Class-Action Suit Calls Yelp "Extortion Scheme"

Business reviews site Yelp amounts to an "extortion scheme," according to a class action lawsuit filed in a Los Angeles court by two law firms and a Long Beach, Calif., veterinary hospital that claims it was "victimized" by Yelp sales representatives asking for payment in exchange for the removal of negative reviews. "The plaintiff... asked that Yelp remove a false and defamatory review from the Web site," a release from the law firms alleges.

Google Says Italian Conviction at Odds with EU Law

An Italian court's ruling that Google executives violated the privacy of an individual via a YouTube video is "at complete odds" with a European law that protects service providers, said Rachel Whetstone, Google Inc.'s vice president for public policy and communications. An Italian judge convicted three Google officials of violating the privacy of a disabled boy by allowing a video of students bullying him to appear on Google's YouTube site.

Google Executives Found Guilty in Italy Over Videos

A judge in Milan found three Google executives guilty of violating Italy's privacy code over a video that was uploaded on the search giant's video platform, the company said. Google said it plans to appeal the court's decision because its employees "had nothing to to do with the video in question" and for its implications on Internet freedom and censorship.

U.S. Faces Threats from Cyberwar, Senators Told

Computer-based network attacks are slowly bleeding U.S. businesses of revenue and market advantage, while the government faces the prospect of losing in an all-out cyberwar, experts told Senators in a hearing. "If the nation went to war today in a cyberwar, we would lose," said Michael McConnell, executive vice president of Booz Allen Hamilton's national security business and a former director of national security and national intelligence.

European Companies File Antitrust Complaint Against Google

Google, owner of the world's most popular Internet search engine, faces European antitrust scrutiny after three companies filed complaints about unfair competition. A U.K. price-comparison site called Foundem, a French legal search engine called Ejustice.fr and a Microsoft Corp. service called Ciao From Bing, have brought competition complaints to the European Commission, Google said in a blog posting.

FCC to Unveil National Broadband Plan

U.S. communications regulators will unveil on March 17 a blueprint aimed at bringing fast affordable Internet access to more than 90 million Americans being held back by fees and technology. The Federal Communications Commission said that the long-awaited National Broadband Plan will try to help connect 93 million Americans to high-speed Internet to find jobs, access educational and healthcare services, and reduce household energy costs.

China Requiring Personal Photos for Domain Registrations

Web site owners in China will have to start submitting personal photos to register their sites with the government under new trial regulations, China's latest move in an Internet clampdown focused on porn. The regulations, issued by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, are part of an ongoing effort by the ministry to create records for all Web sites in the country.