President-elect Barack Obama's plan to give the entire country speedy Internet service while creating thousands of telecom jobs as part of his stimulus package has come up against a seemingly simple but contentious question: How fast is fast enough?
Amazon Loses Fight Against N.Y. Sales Tax Law
Amazon.com appears to have lost the first round in its battle against New York's new tax code. New York has a relatively new law that requires online companies to collect sales tax from New York shoppers.
Report Downplays Sex Risk to Children Online
A high-profile task force created by 49 state attorneys general to find a solution to the problem of sexual solicitation of children online has concluded that there really is not a significant problem, despite years of parental anxieties and media hype. The Internet Safety Technical Task Force was charged with examining the extent of the threats children face on social networks like MySpace and Facebook, amid widespread fears that older adults were using these popular sites to deceive and prey on children.
Teen Convicted of Murder in Video Game Case
A teenage boy in Ohio has been convicted of murdering his mother because she took away his copy of the video game Halo 3, and now faces the possibility of life in prison. Daniel Petric, 17, shot both his mother and father in October 2007 with a handgun after what was potentially "weeks" of planning.
Kentucky Court to Rule on Seizure of Domain Names
The Kentucky Court of Appeals is expected to issue a ruling soon on whether a state court can order the seizure of Internet domain names that are registered in another state or country. The three-judge appeals panel is deliberating over whether to uphold a lower court's approval of a state plan to seize Internet domain names belonging to 141 online gambling sites.
More States Seek to Collect Internet Sales Taxes
With the recession pummeling states' budgets, their governments increasingly want to fill the gaps by collecting taxes on Internet sales, which are growing even as the economy shudders. And that is sparking conflict with companies that do business online only and have enjoyed being able to offer sales-tax free shopping.
Dell to Pay $3.85 Million in Misleading Financing Case
Dell Inc. said it has agreed to a legal settlement with states that claimed the computer company made misleading financing and service offers to PC buyers. Dell will pay $3.85 million to at least 46 states participating in the settlement.
Hacker McKinnon Agrees to Pleady Guilty in U.K.
Self-confessed hacker Gary McKinnon has told U.K. prosecutors he will plead guilty to charges in the U.K., a move that could help him avoid extradition to the U.S. McKinnon has been accused by U.S. prosecutors of "the biggest military hack of all time," after entering NASA and Pentagon systems.
China Expands Campaign Against Porn Online
China has expanded its campaign against pornography and vulgar content online, naming more than a dozen Web sites, including Microsoft's MSN, that it says need to clean up. The Web sites contained a large amount of vulgar material that "violated society's morals, and harmed the health of young people," said a notice posted on China Internet Illegal Information Reporting Center's Web site.
RealNetworks CEO Expects Victory in DVD-Copying Case
RealNetworks Inc. Chief Executive Rob Glaser is still confident that people will be able to use the company's RealDVD software to copy DVDs to their personal computers -- just not now. In an interview with reporters at the International Consumer Electronics Show, Glaser said he expects that the digital entertainment company will win a suit filed against it in October by six major Hollywood studios.
Security, Privacy Among Reasons Against Obama's BlackBerry
Why can't President-elect Barack Obama keep his BlackBerry? Obama would be an extraordinarily juicy target for hackers, spies and other snoops who could try to exploit any kind of error made in configuring the device or the White House BlackBerry server to read Obama's e-mail.
YouTube Offers Web Pages with Congressional Videos
YouTube, in collaboration with Congress, planned to unveil two new Web pages, one for the House and one for the Senate, where every lawmaker will be able to create a video channel on the site. The pages will include a map of the United States that will allow users to easily navigate to the channel of their elected officials.
South Korean Blogger Pleads Not Guilty in Net Case
A South Korean blogger pleaded not guilty to charges that he spread false economic information on the Internet, a news report said, in a case that drew heated debate over freedom of speech. The blogger, identified only by his surname Park, gained prominence among South Koreans because some of his dire predictions about the global economy, including the collapse of Lehman Brothers, later proved to be correct.
Spammers Use Gaza, Fake CNN Website to Trick Targets
In a particularly cynical move, spammers are sending out e-mails purporting to be about the fighting in Gaza, which has drawn international attention because of the hundreds of civilian casualties. The spams, which appear to be news items from CNN, contain news about the fighting and a link to a fake CNN news site.
Customers Sued for Sharing Access to Website
A suit filed by CoStar Realty Information alleges that managers at New York's Dumann Realty illegally accessed CoStar's Web site, a subscription to which costs hundreds of dollars a month and provides clients with real estate information such as photos and vacancy databases, by borrowing another customer's user information. CoStar is accusing Dumann, as well as the alleged co-conspirators who lent it the account, of copyright infringement.
Lawsuit Over Yelp Review of Chiropractor Settled
The lawsuit filed by a San Francisco chiropractor against a patient who wrote a negative review of him on Yelp was settled, according to the attorney for the defendant. The terms of the settlement agreement are confidential and the March trial date will be canceled, said Michael Blacksburg, who represented patient Christopher Norberg.
Woman in MySpace Suicide Case Seeks Reversal
An attorney for a woman convicted in a MySpace hoax directed at a teen who ended up committing suicide asked a judge to dismiss her convictions, saying a computer-fraud law was improperly used to prosecute her. U.S. District Court Judge George Wu did not immediately rule after oral arguments and will likely issue a written decision, although he didn't indicate when.
Obama Fighting to Keep Using His BlackBerry
Of all the fights facing Mr. Obama as he prepares for the White House, one of the most maddening for him is the prospect of losing the BlackBerry that has been attached to his belt for years. It is, he has vigorously argued, an essential link to keeping him apprised of events outside his ever-tightening cocoon.
Google Ranked No. 3 for Worst Spam Networks
Google has moved up to Number Three on The Spamhaus Project's list of the world's worst spam problem networks. Last month, the search giant hit the top 10 list for the first time in last place. Spamhaus' list shows Google has 31 unresolved abuse-related issues, including various types of fraud and hosting known as spam gangs.
Fake E-mail Linked to CNN Steals Financial Data
A new e-mail that is circulating looks like it comes from CNN and links to a fake CNN Web page offering "graphic" video related to the Israel-Hamas conflict but instead hosts a Trojan that steals sensitive data, RSA said.
