Man Facing Charges For Reading Wife's E-mail

A Michigan man is charged with felony computer misuse charges after using the family computer to view his wife's gmail account in order to verify her affair with another man. 

According to the Globe and Mail "Privacy law writer Frederick Lane tells the Detroit Free Press the law typically is used to prosecute identity theft and stealing trade secrets. He says he questions if a wife can expect privacy on a computer she shares with her husband."

Leon Walker who faces trial on the charge February 7th calls the case  a “miscarriage of justice.” 

It will certainly be interesting to see how the law interprets this one...

British Police Seek Powers To Close .uk Web Domains

The BBC is reporting that The Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) has tabled a plan asking for the right to shut down .uk domains if law enforcement agencies deem them to be engaged in criminal activities. The troubling part of the plan is that the officials seem to be seeking the power to shut down sites prior to any convictions.  "If you are going to do this, then fine, but it needs judicial oversight," said barrister and IT lawyer David Harris.

"In a world of online retailing, the ability for a police officer to seize any business, whether that is blocking a domain or seizing the servers - pre-conviction or certainly pre-warrant - would be a dramatic change in the relationship between the police and the internet community," said Nick Lockett, a lawyer at DLL specialising in computer law.

My worry is that such a law be used to silence political movements or opposing views in an effort to control the flow of information. Opening this door could have very serious and lasting consequences.

Hmmm.... Powerful... This Laser Is

The force has come down upon a Hong Kong-based manufacturer, Wicked Lasers, who makes and sells a product  called the Spyder III Pro Arctic Laser. The problem, it seems is that George Lucas and his company Lucasfilm believes the device too closely resembles the lightsaber made famous by the Star Wars franchise, and according to a cease and desist letter "It is apparent from the design of the Pro Arctic Laser that it was intended to resemble the hilts of our lightsaber swords, which are protected by copyright."

In it's defense Wicked Lasers contends that the Pro-Arctic is "real while the lightsaber is imaginary." I'd say they have a point there... however you might want to act quickly if you intend upon purchasing one of these lightsaber like devices as I fear the force is strong with Mr Lucas.

     (Credit: Wicked Lasers)


More info at cnet news.

ThinkGeek Cease and Desist Drama Over Unicorn Meat

It should come as a surprise to nobody that my favorite online store is ThinkGeek, I've got a few geek points burning a hole in my pocket right now. The monkeys at ThinkGeek have a great sense of humor and an incredible line of products, there is something for everyone on your gift giving list. 

ThinkGeek has however managed to raise the ire of the National Pork Board (NPB) with it's promotion of Canned Unicorn Meat with the slogan "Unicorn - The New White Meat". It seems as though the NPB does not take kindly to the parody used in the slogan and has issued a cease and desist letter. 

In their usual good spirited nature, ThinkGeek has responded with the following:

We'd like to publicly apologize to the NPB for the confusion over unicorn and pork--and for their awkward extended pause on the phone after we had explained our unicorn meat doesn't actually exist. From our press release [PDF]:

"It was never our intention to cause a national crisis and misguide American citizens regarding the differences between the pig and the unicorn," said Scott Kauffman, President and CEO of Geeknet. "In fact, ThinkGeek's canned unicorn meat is sparkly, a bit red, and not approved by any government entity."

We'd also like to extend a special discount to everyone we offended with our portrayal of Unicorn Meat as "the new white meat." For a limited time, take $10 off any order of $40 or more by using the code PORKBOARD at checkout, good until 6/30/2010 at 11:59PM ET.

Thanks, National Pork Board, for giving us yet another reason to keep the April Fool's Day tradition alive. We'll always wonder if our Canned Unicorn Meat played some small, magical part in your rethinking of your brand.

Good on ya ThinkGeek! While you've not offended me with your good humor, I might just drop by and pretend that you did :)

Facebook Making Divorce Lawyers Job Easy...

Let this be a lesson to braggarts and cheaters everywhere! It's not only potential employers who are checking your out online. According to CNN the first place that divorce lawyers are turning to in aid of their clients is Facebook. In the words of Ken Altshuler a lawyer from Maine, "Facebook is a great source of evidence," "It's absolutely solid evidence because he's the author of it. How do you deny that you put that on?"

I've got news for you Ken... it's not that hard to update the status of someone in your own household if you really want to, my kids are masters at it, and unless the dumb schmuck is stupid enough to leave photographic evidence I wouldn't count on it being "absolutely solid evidence". None the less this does, once again, highlight the fact that more people are paying attention to your social media updates than you might imagine and while I don't condone the actions of the cheating spouses, I do think that people need to realize the potential implications of what they post and/or at least be aware that nothing is truly secret in the world of social media. Even though it's a mighty big pool, you are bound to be found if someone is really looking, as you are truly putting your fate in your loosest lipped friend's hands :) 

Is Skynet Closer Than We Think?

In a Globe and Mail article today entitled One robot, one vote? Neil Reynolds brings attention to the fact that robotics has progressed beyond what most of us are aware and that as the result Asimov's 3 laws of robotics will not suffice, it's not 1942 after all... and the lawyers might be pushing the agenda here, but Reynolds raises some interesting questions. Did you know that South Korea currently has robots patrolling it's border with Kim Jong Il's North Korea? or that the South Korean government is aiming to have a robot in each household by 2020? There has been much press about Japan's aging population and a thriving robotics industry working on machines to assist the elderly, but who will be responsible for decisions made by these machines or for their expensive upkeep? 

"The American Bar Association runs a permanent expert committee on artificial intelligence and robotics. In April, the committee published a number of special reports – on the state of AI in telemedicine, on advanced wiretapping and on military drones. In the May issue of The ABA Journal, the association will publish “Robot Rules” – an analysis of pending U.S. legislation that will, for the first time, assign liability for the actions of robots."

Have a read, it's rather thought provoking.

Police Seize Gizmodo Editor's Computers

Gizmodo editor, Jason Chen, who blogged about the mysterious nextgen iPhone found in a bar has had his computers seized by a technology related police task force. The investigating officers as well as the San Mateo County’s chief deputy district attorney, Stephen Wagstaffe, have declined to comment on the matter. 

I would say it's looking less likely that this was an Apple publicity stunt... authorities acting on a court order apparently entered Chen's home and removed four computers and two servers. 

More at the NYTimes Bits Blog.

Is Linking To Defamatory Statements The Same As Publishing Defamatory Statements?

The Supreme Court of Canada has agreed to hear the case of a former political campaign manager who claims that links to defamatory content on other sites is the same as publishing the content on your own site. The case was heard by a judge at the British Columbia Supreme Court and was struck down, but the Supreme Court of Canada has agreed to hear the appeal.

David Fewer, director of the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic at the University of Ottawa, said:

"To import liability in those circumstances is to impose just a tremendous burden of liability on all participants in the internet,".

"Not just hosts, not just websites, not just bulletin boards, not just ISPs, but also individual participants, commenters on blogs, commenters in newspapers, newspapers themselves, other publishers who allow anybody to speak on the internet.

"You can just imagine the chilling effect that would have."

This is scary stuff!

Source: CBC

Google Fighting Italian Courts Decision On Behalf Of Employees

In a post on The Official Google Blog titled "Serious threat to the web in Italy" Matt Sucherman, VP and Deputy General Counsel - Europe, Middle East and Africa, describes a court battle that is being waged in Italy where three employees and a former employee of the company are being indicted for criminal defamation and a failure to comply with the Italian privacy code. The case involves a video that was posted to Google Video that showed school children bullying an autistic classmate. The video was taken down within hours of it's posting and Google worked with local authorities to identify those involved in the incident. However a judge in Milan convicted 3 of the 4 defendants for failure to comply with the Italian privacy code while all 4 were found not guilty of criminal defamation.

Sucherman writes:

"In essence this ruling means that employees of hosting platforms like Google Video are criminally responsible for content that users upload. We will appeal this astonishing decision because the Google employees on trial had nothing to do with the video in question. Throughout this long process, they have displayed admirable grace and fortitude. It is outrageous that they have been subjected to a trial at all.

But we are deeply troubled by this conviction for another equally important reason. It attacks the very principles of freedom on which the Internet is built. Common sense dictates that only the person who films and uploads a video to a hosting platform could take the steps necessary to protect the privacy and obtain the consent of the people they are filming. European Union law was drafted specifically to give hosting providers a safe harbor from liability so long as they remove illegal content once they are notified of its existence. The belief, rightly in our opinion, was that a notice and take down regime of this kind would help creativity flourish and support free speech while protecting personal privacy. If that principle is swept aside and sites like Blogger, YouTube and indeed every social network and any community bulletin board, are held responsible for vetting every single piece of content that is uploaded to them — every piece of text, every photo, every file, every video — then the Web as we know it will cease to exist, and many of the economic, social, political and technological benefits it brings could disappear.

These are important points of principle, which is why we and our employees will vigorously appeal this decision."

 

Incredible...  

US Bloggers Threatened With Fines Over Full Disclosure

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is stepping up it's policing of the blogoshpere by threatening fines of up to $11,000 per post for bloggers who fail to advise their readers of "material connections" — or "connections that consumers would not expect" — with the subjects they write about. "The post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement. Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service," the FTC said in a statement on its website. There are no similar plans in Canada as of yet, however the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) is trying to decide whether or not there should be Canadian content rules governing content created in Canada for the internet similar to those found in television and radio content produced here. No fears GBG readers, no payola headed my way...

Source: CBC

$80,000 Per Shared Song Awarded To RIAA

24 songs shared by a single mom from Minnesota via Kazaa have been the center of a law suit brought upon Jammie Thomas-Rasset by the Recording Industry Association of America. On Friday a federal jury in Minnesota found the 32-year-old mother of four guilty of copyright infringement and ordered her to pay $1.92-million or $80,000 per song shared. Her reaction, “There’s no way they’re ever going to get that,” Ms. Thomas-Rasset said after the verdict. “I’m a mom, limited means, so I’m not going to worry about it now.”

For their part the RIAA said this in an e-mail, “When the facts are presented to juries on these issues, they take this issue seriously and appreciate the real harm that’s done to the music community,”

It's not clear whether or not Thomas-Rasset will challenge the decision but I sure hope she does. I also hope that none of the jurors have kids who have shared any music online, or they may live to regret their ruling in this case...

Source: Globe and Mail

New Bill To Give Police Access To Personal Data Without Warrant

At a news conference in Ottawa yesterday, Canadian Justice Minister Rob Nicholson and Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan announced new bills aimed at providing law enforcement virtually unrestricted access to information gathered by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) regarding their customers and their activities online.

According to this CBC article:

"One bill, announced by Van Loan, would require telecommunications and internet service providers to:

• Install and maintain "intercept-capable" equipment on their networks.
• Provide police with "timely access" to personal information about subscribers, including names, address and internet addresses, without the need for a warrant.

Van Loan said the bill won't provide new interception powers to police, but simply update the legal framework designed "in the era of the rotary telephone."

He noted that police can already get the authority to intercept communications, but the network is often incapable of allowing such interception."

In addition a second bill introduced would:

• Allow law enforcement officials to obtain transmission data that is sent or received via telephone or internet if authorized by a production order or warrant
• Require telecommunications companies to keep data related to specific communications or subscribers if that information is needed in an investigation and requested via a preservation order.
• Make it a criminal offence for two or more people to agree to or arrange child sexual exploitation by means of telecommunications.
• Modernize the system for tracking warrants.

I'm all for police getting the tools they need to combat crime, however, "without the need for a warrant." seems a little scary to me...

Oline Gambling Players Have Money Frozen By Courts

Prosecutors in the US have gone to the courts to freeze the accounts of several payment processing companies that work with off shore gambling sites. The move has left millions of dollars payable to tens of thousands of players in accessible. Since the prosecutors have no jurisdiction over the gambling sites themselves, the new tactic is to cut off the cash by going after the companies that do operate within the US, the transaction processors. The effect is that it has become harder and harder for players to send payments or receive winnings, and that puts a clamp on the gaming sites and places doubt in the mind of players. “Now, you not only have to find a way to get money to a place you trust and that’s going to be honest, you have to get money back and hope it doesn’t get seized,” says I. Nelson Rose, a gambling law expert at Whittier Law School.

Source: NY Times Bits blog

Pirate Bay Founders Sentenced To 1 Year In Jail

The 4 founders of The Pirate Bay, the high profile file-sharing site, have each been found guilty of breaking copyright law by a court in Sweden. Frederik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, Carl Lundstrom and Peter Sunde were all sentenced to one year in prison for their part in the crime.

After the decision Mr. Sunde tweeted: "Nothing will happen to TPB, this is just theatre for the media."

"got the news last night that we lost".

"It used to be only movies, now even verdicts are out before the official release."

BBC story here.

Canadian Teachers Vote To Lobby For Criminalization Of Cyber Bullying

In a unanimous vote the Canadian Teachers' Federation endorsed a new policy today that calls on the federal government to amend the Criminal Code to include cyberbullying. “We feel that there's not enough teeth in the Criminal Code right now for cyberbullying,” president Emily Noble said. According to the group both students and teachers are being harassed through e-mail, instant messenger, chat rooms, blogs and social networking sites. The document prepared by the teachers group says “using information and communication technology to convey a message which threatens death or bodily harm or perpetuates fear and intimidation in another constitutes a punishable offence under the Code.” With any luck the federal government will see the gravity of the situation and act quickly to support the educators who are on the front line.

eBay Baby Returned To Parents

A German boy, taken from his parents by officials after the discovery of an eBay posting offering the child up for sale, has been returned to his home. The ad placed May 24th read: "Offering my nearly new baby for sale, as it has gotten too loud. It is a male baby, nearly 28 inches long and can be used either in a baby carrier or a stroller." the starting bid was 1 euro. Otto Gaschler, deputy chief of youth services in Unterallgau, told the AP that the posting was "like a game for them. They never thought that this stupid joke could have such an effect." Both parents are in their early twenties and clearly have a lot of growing up to do! Perhaps they should have been made to take a parenting class or do some volunteer time at a shelter prior to the return of their child. -- CNet New Blog.

Facebook Investigated By Canadian Regulator

The federal privacy commissioner, in Canada, has launched an investigation into Facebook after law students at the University of Ottawa complained that the site breaches Canadian law by disclosing personal information to advertisers prior to obtaining proper consent. "There's definitely some significant shortcomings with Facebook's privacy settings and with their ability to protect users," said Harley Finkelstein, one of the 4 students who initiated the complaint. The students believe that Facebook's practices are contrary to Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). "We've reviewed the complaint and found it has serious factual errors - most notably its neglect of the fact that almost all Facebook data is willingly shared by users," Facebook chief privacy officer Chris Kelly said Friday in an e-mail. "The complaint also misinterprets PIPEDA in a manner that would effectively forbid voluntary online sharing of information." For the governments part "We take all complaints very seriously," said Anne-Marie Hayden, spokeswoman for the federal privacy commissioner's office. "We have no reason to believe that Facebook will not be co-operative."

NY State Law Challenged By Amazon

A new law which recently passed in New York State forcing online retailers to collect sales tax on shipments to state residents is being challenged in court by the largest online retailer, Amazon. Previous legislation forced companies who had a physical presence in the state to collect state sales tax, the new law includes any Web site that is based in the state and that earns a referral fee for sending customers to an online retailer, in other words affiliate sites. So if you are an online retailer with just one affiliate that has a physical presence in the state you are obligated to collect state taxes on any sale originating in that state. Amazon's complaint says this of the law, “It was carefully crafted to increase state tax revenues by forcing Amazon to collect sales and use taxes,” noting that “state officials have described the statute as the ‘Amazon Tax.’ ” This should be interesting, what a precedent ! If the challenge fails we'll be seeing a whole lot more of these laws... NY Times article here.

Canada to tighten identity theft laws

The Globe and Mail is reporting that the Canadian government is tightening up it's laws regarding identity theft. Justice Minister Rob Nicholson announced that Ottawa will introduce legislation targeting the gathering and trafficking of personal data for the purposes of using it deceptively. Fraudulent use of identity is already a criminal act in Canada, but the gathering and selling of credit card, banking, and other information is not, yet. “Our government will be giving police the tools to better protect Canadians by stopping identity theft activity before the damage is done,” the Minister said in a statement.