Google's Chinese Hackers Stole Source Code, Firm Says

The hackers behind the attacks on Google and dozens of other companies operating in China stole valuable computer source code by breaking into the personal computers of employees with privileged access, a security firm said. The hackers targeted a small number of employees who controlled source code management systems, which handle the myriad changes that developers make as they write software, said George Kurtz, chief technology officer at anti-virus software maker McAfee.

Appeals Court Rules for TiVo in Patent Case

TiVo Inc. won a U.S. appeals court ruling that Dish Network Corp. and EchoStar Corp. are still infringing its patent and should stop providing digital-video recording services. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld a lower court’s finding that the companies were still in violation of TiVo’s patent, even after claiming they had changed their technology enough to avoid infringement. TiVo claimed the changes weren’t sufficient.

"Call of Duty" Game Creators Sue for Wrongful Firing

Activision Blizzard Inc. was sued by the executives who created the “Call of Duty” video-game franchise over claims the company used “false” insubordination charges to fire them and avoid paying royalties. Jason West and Vince Zampella, who co-founded Activision’s Infinity Ward studio, sued the company in Los Angeles Superior Court, claiming breach of contract and wrongful termination.

Napolitano Wants Citizens to Help with Cybersecurity

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is calling on anyone with good ideas for boosting public awareness about the importance of making the Internet safer to step forward. "We are challenging our nation's best and brightest to utilize their expertise and creativity to devise new ways to engage the public in the shared responsibility of safeguarding our cyber resources and information," she said.

Judge's Ruling Puts End to DVD-Copying Software

U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel has issued a permanent injunction that bars RealNetworks from selling RealDVD, the DVD-copying software that Hollywood claimed in a lawsuit violated copyright law. Real and the Motion Picture Association of America reached a settlement, according to statements issued by both companies, that called for Real to stop selling RealDVD or any similar products and to pay $4.5 million to reimburse the studios for legal fees.

Videogame Companies Dealing with Chinese Piracy

Videogame companies and investors are rushing to tap the promise of China's game market, but many of them are discovering that a slow-moving bureaucracy and rampant piracy remain significant hurdles. Diana Li, former chief executive of Shanda Interactive Entertainment Ltd.'s game unit, said hackers and other forms of piracy reduced the industry's profitability by roughly $1.5 billion last year.

Spanish Botnet Called Strong Enough to Paralyze Country's PCs

Spanish criminals who stole bank details from computers around the world did not realize the power of the illegal network they had created which could have paralyzed an entire country's computer systems, police said. Police believe the men were not expert hackers and bought their virus program on the black market before using it to take over other people's computers in order to create a "botnet," a network of enslaved computers.

National Broadband Plan Called "Revenue Neutral"

The U.S. National Broadband Plan set for release this month will not call for additional spending beyond the existing programs, a move likely to garner support from lawmakers, a Federal Communications Commission official said. The highly anticipated blueprint will be "revenue neutral" overall because spectrum auctions will compensate for any needed spending, said the official, who was not authorized to speak before the public release of the plan.

Three Arrested in Spain for Largest Botnet

Authorities in Spain have arrested three men accused of operating a massive botnet composed of 12.7 million PCs that stole credit card and bank log-in data and infected computers in half of the Fortune 1,000 companies and more than 40 banks, according to published reports. The botnet "Mariposa," which means butterfly in Spanish, first appeared in December 2008 and grew to be one of the largest botnets ever, The Associated Press reported.

U.S. Declassifies Some Cybersecurity Efforts

The United States, pushing to promote global Internet freedom, declassified some of its initiatives on safeguarding government networks as it pursues partnerships in the effort. The move comes as Washington has become more vocal in opposing other governments' censorship of the Internet and presses its argument that Internet access is a basic human right to express and gather online.

German Court Overturns Law on E-mail Retention

Germany's highest court overturned a law that let anti-terror authorities retain data on telephone calls and e-mails, saying it marked a "grave intrusion" into personal privacy rights and must be revised. The court ruling was the latest to sharply criticize a major initiative by Chancellor Angela Merkel's government and one of the strongest steps yet defending citizen rights from post-Sept. 11 terror-fighting measures.

Google Undecided About Next Move in China

A Google Inc. executive said that the company is still considering its next step in China -- seven weeks after it pledged to stop censoring search results there and threatened to pull out of the country altogether. Google Vice President and Deputy General Counsel Nicole Wong told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the company is continuing to investigate a hacking attack that emanated from China and attempts to snoop on dissidents' e-mail.

Europe to Revise Law on Basic Internet Access

The European Commission said it plans to revise a law governing the provision of basic telephone and Internet services to Europe's most remote regions, bringing it up to date with modern technological demands. The current telecoms universal services law from 2002 ensures all European Union citizens have access to fixed-line telephone and basic Internet, regardless of their location.

Senator Criticizes Tech Firms on Human Rights Responses

A top Senate Democrat criticized the technology industry for its unwillingness to stand up to foreign governments that restrict access to online content, pledging to introduce legislation that would impose penalties on Internet companies that facilitate human rights violations in repressive regimes. "The bottom line is this: with a few notable exceptions, the technology industry seems unwilling to regulate itself and unwilling to even engage in a dialogue with Congress about the serious human rights challenges the industry faces," Dick Durbin, the chairman of the Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law and assistant Senate majority leader, said at a hearing on Internet freedom.

Apple Sues HTC for Violating 20 iPhone Patents

Apple said that it had filed lawsuits against HTC, the Taiwan-based phone maker, accusing it of infringing on 20 Apple patents tied to the iPhone. The suits, filed with the office of the United States International Trade Commission and the United States District Court in Delaware, say HTC violated patents covering the phone’s user interface, internal architecture and hardware.

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The GigaLaw Firm helps companies of all sizes protect their brands online, using domain name dispute policies – such as the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) – and other legal tools available to copyright and trademark owners on the Internet.