The Obama administration's push to overhaul how the federal government spends its $80 billion a year annual technology budget is off to a bumpy start. Changes already are being made to an eight-month old government website that's supposed to make it easier for federal agencies to save money by purchasing cheaper "cloud computing" services, which allow customers to run software or store information at remote data centers.
The chairmen of the House and Senate Commerce Committees penned a letter to the Federal Communications Commission asking the agency to use all of its authority to push forward on its net neutrality and broadband initiatives. The commission's authority on such issues was called into question recently when a federal court rules that the FCC did not have the authority to hand down a network management enforcement action against Comcast in 2008 -- a move that laid the groundwork for the commission's current net neutrality proceeding.
Some Facebook users' live chat messages and pending friend requests were briefly visible to their contacts, as the result of a bug in the massive social network's "Preview My Profile" feature. Facebook confirmed the contents of a video posted to TechCrunch Europe that demonstrated the flaw, and temporarily disabled its live chat software, but denied that it was a large-scale security problem.
Apple may revamp its developers license to parry possible antitrust inquiries that were triggered by an Adobe complaint filed with federal regulators, reports claimed. But a reversal by Apple may not be enough at this point, an antitrust expert argued.
House Energy and Commerce Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., released draft privacy legislation that would require Web sites to provide enhanced notice about how they use consumer information and obtain a user's consent before collecting sensitive information or sharing data about a consumer with some third parties. In an interview, Boucher said he will use the feedback from the draft to make some possible modifications to the measure.
The tracking and targeting of consumers online has reached "alarming levels," warned a coalition of consumer and privacy groups in a letter to Congress. The collection of 11 groups, which includes Consumer Action, Consumers Union, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said that because the online industry has been unable to regulate itself in protecting the privacy of consumers, it's time for government to step in.
Craigslist.org was subpoenaed by Connecticut’s attorney general, who is investigating whether the popular online classified ad service is doing enough to fight prostitution on its site and whether it may be profiting from it. Richard Blumenthal, the state’s attorney general, is helping lead a group of 39 states looking into the matter.
Advertisers and Internet companies have been scrambling to head off regulation they say will hamper growth of online advertising. The pressure is expected to build as lawmakers prepare to announce proposed privacy legislation.
U.S. antitrust regulators are considering an inquiry into whether Apple violates antitrust law by requiring that its programming tools be used to write applications for the popular iPad and iPhone, a source familiar with the matter said. Both the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department enforce antitrust law, and no decision has been made on which would take the probe, said the source, who spoke privately for business reasons.
China's media regulator vowed a crackdown on online crimes and strengthened monitoring to prevent "overseas hostile forces from infiltrating through the Internet," state media said. Wang Chen, head of the Information Office of the State Council, said the country would intensify a crackdown on online crimes as part of an ongoing campaign that he said netted more than 5,510 suspects last year.
A new survey finds that while more than 90 percent of private and public sector security experts say cyber attacks pose a serious threat, they differ on whether each side is doing enough to protect their networks. The poll, released before the start of a worldwide cybersecurity summit in Dallas, found that 70 percent of government officials surveyed said private-sector networks were not secure enough, while only 39 percent of private sector security officials surveyed believed government networks were not secure enough.
A U.S. federal jury found that Novell and Red Hat were not guilty of infringing on user interface patents held by IP Innovation LLC. IP Innovation LLC, a Northbrook, Ill.-based subsidiary of Acacia Research Corporation and Technology Licensing Corporation, brought the suit against the two companies in 2007, claiming that they had infringed on three patents.
The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission has indicated he wants to keep broadband services deregulated, according to sources, even as a federal court decision has exposed weaknesses in the agency's ability to be a strong watchdog over the companies that provide access to the Web. The FCC currently has "ancillary" authority over broadband providers such as Comcast, AT&T and Verizon and must adequately justify actions over those providers.
Privacy issues have prompted marketers to use online behavioral advertising -- based on tracking a user’s Web browsing habits -- 75 percent less than they would otherwise, according to a report by the Ponemon Institute, a privacy research group. The 90 companies and organizations surveyed curtailed their behavioral advertising, even though they estimated the tracking-based ads were 50 percent more efficient in generating sales than conventional online display ads.
Privacy issues have prompted marketers to use online behavioral advertising — based on tracking a user’s Web browsing habits — 75 percent less than they would otherwise, according to a report by the Ponemon Institute, a privacy research group.
The 90 companies and organizations surveyed curtailed their behavioral advertising, even though they estimated the tracking-based ads were 50 percent more efficient in generating sales than conventional online display ads.
A college student who hacked into Sarah Palin's e-mail account and posted some of its contents on the Internet was found guilty. The jury convicted David Kernell, 22, on two charges: unauthorized access to a computer and obstruction of justice.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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