The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission outlined rules that would prohibit Internet providers from selectively blocking Web content and applications. FCC chairman Julius Genachowski said his proposal would formalize the concept of "Net neutrality."
French Court Finds eBay Liable for Counterfeits
A French court has found eBay responsible for brand counterfeiting and ordered the online marketplace operator to pay the luxury group LVMH 80,000 euros ($118,000) compensation for damages caused to famous perfume brands like Christian Dior and Kenzo. The Paris-based LVMH conglomerate had sued eBay, accusing the San Jose company of using its brands as keywords in Internet searches.
Google Says Keywords Meta Tag Irrelevant in Rankings
Google is telling the world what every seasoned webmaster and search marketer should already know: The keywords meta tag has no impact whatsoever on how Google’s search engine ranks pages.
FCC Plans to Adopt Net Neutrality Rule
The top U.S. communications regulator plans to unveil proposals for ensuring Web traffic is not slowed or blocked based on its content, sources familiar with the contents of the speech said. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski will announce plans to ask his fellow commissioners to adopt as a rule net neutrality and four existing principles on Internet access issued by the agency in 2005, one of the sources said.
Facebook Settles Class-Action Suit Over Beacon
It's finally over for Beacon, the ill-fated advertising program that the social network initially launched with splashy Madison Avenue fanfare nearly two years ago. The social network has settled a year-old class action lawsuit that targeted the social network's alleged failure to provide adequate information and privacy controls to users with regard to Beacon, which shared information about users' information on third-party partner sites in Facebook news feeds.
Justice Dep't Asks Judge to Reject Google Books Deal
The Justice Department urged a federal judge to reject a controversial settlement between Google Inc., the Authors Guild and the American Assn. of Publishers, citing concerns that the agreement could run afoul of antitrust, class action and copyright laws. At the same time, Justice officials proposed modifications that would make the settlement pass muster, saying the proposal should not be entirely derailed because it has "potential for important societal benefits."
Lawsuit Accuses Scribd of Copyright Infringement
A legal complaint seeking class-action status accuses social-publishing site Scribd of egregious copyright infringement. Scribd managers have "built a technology that's broken barriers to copyright infringement on a global scale and in the process have also built one of the largest readerships in the world," the attorneys representing the class wrote in the complaint.
British Psychiatrists Oppose Pro-Anorexia Websites
As the start of London Fashion Week reignites the debate over ultra-thin models, psychiatrists have called on the British government to act over the soaring numbers of pro-anorexia websites. Encouraged by social networking sites like Facebook and "thinspiration" websites, growing numbers of Britons are looking online to get tips on how to starve themselves or hide extreme weight loss, says the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
Microsoft Files Five Suits to Stop "Malvertising"
Microsoft filed five lawsuits against anonymous creators of what has become known as "malvertising" -- the same phenomenon that hit NYTimes.com. Malvertisements are online ads that appear to be legitimate, until they at some point attack a user's computer with malicious software or a deceptive Web page.
Spammers Target Victims Directly to Gain Edge
Spammers who flood the Internet with generically addressed spam to infect your PC also mix in viral versions targeted at specific individuals.
State Attorney Generals Oppose Google Books Settlement
Five state attorneys general have joined the opposition to Google's settlement with book authors and publishers, objecting to the way the settlement distributes unclaimed funds. The attorneys general for Connecticut, Missouri, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Washington joined the chorus of opposition to the settlement this week, filing briefs with Judge Denny Chin of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York before the October 7 hearing to determine whether the settlement should be approved.
Lawmaker Agrees to Co-Sponsor Net Neutrality Bill
Net neutrality supporters got a boost when Chairman of the House Energy & Commerce Committee Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) said he had added himself as a co-sponsor to the Net neutrality bill introduced by Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.). Waxman said during a hearing for the subcommittee Thursday that it was time to make sure rules were imposed to keep the Internet open.
EBay Users Oppose Limits on Luxury Goods Sales
EBay has told European lawmakers that more than three quarters of a million people have signed an online petition demanding changes to regulations that let luxury brand makers limit who can sell their products online. The Internet company is embroiled in a longstanding feud with luxury good firms like Tiffany & Co., Louis Vuitton, and Rolex, who say their brands are devalued by sales on ignoble auction websites like eBay.
Music Groups Seek Expanded Compensation from iTunes
Songwriters, composers, and music publishers are making preparations to one day collect performance fees from Apple and other e-tailers for not just traditional music downloads but for downloads of films and TV shows as well. The demands by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI), and other performing-rights groups, would likely lead to more price hikes at iTunes.
Lawmakers Want Answers from ICANN on New Domain Names
Two of the House Judiciary Committee's top Republicans wrote to the new head of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers on to express concerns about the proposed introduction of many new top-level domains -- such as .biz, .info, and .us -- and the expiration later this month of a memo formally joining the Commerce Department and the California-based entity that administers the world's Web addresses.
Phishing Site Lures Account Info from Bank Customers
Online scammers have created a phishing site masquerading as a U.S.-based bank that launches a live chat window where victims are tricked into revealing more information, researchers at the RSA FraudAction Research Team said. After a user accesses the phishing site, the chat window messages come through the browser and not via a typical instant messenger application, RSA said in a blog post.
Social Networking Sites Called Security Targets
Social networking and user-generated content sites have become a haven for spam, spyware and phishers, according to the latest Internet security report from San Diego, Calif.-based security software maker Websense. The report found that 95 percent of user-generated comments on blogs, message boards and chatrooms are either spam or malicious.
EU Discussing Deal with Microsoft, Yahoo
EU antitrust regulators are in touch with Microsoft and Yahoo about their search engine deal, a source familiar with the situation said, with the talks seen more as exploratory than indicating any competition concerns. "There are ongoing informal discussions between the European Commission and Microsoft and Yahoo on their search engine partnership," the source said, without giving further details.
Founders of Skype File Copyright Suit Against Company
Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, who became billionaires after selling Skype to eBay in 2005, filed a copyright lawsuit against Skype in the United States District Court of Northern California. The suit comes a little more than two weeks after eBay announced it would sell most of Skype for $1.9 billion to a consortium of investors led by the private equity firm Silver Lake Partners.
Former Inmate Pleads Guilty to Hacking Prison System
A former U.S. inmate has pleaded guilty to hacking into the prison's computer system to obtain the personal data on more than 1,100 prison service workers. Francis G. Janosko, 43, of Halifax and Plymouth, Massachusetts, confessed to computer hacking offenses.
