Consumer Groups Still Not Happy with Facebook's Privacy

Despite an initially positive response to Facebook's updated privacy policies, several consumer groups that filed a Federal Trade Commission complaint about the social networking site in December said that they still want a completely opt-in approach, and called for regulatory intervention. Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, said during a call with reporters the update had some "positive changes, but much more is needed.

Yahoo, Facebook, eBay Weigh in on YouTube Suit

Yahoo, Facebook and eBay filed a friends-of-the-court brief in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, where Viacom, parent company of MTV Networks and Paramount Pictures, filed a $1 billion copyright lawsuit against Google in March 2007. The three companies have urged District Judge Louis Stanton to dismiss Viacom's suit, arguing that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act protects Internet service providers from liability for copyright violations committed by users.

Germany Considers Legal Action Over Facebook Privacy

Germany's national consumer-protection agency may take legal measures against Facebook if it finds that the social network's new privacy controls do not meet German data-protection standards. Carola Elbrecht, head of digital projects at the VZBV agency, welcomed the changes to privacy settings announced by Facebook but expressed concern that users would still have to actively opt out of default settings making their data public.

EU Privacy Panel Wants More from Google, Microsoft, Yahoo

A panel of European Union data protection authorities has told Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo! that their data retention policies still do not comply with EU law. The Article 29 Data Protection Working Party -- an independent advisory body on data protection and privacy -- sent public letters to the three major search engines saying that although it welcomes their efforts to bring their data retention policies in line with the law, they haven't gone far enough.

LimeWire Wants to Stay Alive as Paid Music Service

The company behind the file sharing software LimeWire is considering aggressively filtering out pirated content and is hoping to strike a deal with the music industry in which it would be permitted to live on as a for-pay music download service, a company executive said. “The biggest challenge right now is changing the behavior of a generation of Internet users to get them to pay for music,” said Zeeshan Zaidi, LimeWire’s 35-year-old chief operating officer, in an interview two weeks after suffering a crushing defeat in a copyright lawsuit that threatens to leave the company insolvent.

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Justice Department Looks at Amazon's "MP3 Daily Deal"

The U.S. Department of Justice has begun asking questions about what Apple's role was in the recent scaling back of special music discounts and promotions at Amazon, according to two high level music industry sources. The sources said investigators have begun speaking to a number of digital music retailers and top record labels about Apple's response to Amazon's "MP3 Daily Deal" a promotional offer created around newly released singles or albums.

Senators to Hold Hearings on Communications Act

Two top Democratic legislators said that they would begin a process to modernize telecommunications laws that were last overhauled in 1996 but barely mention the Internet. Two top Democratic legislators said that they would begin a process to modernize telecommunications laws that were last overhauled in 1996 but barely mention the Internet. Senator John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia, chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, and Representative Henry A. Waxman of California, chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, said in a joint statement that they would hold meetings in June to examine how the Communications Act meets the current needs of consumers, the telecommunications industry and the Federal Communications Commission.

DHS Cybersecurity Director Seeks Accountability

A top Department of Homeland Security official said that contractors that fail to live up to security requirements in federal technology contracts should be held accountable, even if the vulnerabilities originated in products or capabilities provided by suppliers, Nextgov.com reported. In most business situations, "if we have a contractual arrangement and you fail [to meet the requirements], I have legal recourse," said Richard Marshall, director of global cybersecurity management at DHS.

Domain Dispute Filings On Course for Record Year

The WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center, one of four Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy providers, has experienced a record number of filings in the first four months of this year. In 2008 the Center recorded its highest number of filings in a single year, but the figures for filings in the first four months of this year outstrip by 40 the number of filings in the same period during 2008.

ISP Ordered to Pay Defendant in Spam Case

An internet service provider that has brought more than 20 lawsuits alleging spam abuses has been ordered to pay one of the defendants almost $807,000 for filing "groundless claims" that mired the company in years of costly litigation. The $806,978.84 judgment was filed against Asis Internet Services, the same tiny ISP that earlier this month won an award of nearly $2.6m in a separate spam lawsuit.

Google Promised Viacom $600 Million, Documents Show

Not long after Google acquired YouTube, the search engine offered nearly $600 million in guaranteed revenue if Viacom -- the parent company of MTV Networks, Comedy Central, and Paramount Pictures -- licensed its TV shows and films to YouTube, records show. News of Google's offer was revealed in documents released by a Manhattan federal court and reviewed by CNET.