Mozilla Corp. is backing a move that would nullify copyright infringement charges against people who "jailbreak" their iPhones, a practice that Apple Inc. considers against the law. In comments submitted to the U.S. Copyright Office, the maker of Firefox said it supports the Electronic Frontier Foundation in its request for an exemption to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
Final Stimulus Package Includes $7.2 Billion for Broadband
President Obama signed into law the $787 billion stimulus package, which includes $7.2 billion for broadband grant and loan programs. The bulk of the funds directed at broadband -- $4.7 billion -- will be distributed through a program run by the Commerce Department, while $2.5 billion will fall under the jurisdiction of the Agriculture Department, giving particular emphasis to broadband deployment in rural areas.
Search Engine Sues Google for Antitrust Violations
TradeComet.com has sued Google, claiming that the search company abused its market dominance to "squash" competition. Rick Rule, who works for the company's law firm, claimed that SourceTool.com and its subsidiary, TradeComet.com, "had a thriving business before Google decided to eliminate them as a competitor... We believe this complaint has strong merit and represents a serious antitrust violation."
Jones Day Settles Linking Suit Against Real Estate Site
A small Internet site says it has settled a lawsuit filed by the Jones Day law firm -- a suit that ignited criticism from bloggers and free speech advocates across the country. Jones Day wanted to stop Blockshopper.com, a real estate site, from linking to the law firm's Web site.
Half of Charges Against Pirate Bay Dropped
Half of the charges levelled at the founders of the Pirate Bay file-sharing site have been dropped. Swedish prosecutors dropped charges relating to "assisting copyright infringement" leaving the lesser charges of "assisting making available copyright material" on trial day two.
Spammers Break Hotmail's Authentication System
The battle by Microsoft to secure its Live Hotmail system from spammers appears to have failed yet again with the news that the latest version of its CAPTCHA authentication system has been broken. According to a detailed analysis of the latest hack by security company Websense, spammers have come up with a new scheme to fool the CAPTCHA that takes possible attack scenarios to new levels of sophistication.
White House Cyberdefense Leader Faces Big Task
The White House has engaged a hard-charging consultant for an unprecedented review of U.S. cybersecurity policy to determine whether the government needs to be more pro-active in slowing cybercrime attacks on individuals and businesses. Melissa Hathaway, named by President Obama to conduct a 60-day review of the nation's cyberdefense policies, faces a tall order: assessing the effectiveness of former president George W. Bush's $30 billion cyberdefense plan that emphasized tighter lockdowns on government data.
Rights Debate Arises Over Facebook's New Terms
A brouhaha arose over a revision in the wording of Facebook's policy over what happens to profile content -- shared items, blog post-like "notes," photos -- when members delete their accounts. Consumer advocacy blog The Consumerist phrased Facebook's fresh policy as "We Can Do Anything We Want With Your Content. Forever," pointing out that Facebook's ToS spruce-up removed several sentences in which the company said its licenses on user content expired upon account deletion.
Connecticut Towns Drop Websites to Comply with Law
Since the mid-1970s, municipal governmental bodies across Connecticut have posted minutes within seven days of a meeting at town hall, under state open records laws. Last June, the legislature, in a seemingly modest enhancement, required posting on a town Web site as well, if the town had one. This requirement has unleashed a noisy backlash, prompting a dozen small towns to pull the plug on their Web sites rather than comply.
Developer of iPhone Fart App Sues Competitor
The developer behind the iPhone's top digital fart generator wants the American legal system to declare that using the phrase "pull my finger" does not run afoul of a rival's trademark. Infomedia, maker the immensely popular iFart Mobile app, is taking Pull My Finger developer Air-O-Matic to Colorado court seeking a declaratory judgment and additional "relief."
Privacy Advocates Criticize FTC's Net Ad Guidelines
The Federal Trade Commission's new Internet-advertising guidelines don't put enough pressure on companies to protect consumer data used in targeted marketing campaigns, privacy advocacy groups said. The agency released the voluntary standards to guide Web marketers' efforts at self-regulation.
Microsoft Reward in Worm Case Could Help Others
The quarter-million dollar award Microsoft is offering for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of those responsibile for unleashing the "Conficker" worm may represent the culmination of what security experts say has been an unprecedented and collaborative response from industry, academia and Internet policy groups aimed at not just containing the spread of this worm, but also in creating a playbook for dealing with future digital pandemics.
Copyright Office Hears Debate on Unlocking iPhones
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, in a filing with the Copyright Office, argues that the government should allow iPhone owners to circumvent technical barriers meant to keep them from changing the phone's software, a process called jailbreaking. Apple, not surprisingly, filed an objection, saying that jailbreaking a phone indeed violates copyright law and that no exception should be granted.
Scottish Companies Sue Apple Over iPhone Display
A pair of small Scottish companies have filed a lawsuit against Apple, claiming two of the computer maker's best-selling products include technology that infringes on their patents. Glasgow-based Picsel Ltd. and Picsel Technologies Ltd. said in a lawsuit that Apple's hot-selling iPhone and iPod Touch devices incorporate Picsel-patented technology that facilitates rapid redrawing of content displayed on devices' screens.
Microsoft Sued for Fees to Downgrade to Windows XP
Microsoft is under antitrust attack again, this time for the fees PC vendors charge to consumers who buy PCs preinstalled with Vista and then "downgrade" to Windows XP. "Microsoft has used its market power to take advantage of consumer demand for the Windows XP operating system by requiring consumers to purchase computers preinstalled with the Vista operating system and to pay additional sums to 'downgrade' to the Windows XP operating system," the suit alleges.
More Criminals Using VoIP Services in Italy
Criminals in Italy are increasingly making phone calls over the Internet in order to avoid getting caught through mobile phone intercepts, police say. Officers in Milan say organized crime, arms and drugs traffickers, and prostitution rings are turning to Skype in order to frustrate investigators.
Pirate Bay Operators Go On Trial in Sweden
File-swappers are expected to be keeping their eyes on a court in Sweden as a landmark copyright-infringement trial gets under way. The four men behind the popular file-sharing site The Pirate Bay go on trial in Stockholm, accused of helping millions of Internet users illegally download protected movies, music, and computer games.
Broadband Tax Credit Cut from Stimulus Bill
It looks like the tax credit for companies that install new broadband service was cut from the latest version of the economic stimulus bill. The bill still would award more than $6 billion in grants to help build high-speed Internet service, mainly in rural areas.
Hackers Use Celebrity Names, Digg to Snag Victims
Once again, hackers are using celebrity names in order to get people to download malware onto their PCs. This time, they are using the popular news aggregator Digg, according to PandaLabs threat researcher Sean-Paul Correll's blog.
MobileMe Users Targeted by Phishing Scam
MobileMe users are being targeted by a phishing scam. Users of MobileMe, which automatically sends e-mail, contacts, and calendar events to your computer, iPhone, or iPod, have been receiving a new e-mail that looks like it comes from Apple.
