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Friday, June 30, 2006
 
  SABC is flirting with ‘insult laws’
A NEW and serious censorship dimension has opened up at the South African Broadcasting Corporation, which by its recent conduct shows it supports the institution of insult laws, the notorious laws that protect presidents and heads of certain government departments in many African countries from criticism.

HELPING COMPANIES TOE THE LINE
Technology is the latest tool being employed by companies around the world to root out fraud and prevent incidents such as the collapse of US energy company Enron and telecommunications group WorldCom in 2001.
The growing importance of corporate governance is leading to a lucrative new market in regulatory compliance and risk management systems for technology companies.

Heaven or hell?
Humanity is on the verge of an incredible future. Technologies that seem like science fiction are already becoming science fact as researchers develop innovations that will transform the very essence of what it is to be human.
"The pace of change is exponential, not linear," says inventor, entrepreneur, author, and futurist Ray Kurzweil. "So things fifty years from now will be very different. That's pretty phenomenal. It took us fifteen years to sequence HIV, we sequenced SARS in 31 days."

Nebraska's child-support computer system hacked
A hacker broke into the state's child-support computer system and may have obtained the names, Social Security numbers and other information of 300,000 people and 9,000 employers, the state treasurer announced Thursday.
The hacker got into a back-up computer server Wednesday morning for about 40 minutes and launched a virus.

Microsoft's Office 2007 hits snag
Microsoft Corp. said Thursday it would delay the release of its Office business software suite, citing "product performance" issues.
In a statement released by the company's Waggener Edstrom public relations firm, Microsoft said it would now release the product to big business customers by the end of the year, instead of in October as planned.

Thursday, June 29, 2006
 
  The secrets to retaining black skills
There is a significant disjoint between what young black talent in South Africa wants and what most corporates are delivering.This mismatch, according to new research launched last week, is also contributing to the damaging culture of job-hopping in corporate South Africa.

State delays cellphone law
South Africa indefinitely postponed the implementation of a law forcing cellular operators to stop services to almost 20 million clients unless the users gave personal details, including addresses.

Wednesday, June 28, 2006
 
  'Wegbreek' a valid name, court rules
Magazine publishers Ramsay, Son & Parker (RS&P) have won the legal right to publish 'Wegbreek', their newly launched travel magazine, the company said in a statement on Friday.

Equality court finds artist guilty of hate speech for anti-Semitic graffiti
A dog-parlour owner who painted anti-Semitic graffiti on the walls of his Jewish neighbour's home was found guilty of hate speech in the first such case to come before the equality court.

Stolen Laptop Holds Student Data
San Francisco State University officials have put students and staff on alert because a thief broke into a faculty member's car earlier this month and stole a laptop with nearly 3,000 Social Security numbers and names of former and current students.

Phone phishing attack hits US
Criminals have launched a blended attack which attempts to lure users to a malicious Web site via text message.

Tuesday, June 27, 2006
 
  Bungle exposes bank files
THE banking details of thousands of Australians have been revealed and an international police investigation jeopardised in a bungle by Australia's peak internet crime-fighting agency.

Phisher catches 21-month jail term
A 23 year-old phishing site operator from Iowa has been sentenced to 21 months in jail and will have to pay $57,294 in restitution.

Audit Indicates Security Didn't Top List of Concerns at Ohio University
An independent audit has turned up evidence that Ohio University's Computer Services department failed to take appropriate security precautions to protect the data on its systems despite a generous budget and average annual surpluses in excess of US$1 million.

OMB Sets Guidelines for Protecting Federal Laptop Security
Clay Johnson, Deputy Director of OMB, issued a memorandum to federal officials giving them four specific steps to protect sensitive information on laptops and on systems accessible by remote users. He also set a 45 day goal for implementation.

Municipalities are creating networks to link buildings
SEVERAL municipalities are building communication networks to link their buildings across cities, and in some cases are planning to provide support for voice and data services for consumers and businesses in their areas.

'Vishing': Dialing for Dollars
Long before e-mail and phishing scams, criminals were using public telephone networks to trick people into giving away their financial and personal information. Last week, security experts spotted another sign that crooks are finding success in scams that marry new and old technologies.

Microsoft launches online Office preview
Microsoft has launched an online preview of its new Office business software, as part of efforts to drum up more interest in the coming set of releases.

Internet Providers to Battle Child Porn
Ernie Allen, chief executive of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, noted that the Internet companies already possess many technologies to help protect users from threats such as viruses and e-mail "phishing" scams. "There's nothing more insidious and inappropriate" than child pornography, he said.

The problem with the "consent" provisions of RICA
Since the release of the Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information Act of 2002 (RICA) many commentators have declared that the best way for companies to avoid hefty fines is to get their employees written consent before intercepting any electronic communications.

Three held over virus e-mail plot
Three computer experts have been arrested over an alleged international plot to spread viruses via e-mail.

Coming soon -- mind-reading computers
A raised eyebrow, quizzical look or a nod of the head are just a few of the facial expressions computers could soon be using to read people's minds.

Firms agree on rules for mobile Web sites
Some of the world's top wireless and Internet companies, including Nokia, Vodafone Group and Google, have agreed on a set of Web site development guidelines aimed at making it easier to surf the Internet on cellphones.

Identity guardians lose personal data
The Federal Trade Commission, the US body responsible for protecting citizens from identity theft and fraud, has had two laptops stolen which contain the personal details of 110 people.

Cybersquatters can get rich if they're quick, says .eu registry
Cybersquatters who broke the rules when registering .eu domains can be stripped of them at any time, says .eu registry EURid. But if they manage to sell their domains before being caught, they can keep the proceeds, according to the registry.

14 fired as porn goes viral at DVLA
Up to 115 employees at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency have been disciplined over the sending of pornographic emails. The Government body has dismissed 14 of those people.

Child porn convictions will be reported to banks
Police will be able to pass details of child pornography offenders on to banks so that offenders' credit cards can be revoked. The Home Secretary has issued an order for the amendment of the Data Protection Act which will be read in both houses of Parliament.

Home Office child porn control goes too far, says privacy chief
The Information Commissioner advised the Home Office against a key measure of its recent Data Protection Act amendment giving banks the power to administer an account without the knowledge of the account holders.

Internet firms to battle child porn
Microsoft, Yahoo, AOL and two other US Internet companies are joining forces to fight the distribution of child pornography on the Web.

E-billing Compliance and Common Sense
There are a number of Acts, Bills, mandates, directives and guidelines that need to be considered when introducing an electronic billing process.

Web Applications Creating More Security Problems
As more people turn to Web applications for everyday tasks like e-mail, friendship and payments, cyber criminals are following them in search of bank account details and other valuable data, security researchers said. Users of Yahoo Inc.'s e-mail service, Google Inc.'s Orkut social networking site and eBay Inc.'s PayPal online payment service were among the targets of attacks in recent weeks.

U.S. Ill-Prepared for Internet Disruption, Study Says
The U.S. is poorly prepared for a major disruption of the Internet, according to a study that an influential group of chief executives will publish. The Business Roundtable, composed of the CEOs of 160 large U.S. companies, said neither the government nor the private sector has a coordinated plan to respond to an attack, natural disaster or other disruption of the Internet.

Two Men Arrested for Selling Obscene Material Online
Two men have been arrested and charged with prostitution and producing selling and promoting obscene material over the Internet, Florida Attorney Bill Eddins and Escambia County Sheriff Ron McNesby announced. The men, Clinton Raymond McCowen, aka Ray Guhn, of Navarre, and Kevin Patrick Stevens, of Pensacola, were charged following a lengthy investigation by the Escambia County Sheriff's Office and the state attorney's office, Eddins said.

Kentucky Restricting Blog Access to Some Employees
Kentucky's government has lifted a ban on state workers viewing at least one "blog" Web site but not others, which has sparked a Democratic Web site publisher to threaten legal action. Gov. Ernie Fletcher's administration kicked off an Internet-fueled public relations firestorm when officials blocked employees from viewing certain Web sites -- including Bluegrassreport.org, published by former Democratic operative Mark Nickolas.

Navy Probing Personal Data Found on Civilian Website
The Navy has begun a criminal investigation after Social Security numbers and other personal data for 28,000 sailors and family members were found on a civilian website. The Navy said the information was in five documents and included people's names, birth dates and Social Security numbers.

Another View: Under guise of war, privacy rights vanishing
It will soon be five years since the Earth shook in New York, at the Pentagon and in a Pennsylvania field. Since then, America has regarded itself at war with terrorists. Yet, unlike other wars, the American people have not been asked to make collective sacrifice of time or treasure. They have, however, been asked to sacrifice something equally precious: the right of privacy.

Data brokers breaching privacy
Almost every piece of personal information that Americans try to keep secret - including bank account statements, email messages and telephone records - is semi-public and available for sale.

Who Owns Customer Data?
Both AT&T's information ownership claim or its statement that its revised privacy policy should be considered retroactive are controversial, says Sharon R. Klein, a partner with Pepper Hamilton. "If it is new information to the consumer, it cannot be revealed like that on a retroactive basis."

Lawyers do accounts a little better than accountants do law
LAW firms are rapidly claiming territory and people from the accounting and auditing professions.

Monday, June 26, 2006
 
  AT&T Admits to Sharing Customer Details in New Privacy Policy
AT&T Inc. sharply altered its privacy policy last week, claiming that it owns the phone records of customers, and is free to hand them over to government officials without reservation.

THE LAST DAYS OF PRIVACY
As technology makes life richer and easier, we leave a trail of information that is susceptible to prying eyes

Search of banking records raises privacy concerns
WASHINGTON -- For most Americans, the confidentiality of their bank accounts and other financial holdings is a right to be cherished. The idea that government agents might be secretly scrutinizing the records of individuals arouses discomfort in people who view their wealth, income, and other financial information as nobody's business but their own.

Red Hot Chili Peppers Accused Of Plagiarism
The Red Hot Chili Peppers have been accused of plagiarism by a radio station in America.

Sunday, June 25, 2006
 
  Tech giants demand US-wide privacy law
The world's biggest technology companies have kick-started a campaign for a US-wide privacy law. However, privacy advocates fear that the proposal is too weak when compared to some of the state laws it would overrule.

Wits to enforce staff tithe policy
WITS University has stunned staff by demanding 10% of off-campus earnings, a move that is expected to net R40m a year for the institution. Money earned by moonlighting Wits staff is estimated at R400m. The controversial policy has been justified by the university as a programme to invigorate its resources and ensure its status as a leading academic institution.

Saturday, June 24, 2006
 
  Study: Most Technology Companies Have Data Losses
Over half of all companies doing business in the technology, media and telecommunications sectors have experienced data breaches that potentially exposed their intellectual property or customer information, a new research report shows.

Ohio U. suspends two over hackers' theft
Ohio University said Tuesday it has suspended two information technology supervisors over recent breaches by hackers who may have stolen 173,000 Social Security numbers from school computers.

AT&T Revises Privacy Policy, Says It Owns Customer Data
AT&T Inc. (T.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Wednesday it was revising its privacy policy, explaining to customers that it owns their phone records and can hand them over to law enforcers if necessary.

AP: Police got phone data from brokers
Numerous federal and local law enforcement agencies have bypassed subpoenas and warrants designed to protect civil liberties and gathered Americans' personal telephone records from private-sector data brokers.

Setting Directors' Fees After Sarbanes-Oxley
SOX has certainly directed attention to board service. The result of all of this unwanted attention is that fewer people want to serve on a corporate board. To make board service more attractive, directors' fees have gone up accordingly.

Innovation Best Antidote for Piracy in China
"A lot of the piracy is done with a nudge-nudge, wink-wink type of thing," Emily Miao, an intellectual property attorney with McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff in Chicago said. "That's clear when you walk through the streets and see all these low-quality brand-name goods for sale and see police officers walking everywhere and nobody is doing anything."

The secrets to retaining black skills
There is a significant disjoint between what young black talent in South Africa wants and what most corporates are delivering.

Long process before ICASA protection
The recommendation by parliament's Constitutional Review Committee to make the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) a protected entity under the constitution is desirable, but there is still a long process before it happens, committee chairman Mannie Schoeman (ANC) says.

Probe into BCX sale ‘to be lengthy'
The investigation into Telkom's proposed acquisition of Business Connexion (BCX) could be a lengthy one, the Competition Commission says.

Virgin promises ‘true competition' in SA
After months of speculation, SA's fourth mobile operator, Virgin Mobile, has arrived, officially entering the local telecommunications market tomorrow.

Australian Court success for brand owners
Bob the Builder and Thomas the Tank Engine producer HIT Entertainment has won an injunction against a trader in Australia, in what a report on the MIP site as a resounding victory for brand owners. As well as declarative and injunctive relief, HIT was awarded its costs and given the opportunity to claim damages. Bashir Lodin was accused of importing clothes featuring the names and images of the characters Bob the Builder and Thomas the Tank Engine since October, 2004, and selling them. Lodin did not turn up to a hearing in Sydney to respond to allegations of trademark infringement and passing off. In his absence, Justice Margaret Stone found him guilty on both charges, in a decision published with a corrigendum. The judge noted that Lodin's action involved misleading and deceptive conduct, false representations that the goods had been approved by HIT and false representations that HIT had authorised Lodin to sell goods bearing its trademarks.

FIFA stamps out ambush marketing
FIFA has taken a firm stand against LG Electronics SA's attempt to ride on the massive marketing and publicity for the FIFA World Cup 2006, currently being held in Germany. In response to complaints made to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), LG has agreed to amend its advertisements by deleting all references to the FIFA World Cup.

Constitutional change recommended for communications advances
A recommendation has been made to change the Constitution to bring it in line with developments in the telecommunications industry – a move seen as guaranteeing the independence of the regulator Icasa. The Constitutional Review Committee, in a report tabled in Parliament yesterday, proposed that changes be made to section 192 of the Constitution to reflect developments in the telecommunications industry. This, notes Business Day, would be a victory for those who have been advocating Icasa’s independence. The report comes against the background of persistent reports that Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri wants to take control of Icasa. The argument raged over whether the appointments of Icasa councilors should be made by a panel or by Parliament, as is the case at present. This led to questions about whether the independence of Icasa was amply protected in the Constitution.

Virtual Networks: Bespoke service can lower the bills
In its early years, Ford Motor Company owned a steel plant and a rubber plantation to guarantee a supply of high quality materials.

BILL HAS OPENED THE GATES TO A NEW WORLD
It’s the end of an era. Bill Gates, who founded Microsoft with his childhood friend Paul Allen, has announced he will step down from his day-to-day duties at the company in 2008 so that he can devote more time to philanthropy.

White light 'blinds' film pirates
A device that could foil movie pirates who covertly record films in cinemas has been developed in the US.

Promotion of Access to Information - Van Wyk v Unitas Hospital
We all remember the hype about getting our manuals drafted to comply with PAIA, but now we are starting to see the actual meat on the bones of this piece of legislation and what it can and cannot be used for. The Supreme Court of Appeal recently handed down a judgment in the case of Van Wyk v Unitas Hospital [2006] SCA 32 (RSA) which offers some useful insight into when we can get access to documents which may assist us in future litigation.

Action urged on far-right website
A far-right website which publishes leftwingers' addresses has come under fire in the Commons in the wake of a knife attack on a union activist.

Mobile phone risk during storms
Next time you find yourself talking on your mobile phone in the middle of a thunderstorm you may want to cut the conversation short.

MySpace.com adding security measures
MySpace.com is planning new restrictions on how adults may contact its younger users in response to growing concerns about the safety of teenagers who frequent the popular online social networking site.

Internet campaign from Iraq wins Dakota election
While Maj. Mike McNamara was in Iraq, his family handled much of his city council campaign for him: They handed out fliers, held a campaign rally and put up signs around town.

France unveils Google Earth rival
A clear view of your favorite French beach or monument is only a click away.

Appeals Court Corrects Dangerous Web Privacy Ruling
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has corrected a dangerous lower court ruling that threatened Internet privacy. In doing so, it preserved the privacy of password-protected websites as well as the right to read public sites. The decision followed the arguments made in an amicus brief filed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).

Copyright Battle Threatens Right to Surf and Email Anonymously
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) argued Tuesday that a battle between Internet real estate services over copyrighted images should not threaten the rights of users to surf web pages and send emails anonymously.

Hacker Gets Data on 26,000 Workers at USDA
Personal information on about 26,000 Washington, D.C.-area employees and contractors of the U.S. Department of Agriculture may be at risk after a hacking incident earlier this month, officials said. It's still unknown whether the hacker actually managed to obtain the names, Social Security numbers and photographs of the individuals whose information was housed on the affected database, the agency said.

MPAA Paid Hacker for Info, File-Sharing Service Says
A month after accusing the Motion Picture Association of America of conspiring to commit data theft, the operators of a file search engine presented more details regarding the alleged relationship between the MPAA and a man who admits hacking the small company's network. Valence Media, the parent company of Torrentspy.com, charges that the MPAA paid the Canadian resident $15,000 for information on Torrentspy and its executives, according to documents filed with the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles.

Online Sex Offender Gets Nine Years in Jail
A sex offender who was caught through an anti-paedophile website has been given a nine-year jail term for sexual grooming and pornography offences. Lee Costi, 21, was sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court where he admitted grooming schoolgirls for sex.

Politician Drops Child Porn Lawsuit Against Google
A Long Island politician has dropped a federal lawsuit that had claimed the search engine company Google Inc. profits from child pornography. Jeffrey Toback, a member of the Nassau County Legislature from Oceanside, filed suit in May claiming Google had "paid links" to Web sites containing child pornography.

Attorneys General Want MySpace to Set More Limits
MySpace.com, the social-networking Web site owned by News Corp., came under pressure to take further steps to limit children's access to the site. At a conference on Internet safety, the attorneys general from two states challenged assertions by a MySpace executive who argued that there was no way for the Web site to verify the ages of people signing up for membership.

Web Applications Creating More Security Problems
As more people turn to Web applications for everyday tasks like e-mail, friendship and payments, cyber criminals are following them in search of bank account details and other valuable data, security researchers said. Users of Yahoo Inc.'s e-mail service, Google Inc.'s Orkut social networking site and eBay Inc.'s PayPal online payment service were among the targets of attacks in recent weeks.

U.S. Ill-Prepared for Internet Disruption, Study Says
The U.S. is poorly prepared for a major disruption of the Internet, according to a study that an influential group of chief executives will publish. The Business Roundtable, composed of the CEOs of 160 large U.S. companies, said neither the government nor the private sector has a coordinated plan to respond to an attack, natural disaster or other disruption of the Internet.

Back to the Future: Phone Phreaking Enters the VoIP Age
Once upon a time, a few scraggly, tech-savvy phone enthusiasts discovered that by whistling the right tones into their receivers, they could hijack Ma Bell's switching system, enabling free long-distance calling and other mischief. And thus the art of "phreaking" -- the great granddaddy of modern-day hacking -- was born. With the advent of digital switching and separate lines for voice and signaling information, it seemed as if phreaking's heyday had come and gone. But as everything old is new again, the rise of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology has second-gen phreaks singing the same song, second verse. Whether or not this latest iteration will be "a little bit louder and a little bit worse" remains to be seen, but already a scheme to steal and re-sell VoIP routing services has reportedly netted its alleged perpetrators more than a million dollars -- as well as criminal complaints from the FBI. The techniques may have changed, but as long as people feel the need to "reach out and touch someone," phreaks will continue to search for a way to do it for free. While some traditional telcos will try to use this incident to portray VoIP as inherently insecure, at least part of the scheme exploited vulnerabilities in the networks of VoIP customers and others. And the reality is that the content of VoIP calls -- particularly peer-to-peer calls that do not interconnect with the Public Switched Telephone Network -- is more secure than that of calls on the regular PSTN call, since it is encrypted.

Company Computer Usage Policies Don't Count Unless They're Enforced, Court Says
As if employers didn't already have enough reasons to monitor their employees, computer usage, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York recently gave them yet another one. In Curto v. Medical World Communications, Inc., Judge Denis R. Hurley affirmed a magistrate judge's finding that the extent to which a company actually enforces its computer usage policy is relevant to the issue of whether an employee waived the attorney-client privilege by sending and storing communications on company-owned laptops. The court upheld the magistrate's ruling that the employee, despite violating the company's policy prohibiting personal use of company computers, had not waived her right to assert attorney-client privilege for emails and documents on company laptops. Although this decision dealt with the narrow issue of waiver of attorney-client privilege, its reasoning could affect how courts treat employees' claims that their employers violated their privacy by monitoring their communications and computer usage. The message to employers is: if you've got a computer usage policy, you'd better enforce it or it might not do you any good.

People Who Live in Glass Houses ... Shouldn't Expect Privacy
What must a website publisher or an Internet service provider do to guard the privacy of web postings or emails in order to fall within the legal protections of the Stored Communications Act (SCA) (18 USC § 2701 et seq.), or the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (of which the SCA is a part)? With hacking perpetually on the rise, companies looking to ferret out the sources of leaked trade secrets, and social networking sites trying to strike the right balance between openness and exclusivity, these questions are of keen interest to all sorts of e-commerce companies. In a case involving alleged site-snooping by DirecTV and its lawyers, Snow v. DirecTV, Inc., the Eleventh Circuit held that simply requiring website users to register, create a password, and agree to the terms of a "clickwrap" agreement was not enough to obtain SCA protection because the site was still "readily accessible to the general public." Instead, website owners need to do something more to limit access by the public, such as actually screening registrants in some fashion. This holding seems correct as far as it goes. Fortunately, the court declined to take up broader arguments by DirecTV that could have limited ISPs' ability to enforce their Terms of Service and website publishers' ability to create restricted-access sites altogether.

Thursday, June 22, 2006
 
  Microsoft-brand spyware? Say it ain't so
Crabby PC users are slinging epithets all over the Internet about what some are calling "Windows Genuine Disadvantage," the "verification" software accused not only of being spyware, but of just not working very well.

http://news.com.com/2061-11199_3-6086057.html
The landmark Communications Decency Act turned 10 years old this year, but its birthday has been overshadowed by legal maneuvers that are challenging some of the core principles behind the law.

Agencies use firms to access phone data
Numerous federal and local law enforcement agencies have bypassed subpoenas and warrants designed to protect civil liberties and gathered Americans' personal telephone records from private-sector data brokers.

Lawmakers to Crack Down on Data Brokers
Lawmakers promised on Wednesday to end shady practices by private data brokers who gather Americans' telephone records without subpoenas or warrants on behalf of banks, bail bondsmen and, sometimes, federal and local police.

Tech Firms Fear Privacy Lawsuits
A dozen high-powered companies inside and outside of the technology industry jointly requested Congress pass a law to protect the privacy of consumers, while insulating them from being "brought to their knees" by class-action lawsuits.

Wednesday, June 21, 2006
 
  MY DAY AT WORK
In an effort to share knowledge about the practical use of software applications in the workplace we asked a few lawyers and Buys clients to share their experiences exclusively with our newsletter subscribers. Each coming newsletter will feature the experiences and advice of a specific individual titled “My day at work”. Enjoy!

Collecting your debt against the odds
Although the arrival of the National Credit Act has been welcomed by many in the credit-providing industry, Theo Visagie believes that its impact on several aspects of a credit provider’s business should be monitored very closely. Of particular concern is the Act’s impact on the manner in which a credit provider enforces its debts and the effect it has on the existing legal processes in the Magistrates’ Courts Act.

Laptop thefts prompts call for audit
Following two recent thefts of laptop computers from the Minnesota auditor's office, two Democratic state legislators today urged the auditor to seek an independent review of data security practices.

ING Financial to Notify Potential Identity Theft Victims
Letters will be mailed out today to about 13,000 District workers and retirees whose personal data -- including Social Security numbers -- were contained in a laptop stolen during a burglary a week ago at the Southeast Washington home of an ING U.S. Financial Services agent.

Police arrest two in Japan data theft case
Blackmailers attempted to extort almost $90,000 from one of Japan's largest phone companies by threatening to reveal a leak of private data belonging to four million customers before a major shareholder meeting, according to local press reports.

Web site operator pleads guilty to piracy
BuysUSA.com's owner pleaded guilty to selling nearly $20 million worth of pirated software through the mail, the Department of Justice said Friday.

Free Whitepaper: Preventing Insider Threats
An attack from a malicious insider - someone trusted by your organization - can be just as devastating as a security breach from outsiders. But insider attacks are often more difficult to detect. Learn how to prevent the loss or exposure of your confidential information in our free whitepaper on Addressing Insider Threats.

Execs Express Top Security Concerns
"Network access control, particularly Cisco's [Network Admission Control] is intriguing to us, but our main question is, do we want to separate out network admission control with a separate system using something like Symantec's tools or keep it in the network with Cisco. We haven't made those decisions yet," said Ryan Miller, director of global information assurance for Federal Mogul.

Telkom slams telecoms roll-out of municipalities
Fixed-line telephone operator Telkom has accused municipalities of "premature and opportunistic" behaviour for rolling out telecommunications services in a bid to save costs.

Tuesday, June 20, 2006
 
  Newspaper Blocks Access to Website About Censorship
Bennett Haselton, the founder of Peacefire.org, a Web site that promotes open access on the Internet, got an e-mail message from a Los Angeles Times reporter who was writing an article about online censorship. The reporter was unable, from The Times's newsroom, to access Mr. Haselton's site, which also offers instructions on how to get around software installed to block Web site access.

Trojan Horse Found in Google's Web Hosting Service
A Trojan horse has been discovered in Google Pages, a Web site hosting service offered by the search giant. An attacker apparently uploaded a malicious file to a Googlepages.com server, part of a service that allows people to create their own Web pages, said Dan Hubbard, the senior director of security research at Websense Security Labs.

Gates departure to start new era
If ever there was a company built to reflect the personality of one of its founders, that company is Microsoft.

Experts: Simple security cuts identity theft risks
Reports of data theft often conjure up images of malicious hackers breaking into remote databases to filch Social Security numbers, credit card records and other personal information.

Web browsers getting facelifts
The major Web browsers are getting facelifts as they increasingly become the focal point for handling business transactions and running programs over the Internet rather than simply displaying Web sites.

Hard fax facts
E-mail is cheap and convenient, albeit unreliable and untrustworthy, yet can be called upon where a business agreement or dispute exists. Are the words unreliable and untrustworthy too strong? Not at all, from both practical and legal perspectives.

Teen, mom sue MySpace.com for $30m
A 14-year-old US girl, who said she was sexually assaulted by a man she met on MySpace.com, sued the popular social networking site for $30 million, claiming it fails to protect minors from adult sexual predators, reports Statesman.

Now your cellphone can get viruses too...
Berlin - Most people forget that cellphones are actually small, portable computers capable of sending and receiving data. Receiving data is good, but it's also possible to receive software that damages the cellphone or its user. In other words: viruses and worms, the bane of the computer world, are now being written for cellphones too.

Google's Orkut service hit by worm
Sao Paulo, Brazil - A new Internet worm capable of stealing bank details and other personal data from users is circulating via Orkut, Google's social networking service, a computer security company warned on Monday.

Apple's iPod faces patent probe
Portable media player maker Creative Technology has said that US authorities will look at whether Apple's rival iPod player infringes one of its patents.

Dutch MP3 search site shut down
The record industry has welcomed a Dutch court ruling against a website that provided links to MP3 music files.

ICT law discussion forum

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Girl sues MySpace for getting her assaulted
A 14 YEAR-OLD girl who claimed she was sexually assaulted by a man she met on MySpace.com has launched a $30 million lawsuit against its operators.

Sunday, June 18, 2006
 
  Hillary Clinton wants White House 'privacy czar'
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, drawing on her experiences as a young Watergate lawyer who decades later was investigated as first lady, urged creation of a "privacy bill of rights" Friday to protect people's personal data.

ICASA told to handle conflict internally
The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Communications (PPCC) has invited the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) to report on its readiness to implement the Electronic Communications (EC) Act. The report will be presented on 20 June.

Phase in new cell phone law, urges chamber
Legislation to crack down on the criminal use of cell phones should be phased in over two or three years, the Cape Town Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry said on Thursday.

Ransomware: Blackmailers now targeting home users
In the past couple of years reports on how businesses relying primarily or solely on the Internet for income have been targeted by cyber criminals have been relatively commonplace.

Report: Spam Accounts for Most E-Mail Traffic
"The sheer volume of IM attacks is a dramatic demonstration that we're in an environment where hackers, knowing that most organizations are still unprotected against IM malware, are rapidly adopting IM for their attacks," said Andrew Lochart, senior director of marketing for Postini, a messaging security firm based in San Carlos, Calif.

Humana Medicare Informs 17,000 of Personal Data Breach
Humana has informed roughly 17,000 people enrolled in Humana Medicareplans that their personal data were discovered on an unsecured hotelcomputer. Apparently a Humana employee staying at the hotel opened anemail attachment containing the data and never deleted it when he wasfinished working. A Medicare spokesman called the incident"unacceptable" and has directed Humana to develop and implement a plan"to ensure that such privacy violations do not occur again."

Ohio University Alums, Donors Weigh in on Data Breaches
Ohio University (OU) officials are feeling the fallout from a number ofrecently disclosed data security breaches that exposed personal data,including Social Security numbers (SSNs) of thousands of students andalumni.

Insurer reports data theft on 930,000
The American International Group, one of the world's largest insurers, said Wednesday that a burglar stole computer equipment in March from one of its Midwest offices that contained personal information on 930,000 people.

Former wireless-service employee faces 70 months
A Folsom man was sentenced to almost six years in federal prison for illegally accessing Verizon Wireless' prepaid cellular personal identification numbers worth $21 million.

Exploits for Microsoft Flaws Circulating
Within a day after Microsoft's monthly security update, proof-of-concept exploits for at least five of the vulnerabilities addressed have been detected. Microsoft's June security release included twelve bulletins that addressed 21 vulnerabilities in Windows, Microsoft Office and Microsoft Exchange; eight of the bulletins received severity ratings of "critical." Some of the exploits are for flaws that had been disclosed prior to the security updates, but at least two are for flaws that were not known before the updates were released.

Testimony in UBS PaineWebber Cyber Sabotage Case Illuminates Damage
Testimony has begun in the case of former UBS PaineWebber systems administrator Roger Duronio, who is accused of planting a logic bomb inthe company's computer system resulting in costs to the company inexcess of US$3 million due to damage assessment and network restoration. IT manager Elvira Maria Rodriguez, the first witness called by the prosecution, rated the attack and its after math a "ten plus" on a scaleof 1 to 10. The prosecutor also plans to call an expert witness who will show Duronio's user account and password were used to access the UBS network remotely.

Phone Records Access Leads to Lawsuit
The federal government sued the New Jersey attorney general and other state officials Wednesday to stop them from seeking information about telephone companies' cooperation with the National Security Agency.

Friday, June 16, 2006
 
  Gates to leave day-to-day role at Microsoft
Microsoft announced Thursday that chairman and co-founder Bill Gates will transition out of a day-to-day role at the company, effective July 2008, to spend more time working on his charitable foundation.

How I Work: Bill Gates
It's pretty incredible to look back 30 years to when Microsoft (Research) was starting and realize how work has been transformed. We're finally getting close to what I call the digital workstyle.

Thursday, June 15, 2006
 
  Cellphone red tape also for visitors in SA
FOREIGN visitors entering SA will need to open up their cellphone and have its identity number recorded before they can use it here, if a proposed security measure finds its way into law.

iPod 'slave' claims investigated
Apple is investigating a newspaper report that staff in some of its Chinese iPod factories work long hours for low pay and in "slave" conditions.

Microsoft's Malware Report: 60 Percent of PCs Infected
"It's important for consumers to make decisions to enhance their security rather than making the most expedient choice that allows them to do whatever they want to do," noted Mike Murray, director of vulnerability research for nCircle.

How Search Engine Rankings Help Your Brand's Online Reputation
Natural search space is up for grabs, and control will go to the companies that invest in multiple tactics on a consistent and long-term basis to ensure their online reputation is everything that they want it to be.

Online Porn Industry Debates Legal Positions
Obscenity prosecutions are taking a toll on the porn industry as publishers embrace an every-man-for-himself approach under relentless Bush administration attacks. The annual Cybernet Expo was overshadowed by a big question: Whether to stand united with producers of "extreme" material bearing the brunt of the assault in order to preempt attacks on milder content, or get some distance and hope to avoid being targeted?

Extreme College Photos Online Prompt Criticisms
The photos are not something that any parent or school official wants to see: college athletes in apparent initiation scenes involving degrading costumes, excessive drinking, sexually suggestive poses with strippers and fellow athletes, and a blindfolded woman with her hands tied behind her back being led down a staircase.

Blogger Seeks to Dismiss Lawsuit Over Sexual Escapades
For several weeks in 2004, Jessica Cutler blogged about her sexual escapades with a former co-worker, divulging tawdry details about his alleged affinity for "spanking" and "submissive women." But because the raciest anecdotes appeared on the former Capitol Hill staffer's infamous "Washingtonienne" blog more than a year before Robert Steinbuch sued for invasion of privacy, Cutler's lawyer says the suit should be dismissed because a one-year statute of limitations precludes all but one harmless blog entry from being considered.

Internet Wiretapping Jeopardizes Security, ITAA Says
Building standardized wiretap backdoors into Internet telephone systems is a bad idea that will lead to increased cyber security concerns. At least that's the opinion of the Information Technology Association of America.

Fewer E-mail Messages Contain Viruses, Company Reports
The proportion of e-mail messages that contain malware has fallen for the first six months this year compared to the same period last year, Sophos PLC said. Statistics released by Sophos show that about one in 91 e-mail messages contained a virus or other types of bad software, far less than the 1-in-35 figure of a year ago, said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant. Sophos provides enterprise-level antivirus, spam, adware and malware protection products.

Business Losses Due to Cybercrime Drop Again
While many headlines spell doom and gloom when it comes to computer-related misdeeds, the average losses at businesses due to cybercrime continue to drop, according to a new survey.

Cybercrime losses on the slide
Hacking and Internet fraud may be hot news, but they are costing companies less than before

Cybersquatters must be punished
The .eu domain name has been hailed a success because 1.5 million variants were snapped-up within a week of the public launch – which is rather like saying that people love cough medicine because it sells well in winter.

Net poses dangers for soccer fans
Following your favourite football team in the World Cup via the net has its dangers, research shows.

Wednesday, June 14, 2006
 
  Little-known second operator could bring communication goodies galore
WITH just a few weeks to go before the second network operator is due to launch, barely any details are known about what it plans to offer or whom it plans to target.

Microsoft Has a Big Date Set with 'Black Hat ' Hackers
Microsoft's Windows Vista has a date with some of the world's smartest hackers.

Yahoo stomps on email worm
Yahoo said on Tuesday that it has contained a malicious program aimed at the millions of people who use its email service, which ranks as the world's largest.

Streaming video site had 'cynical disregard' for UEFA's rights
Football body UEFA and broadcaster BSkyB have shut down a website which re-broadcast Champions League games over the internet.

European Commission fears copyright levy for ISPs
A 'copy tax' could spread from blank CDs to mobile phones to internet service providers, according to a consultation document from the European Commission. The document warns that a wide spread of the tax would cause a backlash against it.

Kinderporno skelm afgelaai, hoor hof
’n Werknemer van Telkom het glo net verleë geglimlag toe ’n rekenaarspesialis lêers vol foto’s van kinderpornografie op sy werkrekenaar gevind het.

Tuesday, June 13, 2006
 
  Worm wriggles through Yahoo mail flaw
A new worm that targets Yahoo e-mail users is on the loose, taking advantage of an JavaScript flaw, a security company has warned.

Monday, June 12, 2006
 
  Spam low in SA
The majority (81%) of South Africans receive less than 10 spam e-mails a day, yet 24% admit to not using anti-spam software, a recent information security survey reveals.

Cellphone file-sharing ruffles feathers
A local company, which has developed a file-sharing platform for cellphones, says users are being overcharged for mobile content, but competitors have raised concerns over copyright infringement.

Telkom's ADSL price cuts ‘misleading'
Telkom's announcement regarding the price cuts on its ADSL services is misleading, says MyADSL.

PODCAST: The digital life (CNN)
Can Nintendo expand the audience for videogames with its new Wii console? Dan Hsu, editor-in-chief of Electronic Gaming Monthly Magazine, talks the potential pros and cons with Headline News anchor Renay San Miguel.

House passes telecommunications bill
Legislation to open cable TV markets to more competition, possibly saving consumers hundreds of dollars a year, passed the House Thursday.

China 'blocks' main Google site
Chinese authorities have blocked most domestic users from the main Google.com search engine, a media watchdog said.

Help is at hand for web security
If you take your net safety seriously, you will probably have anti-virus and a firewall and perhaps even an anti-spam program to stop the malicious software and messages getting at your home PC.

Top Microsoft blogger to resign
A business blogger who changed the wider world view of Microsoft is leaving the software giant for a Silicon Valley start-up.

Top Microsoft blogger to resign
A business blogger who changed the wider world view of Microsoft is leaving the software giant for a Silicon Valley start-up.

‘Local Only’ ADSL hits the market
DataPro has launched a ‘local only’ ADSL product which will provide users with local connectivity at a reduced price.

Spammer fined 10 million dollars
A college student who led a massive spam e-mail operation has been fined more than 10 million dollars, the Texas attorney general said.

Local online shopping search engine
South African consumers are now able to search for their favourite local goods using a shopping search engine launched by Jump Internet Technologies.

Microsoft releases test of new operating system
Microsoft said on Thursday it released a public trial version of Vista, the newest version of its ubiquitous Windows operating set for a full rollout in January.

'Jesus' farmer sues mayor for defamation
A Piet Retief farmer known as "Jesus" in the community is claiming R150 000 in damages from the mayor for alleged defamation after statements the mayor made about him during a radio interview.

TV network to offer iTune downloads
America's CBS media network is offering episodes of its hit television shows CSI and Survivor for download on Apple Computer's iTunes online music store, CBS said on Friday.

Our future is on the Net, says BBC's chief
BBC director-general Mark Thompson wants to take advantage of the latest technology to turn one of the world's foremost broadcasters into a truly global media brand.

Microsoft flaws prompt a dozen new patches
Microsoft plans to issue a dozen security alerts on Tuesday - some carrying the highest risk rating of critical - as part of a monthly security update to fix flaws in its software.

Piracy site doubles hits after police raid
The Pirate Bay, one of the world's most popular websites for illegal downloading of movies, has doubled its number of visitors after Swedish police shut down the site for three days, according to an Internet monitoring site, Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter said on Sunday.

Brangelina pics were 'fair use'
A gossip website which still carries disputed pictures of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's baby says that its publishing of the pictures constitutes 'fair use'.

Government computers hacked by fraudsters
Government computers are being infiltrated by syndicates using spy software to access employee user names and passwords, and to plunder accounts by making payments to themselves.

Microsoft's anti-piracy tool draws criticism
The anti-piracy tool, Windows Genuine Advantage, is incorporated into regular Windows XP updates. Once installed, it cannot be removed.
Microsoft is being criticized for distributing its Windows XP anti-piracy tool in a way that may leave many PC users in the dark as to what they are actually downloading.

Nintendo awarded patent for instant messaging in games
Nintendo has been awarded a patent for a video game messaging service that utilizes a buddy list and can display information about game activities and user status.

Standard Bank cracks online fraud syndicate
Standard Bank has uncovered an international fraud syndicate responsible for defrauding local and foreign bank customers of hundreds of thousands of rands.

Friday, June 09, 2006
 
  Man claims hackers planted sex images on PC
An Amanzimtoti man accused of possessing thousands of computerised child pornography images is expected to raise a technical defence - that he was a victim of a hacker who downloaded the images on to his computer without his knowledge.

Norway, Sweden, Denmark may fine Apple over iTunes
Apple may be fined for operating iTunes in Norway, Sweden and Denmark in the aftermath of a Norwegian Ombudsman ruling that says Apple is doing business illegally. The next target of the consumer group that took the case will be MSN.

Man fined measly $2K over anti-spyware scam
New Hampshire man has been fined $2,000 for allegedly using Microsoft's name to lend credibility to false claims that users' PCs were infected with spyware.

Skype accused of patent infringement
Internet telephony pioneer Net2Phone is suing the industry's most successful consumer internet telephony firm for patent infringement.

TV licence now needed for internet
Employees watching World Cup matches on the internet without a TV licence could for the first time land company directors in court as the TV Licensing Authority extends its World Cup clampdown to broadband and internet usage.

Spammer fined $10m
A college student who led a massive spam e-mail operation has been fined more than $10m (about R68m), says the Texas attorney-general.

Thursday, June 08, 2006
 
  Lottery e-mail scam hits SA
An international lottery scam related to the 2010 Soccer World Cup, which originated during the country's bid for the event in 2004, has now emerged in SA, so far affecting one local citizen

Man pays $2,000 for Google AdWord misuse
A New Hampshire man has agreed to pay $2,000 to settle charges that he misused Microsoft's name to trick consumers into buying ineffective antispyware products, using Google's AdWords program.

House considers 2-tier Internet
A debate over the pricing of Internet services has evolved into a hotly contested issue in Congress. Major technology companies and an alliance of grass-roots organizations are squaring off against telecommunications giants over legislation with broad ramifications for the future of the Internet.

EU warns China on piracy problem
European Union Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson has made a fresh call for China to do more to improve market access and cut down on piracy.

China 'blocks' main Google site
Chinese authorities have blocked most domestic users from the main Google.com search engine, a media watchdog said.

MPs in digital downloads warning
Consumers should be told exactly what they can and cannot do with songs and films they buy online, says an influential group of MPs in the UK.

Web users to 'patrol' US border
A US state is to enlist web users in its fight against illegal immigration by offering live surveillance footage of the Mexican border on the internet.

Online music row shuts web site
Internet firm Tiscali has suspended its music sharing Juke Box and accused the European recording industry of being "virtually impossible to work with".

Study: Companies snooping on employee e-mail
Big Brother is not only watching but he is also reading your e-mail.

Fees introduced to stop spam
Four years ago, a small email campaign saved a struggling coffee shop in Portland, Oregon, in the US.

BPI won't sue you for putting music on your iPod
The British music industry's trade body has told a House of Commons committee that it will not sue consumers who copy CDs they have purchased to a portable music player.

SA websites falling prey to foreign hackers
South African companies are spending about R3-billion every year to secure their websites as hackers become more daring in their attempts to pilfer local computer systems.

Google Says It Compromised Principles by Bowing to Chinese Demands
"It's perfectly reasonable to do something different, to say, 'Look, we're going to stand by the principle against censorship and we won't actually operate there.'

Veterans File Class-Action Lawsuit Over Stolen Data
A coalition of veterans' groups charged in a lawsuit that their privacy rights were violated after thieves stole personal data on 26.5 million military personnel from a Veterans Affairs employee. The class-action lawsuit against the federal government, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, is the second suit since the VA disclosed the May 3 burglary two weeks ago.

Man Gets Six Years for Not Delivering eBay Sales
A man who listed hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of figurines for sale on eBay, but took the money without delivering the goods, was sentenced to six years and two months in prison by a federal judge.

Wednesday, June 07, 2006
 
  Google Hacking Mini-Guide
Using search engines such as Google, "search engine hackers" can easily find exploitable targets and sensitive data. This article outlines some of the techniques used by hackers and discusses how to prevent your site from becoming a victim of this form of information leakage.

Teen Charged in MySpace.com Threat Case
A suburban Chicago teenager is facing felony harassment charges for threatening the life of a school official on MySpace.com, police say.

Under attack on the net
Technology, media and telecommunications companies are losing millions each year due to security breaches…Stephen Kreusch says companies need to get proactive.

Google sued for piracy
Paris - A French publishing group said on Tuesday it was suing the US search engine Google for piracy over its controversial effort to digitise millions of books for online viewing.

Great software: INTERNET EXPLORER 7

Great software: MEDIA PLAYER 11

Great software: OFFICE 2007 BETA

Removable media wreak security havoc
Fifty percent of companies participating in a recent survey have experienced security breaches in the last 12 months, with 50% of these being internal attacks and a large number resulting from the use of removable media.

More Companies Banning Web Access, IM at Work
Companies are starting to ban Web access, block instant messaging services to squash discreet conversations among chatty co-workers and prohibit employees from watching sporting events on their computers.

Laptop Stolen with Pension Data on Supermarket Workers
A laptop computer containing the pension data of former employees of supermarket chains Stop & Shop, Giant and Tops, including their Social Security numbers, was stolen during a commercial flight, according to the supermarkets' parent company.

9/11 conspiracy movie taken off the web
Two French filmmakers, who accompanied New York firefighters into the World Trade Centre on 9/11, are threatening to sue the makers of 9/11 conspiracy web documentary Loose Change, claiming the movie infringes their copyright.

Supreme Court won't hear Yahoo! Nazi auctions case
The US Supreme Court has refused to consider the latest leg of the legal battle between Yahoo! and French associations over the sale of Nazi memorabilia on its sites. The Supreme Court has denied the case more court time without explanation.

Judge: Bloggers Entitled to Immunity Under Communications Act
Bloggers cannot be hit with libel suits on the basis of anonymous postings on their Web sites because federal law grants them immunity by explicitly stating that they cannot be treated as the "publisher" of such comments, a federal judge has ruled.

Huge ADSL price relief for SA
Telkom announced on Monday that it filed for a cut in ADSL rental of up to 32% and an overall price cut of 2.1% with the independent telecommunications authority Icasa.

Kunene faces fraud charge for hoax email saga
Information technology consultant Muzi Kunene has been accused of receiving R152 000 for his role in the hoax email saga linked to the succession battle in the African National Congress. He was arrested for alleged fraud on Monday.

Tuesday, June 06, 2006
 
  Uganda Gets New Technology to Disseminate Health Data
UGANDA has become the first country in the world to develop and test the functional information processing network, a project aimed at addressing the information needs of the health sector.

More Arrests Possible in ANC Hoax E-Mail Saga
MORE arrests were expected in connection with the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) hoax e-mails saga, police said yesterday after IT specialist Muziwendoda Kunene appeared in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crime Court on a charge of fraud.

Ticking quietly: a liability bomb
India's cyber laws were put in place six years ago when the Information Technology Act was passed. Most companies are still unaware of the strict provisions of the law as the bazee.com case showed - the CEO of the company was held responsible for, and arrested, for explicit content put up for auction on his portal - and are thus exposed to serious liabilities, Pavan Duggal, cyber laws expert and supreme court advocate, tells Vandana Gombar.

Analysts: Microsoft Has Antitrust Anxiety
Microsoft will not only pull its Save As PDF feature from Office 2007, but will bow to Adobe and let computer makers strip its own rival electronic document format from Windows Vista.

Employers routinely read staff emails
Thirty-eight percent of UK companies with 1,000 or more employees hire staff to read or analyse outbound email, according to a new survey by a messaging security company.

Ernst & Young laptop theft exposes Hotels.com data
The personal details of over 1.5 million people have been lost in two lost computer incidents. Around 1.3 million clients of a Texas student loan company and 243,000 customers of Hotels.com have data on computers whose whereabouts is now unknown.

South Africa: Technological Advancement Hampering Efforts to Curb Music Piracy
As part of efforts to protect local musicians from massive revenue losses through piracy, the department of arts and culture is debating a proposal to impose a levy on blank recording tapes and CDs.

Microsoft expects Adobe to file suit
Microsoft said it expected Adobe to file an antitrust suit in Europe after talks to use Adobe's technology broke down this week, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Study: Companies snooping on employee e-mail
Big Brother is not only watching but he is also reading your e-mail.

Electronic eavesdropping under stricter control
Government will place stricter controls on the state's official electronic snooping arm the National Communications Centre (NCC) and its subordinate, the Office for Interception Centres (OIC), says intelligence minister Ronnie Kasrils.

Adobe talks to use PDF fail, says MS
Microsoft's negotiations to use Adobe Systems' technology in its new Office business software broke down last week and Adobe threatened legal action, Microsoft's top anti-trust lawyer said on Friday.

Microsoft delivers desktop designed for Mac users
Microsoft has announced the availability of the Wireless Laser Desktop for Mac, said to be a Mac-specific desktop complete with a stylish wireless Comfort Curve Keyboard and a wireless High Definition laser mouse.

Act places conditions on telecom operators
Telkom (TKG) CEO Papi Molotsane says that the Interception of Communication and Communication- related Information Act placed onerous conditions on telecommunications operators.

Sinister forces leak papers — Icasa chief
BELEAGUERED Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) chairman Paris Mashile said yesterday sinister forces were behind the leaking of his former secretary’s exit interview last week, which branded him as incompetent.

Popular Russian Music Download Site Called Illegal
Rising consumer popularity is turning AllofMP3.com, a music downloading service based in Moscow, into a global Internet success story, except for one important detail: The site may well be illegal.

One-Third of Big Companies Read Employees' E-mail, Survey Says
According to a new study, about a third of big companies in the United States and Britain hire employees to read and analyze outbound e-mail as they seek to guard against legal, financial or regulatory risk.

Laptop with Data on 243,000 Hotels.com Customers Stolen
Hotel booking site Hotels.com has begun sending out letters to some 243,000 customers whose names and credit card numbers were on a laptop stolen from an employee of Ernst & Young, the accounting firm. The computer was stolen from the locked trunk of the Ernst & Young employee's car in a Texas parking lot in late February, Hotels.com said.

Adobe Threatens Legal Action Against Microsoft Over PDF
Adobe Systems Inc. has threatened legal action against Microsoft Corp. in Europe over Microsoft's use of Adobe's PDF software, but it's unclear whether it will be in the form of a complaint to the European Union or a formal antitrust suit, sources close to Microsoft said. The dispute between the companies began in February when Adobe raised concerns over Microsoft's plans to offer a "Save as PDF" feature in its Office 2007 suite.

Bloggers Not Liable for Posts by Visitors, Court Rules
Bloggers cannot be hit with libel suits on the basis of anonymous postings on their Web sites because federal law grants them immunity by explicitly stating they cannot be treated as the "publisher" of such comments, a federal judge in Pennsylvania has ruled. Blogger Tucker Max pronounced the judge's decision "awesome," saying that it "reaffirms basically all the tenets of free speech."

Retailers' Lawsuit Accuses Registrar of Cybersquatting
A new federal lawsuit charges that Dotster, one of the largest domain name registrars, has unlawfully participated in a massive cybersquatting campaign targeting companies such as Cingular Wireless, Disney, Ikea, Google, Neiman Marcus, Playboy and Verizon.

Monday, June 05, 2006
 
  United States: The Truths and Myths of Open Source Software
While organizations differ on whether a license complies with their characterization of open source, most can agree that the meaning of open source has little or nothing to do with the fee charged for the software. This is just one of the many myths of open source software. This article will dissect several of the most prevalent myths of open source software and the legal and business issues surrounding them.

Internet surveillance providers
USING THE INTERNET IS LIKE walking on a crowded beach. Your movements leave a trail online that others can retrace, but tides and time eventually wash away your footprints. Now the Bush administration wants to make those footprints more enduring

China Passes Internet Piracy Law
The Chinese government passed new laws this week to ban the ability to upload and download Internet material without the copyright holder's permission.

Protecting sources: What if Apple had sued British bloggers?
California's Court of Appeal ruled last week that staff at web magazines qualified for journalistic protection. While there has never been a test case in the UK, a Solicitor Advocate says bloggers are likely to enjoy similarly strong protections here.

English judge says software patent case has 'real prospect of success'
The exclusion of computer programs from the patenting process will be tested in a Court of Appeal case that could turn UK patent law on its head.

Cyber-criminals, ATM con-artists find new ways to rob bank clients
Standard Bank uncovered a cyber-crime syndicate that stole consumers' personal details, such as their personal identification numbers (PINs) and card numbers, in order to defraud them. About 80 percent of the victims were South African bank accountholders and the remainder were tourists.

Saturday, June 03, 2006
 
  Two More Major Data Breaches Put More Than 1,000,000 Americans at
Texas Guaranteed, a company that administers federally guaranteed student loans, reported an outside contractor lost equipment containingt he names and Social Security numbers of approximately 1.3 million borrowers. In addition security flaw in servers at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield Connecticut, led to data breach that exposednames, addresses and Social Security numbers of 135,000 people, and credit card numbers for a hundred others.

Identity Theieves Use E-mail to Unleash Key-Logging Tool
Identity Theieves Use E-mail to Unleash Key-Logging Tool Would-be identity thieves have turned loose another sneaky means for stealing users' personal information. It comes in the form of a fraudulent e-mail pretending to be from Microsoft that suckers users into installing a key logger.

Google CEO restates concerns over IE7
The next release of Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer continues to concern Google Inc., which nonetheless has no plans to develop a competing browser, Google Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt said Wednesday.

Equipment with Data on 1.3 Million Loans Lost
Equipment containing the names and social security numbers of about1.3 million Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corp. borrowers has disappeared,company officials said. There was no evidence the information had beenmisused, but Texas Guarantee said it said it would notify the affectedborrowers by mail.

Friday, June 02, 2006
 
  MEP pitches email and text message tax
Email users might soon have to pay for the privilege of sending messages in Europe, according to a proposal from a member of the Budgets Committee of the European Parliament. A tax of €0.0000001 per email has been proposed by MEP Alain Lamassoure.

Police abandon 'monumental task' of tracing a hacker
Manchester Police will not pursue the hacker who held a UK woman to ransom after moving her computer files into a locked folder.

Nominet warns on Whois data mining
Nominet has issued a warning about commercial companies that are swiping copyrighted information on domain name owners from its Whois database.

Morgan Stanley takes domain name from cat
A cat has lost its bid to retain a controversial domain name after a multinational investment bank took it to the National Arbitration Forum.

Electronic eavesdropping under stricter control
Government will place stricter controls on the state's official electronic snooping arm the National Communications Centre (NCC) and its subordinate, the Office for Interception Centres (OIC), says intelligence minister Ronnie Kasrils.

MPs remain firm on RICA cell deadline
Members of Parliament yesterday all but slammed the door shut on the cellular network operators' pleas to extend the deadline for implementation of the law requiring they register all subscribers.

Scorpions arrest Internet banking scammer
A member of an international crime syndicate has been arrested in connection with the Internet banking scam affecting about 50 customers of two of SA's major banks.

EU steps up battle against hackers and cybercrime
Sending alerts on breaches of Internet security will be explored as part of wider steps to combat hackers and cybercrime, the European Commission said yesterday.

SA telecoms likely to be losing R5bn of revenue a year to crooks
The industry is particularly vulnerable to crime syndicates and inside fraud, conference told

Chuck beats busty babes
Internet activity closely matches contemporary issues, and is one of the best parameters to measure what interests a certain part of the population.

Parliament approves Icasa bill
Parliament yesterday approved legislative changes that boost its own role and lessens that of the executive in the appointment of the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) council.

Coming soon: The Web toll

What if the Internet were like cable television, with Web sites grouped like channels into either basic or premium offerings? What if a few big companies decided which sites loaded quickly and which ones slowly, or not at all, on your computer?

Google has no plan for its own browser
Google Inc. has no plans to build its own Web browser software to compete with rival Microsoft Corp., Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said on Wednesday.

Angry girlfriends turn in fake marshal
To some, Richard Kudlik possessed the macho allure of a deputy U.S. marshal on a manhunt.

Morgan Stanley takes domain name from cat
A cat has lost its bid to retain a controversial domain name after a multinational investment bank took it to the National Arbitration Forum.

Thursday, June 01, 2006
 
  Justice committee roasts cell companies
SA's three cellphone giants, MTN, Cell C and Vodacom, were told to get their acts together by an unsympathetic justice committee during public hearings on the new regulation of interceptions legislation before Parliament.

Company Asserts Trademark Rights to "Web 2.0" Name
Web 2.0, a term that has come to represent the latest incarnation ofthe Internet, a place where Web sites are more dynamic and interactive, has a certain Internet utopianism at its heart. But that image took a hitwhen a dispute broke out over who was allowed to use the term.

Lessig Seeks End to "Extremism" in Copyright Laws
Net freedom fighter Lawrence Lessig has called for an end to what he described as "extremism" in copyright laws.

Researchers Discover First Virus for Sun's OpenOffice
Researchers at Kaspersky Lab have spotted what they believe is thefirst virus for OpenOffice, the open-source rival to Microsoft's Office productivity suite. The virus, dubbed Stardust, is capable of infecting OpenOffice and StarOffice, which is sold by Sun Microsystems, a Kaspersky Lab researcher wrote on the Russian company's Viruslist Web site.

Complaints Filed Against Google Click-Fraud Settlement
As the deadline approaches for firms to accept a settlement betweenI nternet advertisers and the Google search engine over click-fraud claims, nearly a dozen complaints about the deal have been entered in an Arkansas circuit court. Mountain View, Calif.-based Google Inc. has agreed to settle claims that fraudulent "clicks" drove up advertisers' bills.

ISP Records Needed to Fight Terrorism, US Attorney General Says
In a radical departure from earlier statements, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has said that requiring Internet service providers to save records of their customers' online activities is necessary in the fight against terrorism, CNET News.com has learned.

 

 

 

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