The Pentagon spent more than $100 million in the last six months responding to and repairing damage from cyber attacks and other computer network problems, military leaders said. Air Force Gen. Kevin Chilton, who heads U.S. Strategic Command, said the military is only beginning to track the costs, which are triggered by constant daily attacks against military networks ranging from the Pentagon to bases around the country.
Google Defends Allegations by Associated Press
Google helps newspaper websites make money through online advertising and does not misappropriate their content, a lawyer for the search engine said on the company's blog. "We drive traffic and provide advertising in support of all business models, whether news sources choose to host the articles with us or on their own websites," wrote Alexander Macgillivray, Google's associate general counsel for products and intellectual property.
Blind Groups Protest Changes to Kindle's Voice Feature
The controversy regarding the text-to-speech function offered by the Kindle 2 digital book reader from Amazon.com appears to be heating up again. Groups advocating for the blind and reading disabled held a protest at the Manhattan offices of the Authors Guild.
Attack Disrupts Customers at Domain Name Registrar
Web site host and domain name registrar Register.com has been the target of a sustained attack, disrupting service for thousands of customers. The attacks bcaused a three-hour outage for many Web sites that rely on the company for hosting and/or use the company's domain name system servers, said Roni Jacobson, executive vice president at Register.com.
AP, Wall Street Journal Targeting News Sites
Traditional media is once again rattling sabers in the direction of Google and other sites that aggregate the news. There's tough talk coming from managers at The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press that include threats of legal challenges and even name calling.
FoxNews Columnist Fired After Reviewing Pirated Movie
Roger Friedman, an entertainment columnist for FoxNews.com, discovered just what Rupert Murdoch means by "zero tolerance" when it comes to movie piracy. The film studio 20th Century Fox -- owned by the News Corporation, the media conglomerate ruled by Mr. Murdoch -- became angry after reading Mr. Friedman's latest column.
Group Wants FCC to Probe AT&T's Limits on Skype on iPhone
A consumer group urged the Federal Communications Commission to investigate whether AT&T is violating the agency's Internet guidelines by limiting customer access to Skype's free phone service on Apple's iPhone. AT&T's deal with Apple regarding the iPhone appears to be "designed to cripple applications or hinder consumer choice for anticompetitive purposes," Washington-based Free Press said in a letter to Acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps.
Lawmaker Plans Legislation to Target Piracy Abroad
House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs Chair Howard Berman (D-Calif.) said he plans to introduce legislation shortly to bring more attention to intellectual property rights abroad. The committee plans "to work more closely with other governments to provide the resources, training, legal guidance and tools which they need to alleviate the international piracy that is so devastating to American ingenuity and American jobs," Berman said.
Google Must Defend Rescuecom Keyword Suit, Court Rules
Google should defend a trademark lawsuit by Rescuecom over advertisements linked to keyword searches, a U.S. appeals court ruled. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York rejected a ruling by a U.S. District Court dismissing Rescuecom's litigation against Google.
Critics Question Settlement for Google's Book Project
Google has been scanning the pages of out-of-print books and others as part of its plan to bring a digital library and bookstore, unprecedented in scope, to computer screens across the United States. But a growing chorus is complaining that a far-reaching settlement of a suit brought against Google by publishers and authors is about to grant the company too much power over orphan works.
"m-Spam Act" Would Create Do-Not-Text List
Two Senators are attempting to curb unsolicited text messages with a bill to strengthen government oversight of commercial texts. Senators Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) introduced the m-SPAM Act, which would strictly prohibit commercial text messages to wireless numbers listed on the Do Not Call registry.
Digital Rights Advocates Express Concerns to White House
A coalition including prominent digital rights advocates wrote to President Barack Obama to express concern about the appointment of former entertainment industry lawyers to key Department of Justice positions. The groups asked that future appointments to positions related to intellectual property policy "reflect the diversity of stakeholders" affected by such policy.
VoIP Companies in Europe Seek Help from Policymakers
Internet calling companies such as eBay unit Skype have called on European policymakers to adopt policies that let consumers access their services through smart phones on any public network. The Voice on the Net coalition Europe, which also includes Google, Microsoft and Intel, argues carriers are blocking their applications on their cellular or 3G networks, which limits consumer choice.
Senate Committee Approves Patent Reform Legislation
A Senate panel approved a patent reform bill that brings opposing parties from the technology, pharmaceutical, and other industries closer to a compromise on the contentious issue. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 15 to 4 to bring the Patent Reform Act before the full Senate, despite changes to the legislation opposed by one of its sponsors, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah).
Cuban Officials Accuse Blogger of "Provocation"
Cuban authorities accused blogger Yoani Sanchez of staging a "provocation against the Cuban Revolution" after she and others spoke publicly about censorship during an arts performance in Havana. Sanchez, whose "Generacion Y" blog is critical of Cuba's government and widely read abroad, took the microphone during an event in the Havana Biennial arts festival and read a manifesto saying the Internet was opening a "crack" in government control.
One Month Before Release, "X-Men" Movie Appears Online
In a case of piracy that some analysts called unprecedented, untold thousands of people watched a version of "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" online, a full month before its scheduled theater release. The film's distributor, 20th Century Fox, said it did not know how the unfinished copy of the comic book adaptation was leaked onto the Internet.
Conficker Worm Fails at Large-Scale Attack
Malicious software that has infected millions of computers across the globe failed to wreak havoc as some feared, but researchers warned the powerful Conficker worm could still strike. The fears of an attack, however, may have been a windfall for anti-virus software makers, who warned consumers about the worm, industry analysts say.
Chinese Officials Calls Online Spy Ring a Lie
China denied a research report's contention that a China-based computer spy ring stole sensitive information from thousands of hard drives worldwide, calling the accusation a lie meant to feed anxiety over Beijing's growing influence. In the government's first reaction to the report, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said the conclusions were symptoms of a "Cold War virus" that causes people overseas to "occasionally be overcome by China-threat seizures."
Legislation Calls for New Cybersecurity Adviser
Two U.S. senators introduced legislation that calls for naming a national cybersecurity adviser who reports directly to the president and who would have the authority to disconnect federal or critical infrastructure networks from the Internet if they were deemed to be at risk of attack. This proposed legislation comes amid a review ordered by the Obama administration into the government's policies for defending itself against cyberattacks and follows the resignation of Rod Beckström as director of Homeland Security's National Cybersecurity Center in response to what he said was a power grab by the NSA for cybersecurity leadership.
Google Agrees to Pay Up to $20 Million in Ad Spat
Google has agreed to a settlement of up to $20 million in a class-action lawsuit on behalf of search marketers who alleged that the company served more ads than they had agreed to pay for. The lawsuit stemmed from a dispute about the meaning of "daily budget" in Google's AdWords contract with search marketers.
