The music industry has lost more than 30 percent in sales since 2001 because of illegal downloading, a top industry official said, giving evidence in a Swedish trial. John Kennedy, the head of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, told the Stockholm District Court that Swedish site The Pirate Bay had become "the No. 1 source of illegal music," following court actions against two other popular file-sharing sites, Grokster and Kazaa.
EMI Music Joins Lawsuit Against SeeqPod
EMI Music Group, with subsidiary Capitol Records, has joined in the lawsuit against Internet music search engine SeeqPod, joining Warner Music Group which originally took action last January. sEMI has also expanded the scope of the dispute by naming several SeeqPod employees and investors as defendants, not just the company itself.
McKinnon Won't Face Criminal Charges in U.K.
The Crown Prosecution Service has decided it will not prosecute self-confessed NASA hacker Gary McKinnon in the U.K., edging him closer to extradition to the U.S. McKinnon's diagnosis with Asperger's Syndrome, a condition on the autistic spectrum, had not been taken into account in the decision, a Crown Prosecution Service spokesperson said.
Australia Drops Internet Blocking Legislation
The Australian government's plan to introduce mandatory Internet censorship has effectively been scuttled, following an independent senator's decision to join the Greens and Opposition in blocking any legislation required to get the scheme started. The Opposition's communications spokesman Nick Minchin has obtained independent legal advice saying that if the Government is to pursue a mandatory filtering regime "legislation of some sort will almost certainly be required".
Study Says U.S. Could Raise $52 Billion if Gambling Ban Lifted
The United States could raise nearly $52 billion in revenue over the next decade by lifting a three-year-old ban on Internet gambling and taxing the activity instead, according to a study. Gambling supporters hope the new analysis prepared by accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers will help propel efforts in Congress this year to repeal the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.
Intel Files Suit to Allow Use of "Netbook" Trademark
Intel has filed for a declaratory judgment against Psion Teklogix in order to continue using the term "Netbook" generically. The legal filing also revealed, as a separate matter, that Google would prohibit search advertisements that include the term "netbook."
Google Joins EU Antitrust Suit Against Microsoft
Google Inc. is joining forces with European regulators in an attack on Microsoft Corp.'s dominance of the Web browser market, injecting more bad blood between two of computing's most powerful companies. The latest assault on Microsoft's Internet Explorer comes as Google is trying to expand the use of its own Web browser, the 6-month-old Chrome.
Microsoft Files Patent Suits Against GPS Company
Microsoft said that it is filing two separate patent infringement actions against the GPS navigation company TomTom. In complaints before the U.S. District Court in Washington and the International Trade Commission, Microsoft is alleging infringement of eight patents.
British Officials Opposing NASA Hacker's Extradition
Support is building in the British Parliament and from legal experts for self-confessed NASA hacker Gary McKinnon to be tried in the U.K. Liberal Democrat peer Lord Carlile of Berriew, Queen's Counsel, the independent reviewer of Britain's antiterror laws, said that McKinnon's diagnosis with Asperger's Syndrome, a condition on the autistic spectrum, means he should be tried in Britain rather than in the U.S.
Microsoft Warns of Attacks on Excel Security Hole
Attackers are attempting to exploit an unpatched security hole in Excel that could allow someone to take control of a compromised computer, Microsoft said in a security advisory. The attack exploiting the Excel Unspecified Remote Code Execution Vulnerability requires a computer user to open an attachment sent via e-mail that has a maliciously crafted Excel document, according to the advisory.
Teens Online More Prone to Aggressiveness, Study Says
Teenagers who are preoccupied with their Internet time may be more prone to aggressive behavior, researchers reported. In a study of more than 9,400 Taiwanese teenagers, the researchers found that those with signs of Internet "addiction" were more likely to say they had hit, shoved or threatened someone in the past year.
India Orders Foreign VoIP Services Blocked
The Indian Department of Telecom has issued orders to block Internet telephony services being offered by around 39 foreign firms in the country. All the Internet Service Providers have been asked to block these Web sites since Indian laws permit only licensed operators to offer Net telephony services.
Facebook User Steals Customer's Laptop at Starbucks
Sheriff's officers said a 19-year-old man snatched a Starbucks customer's laptop after being told he could not use it to check his Facebook account. According to officers, the man then grabbed the customer's laptop and ran out of the coffee shop, located in an outlet mall.
Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Rambus Antitrust Case
The U.S. Supreme Court turned away the Federal Trade Commission's bid to impose antitrust penalties that would have limited the royalties collected by memory-chip technology company Rambus Inc. The justices, without comment, left intact a federal appeals court decision favoring Rambus, which gets more than 80 percent of its revenue from royalties.
Obama's Pick for FTC Has Supported Consumers Online
President Obama plans to appoint current Federal Trade Commission member Jon Leibowitz to lead the agency, which partially enforces antitrust laws and has taken a recent interest in online advertising. An administration official on Monday confirmed that Leibowitz, a Democrat appointed to the five-person commission in 2004, would be nominated as chairman.
More Internet Attacks Take Aim at Bank Accounts
New and nasty banking trojans are on the rise on the Internet and attacking online bank accounts. The new trojan programs -- which wait on your hard drive for an opportunity to crack your online banking account -- are different from traditional "phishing" e-mail scams that try to trick you into typing your login information at fake bank websites.
Hackers Targeting Users of Microsoft's Xbox Live Service
Xbox Live is being targeted by malicious hackers selling services that kick players off the network. The booting services are proving popular with players who want a way to get revenge on those who beat them in an Xbox Live game.
British ISPs Not Blocking All Child Abuse Images Online
Children's charities have expressed "serious concerns" many U.K. households still have access to images showing child sex abuse via their computers. The government had asked all Internet service providers to block illegal websites by the end of 2007.
California Video Game Law Found Unconstitutional
A U.S. appeals court ruled that a California law restricting the sales and rental of violent video games to minors and imposing labeling requirements is too restrictive and violates free speech guarantees. The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that the labeling requirement unfairly forces video games to carry "the state's controversial opinion" about which games are violent.
Senator to Push for Repeal of Internet Gambling Ban
A senior Democratic lawmaker will push legislation this year to repeal a U.S. ban on Internet gambling that has hurt trade ties with the European Union, a congressional aide said. "The bill introduction should happen in the next month," a spokesman for House of Representatives Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank said.
