Google confirmed that it's starting to roll out a server-side patch for a security vulnerability in most Android phones that could let hackers snatch important credentials at public Wi-Fi hotspots. "Today we're starting to roll out a fix which addresses a potential security flaw that could, under certain circumstances, allow a third party access to data available in Calendar and Contacts," said a Google spokesman in an emailed statement.
Google has signaled that the company is prepared to oppose the major film and music companies as well as Congress and the president of the United States on a controversial bill designed to thwart online piracy. Google Chairman Eric Schmidt said in London that the company is prepared to go on fighting the bill should it become law, according to published reports.
Britain's 300-year-old copyright laws look set for a shake-up after the government welcomed proposals to put the country on a par with international competitors. Key recommendations of the Digital Opportunity review included the legalization of format shifting -- copying CDs or DVDs on to digital music players or computers for personal use -- which is already legal in all European countries bar Britain, Ireland and Malta.
Sony Corp. said it plugged a new online security hole that could have allowed hackers to gain control of accounts on its PlayStation Network and Qriocity entertainment services. The company said it temporarily took down a Web page that allows people to reset passwords for their PlayStation Network and Qriocity accounts from personal computers after it learned of the security hole, which could allow someone with an account holder's date of birth and email address to gain control of those accounts by resetting their passwords.
When Timi Robertson found out her middle-schooler son was being questioned by the Secret Service and the police at his Tacoma, Wa. school, she says she "just about lost it," -- especially after they told her it was over a Facebook post the boy had written warning President Barack Obama of suicide attacks in the wake of Osama bin Laden's death. By the end of the interview, which occurred May 13, the agent told the boy he was free to go and wasn't in trouble.
Google said the Chinese government is interfering with its email services in China, making it difficult for users to gain access to its Gmail program. Google Inc. said its engineers have determined there are no technical problems with the email service or its main website.
Sony Corp. was unapologetic about its delay in informing the more than 100 million customers of its PlayStation Network whose account information was stolen by hackers last month. In a stark departure from the remorseful tone struck just two weeks ago, when senior executives including heir apparent Kazuo Hirai bowed in apology in Tokyo, Sony Chief Executive Howard Stringer fired back at critics of the company's actions that led up to the attack and its response time to the crisis.
Location-based services, the mobile-phone applications that make use of a person’s geographic location, are attracting growing attention in Washington following reports that phone and software companies might have been sharing location information with third parties. To try to help consumers understand and navigate the services and their privacy implications, the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission will conduct a public education forum on June 28 at FCC headquarters in Washington, the agencies said.
U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy unveiled legislation that would require the government to obtain a search warrant to access location information gathered by companies from their customers' wireless devices. The bill seeks to update the 25-year-old Electronic Communications Privacy Act, according to Leahy, a Vermont Democrat who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee and wrote the original law.
The vast majority of devices running Google's Android operating system are vulnerable to attacks that allow adversaries to steal the digital credentials used to access calendars, contacts, and other sensitive data stored on the search giant's servers, university researchers have warned. The weakness stems from the improper implementation of an authentication protocol known as ClientLogin in Android versions 2.3.3 and earlier, the researchers from Germany's University of Ulm said.
A federal lawsuit over rights to a Twitter feed might sound like a case of bringing a grenade launcher to a squirrel hunt. But the court fight over OMG Facts reminds that the power of a tweet can extend well beyond 140 characters.
The Georgia Supreme Court ruled in favor of the city of Atlanta in a dispute over hotel occupancy taxes owed by online travel companies. In a unanimous decision, the justices agreed with a lower court that Hotels.com LP and other online companies should pay city taxes based on the retail room rate they charge their customers.
A complaint was filed with the Federal Trade Commission alleging that the popular Dropbox file-sharing service has been misleading users about the security and privacy of their files. Dropbox offers cross-platform file synchronization and online backup.
A new bill proposed in California could force Facebook and other social networking sites to strip out personal information for children at a parent's request. SB 242 -- also known as the Social Networking Privacy Act -- would require Facebook and others to carefully police which pieces of information on individuals under age 18 are accessible to the public.
Private/public partnerships are the most effective way to secure most of cyberspace, former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told National Journal. He said there is no question that cyberattacks are taking a toll on the American economy and he said he considers cyberattacks as one of the two greatest threats to the country, along with biological attacks.
Thousands of people in more than 30 cities around Turkey took to the streets to protest a new system of filtering the Internet that opponents consider censorship. The Information and Communications Technologies Authority, known by its Turkish initials as B.T.K., is going to require Internet service providers to offer consumers four choices for filtering the Internet that would limit access to many sites, beginning in August.
The European Commission's advisory panel on data protection plans to urge governments in the European Union to treat the geographic location of cellphone users as personal data, deserving of the highest level of privacy protection. The statement is unlikely to have an immediate influence on the collection of cellphone location data by smartphone makers like Apple, which is being investigated by several European countries for its practices.
Twin brothers who accused Facebook and its founder Mark Zuckerberg of stealing their idea for the social networking website lost their bid to have a federal appeals court void a settlement of their claims. Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss failed to convince the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to reconsider its April 11 ruling upholding the $65 million cash-and-stock settlement they reached with Facebook in 2008.
Disney's Playdom social-gaming service has been ordered by the Federal Trade Commission to pay $3 million in fines for collecting and disclosing children's information without parental approval. According to the FTC, many of Playdom's games, most notably the child-focused Pony Stars, attracted over 400,000 kids between 2006 and 2010.
One administrative law judge of the U.S. International Trade Commission has ruled that Kodak did not infringe Apple patents in its cameras, possibly setting the stage for dismissal of a complaint by Apple. Apple filed a complaint with the ITC last April, saying Kodak had infringed two of its patents and asking the agency to bar Kodak from importing products containing the technology into the U.S.
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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.