A British motorcyclist who posted footage of himself performing dangerous stunts and speeding at up to 130 mph on YouTube was given a 12-week jail term. Sandor Ferenci, 28, performed wheelies, skids and raced on the opposite side of the road around Banbury, Oxfordshire, in June this year and then put the footage on the video-sharing website.
British Police Shut Down Scam Credit Card Site
British police said they had shut down a highly sophisticated website that allowed fraudsters around the world to trade in stolen credit card details and find out about the latest online scams. Almost 60 people have been arrested worldwide as part of a long-running international undercover operation into the DarkMarket site led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the United States.
Kentucky Judge Orders Gambling Domains Transferred
Dozens of Internet gambling sites have 30 days to block Kentucky users or their domain names will be transferred to the state, a judge ruled in a case with potential international ramifications. Judge Thomas Wingate denied a motion by Internet gambling Web sites, Internet poker players and online trade associations to stop the state from taking over the domain names of 141 online gambling sites.
States Need Greater E-Voting Accuracy, Report Says
Several U.S. states still are not doing all they can to ensure the accuracy of votes over electronic voting machines, and 10 states received inadequate grades in three of four categories of safeguards, a report from three voting security advocacy groups said. Somewhere in the United States, voting systems will fail on Election Day Nov. 4, predicted the report, released by Common Cause, Verified Voting and the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law.
Online Forums for Al-Qaeda Media Disabled
Four of the five main online forums that al-Qaeda's media wing uses to distribute statements by Osama bin Laden and other extremists have been disabled since mid-September, monitors of the Web sites say. The disappearance of the forums on Sept. 10 -- and al-Qaeda's apparent inability to restore them or create alternate online venues, as it has before -- has curbed the organization's dissemination of the words and images of its fugitive leaders.
RIAA Appeals Mistrial in File-Sharing Case
The Recording Industry Association of America is appealing a judge's decision to declare a mistrial in the case of Jammie Thomas, who was ordered to pay the recording industry $222,000 for allegedly sharing music online. Thomas was charged in October with violating copyright law by making 24 songs available for others to download on the Kazaa network.
Google Appeals German Copyright Decisions
Google has appealed two court decisions that could ban it and other search engines from operating image searches in Germany, a spokesman for the Internet giant said. Last month a district court in Hamburg ruled in favor of two men who claim search engines that pull pictures from their Web sites infringe on their copyrights.
Cybersecurity Attacks Incresing, FBI Official Says
Computer spying and theft of personal information have risen notably in the past year, costing tens of millions of dollars and threatening U.S. security, the FBI's cyber division head said. FBI Assistant Director Shawn Henry told reporters that organized-crime groups are drawn by the ease of reaching millions of potential victims.
FBI Used Underground Site for Sting Operation
A notorious Internet underground site that ceased operation has turned out to have been used since 2006 by the FBI as part of an an elaborate sting operation. DarkMarket was an online forum for "carders", those who buy and sell stolen identities and credit card information online.
Cerf Backs Obama, Cites Net Neutrality Position
Vint Cerf has come out in support of Barack Obama for United States president. In a YouTube video he recorded, Cerf, Google's chief Internet evangelist, said he was supporting Obama primarily because of the Democratic candidate's position on Net neutrality.
Court Limits ITC's Ban on Cell Phone Chips
A federal appeals court ruled that the International Trade Commission's ban on imports of cell phones with chips made by Qualcomm overstepped the commission's authority. The ITC imposed the ban in June 2007 because it found that some Qualcomm chips infringed on a battery-saving technology patent owned by Broadcom Corp., a rival maker of cell phone chips.
FTC Shuts Down One of Largest Spam Operations
Federal authorities in Chicago say they've shut down one of the largest spam e-mail operations in the world. The Federal Trade Commission says the group generated e-mails promoting sales of prescription drugs and "male enhancement" pills.
Accused British Hacker Loses Extradition Appeal
The man accused by the U.S. government of accessing more than 73,000 U.S. military machines has lost his second appeal to the British Home Office against extradition. Gary McKinnon's recent diagnosis of having Asperger's syndrome, a condition on the autistic spectrum, had not changed Home Secretary Jacqui Smith's decision that the self-confessed NASA hacker be extradited, McKinnon attorney Karen Todner said.
Google Profits from Typo-Squatting, Professor Says
Google is profiting from millions of typo-squatting websites that earn advertising from Google's Adsense advertising program, Harvard University professor Ben Edelman says. In a report published Monday, Edelman says Google profits from typo-squatting websites that run ads using Google's Adsense -- which, ironically, are often bought by the owners of the legitimate sites web surfers were trying to visit.
Intel Wants More Time to Respond to EU Charges
Intel has asked the European Union's second highest court for more time to respond to EU charges that it paid a retailer to favor PCs using its computer chips. The Commission issued charges against the world's biggest chipmaker in July, alleging that the U.S. company had paid a retailer to refrain from selling computers with chips made by competitor Advanced Micro Devices.
Schools Create Site to Allow Reporting of Bullies
Hoping to combat the "snitch" label that often leads to silent suffering, six Utah schools have introduced a Web site that allows students to anonymously report bullies. A Brigham Young University student, Justin Bergener, created the site, which also lets students post information about thefts, drugs and harassment.
Bush Signs Law Creating IP Enforcement Coordinator
President Bush signed into law an intellectual property enforcement bill that would consolidate federal efforts to combat copyright infringement under a new White House cabinet position. The Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act establishes within the executive branch the position of Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator, who will be appointed by the president.
Bush Signs Two Laws Against Internet Predators
President Bush signed two child predator laws: The Protect Our Children Act, which sets requirements for Internet companies to report incidences of child pornography; and the Keeping the Internet Devoid of Sexual Predators Act, which requires a sex offender to provide the National Sex Offender Registry with all of his Internet identifiers, such as e-mail addresses.
Spy Software Targets World Bank's Computers
The World Bank Group's computer network -- one of the largest repositories of sensitive data about the economies of every nation —--has been raided repeatedly by outsiders for more than a year, FOX News has learned. Sources inside the bank confirm that servers in the institution's highly restricted treasury unit were deeply penetrated with spy software last April.
Google Loses Two Copyright Cases in Germany
Google, owner of the world's most popular Internet-search engine, lost two copyright lawsuits in Germany over displaying photos and artworks as thumbnails in a preview of search results. Google's preview of a picture by German photographer Michael Bernhard violates his copyrights, the Regional Court of Hamburg ruled, his lawyer Matthies van Eendenburg said in an interview.
