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Grand Jury Indicts Woman in Internet Suicide Hoax
A federal grand jury indicted a Missouri woman for her alleged role in perpetrating a hoax on the online social network MySpace against a 13-year-old neighbor who committed suicide. Lori Drew of suburban St. Louis allegedly helped create a false-identity MySpace account to contact Megan Meier, who thought she was chatting with a 16-year-old boy named Josh Evans. Cox Accused of Slowing File-Sharing Traffic
Cox Communications appears to be interfering with file-sharing by its Internet subscribers in the same manner that has landed Comcast Corp. in hot water with regulators, according to research obtained by The Associated Press. A study based on the participation of 8,175 Internet users around the world found conclusive signs of blocked file-sharing connections only at three Internet service providers: Comcast and Cox in the U.S. and StarHub in Singapore. British Agency Says Microsoft Discourages Competition
A British watchdog agency said it had complained to European Union regulators that Microsoft's new file format for storing documents discouraged competition. Britain's agency for education and information technology said it wanted to help the EU with an investigation it launched in January into whether the software giant deliberately withheld information from rivals. Company Challenges Constitutionality of Webcast Rates
Just when record labels thought it was safe to start charging webcasters on a per-listener, per-song basis, the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board that set the rates has been charged unconstitutional in the Federal Court of Appeals. During the royalty rate proceedings, a company called Royalty Logic proposed that it compete with SoundExchange for the collection of digital royalties from webcasters. Syrian Blogger Sentenced to Three Years in Prison
A human rights group says a 24-year-old Syrian blogger has been convicted and sentenced to three years in prison on charges of undermining the prestige of the state and weakening national morale. In a statement, The National Organization for Human Rights in Syria condemned the verdict as "outrageous" and called for Tarek Bayassi's immediate release. Software Industry Says Piracy Costs $48 Billion
Pirates caused the software industry to lose nearly $48 billion in sales last year, even as most countries experienced declines in their piracy rates, according to the latest annual study commissioned by the Business Software Alliance. The fifth annual report determined that from 2006 to 2007, overall losses grew by $8 billion and worldwide piracy rates increased by 3 percentage points to 38 percent. RIAA Shows Tactics to Catch File-Sharing Students
To catch college students trading copyrighted songs online, the Recording Industry Association of America uses the same file-sharing software that online pirates love, an RIAA representative said at the organization's offices during a private demonstration of how it catches alleged music pirates. He also said the group does not single out specific colleges in its investigations. Google Tests Blurring Faces in Street View Service
Google has begun testing face-blurring technology for its Street View service, responding to privacy concerns from the search giant's all-seeing digital camera eye. The technology uses a computer algorithm to scour Google's image database for faces, then blurs them, said John Hanke, director of Google Earth and Google Maps, in an interview at the Where 2.0 conference. NATO Nations Support Estonian Cyber-Defense Center
Seven NATO nations have backed a new cyber defence centre in Estonia, which last year blamed Russia for weeks of attacks on its internet structure. Germany, Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania, Italy and Spain will staff and fund the hub in the Estonian capital Tallinn. MySpace Wins Record $230 Million Award in Spam Case
The popular online hangout MySpace has won a $230 million judgment over junk messages sent to its members in what is believed to be the largest anti-spam award ever. A federal judge in Los Angeles ruled against a notorious "Spam King," Sanford Wallace, and his partner, Walter Rines, after the two failed to show up at a court hearing, MySpace said. Microsoft Patches Critical Security Hole in Word
Microsoft issued security patches that plug critical holes in Microsoft Word and Publisher and a vulnerability in Windows for which a zero-day exploit has been available for weeks. Zero-day exploits are considered particularly dangerous. Craigslist Files Countersuit Against eBay
Craigslist filed a countersuit against eBay, alleging that the Internet auction company engaged in unfair competition, trademark infringement and a slew of other improper activities. The move comes less than a month after eBay sued Craigslist, claiming the privately held online classifieds company tried to dilute its ownership stake in Craigslist and removed its representative from the board of directors. |
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