Computer criminals could soon be eavesdropping on what you type by analysing the electromagnetic signals produced by every key press. By analysing the signals produced by keystrokes, Swiss researchers have reproduced what a target typed.
EBay to Start Banning Sale of Ivory Products
EBay is banning the sale of ivory products to help protect African and Asian elephants. The policy will go into effect in December and will be enforced starting in January, eBay Inc. said.
Copyright Changes Sought for Election Videos Online
With just two weeks left until the presidential elections, a coalition of public interest groups is calling on both broadcast networks and YouTube to modify their approaches to copyright infringement claims that involve political content. Groups including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the American Civil Liberties Union, and American University's Center for Social Media, sent an open letter to CBS, the Christian Broadcasting Network, Fox, and NBC, asking them to stop sending Digital Millenium Copyright Act takedown notices to YouTube over short clips of news footage used in election-related videos.
MPAA Calls EFF's DVD Defense "Wrongheaded"
The movie industry has finally responded to accusations that it filed suit to stop sales of RealDVD software as a means of maintaining control over technology companies. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a group that advocates for the rights of Internet users, last week called the lawsuit filed by the major movie studios against RealNetworks, the maker of the DVD-ripping software, an attempt at "controlling innovation."
Google to Disclose Gmail User in Netherlands
Google Netherlands has agreed to hand over the IP addresses of a Gmail user in an alleged spy case. The CEO of Dutch internet incubator company iMerge suspected that a former disgruntled employee, who also acted as a system administrator, had secretly created an auto-forward rule in one of the company's mail servers.
Man Pleads Guilty to Running Spam Scam
A California man has pleaded guilty to federal charges and agreed to testify against a suburban Detroit man accused of running a massive Internet spam scam. Francis (Frankie) Tribble of Los Angeles pleaded guilty Friday in U.S. District Court in Detroit to fraud and money laundering charges.
Sony Delays Video Game Over Koran Phrases
Sony has postponed the global release of a much-anticipated video game due to concerns that it may offend Muslims. Copies of LittleBigPlanet are being recalled from shops worldwide after it emerged that a background music track contained two phrases from the Koran.
Microsoft Gets Patent for Bleeping Out Words
Microsoft was granted U.S. patent No. 7437290 for, essentially, a technology that lets the company bleep out words in an audio stream that match a list of predefined bad words. Ars Technica, which reported on the patent both when Microsoft applied for it in 2004 as well as now that it has been granted, notes that the technology could be used for more than just censoring profanity, suggesting that perhaps China or another government would want it employed for other phrases, such as Tibet or free speech.
Speeding YouTube Motorcyclist Gets 12 Weeks in Jail
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.
