FBI Director Discusses Internet Wiretapping Proposal

FBI Director Robert Mueller confirmed that the bureau has renewed its push for a new Internet wiretapping law. In an appearance on Capitol Hill, Mueller downplayed privacy concerns, saying the FBI's wiretap proposals -- social-networking Web sites and providers of VoIP, instant messaging, and Web e-mail are the primary targets -- would still require a court to be involved.

Taiwan Fines Candidate for Campaigning on Facebook After Deadline

Taiwan’s Central Election Commission fined recently re-elected President Ma Ying-jeou NT$500,000 (USD$16,900) for inappropriate campaigning in connection with a message posted on his Facebook page shortly after midnight on election day urging voters to support him. The post in question was a summary of Mr. Ma’s election eve speech -- nothing too controversial, except that someone had tacked the message "Support #2" on the end.

Simon & Schuster Settles E-Book Price-Fixing Suit

Simon & Schuster, one of the five major book publishers accused in multiple lawsuits of conspiring with Apple to fix e-book prices, has settled the complaint filed by numerous states' attorney generals. Denise Cote, the federal judge overseeing the three different antitrust complaints pending against Apple and the defendant publishers, granted a motion to dismiss Simon & Schuster from the complaint.

Twitter Enables 'Do Not Track' Function in Firefox

Twitter announced that it is joining Mozilla, the maker of the Firefox Web browser, and giving its users the ability to opt-out of being tracked in any way through Twitter. Twitter is doing this by enabling the Do Not Track feature in the Firefox browser that enables people to opt-out of cookies that collect personal information and any third-party cookies, including those used for advertising.

Senator Accuses Facebook Co-Founder of Avoiding Taxes

Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, who has renounced his U.S. citizenship, was accused by two U.S. senators of dodging taxes on Facebook stock-market profits. When the company goes public on Friday, Saverin will make a fortune. Bloomberg first reported last week he had renounced his citizenship and, in so doing, may avoid U.S. taxes on the initial public offering.

White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Stepping Down

The White House’s cybersecurity coordinator said that he is stepping down at the end of this month after a 2 1 / 2-year tenure in which the administration has increased its focus on cyber issues but struggled to reach agreement with lawmakers on the best way to protect the nation’s key computer networks from attack. Howard Schmidt, who oversaw the creation of the White House’s first legislative proposal on cybersecurity, said he is retiring to spend more time with his family and to pursue teaching in the cyber field.

Apple Defends Siri Service in Response to Lawsuits

Apple Inc. is defending its voice-recognition software Siri — she of the iPhone 4S — against claims that it doesn’t perform as advertised. A cluster of lawsuits seeking class action status in Oakland, Calif., allege that iPhone 4S commercials and company statements about the phone were false and misleading. Siri, they say, is brilliant on TV, but she’s dim in reality.

HTC Smartphones Delayed Due to Apple Patent Suit

U.S. sales of two new smartphones from HTC will be delayed because of a patent dispute with Apple, a fresh blow to HTC, of Taiwan, as it seeks to turn around declining sales in what was once its largest market. Apple won a narrow victory against HTC in a patent lawsuit in December over the technology used in the devices, one of many such disputes in the fiercely competitive smartphone market.

Google to Meet with French Data Protection Watchdog

Google will meet with France's data protection watchdog to answer questions about its new user privacy policy as part of a Europe-wide investigation being led by the French regulator. France's "Commission Nationale de l'Informatique" (CNIL) is examining Google's new approach to privacy on behalf of data protection regulators of the 27 European Union member states to determine if it conforms with European law.

Hackers Breach Sites of Human Rights Groups

In recent weeks, hackers have breached Web sites belonging to several foreign policy and human rights groups, including Amnesty International and the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism, a nonprofit organization based in Israel that researches terrorism issues. Hackers infiltrated the sites using two well-known security vulnerabilities, one in Adobe Flash and another in Java software, according to a blog post by security researchers at the Shadowserver Foundation, a nonprofit group that tracks cyber threats.

Judge Refuses to Dismiss E-Book Suit Against Apple, Publishers

Apple and five big publishers are still on the hook to battle allegations of price fixing after a U.S. district court judge rejected their bid to dismiss a consumer lawsuit accusing them of colluding to maintain artificially high e-book prices. Last month, the U.S. Department of Justice announced settlements with three publishers: Simon & Schuster, Hachette Book Group, and Harper Collins. Apple, Macmillan, and Penguin intend to fight the allegations in court.

Civil Liberties Groups Oppose Senate Cybersecurity Bill

After blasting a controversial House cybersecurity information-sharing bill, then criticizing a White House-backed bill in the Senate, a group of nearly three dozen civil liberties and other advocacy groups is opposing proposals by Senate Republicans as well. After Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman, ID-Conn., and a string of other committee leaders proposed the Cybersecurity Act of 2012 earlier this year, Senate Republicans balked at the bill's proposals to give Homeland Security officials more oversight of certain private networks.

Bug Exposed Project Data on Kickstarter Website

A security lapse at the popular crowd-funding website Kickstarter.com exposed more than 70,000 project ideas that weren't ready to be viewed. The information that could be seen didn't include credit-card numbers or other sensitive personal details, but it could make users more wary of Kickstarter's data practices and lower their expectations of privacy on the site.

Iran Limits Use of Foreign E-mail Services, Including Gmail

The closely watched crackdown on Iran's Internet access experienced another major development involving email access to the rest of the world. According to a new report from AFP, an order from the country's telecommunications minister dictates that all telephone companies, banks, and insurance firms are prohibited from using foreign email services such as Google's Gmail, Yahoo Mail, or Microsoft's Hotmail.

Subscribe

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.