The Motion Picture Association of America asked a federal court to rule that Isohunt was liable for copyright violations committed by its users, but the judge in the case was unconvinced. In his order, U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Wilson said the studios had yet to prove that the Isohunt's users had broken U.S. law.
Jessica Biel Called "Most Dangerous Celebrity in Cyberspace"
Actress Jessica Biel has overtaken Brad Pitt as the most dangerous celebrity to search in cyberspace, according to Internet security company McAfee Inc. For the third consecutive year, McAfee surveyed which A-list celebrity was the riskiest to track on the Internet after Pitt topped the list last year and Paris Hilton came in first in 2007.
British Proposal Would Ban Repeat File-Sharers Online
Repeat offenders who persist in illegally downloading music from file-sharing sites such as Limewire could be blocked from accessing the Web under British government proposals. The government said it was publishing new ideas to speed up the process of tackling unlawful peer-to-peer file sharing to prevent damage to the content industries.
Financial Industry Warns of Eastern European Cyber-Gangs
Organized cyber-gangs in Eastern Europe are increasingly preying on small and mid-size companies in the United States, setting off a multimillion-dollar online crime wave that has begun to worry the nation's largest financial institutions. A task force representing the financial industry sent out an alert outlining the problem and urging its members to implement many of the precautions now used to detect consumer bank and credit card fraud.
Appeals Court Rules for SCO in Linux Copyright Case
SCO Group, whose 6-year-old legal case arguing Linux infringes its Unix copyright hasn't been enough to keep it from bankruptcy court, nevertheless won an important victory in its case.
Unmasked Blogger Says She Plans to Sue Google
A judge ordered Google to reveal the name of a blogger who may have defamed Vogue model Liskula Cohen. Now Rosemary Port, whose "Skanks in NYC" blog suggested Cohen was a "skank" and a "ho" among other potentially negative descriptions, is now turning a little of her "frank in NYC" wrath on Google.
Swiss Official Wants Google Street View Closed
A Swiss government official is demanding that Google immediately shut down its Street View Maps service in the country, but the company said that it would discuss the matter with the privacy rights regulator. Hanspeter Thür, the federal data protection commissioner, said Google’s pictures violated the country's privacy laws because they failed to obscure peoples identities.
Microsoft, Yahoo Join Opposition Google Books Deal
Microsoft and Yahoo! are joining a group of opponents to a class action settlement that gives Google the right to digitize millions of books, the companies said. The companies are becoming part of the Open Book Alliance, made up of nonprofits and libraries that have raised a red flag against Google's plan to digitize books and put them on the Internet.
Justice Department Studying Microsoft-Yahoo Venture
As the U.S. Justice Department reviews the proposed partnership, approval figures to hinge on this question: Will the online ad market be healthier if Google's dominance is challenged by a single, more muscular rival instead of two scrawnier foes? The first step toward getting an answer came this month when Microsoft and Yahoo filed paperwork with federal regulators to comply with the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, an antitrust law governing mergers and alliances between competitors.
Former Hacker Helps Companies Increase Security
Marc Maiffret used to be a computer hacker. Now he gets paid to break into the systems of Southern California businesses, testing for security weaknesses.
Swedish Court Orders ISP to Block Access to Pirate Bay
A Swedish district court has ordered an Internet service provider there to stop servicing The Pirate Bay. The most popular BitTorrent tracker in the world appeared to be inaccessible to many in the U.S. but the blog TorrentFreak reported that the site had found a new connection to the Web and there were reports from readers that they were able to log on to the site.
AT&T Tells FCC It Didn't Object to Google Voice App
AT&T told federal regulators that it played no part in Apple's decision to keep the Google Voice application from the App Store, while Apple said it never actually rejected the application. In response to inquiries from the Federal Communications Commission, AT&T's Jim Cicconi, senior executive vice president for external and legislative affairs, told the agency, "Let me state unequivocally: AT&T had no role in any decision by Apple to not accept the Google Voice application for inclusion in the Apple App Store."
China Jails Four for Illegal Copies of Windows XP
A Chinese court has jailed four people for spreading their bootleg "Tomato Garden" version of Microsoft's Windows XP program, in what the Xinhua news agency called the nation's biggest software piracy case. Hong Lei, the creator of the downloadable "Tomato Garden Windows XP" software, was jailed for three and a half years on Thursday by a court in Suzhou in eastern China, Xinhua reported, citing local media.
Appeals Court Rules for Yahoo's Radio Service
A federal appeals court in New York ruled that a Yahoo Internet radio service is not required to pay fees to copyright holders of songs it plays, a defeat for Sony's BMG Music. In a case closely watched by the recording industry, the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a 2007 jury verdict that Launchcast, a webcasting service run by Yahoo's Launch Media Inc unit, did not give listeners enough control to be an "interactive service" that would require the fees.
Flickr Deletes Student's Image of Obama as the Joker
After a Chicago student gained national fame for editing a picture of President Obama in the image of the Joker villain from "The Dark Knight" and posting it to Flickr, some of the focus, especially among the tech community, quickly shifted to Flickr for removing the image. On a site forum, Flickr, a Yahoo property, says it isn't banning accounts for posting the altered version of a Time magazine cover.
Apple, Palm Discussed Not Poaching Employees
Former Palm Inc. Chief Executive Officer Ed Colligan rejected a proposal from Apple Inc.'s Steve Jobs to refrain from hiring each other's employees two years ago, calling it wrong and "likely illegal," according to their communications. Colligan, who stepped down as CEO in June, discussed the matter with Jobs in August 2007, as the mobile-phone war heated up, according to the communications.
Lawsuit Seeks Information from Banks on Hackers
A lawsuit filed against some of the most shadowy Internet criminals -- gangs based in Eastern Europe that electronically break into business computers, steal banking passwords and transfer themselves money -- is being used to pry information from a group that is nearly as reclusive as the hackers: banks whose computers have been compromised.
Broadband Stimulus Deadline Renews Net Neutrality Talk
The debate over Net neutrality has reignited as broadband service providers hit the first deadline for applying for funds as part of President Obama's economic stimulus plan.
Hacker May Sue AT&T After Account Breached
After having his AT&T wireless account breached and his personal information posted on the Web, famed hacker Kevin Mitnick thought the least the cellular service provider could do was compensate him for his troubles. Instead, the company informed Mitnick it plans to cancel his contract and not pay damages for the breach, he said, so now he may sue.
Trademark Office Rejects Application for "Tweet"
"Tweet" might be a word that has been popularized by Twitter, but that doesn't mean that the social network will be able trademark it. According to U.S. Patent and Trademark Office documents, Twitter's application for a trademark on "tweet" has been preliminarily denied.
