Swedes deny owning file-sharing site Pirate Bay in Dutch court Associated Press
Lawyers for three Swedish men denied in Dutch civil court Thursday that the men are the owners of The Pirate Bay Web site. The site, one of the largest on the Web, provides an index to BitTorrent files, which are commonly used for trading movies, music and computer games. The three men were protesting an earlier decision by the court to fine them 30,000 euros ($42,000) a day for failing to block all traffic between the Web site and the Netherlands. Lawyer Ernst-Jan Louwers said that one of the men, Peter Sunde, had never owned the site. He said the two others, Frederik Neij and Gottfrid Warg, had once owned it but sold it in 2006. However, under questioning from Judge Wil Tonkens, he conceded he could not say to whom they had sold it or produce any evidence of the sale.

Magistrate denies RIAA motion for discovery sanctions in UMG v Lindor Recording Industry vs The People
Magistrate Judge Robert M. Levy has recommended that the RIAA’s motion for discovery sanctions against the defendant and her counsel in UMG Recordings v. Lindor be denied, and that the RIAA’s motion for the action to be voluntarily dismissed “without prejudice” be granted. The Judge held that “Plaintiffs` claims concerning defendant`s conduct are largely overstated.”

Mugabe’s dairy hit by internet campaign WA Today
Multinational food giant Nestle has bowed to worldwide pressure to cease trading with the wife of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. Revelations that the company was buying milk from a farm owned by Grace Mugabe prompted calls for a global consumer boycott. Several protest groups were set up on Facebook, with one attracting more than 8000 members.

Twitter in Google, Microsoft licensing talks: report Reuters
Microblogging service Twitter is in advanced talks with Google Inc and Microsoft Corp about licensing its data feed to the companies’ search engines, a Web blog associated with the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. Twitter’s discussions with Microsoft and Google are being conducted separately and would allow each company to incorporate the 140-character messages, or “tweets,” that Twitter is known for into their Internet search results. The ability to cull through the flood of tweets as they are posted, known as real time search, is gaining popularity as an important new way to search the Internet for up-to-the-minute information on the latest news events and happenings.

Craigslist Expands Legal Battle Against Spammers New York Times
Craigslist is taking its battle against spammers back to federal court. On Monday, the classified advertising site filed four lawsuits in the northern district of California against companies and people offering tools that automate the mass posting of ads on the site. Craigslist is suing Red Trumpet, a San Francisco company that runs the Web site Craigsup; Eddie Temple, an Internet marketer; and several individuals, some named and others still anonymous, who appear to be in the business of online advertising. Craigslist is charging that they infringed the company’s copyright and trademark, and were in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, among other claims. The company has sued a smattering of spammers in California courts over the last year.

Swedish bus driver sacked for sending text message The Local
A Swedish bus driver has been sacked for sending a text message while driving from Stockholm to Norrtälje. The driver was caught on film by a passenger. “We have conducted an investigation and regard the incident as very serious, we have thus decided to terminate the trial period,” Ted Stridsberg at operator Busslink told the Norrtelje Tidning newspaper. The bus-driver was filmed apparently writing a text message on his mobile phone while driving from Danderyd to Norrtälje north of Stockholm on Tuesday evening. The film shows the driver pushing buttons on his mobile phone while driving the bus with his elbows. The bus was travelling at high speed along the motorway at the time and he appeared to send several messages.

It’s My Browser, and I’ll Auto-Click if I Want To EFF
Free file hosting provider MediaFire seems to think that, when you follow a link to download a file from its service, it has the right to control your browser. This is yet another example of a web site owner forgetting that it’s your computer, and it’s none of their business how you choose to experience their web pages. This latest spat involves SkipScreen, a Firefox plug-in that automates the process of downloading from free hosting sites like RapidShare, zShare, MegaUpload, and others (including, until recently, MediaFire). Some of these ad-supported download sites try to force downloaders to sit through a “waiting period” before revealing the actual download link— a “feature” that these sites doubtless tout to advertisers in order to get premium ad rates. SkipScreen automates this waiting-and-clicking for you. Simply put, it does nothing you couldn’t accomplish just as well by hiring a human to browse for you. aMediaFire has responded by sending a lawyer letter to Mozilla, which hosts the SkipScreen plug-in, along with thousands of other Firefox add-ons. EFF has taken SkipScreen’s creators as clients, and has sent a letter to Mozilla explaining why MediaFire doesn’t have a leg to stand on.

Leopard bug threatens user data, reports claim 9to5mac
Warning, warning: The latest Snow Leopard bug seems to threaten all your data, and it seems back-up has become essential, while Apple explores if the bug is just an isolated outbreak or a more serious matter. There’s been a series of complaints across the last month of incidents in which users start their Macs up as normal only to find they’ve logged in as ‘Guests’ on their machine – with all the files and data held on their Mac in their own user account seemingly deleted. A series of posts on Apple’s Discussion forums presently describe the problem. Here’s one description taken from these: A day before the crash there was no Guest account folder in the /Users directory. Just prior to the crash a Guest account folder appeared in the /Users directory on my start-up disk (not the partition my

Feds accused of softening stance on anti-spam law Canwest News Service
The Conservative government has buckled under pressure from businesses to water down its anti-spam legislation so some marketers can continue to send unsolicited e-mails. And the government is now looking for an opposition party to help pass a bill with new loopholes, after Industry Canada officials released a list of more than 40 proposed amendments on behalf of the government. Some are technical and will not affect the scope of the bill meant to curtail junk mail, but others will narrow the reach of the proposed law.They include new exceptions for: product updates, solicitation to participate in surveys or market research, and information on self-governing professions. The government proposal also expands implied consent to receive unsolicited e-mails in instances where a person has provided her e-mail address to the sender, and removes the need for explicit consent for software programs for updates or upgrades, if consent was obtained in the past.

Lawmakers seek FCC probe into Google Voice Reuters
U.S. lawmakers urged regulators to investigate Google Inc’s ability to block expensive calls to rural areas to slash expenses, marking the latest spat between the Internet giant and AT&T Inc. Google’s Voice service is at the heart of a dispute between the world’s largest online search company and Apple Inc over why Google’s voice application, which could offer low-cost calls for users, is not available on the iPhone. Google said Apple rejected it. But Apple said it was still studying it because the application alters the iPhone’s telephone functionality and user interface. AT&T Inc, the exclusive U.S. carrier for the iPhone, has complained that Google has the ability to block calls, which U.S. phone carriers are prohibited from doing.

IBM ‘in anti-competition probe’ BBC
IBM is being investigated by the US Department of Justice over allegations of anti-competitive behaviour, a computer industry trade body has said. The Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) said the investigation came after it urged officials to look into the matter. CCIA accuses IBM of withdrawing software licences from business clients who do not also buy its hardware. IBM denies any wrongdoing and says it will co-operate with any investigation.

Why you’ll love your on-screen keyboard Computerworld
Rumors are flying about all-screen tablets from Apple and Microsoft, multitouch desktops and the rise of touch screens in general. Amazing touch screens are everywhere, from the TV news to airport billboard advertising to the cell phones in our pockets. Someday, and soon, just about everything will work like an iPhone, with software-based multitouch, gestures, physics and 3D serving as the interface for PCs and gadgets of every description. And, of course, the big operating systems players are leading the way. Microsoft filed a patent last year for a cool way to bring up an on-screen keyboard. Basically, you place the heel of your palm on the screen, plus one or two fingers, and up pops the keyboard, right under your hand. What’s great about this is that the location of the keyboard is determined in the same gesture. It’s right under your finger, wherever you place it. Specifically, the “J” key is right under your right index finger. You won’t even have to worry about where the keyboard is. Just drop your hands and start typing.

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October, 2009

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