The Federal Communications Commission unveiled a laundry list of proposals to meet a congressional mandate to give every U.S. home access to high-speed Internet service. The recommendations, which come just two months before the agency must present its final national broadband plan to Congress, include revising a rural phone subsidy program, revamping the market for television set-top boxes and redirecting more airwaves to wireless services.
New York Man Charged with Uploading X-Men Movie
FBI agents arrested a New York man on charges that he uploaded a copy of the movie "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" to the Internet before its May theatrical release, a spokeswoman said. FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said the probe continues into how Gilberto Sanchez, 47, of New York City obtained the copy he posted to Megaupload.com in the spring.
Apple Gets Permanent Injunction Against Mac Clone Maker
After a long legal battle, the company won a permanent injunction against Psystar. According to the ruling, the Mac clone manufacturer is no longer allowed to sell systems running Apple's OS.
FTC Sues Intel for Stifling Microchip Competition
The Federal Trade Commission sued the chipmaker, Intel, accusing it of using its dominant market position to stifle competition and strengthen its monopoly. In its complaint, the agency accused Intel of a systematic campaign to prevent rivals from selling their microchips by cutting off their access to the market.
Europe Drops Antitrust Case Against Microsoft
European regulators dropped their antitrust case against Microsoft after the software maker agreed to offer consumers a choice of rival Web browsers. The agreement, announced in Brussels by the European competition commissioner, Neelie Kroes, calls for Microsoft to give Windows users a choice of up to 11 other browsers from competing companies, including Mozilla, Apple and Google.
Australian Internet Filters to Block Criminal Content
Australia intends to introduce filters which will ban access to websites containing criminal content. The banned sites will be selected by an independent classification body guided by complaints from the public, said Communications Minister Stephen Conroy.
AT&T Says "Open Character of Internet Critically Important"
AT&T tried to convince federal regulators that it's part of a broad coalition supporting an open and free Internet, but cautioned that new government rules currently being crafted would stifle innovation. The letter attempts to position AT&T as a champion of user rights, and make it seems that its position on the volatile issue of "net neutrality" is not far from its nemesis Google, which champions openness as a way to increase its profits.
Microsoft Says Blogging Program Copied Code
Microsoft said that a blogging application posted to its MSN China site did in fact copy code from a rival. Microsoft has said a third party and not it or its Chinese joint venture partner wrote the Juku program.
Microsoft Software to Help Identify Child Porn
Microsoft is contributing new image-matching software, PhotoDNA, that promises to automate and streamline online child-pornography monitoring. "It's a terrific tool for us, law enforcement and ISPs," said Ernie Allen, president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Malicious Adobe Acrobat File Identified
Symantec confirmed a vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat and Reader and said it was being exploited by a Trojan hidden in e-mail attachments. The malicious Adobe Acrobat PDF file is distributed via an e-mail attachment that "drops and executes when opened on a fully patched system with either Adobe Acrobat or Reader installed," Symantec said in a statement.
Rumored Google Phone Name May Create Conflict
Isa Dick Hackett, a daughter of the late Philip K. Dick, said in an interview that she was "shocked and dismayed" by reports indicating that the Google phone would be named after her father's famous characters. "We were never consulted, no requests were made, and we didn't grant any sort of permissions."
"Operation Holiday Hoax" Nabs $26 Million of Fake Goods
More than $26 million worth of counterfeit clothing, electronics, DVDs, holiday ornaments and other consumer goods are now in the hands of authorities after a nationwide series of raids. The coordinated raids were aimed at cracking down on major rings selling "knockoff" products, federal authorities announced.
Supreme Court Agrees to Hearing Text-Messaging Case
The Supreme Court agreed to decide whether a police department violated the constitutional privacy rights of an employee when it inspected personal text messages sent and received on a government pager. The case opens "a new frontier in Fourth Amendment jurisprudence," according to a three-judge panel of an appeals court that ruled in favor of the employee, a police sergeant on the Ontario, Calif., SWAT team.
Settlement May Lead to Release of Missing White House E-mails
Two nonprofit groups announced that they reached a legal settlement with the White House that may result in the release of a portion of the 22 million e-mails that went missing during the Bush administration because of poor labeling and other technical problems. The National Security Archive and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) first sued the White House in 2007 alleging that millions of executive office e-mails had gone missing from March 2003 to October 2005 in violation of laws requiring their preservation.
Complaint Accuses Electronics Companies of Violating GPL
Best Buy, Samsung, Westinghouse, and JVC are among 14 consumer electronics companies named in a copyright infringement lawsuit filed in New York by the Software Freedom Law Center. According to the complaint, the defendants sold products containing software application BusyBox in violation of the terms of its license, the GNU General Public License version 2 (GPLv2).
Microsoft Probing Charges It Stole Code in China
Microsoft said on that it's investigating allegations that a recently launched microblogging site in China lifts the code and interface of a start-up's rival service. anada's Plurk went public with charges that Microsoft's Juku service "rips off" the look and feel of its microblogging service and also appears to use more than 80 percent of the same code, all without permission.
Students, Parents Fight Back Against Cyber-Bullying Charges
Amid rising concerns over cyber-bullying, and even calls for criminalization, some courts, parents and free-speech advocates are pushing back. Students, they say, have a First Amendment right to be nasty in cyberspace.
Covey Grants Amazon Exclusive Rights to His E-Books
Stephen R. Covey, one of the most successful business authors of the last two decades, has moved e-book rights to two of his best-selling books from his print publisher, Simon & Schuster, a division of the CBS Corporation, to Amazon.com for one year. Amazon, maker of the popular Kindle e-reader and one of the biggest book retailers in the country, will have the exclusive rights to sell electronic editions of "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People," and a later work, "Principle-Centered Leadership."
U.S., Russia Discussing Cyberwarfare Issues
The United States has begun talks with Russia and a United Nations arms control committee about strengthening Internet security and limiting military use of cyberspace. American and Russian officials have different interpretations of the talks so far, but the mere fact that the United States is participating represents a significant policy shift after years of rejecting Russia's overtures.
Apple Files Patent Infringement Claims Against Nokia
In response to Nokia's own claims of copyright violation, Apple accused the largest handset maker in the world of copying some of the technology inside the iPhone. In a suit filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, Apple says Nokia is infringing 13 of its patents.
