When a Senate committee was exploring ways to secure computer networks, a provision to give the president the power to shut down Internet traffic to compromised websites in an emergency set off alarms. Lawmakers dropped it, but the debate rages on.
AT&T Tells FCC Google Voice Violates Net Neutrality
AT&T is accusing Google of being a hypocrite when it comes to Net neutrality because it blocks certain phone calls on its Google Voice service. The carrier has written a letter to the Federal Communications Commission claiming that Google has violated the agency's Net neutrality principles, which Google has long supported.
Mother Sues Youths Over Son's Fake Facebook Profile
A mother is fighting back against four youngsters she said created a fake Facebook account of her son, posting racist and sexual information purportedly by him. The mother, Laura Cook, filed a lawsuit against the youths identified only by their initials, claiming they purposely defamed her teenage son and damaged his reputation.
Judge Orders Google to Disclose Gmail User in Bank Case
In a highly unusual move, a federal judge has ordered Google to deactivate the e-mail account of a user who was mistakenly sent confidential financial information by a bank. The order, issued by U.S. District Court Judge James Ware in the northern district of California, also requires Google to disclose the Gmail account holder's identity and contact information.
Bank Sued for Not Doing More to Stop Cyber Crooks
A construction firm in Maine is suing a local bank after cyber thieves stole more than a half million dollars from the company in a sophisticated online bank heist. The lawsuit alleges that Ocean Bank did not do enough to prevent cyber crooks from transferring approximately $588,000 to dozens of co-conspirators throughout the United States over an eight-day period in May.
Phishing Scam Tries to Lure Victims on Twitter
There are reports of a new phishing scam making the rounds on Twitter. The attack seeks to steal user credentials by sending tweets out with links to a phishing site.
Google on Trial in France Over Book Excerpts Online
Google has gone on trial in Paris over the insistence by French writers and publishers that the company request permission before putting book excerpts online. Google France lawyer Benjamin du Chaffaut is defending Google's publication of excerpts of copyright-protected material.
Apple Facing Trial from Eminem's Music Publisher
The contract dispute trial involving Eminem's music publisher and Apple Inc. is under way in federal court in Detroit. Eight Mile Style contends that Apple earned $2.58 million from iTunes downloads of various Eminem songs.
France Telecom Chief Blames E-mail for Staff's Stress
A top executive at France's biggest telecommunications company, which is dealing with a spate of suicides, warned that the barrage of e-mails from smartphones and personal computers was stressing out employees. While France Telecom Chief Financial Officer Gervais Pellissier did not directly blame suicides on around-the-clock email, he said workers in all big companies are under more pressure in the age of the BlackBerry.
Judge Delays Hearing on Google Books Settlement
The judge overseeing Google Books settlement has agreed to the plaintiffs' request for a delay of the final hearing scheduled to approve the controversial settlement, which is being reworked by the parties. Judge Denny Chin of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York had been scheduled to oversee a October 7 hearing about whether to approve a 2008 settlement between Google and several groups representing authors and publishers.
Iranian Protesters Share Net-Savvy Techniques
Ali Jahanshahi, a young, tech-savvy British-Iranian, quit his job selling computers to come to New York with the ambitious goal of ousting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. More than just protesting Ahmadinejad's presence at the U.N. General Assembly, Jahanshahi said he came to trade know-how with other young Iranians who are using Internet "hacktivism" to send messages, videos and information to opposition sympathizers in Iran.
Google Outages Raise Cloud-Computing Concerns
Gmail's outage affected only a small percentage of users, but in the wake of the Google News outage the lack of reliability from Google isn't helping justify the business case for embracing the cloud.
Lawmakers Question ICANN on Plan for New Domains
Several U.S. lawmakers urged the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers to back off on a plan to offer an unlimited number of new generic top-level domains until concerns about trademark protections and other issues can be addressed. Members of a subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee questioned ICANN Chief Operating Officer Doug Brent about why the organization continues to move forward with its plan to sell new generic top-level domains, or gTLDs.
Twitter Users Report Phishing Scam in Direct Messages
A wave of Twitterers are reporting that they have been hit by a phishing scam. The scheme is going after Twitter users via direct message, a feature of the service that allows users to send private messages to one another.
Appeals Court Hears Arguments in Word Patent Case
A federal appeals court heard arguments over whether to uphold an injunction that would ban sales of Microsoft Word in its current form. Microsoft is appealing a jury's ruling that a custom XML feature in recent versions of Word infringes on a patent held by I4i, a Canadian software company.
Industry Group Says Apple Can Block Pre from iTunes
Apple appears to have clearance from an industry group to block rival Palm Inc.'s Pre phone from connecting with iTunes software. The $200 Pre was launched in June as a direct competitor to the iPhone, and became the first non-Apple device that could directly connect to iTunes.
British Finance Bill to Contain Broadband Tax
A controversial broadband tax should be law before the next election, according to Minister for Digital Britain Stephen Timms. The 50 pence a month tax will apply to everyone with a fixed line telephone.
Google Asks Court to Delay Books Settlement
The parties involved in the Google Book Search settlement have asked a federal court to postpone an October hearing to approve the proposed settlement while they work out a new deal. When the Department of Justice made it clear last Friday that it could not support the settlement as written -- which would give Google unique rights to scan out-of-print books still protected by copyright law -- it said the parties were in talks to amend the settlement.
EU Legal Adviser Supports Google on Keyword Sales
A legal adviser to the European Union’s top court sided with Google on in a high-profile trademark case, saying that the company should be allowed to sell brand names like Louis Vuitton or Coca-Cola as advertising keywords on its search engine. The legal opinion recommends that the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg clear Google of trademark infringement in several lawsuits in France that were brought by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton and other brand owners.
Indian Portal Sues Google for Trademark Keyword Sales
Google has been sued for trademark infringement by an Indian portal company, Consim Info, which claims that the search company uses its trademarks to drive business to its competitors. When a user does a search on Google for BharatMatrimony.com or related matrimonial sites of the company, the user is served up advertisements of its competitors, said Consim CEO Murugavel Janakiraman.
