The Internet's key oversight agency issued preliminary guidelines for the introduction of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of alternatives to ".com" in the first sweeping changes to the network's 25-year-old address system. The application fee, scheduled to be disclosed soon, is expected to approach $200,000 -- partially refundable only in limited circumstances -- to help cover the potential $20 million cost of crafting the guidelines and reviewing applications.
Harvard Professor Sues Google for Aiding Typosquatters
Harvard Business School professor Benjamin G. Edelman has filed a class-action lawsuit against Google for its decision to contract with "typosquatting" Web sites to place advertisements on these sites. A typosquatting Web site has an address almost identical to that of another Web site, and is designed to capitalize on internet users' typos by exposing them to advertisements, according to Edelman, whose research focuses on electronic marketplaces and online advertising fraud.
Russia Stops Google's Bid to Buy Advertising Agency
Google said that its bid to buy an advertising agency in Russia was rejected by the country's competition regulator. Google, based in Mountain View, California, bid in July for Begun, a unit of the search-engine operator Rambler Media, which is based in Moscow.
American Airlines Sues Yahoo Over Search Terms
American Airlines is suing Yahoo Inc. for trademark infringement, a case similar to one that the nation's largest airline settled this summer against Google Inc. The airline complains that when computer users enter American's trademark terms such as AAdvantage, the name of its frequent-flier program, in a search they can be directed to competitors who pay Yahoo for the traffic.
EU Lawmakers Target Cyber-BUllying, Child Porn
Cyber-bullying and child pornography will be targeted in a 55 million euro ($70.9 million) scheme agreed by European Union lawmakers. The European Commission's "Safer Internet" proposal from 2009 to 2013 aims to improve safety for children surfing the Internet, promote public awareness and create national centers for reporting illegal online content.
Ohio Voting Site Back Online After Data Breach
The voter-registration Web site in the key swing state of Ohio may be back online following a data breach, but the partisan fights over voter fraud allegations rage on. The Web site of Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, the state's top elections official, contains logs of voter records, campaign contributions and other election information.
Man Pleads Innocent to Sharing Guns N' Roses Songs
A man accused of placing songs on the Internet from an unreleased album by the rock band Guns N' Roses pleaded innocent in federal court. Kevin Cogill, 27, is charged with violating federal copyright law.
Dutch Court Convicts Two of Virtual Item Theft
Dutch court has convicted two youths of theft for stealing virtual items in a computer game and sentenced them to community service. Only a handful of such cases have been heard in the world, and they have reached varying conclusions about the legal status of "virtual goods."
More Employees Downloading Dangerous Software
A new report from security services provider ScanSafe finds that companies are at increasing risk of having employees inadvertently download backdoors and password stealers onto corporate computers from Web sites that have malicious software hidden on them. A company in ScanSafe's focus group faced a nearly 500 percent greater risk of exposure to those threats in September than was faced in January of this year, according to ScanSafe's Global Threat Report.
Suspects Arrested in Hacking of Sarkozy's Bank Account
French police arrested two suspects as part of a search for computer hackers who broke into French President Nicolas Sarkozy's bank account and withdrew money. Sarkozy alerted authorities last month after small amounts were taken from his personal account and used to open mobile phone subscriptions.
FBI Raids Alleged Hacker Who Posted Cyrus Photos
A 19-year-old hacker who posted some racy photos of Disney starlet Miley Cyrus on the Internet said he was raided by the FBI after boasting that he would never be caught. The hacker, Josh Holly, bragged openly about obtaining the photos from an email account of the 15-year-old star of "Hannah Montana," the hit Disney Channel series about a schoolgirl with a secret life as a pop star.
Chinese Users Protest Microsoft's Anti-Piracy Move
Chinese Internet users have expressed fury at Microsoft's launch of an anti-piracy tool targeting Chinese computer users to ensure they buy genuine software. The "Windows Genuine Advantage" program, which turns the user's screen black if the installed software fails a validation test, is Microsoft's latest weapon in its war on piracy in China, where the vast majority of 200 million computer users are believed to be using counterfeit software, unwittingly or not.
Researchers Find New Way to Eavesdrop on PCs
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.
