AT&T and Verizon Communications are among the most vocal opponents to Net neutrality regulation, but the phone companies' top lobbyists reiterated at the Supercomm 2009 trade show that they would be alright with some regulation, so long as it isn't too far-reaching. Jim Cicconi, senior executive vice president at AT&T, and Tom Tauke, senior vice president for Public Policy at Verizon Communications, said their companies support the Federal Communications Commission's existing open Internet principles.
ChoicePoint to Pay $275,000 Fine for Data Breach
ChoicePoint Inc., one of the nation's consumer data brokers, agreed to pay $275,000 to federal regulators as a result of a data breach last year that exposed Social Security numbers and other personal information on 13,750 people. The agreement comes in response to claims by the Federal Trade Commission that ChoicePoint violated the terms of a settlement reached following a separate data breach at the company in 2005 that led to hundreds of cases of identity theft.
AT&T Urges Managers to Oppose Net Neutrality
Advocacy groups say AT&T has gone too far in its lobbying efforts to oppose the Federal Communications Commission's new proposed Net neutrality regulations. AT&T's top lobbyist Jim Cicconi sent a memo to managers urging them to encourage their families and friends "to join the voices telling the FCC not to regulate the Internet."
Twitter Lifts Veil on Documents Otherwise Kept Secret
After prevailing in a legal fight over the publication of secret documents, the editor of The Guardian in London, Alan Rusbridger, wrote that "the Twittersphere blew away conventional efforts to buy silence," as a headline on his column put it. Last month, a British judge ruled that material obtained by Guardian journalists about a multinational corporation had to be kept secret.
Political Advertising Online Raises New Questions
So far, the Federal Elections Commission has taken a mostly hands-off approach to Internet advertising, as campaigns still spend far more money reaching voters through television, radio and direct mail. The commission ruled in 2006 that campaign regulations do not apply to most Internet activity, except for paid political advertising on someone else's website. Bloggers are exempt as long as they write voluntarily and are not paid by a campaign.
Fake Anti-Virus Software Helps Cybercriminals Profit
Tens of millions of U.S. computers are loaded with scam security software that their owners may have paid for but which only makes the machines more vulnerable, according to a new Symantec report on cybercrime. Cyberthieves are increasingly planting fake security alerts that pop up when computer users access a legitimate website.
More Cybercriminals Targeting Social Networking Sites
If you're on Facebook, Twitter or any other social networking site, you could be the next victim. That's because more cyberthieves are targeting increasingly popular social networking sites that provide a gold mine of personal information, according to the FBI.
Google, Facebook, Amazon, Twitter Back Net Neutrality
Internet giants Google, Facebook, Amazon, Twitter and a slew of other high profile tech companies weighed in on new rules that are currently being written to keep the Internet open. The CEOs of Amazon, Google, Facebook and Twitter, along with some telecommunications and media firms, such as EchoStar and XO Communications, sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission chairman Julius Genachowski supporting his efforts to create official regulation that protects Net Neutrality.
Judge Lets EMI Pursue Robertson in MP3Tunes Case
The copyright lawsuit filed by major recording company EMI against Michael Robertson, founder of MP3tunes.com, took an unexpected turn. A U.S. District judge will allow EMI to file suit against Robertson personally -- not just his company, MP3tunes, according to a copy of the judge's decision.
Don't Buy Swine Flu Drugs Online, FDA Warns
Americans should avoid buying treatments for the H1N1 virus, commonly known as swine flu, online, the Food and Drug Administration warned. The FDA issued the warning Thursday after it had purchased products over the Internet that were supposed to be Tamiflu and analyzed them.
Flash Drive with Data on 103,000 Students Missing
A flash drive containing the personal information of more than 103,000 former adult education students in Virginia was misplaced last month, state education officials reported. Officials said they do not to believe the information, which includes names, Social Security numbers and employment and demographic information, has been found or is being misused.
British ISP Calls File-Sharing Penalty "Naive"
UK ISP TalkTalk has staged a wireless stunt, aimed at illustrating why it thinks Lord Mandelson's plans to disconnect filesharers is "naive." The stunt demonstrates how innocent people could be disconnected from the network if the plans become law.
Stolen Laptop Has Data on 800,000 Doctors
About 800,000 doctors -- nearly every practicing physician in the country -- are being warned that business and personal information such as Social Security numbers, addresses and certain identification numbers may be open for a possible breach after an insurance trade group employee's laptop was stolen from a car in Chicago. The Chicago-based Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, a trade group for the nation's Blue Cross health insurance plans, confirmed an employee "broke protocol and transferred to a personal laptop" information that was later stolen in late August.
Advertising Group Opposes FTC's Blogging Guidelines
The Interactive Advertising Bureau has come out against new guidelines proposed by the Federal Trade Commission that would require bloggers to disclose their affiliations with sponsors, marketers, and free giveaways. The IAB claims that the rules unfairly regulate online media more than offline.
NBA Player Gains Control of 800 Celebrity Domain Names
Toronto Raptors' forward Chris Bosh won control of nearly 800 Internet domain names wrongfully appropriated from professional athletes and celebrities, his lawyer said. The ruling, which Bosh's lawyer said is the first time a court awarded third-party domain names to a plaintiff, gives the basketball player control of www.chrisbosh.com and website names that incorporated names of other NBA stars, including Denver's Carmelo Anthony and Phoenix's Steve Nash.
Class-Action Lawsuit Filed Over Sidekick Data Loss
An Atlanta woman has filed a class-action lawsuit against Microsoft and T-Mobile over the Microsoft server outage that caused thousands of Sidekick smartphone users to lose their personal data. The lawsuit, brought by Sidekick customer Maureen Thompson, alleges T-Mobile, Microsoft and Microsoft subsidiary Danger failed to make good on their marketing promises that the Sidekick data service would securely and automatically back up users' data.
AT&T Says Google Voice Violates Telecom, Net Laws
AT&T stepped up its campaign for greater federal scrutiny of Google's voice service, reasserting in a letter to the Federal Communications Commission that the search giant's Web phone application violates both telecom and net neutrality laws. The FCC launched an inquiry into Google Voice's blocking of calls and began an review of whether the application should be regulated as a traditional telephone service, also known as a common carrier.
Yahoo Settles Suit Over Pay-Per-Click Ads
Yahoo has settled a lawsuit over pay-per-click ads sold by Yahoo that wound up in some shady corners of the Internet. Back in 2006 Yahoo was sued by a class of advertisers who alleged that Yahoo sold them ads that were supposed to appear on "highly targeted" sites and instead wound up on sites filled with spyware or run by typo squatters.
EFF Seeks Re-Examination for VoIP Patent
The Electronic Frontier Foundation filed a re-examination request to the U.S. Patent and Trademark office, stating it had discovered a prior patent as well as published reference material that should invalidate a patent that had been granted to a company called Acceris. The patent that Acceris was granted describes how voice over IP technology can be used to make calls to and from traditional analog telephones.
FCC Chairman Wants to Apply Net Neutrality Broadly
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski is proposing that the agency apply tougher open-Internet rules broadly, raising concerns of cable and phone companies and some lawmakers that the government could try to control efforts to offer products such as digital cable or premium business services. Mr. Genachowski's proposal suggests everything in the Internet pipe is covered by rules prohibiting discrimination against any legal Internet traffic, known as net neutrality, unless the agency says otherwise, according to FCC officials familiar with a draft circulating in the agency.
