Corruption

WikiLeaks starts publishing two million 'Syria Files' emails

WikiLeaks, the highly controversial whistleblowing group, has begun publishing more than two million emails from Syrian political figures, ministries, and associated companies.

WikiLeaks says the data derives from 680 Syria-related entities or domain names, including those from the ministries of presidential affairs, foreign affairs, finance, information, transport, and culture.

Today's publication of dozens of emails mark the first cache released, with more to be published over the coming months. A number of media outlets are working in partnership with Wikileaks, including the Associated Press.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said the Syrian government will not be the only ones facing … Read more

Al Gore with Sean Parker at SXSW: 'Occupy democracy!'

AUSTIN, Texas--Former U.S. vice president Al Gore and Facebook's founding president Sean Parker argued passionately today that online communities must use the powerful tools at their disposal to save American democracy.

At South by Southwest (SXSW) here, Gore and Parker took the stage to tell an adoring crowd of several thousand that though they should be proud of the mass Internet activism that derailed the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), there is still a huge amount of work to be done if Americans want to keep special interests from perpetually forcing their agendas down society's throat.

Fortunately, … Read more

Buy laptop, TV, monitor a while back? You may be owed money

If you bought a laptop, computer monitor, or television with a flat-panel LCD display between 1999 and 2006, and you live in one of the affected states, you could be eligible for a damages payment under a half-billion-dollar settlement of a class-action lawsuit involving price-fixing.

The California attorney general's office issued a statement this week urging residents of the state to visit a new class-action Web site--lcdclass.com--for information on how to file a claim.

In October 2010, California's attorney general filed a lawsuit against 10 companies, including Samsung, Hitachi, and Sharp, that alleged the companies &… Read more

Full Tilt Poker cheated players out of $300 million, WSJ says

The U.S. Department of Justice accused celebrity poker players Howard Lederer and Christopher Ferguson and other executives who ran the Web site Full Tilt Poker of defrauding players of more than $300 million, The Wall Street Journal reported today.

The U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York amended an earlier civil complaint to allege that the players and two other directors of Full Tilt Poker ran a Ponzi scheme, in which the individuals illegally paid themselves with funds that were deposited by players supposedly for safe keeping.

The Web site's domain has been seized by … Read more

HP suing former exec over theft of trade secrets

In a case that echos of its turmoil with ex-CEO Mark Hurd, Hewlett-Packard is suing a former executive, claiming he stole trade secrets before jumping ship to Oracle.

In the lawsuit filed yesterday, HP alleges that Adrian Jones, the former head of enterprise sales in the company's Asian division, copied proprietary documents and e-mails about HP product information onto a USB device, according to Reuters.

In a further twist to the case, HP said it was going to fire Jones after it learned that he had an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate, had set up a large pay increase … Read more

Ex-Apple manager pleads guilty in kickback case

A former manager at Apple has pleaded guilty in a major kickback case that could land him 20 years in prison.

Paul Shin Devine, once employed at Apple as a supply manager, admitted guilt yesterday in federal court in San Jose, Calif., on charges of wire fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering. He was accused of taking kickbacks from Apple suppliers in exchange for information, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Devine, who worked at Apple from 2005 through 2010, sent forecasts, roadmaps, product specifications, and other confidential information to Asian suppliers and manufacturers of Apple components, according to … Read more

Amid unrest, Egypt went offline (roundup)

Following widespread street protests demanding an end to autocratic rule by President Hosni Mubarak, a country of more than 80 million people found itself almost entirely disconnected from the rest of the world. Here's how the story has unfolded:

Vodafone: We were forced to send pro-Mubarak texts Egyptian government of President Hosni Mubarak forced carrier to send prescripted, propagandistic text messages during recent unrest, Vodafone says. (Posted in Politics and Law by Lance Whitney) February 3, 2011 11:43 AM PST

U.S. defended Egyptian activist's YouTube videos WikiLeaks cable shows U.S. State Department talked Google into … Read more

Sweden issuing arrest warrant for WikiLeaks' Assange

The Swedish government said today it would issue an international arrest warrant for WikiLeaks spokesman Julian Assange on rape charges.

A Stockholm district court ruled that Assange will be "detained in his absence" on charges of rape, sexual molestation, and unlawful coercion. The decision came at a hearing where Sweden's director of prosecution, Marianne Ny presented evidence related to the allegations.

"I requested his arrest so we could carry out an interrogation with Assange," Ny told the Agence France-Presse news agency. "That is the reason."

The rape allegations--which Assange strenuously denies and says … Read more

WikiLeaks defies feds, releases Iraq war files

WikiLeaks defied a series of increasingly stern warnings from the U.S. military and other government officials today by releasing a massive trove of secret documents from the Iraq war.

Portions of the U.S. military reports, totaling nearly 400,000 classified documents, began appearing on the Internet this afternoon, including on the Web sites of some news organizations that had been handed the documents in advance.

The U.K. Guardian reported that the Iraq war logs show an Apache crew killed insurgents who had tried to surrender. Al Jazeera's analysis found a Pentagon directive told troops to ignore … Read more

Craigslist: We won't reopen adult-services section

Facing concerns that it's facilitating child prostitution, a representative of personals listing site Craigslist confirmed in remarks prepared for a congressional hearing Wednesday that it will not be reopening the "adult services" section that it shut down earlier this month after pressure from lawmakers.

William Clint Powell, Craigslist's director of customer service and law enforcement relations, said in the hearing, held by the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security, that going after Craigslist would do little good and that "those who formerly posted adult services ads on Craigslist will now … Read more