leak

A federal judge in Virginia has set a hearing for next week in a high-profile case that will decide whether the U.S. Justice Department can obtain records about the Twitter accounts used by WikiLeaks activists.

The hearing, scheduled for February 15 in Alexandra, Va., is expected to focus on whether the Justice Department has the legal justification for its request for the account details, and whether the almost-entirely-secret court records in this case should be made available for public viewing.

As CNET previously reported, federal prosecutors obtained a court order directing Twitter to turn over information about the accounts … Read more

A security firm investigating the people behind the recent Anonymous cyberattacks on various Web sites has become a victim of the group's exploits.

Information security research firm HBGary Federal, which said that it had been working with the FBI to identify the leaders of Anonymous, saw its Web site hacked and the Twitter account of its CEO, Aaron Barr, compromised yesterday by the group.

"Today we taught everyone a lesson. When we actually decide to bite back against those who try to bring us down, we bite hard," Anonymous tweeted on Barr's hacked Twitter page.

Beyond … Read more

In an exclusive interview with "60 Minutes" tonight, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange discussed, among other things, his relationship with sources (a crucial legal issue, as the U.S. considers taking court action against Assange), WikiLeaks' vulnerability to government shut down (presumably of concern to Assange, especially since some WikiLeaks supporters have found themselves grappling with various law enforcement agencies), and rumors about an upcoming release of documents embarrassing to Bank of America.

"60 Minutes" offers a transcript of the interview, along with video extras, here, and a behind-the-scenes video here. … Read more

The group Anonymous has issued a warning to the U.K. government after five men suspected of having connections to the group were arrested yesterday.

The group, which has claimed responsibility for a series of distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks launched in support of whistle-blowing site WikiLeaks, said it viewed the arrests as a "declaration of war" by the British authorities.

"Anonymous believes...that pursuing this direction is a sad mistake on your behalf. Not only does it reveal the fact that you do not seem to understand the present-day political and technological reality, we also … Read more

The Google Nexus S by Samsung could soon be available in white, thumbing a nose at a certain fruit-flavored competitor. Google's second smartphone is currently on sale in black, but leaked photos show an icy makeover.

The front of the phone stays black, and the back is white, for a classy two-tone effect. That's according to German Web site Bestboyz. Yes, despite the name, the link does go to a phone-news Web site--sorry to disappoint anyone hoping for hunks just waiting for your call to chat and date.

Read more of "White Google Nexus S set to embarrass Apple's iPhone&… Read more

We're signed! That's right, Tim Geisenheimer is now our agent, so we trust he'll have our and not CBS' best interests at heart. With that in mind, we're asking Tim to get New York City's first chief digital officer, Rachel Sterne.

Boy, did New York City luck out. Sterne, a 27-year-old Columbia University adjunct professor, now leads the efforts to bring Gotham City into the 21st century. Sterne will focus on how city government uses digital technology to better communicate with citizens. We're thinking she's going to be tweeting and Facebooking all day long. She'll also handle the city's Wi-Fi password, so DM her when you visit and you need Internet.

In more tech news, word has leaked that Sony will be releasing details of the next-generation PSP2 this Thursday. Rumors thus far point to a touch OLED screen and 3G connectivity. All this makes us wonder how different the PSP2 will be from the plethora of smartphones out there.

In more video game news, Duke Nukem Forever, the video game that has been in development since our grandparents were growing up, finally has a release date and trailer. Gearbox, the game's developer, says the game will be released on May 3 in the U.S. and May 6 worldwide. Personally, we think the trailer has a few laughs but disappoints when it comes to graphics.

Finally, we've got some media news. Angry Birds will reportedly get an animated series, according to its CEO. WikiLeaks and Google are also reported getting movies after the success of "The Social Network"! Julian Assange seems like a character, but I don't know if Larry Page and Sergey Brin will be all that entertaining to watch in the basement of their garages.

If you've got a free moment, leave us a voice mail at 1.866.404.CNET (2638). Apparently, Wilson G. Tang and Jeff Bakalar did a pretty good job, along with Scott Stein and Dan Ackerman, hosting Friday's Buzz Out Loud. We know... shocking.

There have been rumors of two Sony Cyber-shot models, the HX9V and HX100V, to be announced in February, but so far there has been no concrete proof. Until now.

Photo equipment retailer B&H leaked on its online store these two point-and-shoots, complete with specifications and pictures of one shooter.

The Cyber-shot DSC-HX9V, according to the Web site, employs a 16-megapixel Exmor R CMOS image sensor, a 16x optical zoom lens that extends from 24mm to 384mm, a 3-inch LCD, full-HD video recording, 3D Sweep Panorama, and optical image stabilizer. The top view of the snapper indicates that this camera will have manual exposure control and stereo audio capture. It has a pop-up flash, too.

There weren't any pictures of the HX100V, though its specifications were clearly listed on B&H's site (as we expected, B&H has removed the listings). It also has a 16-megapixel Exmor R CMOS sensor, and the zoom range is 30x (27mm to 810mm). The remaining features, such as LCD size and video capture, are similar to the HX9V. … Read more

A British court today set an extradition hearing for February 7 and 8 for Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks editor whom Swedish authorities have accused of rape.

District Judge Nicholas Evans set the date in a brief hearing today in London, using a large courtroom to accommodate more of the people interested in the high-profile case. In addition, the judge modified the terms of Assange's bail to permit him to stay in London during the hearing, according to CNET News sister site ZDNet UK.

Assange denies the Swedish accusations. According to a British police statement released when Assange was arrested … Read more

The FBI has seized a server in Texas as part of its hunt for the groups behind the pro-WikiLeaks denial-of-service attacks launched in December against PayPal, Visa, MasterCard, and others, according to a report.

During a December 16 raid, agents seized a server at Tailor Made Services, a Dallas-based co-location, or server-hosting, facility, and copied two of its hard drives, according to The Smoking Gun Web site, which said it has obtained the FBI affidavit in support of a search warrant for the seizure.

It's not clear what was found on the drives, The Smoking Gun reported, saying that … Read more