EFF, MoveOn.org Tackle Privacy Issues with Facebook

Two nonprofit groups with a history of criticizing Facebook's privacy policies put out splashy messages to voice their opposition to the social network's latest changes: The Electronic Frontier Foundation published a timeline of Facebook's privacy policy modifications over the years, and liberal activist group MoveOn.org launched a Facebook group called "Facebook, respect my privacy!" in response to its new "Instant Personalization" option that shares a significant amount of profile data.

Russia Added to List of U.S. Copyright Infringers

The United States placed Russia on its list of countries with the worst records of preventing copyright theft for the 13th straight year, just days after the two nations agreed to intensify talks on Moscow's bid to join the World Trade Organization. The U.S. Trade Representative's office also put China on its "priority watch list" for the sixth consecutive year and Canada for the second.

ISPs Ask FCC Not to Classify Broadband as Telecom

Representatives from three major Internet service providers and five industry trade groups sent a letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski to discourage the agency against classifying broadband as a telecommunications service, which would boost the FCC's power to regulate broadband providers. In the letter, AT&T, Verizon, Time Warner Cable, and other signers pushed back on the argument that classifying broadband in this way would be returning to oversight schemes that existed before the FCC was under the control of the administration of Republican President George W. Bush, which consumer advocates say imposed deregulatory policies.

Sony Sued for Ending Linux Support for PS3

When Sony nerfed Linux support for the PS3 in early April, we knew it was only a matter of time before someone pulled a pack of lawyers out of their pocket. Sure enough, a complaint filed in San Francisco federal court is after class action status to wring compensation from Sony for yanking what some considered a quintessential feature of the company's flagship games console.

Man Who Found iPhone Prototype Says He Has Regrets

The person who found and sold an Apple iPhone prototype says he regrets not doing more to return the device to its owner, according to a statement provided by his attorney in response to queries from Wired.com. Brian J. Hogan, a 21-year-old resident of Redwood City, California, says although he was paid by tech site Gizmodo, he believed the payment was for allowing the site exclusive access to review the phone.

  • Read the article: Wired

Judge Dismisses Rosetta Stone's Keyword Lawsuit

Without comment, Judge Gerald Lee of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia threw out a lawsuit filed by language software company Rosetta Stone in a victory for Google before it ever came to trial. Rosetta Stone had originally filed suit hoping to stop Google from selling trademarked keywords to companies that did not hold the rights to those trademarks, a practice which Rosetta Stone argued has confused consumers and harmed its brand.

Google's Street View Faces New Privacy Concerns in Germany

Google’s plan to offer Street View photo mapping in Germany, which has bumped up against the country’s strict privacy laws, has come in for renewed criticism after regulators learned that the company, a search engine giant, was also archiving the locations of household wireless networks. Google’s Street View technology has been accepted in countries like Britain and France, but has encountered greater resistance in Germany and Switzerland, where data privacy laws are stricter than in the rest of Europe or in the United States.

Tech Companies Resist Changes to Child Privacy Law

Industry leaders cautioned federal lawmakers during a hearing not to seek too drastic changes to long-standing rules that govern how websites safeguard children's privacy. While both Microsoft and Facebook argue that recent technological advances, including the rise of the mobile Web, necessitate new protections for children under 13, they signaled that aggressive changes to the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) would harm innovation and perhaps even the law's original intent.

NBA Player Fined for Criticizing Official on Blog

Dwight Howard became the latest victim of the National Basketball Association's tough stance against criticizing game officials as the league handed the Orlando Magic center a $35,000 fine. Howard, a four-times All-Star and the first overall pick by Orlando in the 2004 draft, was fined for public criticism of officiating that appeared on his personal blog on April 27, the league said in a statement.

City Engineer Convicted for Not Disclosing Passwords

A former San Francisco network engineer was convicted of felony computer tampering after a trial in which prosecutors portrayed him as bent on protecting his "kingdom" -- the city system he created -- by refusing to surrender passwords to his bosses. Terry Childs, 45, of Pittsburg, was found guilty of a felony charge of denying computer access.

Microsoft-HTC Patent Deal Could Signal Android Fight

Will the next big legal battle be Microsoft vs. Google regarding the search engine giant's Android mobile operating system? Microsoft signed a patent agreement with HTC that provides broad coverage under Microsoft's patent portfolio for Android-based HTC phones, but media reports suggest that Microsoft is now publicly asserting that Android infringes on Microsoft intellectual property.

Gizmodo Lawyer Considers Suit Over iPhone Warrant

A lawyer for Gizmodo says the gadget blog could sue the sheriff's office in San Mateo County, Calif., for raiding an editor's home as part of a criminal probe into an errant iPhone prototype. The option of a lawsuit "is available because search is not the appropriate method in this situation," said Thomas R. Burke, a media lawyer and partner in the San Francisco offices of Davis Wright Tremaine.

Senators Express Privacy Concerns to Facebook

U.S. lawmakers told Facebook they were concerned about changes in its privacy policy that would allow personal information to be viewed by more than friends, and options on other websites that would allow third parties to save information about Facebook users and friends. In a letter to Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg dated April 27, Senators Charles Schumer, Michael Bennet, Mark Begich and Al Franken objected to changes that made a user's current city, hometown, likes, interests and friends publicly available, where they were previously only seen by friends.

Conservative Group Wants Apple to Drop Porn Apps

The socially conservative Parents Television Council thinks a wealth of salacious apps are currently available for iPhone users -- things like "My Vibe," which converts the iPhone into a vibrator, and "Love Positions Free," which has drawings of couples having sex. The group has publicly demanded that Apple stop providing porn to children -- and clean up its act.

Fake Antivirus Offerings Rising, Google Reports

A rise in fake antivirus offerings on Web sites around the globe shows that scammers are increasingly turning to social engineering to get malware on computers rather than exploiting holes in software, a Google study indicates. Fake antivirus -- false pop-up warnings designed to scare money out of computer users -- represents 15 percent of all malware that Google detects on Web sites, according to 13-month analysis the company conducted between January 2009 and February 2010.

Senator Urges FTC to Examine Social-Networking Privacy

New York Senator Charles Schumer has come out swinging against new announcements by Facebook that modify how much member data is shared with third-party companies, suggesting that the Federal Trade Commission needs to promptly address the issue of social-network privacy. A press release from Schumer's office announced that he has written to the FTC to ask that the agency "examine the privacy disclosures of social-networking sites to ensure they are not misleading or fail to fully disclose the extent to which they share information... (and) provide guidelines for use of private information and prohibit access without user permission."

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