Two LulzSec Hackers Plead Guilty in London

Two British hackers pleaded guilty in a London court to plotting attacks against computers of international firms, law enforcement bodies and government agencies including the CIA, in a cyber crime spree that gained global attention. Ryan Cleary, 20, of southeast England, and Jake Davis, 19, of Scotland, both members of the hacking group LulzSec, pleaded guilty at London's Southwark Crown Court to charges they conspired with others to hack websites last year, Britain's Press Association reported.

Number of Cyberattacks Against Law Firms Increasing

As hackers step up attacks on law firms, attorneys are being forced to master a subject few of them studied in law school: cybersecurity.Lawyers, who increasingly rely on email, smartphones and other mobile devices to handle deals and other confidential matters, are being asked to encrypt messages, resist using free Wi-Fi connections, which can allow hackers to eavesdrop on communications, and regard even text messages as potential security threats.

MegaUpload Wants Criminal Copyright Charges Dismissed

MegaUpload filed a court brief asking a judge to decide whether to dismiss criminal copyright infringement charges, a request that could result in a quick end to the court case against the company. The file-sharing site contends that federal criminal procedures dictate that a company must be served a criminal summons within the U.S. MegaUpload's headquarters were in Hong Kong, and it never had an office in the U.S., according to the brief, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

EU Lawmakers Reject Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement

European lawmakers rejected the global Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), signaling the European Parliament may soon use new-found rights to derail an international trade agreement. The ACTA deal, in the pipeline since 2008, aims to reduce intellectual property theft by cracking down on fake consumer goods and medicines and digital file-sharing of pirated software and music.

Twitter Blames Outages on 'Bug,' Not Hackers

Two service outages within the course of several hours rocked microblogging platform Twitter, as users worldwide reported significant down-time and slow service across both Twitter's website and mobile applications. Amid speculation that Twitter had been crippled by a hacker attack, the San Francisco-based company blamed the outage -- one of its most severe episodes in recent months -- on a "cascading bug" in one of its infrastructure components.

Motorola Wants New Patent Licensing Terms for Microsoft

An executive at Google Inc.'s Motorola Mobility unit said it is trying to propose new patent licensing terms for Microsoft Corp., as the cellphone maker remains locked in legal battles with both the software giant and Silicon Valley gadget maker Apple Inc. While more than 50 companies have worked out licensing agreements with the firm over its intellectual property, Motorola Vice President of Intellectual Property Kirk Dailey said Microsoft and Apple "are outliers, in that they don't want to pay" for licenses.

La. Law Requires Sex Offenders to Identify Selves Online

A new Louisiana law requires sex offenders and child predators to state their criminal status on their Facebook or other social networking page, with the law's author saying the bill is the first of its kind in the nation. State Rep. Jeff Thompson, a Republican from Bossier City, Louisiana, says his new law, effective August 1, will stand up to constitutional challenge because it expands sex offender registration requirements, common in many states, to include a disclosure on the convicted criminal's social networking sites as well.

  • Read the article: CNN

House Panel OKs Resolution Against UN Net Control

As expected, the House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously approved a resolution aimed at preventing any efforts to hand the United Nations more power to oversee the Internet. Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Calif., championed the resolution, which was sparked by concerns that some countries may try to use international telecommunications negotiations in December to increase the role that the U.N. plays in global Internet governance.

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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.