French lawmakers in the lower house passed a bill that would cut the Internet connections of those who repeatedly download music and films illegally, creating what may be the first government agency to track and punish online pirates. The bill passed 296 to 233 in a show of force by President Nicolas Sarkozy's governing conservatives after an initial failure last month.
Greece Bans Google's Street View Service
Greece's data protection agency has banned Google from expanding its Street View service in the country, pending "additional information" from the firm. Authorities want to know how long the images would be kept on Google's database and what measures it will take to make people aware of privacy rights.
More Illegal Copies of Books Appearing Online
For a while now, determined readers have been able to sniff out errant digital copies of book titles as varied as the "Harry Potter" series and best sellers by Stephen King and John Grisham. But some publishers say the problem has ballooned in recent months as an expanding appetite for e-books has spawned a bumper crop of pirated editions on Web sites like Scribd and Wattpad, and on file-sharing services like RapidShare and MediaFire.
Facebook Disables Two Holocaust-Denial Groups
Facebook has confirmed that it has disabled two of the five Holocaust denial groups whose presence has caused much controversy over the past week, following attorney Brian Cuban's consistent pressure for the groups' removal. Facebook spokesman Barry Schnitt said in an e-mail: "Two of the groups have been disabled, but the other three remain."
Craiglist Facing More Pressure Over Erotic Ads
State attorneys general from across the country are stepping up pressure on Craigslist to shutter what they call the nation's busiest virtual street corner, where prostitution runs rampant. Craigslist says it has reduced by 95% the number of inappropriate listings on the erotic services section of its classified-ads website since November, when the San Francisco company reached an accord with more than 40 of the states' top prosecutors.
More States Tackle Cyberbullying as Problem Grows
Whether it is through e-mails, instant messaging, cell phones, texting or websites, cyberbullying is a growing problem. In the past 10 years 37 U.S. states have adopted legislation mandating that schools implement anti-bullying statutes.
Deceptive Marketing Online Up 17%, Report Says
As advertisers spend more online, brand name firms increasingly are seeing their names, customers and millions of dollars in sales hijacked by shady marketers. Instances of deceptive marketing to build traffic for rogue sites or to sell faux-branded products rose 17% last year, according to MarkMonitor, whose software tracks digital marketing infringement.
Attorneys General Probe Google Books Settlement
State attorneys general are looking into a proposed settlement that Google has made with author and publisher groups that would allow the Internet giant to digitize millions of books, a participant in a recent discussion on the matter said. A group of attorneys general discussed the deal in a one-hour conference call, said the director of the Internet Archive, Peter Brantley.
Hackers Break Into Computer at UC-Berkeley
Hackers broke into the University of California at Berkeley's health services center computer and potentially stole the personal information of more than 160,000 students, alumni, and others, the university announced. At particular risk of identity theft are some 97,000 individuals whose Social Security numbers were accessed in the breach, but it's still unclear whether hackers were able to match up those SSNs with individual names, said Shelton Waggener, UCB's chief technology officer.
Attorney Wants Facebook to Remove Holocaust Deniers
Attorney Brian Cuban, brother of Dallas Mavericks team owner Mark Cuban, has been trying since last year to have the pages of groups with such names as "Holocaust: A Series of Lies," and "Holocaust is a Holohoax" removed from Facebook. He pointed out that Facebook has removed groups based on complaints before and said the site is "setting the subjective standard on what they remove and what they don't."
EU Proposal Would Hold Software Companies Liable
Software companies could be held responsible for the security and efficacy of their products, if a new European Commission consumer protection proposal becomes law. Commissioners Viviane Reding and Meglena Kuneva have proposed that EU consumer protections for physical products be extended to software.
Court Reinstates Suit Against Yahoo Over Nude Photos
A U.S. appeals court reinstated a breach of contract claim against Yahoo by an Oregon woman who said the company failed to remove nude photos and fake profiles posted by her estranged boyfriend after promising to do so. The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Cynthia Barnes could sue Yahoo for agreeing, then failing to stop the "dangerous, cruel, and highly indecent" use of its site by the ex-boyfriend.
FBI Seeking Hackers of Pharmaceutical Records
The FBI and Virginia State Police are searching for hackers who demanded that the state pay them a $10 million ransom by for the return of millions of personal pharmaceutical records they say they stole from the state's prescription drug database. The hackers claim to have accessed 8 million patient records and 35 million prescriptions collected by the Prescription Monitoring Program.
FAA Systems Breached by Hackes, Report Says
Hackers have broken into the air traffic control mission-support systems of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration several times in recent years, according to an Inspector General report sent to the FAA. In February, hackers compromised an FAA public-facing computer and used it to gain access to personally identifiable information, such as Social Security numbers, on 48,000 current and former FAA employees, the report said.
Google Dismisses Conflict with Apple's Board
Google executives acknowledged that the Federal Trade Commission is inquiring about the antitrust implications of the ties between the Google and Apple boards. But they said they do not believe that the fact that Apple and Google share two directors -- Eric Schmidt, the chief executive of Google, and Arthur Levinson, the former chief executive of Genentech -- is a problem.
Lawmaker Introduces Bill to Reverse Gambling Ban
Legislation aimed at reversing a 3-year-old ban on Americans placing online bets was introduced by U.S. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank. The Internet Gambling Regulation Consumer Protection & Enforcement Act would establish a federal regulatory and enforcement framework for online gaming.
Pentagon Considers Cyber-Command to Protect Computers
The Pentagon is considering whether to create a new cyber-command that would oversee government efforts to protect the military's computer networks and would also assist in protecting the civilian government networks, the head of the National Security Agency said. The new command would be headquartered at Fort Meade, the NSA's director, Lt. Gen. Keith B. Alexander, told the House Armed Services terrorism subcommittee.
European Commission Wants Better Reporting of Breaches
The European Commission said that it would pursue a new law that would require most businesses, agencies and organizations in Europe to notify consumers when they lose sensitive customer data. Viviane Reding, the European telecommunications commissioner, said the commission, the executive arm of the European Union, would seek approval by the end of 2012 for a broad mandate requiring notification when data are lost or stolen.
European Parliament Rejects Illegal Downloading Measures
The European Parliament rejected attempts by EU governments to crackdown on illegal downloaders of music and film. The measures were part of proposals to update Europe-wide telecommunications rules.
Cybercriminals Using Fake Search Site, Firm Warns
Cybercriminals have moved on from search engine optimization techniques and are now creating fake search sites designed solely to direct Web surfers to pages hosting malware, Panda Security warned.
