Public libraries do not have to turn off their Internet filters for adult patrons who want to view pornography on library computers, the Washington state Supreme Court said. The state’s highest court said the constitutional protections of free speech weren’t violated by Internet filters at the North Central Regional Library District that blocked pornography and other materials the library determined were inappropriate.
Formspring.me, a relatively new social networking site, has become a magnet for comments, many of them nasty and sexual, among the Facebook generation. While Formspring is still under the radar of many parents and guidance counselors, over the last two months it has become an obsession for thousands of teenagers nationwide.
The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission described his push to regulate broadband service providers as a middle ground between two difficult choices, each of which is made possible by a court decision that weakened the agency's ability to oversee companies that provide access to the Web. But critics took issue with his depiction, calling the move a strong push to impose rules on broadband providers.
The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission will try to regulate broadband Internet service despite a recent court ruling that the commission had limited powers to do so. Two FCC officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that Julius Genachowski, the FCC chairman, will announce that the commission considers broadband service a sort of hybrid between an information service and a utility and that it has sufficient power to regulate Internet traffic under existing law.
In a potential blow to Google's efforts to establish itself as a major player in enterprise software, a leading public university has ended its evaluation of Gmail as the official e-mail program for its 30,000 faculty and staff members -- and it's got some harsh words for the search giant. In a joint letter to employees, University of California-Davis CIO Peter Siegel, Academic Senate IT chair Niels Jensen, and Campus Council IT chair Joe Kiskis said the school decided to end its Gmail pilot, which could have led to campus-wide deployment, because faculty members doubted Google's ability to keep their correspondences private.
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.
About : Legal Services | Doug Isenberg | Cases & Clients | Firm News
Resources : YouTube Channel | Daily News | Blog | Masterclass | Domain Dispute Digest
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.