Craigslist Asked for Clarification on Adult Listings Ban

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal wants Craigslist Inc. to confirm that it has permanently closed its controversial adult-services section after the company removed those ads from its Web site and replaced it with the word "censored." In a statement, Mr. Blumenthal said he sent a letter to the company seeking confirmation the section has been closed and asking the company to explain what other steps it has taken to block advertisements for prostitution in other parts of its Web site.

  • Read the article: The Wall Street Journal

Lawsuit Seeks to Stop Laptop Searches at Airports

The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers is among the plaintiffs in a new lawsuit that seeks to restrict airport searches of laptops and other electronic devices. The association -- as well as a group of photographers and a doctoral student -- says the searches as they are done now violate the Fourth Amendment because customs officials are not required to have suspicion of wrongdoing before searching and copying electronic information.

Craigslist Blocks Listings for Adult Services

Online classified service Craigslist's decision to censor its adult services section could be a model for other websites, a leader in the fight against prostitution ads said. "This step is very much in the right direction," said Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who spearheaded a letter from 17 attorneys general who recently banded together to urge Craigslist to discontinue its adult services section.

"Hurt Locker" Producers Seek File-Sharers' Identities

Producers of "The Hurt Locker" are finally moving to acquire the names of people they accuse of sharing this year's "Best Picture" winner on peer-to-peer sites. Qwest Communications notified a customer in Denver that the Internet service provider has received a subpoena from lawyers representing Voltage Pictures, the production company that made the movie.

Senate Candidate Sued for Posting Newspaper Articles

In a lawsuit, Las Vegas-based Righthaven LLC says Nevada Republican Senate nominee Sharron Angle has violated copyright laws by posting two newspapers stories in their entirety on her campaign website. Righthaven is asking a federal district judge for statutory damages for willful infringement of the two articles, attorneys' fees and control of Angle's domain name, sharronangle.com.

Websites in Jordan Escape Middle East Restraints

Mocking officials online, exposing high-level corruption and discussing political tension could land journalists in many autocratic Middle East states in jail. Unlike neighboring Syria or Saudi Arabia, where access to the Internet is restricted and some bloggers and cyber journalists have been jailed, Jordan's independent Internet sites have been relatively free.

Juror Who Posted on Facebook Ordered to Write Essay

A Detroit-area woman who was removed from a jury for commenting about the ongoing case on Facebook has a longer writing task ahead: a five-page essay about the constitutional right to a fair trial. A judge ordered the essay for Hadley Jons, three weeks after she wrote on Facebook that it was "gonna be fun to tell the defendant they're GUILTY."

White House, Registrars to Discuss Illegal Internet Pharmacies

The White House has called a meeting for later this month with the group that manages the Internet's domain name system to discuss ways to crack down on illegal online pharmacies. The meeting with officials from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers will take place Sept. 29 with White House Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator Victoria Espinel and other White House and agency officials, a spokeswoman for the White House Office of Management and Budget confirmed.

India Includes Google, Skype in Security Probe

India added Google and Skype to its electronic security crackdown and began accessing some of the traffic carried on its initial target, Research In Motion's BlackBerry. In the latest salvo of a campaign driven by fear that unmonitored email puts Indian security at risk, Home Secretary G.K. Pillai said notices were being sent to Google and Skype asking them to set up servers in India and allow officials access to web data that militants could misuse.

FCC Considering Different Rules for Wireless Carriers

U.S. communications regulators said they are considering whether wireless devices should be subject to different Internet traffic rules than telephone and cable lines, in a potential victory for carriers. At issue is net neutrality, a term that means high-speed Internet providers should not block or slow information, or make websites pay to reach users more quickly.

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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.