The House approved a five-year freeze on any new state and local taxes imposed on cellphones and other wireless services, including wireless broadband access. The voice vote reflected a consensus that new taxes on wireless mobile services have far outpaced average sales taxes on other items and have become a deterrent to the spread of wireless broadband technology.
A federal law aimed at protecting the privacy of children under 13 has instead resulted in millions of kids lying about their age -- often with their parents' knowledge -- in order to join Facebook, social media guru Danah Boyd says in a new report. Facebook officially bans kids under 13 -- a move that Boyd attributes to the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, which prohibits publishers from collecting personal information from users 12 and under without their parents' permission.
Sens. Ron Wyden, -D-Ore., and Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., introduced a nonbinding resolution that calls on the Senate to exempt small businesses from legislation that would authorize states to require Internet retailers to collect sales taxes from out-of-state customers. "It is the sense of the Senate that Congress should not enact any legislation that would grant state governments the authority to impose any new burdensome or unfair tax collecting requirements on small Internet businesses and entrepreneurs, which would ultimately hurt the economy of, and consumers in, the United States," the resolution states.
A small Spanish tablet maker has won a patent infringement battle with Apple Inc in a rare victory against the U.S. company in its global defense of markets for its iPads, a court document showed. Spain's Nuevas Tecnologias y Energias Catala has successfully appealed a 2010 injunction from a local court to ban the import of its tablet computer -- manufactured in China -- to Spain.
Microsoft Corp. said hackers exploited a previously unknown bug in its Windows operating system to infect computers with the Duqu virus, which some security experts say could be the next big cyber threat. "We are working diligently to address this issue and will release a security update for customers," Microsoft said in a short statement.
Governments must not clamp down on Internet and mobile phone networks at times of social unrest, the British government said — weeks after suggesting police should do just that during riots. Foreign Secretary William Hague said the fact that criminals and terrorists can exploit digital networks is not "justification for states to censor their citizens."
A message delivered via YouTube by the hackers collectively known as Anonymous said the names of government officials, taxi drivers and journalists who worked with the Zetas would be published online if Mexico’s most ruthless crime syndicate did not release one of their own.
Britain and the United States rejected calls from China and Russia for greater Internet controls at the opening of a major cyberspace conference, but Western states faced accusations of double standards. Ministers, tech executives and Internet activists are meeting over two days in London to discuss how to tackle security threats and crime on the Internet without stifling economic opportunities or freedom of speech.
The success of Apple Inc.'s iPad isn't just drawing more competition to the tablet market -- it's attracting thousands of counterfeit and knockoff products. On a single day in July, almost 18,000 fakes and clones resembling the iPad and Android devices were available for sale on 23 e-commerce sites, according to MarkMonitor, a San Francisco firm that helps companies protect their brands.
The Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, introduced last week in the House of Representatives to the applause of lobbyists for Hollywood and other large content holders, is designed to make allegedly copyright-infringing Web sites, sometimes called "rogue" Web sites, virtually disappear from the Internet. That goes too far and hinders freedom of speech and innovation, the Consumer Electronics Association, NetCoalition, and the Computer and Communications Industry Association trade groups said in a letter sent to House members. SOPA could "constrain economic growth and threaten a vital sector of the U.S. economy and a major source of global competitiveness," it warned.
Beijing denied a U.S. commission's claim that China may have been responsible for hacking incidents on U.S. environment-monitoring satellites, saying that the committee had "ulterior motives" in writing such a draft report. At least two U.S. environment-monitoring satellites were interfered with four or more times in 2007 and 2008 via a ground station in Norway, and China's military is a prime suspect, according to the draft report to Congress.
At least 48 chemical and defense companies were victims of a coordinated cyber attack that has been traced to a man in China, according to a new report from security firm Symantec Corp. Computers belonging to these companies were infected with malicious software known as "PoisonIvy," which was used to steal information such as design documents, formulas and details on manufacturing processes, Symantec said.
A federal judge has issued a permanent injunction against Zediva, the controversial video-on-demand service that incurred the wrath of Hollywood earlier this year. Zediva's operators also agreed to pay $1.8 million to the six studios that sued the parent company of Zediva in April, according to a statement from the Motion Picture Assn. of America.
A U.S. company that makes Internet-blocking gear acknowledges that Syria has been using at least 13 of its devices to censor Web activity there -- an admission that comes as the Syrian government cracks down on its citizens and silences their online activities. Blue Coat Systems Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif., says it shipped the Internet "filtering" devices to Dubai late last year, believing they were destined for a department of the Iraqi government -- but the devices made their way to Syria, a country subject to strict U.S. trade embargoes.
Computer attack techniques demonstrated in recent months highlight the danger to operators of power plants, water systems and other critical infrastructure around the world. "Things that sounded extremely unlikely a few years ago are now coming along," said Scott Borg, director of the U.S. Cyber Consequences Unit, a nonprofit group that helps the U.S. government prepare for future attacks.
Local reviews site Yelp Inc. has been cleared by a federal judge in a proposed class-action suit claiming the company extorted businesses into advertising. U.S. District Judge Edward Chen dismissed two suits filed last year by businesses that alleged Yelp threatened to degrade their ratings if they didn't advertise on the site.
Research In Motion Ltd. has set up a facility in Mumbai to help the Indian government carry out lawful surveillance of its BlackBerry services, according to people familiar with the matter, but the move hasn't fully satisfied India's appetite for access to messages on the popular smartphones. Last year, India threatened to shut down BlackBerry encrypted email and instant messaging services because it couldn't wiretap them.
Facebook said that hackers using stolen username and password credentials try to break into at least 600,000 accounts every day on the mammoth social networking site. The revelation was buried in a new security announcement issued by the company describing the virtues of its new "Trusted Friends" password restoration technique.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, the California Democrat whose district includes the heart of Silicon Valley, is preparing to lead congressional opposition to the new Stop Online Piracy Act. The antipiracy legislation, introduced in the House of Representatives to the applause of lobbyists for Hollywood and other large content holders, is designed to make allegedly copyright-infringing Web sites, sometimes called "rogue" Web sites, virtually disappear from the Internet.
Computer hackers, possibly from the Chinese military, interfered with two U.S. government satellites four times in 2007 and 2008 through a ground station in Norway, according to a congressional commission. The intrusions on the satellites, used for earth climate and terrain observation, underscore the potential danger posed by hackers, according to excerpts from the final draft of the annual report by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission.
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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.