Judge Blocks Website from Streaming TV Shows

A federal judge in New York issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting FilmOn.com Inc. from streaming copyrighted broadcast-television programming as the big networks intensify their fight to stop Internet companies from distributing their content online. Owners of the major broadcast-television networks are suing FilmOn.com, which streams broadcast TV stations online without their consent, grabbing free over-the-air broadcast signals and converting them to online streams.

Zynga Settles Lawsuit Against Disney's Playdom

Social games maker Zynga Game Network Inc. said it had settled a lawsuit it filed against Walt Disney Co.'s Playdom unit, ending a year-long battle over trade secrets with one of its closest rivals. Zynga, known for games like "Farmville" and "Mafia Wars," sued Playdom in September 2009, alleging that Playdom induced four former Zynga employees to steal trade secrets and use that information to help Playdom develop online social games to compete with Zynga's games.

Groups Complain to FTC About Online Health Services

Four public interest groups filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission urging the agency to investigate whether those offering online health information and services are engaging in unfair and deceptive advertising practices. In their complaint, the Center for Digital Democracy, Consumer Watchdog, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group and the World Privacy Forum alleged that groups and firms engaged in health marketing have established a "stealth interactive" marketing campaign aimed at promoting the use of specific brand drugs and persuading consumers to seek treatments for possible health conditions.

20% of Facebook Users Exposed to Malware

Security software manufacturer BitDefender released some statistics gleaned from Safego, a Facebook application that it offers to users of the social-network to keep an eye on their vulnerability to malware. The big finding: 20 percent of Facebook users are exposed to malicious posts in their "news feeds" of friends' activity, generally defined as posts that, when clicked on, result in "the user's account being hijacked and in malware being automatically posted on the walls of the respective user's friends."

Facebook Blocks Links to "Lamebook" Website

Facebook is ramping up its considerable arsenal to silence Lamebook.com, the wisecracking website that curates and pokes fun at status updates, photos and comments from the giant social-networking site (with an emphasis on bawdy conversations and captions). Facebook blocked links to Lamebook from anywhere on its site, shut down Lamebook's fan page and was working diligently to prevent users from "liking" the company on its pages, according to Lamebook and a Facebook confirmation on TechCrunch.

Motorola Files ITC Patent Complaint Against Microsoft

Motorola Inc.’s Mobility unit filed a patent-infringement complaint against Microsoft Corp. with the U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington, expanding a licensing feud between the two companies. Motorola Mobility, which makes handsets for mobile telephones, said Microsoft’s Xbox gaming system is infringing its patents and is seeking an order to block imports of the products.

Berners-Lee Warns Against Fragmenting Internet

In a call to arms, Internet founder Tim Berners-Lee urged web users to protect the net from becoming a fragmented territory. Citing threats from all the big players in the telecom space -- carriers, social networking sites and search engine operators -- Berners-Lee made his case in a new Scientific American article for Internet users to realize their control over the medium and protect it from commercial interests that could undermine its freedom.

EU Law on Internet Tracking Faces Obstacles

Europe's effort to regulate online "cookies" is crumbling, exposing how tough it is to curb the practice of tracking Internet users' movements on the Web. Seeking to be a leader in protecting online privacy, the European Union last year passed a law requiring companies to obtain consent from Web users when tracking files such as cookies are placed on users' computers, but Internet companies, advertisers, lawmakers, privacy advocates and EU member nations can't agree on the law's meaning.

Bill Would Let DHS Fine Companies for Cybersecurity

Democratic politicians are proposing a novel approach to cybersecurity: fine technology companies $100,000 a day unless they comply with directives imposed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Legislation would allow DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano to levy those and other civil penalties on noncompliant companies that the government deems "critical," a broad term that could sweep in Web firms, broadband providers, and even software companies and search engines.

Judge Orders Website to Remove Excerpts of Palin's Book

A federal judge ordered Gawker to take down excerpts the website posted from Sarah Palin's upcoming book until at least November 30. In his two-page decision, U.S. District Judge Thomas Griesa told Gawker to cease "from continuing to distribute, publish or otherwise transmit pages" from Sarah Palin's "America by Heart" until a hearing scheduled for November 30.

  • Read the article: CNN

Chinese Woman Gets 1-Year Sentence for Tweet

A Chinese woman was sentenced to one year in a labor camp after she forwarded a satirical microblog message that urged recipients to attack the Japanese pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo, human rights groups said. The woman, Cheng Jianping, 46, was accused of "disturbing social order" for resending a Twitter message from her fiancé that mocked young nationalists who held anti-Japanese rallies in several cities last month.

Lieberman Says No Vote Coming on Cybersecurity Bill

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., says that the Senate will not act on cybersecurity legislation during the lame-duck session, punting the issue of how to improve the government's response to cyber threats to the next Congress. Lieberman made the comments during a hearing on the Stuxnet worm that has targeted the control systems of critical infrastructure facilities.

Senate Panel OKs Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act

A controversial proposal allowing the government to pull the plug on Web sites accused of aiding piracy is closer to becoming a federal law. After a flurry of last-minute lobbying from representatives of content providers including the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), a Senate committee approved the measure by a unanimous vote.

Warner Bros. Probes Leak of "Harry Potter" Online

Warner Bros. is investigating how the first 36 minutes of the newest "Harry Potter" film came to be posted on the Internet, four days ahead of the movie's world-wide theatrical debut. A spokesman for the studio, a unit of Time Warner Inc., declined to say whether it had yet figured out the source of the leak, but said an investigation was underway.

On Capitol Hill, Officials Warn of "Stuxnet" Virus

A highly complex computer attack that may have been targeting Iran's nuclear power plants is posing a serious security threat to critical infrastructure worldwide, according to government and cyber-industry experts testifying on Capitol Hill. The computer worm known as Stuxnet was discovered this past July and specifically targets computers that run critical infrastructure such as the electric power grid, water treatment and oil and gas pipelines.

  • Read the article: CNN

FCC Chairman Blames Google, Verizon for Net Neutrality Delay

As net-neutrality efforts remain saddled by delay, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski blamed two corporate giants for helping slow down the process: Google and Verizon. Genachowski said that the release of a net-neutrality legislative proposal by the search giant and the telecommunications company helped slow the FCC's net-neutrality efforts, a process that has been dragging along for more than a year.

Google Reaches Book-Scanning Deal with French Publisher

Google said that it had reached a deal with the publisher Hachette Livre, which has broken ranks with its French rivals and agreed to allow Google to scan thousands of out-of-print books for its digital library project. Under the agreement, which follows a landmark settlement with U.S. publishers last year, Google will be allowed to sell the books it scans as e-books or in other electronic formats.

Chinese Telecom Firm Diverted U.S. Traffic, Report Says

For about 20 minutes in April, a state-owned Chinese telecommunications firm rerouted massive amounts of Internet traffic, including from U.S. military and government networks, through Chinese servers before sending it on its way, according to a Congressional commission report. Evidence related to the incident does not indicate whether it was deliberate, but computer security researchers have noted the capability could enable "severe malicious activities," said the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission in its latest report to Congress.

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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.