Bank Ridiculed on Fake Google+ Page

A Google+ page that appeared to be the online home of Bank of America has for the past seven days advertised the company's "new" slogan: "We took your bailout money and your mortgage rates are going up." The page was a fraud, of course -- but a fraud the giant bank has allowed to exist for the past week, since Google unveiled pages for businesses and products on its new social network. How such a thing could slip past the attention of the country's second biggest bank by assets is anyone's guess, said Chester Wisniewski, a senior security adviser for security firm Sophos Labs.

Top Internet Companies Oppose Online Piracy Bill

Several leading Internet companies are voicing strong concerns with House and Senate legislation to curb online piracy, saying the measures would impose new burdens that could stifle their industry's innovation and growth. AOL, eBay, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Mozilla, Twitter, Yahoo and Zynga Game Network wrote the top leaders of the House and Senate Judiciary committees about the bills introduced by the chairmen of both panels.

U.S. Urges China to Address Security, Privacy

U.S. officials urged China to address network-security and privacy concerns of Western companies, saying the rise of network-based services conflicts with Chinese restrictions and its treatment of user data. Global companies hope to include China and other countries as they add to their so-called "cloud-computing" services, which store and share documents and other data on networks of remote computer servers.

Senators Want Probe of Software's Links to Syria

Three U.S. senators are asking Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to investigate recent reports that Internet-monitoring gear made by two California-based companies has found its way to Syria. In a letter, the senators ask Clinton to investigate reports that devices made by NetApp and Blue Coat Systems were sold to Syria in a possible violation of U.S. law.

Groups Ask Supreme Court to Block Decency Standards

Technology freedom groups from across the political spectrum urged the Supreme Court on to stop the Federal Communications Commission from enforcing decency standards. The libertarian-leaning Cato Institute, the Center for Democracy & Technology, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the left-leaning Public Knowledge and TechFreedom lodged a friend-of-the-court brief with the high court in a case in which an appeals court has ruled the FCC’s decency regulations are “unconstitutionally vague” and produced a “chilling effect” on First Amendment speech.

  • Read the article: Wired

University Asks FBI to Probe Grade-Altering

A Twitter post from an undergraduate student at Santa Clara University has prompted the school to acknowledge that it asked the FBI to investigate how a few dozen grades were electronically altered. Mark Loiseau, 25, a senior electrical engineering student, received an unpleasant surprise this morning: three FBI agents showed up at his off-campus apartment wanting to have a friendly chat with him.

Google Withdraws Challenge to AT&T-T-Mobile Deal

Google Inc. withdrew its bid to intervene in the government’s lawsuit challenging AT&T Inc.’s proposed purchase of T-Mobile USA Inc., citing a new order on how confidential data will be handled in the case to protect business secrets. Google, in a filing in federal court in Washington, referred to an order signed by U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle that said a so-called non-party must be given notice when confidential material is submitted in the case.

Judge Grants Access to WikiLeaks-Related Twitter Accounts

The U.S. Justice Department will be allowed access to WikiLeaks-related Twitter accounts, including information about what Internet and e-mail addresses are associated with them, a federal district judge ruled. The 60-page ruling from U.S. District Judge Liam O'Grady in Virginia represents a second victory for the Department of Justice, which sought the court order as part of a grand jury probe that appears to be investigating whether WikiLeaks principals including editor Julian Assange violated American criminal laws.

Coalition Created to Oppose New Top-Level Domains

Eighty-seven companies and business association announced that they have formed a coalition to fight a plan that would allow for new domain addresses. The new group lobbying against the change, the Coalition for Responsible Internet Domain Oversight, includes the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Restaurant Association, the Intellectual Property Owners Association, the National Association of Manufacturers, the Grocery Manufacturers Association and the World Federation of Advertisers.

Teacher Faces Firing for Facebook Comments About Students

A first-grade teacher in New Jersey who described her students as "future criminals" on Facebook could be fired under a judge's decision after parents complained her remarks were offensive. Administrative Law Judge Ellen Bass ruled that the Paterson teacher, Jennifer O'Brien, "demonstrated a complete lack of sensitivity to the world in which her students live" and recommended that she lose her tenured position.

WiLAN Says PTO Validates Key Claims in Patent

Canadian patent licensing firm WiLAN Inc said the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office validated most of the claims in one of its key patents, bringing a re-examination process that began in January closer to completion. Broadcom and Intel requested a re-examination of the patent after a Markman ruling last year in cases related to the patent was given in WiLAN's favor.

Europe May Expand Scope of Data Privacy Law

The European Commission is planning a legal change next year that may prompt U.S. Web giants like Google and Facebook to rethink how they store and process consumer data, raising the prospect of a trans-Atlantic dispute over Internet privacy. The European justice commissioner, Viviane Reding, said she planned to insert wording into a revision of the Continent’s main data privacy law that would require non-E.U. companies to abide by Europe’s stricter rules on data collection or face fines and prosecution.

Facebook Nears Privacy Settlement with FTC

Facebook Inc. is finalizing a proposed settlement with the Federal Trade Commission over charges that it engaged in deceptive behavior when changing its privacy settings, according to people familiar with the situation. The proposed settlement – which is awaiting final approval from the agency commissioners – would require Facebook to obtain "express affirmative consent" if Facebook makes "material retroactive changes," some of the people said.

Indictment Says 500,000 Computers Infected

A crew of Internet bandits devised an international scheme to hijack more than 4 million computers worldwide so websurfers visiting Netflix, IRS.gov and other popular websites would be rerouted to sites that generated at least $14 million in fraudulent profits, an indictment unsealed in New York alleged. The indictment says 500,000 computers in the United States were infected, including some used by educational institutions, nonprofits and government agencies like NASA.

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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.