A new survey on cyberbullying reports that about one third of teens have been victims of cyberbullying tactics such as receiving threatening messages, having private text messages or e-mails forwarded without consent or having rumors about them spread online. The survey also found that girls are more likely than boys to be targets. In addition, teens who share their identities and thoughts Read More
Abolishing Consumer Arbitration
Arbitration clauses in consumer, employment, and franchise agreements may soon be absolved in most cases. The US Congress is currently considering the Arbitration Fairness Act of 2007 (AFA), which declares that no arbitration agreement in place prior to an arising dispute shall be valid or enforceable if it arises under any statute intended to protect civil rights or other contracts between parties of Read More
New Suitors for usTLD
GoDaddy is making a push to take control of the “.us” top level domain (TLD). Along with Afilias, a provider of registry services, the two firms have teamed up to create a joint venture seeking to become the registry operator of usTLD. The firm’s intentions became known when the venture submitted a proposal to the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration Read More
Complaints About Overbroad Copyright Notices
Google and Microsoft are complaining to the FTC about, in their view, content providers’ overly broad copyright notices on content provided by entities such as the NFL, MLB, NBC Universal and more. The allegations of the complaint suggest that copyright holders are using “strong-arm” tactics to scare users into compliance. Copyright holders dismiss the complaint as an attempt to liberalize public sentiment Read More
Battle For Wireless Spectrum Part III
The FCC will rule on the upcoming auction of spectrum being vacated by air-borne television signals tomorrow. The guidelines for the auction are being carefully watched by numerous wireless providers, as well as some newcomers, such as Google, who has offered to spend billions of dollars on the spectrum, assuming that some of the spectrum is “open source” available to any wireless network Read More
Battle For Wireless Spectrum Part II
As recently discussed in the CyberLawg, wireless spectrum bidding is heating up. The FCC today announced its support for open bidding on a certain range of spectrum expected to fetch approximately $15 Billion, which will primarily benefit the federal government. The plan supported by a majority of FCC commissioners would include an open-access requirement that would give consumers more choices for wireless Read More
Battle for Wireless Spectrum Heating Up
Wireless spectrum promises to become one of the hottest commodities of the 21st Century. The radio spectrum, a limited resource, is the range of radio frequencies on which wireless communications may travel. Just as certain domain names or posh physical addresses are valuable, certain portions of the spectrum can be very valuable to business, government, the military and community service and protection, Read More
A Sexy Second Life Copyright Suit
A company founded by an ex-plumber is suing for copyright infringement over the “SexGen bed, a software application that allows two characters to have sex in the game.” Eros, the firm that develops and sells the software online, alleges that another character in Second Life found a technical exploitation that allowed the object to be copied and resold at a substantial discount over the price Eros was Read More
EU and US Will Share Passenger Data
The European Union and United States have announced a new effort to share passenger name records (PNRs) for purposes of providing more information about terrorist threats. The European Union will ensure that air carriers operating passenger flights in foreign air transportation to or from the United States of America will make available PNR data contained in their reservation systems as required by Read More
ISPs Start Charging For E-Mail
In a move that was imminent given the rise in unsolicited commercial e-mails, some internet service providers have begun to start charging for the privilege of sending e-mail. Internet service providers Comcast, Cox Communications, Road Runner and AOL will now charge legitimate mass-mailers, such as banks, inestment firms and retailers, for the privilege of delivering their legitimate e-mail messages to the ISPs’ Read More
