Hollywood may at last be having its Napster moment -- struggling against the video version of the digital looting that capsized the music business. Media companies say that piracy -- some prefer to call it "digital theft" to emphasize the criminal nature of the act -- is an increasingly mainstream pursuit.
Lawsuits Target Wal-Mart, Netflix in Online Video Service
A series of lawsuits filed across the country allege that Wal-Mart and Netflix benefited illegally when the world's largest retailer exited the online DVD rental business in 2005. Lawyer Daniel Becnel of Reserve, La., complained in a lawsuit filed in Baton Rouge, La., that Wal-Mart and Netflix improperly negotiated Wal-Mart's departure from the online video market that previously had only two major competitors, Netflix and Blockbuster.
Postal Service Investigating Amazon
Amazon is under investigation by the US Postal Service for "compliance with Postal Service rules," according to a one-sentence statement in the company's annual 10-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. "In January 2009, we learned that the United States Postal Service, including the Postal Service Office of Inspector General, is investigating our compliance with Postal Service rules, and we are cooperating," the filing reads.
Google Increasing Its Role On Many Fronts in D.C.
Google's effort to increase its presence in Washington is as much about playing defense as offense, in some ways. Google's rivals lost a number of regulatory battles to the search giant in Washington last year and are gearing up to fight over issues expected to be hotly debated this year, including Internet openness and stricter privacy rules.
TorrentSpy Appeals $100 Million Judgment with Studios
Nearly a year since being ordered to pay the big film studios more than $100 million, TorrentSpy is launching a legal comeback. TorrentSpy filed an appeal to overturn a judgment issued by U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper against TorrentSpy, which shut its doors as a result of the legal fight with the Motion Picture Association of America, to pay nearly $111 million in damages to the MPAA for infringing the copyright of thousands of films and TV shows.
Norway Drops Complaint Against Apple Over iTunes
Norway's consumer watchdog said it had dropped a complaint against Apple's iTunes after the company said songs sold via its music service would be compatible with all MP3 players, not just the iPod. "We have no reason to pursue them anymore," said consumer mediator Bjoern Erik Thon.
Privacy Advisers Want Laptop Border Policy Changed
The Department of Homeland Security's controversial policies on search and seizure of electronic devices at U.S. borders is facing a new round of criticism -- this time, from the department's own data privacy advisers. In the draft of a letter to DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano, the department's Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee is pushing for changes to the department's authority in scrutinizing travelers' notebook PCs and digital media when entering the country.
Paroled Sex Offender Arrested for Using MySpace
The Texas Attorney General’s Office says Jesse Clay Scott used the social networking Website MySpace in violation of his parole conditions. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles frequently prohibits paroled sex offenders from using the Internet.
Companies Spend Millions to Rebuild Brands After Breaches
Organizations that experienced a data breach in 2008 paid an average of $6.6 million last year to rebuild their brand image and retain customers, according to a new study. Ponemon Institute, a Tucson-based research firm, looked at 43 organizations that reported a data breach last year and found that roughly $202 was spent on each consumer record compromised.
Lawyers See High Stakes in Kentucky Domain Fight
A battery of lawyers for Internet businesses, domain registrars, civil liberties groups and others from engaging the state of Kentucky in legal battle over that state's attempt to halt Internet gambling by seizing 141 domain names whose owners are located primarily out of state or overseas. Kentucky, which prohibits online gambling, persuaded a state trial judge last fall that the domain names were illegal gambling devices under state law, and the judge issued the forfeiture order to registrars -- not owners -- of the domain names.
Fake Parking Tickets Lead Victims to Malware Site
In a scary online-offline Internet scam, hybrid cars in North Dakota have been tagged with fake parking citations that include a Web address hosting malicious software that drops a Trojan onto the computer. The yellow tickets found on the cars in Grand Forks, North Dakota, read "PARKING VIOLATION This vehicle is in violation of standard parking regulations."
90,000 Sex Offenders Removed from MySpace
MySpace says about 90,000 sex offenders have been identified and removed from its huge social networking website. North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper said the new figure is nearly double what MySpace officials originally announced last year.
EU Official Opposes Online Freedom Act
A European Union law to reinforce freedom on the Internet would be unnecessary and put operators in a difficult position, the bloc's top telecoms and media regulator said. The U.S. Congress has drafted a Global Online Freedom Act. Some European Parliament members want the EU to follow suit, saying authoritarian nations are increasingly censoring the Web by blocking sites and intimidating users with "cyber police."
Lawyer Warning Colleagues About E-mail Scams
Houston lawyer Richard T. Howell Jr., whose firm was scammed out of $182,500 by a client who contacted and hired him through e-mail, says he is talking publicly about the situation so he can prevent other Texas lawyers from making the same mistakes. In October 2008, Howell became the victim of a sophisticated, international version of a classic check-fraud scam, say two Texas consumer law attorneys, as well as Dan Parsons, president of the Better Business Bureau of Greater Houston and South Texas.
Google Trial in Italy Over Video Delayed
A criminal trial that could mean jail time for three Google employees and the company's former chief financial officer was postponed until Feb. 18, Google said. Tracey Bentley, who's monitoring the trial for the International Association for Privacy Professionals, also reported that the municipality of Milan has added a new charge against the company itself.
$9 Billion for Broadband Expansion Debated
At first glance, perhaps no line item in the nearly $900 billion stimulus program under consideration on Capitol Hill would seem to offer a more perfect way to jump-start the economy than the billions pegged to expand broadband Internet service to rural and underserved areas. But experts warn that the rural broadband effort could just as easily become a $9 billion cyberbridge to nowhere, representing the worst kind of mistakes that lawmakers could make in rushing to approve one of the largest spending bills in history without considering unintended results.
World Economic Leaders Want Cybercrime Tools
The threat of cybercrime is rising sharply, experts have warned at the World Economic Forum in Davos. They called for a new system to tackle well-organized gangs of cybercriminals.
Google Executives on Trial in Italy Over Video
Four executives of Google begin trial in Milan on criminal charges of defamation and privacy violation in regard to a video posted on Google’s Italian site. The case involves a three-minute cellphone video, posted in 2006 to Google Video, in which four youths in Turin tease a boy with Down syndrome.
Law Enforcement Seeks Power to Jam Wireless
As President Obama's motorcade rolled down Pennsylvania Avenue on Inauguration Day, federal authorities deployed a closely held law enforcement tool: equipment that can jam cellphones and other wireless devices to foil remote-controlled bombs, sources said. It is an increasingly common technology, with federal agencies expanding its use as state and local agencies are pushing for permission to do the same.
Company Sues Morningstar, Alleges Internet Espionage
A Massachusetts company that services the brokerage industry sued Morningstar Inc., accusing the big investment-research firm of using Internet espionage to copy information from a patent-protected system for handling mutual-fund prospectuses. The firm that brought the suit, closely held NewRiver Inc., has built a $30 million business with a service that allows brokerage houses to speedily send updated, electronic prospectuses to investors interested in buying mutual funds.
