Internet Law

29,000 Sex Offenders Using MySpace

The estimated number of registered sex offenders among some 180 million people using the social networking site MySpace to post personal profiles has quadrupled. Several months ago, operators of the site said they thought some 7,000 registered sex offenders had posted on MySpace. But now they have upped that estimate…

Jul 25, 2007 11:54 PM CDT

Abbott Drops Cyber Attack Suit

Abbott Laboratories has withdrawn its controversial lawsuit against AIDS activists who launched a cyber attack against its Web site in April. Abbott said it would drop the suit after meeting with members of Act-Up Paris and reaching an agreement about access to its AIDS drugs, the Wall Street Journal (sub.…

Jul 24, 2007 6:03 PM CDT

Firm’s Archive Search Not Illegal

A Pennsylvania law firm has emerged unscathed from its trip through the “Wayback Machine.” Judge Robert Kelly of Philadelphia has ruled Harding, Earley, Follmer & Frailey did not infringe a company’s copyright by obtaining its archived Internet pages using a search tool called the Wayback Machine. Nor did the law…

Jul 24, 2007 1:20 PM CDT

Child-Porn Linked to Abuse

A new study finds a strong link between viewing child pornography on the Internet and child molestation. The study of 155 inmates convicted of downloading child pornography found that 85 percent had sexually abused minors, the New York Times reports. Previous studies had suggested the number was only 30 percent…

Jul 19, 2007 2:33 PM CDT

Suit Says New Harry Potter Book Heisted

The new Harry Potter book doesn’t officially debut until Saturday. But lawyers are already in court over what appears to be a bootlegged copy whizzing around on the Internet. Photos of what appear to be actual pages of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows—with someone’s fingers visibly holding the book…

Jul 17, 2007 10:27 PM CDT

Facebook Helps Oxford U Enforce Rules

So-called trashings aren’t cricket, under Oxford University rules. But neither is the method the renowned British college is now using to discipline its students for dousing others with champagne, flour and worse in celebration of completing exams, some believe. Disciplinary officials known as proctors have been surfing the Internet, looking…

Jul 17, 2007 8:40 PM CDT

Police: WiFi Enables Child Porn Users

In miracles of modern technology, cell phone transmission records can locate lost users and provide evidence to suggest alleged criminals were—or were not—at the scenes of their crimes. Cameras record practically everything that happens in public in London. And radio speakers reportedly installed by the government in every home in…

Jul 17, 2007 7:20 PM CDT

The Day the Internet Music Dies

Playing music on the Internet gets more expensive on Sunday—in some cases prohibitively so—because of inaction by a federal appeals court. Sunday is the day that broadcast royalty rates will increase because of a decision by an obscure group of federal judges called the Copyright Royalty Board, the Los Angeles…

Jul 13, 2007 5:05 PM CDT

Landmark Google Suit Over Foreign Ads

A landmark lawsuit has been filed over Google’s Internet advertising in Australia and Ireland that could, if successful, force the search engine giant to make significant changes in the way it handles “sponsored links” paid for by advertisers. Described by a company spokesman as an “attack” on all search engines,…

Jul 12, 2007 8:42 PM CDT

UK Web Jihad Case Linked to US Fraud

Most Americans probably don’t think they have a personal link to a terrorism case that resulted in lengthy prison terms today for three London residents who ran Web sites promoting al-Qaida. But many might well be wrong about that. The three convicted terrorists funded their operations through Internet identity theft…

Jul 5, 2007 11:50 PM CDT

Jihadist Jailed for Internet Use in UK

Updated: A self-proclaimed jihadist has been jailed in Britain, along with two accomplices, based solely on his use of the Internet, in the first such terrorism case. A 10-year prison term was imposed today on Younis Tsouli, 23, a Moroccan-born resident of London, for inciting others to commit terrorism, reports…

Jul 5, 2007 9:48 PM CDT

7,000 Sex Offenders on MySpace

Some 7,000 known sex offenders in the U.S. apparently may recently have been using the MySpace personal networking Web site to meet strangers on the Internet Among them, according to a list compiled by the site’s owner and provided to authorities in May, were 141 convicted New Jersey sex offenders…

Jul 4, 2007 12:53 AM CDT

Lawyer Web Site Defends Suit

A Seattle lawyer is basing his lawsuit against a Web site that rates lawyers on Washington state’s consumer protection law. John Henry Browne sued when he saw that his rating was below that of a lawyer who is disbarred and dead, Adam Liptak writes for the New York Times in…

Jul 2, 2007 12:37 PM CDT

N.Y.’s Long Arm Misses Site Owner

A federal appeals court has ruled New York’s long-arm statute doesn’t reach an Iowa resident who operates a Web site called MovingScam.com. Best Van Lines alleged the Web site made false and defamatory statements that claimed the company did not have required insurance or legal authorization to operate, the New…

Jun 29, 2007 6:17 PM CDT

Sex Supplements Case Protects E-Mail

A federal appeals court has ruled the Fourth Amendment protects e-mail stored with a commercial Internet service provider. Individuals have a reasonable expectation of privacy for such e-mail, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found yesterday. The Cincinnati-based court upheld an injunction generally barring the federal government from obtaining…

Jun 19, 2007 6:38 PM CDT