Europe Finds Flaws in Internet Filtering Software

The European Commission released the results of a survey it conducted that found while most software programs it tested do a good job of blocking kids from accessing certain websites, they are less effective at blocking access to social networking sites and blogs. The commission, the European Union's regulatory arm, analyzed 25 parental control tools for personal computers, three aimed at video game consoles and two for mobile phones and found that 84 percent are good at allowing parents to block access to certain websites, but at least 20 percent of sites offering "unsuitable" material for kids could pass through the filters, while blocking sites targeted for children.

Justice Department May Challenge Google-ITA Deal

The Justice Department is laying the groundwork for a potential court challenge to Google Inc.'s acquisition of a travel-software company that powers some of the most popular Internet airline-ticket search and booking sites, people familiar with the matter said. Justice Department staff lawyers have begun preparing legal documents for use in a possible court challenge to the $700 million deal for ITA Software Inc., but no decision to proceed has been made, one of the people familiar with the matter said.

Official Indicted for Fixing LCD Panel Prices

A federal grand jury in San Francisco has indicted a president of a Taiwanese technology company on a price-fixing charge. Ding Hui Joe, also known as David Joe, of Hannstar Display Corp. was charged with a participating in a global conspiracy to fix prices of thin-film transistor liquid crystal display panels, which are the flat display screens used in many laptop computers, cell phones and new TVs.

FBI Seeks Loughner's Internet Game Records

The Federal Bureau of Investigation asked the administrator of an Internet game to hand over records of communications by Jared Loughner, following a Wall Street Journal article describing disturbing messages the accused shooter wrote over a three-month period last year. In an interview, David McVittie, the administrator of the Web game Earth Empires, said he was contacted by the FBI, which requested the files, including 131 messages that Mr. Loughner wrote.

Sony Sues to Stop Jailbreaking of PS3

Lawyers for Sony Computer Entertainment have asked a San Francisco District Court judge to block the release of code that would enable the "jailbreaking" of the Sony PlayStation 3. SCEA filed suit against George Hotz (AKA "geohot") as well as "Bushing," Hector Martin Cantero, Sven Peter, and others alleged to be part of the FAIL0VERFLOW group of hackers that contributed to the release of the PlayStation 3's root key.

European Politicians Protest WikiLeaks-Twitter Move

An influential group of European politicians is protesting the U.S. government's attempt to pry WikiLeaks-related information out of Twitter, saying that EU privacy rules may have been violated. The parliamentary maneuver expected tomorrow comes as London-based lawyers for WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange warned that their client could face illegal rendition to the United States, execution, or indefinite detention "at Guantanamo Bay or elsewhere," and a U.K. judge set a two-day extradition hearing to start on February.

Microsoft Opposes Apple's "App Store" Trademark

Apple's effort to trademark the name "App Store" has run in to opposition from Microsoft, which argues the phrase is too generic to register and would restrict competitors' ability to use of the term to describe their own services. A week after Apple launched its App Store for iPhone apps in 2008, the company applied for a trademark for "app store," a retail store offering "services featuring computer software provided via the internet and other computer and electronic communication networks," as well as other services, according to its application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Winklevoss Twins Ask Appeals Court to Undo Facebook Settlement

Facebook Inc.’s settlement of claims that its founder Mark Zuckerberg stole the idea for the social- networking company should be undone, former college classmates of Zuckerberg told an appeals court. The ex-Harvard University classmates, twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, asked a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco to void the 2008 agreement because closely held Facebook, based in Palo Alto, California, didn’t disclose an accurate valuation of its shares before agreeing to pay them $65 million in stock and cash. In the same year, a lower court ruled the accord was binding.

Groups Want FCC to Probe MetroPCS on Net Neutrality

A coalition of self-described public interest groups is urging federal regulators to investigate wireless provider MetroPCS for blocking certain Internet content. In a letter, the groups accuse MetroPCS of violating recently enacted net neutrality rules that prohibit anti-competitive blocking and degrading of competing online services and are enforceable by the Federal Communications Commission.

WikiLeaks Supporters May Fight Twitter Disclosures

Two prominent WikiLeaks supporters in the Netherlands and Iceland are consulting U.S. lawyers about ways to stop the Justice Department getting their Twitter records in a probe into the leak of secret documents. Rop Gonggrijp, a Dutch Internet activist who worked with WikiLeaks last year, said he and Birgitta Jonsdottir, a member of Iceland's Parliament, want to quash a December 14 U.S. court order requiring Twitter to turn over their account records to U.S. prosecutors.

Senate to Revisit Online Infringement Legislation

The U.S. Senate judiciary committee will take another crack at arming the government with broad antipiracy powers. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the judiciary committee's chairman, said that the government must take action against "online criminals" who harm American jobs by obtaining the nation's intellectual property without paying for it. Leahy made the statements as he laid out the committee's agenda for this session of Congress.

Tunisian Government Alleged to Break Into Facebook Accounts

According to a report by the Committee to Protect Journalists, the Tunisian government appears to be breaking into the Facebook, Google, and Yahoo accounts of dissidents and journalists. Hackers with unusual levels of access to Tunisia's state-control network infrastructure have managed to gain access to Facebook accounts belonging to individuals such as journalists Sofiene Chourabi of al-Tariq al-Jadid (New Path; a newspaper affiliated with the opposition Movement Ettajdid party) and independent video journalist Haythem El Mekki, while gaining the passwords of others.

European Experts Want Time Limits on Digitized Works

Companies like Google that digitize artworks and books from public bodies should allow other companies and institutions to commercialize those materials after seven years, three experts advising the European Commission said. The experts, including Maurice C. Lévy, the chairman and chief executive of Publicis, a communications and advertising company based in Paris, also encouraged the emergence of additional innovative companies besides Google to help digitize Europe’s cultural heritage.

RIM to Implement BlackBerry Filtering in Indonesia

Research In Motion Ltd. said it will implement Internet filtering in Indonesia "as soon as possible," after a minister threatened to shut down Internet browsing on BlackBerry smartphones if the company didn't block websites that have pornography. It will be the first time the company will apply Internet filtering in any country, according to a RIM executive in Indonesia.

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.