Siljaline's Blog : legal

Google takes aim at browser redirection

Randy Knobloch — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 19:17:00 GMT

Google has announced a service that it says will speed up web surfing and prevent browser redirection by malicious programs or internet providers. The service takes aim at how the web addresses users type in, such as www.cbc.ca, are translated into the...(read more)

Facebook fine-tunes privacy controls

Randy Knobloch — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:01:00 GMT

Facebook says it is boosting privacy by giving users control over who sees each bit of information they put on the social-networking site, and by doing away with regional and group networks. "We're adding something that many of you have asked...(read more)

Google to limit free access to some news content

Randy Knobloch — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 12:47:00 GMT

Google Inc. is allowing publishers of paid content to limit the number of free news articles accessed by people using its internet search engine. The concession follows mounting criticism of Google's practices from media publishers — most notably...(read more)

Canadian copyright law to trump Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement

Randy Knobloch — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 23:39:00 GMT

Industry Minister Tony Clement, responding to accusations that an international anti-counterfeiting agreement will criminalize everyday activity by Canadians, says any such pact will be "subservient" to copyright rules created domestically....(read more)

Mininova removes links to copyrighted files

Randy Knobloch — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 01:59:00 GMT

Mininova, one of the biggest torrent file-sharing websites in the world, has removed links to all copyrighted content that it does not have official agreements for. Thursday's move is a win for the entertainment industry as users of the site are now...(read more)

Online advertising regaining momentum

Randy Knobloch — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:16:00 GMT

After bogging down in the recession, internet advertising is regaining the momentum that has made it the decade's most disruptive marketing machine. The signs of an online revival are emerging even while advertising in print and broadcasts remains...(read more)

Microsoft-tested browser prosecution snares tech giants

Randy Knobloch — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 00:26:00 GMT

Tiny Eolas Technologies is taking tech giants and major customers to court claiming they infringed its patents for working with online interactive content. Eolas has filed suit against Adobe Systems, Apple, Google, Sun Microsystems, YouTube, Blockbuster...(read more)

Blogger payola getting a pass in Canada

Randy Knobloch — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 01:30:00 GMT

U.S. authorities are using the threat of big fines to force bloggers to disclose their relationships with the companies they write about, but jurisidictional confusion means no similar mechanisms exist or are under consideration in Canada. The Federal...(read more)

Judge in Pirate Bay Appeal Removed for Bias

Randy Knobloch — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:54:00 GMT

The Pirate Bay saga took another twist Tuesday as one of the appellate judges set to hear the appeal of the co-founders’ criminal copyright convictions was removed over concerns of bias. The Swedish judge in question, Fredrik Niemela, owns an unstated...(read more)

Facebook pulls Obama assassination poll

Randy Knobloch — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 01:35:00 GMT

Social website Facebook yanked a poll this week about assassinating President Barack Obama after being contacted by the U.S. Secret Service. On Monday, Facebook dropped a question that asked voters whether the U.S. president "should be killed."...(read more)

Microsoft protests $290m Word judgment

Randy Knobloch — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:27:00 GMT

A federal judge fundamentally misinterpreted a patent asserted against Microsoft Word, an error that should require a $290m infringement penalty to be overturned, attorneys for the software giant argued Wednesday. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/09...(read more)

Facebook shuts down Beacon marketing tool

Randy Knobloch — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:04:00 GMT

Facebook says it will shut down its controversial marketing feature Beacon, an application that broadcasts users' activities, including purchases, on other websites to their Facebook friends. The feature was adopted in November 2007 and immediately...(read more)

New York Times Reforms Online Ad Sales After Malware Scam

Randy Knobloch — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 03:11:00 GMT

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/09/nyt-revamps-online-ad-sales-after-malware-scam/...(read more)

U.S. to introduce net neutrality rules: report

Randy Knobloch — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 23:16:00 GMT

The top U.S. telecommunications regulator is set to introduce net neutrality rules that will prohibit internet providers from selectively blocking or slowing web traffic, according to a report. Federal Communications Commission chairman Julius Genachowski...(read more)

Google acquires ReCAPTCHA

Randy Knobloch — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:43:00 GMT

Google has acquired a Carnegie Mellon University spinoff that seeks to cut down on spam and fraud at websites while digitizing books. ReCAPTCHA offers simple word puzzles that users must solve when registering at a website or completing an online purchase...(read more)

Pirate Bay copyright convicts lose retrial bid

Randy Knobloch — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 16:49:00 GMT

Four men found guilty of promoting copyright infringement through the file-sharing site The Pirate Bay will not get a retrial, the Swedish court of appeals has ruled. The court found Thursday that the judge who ruled in the original case in April, Tomas...(read more)

Jackson's death slows web to a crawl

Randy Knobloch — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 20:13:00 GMT

In life, Michael Jackson once ruled the pop charts. With his death, he dominated the internet. As reports of Jackson's death on Thursday spread, celebrity gossip websites crashed, news sites slowed to a crawl and traffic on social networking sites...(read more)

Conficker worm sends new instructions: grow botnet, then die

Randy Knobloch — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 20:29:00 GMT

The Conficker worm has begun to update the machines it has infected with a new set of instructions to spread to other machines and then self-destruct, security experts say. Security researchers tracking the worm said some of the infected computers began...(read more)

China rejects computer spy claims

Randy Knobloch — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 20:43:00 GMT

China's government on Tuesday dismissed a research report outlining an extensive spy network based mostly in China as "lies" designed to hurt the country's image abroad. Speaking to reporters, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said...(read more)

Reported internet spy network just tip of iceberg: researcher

Randy Knobloch — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 12:33:00 GMT

An internet spy network that targeted hundreds of "high value" computers belonging to government departments and other organizations in 103 countries is likely just one of many, says one of the Canadian researchers who uncovered it. "We...(read more)