In an agreement hailed as a "breakthrough that will facilitate new ways to offer music to consumers online," groups representing songwriters, music publishers, record labels and digital music websites ended a seven-year dispute over two types of music royalties. Unfortunately, neither of those is the controversial performance royalty for Internet radio.
Court Rules for Broadcom in Patent Spat with Qualcomm
Chipmaker Broadcom has won the latest battle in a long patent war with Qualcomm. A federal appeals court affirmed that Qualcomm is infringing on two cell phone patents. It also upheld an injunction against Qualcomm selling products with technology that infringes the two patents.
Hackers Expose Passwords for Bill O'Reilly's Website
Days after Fox News political pundit Bill O’Reilly condemned the cracking of Sarah Palin’s Yahoo e-mail account, his own Web site fell victim to political hacktivism. Over 205 plain text passwords belonging to BillOreilly.com site members spread across the Internet.
Antitrust Group Wants Limits on Google-Yahoo Deal
Google and Yahoo's deal to let Google place some ads on Yahoo's search pages, which the Justice Department is reviewing, should be allowed with limits, the American Antitrust Institute said. Because the search advertising market is already extremely concentrated with Google by far the dominant firm, the institute argued that consumers would be best served if No. 2 Yahoo remained independent.
Second Hacker Pleads Guilty in TJX Case
A second suspected hacker in the TJX breach case has pleaded guilty. Christopher Scott, 25 and of Miami, Florida, has admitted his role in hacking into weakly secured wireless networks at retail outlets, a key component in a much more ambitious attack that harvested an estimated 45.7 million card records at TJX alone last year.
Grand Jury Issues No Indictments in Palin Hacking
A grand jury in Chattanooga, Tenn., investigating who hacked Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's Yahoo e-mail ended its meeting without indicting a Tennessee lawmaker's son. Speculation on the Internet has centered on 20-year-old David Kernell, a University of Tennessee student.
NBC Says It Has "Template" for Protecting Video Online
Executives at NBC Universal say they have found a "template" for protecting videos from online piracy. The company is seeing unprecedented success at removing unauthorized videos posted to the Web and cited last month's Olympic Games and the recent SNL skit with actress Tina Fey as proof.
Kuwait Orders ISPs to Block YouTube, Citing Disrespect
Kuwait has ordered local Internet service providers to block online video-sharing website YouTube over clips that could offend Muslims.
FBI Searches Apartment in Probe of Palin E-mail Hacking
The FBI searched the residence of the son of a Democratic state lawmaker in Tennessee over the weekend looking for evidence linking the young man to the hacking of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's personal e-mail account, two law enforcement officials told The Associated Press. A hacker last week broke into one of the Yahoo e-mail accounts that Palin uses, revealing as evidence a few inconsequential personal messages she has received since John McCain selected her as his running mate.
House Subcommittee Studying Organized Internet Crime
Does the freedom of selling on the Web lure otherwise law-abiding citizens into an addictive world of organized Internet crime? That's the somewhat overheated assertion being made to support three bills now under consideration by the House Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on crime, terrorism, and homeland security.
Electronic Arts Loosens Copyright Limits on Spore Game
Video game maker Electronic Arts has loosened copyright protection for the newest release of its game Spore. Released earlier in the month, the game received a flurry of complaints about a restriction that meant the game could only be registered to three computers.
Legislator's Son Focus of Palin E-mail Exposure
A Tennessee state legislator has confirmed that his son, a 20-year-old student at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, is the person being named on blogs and message boards in connection with the hacking of Gov. Sarah Palin's e-mail account, a Nashville paper reported. State Rep. Mike Kernell told the Tennessean that his son, David Kernell, is at the center of speculation about the identity of the hacker who gained access to Palin's account.
FTC Takes Action Against Online Cancer Cure Claims
The Federal Trade Commission disclosed actions it had taken against several companies that promoted online cancer cures. The actions were the result of a project started last year to identify websites making unsubstantiated cure claims.
Bill Would Put Limits on Online Pharmacies
Online pharmacies will face stricter regulations under new legislation Congress is considering. The Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act would ban the sale or distribution of prescription drugs over the Internet without a valid prescription.
Data on Cyber Attacks Called Limited for Protection
U.S. intelligence agencies are unable to share information about foreign cyber attacks against companies for fear of jeopardizing intelligence-gathering sources and methods, cyber security expert Paul B. Kurtz told lawmakers. Kurtz, who served on the National Security Council in the Clinton and Bush administrations, spoke at the first open hearing on cyber security held by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
EBay Wants EU to Probe Limits on Retail Sales
EBay, the online auctioneer, has asked the European Union’s antitrust chief to investigate companies that prevent retailers or sellers from offering their goods on EBay or other online commerce platforms. Tod Cohen, Ebay deputy general counsel, said he had raised concerns with Neelie Kroes over distributors of perfumes in France, sports goods in Spain, schoolbags in Germany and pushchairs in Britain, among others.
Comcast Says Customers Don't Mind Traffic Limits
Comcast Corp. said its new method of managing Internet traffic may sometimes result in slower Web surfing for subscribers who use their cable modem the most, yet the company has not received a single customer complaint in trial runs in five areas. The new system is set to replace the current one, which drew a sanction from the Federal Communications Commission, for all Comcast subscribers by the end of the year.
WTO May Probe U.S. Action Again EU Online Gambling
A dispute over U.S. enforcement actions against European Union online gambling companies could be headed to the World Trade Organization soon, an European industry group said. "It looks very much as if this matter will... be sent to the WTO at the end of the commission's investigation," Lode Van Den Hende, outside counsel for the Remote Gambling Association, told reporters as EU officials were in Washington to probe U.S. Justice Department enforcement actions.
Security Firm Warns of Virus Offering Free iPhone Game
Security firm Sophos warned on that e-mails being circulated on the Web that purport to offer a free iPhone game instead are carrying a Trojan horse that can take control of infected Windows machines. The e-mails have subject lines like "Virtual iPhone games!" and "Apple: The most popular game!"
ITC to Investigate Patent Infringement by Wii
The U.S. International Trade Commission has agreed to look into Hillcrest Laboratories' allegations that Nintendo infringed Hillcrest's patents in making its popular Wii video game, the ITC said. Hillcrest has accused Nintendo of infringing four patents to make the top-selling Wii game console. Hillcrest made the filing to the ITC, which has the power to bar products such as the Wii from the United States if they are made with infringed technology.
