The Federal Trade Commission will try to regulate blogging for the first time, requiring writers on the Web to clearly disclose any freebies or payments they get from companies for reviewing their products. Violating the rules, which take effect Dec. 1, could bring fines up to $11,000 per violation.
Thousands of Hotmail Accounts Fall to Phishing Attack
Thousands of accounts on web-based e-mail system Hotmail have been compromised in a phishing attack, software giant Microsoft has confirmed. BBC News has seen a list of more than 10,000 e-mail accounts, predominantly originating from Europe, and passwords which were posted online.
More Republicans Oppose Network Neutrality Rules
Republican opposition is mounting as federal regulators prepare to vote this month on so-called "network neutrality" rules, which would prohibit broadband providers from favoring or discriminating against certain types of Internet traffic flowing over their lines. Twenty House Republicans -- including most of the Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee -- sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski on Monday urging him to delay the Oct. 22 vote on his net neutrality plan.
Pirate Bay Goes Offline Again After Copyright Demand
The Pirate Bay was once again inaccessible after a group representing copyright owners forced the BitTorrent search engine's bandwidth provider to cut off service, according to a published report. NForce, the Pirate Bay's latest Internet service provider, complied with a request to shut off service to The Pirate Bay made by Netherlands-based antipiracy group Brein, according to online news site Tweakers.net.
Google Says Deleting Pirate Bay Listing Was Error
Google said that an error caused the search engine to remove The Pirate Bay from its search pages. "Google received a (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) take-down request that erroneously listed Thepiratebay.org, and as a result, this URL was accidentally removed from the Google search index," Google said in a statement.
Man Arrested for Secret Videos of ESPN Sportscaster
A Chicago-area man is the creep behind the secret nude video tapes made of sexy ESPN sportscaster Erin Andrews undressing in her hotel room, according to the FBI. The feds arrested Michael David Barrett, 48, of Westmont, Ill., on charges of interstate stalking, officials said.
Lawmakers Want Delay on Internet Gambling Ban
U.S. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank and other lawmakers urged regulators to delay the December 1 implementation of financial rules to enforce a ban on Internet gambling. Enforcing the rules in two months time would put an unreasonable burden on regulators and the financial services industry at a time of economic crisis, the lawmakers said.
Book Publishers Get More Concerned About Digital Piracy
Mindful of what happened to the music industry at a similar transitional juncture, book publishers are about to discover whether their industry is different enough to be spared a similarly dismal fate. Adam Rothberg, vice president for corporate communications at Simon & Schuster, said: "Everybody in the industry considers piracy a significant issue, but it's been difficult to quantify the magnitude of the problem."
Court Dismisses Two eBay Claims Against Craigslist
A Delaware court dismissed two of eBay's claims against classified website Craigslist and its two biggest shareholders, but five key claims remain to be heard in an upcoming trial. The case, expected to go to trial in December after two delays, stems from an April 2008 lawsuit filed by eBay in which the online giant claimed Craigslist's two majority shareholders approved a "coercive plan" that diluted eBay's minority share in the company from 28.4 percent to 24.85 percent.
Secret Service Identifies Juvenile in Facebook Threat
The Secret Service has determined that a juvenile was behind the online survey that asked whether people thought President Barack Obama should be assassinated, an agency spokesman said. No criminal charges will be filed against the juvenile or the juvenile's parents, spokesman Edwin Donovan said.
Amazon Settles Suit Over E-Book Deletion on Kindle
Amazon.com has agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by a high school student over the online retailer's deletion of an e-book he bought for his Kindle electronic reader. Justin D. Gawronski, 17, sued Amazon after it erased copies of the George Orwell novels "1984" and "Animal Farm" from customers' Kindles in July.
British Court Orders Injunction Against Twitter Page
Britain's High Court ordered its first injunction via Twitter, saying the social website and micro-blogging service was the best way to reach an anonymous Tweeter who had been impersonating someone. Solicitors Griffin Law sought the injunction against the micro-blog page arguing it was impersonating right-wing blogger Donal Blaney, the owner of Griffin Law.
Payroll Processor Investigating Breach, Malware
Payroll processor PayChoice said it is investigating a breach in which customers received targeted e-mails purporting to be from the company but were designed to trick people into downloading malware. Workers received e-mails that directed them to download a browser plug-in or visit a Web site so they could continue accessing the Onlineemployer.com PayChoice portal.
NHL May Limit Players' Facebook, Twitter Activities
North America's professional sports leagues are all a twitter over tweeting and have pushed through guidelines to ban player access to social networking sites during games. Following the lead of the NFL and NBA, the NHL said it was close to making recommendations that will prohibit players from using communicational devices for social media activity -- including Twitter and Facebook -- 30 minutes before and after games, practices, meetings and media access periods.
ICANN Enters Into New, Looser Agreement with U.S.
The U.S. government said it had ended its 11-year contract with the nonprofit body that oversees key aspects of the Internet's architecture, after demands from other countries for more say in how the Web works. The move addresses mounting criticism in recent years that no one country should have sole control over important underpinnings of the Internet, such as determining domain name suffixes like ".com."
Study Finds Wide Objection to Online Ad Tracking
About two-thirds of Americans object to online tracking by advertisers -- and that number rises once they learn the different ways marketers are following their online movements, according to a new survey from professors at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California, Berkeley. The professors say they believe the study is the first independent, nationally representative telephone survey on behavioral advertising.
Court Reverses $388 Million Microsoft Patent Ruling
A federal court reversed an earlier ruling that Microsoft's product activation technology infringed on another company's patent, overturning a $388 million verdict in the case. In a ruling, the court vacated the earlier decision and decided the case in Microsoft's favor.
Hate Speech Growing on Social Networking Sites
Complaints against groups on social networking sites that call for threats, violence and hatred toward people who are Jewish, black, gay or have disabilities are on the rise as Americans celebrate the 19th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the country rallies around its first black president, and gay marriage is legalized in some states.
Google Asks EU to Force Browser Choices on Microsoft
Google is among Web-browser makers asking the European Union to force Microsoft to make it easier to choose alternatives to Internet Explorer under terms of an EU antitrust settlement, a person familiar with the matter said. Google joined Opera Software ASA and Mozilla Corp., maker of the Firefox browser, in protesting aspects of Microsoft's proposal for a "ballot screen," said the person, who declined to be identified because the complaints aren't public.
Google Employees on Trial in Milan Over Video
The trial of four Google employees has begun in Milan with an engineer from the search giant giving evidence. The employees are accused of breaking Italian law in allowing a video of a teenager with Down's Syndrome to be posted online.
