Most Spam Sites Linked to Just About 10 Domain Name Registrars:


New research suggests that more than three quarters of all websites advertised through spam are clustered at just 10 domain name registrars. The data comes from millions of junk messages collected over the past year by Knujon ("no junk" spelled backwards and pronounced "new john"), an anti-spam outfit that works by convincing registrars to dismantle spam sites. More...

Posted by mikki at 03:04 PM | Permalink

Identity Theft of Root Name Servers, Reason Unknown:


There have been a number of attacks on the root name servers over the years, and much written on the topic. (A few references are here, here and here.) Even if you don't know exactly what these servers do, you can't help but figure they're important when the US government says it is prepared to launch a military counterattack in response to cyber-attacks on them. More...

Posted by mikki at 03:03 PM | Permalink

Yahoo Seeks to Conceal Parts of Shareholder Suit, Says Lawyer:


A lawyer for Yahoo shareholders says Yahoo is seeking to conceal large portions of a suit alleging the company's board improperly thwarted Microsoft's $47.5 billion takeover offer. In a letter sent Friday to the judge overseeing the case, the lawyer argued that Yahoo is trying "to whitewash embarrassing documents" because the company thinks the information will damage the board's efforts to repel a challenge by activist investor Carl Icahn.

Posted by mikki at 03:59 PM | Permalink

CNN Loses Battle Over Release of Video:


CNN has not only lost its battle to keep from releasing unaired video footage subpoenaed by lawyers in a personal injury suit, but the news network's counsel also have been rapped for not requesting in camera review of the footage until after the judge ruled against them. U.S. District Judge Thomas Thrash wrote in his order denying the network's motion for reconsideration that "nearly all" of CNN's arguments could have been presented prior to his ruling from the bench and his ensuing written order.

Posted by mikki at 03:58 PM | Permalink

MySpace sexual assault suit dismissed - CNN.com:


NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AP) -- Federal law gives MySpace.com immunity from a lawsuit over the alleged sexual assault of a teenage girl by a man she met on the social networking Web site, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit that a Texas girl's family filed against MySpace and its parent company, News Corp. The family said MySpace didn't protect young users from sexual predators.

The appeals court ruled that the Communications Decency Act of 1996 bars such lawsuits against Web-based services like MySpace. A federal judge in Austin, Texas, dismissed the $30 million lawsuit on the same grounds last year.

"Parties complaining that they were harmed by a Web site's publication of user-generated content have recourse; they may sue the third-party user who generated the content, but not the interactive computer service that enabled them to publish the content online," Judge Edith Brown Clement wrote in the ruling.

The girl's family argued in the appeal that MySpace isn't immune from liability because it partially creates the content of its profiles. The appeals court refused to consider that argument because it wasn't presented in district court.

The 5th Circuit also noted that the girl, identified in court papers as Julie Doe, circumvented the Web site's safety features when she lied about her age. The girl was 13 but misrepresented herself as 18 years old when she created a MySpace profile in 2005. MySpace requires its users to be at least 14.

The girl was 14 when authorities say a 19-year-old man she met on MySpace sexually assaulted her in a Texas parking lot. The man was later indicted on a sexual assault charge punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

MySpace applauded the court's ruling and said it "takes the safety and security of our members very seriously."

"However, a lawsuit against MySpace was not the appropriate way to redress any harm to Julie Doe," the company said. "We continue to make our site even safer by creating new features and educating our users about online safety."

Gregory Coleman, a lawyer for the girl's family, said he was disappointed but needed more time to review the ruling before he could comment.

Posted by mikki at 10:34 AM | Permalink

Nintendo loses $21 million patent infringement suit:


[JURIST] Entertainment console and video game manufacturer Nintendo of America, Inc. [corporate website] was ordered to pay $21 million Wednesday to Anascape, Ltd., a small Texas video game company after losing a jury verdict in a patent infringement lawsuit concerning hand-held controllers for its Wii and Gamecube video game systems. Anascape filed a complaint [text] against both Nintendo and Microsoft Corporation [corporate website] in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas [court website] in 2006 for infringement on a patent [patent documentation] for a "hand held computer input apparatus and method." Microsoft reached a confidential settlement agreement with Anascape for an undisclosed amount. Nintendo is expected to appeal the verdict. AP has more.

In January, the US Supreme Court heard oral arguments [JURIST report] concerning whether a patent holder's rights may be exhausted through certain license agreements. In September 2007, the US House of Representatives approved the Patent Reform Act of 2007 [JURIST report], the first overhaul of US patent laws in over 50 years. In early 2006, service for the widely-used Blackberry hand-held devices was nearly stopped before Blackberry maker Research in Motion reached a settlement [JURIST report] agreement in its patent dispute with NTP, Inc.