"Textual Harassment" Becoming More Popular

"Textual harassment" has become a growing aspect of dating violence at a time when cellphones and unlimited texting plans are ubiquitous among the young. Harassment is "just easier now, and it's even more persistent and constant, with no letting up," says Claire Kaplan, director of sexual and domestic violence services at the University of Virginia, which became the focus of national attention in May with the killing of 22-year-old lacrosse player Yeardley Love.

Venture Capitalists Eye Privacy-Related Companies

As privacy snafus mount across companies such as Facebook Inc. and AT&T Inc., venture capitalists have spotted a new market opening and are pumping millions of dollars into privacy-related start-ups. The jump in privacy-related investments underscores how ways to protect privacy on the Web and on mobile gadgets is increasingly viewed as a real business.

Supreme Court Allows Search of Officer's Text Messages

The Supreme Court ruled that a search of sexually explicit text messages sent by a police officer on a department pager was reasonable and did not violate his privacy rights. The justices unanimously overturned a ruling by a U.S. appeals court in California that found that reading the text messages sent on an employer-provided electronic device violated the worker's constitutional privacy rights.

FCC Vote Starts Move Toward Broadband Regulation

The Federal Communications Commission voted 3 to 2 to move toward giving itself the authority to regulate the transmission component of broadband Internet service, a power the commission's majority believes is central to expanding the availability of broadband. The vote formally begins a period of public comment on an FCC proposal to overturn a previous commission ruling that classified broadband transmission as a lightly regulated information service.

New York Creating Digital Database to Flag Child Porn

The office of New York attorney general Andrew Cuomo has spearheaded the creation of a database of "digital fingerprints" to flag child pornography, an announcement explained. With the hash values of over 8,000 known child-porn images stored in the database, Cuomo said that he hopes its intended clients -- social-networking, file-sharing, and photo storage sites -- will start to use it "immediately."

FBI Searches Home of Hacker in iPad E-mail Probe

The FBI searched the home of one of the alleged hackers who breached AT&T's website, capturing 114,000 e-mail addresses of Apple iPad 3G customers, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. Andrew "Escher" Auernheimer, a member of Goatse, the group that hacked AT&T's website recently, was in jail in Arkansas on charges related to illegal drugs found during the FBI's search of his Fayetteville, Ark. home, the Journal reported.

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Privacy Activists Say Facebook Hasn't Done Enough

Facebook's recent announcement that it had simplified and enhanced its privacy settings wasn't enough to satisfy the privacy activists that have become some of its sharpest critics. In an open letter, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the ACLU of Northern California, and the Center for Democracy and Technology urged Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to make "instant personalization" opt-in by default and provide more privacy options including allowing users to "control every piece of information they can share via Facebook."

U.S. Unprepared to Fight Cyber Attacks, Report Says

The U.S. government's ability to counter cyber attacks against its nonmilitary computer systems is largely ineffective, according to a report from an internal watchdog. The Homeland Security Department branch that monitors cyber attacks can't force other agencies to protect their systems, is woefully understaffed and its ability to manage responses to cyber attacks has been hindered by constant turnover, said the department's inspector general.

Lieberman Defends Internet Emergency Powers

Sen. Joseph Lieberman defended his proposal to grant the president far-reaching emergency powers to seize control of or shut down portions of the Internet. It's vital that the president can "say to an electric company or to say to Verizon, in the national interest, 'There's an attack about to come, and I hereby order you to put a patch on this, or put your network down on this part, or stop accepting any incoming from country A,'" said Lieberman.

Arms Fair in Paris on Alert for Cyber Spies

Top arms groups are on high alert to counter cyber spies from stealing their own secrets at a major arms bazaar outside Paris, even as they market new ways to clients on how to repel hackers in the digital battlespace. France is hosting the world's largest arms fair for land forces near Paris airport Charles de Gaulle, attended by up to 50,000 people who make, buy and use advanced weapons.

FBI Reports Increase in Vacation Home Scams Online

Though there are plenty of legitimate offerings on Craigslist and Vacation Rental by Owner and HomeAway and a host of other sites, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center reports that sham vacation home offers are only the latest in a long list of online fraud operations it tracks. The center began noticing the scams last year, said Charles Pavelites, the special agent who heads the complaint center.

More Plaintiffs' Law Firms Seek Clients Online

Law firms, particularly those that represent plaintiffs, are increasingly devoting resources to developing a presence online, where consumers -- and potential clients -- congregate. And some of those firms are also creating news sites, which disclose that they are affiliated with law firms, but have the look and feel of community forums or news boards.

More Security Flaws Discovered on Mobile Devices

The exposure of prominent iPad users' email addresses and device IDs has underscored how security is becoming a bigger concern for mobile devices. In 2009, security experts identified 30 security flaws in the software and operating systems of smartphones made by companies like Apple, Nokia Corp. and BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd., up from 16 the previous year, according to a review of records in the National Vulnerability Database, a repository created in 2005 by an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Submissions are vetted and rated according to their severity.

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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.