Politics & Law

Sam Glover on Caveat Emptor is reporting that nearly everyone that had a credit card, loan or credit account, or an open line of credit at any point from January 1, 1987 to May 28, 2008 you maybe entitled to a settlement from a class action law suit against TransUnion Corporation.
The settlement offer has several […]

I’ll never buy another Monster Cable product and neither should you!
According to reports, Monster Cable has been going around, suing small and large businesses that simply use “Monster” in their name.
If it wasn’t already perfectly clear by now that Monster Cable’s cables aren’t really worth the price (or any price above the cost […]

News.com has published a guide to customs-proofing your laptop so that you can breeze through US Customs with your notebook should it get a closer look by US Custom Agents. But is such a guide really needed?
The US Customs have been taking closer looks the data on computers that are being brought through Customs and […]

Don’t forget to re-register your cell phone numbers and land line numbers with the Do Not Call Registry if you live in the US. If you’re not on the list telemarketers may call you.
If you registered back in 2003 when the registry was started you’re over due to register again as numbers drop off the […]

Brian Krebs at the Washington Post is reporting that the web site for the Lawrence Livermore National Labs has been inadvertently hosting malicious content and spam.
The Lawrence Livermore National Labs are responsible for the safety and integrity of the US nuclear arsenal but if the allegations are true they seem to not even be […]

Craig Joseph Mills, age 45, of Baltimore was sentenced to 78 months in Federal Prison followed by three years of supervised released for bank robbery. He was also ordered to pay restitution of $31,066.
According to his guilty plea, from April 2005 to February 15, 2007, Mills robbed 15 banks, in each instance approaching the teller, […]

Techdirt reported that McAfee’s CEO has been pushing for new laws to deal with cybercrime.
He says cybercrime is now a bigger business than illegal drug trafficking in the US, and that the punishment doled out to cybercriminals isn’t an effective deterrent. He may have a valid point there, but new laws and sentencing guidelines don’t […]

No one likes getting a speeding ticket and even a minor traffic infraction can skyrocket your insurance. If you play it smart you might be able to talk yourself out of one or even beat it, if it comes to court.
For starters watch this video for some of the most basic tips to beat a […]

The FBI has been receiving reports of spam e-mail claiming to be from an official of the U.S. military. The official claims he is sending it on behalf of American soldiers that are overseas.
These scams vary; however, the general idea is to request personal information and/or funds from the individual receiving the e-mail.
Beware of […]

The Internet Crime Complaint Center is warning that there has been an increase of fraudulent schemes and spam mail that misrepresents the FBI and its director, Robert S. Mueller III.
The fraudulent e-mails give the appearance of legitimacy due to the usage of pictures of the FBI Director, seal, letter head, and/or banners. The types […]

Symantec reports that an increasing number of phishing sites are being hosted on various government web sites.
This past June Symantec alleges that they found phishing sites on Thailand (.go.th), Indonesia (.go.id), Hungary (.gov.hu), Bangladesh (.gov.bd), Argentina (.gov.ar), Sri Lanka (.gov.lk), Ukraine (.gov.ua), China (.gov.cn), Brazil (.gov.br), Bosnia and Herzegovina (.gov.ba), Columbia (.gov.co), and Malaysia (.gov.my) […]

The General Accountability Office, the non-partisian audit and investigative arm of congress, has issued a report last week that examined 24 of the largest of 570+ data breaches that were reported in the media from January 2005 to December 2006. They only found 3 breaches that resulted in fraud.
For 18 of the breaches studied, no […]

Google can no longer use the Gmail name in Germany because the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court has ruled that using it would infringe on a man’s trademark.
As in the U.K., where it likewise doesn’t own the Gmail trademark, Google provides the service under the name “Google Mail” in Germany.
“We have also applied for the registration […]

The FBI has identified over 1 million computers that are infected with malware during its Operation Bot Roast. They are starting to contact each of these one million computer owners directly and with the help of partners but they won’t be doing it through email.
The FBI will not contact you online and request your personal […]

Ars Technica is commenting on a report that a lawyer for NBC/Universal said the US wastes too much resources and money fighting other crimes and not nearly enough, in his mind, fighting piracy.
NBC/Universal general counsel Rick Cotton suggests that society wastes entirely too much money policing crimes like burglary, fraud, and bank-robbing, when […]

Robert Alan Soloway who has been described as one of the world’s top spammers was arrested last Wednesday. The media immediately applauded his arrest and made lots of silly claims that it would make the daily onslaught change to a trickle. The numbers tell a different story.
Sharon Gaudin’s interview with Craig Sprosts with IronPort […]

Professor Eric Faden of Bucknell University has created this fair use film that explains copyright principals through the use of parody of Disney film clips.

Very entertaining and funny if you stick through to watch the whole video.
[A Fair(y) Use Tale]

Tags: disney, copyright, copyright law, copyright laws, copyright protection, copyrights, digital rights management, drm, intellectual property, […]

Today is the official deadline for DSL, cable, broadband over power-line, satellite, and all other internet providers to finish up installing FBI approved surveillance gear to comply with the FCC’s interpretation of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA.)
CALEA was passed in 1994 by Congress to help the FBI listen to and record conversations […]

A subcommittee of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce approved H.R. 964, the Spy Act, and will soon be going before the full committee for approval. But the act seems to only protect vendors and DRM.
Ed Foster asks why…
But why? There are already plenty of federal and state laws regarding computer fraud, trespass, […]

This story is making my blood boil!
The US Food and Drug Administration is considering redefining the legal definition of “chocolate” to allow the substitution of vegetable oil for cocoa butter and whey protein instead of whole milk.
Currently, products that use these cheaper and less tasty and healthy ingredients may not be labeled as “Chocolate” and […]