Politics and Law

Antitrust regulators seek more commitment from Microsoft

WASHINGTON-- Microsoft has made some progress developing a set of documents required as part of its antitrust consent decree, but the work could be accomplished much more quickly if the company took on a less grudging attitude, state and federal antitrust regulators said Thursday.

The comments were made during a status conference meeting held to asses Microsoft's compliance with the consent decree.

In June, regulators said that the "overview documents" Microsoft prepared did not sufficiently enable third-party licensees to create software interoperable with the company's operating systems. Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly agreed that Microsoft had to create … Read more

Verizon: Put the brakes on broadband monitoring

Start-up NebuAd had hoped to build a business on monitoring broadband customers' Web browsing and delivering relevant ads. Then its partners began dropping out, its chief executive resigned, and earlier this month the company suspended its business plan.

Never let it be said that politicians are quick on the uptake. The Senate Commerce Committee nevertheless is holding a hearing on Thursday morning to investigate the NebuAd-ish privacy practices of broadband providers. (Who, remember, aren't using NebuAd.)

One noteworthy development is that Verizon -- which, we should point out, has never been a NebuAd partner -- is going to suggest … Read more

Mistrial for RIAA's $222,000 defendant

Updated at 12:10 p.m. PDT with quote from the RIAA.

A federal judge on Wednesday threw out the verdict against Jammie Thomas, the peer-to-peer network user ordered to pay the recording industry $222,000 for allegedly sharing music online.

U.S. District Judge Michael Davis of Duluth, Minn., declared a mistrial in the case against Thomas, who was charged in October with violating copyright law by making 24 songs available for others to download on the Kazaa network.

Davis set aside the verdict on the grounds that he misguided the jury, telling jurors that simply the act of … Read more

Tech activist takes on governments over 'copyrighted' laws

SEBASTOPOL, Calif.--From a corner of a nondescript office building at the edge of wine country, Carl Malamud is masterminding an electronic guerrilla war against governments across the nation.

Most geeks tend to be a bit obsessive, and Malamud is no exception. He's devoted his life to liberating laws, regulations, court cases, and the other myriad detritus that governments produce daily, but often lock up in proprietary databases or allow for-profit companies to sell for princely sums.

"One of the most important products our government makes is information," said the 49-year-old tech activist, who created a Lego animation … Read more

Group asked to apologize for calling online vendors addicts

An e-commerce advocacy group is fuming over the retail industry's portrayal of online vendors as addicts and criminals and is demanding an apology.

NetChoice.org on Wednesday called for an apology from the National Retail Federation and Joseph LaRocca, NRF's vice president for loss prevention, after LaRocca told Congress on Monday that thieves who steal from retail stores are often driven to crime by the "addictive qualities" of online commerce.

LaRocca's comments came from the prepared testimony he gave during a hearing Monday of the House Judiciary's subcommittee on crime, terrorism, and homeland security. … Read more

Bush administration opposes RIAA-backed copyright bill

The Bush administration has announced its strong opposition to a bill backed by the recording industry that would let federal prosecutors file civil lawsuits against peer-to-peer pirates.

In a letter sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that amounts to a veto threat, the administration said it was "deeply concerned" that the proposal would divert resources from criminal prosecution to civil enforcement, and create "unnecessary bureaucracy." Currently prosecutors have authority to file criminal charges.

The two-page letter said that copyright owners already have plenty of legal methods to target infringers, including seeking injunctions, impounding infringing … Read more

FBI's chief information officer resigns

WASHINGTON--The FBI's chief information officer announced his resignation Wednesday, nearly five years after inheriting an information technology program fraught with disaster and dramatically turning it around.

"In 2004, everyone was asking when the FBI would join the 21st century," said CIO Zalmai Azmi. "Today I can tell you that we are in the 21st century and continue to move forward."

When Azmi joined the FBI as the acting CIO, the bureau was scheduled to roll out Virtual Case File, a software program meant to replace its archaic, paper-based criminal tracking system. Instead, the system was … Read more

Online critics take aim at $700 billion financial bailout proposal

Bailout type Cost to taxpayers (Source: Reuters) Proposed Treasury Department legislation $700 billion+ Bear Stearns financing $29 billion Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac nationalization $200 billion AIG loan and nationalization $85 billion Federal Housing Administration housing rescue bill $300 billion Mortgage community grants $4 billion JPMorgan Chase repayments $87 billion Loans to banks via Fed's Term Auction Facility $200 billion+ Loans from Depression-era Exchange Stabilization Fund $50 billion Purchases of mortgage securities by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac $144 billion TOTAL $1.8 trillion+ COST PER HOUSEHOLD $17,064+

Internet criticism of the Bush administration's proposed $700 billion … Read more

Industry experts: RFID policy must be measured

WASHINGTON--The potential applications for radio frequency identification are about as far-reaching and unforeseeable as its privacy and security implications.

Industry representatives, government officials, and consumer advocates met at a workshop on Tuesday hosted by the Federal Trade Commission to discuss how to resolve privacy and security concerns with respect to RFID without stifling the growth of the technology.

"Our discomfort stems from the fact that strong security is not always built into the (RFID technology) to begin with," said Susan Grant, director of consumer protection for the Consumer Federation of America. "Very often, it's an afterthought.&… Read more