Air Force Bans Access to Sites with WikiLeaks Data

The Air Force is barring its personnel from using work computers to view the Web sites of The New York Times and more than 25 other news organizations and blogs that have posted secret cables obtained by WikiLeaks, Air Force officials said. When Air Force personnel on the service’s computer network try to view the Web sites of The Times, the British newspaper The Guardian, the German magazine Der Spiegel, the Spanish newspaper El País and the French newspaper Le Monde, as well as other sites that posted full confidential cables, the screen says “Access Denied: Internet usage is logged and monitored,” according to an Air Force official whose access was blocked and who shared the screen warning with The Times.

Shutterfly, Kodak Sue Each Other for Patent Infringement

Eastman Kodak Co. and rival Shutterfly Inc. have filed suit against each other, claiming patent infringement as competition heats up in the online photography market. Shutterfly, an Internet-based photo publishing service, said it received notice that Kodak had filed suit against the company, alleging it infringes Kodak's patents by making and selling image products through its website.

Court Says Warrant Needed to Access E-mail Records

Police must obtain search warrants before perusing Internet users' e-mail records, a federal appeals court ruled in a landmark decision that struck down part of a 1986 law allowing warrantless access. In case involving a penile-enhancement entrepreneur convicted of fraud and other crimes, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals said that the practice of warrantless access to e-mail messages violates the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits "unreasonable" searches and seizures.

French Antitrust Watchdog Targets Google

France's antitrust watchdog said that Google Inc. has a dominant position in the French Internet search advertising market, a decision that could lead to further scrutiny of the U.S.-based web giant's business practices in the country. In its opinion -- which the competition watchdog said is the first of its kind worldwide -- the Autorité said that ads which appear when people type queries into an Internet search engine form a specific market, which Google dominates.

Customs Officials, Music Industry Defend Site Shutdowns

Immigration and Customs Enforcement has not explained how it selected music sites that it shut down, accused of copyright infringement and selling counterfeit goods, but a spokesman for the Recording Industry of Association of America, which represents the major music labels, said it had worked with ICE and other federal agencies in identifying infringing sites. “The sites and services we identify are flagrantly violating federal copyright laws, illegally offering songs of well-known artists or pre-release content not commercially available online or in any store,” said the trade group spokesman, Jonathan Lamy.

Facebook Faces Difficult Decisions on Removing Content

Facebook's decision in the WikiLeaks matter illustrates the complexities that the company grapples with, on issues as diverse as that controversy, verbal bullying among teenagers, gay-baiting and religious intolerance. With Facebook’s prominence on the Web -- its more than 500 million members upload more than one billion pieces of content a day -- the site's role as an arbiter of free speech is likely to become even more pronounced.

Data Breach Exposes McDonald's Customers' Info

McDonald's Corp. says some of its customers' private information was exposed during a data breach. The company said Monday that a third party was able to get past security measures and see into a database of its customer information that included e-mail, phone numbers, addresses, birthdates and other specifics that they provided when signing up for online promotions or other subscriptions to its websites.

WikiLeaks-Inspired Attacks Test Online Defenses

The computer attacks against Visa Inc., PayPal and other companies that cut off ties with WikiLeaks are testing businesses' digital preparedness for what has become a high-stakes cyber war. The fact that financial companies like MasterCard and Visa have left part of their operations vulnerable raises questions of whether businesses are using every tool available to them to gird for attacks from a more-sophisticated cyber army.

Lawsuits Called of Limited Value Against Piracy

Lawyers representing independent filmmakers, including the studio that produced Oscar-winner "The Hurt Locker," might learn something from a document filed with the U.S. Department of Commerce by music, television, and film industry trade groups. "The role of lawsuits in solving the online theft problem is clearly limited," wrote the coalition that included the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA).

Dutch Prosecution Website Blocked in WikiLeaks Protest

Cyber activists attacking organizations seen as foes of WikiLeaks briefly blocked a Dutch prosecution website after a 16-year-old suspected of involvement in the campaign was arrested in the country. The activists also tried to block the website of online payment firm Moneybookers, but denied their attacks were intended to create business turmoil or badly disrupt online Christmas shopping.

ICANN Delays Approval of New Domain Name Process

Internet regulatory body ICANN postponed approval of a mechanism to let groups apply for and manage new Internet domain extensions called generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs), such as the existing .com and .net. More time is needed to work through some remaining issues, the board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers board said in a resolution approved at a meeting in Cartagena, Colombia.

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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.