Tech Law

A measure to extend amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act for three weeks failed to pass in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday. The failure is a setback for Democrats who had been hoping for the extra time to hammer out a solution to a politically explosive issue: tha...

In an 80-page document filed with the Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday, cable carrier Comcast defended its practice of managing Web-based traffic over its network as legal and necessary. The Comcast document was filed a day after Massachusetts Congressman Edward Markey, a Democrat who ...

As the number of identity theft victims continues to mount, so has the amount of data and information related to such events -- and the time and resources devoted to better understanding, analyzing and devising measures that can better prevent such occurrences. "The stakes are already quite high whe...

Private, personally identifying information is everywhere, from portable computers and digital devices, to the Internet and private networks. This data can be obtained so easily -- either through technology or more mundane means -- and its theft is so often glamorized on film, that it is starting to...

"Get it in writing" is a quaint concept in the electronic information age -- especially in B2B e-commerce, where a more suitable direction may be: "get in it cXML." Every industry has major players moving back-office functions from sourcing and procurement to invoicing and payment to the Web. Suppli...

Swedish prosecutors are charging owners of The Pirate Bay, a peer-to-peer Web site, with "promoting other people's infringements of copyright laws." Hans Fredrik Neij, Per Svartholm Warg, Peter Kolmisoppi and Carl Lundstroem operate what is reportedly the world's largest BitTorrent tracker, connecti...

The Federal Communications Commission received a $4.7 billion bid for Block C, a swatch of spectrum being auctioned that is mandated to operate as a national wireless network that works with any mobile device. The auction started on Jan. 24, but the FCC won't announce which company submitted the bid...

The growing popularity of Software as a Service is having a significant impact on data security and regulations compliance. Most companies are concerned -- and rightly so -- about the legal and security issues raised when company data is located outside their firewall. Software as a Service is incre...

Microsoft thought five years of oversight was long enough, and states that had fought the software giant over alleged monopolistic practices thought five more years were in order. Neither side got what it wanted. Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, a federal district judge in Seattle, ruled on Tuesday to extend...

In a blow to the music industry's worldwide campaign to crack down on copyright infringement, a European court has ruled that Internet service providers cannot turn over the identities of alleged file-sharers. The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg found that existing EU laws do not allow for s...

Storm clouds are roiling anew over Washington this week as the impending expiration of the Protect America Act brings surveillance legislation to the forefront of congressional attention once again. Not least among the rumbles of thunder was an address delivered Wednesday by Vice President Dick Chen...

European approval of Google's $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick may be in doubt as privacy hearings held by the European Commission get underway. The hearings are focusing on whether Internet protocol, or IP, addresses should be considered personally identifiable information. The risk to the p...

There are conflicting reports coming out of Washington surrounding missing White House e-mails as well as conflicting statements coming from the White House press room. A hearing has been scheduled by Democratic Calif. Rep. Henry Waxman to investigate comments from White House spokesperson Tony Frat...

A group of public policy organizations has filed a petition and complaint with the Federal Communication Commission against Comcast over the way the Internet service provider has managed its Internet traffic. More specifically, the groups are comprised of the Free Press, Public Knowledge, and Media ...

Just months after it decided to stop its legal battles against the landmark EU antitrust finding, Microsoft now finds itself facing new inquiries into claims that the software giant abused its market dominance. The European Commission is looking into accusations that Microsoft used its power in the ...