Suits Against Anti-Cult Blogger Provide Test for Online Speech.

Lawsuits are occupational hazards for anti-cult blogger Rick Ross.

Sued a half-dozen times during the past decade for his public pronouncements, especially on the Internet, he's managed to win all but one case, with the help of pro bono counsel. His latest close call came in December when Landmark Education, a promoter of self-help seminars, withdrew with prejudice its federal suit in Newark alleging defamation.

Read more at Here.

Internet puts privacy on line.

Sony-BMG Music Entertainment surreptitiously places software on consumers' computers. Microsoft closes down a personal blog in China over concerns about potential lost revenue. Other firms trade in people's supposedly private information.

These may look like unconnected events, but each is an example of how private companies are increasingly using technology to intrude upon our lives.

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New Law Prohibits Anonymous Cyberstalking.

A tiny provision of a Department of Justice appropriations bill may end up becoming a major battleground over First Amendment rights on the Internet.

The provision, designed to prevent anonymous harassment and stalking via e-mail or the Web, is so broadly worded that many fear it could chill other forms of speech.

The "Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act" for fiscal year 2006 contains one section entitled "Preventing Cyberstalking." Under the new law, the rules passed in the Communications Decency Act (CDA) to prevent harassment by telephone were extended to Internet communications as well.

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Create an e-annoyance, go to jail.

Annoying someone via the Internet is now a federal crime.

It's no joke. Last Thursday, President Bush signed into law a prohibition on posting annoying Web messages or sending annoying e-mail messages without disclosing your true identity.

In other words, it's OK to flame someone on a mailing list or in a blog as long as you do it under your real name. Thank Congress for small favors, I guess.

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Computer chips get under skin of enthusiasts.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Forgetting computer passwords is an everyday source of frustration, but a solution may literally be at hand -- in the form of computer chip implants.

With a wave of his hand, Amal Graafstra, a 29-year-old entrepreneur based in Vancouver, Canada, opens his front door. With another, he logs onto his computer.

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Chat Room Chatter Draws Lawsuit.

Do the courts have jurisdiction over what people say in Internet chat rooms?

That question is being played out in what some lawyers claim is a first-of-its-kind lawsuit in Ohio, where a man claims he was humiliated online in an Internet chat room, and has filed a lawsuit over the incident.

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Your phone records are for sale.

The Chicago Police Department is warning officers their cell phone records are available to anyone -- for a price. Dozens of online services are selling lists of cell phone calls, raising security concerns among law enforcement and privacy experts.

Criminals can use such records to expose a government informant who regularly calls a law enforcement official.

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Changeable Fingerprint.

Your fingerprints are yours and yours alone, and that makes them a useful tool for confirming the identity of people doing things like conducting secure banking transactions or passing through corporate security checkpoints.

Trouble is, it's theoretically possible for a hacker to break into the software of, say, an employer, steal a copy of your stored fingerprint, and later use it to gain entrance.

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Cyberstalkers beware: New toolkit nabs online predators.

Researchers at Florida State University are developing a computer system designed to help law enforcement agents thwart cyberstalking.

Computer science Professor Sudhir Aggarwal and members of the Florida Cybersecurity Institute have built a hardware and software prototype called the Predator and Prey Alert (PAPA) system. The forensic toolkit is designed to provide high-quality evidence for the prosecution of cyberstalking cases.

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Microsoft reveals 'severe' security flaw in Windows.

A previously unknown flaw in Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system is leaving computer users vulnerable to spyware, viruses and other programs that could overtake their machines and has sent the company scrambling to come up with a fix.

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Beware skeletons in Web closets.

OTTAWA — Bloggers cannibalizing one of their own by exposing the offensive Internet musings of a Liberal Party executive during a contentious federal election campaign should be a lesson to politicians and parties alike, says one expert.

What's written in the far, dark reaches of cyberspace is often more permanent — and damaging — than you think.

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No safety net for personal privacy on the Net.

GO to a network named Ucloo, type in your name and click "search". You will probably find some personal information about yourself appearing on the screen.

And you only need to provide your e-mail address to get more detailed information. In this way, you may find similar information of about 90 million people, according to a claim by Ucloo.

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DeleteNow.com will give you some cyber-privacy.

Privacy is a precious commodity these days. But don't take my word for it. Just go online and type your name and the state in which you live into a search engine like Google and see what comes up. Chances are your name, address and phone number will pop up for starters. You'll also find helpful online maps that will display a bird's-eye view of your home along with driving directions on how to get there. Or click on another selection for a detailed satellite photo of your rooftop. Is that a satellite dish I'm seeing on your roof?

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Check online anonymity.

Many associate the internet with creativity, freedom and diversity. However, these positive aspects are often weighed down by calls to regulate the internet. The pervasiveness of anonymity and secrecy in cyberspace is causing so many problems that steps need to be taken to ensure more accountability.

One need not go any further than visit the bulletin boards of internet sites to find evidence of bad language, accusations, slander and defamation committed in the name of the freedom of expression. Minimal respect for human dignity and privacy disappears when reckless "cyber terrorism" rages.

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Letterman subject of restraining order.

Personal Comment: This is why a lot of people have problems going to the law, because of the few cracks out there. Like rape victims, for example. One person fakes a rape charge just to get revenge or, whatever reason, the rest of the actual victims are going to have a hell of a time having the police believe him/her.

SANTA FE, New Mexico (AP) -- Lawyers for David Letterman want a judge to quash a restraining order granted to a Santa Fe woman who contends the CBS late-night host used code words to show he wanted to marry her and train her as his co-host.

A state judge granted a temporary restraining order to Colleen Nestler, who alleged in a request filed last Thursday that Letterman has forced her to go bankrupt and caused her "mental cruelty" and "sleep deprivation" since May 1994.

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They're tracking you.

It looks fairly innocuous, a metal-and-plastic square with wires coiled up like an angular snail, a lot like the anti-theft tag you’d find if you pried apart a book you’d just bought at a chain store. But it’s a Radio Frequency Identification tag, RFID for short, and each one has a tiny antenna that can broadcast information about the product, or person, to which it is attached.

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Nancy Grace Stalker Case.

Forget Scott Peterson and Michael Jackson, there's a defendant Nancy Grace dislikes even more. His name is Joseph Raymond Loegering and the cable TV star has just sued the Missouri man, claiming he has been stalking and harassing her at CNN's New York office.

Read more at Here.

Man sentenced for ‘cyber-stalking’.

A Gladstone man was sentenced Tuesday to four months’ home detention and three years’ probation for infecting his ex-wife’s computer with spyware that allowed him to watch her online activity.

Jason Russell, 28, pleaded guilty in August, admitting that he purchased a membership in a now-defunct Internet service called Lover-Spy. The service provided spyware designed to remotely monitor a computer and track such things as instant messaging and e-mail.

The so-called cyber-stalking case was the first of its kind prosecuted in federal court in western Missouri.

“The rules of privacy still apply in cyberspace — it is illegal to use this kind of spyware to wiretap another person’s computer,” U.S. Attorney Todd Graves said in a written statement.

Source: Here.