German Court Bans VoIP App for iPhone

Germany's Higher Regional Court of Hamburg has banned the use of a VoIP application called Sipgate on the Apple iPhone. The application enables iPhone users to make VoIP calls when via local Wi-Fi hotspots in Germany. The court case was brought by T-Mobile, which is the exclusive distributor of the iPhone in Germany. The application is however currently still available for sale on Apple's iTunes, as it has not been banned for use outside Germany. more»

EFF Says Stop Illegal Surveillance; Sues NSA, President Bush, and Vice President Cheney

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) and other government agencies today on behalf of AT&T customers to stop the alleged illegal, unconstitutional, and ongoing dragnet surveillance of their communications and communications records. The five individual plaintiffs are also suing President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Cheney's chief of staff David Addington, former Attorney General and White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales and other individuals who have ordered or participated in the domestic surveillance. more»

India Considers Making Open WiFi Illegal in Terrorist Bombing Aftermath

In response to recent terrorist bombings in India where security officials believe the bombers made use of open wireless (WiFi) connections to communicate, the government is examining the possibility of making unsecured WiFi connections illegal. According to the Economic Times, sources have also said the "new norms may put the onus of educating consumers on telcos and ISPs." Further more "ISPs will also be asked to ensure that customers access the internet over a WiFi connection only through a password." more»

Linking Internet Companies Caught Supporting Criminal Activities

Main Internet data carriers have stopped providing connectivity to Atrivo, an ISP notorious for serving a large number of scammers and spammers. Reporting on Washington Post's Security Fix, Brian Krebs uncovers thousands of domain names linked to spam and illegal activities that are registered through EstDomains, Atrivo's "most important customer". EstDomains is a reseller of Directi's registration services -- the ICANN accredited domain registration company which has also been under scrutiny as a result. more»

Comcast Sues FCC, Says Net Neutrality Order Legally Inappropriate

Comcast has filed suit against the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today in order to block the agency's decision to sanction Comcast for blocking certain Internet traffic. Comcast has released the following statement attributed to David L. Cohen, Executive Vice President of Comcast Corporation... more»

Google Changes Chrome License Terms

Some of the harshest criticisms concerning Google's newly released Chrome browser related to its very broad license agreement. Consequently on Wednesday, Google said that it was planning to change Chrome's User License agreement where it appeared to give Google a perpetual right to use anything a user entered into the browser. As of Wednesday 2 p.m. PT, the terms were indeed changed with Section 11 now reading simply: "11.1 You retain copyright and any other rights you already hold in Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services." more»

Comcast Given 30 Days to Disclose Network Management Practices, Says FCC Order

In follow up to August 1st ruling against Comcast, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in a 67 page order released today has given Comcast 30 days "to disclose the details of their unreasonable network management practices, submit a compliance plan describing how it intends to stop these unreasonable management practices by the end of the year, and disclose to both the Commission and the public the details of the network management practices that it intends to deploy following termination of its current practices." more»

Thousands of File Sharers Facing Lawsuits in UK

Last month a government-backed deal was struck between Britain's six biggest Internet service providers and the entertainment industry in order to send warning letters to file-sharers. Today it has been reported that thousands of people suspected of sharing music, films and games over the Internet are going to be facing legal action in UK for damages. One law firm, according to Reuters, is going to the High Court to force ISPs to release names and addresses of 7,000 suspected file-sharers and that they have already begun proceedings against several people in Britain. One British woman has been ordered to pay 16,000 pounds for downloading pinball game for free through a file-sharing site. more»

Dell Loses "Cloud Computing" Trademark Application

In follow to an earlier report this month about Dell seeking a "cloud computing" trademark, latest updates indicate that the company has been denied a trademark because of the generic nature of the term which describes services offered by numerous other companies. In an initial ruling, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), included dozens of news stories and other material supporting its contention that cloud computing is a widely-used term of art for the technology industry. Dell is given six months to file a response or the USPTO will abandon the application. more»

Fury Over Dell Seeking "Cloud Computing" Trademark

Like the term Web 2.0, "cloud computing" is quickly becoming a meme without borders. And like the old one, the new phrase with the fuzzy definition has someone making a claim on its trademark, as Dell filed for a trademark on the term last year. The trademark application was recently noted by cloud computing consultant Sam Johnston, posting on a Google Groups cloud computing forum. Dell has also snatched up the Web sites cloudcomputing.com, cloud-computing.com, and cloud-computing.net as well as cloudcomputers.com. Cloudcomputing.com re-routes visitors to Dell's Cloud Computing Solutions Web site. more»

U.S. Lawmakers Demand Telcos and Internet Companies to Disclose Web Tracking Practices

U.S. lawmakers have broadened their investigation of Internet advertising, asking nation's largest telecommunications and Internet companies whether they target ads based on consumers' Web surfing habits. Companies receiving the letter include Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, AT&T, Verizon, Qwest and AOL among others. According to Joelle Tessler of the Associated Press, the "letters seek details on how many consumers have been tracked, whether those people have been notified and whether they were given the option to 'opt out' of it. The committee also wants to know how the collected information is used and how it is gathered -- for example, whether the companies aggregate data from different online applications." more»

U.S. Senate Modernizes Cyber-Crime Laws

The U.S. Senate has passed legislation to modernize the nation's computer crime laws and give prosecutors more leeway in pursuing cyber crooks, reports Brian Krebs of The Washington Post. "Under current federal cyber-crime laws prosecutors must show that the illegal activity caused at least $5,000 in damages before they can bring charges for unauthorized access to a computer. Under the bill approved today, that threshold would be eliminated." more»

British Hacker Faces 60 Years in US Prison for Accessing Top-Secret Documents

Gary McKinnon, 42, from Enfield in north London, is accused by American prosecutors for illegally accessing top-secret US military and NASA computer systems -- called "the biggest military computer hack of all time" by prosecutors. Although the Crown Prosecution Service had decided not to prosecute, two years later, after crime unit officials visited Washington, apparently taking McKinnon's hard drive, the US government began extradition proceedings. "Now I'm facing 60 years in prison," McKinnon said. "I believe my case is being treated so seriously because they're scared of what I've seen. I'm living in a surreal, nutter's film." Updated 7/31/2008 more»

FCC Majority Vote Set to Punish Comcast on P2P Blocking

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is on the verge of finding Comcast violated federal policy by hampering the ability of customers to share large files online, a decision that would set a precedent over how much control phone and cable companies have over how consumers use the Internet. (see FCC Calls for Sanctions Against Comcast for Blocking Internet Traffic from earlier this month) Three out of five FCC commissioners have voted in favor of punishing Comcast for blocking subscribers' Internet traffic. A move that most likely guarantees approval of the item, even if two other FCC commissioners voted against it. Final FCC approval is expected Aug. 1 at a previously scheduled commission meeting. more»

Pump-n-dump Spammer Eddie Davidson and Family Found Dead

Edward Davidson, notorious spammer who had escaped from a minimum-security facility on Sunday has been found dead in Colorado, along with his wife and three-year-old child, in what is suspected to be a murder-suicide. Edward "Eddie" Davidson, 35, was serving 21 months in the minimum security facility in Florence, Colorado, for sending hundreds of thousands of spam emails. He had pleaded guilty to tax evasion and falsifying email headers. It was estimated that Davidson made at least $3.5 million from spamming activities through his company Power Promoters between 2003 and 2006. more»