ICANN Says It Is Not an Internet Enforcement Agency

ICANN says domain name issues are not always a matter of contractual compliance... "There remain occasional misconceptions about ICANN's authority. Some appear to believe ICANN is an Internet enforcement agency, with broad power to shut down websites, restrict website content, and penalize Internet users for unethical behavior. This is not the case," says a section from ICANN's July magazine. more»

Six Largest ISPs in UK Agree to Send Warning Letters to Illegal Music, Movie Downloaders

The music and film industries have launched a fight back against online piracy today, persuading Britain's six biggest Internet providers, BT, Virgin Media, Orange, Tiscali, BSkyB and Carphone Warehouse, to send warning letters to those suspected of illegal file-sharing. The plan is aimed at an estimated 6.5 million Britons who have downloaded files illegally over the past year. ISPs had previously argued they were mere conduits and not responsible for content. But they agreed to the deal after the government said it would impose legislation if they did not work to curb illegal file-sharing. more»

Notorious Spam King Gets 4 Years in Prison

Robert Soloway, dubbed the "Spam King", who was charged with defrauding people through tens of millions of spam has been given four years in prison for mail fraud, electronic mail fraud, and failing to file a tax return. According to recent reports, federal prosecutors allege that from November 2003 to May 2007, Soloway sent tens of millions of email messages to advertise his company, which offered software to send out broadcast emails. For $495 customers could have an ad sent to 20,000,000 emails, or receive software allowing them to send up to 80,000,000 e-mails. Judge Marsha Pechman said laws governing Spam are very new territory for the courts, and the CAN-SPAM Act allows for only a maximum sentence of only five years. more»

Romanian Authorities Arrest Over 20 Cybercrime Suspects

Authorities have arrested more than 20 people in Romania who are suspected of running online fraud schemes, according to media reports. The Tuesday arrests were confirmed by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which has been working with Romanian officials on cybercrime in recent months. The FBI would say only that the agency is aware of the arrests and because "this is an ongoing matter, we will have no further comment at this time." The losses caused by the cybercrime ring is estimated to reach millions of euros. more»

Soloway Court Case Reveals the Sophisticated World of Online Fraud

Testimony received during the sentencing hearing for notorious spammer Robert Alan Soloway has offered an inside look at the big business of online fraud. Although anti-spam efforts implemented by ISPs have deterred many small-time spammers, sophisticated players remain active and they have developed tools to make their efforts easier. From the stand on Monday, investigators revealed some of the techniques that Soloway allegedly used to send out massive amounts of email. After the government seized Soloway's computer servers, investigators found files with as many as 10 million email addresses on each server along with Dark Mailer software on each server. more»

Google Sued for Selling Ads on Parked Domains and Error Pages

Google on Friday was sued for fraud, business code violations, and unjust enrichment, claims arising from the company's alleged sale of low-quality ads, reports Thomas Claburn, of InformationWeek. The class-action lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in San Jose, Calif., by lawyers from San Francisco-based Schubert Jonckheer Kolbe & Kralowec. The plaintiff is attorney Hal K. Levitte, who advertised his legal services though a Google AdWords pay-per-click campaign last year. Should the lawsuit move forward as a national class action and succeeds in claming that all Google's AdWords advertisers have spent a similar percentage of their ad budgets on low-quality ads, Google could be liable for a significant sum. more»

YouTube Allowed to Mask Important User Data in Viacom Case

Defendants and plaintiffs in two copyright infringement lawsuits against YouTube have reached a deal to protect the privacy of millions of YouTube watchers during evidence discovery, a spokesman for Google said late Monday. In a related blog post, Google says, "we are pleased to report that Viacom, MTV and other litigants have backed off their original demand for all users' viewing histories and we will not be providing that information." On July 4, YouTube had received a court order to produce viewing history data of its users to Viacom. more»

Notorious Spam King Scheduled to be Sentenced on Monday by the U.S. District Court

Notorious spammer Robert Alan Soloway is scheduled to be sentenced on Monday by the U.S. District Court in Seattle after pleading guilty to single counts of mail fraud, e-mail fraud, and tax evasion. The long list of individuals testifying in federal court for the sentencing of the so-called 'King of Spam' has resulted in an unusual two-day hearing which began on Friday. Soloway is the second person to be convicted of criminal spamming under the 2004 "Can-Spam" law. more»

FCC Calls for Sanctions Against Comcast for Blocking Internet Traffic

The head of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Kevin Martin, intends to recommend that Comcast, U.S.'s largest cable company, be punished for violating agency principles that guarantee customers open access to the Internet. Martin said Comcast has "arbitrarily" blocked Internet access, regardless of the level of traffic, and failed to disclose to consumers that it was doing so. more»

U.S. Telecoms Suing Cities Planning Broadband Access

According to today's report from Law.com, Telecommunications companies are suing cities around the United States in order to stop the construction of publicly owned fiber optic systems that bring high-speed Internet, telephone and cable television to communities far from metropolitan centers. Attorneys for cities say the telecommunications suits, whether brought under state law, the Federal Telecommunications Act or other laws, are veiled attempts to stop construction of competing public systems providing an essential utility in the digital age. more»

Google Ordered To Release YouTube User Data to Viacom

On Wednesday night, a federal judge ruled that Google must turn over YouTube user activity which includes videos watched, IP addresses, and usernames, to the media giant, Viacom as part of a long-running copyright infringement case. Kurt Opsahl of the Electronic Frontier Foundation says: "The Court's erroneous ruling is a set-back to privacy rights, and will allow Viacom to see what you are watching on YouTube. We urge Viacom to back off this overbroad request and Google to take all steps necessary to challenge this order and protect the rights of its users." However, according to CNET News, there is a heavy protective order in place that will keep individuals' personal information protected in this ruling. Update: PDF download of court order here. more»

The Pirate Bay Calls ISPs Around the World to Block Sweden

In a response to the new wiretapping law that was introduced in Sweden this week, The Pirate Bay is asking international ISPs to block traffic to Sweden in order to protect their customers. In addition, the BitTorrent tracker will add SSL encryption to their site, and roll out a new VPN service. Pirate Bay co-founder Peter Sunde, has written about this issue on his blog. Sunde points out that Belgium has taken Sweden to the Strasbourg court and hopes more countries will follow suit. more»

No Broadband Access for Illegal Downloaders Under New Law in France

A new controversial law in France will ban anyone who persists in illegal downloading of music or films from broadband access. Under a cross-industry agreement, internet service providers (ISPs) are required to cut access for up to a year for third-time offenders. "There is no reason that the internet should be a lawless zone," President Sarkozy told his Cabinet yesterday as it endorsed the "three-strikes-and-you're-out" scheme that from next January will hit illegal downloaders where it hurts. more»

FTC Halts Cross Border Domain Name Con Artists

A U.S. District Court Judge has ordered a halt to the illegal practices of Canadian operators who deceptively posed as domain name registrars and sent bogus bills to thousands of U.S. small businesses and nonprofit organizations for their annual "WEBSITE ADDRESS LISTING." Many of the businesses and nonprofits believed they would lose their domain names unless they paid the bill, so they paid. The Federal Trade Commission alleged that in most cases the defendants did not provide domain registration services, did not provide the "search optimization" services it claimed to provide, and bilked small businesses and nonprofits out of millions of dollars. more»

British Hacker Accused of Biggest Military Hack Fights Extradition to U.S.

Five judges at the UK's highest court are currently in process of evaluating a final appeal against extradition by a computer enthusiast wanted in Washington for the "biggest military hack of all time". Gary McKinnon (nicknamed "Solo"), 44, is accused of causing hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage after breaking into dozens of computers owned by NASA, the Pentagon and the U.S. military. His last appeal to the High Court in London failed after two senior judges ruled he should face trial in the United States. The law lords are expected to give their ruling before the end of July. more»