Courtney Love Settles Suit Over Tweets for $430,000

Courtney Love's 140 character Twitter rants against a fashion designer are costing her more than $430,000, an attorney says. The singer has settled a lawsuit filed by Dawn Simorangkir, who sued the Hole frontwoman in March 2009 accusing her of making false statements about the designer and her past in a series of postings on the microblogging site Twitter and Love's Myspace blog.

Justice Department Probes Online Video Technologies

The Justice Department is investigating whether a group representing some top technology firms is unfairly trying to smother a free rival technology for delivering online video that is backed by Google Inc., according to people familiar with the matter. Much the way firms battled in the 1980s over VHS and Betamax video formats, tech rivals are fighting over the technology used to deliver and display Web video.

Lawmakers Plan New Push to Legalize Gambling Online

House Financial Services Committee ranking member Barney Frank, D-Mass., has found a new partner in his quest to legalize Internet gambling and to reverse a 2006 law that outlawed it. Rep. John Campbell, R-Calif., plans to introduce with Frank a similar version of legislation the Massachusetts Democrat helped push through the Financial Services Committee in the last Congress.

Amazon Threatens to Cut Affiliates in Tax Dispute

Amazon.com has threatened to cut off more than 10,000 affiliates in California if state lawmakers pass legislation requiring the Internet retailer to collect sales tax from state residents. Seattle-based Amazon said four bills introduced in the state legislature are unconstitutional because they would require sellers with no physical presence in California to collect sales tax from its residents, Paul Misener, Amazon's vice president for global public policy, wrote in a letter to the California Board of Equalization, the state agency responsible for collecting property and sales taxes.

States Consider Legalizing Internet Gambling

Efforts to legalize online gambling in the U.S. are moving to the states as lawmakers roll the dice on bills that aim to steer around federal laws effectively prohibiting Internet wagering. The first real test of the state efforts comes in New Jersey, where Gov. Chris Christie is expected to decide the fate of a bill that would let Atlantic City casino companies run gambling websites for state residents.

Former Sen. Dodd to Become CEO of MPAA

Former Senator Christopher Dodd, who chose not to run for reelection last year after controversies including an ethics probe and the taking of preferential mortgages from Countrywide's CEO, will be the new head of the Motion Picture Association of America. The MPAA said that Dodd, who had served in the Senate since 1981, would become its new chairman and chief executive officer as of March 17.

China's Baidu Cited by U.S. as Facilitator of Piracy

The U.S. government has labeled China's top search engine, Baidu, and a popular e-commerce platform "notorious markets" linked to sales of pirated and fake goods. The two companies were among 33 websites or public markets in China, Russia, India and other countries that the U.S. Trade Representative's office said facilitate trade in music, clothing and other goods that are fake or unauthorized copies.

Obama Administration Speaking Out Against ICANN

The California nonprofit organization that operates the Internet's levers has always been a target for global heavies like Russia and China that prefer the United Nations in charge of the Web. But these days, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is fending off attacks from a seemingly unlikely opposition: the Obama administration.

Companies Pushing Internet Privacy Protection Products

As the surreptitious tracking of Internet users becomes more aggressive and widespread, tiny start-ups and technology giants alike are pushing a new product: privacy. Companies including Microsoft Corp., McAfee Inc. -- and even some online-tracking companies themselves -- are rolling out new ways to protect users from having their movements monitored online.

Compromised Android App Runs Up Big Texting Bills

A rogue Android app that's been tweaked by hackers can hijack a smartphone and run up big texting bills before the owner knows it, Symantec said. The newest in a line of compromised Android apps, said Vikram Thakur, a principle security response manager at Symantec, is Steamy Window, a free program that Chinese hackers have modified, then re-released into the wild.

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.