legal

A California driver appears to be the first person ticketed for wearing Google's high-tech spectacles while behind the wheel. It's prompted a legal dispute about whether existing laws actually bar people from using the device while driving. Google ... Glass is currently undergoing national testing with a selected audience before it goes on sale. The gadget is similar to a pair of spectacles, but combines a small projector on the "lens", a microphone, an earpiece and a camera. The device also has an Internet connection. Though billed as a wearable computer, it's effectively a smartphone in ... (view more)

US-based Internet firms will begin an anti-piracy partnership with major copyright holders by the end of 2012. However, it's a purely voluntary operation and customers thought to be pirating will get warnings before suffering any consequences. ... Several countries around the world, most notably France, have introduced "three strikes" legislation, under which customers suspected of illegally sharing copyrighted material get two warnings before having their Internet suspended or cut off altogether. These controversial laws have faced legal challenges. Critics argue it's unfair to punish people ... (view more)

Under investigation for abusing its domination of the search market, Google has floated a new argument: that the way it chooses and arranges its search results qualifies as protected free speech under the U.S. First Amendment. The new approach is ... part of an attempt to stave off government investigations that could seriously hamper Google's ability to operate, as well as its profits and its reputation. The investigation is based upon two related issues: first, that Google has a dominant position in the search engine market, and second, that Google uses this position to support its own ... (view more)

Files on Megaupload, the controversial file-sharing site now under US government control , could be deleted this Thursday (February 2nd). That's caused concern amongst both former owners and for people who used the site for legitimate purposes. The ... proposed deletions won't come though a court order, but rather as an indirect result of the legal crackdown. Megaupload's financial assets have been frozen, meaning the companies it hired to physically host the files are no longer being paid. As a result, they've threatened to begin deleting the files so that they can use the space for other ... (view more)

The WikiLeaks website (infamously known for disbursing US State Department documents to the public back in 2010) has temporarily halted its work on publishing leaked confidential documents. Instead, the site will focus on a legal battle over money ... donated by supporters. Such resources are necessary in order to keep the site online. WikiLeaks Loses 95% of Web-Funds The site is said to have been operating on cash reserves for the past 10 months after major financial institutions began freezing money donated through their systems to WikiLeaks. It's estimated that the site has lost approximately ... (view more)

Some of America's leading Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have reached an agreement with movie and music companies to punish customers who breach copyright laws. But while the sanctions are lighter than rights owners would like, the move could ... still spark a legal debate. The deal involves AT&T, Comcast, Time Warner and Verizon, along with industry bodies for Hollywood studios, record labels and TV producers. It's being organized under the newly-formed Center for Copyright Information. Although it's an industry program and isn't governed by legal regulations, there are reports that White ... (view more)

Microsoft has convinced a judge to grant it legal ownership of 276 web domains previously used to control networks of infected PCs. It's the first time this has happened, and the company believes it could be used as a legal weapon. The case involves ... a botnet , created from computers infected with the Waledeac worm . A botnet is short form for "robot network" -- or quite simply, a network of infected computers controlled by one or few individuals. Botnet Sends 1.5 Billion Spam Email Messages Per Day At one point an estimated 80,000 computers were under part of the botnet and were ... (view more)

After a long-running battle in both courtrooms and the media, classified advertising site Craigslist has dropped its specialized services for adults, often seen as a front for licentious offerings. But it's unclear if it will be a permanent move ... and, if so, whether it will make any real difference. For several years, Craigslist had faced legal challenges over claims that many of those advertising in the section were, explicitly or otherwise, offering immoral acts in trade for money. The issue caught the attention of legal officials across the country, leading to a variety of court cases. ... (view more)

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) says it has found a solution to legal road-blocking of its powers over broadband providers. It will use a technicality to enforce the " net neutrality " principles, but relax its controls over other ... aspects of broadband. The legal saga involves Comcast intentionally slowing down Internet access to customers who were using peer-to-peer filesharing services such as those based on the BitTorrent system. Many people using BitTorrent do so to share copyrighted files without permission, but the system itself is not illegal and can be used just as easily ... (view more)