Teacher Allowed to Sue Software Company for Sending Her Explicit Photos to Cops

A federal judge has refused to dismiss a privacy lawsuit filed by a substitute teacher in Ohio that contends a software company accessed the woman’s sexually explicit photos and sent them to police investigating a stolen computer. U.S. District Judge Walter Rice refused last week to grant a motion for…

Sep 1, 2011 11:00 AM CDT

Court Workers Told They Can’t Post Drunken Photos, Nasty Comments and Judge Information

Court employees in Indiana’s Delaware County who persist in badmouthing co-workers or writing about their bosses on Facebook could be out of a job. A new social media policy (PDF) bars employees in the county’s circuit courts from posting online information, good or bad, about co-workers, judges, litigants, local cops…

Sep 1, 2011 10:30 AM CDT

App-solutely Perilous? Security of Mobile Apps Spurs Concern

Sep 1, 2011 6:50 AM CDT

Some Workers’ Facebook Beefs Are Protected by Federal Law, NLRB Concludes

Some workers who beef about the workplace on Facebook and Twitter may be protected from firing or discipline because they are engaging in “protected concerted activity,” according to a report by the National Labor Relations Board. The report by acting general counsel Lafe Solomon discusses the outcome of investigations into…

Aug 30, 2011 10:59 AM CDT

Juror Held in Contempt, Gets Community Service for Effort to Friend Defendant on Facebook

In what a prosecutor in Tarrant County, Texas, says is the first such matter of its kind there, a juror in a civil auto accident case has been held in contempt for trying to friend the defendant on Facebook and discussing the case on his Facebook page. Jonathan Hudson, 22,…

Aug 29, 2011 7:55 PM CDT

Should Personal Info on the Web Have an Expiration Date?

Google yourself. Everyone’s done it. Depending on how large a reputation you have or how common your name is, there could be a host of information out there with which you’d rather not be associated. There’s a whole online reputation management industry devoted to helping people weed through websites looking…

Aug 17, 2011 5:40 PM CDT

London Courts Pull All-Nighters as Police Arrest 922 People as Young as 7 in Riots

Deluged with a flood of arrestees from widespread rioting after a controversial police shooting this week, at least three criminal courts in London stayed open all night to process the cases, with the help of volunteer prosecutors. At last report, 922 individuals—some as young as 7 years old—had been arrested…

Aug 11, 2011 4:15 PM CDT

Facebook to Help Calif. Prisons Control Inmates’ Use of Contraband Cellphones by Closing Accounts

Due to a state budget crisis, officials in California have been reluctant to pay the price of prosecuting incarcerated offenders who violate prison rules against having a cellphone. Hence, the contraband devices have proliferated. At last report, some 10,000 were confiscated in 2010, compared to less than 300 in 2006.…

Aug 11, 2011 12:24 AM CDT

Judge Stays Own Ruling, Nixes Search Warrant Sought by Lampooned Wash. City to ID ‘MrFuddlesticks’

A Washington judge has temporarily stayed his own ruling granting a search warrant sought by the Renton city prosecutor after a lawyer for an unidentified videographer known as “MrFuddlesticks” provided more information. His client has done nothing criminal in creating online videos that apparently lampoon local police, and should not…

Aug 10, 2011 9:51 PM CDT

Should There be a ‘Right to be Forgotten’ on the Web?

A closely watched court case in Spain involving 90 individuals who want Google to stop indexing their names is spurring debate about whether information on the Web should have a life cycle. Among the 90 who’ve managed to win the support of the Spanish government is a domestic violence victim…

Aug 10, 2011 8:00 PM CDT

UK Official Calls for BlackBerry Ban to Help Control London Rioting

As authorities in London struggle to regain control after three days of rioting and looting following a controversial police shooting, at least one official is calling for a temporary shutdown of BlackBerry service, to prevent participants from instant-messaging their plans to each other and circumventing police. However, the messages, which…

Aug 9, 2011 4:04 PM CDT

Blogger’s Lawyer Fires Back at Cooley, Calls Law School’s Suit ‘Abuse of the Legal System’

Responding to a lawsuit that seeks to unmask anonymous bloggers who have been criticizing the Thomas M. Cooley Law School, a lawyer for Rockstar05 says the school’s suit is an “abuse of the legal system” that disregards his client’s rights, reports the Detroit Free Press. Cooley hasn’t pointed to any…

Aug 8, 2011 6:16 PM CDT

Tweeting Jurors to Face Jail Time With New California Law

Starting in 2012, California jurors who tweet during trial or deliberations can be sentenced to jail time, under a new law Gov. Jerry Brown signed Friday. The new legislation states that trial judges must inform jurors that the prohibition of communication or research about a case includes all forms of…

Aug 8, 2011 4:14 PM CDT

As Hackers Steal Up to $1B Annually from Biz Bank Accounts, Victims May Have No Recourse

Some $43 million was stolen in conventional bricks-and-mortar robberies, heists and stickups of U.S. banks last year. Meanwhile, cybercrooks stole hundreds of millions in what is being called a national security threat. The exact amount isn’t known. But security experts say up to $1 billion annually is being taken by…

Aug 5, 2011 12:28 AM CDT

Cyberattack Targets Law Enforcement Officers, Anonymous Tipsters

Among the targets of a widespread cyberattack are about 75 law enforcement groups. The hacker groups Anonymous and LulzSec are collaborating on the AntiSec project, which is targeting large government agencies throughout the world. The hackers claim to have accessed Social Security numbers, addresses, passwords and other personal data from…

Aug 4, 2011 6:15 PM CDT