Monitoring Internet Use at Hotels, Senator Says
China has installed Internet-spying equipment in all the major hotel chains serving the 2008 Summer Olympics, Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) charged. Brownback, citing hotel documents he received, said journalists, athletes' families and others attending the Olympics next month "will be subjected to invasive intelligence-gathering" by China's Public Security Bureau.
Lawmaker Questions FCC's Authority to Punish Comcast
On the eve of the Federal Communications Commission's expected vote to punish Comcast for blocking peer-to-peer traffic on its network without properly informing subscribers, the agency is taking some fire from Congress. In a letter sent to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) questioned the commission's legal authority to intervene and argued that the unregulated market is moving to solve the problem of network management.
Bill Helps IRS Collect More Taxes from Online Sales
Recent legislation aims to help the IRS collect more taxes from online enterprises, many of which either don't know about their tax obligations or are ignoring them, according to the agency. The provision, part of the housing rescue package that President George W. Bush is expected to sign within days, will require PayPal and other processors of online payments to report annual gross receipts to the IRS for all but the smallest online merchants.
"Scrabulous" Makers Launch New Word Game on Facebook
The brothers behind the popular Facebook application Scrabulous have returned with a new word puzzle game, only two days after they took down their Scrabble-like game in the wake of a lawsuit filed against them by board-game maker Hasbro. The free game had been one of the most popular applications on the social-networking site, and many fans who turned to the game for a dose of procrastination each day griped loudly online when it disappeared.
FBI Warns About Virus-Laden E-mail Message
Yet another round of spam e-mails that instructs recipients to click on a link that downloads a virus is making the rounds. This time the e-mails include a link that contains an article about the FBI and the popular social networking site, Facebook.
Nintendo Sues Five Companies for Illegal Downloads
Nintendo filed lawsuits in Japan against five companies it said are allowing the illegal downloading of games from the Internet and the subsequent playing of those games on the company's hit DS handheld device. The video game giant filed its suit along with 54 game development companies, all in the hopes of stopping the defendants -- which it did not name in a press release -- from enabling the downloading.
Google Says Privacy Not Expected in "Street View"
Google's Street View service didn't invade a Pittsburgh couple's privacy, the search giant said in a response to the couple's April lawsuit over the matter. "Plaintiffs' privacy claims fail, among other reasons, because the view of a home from the driveway that can be seen by any visitor, delivery person, or telephone repairman is not private," the company said in response to the suit.
IOC Officials Admit Deal to Let China Limit Net Use
Some International Olympic Committee officials cut a deal to let China block sensitive websites despite promises of unrestricted access, a senior IOC official admitted. China had committed to providing media with the same freedom to report on the Games as they enjoyed at previous Olympics, but journalists have complained of finding access to sites deemed sensitive to its communist leadership blocked.
British Court Won't Stop Extradition of Hacker
Britain's top court refused to stop the extradition to the U.S. of a British hacker accused of breaking into Pentagon and NASA computers -- he claims to have done while hunting for information on UFOs. Gary McKinnon, 42, faces charges in the United States for what officials say were a series of cyber attacks that stole passwords, attacked military networks and wrought hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of computer damage.
Computer Attacks Arriving More Quickly
The bad guys on the Internet are narrowing the time frame they need to unleash computer attacks that take advantage of publicly disclosed security holes, new research shows. More and more of these attacks are coming within 24 hours after a vulnerability is disclosed.
Olympic Organizers Back Off Net Access Promise
Olympic organizers are backtracking on another promise about coverage of the Beijing Games, keeping in place blocks on Internet sites in the Main Press Center and venues where reporters will work. The blocked sites will make it difficult for journalists to retrieve information, particularly on political and human rights stories the government dislikes.
MPAA Sues Websites Over Illegal Copies of "Dark Knight"
A week after the debut of The Dark Knight, Hollywood's big summer hit, the movie studios are taking aim at two small-potatoes Web sites that point people to pirated versions of first-run films such as the Batman thriller. The Motion Picture Association of America said it has filed lawsuits against MovieRumor.com and Free Online Movie DataBase, or FOMDB, for violating studios' copyrights by providing links to pirated versions of their movies.
Calif. Lawmaker Wants Review of Yahoo-Google Deal
A California assemblyman has urged the state's attorney general to investigate privacy implications of Yahoo's search-advertising deal with Google. Specifically, he said he's concerned that the deal will give Google a lock on the search ad marketplace, thus eroding searchers' privacy.
