The Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve are giving U.S. financial institutions an additional six months to comply with rules designed to ban Internet gambling. The two agencies said that the rules, which were to take effect December 1, would be delayed until June 1 of next year.
Largest "Spam Gang" Fined $15.2 Million, FTC Says
A U.S. district court judge has ordered the largest "spam gang" in the world to pay nearly $15.2 million for sending unsolicited e-mail messages marketing male-enhancement pills, prescription drugs, and weight-loss supplements, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said. Spamhaus, the antispam organization, called the e-mail marketing network the "No. 1 worst spam gang" on the Internet for much of 2007 and 2008.
AT&T Opposes White House Comments on Censorship
AT&T doesn't like the idea of new regulations mandating unfettered access to the Internet, and recent comments from the Obama administration that connected the issue to censorship in China have really gotten under its skin. The telecom giant responded forcefully to remarks by White House deputy chief technology officer Andrew McLaughlin, who said that free speech and network neutrality are "intrinsically linked."
Italy Seeks Prison for Google Executives in Defamation Case
Italian prosecutors asked a judge to issue prison sentences for three Google executives and one former executive accused of defamation and failure to comply with privacy laws in a case that could alter the way Google operates in Italy and the rest of Europe. The prosecutors contend that Google was negligent because it allowed a video of high school kids bullying a disabled classmate to stay on its Italian-language video service for two months in 2006.
Apple Sues Website for Selling Knock-Off Products
Apple filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Media Solutions Holdings, a company based in Anaheim, Calif. that allegedly sells knock-off Apple products through several Web sites. Apple's complaint charges that Media Solutions Holdings, through the Web sites www.laptopsforless.com, www.laptopacadapter.com and www.ereplacements.com, sells "various consumer electronic accessories at retail, including knock-off power adapters for use with genuine Apple portable computers."
British Law Firm Targets 15,000 Suspected Pirates
Around 15,000 suspected pirates may soon get legal letters accusing them of illegally sharing movies and games. ACS:Law plans to send notes to the accused in the new year offering a chance to settle out of court for "several hundreds of pounds."
Oracle Readies Case to EU on Sun Acquisition
U.S. software company Oracle will present to European Union regulators on Dec. 10 its case for buying computer maker Sun Microsystems, two people with knowledge of the matter said. The European Commission has objected to the $7 billion deal, saying the combination of Sun's MySQL database product and Oracle's products could dent competition in the database market, a Sun regulatory filing showed.
New iPhone Worm Could Steal Users' Information
Unlike the previous exploitation, which merely changed a jailbroken iPhone's wallpaper to a picture of Rick Astley of "Rickrolling" fame, a new iPhone worm allows hackers to steal sensitive information. According to security firm Sophos, which wrote about the exploitation after a Dutch ISP spotted it late last week, the worm attacks jailbroken iPhone and iPod Touch devices only.
Woman on Facebook to Fight Insurance Company
A Canadian woman on sick leave for depression said she would fight an insurance company's decision to cut her benefits after her agent found photos on Facebook of her vacationing, at a bar and at a party. Nathalie Blanchard said she was diagnosed with major depression and was receiving monthly sick-leave benefits until payments dried up this fall.
Human Rights Groups Target War Video Games
Video games depicting war have come under fire for flouting laws governing armed conflicts. Human rights groups played various games to see if any broke humanitarian laws that govern what is a war crime.
McAfee Highlights "12 Scams of Christmas"
To highlight the increased crime during the holidays, security company McAfee has come up with the "12 Scams of Christmas" ranging from bogus electronic greeting cards that deliver malware instead of cheer to fake charities that steal your money and your identity.
Congress Considers Limits on Online Marketing Companies
Members of Congress are considering legislation that would crack down on what they call the unethical, aggressive sales tactics of some Internet marketing companies. The Senate Commerce Committee unveiled the details of a six-month investigation into Internet advertising companies that Chairman John D. Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) said mislead and manipulate consumers into providing their credit card numbers, resulting in millions of dollars in profits for the companies and countless "mystery charges" for consumers.
News Corp. May Pay Microsoft to De-Index Sites from Google
Microsoft has had discussions with News Corp. over a plan that would involve the media company's being paid to "de-index" its news websites from Google, setting the scene for a search engine battle that could offer a ray of light to the newspaper industry. The impetus for the discussions came from News Corp, owner of newspapers ranging from the Wall Street Journal of the U.S. to The Sun of the U.K., said a person familiar with the situation, who warned that talks were at an early stage.
Class-Action Lawsuit Could Disrupt Sale of Term Papers Online
A class-action lawsuit working its way through a U.S. District Court in Illinois could provide a road map for those who find their work online without their authorization. The judge has found a provider liable on six counts, including copyright infringement, unfair competition and other fraud-related claims.
Three Hackers Indicted for Redirecting Comcast Site
Three hackers have been indicted for redirecting the Comcast.net Web site to a page of their own making in 2008. When Comcast customers visited the Comcast.net site during the attack on May 28, 2008, they were redirected to a Web site that displayed a message attributing the attack to members of the Kryogeniks hacker gang.
Panel Says China Piercing U.S. Government Networks
China's government appears increasingly to be piercing U.S. government and defense industry computer networks to gather useful data for its military, a congressional advisory panel said. "A large body of both circumstantial and forensic evidence strongly indicates Chinese state involvement in such activities," the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission said in its 2009 report to Congress.
Chinese Military Defense Website Faces Hackers
The Chinese military defense website was subjected to 2.3 million hacking attempts in its first month online according to officials. "When there were major events taking place related to the military and national defense, the number of (cyber) attacks rose," said editor Ji Guilin.
Judge Gives Preliminary OK to Google Books Settlement
The judge overseeing the Google Books case has laid out the schedule for the second round of the final approval process, at the same time granting preliminary approval of the revised deal. Like before, opponents of Google's settlement with groups representing authors and publishers will have a comment period in which to file objections, and books rights holders who want to preserve their abilty to sue Google for scanning their books will have an opt-out deadline.
FCC Discusses National Broadband Policy
The Federal Communications Commission met to discuss obstacles to enacting a national broadband policy that will provide high-speed Internet access to every American. A task force, headed by Blair Levin, who had been chief of staff for former FCC chairman Reed Hundt, is developing the plan that will be presented to Congress on February 17, 2010.
British Police Arrest Two in Connection with Trojan
Detectives have made the first arrests in Europe to tackle a "trojan" computer virus which is believed to have infected tens of thousands of computers across the world, London police said. The ZeuS or Zbot trojan, a type of sophisticated malicious computer programme, has been used to collect millions of lines of data from machines allowing those responsible to obtain a mass of personal information.
