The Presidential Blackberry. Wouldn't you love to get a glimpse of what's on it? That's precisely the problem, former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Joe Hagin told WebProNews. While President Bush travels generally incommunicado--that is, unthinkably for most us, sans mobile phone--the President-Elect is in a very public argument for retention of his pre-election smart phone. read more

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If you happen to come across some silent YouTube videos today, there's no need to start investigating your speaker settings and browser defaults.  It seems that the "problem" is on YouTube's end; the site's owners have chosen to mute certain clips as a way of dealing with copyright violations.read more

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Okay knuckleheads, you can’t rely on a website to make sure a girl’s 18. And when you get in trouble because she’s actually 14, it’s not the website’s fault, even if their age verification process is ridiculous. read more

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A New York State Supreme Court Justice has dismissed Amazon.com's lawsuit challenging the law that requires some out-of-state online retailers to collect New York sales tax.New York Justice Eileen Bransten wrote in an order released today "there is no basis upon which Amazon can prevail."The judge said the New York law does not tax "any and all Internet sales," but only requires businesses to collect state and local sales taxes if the company generates $10,000 or more in revenue via affiliate networks.read more

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There’s little difference between a gadfly and a real journalist, and three New York City gadflies just proved there’s no difference between a blogger and a real journalist. The New York Times’ City Room blog chronicles the victories of three local news bloggers who had been repeatedly denied press credentials by the NYPD because they worked online or for “nontraditional” news outlets. read more

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You've probably read stories about the police using YouTube to catch criminals. One guy even accidentally ratted himself out for mentioning his own YouTube videos. Now, Google is sharing a story in which the cops used Google Maps Street View to help find a kidnapped child from Massachusetts all the way in Virginia. read more

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A California man named Christopher Norberg is in the middle of a legal dispute with a chiropractor for posting a negative review of his services on the site Yelp.com. The dispute stems from a billing experience, which Norberg referred to in his review, and the chiropractor filed a defamation suit. It is now a classic example of where the line between free speech and defamation should be drawn. read more

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It’s official: There is such a thing as bad publicity. To save damage done to its brand via public outcry, Monster Cable dropped a trademark infringement lawsuit against Monster Mini Golf in a settlement negotiated without lawyers. read more

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Model Liskula Cohen has a filed a lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court against Google in an effort to find out the identity of a blogger who called her a "skank" and an "old hag" on the blog "Skanks in NYC."read more

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On March 18th, a company called Cygnus Systems was granted a slightly dull-sounding patent for "System and Method for Iconic Software Environment Management."  Now, the development's looking more significant, as Cygnus has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Google, Microsoft, and Apple.read more

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In March of 2006, I predicted it was only a matter of time before “a major media company” bought YouTube, and that the government would step in eventually to regulate Internet content. A few months later, Google was obviously that media company, and close to three years later, we are witnessing the potential handover of Web content to the FCC and/or other regulatory agencies.  read more

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Google's Street View feature on Google Maps is certainly no stranger to privacy concerns. It has attracted lawsuits, but it is still moving right along. Google even dismissed one lawsuit bringer as being "out of touch with the real world."read more

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In one of those stories that makes you question humanity, some guy in New York pleaded guilty to posting a video on YouTube in which he claimed responsibility for seeing that millions of jars of Gerber baby food were poisoned. This is one of those stories from the dark side of social media and online video.read more

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The co-founder of an Internet gambling site has pleaded guilty to violating U.S. online gambling laws and has agreed to forfeit $300 million.Anurag Dikshit, 37, a former director of PartyGaming PLC, pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District court to charges that he used wires to transmit bets and wagering information the Justice Department said.read more

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Despite the fact that Axl Rose is the only original member left in Guns N' Roses, his (I say "his" because this is truly one man's project with the help of some hired hands) album Chinese Democracy is quite possibly the most anticipated album in history. At this point (and I can say this as a huge fan of the original band), it's not even that people expect it to be good.read more

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Recently I dug back through our archives to put together something of a retrospective looking at the year in online video. Now I have done basically the same thing looking at 2008's happenings in online music. read more

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The Internet can make or break you PR-wise. After a couple of weeks of Monster Mini Golf taking its tale of corporate bullying to the Web, Monster Cable has suddenly responded, at length. “Head Monster” at Monster Cable Noel Lee says Christina and Patrick Vitagliano are using people’s sympathy to further their own agenda, and that Monster Cable does not like suing people. read more

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As part of its plan to make an acquisition extremely unpalatable to Microsoft, Yahoo adopted a poison pill severance plan six months ago.  Now, for the sake of satisfying some shareholders who sued it, Yahoo has made it slightly easier for a new owner to fire employees.read more

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It turns out you can’t sell justice for a dollar on eBay, Christina Vitagliano, proprietor of Monster Mini Golf, told WebProNews, but you can sell discount coupons to raise money for a legal fight against Monster Cable. read more

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The Internet is certainly maligned enough as a place of general depravity and poor etiquette, but all shadows have a lighter side. The Toronto Police, for example, have launched a website where visitors can check out cold homicide cases and provide new clues. read more

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As you're no doubt aware, Google and Yahoo had a search advertising deal going earlier this year, but turbulence from possible-antitrust complaints and Department of Justice scrutiny ultimately led to Google backing out of the deal. read more

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An investigation by Washington Post reporter Gilbert M.Gaul and 60 Minutes looked at two of the largest cases of online gambling fraud in the history of Internet poker.The investigation found that Internet gambling sites operate in a gray area with little regulation and even less enforcement.read more

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Taken together, three bills in Congress would require online marketplaces and auction sites to secretly police affiliates suspected of selling stolen goods. In addition to requiring extensive record keeping on sellers using the site and turning over that information to authorities upon request, the legislation prohibits resale sites—like eBay or craigslist—from informing suspected sellers they are being investigated.read more

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The current FCC is using its numbered days to petition the Supreme Court to uphold its authority over fleeting material in broadcast programming. If Chairman Kevin Martin & Co. fail to get a sympathetic ear from the highest court, the fat lady could be singing one foul tune as failed regulators exit stage right, and that might be a good thing. read more

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eHarmony is releasing a new same-sex matching service starting by the end of March. This service is the product of legal problems the company has been dealing with out of New Jersey and California. A gay man in Jersey sued the company for not catering to same-sex relationships as a violation of his rights in the state of New Jersey, and earlier in the year, a gay woman from San Francisco filed a suit against the company for being denied access to eHarmony's service because of her sexuality.read more

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Microsoft apparently drew one step closer to getting in serious trouble with the European Commission yesterday.  This afternoon, the company admitted to finding out that the European Commission believes its handling of Internet Explorer has been breaking antitrust laws.read more

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On Thursday, the Recording Industry Association of America will confront yet another university student in court over file sharing allegations.  This time, though, the RIAA may have to do so in front of an unfriendly audience, as U.S. District Judge Nancy Gertner has agreed to allow live online coverage of the hearing.read more

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The Kentucky Court of Appeals ruled late Tuesday that the state could not seize 141 online gambling domains because they do not constitute a gambling device under Kentucky law.The ruling overturns a controversial decision made by Franklin County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Wingate in October that said online gambling domains could be seized by the state because the domains were illegal gambling devices that violated Kentucky law.read more

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The Federal Communications Commission is investigating concerns that Comcast's new network management practices gives priority to its own digital voice services while degrading the quality of its competitors.In a letter sent to Comcast on Sunday, the FCC asked why the company had failed to disclose "the distinct effects Comcast's new network management technique has on Comcast's VoIP offering versus those if its competitors."read more

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Sometimes we get so caught up with hunting down a remote few monsters, we forget about the gangs of gremlins lurking next door. A controversial new study from the Internet Safety Technical Task Force suggests minors face greater dangers from their peers than from predators.read more

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