Until recently, personal information has been scattered across cyberspace, to be found or not depending on the luck and sophistication of the searcher. But a new crop of "snooper" sites is making it easier than ever for anyone with Internet access to assemble the information into a digital portrait.
Iraqis Demonstrate Against Ban on Websites
Iraqis including journalists, writers and booksellers demonstrated in central Baghdad against what they say is state censorship. The protest came as the Iraqi government considers banning some websites and after the imposition of book censorship rules.
Founder of Online Gambling Firm Pleads Guilty
The founder of the defunct British online gambling firm BetOnSports pleaded guilty in U.S. court and agreed to forfeit more than $43 million in criminal proceeds, the Justice Department said. It said Gary Kaplan, 50, who founded the high-profile early player in offshore Internet sports gambling, pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to violate the federal racketeering and other U.S. laws.
Hate Speech Online Tests Limits of Free Speech
Incendiary talk is proliferating on broadcast outlets and the Internet, from the microphones of well-known commentators to the keyboards of anonymous netizens, testing the limits of political speech. Mark Potok, an editor at the Southern Poverty Law Center who tracks extremists and hate speech, says he thinks "political speech has gotten rougher in the last six months."
China Retreats from Mandatory Internet Filter Plan
Chinese officials retreated from a plan to install so-called anti-pornography software on every computer sold here, saying instead that Internet cafes, schools and other public places must use the program, but that individual consumers will be spared. The industry and information technology minister, Li Yizhong, said the notion that the program, called Green Dam/Youth Escort, would be required on every new computer was "a misunderstanding" spawned by poorly written regulations.
Facebook User Arrested for Impersonating White Supremacist
An African-American man has pleaded guilty after being accused of impersonating a white supremacist in a fictitious Facebook account to make death threats against an African-American university student. Dyron L. Hart, 20, of Poplarville, Mississippi, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Kurt D. Engelhardt to one count of communicating threats in interstate commerce, according to a Department of Justice statement.
FCC Seeking Comments on Limits on iPhone Apps
Who should control wireless applications -- customers, carriers or handset makers? That is the core question being considered by the Federal Communications Commission, which has asked Apple and AT&T, the iPhone's exclusive U.S. distributor, to explain why Google's free voice application, called "Google Voice," is banned from the device.
Immigration Agency Helping to Limit Child Porn Online
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency is best known for its role securing the United States' physical borders against drug and human smugglers and traffickers. But it is now playing a role policing the nation's "virtual frontier" against a surge in child pornography, sex tourism and trafficking in minors carried out over the Internet.
Domain Tasting Drops 97% After Penalties Enacted
ICANN released a report that shows a 99.7% drop in domain tasting since adding new penalties to the practice. “Domain tasting” refers to registering a domain name and then returning it for a full refund during the first five days of registration.
Cell Phones Remain Mostly Unharmed by Viruses
The worry-free ride over cell-phone viruses will continue, at least in the near future, and not just because Apple quickly circulated a software patch to plug a vulnerability in its iPhone. Rather, for their extended peace of mind, users can credit the more tightly controlled -- some would say strangulated -- structure of the mobile phone industry in the United States.
Another Court Rules Against a DVD-Copying Company
Kaleidescape, which had won a rare court victory over the film industry two years ago, saw a California appeals court overturn the ruling. In 2004, Kaleidescape was accused in a lawsuit by the DVD Copy Control Association (DVD CCA), of agreeing to abide by the terms of the Content Scramble System (CSS) license, which it said forbade the copying of DVDs.
Facebook Suggests Privacy Changes for Sharing Feature
Facebook proposed a new version of its Statement of Rights and Responsibilities document, which acts as a terms of service for its users. One of the larger changes is clearer language of Facebook's share to everyone feature, which is now an integral part of the social network's updated search engine.
Judge Bans Microsoft from Selling Word in Patent Case
A judge ordered Microsoft to stop selling Word, one of its premier products, in its current form due to patent infringement. Judge Leonard Davis of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas issued a permanent injunction that "prohibits Microsoft from selling or importing to the United States any Microsoft Word products that have the capability of opening .XML, .DOCX or DOCM files (XML files) containing custom XML," according to a statement released by attorneys for the plantiff, i4i.
Court Says RealDVD Software Violates DMCA
U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Hall Patel ruled in favor of Hollywood movie studios, granting them a preliminary injunction that prevents RealNetworks from selling its RealDVD software or licensing it to set-top box makers. The court, in San Francisco, found that Real, in developing software to copy DVDs, violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and its contract with the DVD CCA, which controls the encryption on DVDs.
Advertising Council Says Bloggers Violate FTC Guidelines
The Federal Trade Commission is currently investigating fair blogging practices, but an advertising group is one step ahead, and has forced two companies to clearly disclose their relationship with the health-related products they promote via blogs and Web sites. The National Advertising Review Council, a coalition of advertising organizations that seeks out bad actors in the industry, has been in business since 1971, but for the first time has now addressed blogs.
Another Attack Takes Down Twitter, Briefly
Twitter suffered from another attack following one that left the site down for several hours. The latest outage was brief, and the online messaging site said in its status blog afternoon that it was analyzing its traffic data to determine the nature of the latest attack.
Anti-Russian Blogger Gains Fame After Attacks
The massive cyber attack that security experts said was aimed at silencing a single blogger in the country of Georgia instead made him a global celebrity. Cyxymu, as he is known on his mostly anti-Russia blog, has been the subject of news reports worldwide ever since he was identified as the target of the attack that took down Twitter for hours and crippled other popular online services.
Harvard Professor Criticized for Tactics in RIAA Case
As co-founder of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at the Harvard Law School, Professor Nesson is renowned for his early interest in bridging technology, law and culture, and his ability to inspire generations of students to see the Internet as a force for positive change, not just cables and computers. But when Professor Nesson, 70, took on the recording industry in an eagerly anticipated civil case here over sharing music online, the champion stumbled.
Senate Confirms IBM Lawyer to Lead Patent Office
The Senate has confirmed David Kappos as director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, filling the top position in an agency that's been under pressure to reform. Kappos, IBM's assistant general counsel, has been an advocate of intellectual property reform efforts such as the Peer-to-Patent collaborative patent review program.
Blogger in Twitter Attack Wants Russian Probe
A pro-Georgian blogger at the centre of a co-ordinated attack that hit Facebook and Twitter has asked Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to hold an inquiry. The blogger, known online as Cyxymu, said he was targeted for "telling the truth about the Russian-Georgian war."
