US Citizen Gets 2.5 Years for Translating Yale Press Bio of King Into Thai, While Living in Colo.

Several years ago, while living in Colorado, a U.S. citizen who was born in Thailand translated excerpts of an unauthorized biography of the country’s king, which had been published by Yale University Press, into Thai and posted them on a blog. Now Joe Gordon, a 55-year-old car salesman, is paying…

Dec 8, 2011 11:05 PM CST

Convicted Murder Defendant Sentenced to Death Gets New Trial over Juror’s Tweets

Agreeing with a convicted murderer on death row that he didn’t get a fair trial because of one juror’s tweets on Twitter, the Arkansas Supreme Court has reversed a jury’s guilty verdict against Erickson Dimas-Martinez. Although a lower court had agreed with a state argument that Dimas-Martinez “suffered no prejudice”…

Dec 8, 2011 10:18 PM CST

Judge Refuses Lenny Dykstra’s Bid for Restraining Order Against Man Who Ran Twitter Account

A judge has refused a request by former baseball star Lenny Dykstra to grant a restraining order against the man he allowed to run his Twitter account. Dykstra claims Daniel Herman of Pennsylvania falsely claimed to be his business manager, threatened him, posted racist messages on Twitter, and told federal…

Dec 7, 2011 12:34 PM CST

New Smartphone Suit re Data-Sharing Software Targets Apple, Wireless Cos., Device Makers, Carrier IQ

In at least the third would-be class action filed since technology blogger Trevor Eckhart last month reported that smartphones are providing carriers with private information about individual users, eight major defendants are accused in a federal lawsuit (PDF) filed Dec. 2 in Delaware of violating wiretap law via their common…

Dec 6, 2011 1:44 AM CST

The Hacktivists: Web Vigilantes Net Attention, Outrage and Access to Your Data

Dec 1, 2011 11:00 AM CST

Taking the Pledge: Venture Capitalist Pushes Software Patent Pledge to Protect Small Companies

Dec 1, 2011 10:10 AM CST

Facebook Settles Privacy Complaint by FTC; Two Lawyers Will Oversee Efforts

Facebook has agreed to submit to privacy audits and to warn users about privacy changes as part of a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission. The deal settles an FTC complaint that alleged Facebook deceived consumers by asserting their information would be private, then making it public, according to CNNMoney,…

Nov 29, 2011 6:46 PM CST

On Cyber Monday, Feds Seized Domain Names of 150 Websites Accused of Selling Knockoff Goods

The federal government seized the domain names of 150 websites on Cyber Monday in an effort to fight the sale of counterfeit goods. Before the seizure, law enforcement officers bought knockoff products such as sports jerseys and shoes as part of the undercover sting called “In Our Sites,” according to…

Nov 29, 2011 2:27 PM CST

Don’t Try This at Home, Experts Warn Parents Tempted to Infect Kids With Chicken Pox via Web Aids

Thinking to protect their children against a vaccine some are fearful of, parents have put an Internet twist on a longtime custom of intentionally infecting their kids with chicken pox. But this is a bad idea for a number of reasons, experts warn. Among them, it is a federal offense…

Nov 29, 2011 12:51 AM CST

Shopping Malls Put Hold On Plan to Monitor Cellphones After Lawmaker Asks Questions

A plan by two shopping malls to track shoppers’ movements via their turned-on cellphones has been put on hold, after a lawmaker asked questions. The survey, by malls in California and Virginia, began on Black Friday, as scheduled. But after someone called over the weekend on behalf of Sen. Charles…

Nov 28, 2011 7:40 PM CST

New Trial Sought for Death Row Inmate over Jurors’ Tweeting and Napping

A lawyer for a death row inmate argued before the Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday that the conviction should be overturned because one juror was tweeting during the trial and another was apparently napping. Lawyer Janice Vaughn of the Arkansas Public Defender Commission argued on behalf of Erickson Dimas-Martinez, convicted…

Nov 18, 2011 3:30 PM CST

Va. Judge OK’d $722K Legal Fees Clawback Due to Withheld Facebook Photos and Information

A Virginia judge knocked $4.13 million off a $10 million wrongful death award and OK’d an additional $722,000 legal fees clawback due to withheld evidence. Among the key materials at issue were photos deleted from plaintiff Isaiah Lester’s Facebook account. He and his lawyer, Matthew B. Murray, also were found…

Nov 16, 2011 11:21 PM CST

Bar Group Wins Court Takedown Order re ‘Solicitors from Hell’ Blog

A bar group in the United Kingdom has won a ban on a disgruntled ex-client’s Solicitors from Hell blog. The site had featured a devil in a red suit surrounded by flames on its homepage and purported to “expose these shameless, corrupt, money-grabbing, incompetent specimens of humanity.” However, it now…

Nov 16, 2011 5:59 PM CST

FTC Said to Be Nearing Settlement with Facebook over Retroactive Privacy Changes

The Federal Trade Commission is reportedly considering a proposed settlement that would require Facebook to get consent from its users before making “material retroactive changes” to its privacy policy. The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports on the likely deal based on information from sources familiar with the negotiations. The…

Nov 11, 2011 3:00 PM CST

Twitter’s Privacy Policy Defeats Efforts by WikiLeaks Associates to Keep Info From Feds, Judge Rules

A federal judge in Alexandria, Va., today ruled that three individuals have no reasonable expectation of privacy in their Twitter accounts because they agreed, by clicking, to boilerplate terms of service which include permission for Twitter to provide information to law enforcement. Their lawyer unsuccessfully attempted to argue, according to…

Nov 11, 2011 1:06 AM CST