Tech Law

THIS WEEK IN TECH

HP Launched the Craziest DreamScreen Last Night

HP has just made either the most hyperactive digital picture frame on the market or the lamest tablet PC ever. The DreamScreen looks sort of like what you'd have if someone tore an HP Mini in two and handed you the monitor side. It's a device that can run video, show pictures and play music with bui...

THIS WEEK IN TECH

Sprint Gives Android a Hero’s Welcome

Android is finally getting a little more wardrobe variety. It's also moving out into new U.S. carriers. Sprint is the latest wireless company to jump in with the Android crowd; it'll start selling the HTC Hero this October. The Hero looks to be a pretty capable handset. It's loaded with Google apps,...

Someone, somewhere did not like Liskula Cohen, a model in her 30s who lives in New York. A blog was launched from Google's Blogger platform, apparently devoted to maligning her, complete with uncomplimentary photos. To be sure, such online attacks are hardly rare; indeed, Cohen's story diverges from...

THIS WEEK IN TECH

Security, Sanity and Social Networking in the Ranks

U.S. military service members who want to keep up with friends and family back home have often turned to social networking Web sites to stay in touch. But the Department of Defense hasn't quite made up its mind whether these kinds of sites are friends or enemies. It definitely loves social networkin...

A proposed national ban on text messaging while driving is already drawing criticism that it doesn't go far enough and is unlikely to be effective without stringent enforcement and radical attitude shifts in the driving public. "The real safety problem is not just texting, but all cellphone use whil...

After a 13-month investigation, Canada's Privacy Commissioner announced on Thursday that Facebook's policies and practices violate the country's privacy laws. There are "serious privacy gaps" in the way Facebook operates, according to Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart. The investigation was triggered b...

TECHNOLOGY LAW CORNER

The Stunning Impact of E-Discovery on IT

In today's world, it is no wonder that every lawsuit has electronic evidence. Unfortunately, for the most part, lawyers and judges do not understand IT or the Internet. As a result, litigation generally misses the mark regarding what is now referred to as "ESI," or electronically stored informatio...

America's winemakers have won a victory for online wine sales in Kansas, but the legislative battle demonstrates the challenges that e-commerce, a key force for economic recovery, still faces from outdated thinking and entrenched political institutions. Signed into law in April, 2009, Kansas Senate ...

As I write this, Google is being investigated by the DoJ for antitrust violations that make Microsoft's actions look trivial by comparison. It took Microsoft over a decade to exhibit the type of behavior that Google is now engaged in, which increasingly seems to favor cash over conscience. In terms...

The expression, "Inside the Beltway" is often used in a pejorative sense -- as a vague insult referring to an amorphous group of politicians, policy wonks, nonprofits and think tanks. Given what's currently happening on Capitol Hill and Pennsylvania Ave. -- the still-smoking $787 billion stimulus la...

So far, the testimony in the Lori Drew cyber-bullying trial, which began Wednesday in Los Angeles, has generated headlines for its inherent drama and tragedy: the mother of a teenage daughter, accused of using the MySpace social network to stage an elaborate hoax that ends with the suicide of a trou...

Several high-profile technology companies, human rights organizations, academics and investors have joined forces to launch the Global Network Initiative. Announced Tuesday, the GNI intends to protect and advance freedom of expression and privacy throughout the information and communication technolo...

PRODUCT REVIEW

RealDVD Works Great – If You Can Get It

RealNetworks released its controversial RealDVD movie ripping application last week but within days removed the program from its Web site due to a legal feud with the Motion Picture Association of America. RealNetworks provided TechNewsWorld with a final prelease version of the RealDVD software last...

A day before Americans bowed their heads to remember the victims of Sept. 11, YouTube bowed to pressure concerning online terrorist propaganda from Sen. Joe Lieberman and decided it will no longer allow videos that encourage or teach people to hurt other people. "While it might not seem fair to say ...

DVD duplication is going mainstream with the introduction of RealNetworks' new RealDVD system. The software -- set to go on sale for about $30 at Real.com and Amazon.com by the end of September -- lets you legally make digital copies of any disc, including all its artwork and extras. There are, howe...

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