CyberLaw Blog

Archive for February 20th, 2009

Users force Facebook to withdraw controversial ‘copyright’ plan: “Facebook has withdrawn controversial changes to its terms of service after
receiving a storm of complaints from users of the social networking website.”

(Via Tech and Web from Times Online.)

Wikileaks publishes secret donor list: “Whistleblower website Wikileaks faced a dilemma this week when a list of email addresses for the site’s donors was submitted as a leaked document.”

(Via OUT-LAW News.)

IT – Italy police warn of Skype threat: “(BBC)
Criminals in Italy are increasingly making phone calls over the internet in order to avoid getting caught through mobile phone intercepts, police say.
Officers in Milan say organised crime, arms and drugs traffickers, and prostitution rings are turning to Skype in order to frustrate investigators. The police say Skype’s encryption system is a secret which the company refuses to share with the authorities.”

(Via QuickLinks Update.)

UK.gov to tap BT as data harvester: “

Small ISP customers to be monitored upstream

The government will call on BT and other big communications firms to monitor small ISPs’ customers and keep private information on them under European data retention rules, the Home Office has revealed.…

“

(Via The Register – Public Sector.)

Pirate Bay prosecutor tosses infringement charges overboard: “

Watered down to ‘assisting making available’

Updated Half of the charges made against the four men behind the notorious file-sharing website The Pirate Bay have been sensationally dropped on day two of the trial.…

“

(Via The Register – Public Sector.)

College IT departments told to deploy anti-terror dragnet: “

Union criticises UK.gov web snitch plan

The government has told colleges to monitor web browsing for Islamic extremist sites and report students to police, drawing criticism from union chiefs that it could alienate muslim communities.…

“

(Via The Register – Public Sector.)

Pirate Bay supporters ram Swedish IFPI website: “

‘We’re winning, stop hacking plz’

Pirate Bay co-founder Peter Sunde has pleaded with fans to stop attacking official entertainment industry websites after the Swedish wing of the The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry’s (IFPI) site was hacked yesterday.…

“

(Via The Register – Public Sector.)

Judge approves AP’s online news copying suit: “

‘Hot news doctrine’ survives internet

The Associated Press can proceed with a copyright infringement lawsuit against an online news aggregation service after a federal judge ruled a century-old US Supreme Court ruling applies to the internet.…

“

(Via The Register – Public Sector.)

Regulators demand clearer privacy policies: “Two-thirds of people surveyed by the UK privacy watchdog want marketing opt-outs to be clearer, while 62% want a clearer explanation of how personal information will actually be used. The survey found that 71% did not read or understand privacy policies.”

(Via OUT-LAW News.)