Last September, the Bush administration defended the unusual secrecy over an anti-counterfeiting treaty being negotiated by the U.S. government, which some liberal groups worry could criminalize some peer-to-peer file sharing that infringes copyrights. Now President Obama's White House has tightened the cloak of government secrecy still further, saying in a letter that a discussion draft of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement and related materials are "classified in the interest of national security pursuant to Executive Order 12958."
Freeh Says Cybersecurity Needs More Attention
Echoing recent comments from government and industry representatives, a former FBI chief said the intelligence community would be the wrong place to put complete responsibility for cybersecurity. Louis Freeh, who served as FBI director from 1993 to 2001, told audiences at the FOSE 2009 conference that when the director of the Homeland Security Department's National Cyber Security Center resigned, he tapped into a strong historical resistance in the United States to centralized power, particularly in intelligence and military units.
Reporters Group Cites Limits on Internet Freedom
"The Internet represents freedom, but not everywhere." So begins the annual "Internet Enemies" report by Reporters Without Borders -- and that's probably the cheeriest line in the entire 39-page document.
EU Gives Microsoft More Time to Prepare Defense
Microsoft confirmed that the European Commission's competition bureau has granted the company extra time to prepare its defense against allegations that it illegally tied Internet Explorer to Windows in the European Union. The case began in late 2007, when Norwegian browser maker Opera complained that Microsoft's default bundling of IE with Windows unfairly damaged its efforts to build a substantial user base in the European Union countries.
Lawyer Says Google Need Not Identify Blogger
A New York lawyer says a magazine model has no justification for trying to unmask the anonymous blogger who called her offensive names. The blogger's lawyer, Anne Salisbury, agreed that the comments about Liskula Cohen may be disgusting. But she said they're opinions protected as free speech.
Governments Overstate Net's Terrorism Role, Report Says
Western governments have overstated the role the Internet plays in the recruitment of militants, and measures to block extremist material are "crude, expensive and counterproductive," a report said. Any attempts to filter or restrict access to sites grooming potential suicide bombers would be impractical and ineffective, said the study by the International Center for the Study of Radicalization and Political Violence in London.
Craiglist Boasts of Drop in "Erotic Serices" Ads
Craigslist released numbers it touted as evidence of its success in reducing the volume of "erotic services" ads appearing on the Web classified site in an apparent response to a federal lawsuit that accuses the site of facilitating prostitution. The number of ads for such services is down 90 percent to 95 percent during the past 12 months on Craigslist sites that serve five major U.S. cities, according to information posted on a company blog.
Cybersecurity Resignation Highlights Power Struggle
The resignation of the federal government's cybersecurity coordinator highlights a power struggle underway over how best to defend the government's civilian computer networks against digital attacks. Rod A. Beckstrom resigned the post after less than a year on the job, citing a lack of funding and the National Security Agency's tightening grip on government cybersecurity matters.
Agencies Get 19 Months to Distribute Broadband Funds
Two government agencies have 19 months to distribute $7.2 billion in stimulus funds for broadband deployment projects in all 50 states -- and already thousands of potential grant recipients are knocking at their doors. President Obama's economic stimulus package dictated that all of the money set aside for broadband will have to be allocated to worthy projects by September 30, 2010.
Google Docs "Bug" Exposes Documents to Others
Google discovered a privacy glitch that inappropriately shared access to a small fraction of word-processing and presentation documents stored on the company's online Google Docs service. "We've identified and fixed a bug which may have caused you to share some of your documents without your knowledge," the company said in a note that the search giant sent to affected people.
Up to 10 Million PCs Infected by MalWare, Firm Reports
Perhaps as many as 10 million PCs are infected with sneaky programs designed to steal sensitive financial information, anti-virus vendor Panda Security reports. The company found that just over 1 percent of systems belonging to the 67 million people who tried out its free ActiveScan test site last year were infected with malicious software designed to help thieves steal sensitive information about victims.
YouTube to Block Music Videos for British Users
Google Inc.'s online video site, YouTube, said it will block all music videos to British users after it was unable to reach a rights deal with the main songwriters' collection society. The world's largest video sharing site said PRS for Music, a British collection society that collects royalties on behalf of nearly 50,000 composers, was asking it to pay "many, many times" more than the previous licensing agreement that has expired.
Student Faces New Charges in Hacking Palin's E-mail
A University of Tennessee student accused of illegally breaking into the e-mail account of Alaska governor Sarah Palin has been hit with three new felony charges in connection with the case. David Kernell pleaded not guilty to the new charges, which include fraud, unlawful electronic transmission of material outside Tennessee and attempts to conceal records to impede an FBI investigation.
New South Wales Police May Get Hacking Powers
The government of the Australian state of New South Wales has unveiled plans to give state police the power to hack into computers remotely, with owners potentially remaining in the dark about the searches for up to three years. Broadly, the new powers aim to give police the right to apply for covert search warrants from the Supreme Court to gather evidence in cases that could involve serious indictable offenses punishable by at least seven years' imprisonment.
Director of DHS Cybersecurity Center Resigns
The U.S. government's director for cybersecurity resigned, criticizing the excessive role of the National Security Agency in countering threats to the country's computer systems. Former Silicon Valley entrepreneur Rod Beckstrom said in a resignation letter published by the Wall Street Journal it was a "bad strategy" to have the National Security Agency, which is part of the Department of Defense, play a major role in cybersecurity.
Swedish Police Bust Internet Piracy Service
Swedish police reported making a major Internet piracy bust. Authorities said they seized computer equipment belonging to a Stockholm-area man whom they suspected of violating local copyright law.
Craigslist CEO Defends Site Against Prostitution Suit
Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster has responded to the lawsuit filed by the sheriff of Chicago's Cook County against the Web classified publication. Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart called Craigslist one of the country's largest sources of prostitution in the complaint he filed in federal court and asked the court to force Craigslist managers to remove their erotic services section.
Facebook Rival Sues Google, Wins $761 in Ad Spat
After claiming he invented Facebook, Aaron Greenspan now says he has successfully sued Google. At a Northern California court, Mark Zuckerberg's ex-Harvard classmate won $761 from the world's largest ad broker.
Obama Picks White House's First Chief Info Officer
Vivek Kundra, the 34-year-old former chief technology officer of the District of Columbia, was named by President Obama to the new position of chief information officer of the United States. That's a different job than the chief technology officer, a White House position that Mr. Obama said he would create but has yet to define.
Music Streaming Service Spotify Targeted by Hackers
The music streaming service Spotify has been targeted by hackers. The Swedish company says people's personal details, including e-mail addresses, dates of birth and addresses, were all stolen.
