Courts

What would you do if you found records of your personal search information haphazardly sprinkled all over the web? For three AOL subscribers, the reckless mismanagement of their personal data sparked a class-action lawsuit against the Internet giant ... this past Friday. This is the first time AOL has been sued for the intentional release of over 19 million search requests made by about 650,000 subscribers during a period of three months. The Internet service provider is being charged under the federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act and California's consumer-protection laws. (Source: ... (view more)

Google made an unexpected u-turn this past Saturday when they published a copyright infringement ruling regarding their Google.be (Belgian) web site. (Source: reuters.com ) Earlier last week, Google was found guilty of copyright infringement. The ... Belgian court ruled that Google was required to stop publishing content from Belgian newspapers without prior consent or payment. The court also demanded that Google post the ruling on the Google.be site. (Source: cbc.ca ) On Friday, Google lost their appeal to overturn the court's ruling. Although Google initially agreed to stop publishing Belgian ... (view more)

In today's age where millions of documents can be retrieved from search engines in a single click, students now have more and more opportunities to plagiarize. To combat Internet plagiarism, websites like Turnitin.com have been established, where ... teachers are able to reference previous student work through a massive online database. What is Turnitin.com? Turnitin.com is "an Internet based program ... most renowned for its plagiarism detection service. Institutions (typically universities and high schools) can buy licenses to use the plagiarism detection service. Teachers may then submit ... (view more)

As Microsoft has finally thrown its "Zune" portable music player -- an intended competitor for Apple's immensely popular iPod -- to the FFC for patent protection, further specifications of the device are becoming available. Perhaps the most ... surprising new tidbit of information is the fact that Toshiba will be the main manufacturer of the product, which for now is code-named "Toshiba 1089." We've been covering the Zune for some time now, and most of you know that it will directly compete with Apple's popular digital player. With Microsoft's introduction of the device to the FCC, a few features ... (view more)

You want proof that the seemingly endless number of antitrust suits against Microsoft is actually having some effect? Look to South Korea, where the Redmond-based company is currently launching a version of its operating system XP that has seen many ... of its prominent features removed. Late last year, long after its legal troubles began in the United States, a South Korean court found Microsoft guilty of monopolistic actions. At that time, the South Korean Fair Trade Commission lashed out at the Big M for its bundling of media player software and instant messaging with its newest operating ... (view more)

Has Florida lawyer Jack Thompson been in the hot sun too long? Or was he the victim of a childhood bully? Whatever the case may be, Thompson is now targeting a bully of a different kind -- the controversial new PS2 game, Bully. Bully is being ... released by Rockstar Games (Take-Two Interactive), the company behind the much-debated Grand Theft Auto titles. Rockstar got into huge trouble last year when a hidden sex mini-game known as "hot coffee" was uncovered in the PS2 and PC versions of GTA: San Andreas. The reason for the controversy: the "hot coffee" segment -- initially believed to be ... (view more)

The market for free music is thinning faster than a middle-aged hairline. Yeah, bad joke, but for the owners of Kazaa -- and now Limewire -- there is very little to laugh about these days. Just a week after big guns in the music industry forced ... (former) peer-to-peer file sharing giant Kazaa to pay up $100 million and go legal, it appears that the conglomeration is now ready to feast on the ultra-popular Limewire. Hot on the heels of the legal deconstruction of Kazaa, Sony BMG, EMI, Universal Music, and Warner Music Group brought the war to Lime Wire LLC on Friday. In partnership with the MPAA ... (view more)

As peer-to-peer file sharing programs are coming under fire abroad, as the American courts are taking a chunk out of one of the Internet's biggest download networks. As of Thursday morning, Reuters has announced that Sharman Networks, owners of the ... file-sharing web site Kazaa, have reached a legal settlement with a conglomeration of music industry representatives. The result will see Sharman pay EMI Group, Universal Music, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, and Warner Music a combined $100 million in compensation. In addition, following in the footsteps of the original bad boys of file-sharing ... (view more)

As it attempts to steer consumer attention towards a new Messenger partnership with Yahoo, Microsoft's enormous fine for antitrust practices in Europe has finally been made public. The European Commission, part of the European Union (EU), announced ... Tuesday that Microsoft will be fined a whopping 280.5 million Euros, a levy that breaks down to 1.5 million a day for the period from December 15 to June 20. (Source: betanews.com ) The antitrust fine comes as a result of Microsoft's bitter refusal to share its protocols with competitors, essentially disallowing rival companies the opportunity to ... (view more)

It is a civil (and in some cases criminal) offense to file share over the Internet. And as of Tuesday, June 27th, this is reality for thousands of downloaders in Spain. Recently, the country's Congress passed legislation banning unauthorized ... peer-to-peer sharing of files. The difference between North American crackdowns and those in Spain lies in the aggressive nature of the Spanish legislation. It is a criminal offense for P2P (Peer to Peer) networks to allow downloading, and a civil offense for anyone to engage in this downloading, even for personal use. (Source: tmcnet.com ) Long History ... (view more)