Tennessee lawmakers in country music’s capital have passed a groundbreaking measure that would make it a crime to use a friend’s login -- even with permission -- to listen to songs or watch movies from services such as Netflix and Rhapsody. The bill, which has been signed by Gov. Bill Haslam and takes effect July 1, was pushed by recording industry officials to try to stop the loss of billions of dollars to illegal music sharing.
Cyber security is now a diplomatic priority for the United States with Washington looking to build relationships to tackle information theft and reduce the risk of conflict, a senior official said. State Department coordinator for cyber issues, Christopher Painter, said the United States faced a host of potential threats in cyberspace from freelance hackers to militants and potentially rival states.
Facebook sharpened its attack on Paul Ceglia, a New York man who says that a 2003 work-for-hire contract with Mark Zuckerberg, the company’s founder, entitles him to half of Mr. Zuckerberg’s stake. In a legal motion filed in federal court in Buffalo, Facebook provided details and expert testimony to support its claims that the contract at the center of Mr. Ceglia’s lawsuit was doctored and that a series of purported emails between the two men was fabricated.
The U.S. government is investigating reports from Google that hackers attempted to break into the Gmail accounts of senior government officials but at this point doesn't believe any accounts were actually breached. "Speaking on behalf of the U.S. government, we're looking into these reports and seeking to gather the facts," said Caitlin Hayden, deputy spokesperson for the National Security Agency.
Top human rights officials from four international organizations called on governments to do more to respect freedom of expression on the Internet. The declaration was issued by rapporteurs who deal with human rights and freedom of expression issues from the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Organization of American States, and the African Commission on Human Rights and Peoples' Rights.
When young dissidents in Egypt were organizing an election-monitoring project last fall, they discussed their plans over Skype, the popular Internet phone service, believing it to be secure. But someone else was listening in -- Egypt's security service.
Google Inc. said it uncovered a computer attack from China targeting prominent users of its Gmail service, potentially further complicating relations between the Internet giant and the country with the highest number of Internet users. Google said hundreds of Gmail users, including U.S. government officials, Chinese activists and journalists, were tricked into sharing their passwords with "bad actors" based in China.
Ignoring Apple's public assertion that its developers are protected by its patent licensing agreements, Lodsys filed a patent infringement claim against seven developers who have created apps for iOS, Mac OS X, and Android. In so doing, Lodsys has increased pressure on Apple and Google to indemnify their developers or propose a settlement, lest developers conclude that the risks of developing mobile applications outweigh the potential rewards.
Democratic Representative Anthony Weiner has hired an attorney to investigate the hacking of his Twitter account after a lewd photo was sent to one of his followers, his office said. His office confirmed to Reuters that the New York congressman, who has a high profile as an advocate of liberal causes, has hired an attorney to advise him on whether or not he could press criminal charges as a result of the alleged hack of his Twitter account.
Top Pentagon contractors have been bleeding secrets for years as a result of penetrations of their computer networks, current and former national security officials say. The Defense Department, which runs its own worldwide eavesdropping, spying and code-cracking systems, says more than 100 foreign intelligence organizations have been trying to break into U.S. networks.
Yahoo and Alibaba Group have informally agreed to end a three-week old dispute over the ownership of the Chinese payment service, Alipay. But the deal is far from final because Softbank Corporation, the other party in the talks, has yet to agree, according to a person who was briefed on the matter and demanded anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations.
The Pentagon has concluded that computer sabotage coming from another country can constitute an act of war, a finding that for the first time opens the door for the U.S. to respond using traditional military force. The Pentagon's first formal cyber strategy, unclassified portions of which are expected to become public next month, represents an early attempt to grapple with a changing world in which a hacker could pose as significant a threat to U.S. nuclear reactors, subways or pipelines as a hostile country's military.
Samsung Electronics has asked a U.S. court to force Apple to hand over its next-generation models of the iPhone and iPad in the latest volley in a series of patent infringement suits between the two technology companies. Earlier this month, U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh ordered Samsung to give Apple copies of several models of its Galaxy mobile phones and tablets, as well as other products.
EU regulators opened in-depth probes into two takeover bids in the computer hardware sector involving two Asian companies and two U.S. peers, saying it was concerned the deals would reduce the number of rivals. U.S.-based Seagate Technology has said it wants to buy Samsung Electronics Co's loss-making hard disk drive unit for $1.4 billion -- a deal that will give Seagate access to Samsung's NAND-type flash chips for its solid-state drive products. Western Digital plans to purchase Hitachi Ltd's hard disk drive business for $4.3 billion to give it an edge in developing next-generation storage technology.
Indian authorities are considering revisions to new Internet regulations after criticism from free-speech advocates and companies like Google Inc. that fear they could be exposed to liability under the regime. The rules, which took effect in April, require Internet companies to remove objectionable content from their sites, including anything "grossly harmful" or "harassing," within 36 hours of being notified by authorities.
The security researchers at F-Secure have discovered several phishing sites hosted on Google Docs, Google's online office suite. This is not an uncommon occurrence, it seems. According to a new blog post on the security firm's site, the team says "we regularly see phishing sites via Google Docs spreadsheets and hosted on spreadsheets.google.com."
A hacker group posted a bogus report on the PBS website that claim slain rappers Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls were actually alive and residing in New Zealand. Apparently retaliating for a recent Frontline program about WikiLeaks, the group, which calls itself @LulzSec or The Lulz Boat, also disclosed passwords and e-mail addresses held by PBS on the public bulletin board Pastebin.com.
Hackers launched a "significant and tenacious" cyber attack on Lockheed Martin, a major defense contractor holding highly sensitive information, but its secrets remained safe, the company said. Lockheed Martin, the Department of Homeland Security and the Pentagon confirmed that the contractor's information systems had come under attack.
Calling the case a "brazen and outrageous fraud," Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg urged a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit by a New York man claiming he owns a huge stake in the social networking website. In a filing with the U.S. District Court in Buffalo, New York, Facebook and Zuckerberg said the lawsuit by Paul Ceglia is based on a "doctored contract and fabricated evidence."
As expected, the U.S. Senate's Judiciary Committee unanimously voted to approve a bill that targets Internet pirates based overseas. The Protect IP Act looks to hand the U.S. Department of Justice the ability to seek a court order against allegedly infringing Web sites.
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