Republican politicians called for a sweeping new federal law that would require all Internet providers and operators of millions of Wi-Fi access points, even hotels, local coffee shops, and home users, to keep records about users for two years to aid police investigations. The legislation, which echoes a measure proposed by one of their Democratic colleagues three years ago, would impose unprecedented data retention requirements on a broad swath of Internet access providers and is certain to draw fire from businesses and privacy advocates.
University of Florida Issues Cyber-Attack Alert
For the second time in less than four weeks, the University of Florida has been forced to notify students, staff and faculty about a cyber attack. This time, a hacker got into the university's antiquated Grove system, set up in 1996, and possibly stole the names and social security numbers of more than 97,000 people.
EU Considers Tapping Internet-Based Phone Calls
An investigation into the possibility of tapping Internet telephony conversations has been launched by the European Union's Judicial Co-Operation Unit, also known as Eurojust. The Italian government has cited concerns that organized criminals and arms and drug traffickers are using VoIP services such as Skype to avoid traditional, more easily-tapped phone networks.
Former eBay CEO Preparing Run for California Governor
Meg Whitman, a former chief executive of eBay, once said that running the Internet auction site was like being the mayor of a large city, with the mix of politics, competing constituencies and widespread resistance to change. Now Ms. Whitman, 52, says she is ready to be the governor of California, a state nearly paralyzed by its political and fiscal problems.
Lawmaker Targets White House's Use of Gmail Accounts
A California Republican congressman has called on President Obama to put in place a system that ensures all White House emails be preserved even if official business was done through private e- mail accounts. Rep. Darrell Issa, the senior Republican on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, specifically mentioned the new administrationís brief use of Gmail accounts after Obama was sworn in last month, as they waited for the official White House e-mail accounts to become active.
Dell Seeks to Cancel Company's "Netbook" Trademark
Dell filed a petition with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to cancel a registered trademark for the term "Netbook" by a company called Psion. Psion is a Canadian mobile computer maker that owns the trademark and indeed has sold a product called Netbook in the past. Psion began sending some tech bloggers and Netbook makers cease-and-desist notices late last year asking them to stop using the term "Netbook."
Delta Air Lines Faces Patent Suit Over Wi-Fi Service
Delta Air Lines and its in-flight Wi-Fi service provider have been sued by a Massachusetts company for patent infringement. Ashland, Mass.-based Ambit Corp., a technology development firm, claims in its suit that Atlanta-based Delta and Wi-Fi provider Aircell LLC infringe on its patent for a "system for enabling communication from personal computer communication devices located within a passenger vehicle to a distant communication system located outside of said passenger vehicle," using antennae on the devices.
Italian Judge Lets Google Video-Taunting Case Proceed
An Italian judge gave the go-ahead to a case in which Google could be held responsible for content it hosts but does not produce. The case centers on a 2006 video of four Italian youths taunting a child with Down syndrome. In the video, one of the youths incorrectly claims to be part of a small Down syndrome advocacy group called Vivi Down.
Verizon Plans Action to Deter Spammers from Its Network
Verizon.net is home to more than twice as many spam-spewing zombies as any other major Internet service provider in the United States, according to an analysis of the most recent data from anti-spam outfit Spamhaus.org. Verizon, however, says it plans to put measures in place to prevent it from being used as a home to so many spammers.
Internet Music Royalty Agreement Announced
A group that collects royalties for music artists and recording companies has agreed to reduce rates for thousands of commercial radio stations that also play songs over the Internet. Internet radio station operators had complained that rates originally set by the federal Copyright Royalty Board in 2007 could essentially force them to shut down.
After Uproar, Facebook Returns to Old Terms of Use
Facebook founder and CEO Marc Zuckerberg reverted to the social networking site's old "terms of use" agreement, undoing a legal change that implied the site might own its members' information forever. Facebook recently changed its terms of use, the legal language found at the bottom of many websites, causing an uproar among members who feared losing control of data they posted to the site.
Google Wins Privacy Suit Over "Street View" Service
A couple in Pittsburgh whose lawsuit claimed that Street View on Google Maps is a reckless invasion of their privacy lost their case. Aaron and Christine Boring sued the Internet search giant last April, alleging that Google "significantly disregarded (their) privacy interests" when Street View cameras captured images of their house beyond signs marked "private road."
Intel, Nvidia Fighting Over Rights to Chipsets
A legal showdown is brewing between Intel Corp. and Nvidia Corp. over whether a 2004 license agreement should cover a new generation of microprocessors. The battle flared up after Intel filed a motion before a Delaware Chancery Court challenging Nvidia's right to make chipsets compatible with new Intel semiconductors that have memory controllers integrated into the main microprocessor unit.
Mozilla Supports Copyright Exemption for iPhone Hacking
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.
