EU Launches Probe of Google's Business Practices

European Union authorities have broadened their investigation of Google by accepting two complaints from Germany, one involving a powerful group of newspaper and magazine publishers and the other, a mapping company, officials said. Joaquin Almunia, the EU competition commissioner, announced the opening of a broad case against Google at the end of November, saying his investigators would focus on whether Google gave preferential treatment to its own services when ranking search results, and whether it discriminated against competitors.

Apple, Oracle Join Microsoft in Buying Novell Patents

Several high-profile technology giants including Apple Inc. and Oracle Corp. have been identified as members of a Microsoft Corp.-led consortium buying 882 patents from Novell Inc., though it's unclear why the traditional rivals have banded together to buy the massive trove of intellectual property. When Novell's sale to Attachmate Corp. was announced last month, the business software developer also disclosed the sale of the patents for $450 million to CPTN Holdings LLC, which was described only as "a consortium of technology companies organized by Microsoft."

Republican Senators Seek to Stop Net Neutrality Vote

Twenty-nine GOP senators are urging FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski not to proceed with his Dec. 21 vote on enforceable "network neutrality" rules barring anticompetitive behavior by communications companies that serve as gateways to the Internet. Among the signatories of a Dec. 15 letter to the agency chief are Senate Commerce ranking member Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., the ranking Republican on the Senate Commerce communications subcommittee, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

Federal Privacy Policy Office Recommended

A Commerce Department task force, seeking to develop a framework for online privacy that would benefit both consumers and businesses, called for the creation of an office within the department that would work to strengthen privacy policies in the United States and coordinate initiatives with other countries. The Privacy Policy Office, proposed by the department’s Internet Policy Task Force, would work with the administration, the Federal Trade Commission and other agencies on issues surrounding international and commercial data privacy issues.

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.

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.