• Time Warner: We Still Like Metered Billing
    Last month, when Time Warner backed off an unpopular plan to roll out pay-per-byte billing to four additional cities, it was pretty clear that the company hoped the retreat would be temporary. Today, CEO Glenn Britt confirmed that the cable giant continues to favor metered billing.
  • FCC Order Upheld, Could Mean More Broadband Choices
    It's no secret that broadband in the U.S. is slower and more expensive than in other countries -- and that's when it's available at all. Some rural residents lack high-speed Internet access altogether, or must purchase satellite service from companies like HughesNet, which was just sued last week for allegedly delivering sub-par speeds.Even urban residents don't have all that many choices. Many have just two realistic options -- cable modem service or relatively slower DSL service. But a new federal appeals court decision might improve matters, at least for some apartment building dwellers.
  • Top Cops Still Lean On Craiglist
    One would think that law enforcement officials would have backed off Craigslist by now, given that a federal judge last week issued a restraining order against South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster.
  • Judge Nixes Computer Fraud Theory In Campus Prank
    Earlier this year, Boston College student Riccardo Calixte allegedly pranked his roommate, Jesse Bennefield, by sending out emails stating that Bennefield frequented a gay dating site. Bennefield wasn't amused. He went to the campus police, who obtained a search warrant for Calixte's computer. At the time, the police argued to a judge that the emails might have violated Boston College's terms of service and, therefore, sending them was evidence of computer fraud.
  • Craigslist Gets Restraining Order Against A.G.
    After weeks of bluster about Craigslist, South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster agreed today to a temporary order preventing him from bringing criminal charges against company executives.
  • The Ambiguity Of The Tweet
    Courtney Love might have been the first celebrity in a Twitter-related legal dustup. But she will certainly not be the last. As Twitter grows, it's inevitably attracting complaints. In the most recent high-profile example, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich recently sent a cease and desist letter to a blogger who is lobbying on Twitter for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act -- a law aimed at making it easier for workers to organize.
  • Can WPP Demystify Behavioral Targeting?
    The think tank Future of Privacy Forum announced this week that it tapped ad agency WPP to come up with new ways of notifying Web users about online behavioral advertising. Director Jules Polonetsky hopes that advertising creatives will be able to come up with something more intelligible than the lengthy jargon-filled policies that are all too often incomprehensible.
  • Do Shield Laws Protect Web Commenters?
    Richard Price was indicted in Illinois last year for first-degree murder for allegedly killing a 5-year-old boy. When The Alton Telegraph wrote about the case, the article drew comments by anonymous users who accused Price of drug use and of abusing other children. Law enforcement officials attempted to subpoena the identities of five of the commenters, but the newspaper opposed the request on the ground that the Illinois shield law allows the paper to keep the identities of sources confidential. Now, a judge in Madison County has ordered The Alton Telegraph to reveal the identity of two of the commenters.
  • Craigslist Strikes Back
    With South Carolina's grandstanding Attorney General Henry McMaster continuing to threaten to bring criminal charges against Craigslist execs, CEO Jim Buckmaster is publicly defending itself.
  • See You In Court? Google's New Policy Baits Trademark Owners
    Google is throwing down the gauntlet to trademark owners with its move to allow search marketers to include competitors' trademarks in the ad copy.
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