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Google Street View investigation officially closed

, Apr 27th 2012 Discuss [0]

Google received a slap on the wrist for the Street View fiasco where sensitive information was gleaned from open access WiFi points. Two weeks ago, Google was fined a mere $25,000 over the issue, saying that it acted in good faith and was more than happy to pay the penalty. The FCC appears to be fully satisfied, and has today declared the case against Google officially closed. Read The Full Story

“Worse than SOPA” CISPA bill passes

, Apr 27th 2012 Discuss [7]

Luckily for denizens of the internet, SOPA was struck down not too long ago, but there’s another bill which was passed by the House of Representatives that proves just as menacing. It’s called CISPA, and was voted for 248 to 168. The bill would require private companies to hand over information they pertaining to you if requested by any government agency. That includes websites like Google, YouTube, and Facebook. Read The Full Story

Sun vs Sun at Google Oracle case

, Apr 26th 2012 Discuss [1]

Two former Sun leaders have sparred off this week in the Oracle vs Google case that's shaking the Android universe to its knees with its implications. Though we first heard about this Oracle business with Google over a year ago, the case has only just started officially this past month, today showing Oracle's case for Java code used by Google in Android to perhaps have been the non-free-use property of Sun (now part of Oracle), but perhaps not. Former Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz as well as Sun cofounder and chairman Scott McNealy have testified this week, each having their own rather different view of the situation. Read The Full Story

iPad demands Australia speed up

, Apr 20th 2012 Discuss [0]

Down on the lower half of the globe in Australia, Apple is defending its iPad's own "4G" naming convention with no less a defense this week than saying that, in fact, 3G is 4G. How on earth could 3G be not 3G but 4G instead, you might ask? As it turns out, the term "4G" isn't as hard and fast a name as one might expect - in fact, the group literally responsible for deciding what makes a data service get a name it deserves might have provided Apple with the backing it needs all the way back in 2010 - watch out Australia! Read The Full Story

EU Pirate purgatory after copyright clampdown

, Apr 20th 2012 Discuss [8]

Looks like the copyright police are starting to hit back at the internet in a big bad way. A German court ruled today that YouTube is entirely responsible for the content found on its service, and must actively filter music videos belonging to the GEMA, a music royalty group. Not only that, but the European Court of Justice has said that there are no EU rules in place that prevent an ISP from handing over customers information, which could be the deciding factor in a pending court case. Read The Full Story

Oracle vs Google: tech pundits weigh in

, Apr 18th 2012 Discuss [26]

There’s no lack of opinions out there this week on the long-coming case between Oracle and Google on who holds sway over the data they’re disputing, data used in Android that Oracle says is theirs. Where everyone seems to agree, it seems, is that this situation could be serious. Should Oracle be found in their own rights to get a piece of the Android action after Google’s been using code of theirs for the time Android has been live, Google could be in for a rather sizable chunk of payments coming up quick. If Oracle is found incorrect, on the other hand, Google will finally be free of accusations from one of their biggest looming legal threats.

Read The Full Story

Web inventor Berners-Lee shoots down CISPA

, Apr 18th 2012 Discuss [1]

This week the inventor of the internet Tim Berners-Lee spoke on several subjects involving data sharing on the web - perhaps most important of all on CISPA, a bill currently up for review in Washington. We've spoken about CISPA before - also known as the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, and have gotten some positive and very negative feedback on it from you, the readers, and groups like Facebook - who say it's great. Berners-Lee, generally considered an expert on how the web works since he invented it, after all, is worried about the bill's implications. Read The Full Story

Google Street View car case closed with FCC $25,000 fine

, Apr 14th 2012 Discuss [23]

Way back in the year 2010 Google was accused and essentially found guilty of (perhaps accidentally) using their Google Maps street mapping cars to collect personal information from Wi-fi networks. As they drove through your neighborhood, they collected all the data there was to be had floating around the area - or so that's what the situation seemed to be when Google explained that they were "mortified by what happened" when the news broke. Now the FCC is fining Google saying that they had "deliberately impeded and delayed" an investigation into this situation - this fine totaling $25,000 this month. Read The Full Story

Facebook defends CISPA with talk of protection

, Apr 13th 2012 Discuss [4]

Just like SOPA, Facebook has responded to the growing concerns rising around an internet "security" bill presented to the House of Representatives this week - only this time they're taking the opposite stance. If you'll recall, SOPA (and its twin PIPA) were bills that allowed the US Government to effectively shut down any website it saw illegally sharing content - this set of bills was much too broad and were relatively quickly axed amid a giant bit of outcry on the part of the greater web. Now that CISPA has arrived, Facebook is seeing things differently. Read The Full Story

Apple responds to DOJ: accusations “simply not true”

, Apr 13th 2012 Discuss [1]

Apple has fired back at the Department of Justice over the allegations that it was price fixing ebooks with various publishers. Apple’s response is similar to MacMillan and Penguin, two of the publishers that are being targeted by the DOJ. Three other publishers have already decided to settle the case, breaking current contracts with Apple and having to renegotiate new ones. Read The Full Story

What the DoJ’s Apple antitrust means for ebook prices

, Apr 12th 2012 Discuss [7]

The work the Department of Justice is doing to take out what they see as a collusion on ebook pricing between publishers and Apple is meant, first and foremost, to create a fair market for consumers. As the DoJ finds the way that business is appearing to be done now to be illegal - with publishers setting prices for ebooks while the retailer takes a cut of the profit, things may make a flip in the very near future. Instead what the DoJ hopes to do is to keep the system in which the retailer sets the prices wherever they so choose, paying the publishers then a flat rate. Read The Full Story

US ebook price fixing suit settlement detailed

, Apr 11th 2012 Discuss [3]

Of the handful of massive publishers including Hachette, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, MacMillan, Penguin, and Apple, several have agreed to settlement terms with the US government. Not wishing to carry the case any longer than they have to, Hachette, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster have agreed to file terms for a proposed settlement. This settlement will have them doing a list of actions to stay out of further litigation via the Department of Justice while the rest of the defendants continue the case. The Department of Justice aims to "ensure that e-books are affordable as possible" in this case by defending the law which prohibits conspiring by companies to keep prices on products artificially high. Read The Full Story
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