Researchers Monitor Chinese Cyber-Spying on India

Turning the tables on a China-based computer espionage gang, Canadian and United States computer security researchers have monitored a spying operation for the past eight months, observing while the intruders pilfered classified and restricted documents from the highest levels of the Indian Defense Ministry. In a report, the researchers, based at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto, provide a detailed account of how a spy operation it called the Shadow Network systematically hacked into personal computers in government offices on several continents.

Vietnamese Government Denies Role in Cyberattacks

The Vietnam government dismissed what it called "groundless" accusations that it was involved in recent cyberattacks used to intimidate opponents of a mining project in Vietnam. Malware disguised as a popular Vietnamese-language keyboard driver was used to create a botnet that targeted blogs rallying against a bauxite mining project in Vietman, according to blog posts from Google's Neel Mehta and McAfee Chief Technical Officer George Kurtz.

Court Rules for Comcast in FCC Broadband Case

A federal appeals court dealt a sharp blow to the efforts of the Federal Communications Commission to set the rules of the road for the Internet, ruling that the agency lacks the authority to require broadband providers to give equal treatment to all Internet traffic flowing over their networks. The decision, by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, specifically concerned the efforts of Comcast, the nation’s largest cable provider, to slow down customers’ access to a service called BitTorrent, which is used to exchange large video files, most often pirated copies of movies.

Google Rolling Out Privacy Upgrade to Buzz

Google started rolling out a privacy upgrade to its Buzz social networking tool, which includes a settings confirmation screen for all users. Amid concern over how much personal information was being made public, Google tweaked Buzz several days after its debut, making it more clear how information was shared, and simplifying the process for blocking or following other users.

FCC Considers Options Amid Broadband Challenge

With a looming court case that could derail his broadband agenda, Julius Genachowski, the top U.S. communications regulator, and his circle of advisers are weighing options to put the centerpiece of his administration on a solid footing. His alternatives appear limited if the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit decides that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) lacks sufficient authority to regulate broadband services.

FTC Seeks Comments on Changes to Child Privacy Act

The FTC is seeking comment on whether changes should be made to rules imposing certain requirements on Web sites directed at children, including a mandate that they obtain parental consent before collecting personal information from children under the age of 13. In a Federal Register notice, the FTC said the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, which went into effect in 2000, requires the agency to review the rules required by the law every five years.

Chinese Journalists' Site Shuts After Attacks

The Foreign Correspondents Club of China said it had shut its website after a burst of hacker attacks, days after attacks on the Yahoo email accounts of some foreign journalists covering China were discovered. "We do not know who is behind the attacks or what their motivation is," the club's board said in an emailed statement explaining it had decided to shut down temporarily the site after two days of "persistent" attacks.

Lender Wants Auction of sex.com to Proceed

A lender which claims it is owed millions by the Sex.com domain name operator is asking a U.S. bankruptcy court to dismiss an involuntary bankruptcy case against the company, so it can resume a foreclosure auction, according to new court documents. The New Jersey lender, DOM Partners LLC, which said it loaned more than $4 million to Escom LLC to fund the website's operations, said in court papers that Escom shouldn't be in bankruptcy.

FTC Probe Cited in VC's Departure from Amazon Board

Last month, John Doerr, one of America’s most celebrated venture capitalists, announced that he would step down from the board of Amazon.com, a company that he helped to finance and build. People with direct knowledge of the matter, who would not speak for attribution because they were not authorized to discuss it, now say Mr. Doerr’s decision was prompted by a Federal Trade Commission inquiry into the relationship between Amazon and Google, where Mr. Doerr is also a director.

Appeals Court Favors eBay in Tiffany Case

A New York appeals court has ruled in eBay's favor in its longstanding legal dispute with Tiffany & Co. over whether the auction giant is responsible for policing the sale of counterfeit goods. The legendary jewelry company had alleged that trademark law requires eBay to keep tabs on the legitimacy of products sold on its platform and that the sale of counterfeit goods amounts to false advertising on eBay's part; the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that this is not the case.

Senator Plans Hearings on Electronic Privacy Act

Sen. Patrick Leahy, Democrat from Vermont and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he plans to hold hearings on "much-needed updates" to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 in the coming months. "While the question of how best to balance privacy and security in the 21st century has no simple answer, what is clear is that our federal electronic privacy laws are woefully outdated," Leahy said, in a statement.

Despite Verdict, Unix Copyright Fight Lingers

Although open source advocates around the world celebrated a court victory March 30 when a Salt Lake City jury confirmed that the licensing rights to the Unix operating system belong to Novell and not to the SCO Group, the nearly seven-year-old legal dispute over IP is not yet over. There are still some dangling legal strings that need to be trimmed, and those won't happen for at least a few weeks -- barring any more appeals, of course, by the Lindon, Utah-based SCO Group.

  • Read the article: eWeek

Transportation Department Wants Permanent Ban on Texting by Truckers

The Transportation Department proposed a ban on text messaging at the wheel by interstate truck and bus drivers, following up on its call to reduce distractions that lead to crashes. The proposal would make permanent an interim ban announced in January by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, applying to drivers of buses and commercial trucks over 10,000 pounds.

U.S. Trade Rep Calls Chinese Filtering Complex

China's comprehensive Internet filtering regime for political, social or religious content is complex and opaque -- creating precarious conditions for providers, the U.S. Trade Representative's official said in its annual report to the U.S. Congress. In a report compiled before Google Corp. moved its Chinese search portal to Hong Kong from China this month in a censorship dispute, the USTR said: "changes to Internet filtering can occur without warning or public explanation."

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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.