letters

Senior Obama administration officials have secretly authorized the interception of communications carried on portions of networks operated by AT&T and other Internet service providers, a practice that might otherwise be illegal under federal wiretapping laws.

The secret legal authorization from the Justice Department originally applied to a cybersecurity pilot project in which the military monitored defense contractors' Internet links. Since then, however, the program has been expanded by President Obama to cover all critical infrastructure sectors including energy, healthcare, and finance starting June 12.

"The Justice Department is helping private companies evade federal wiretap laws," said … Read more

The iPad is a natural learning device for toddlers and preschoolers. It is practically made for little fingers to swipe and pinch across games and learning apps as they absorb letters, numbers, and stories. But there is a very wide range of quality among toddler-oriented apps. Some are sublime and well- thought out. Others are obvious cash-in attempts directed at unaware parents. Dinner Dash Animal Letters World for Toddlers falls into the second category.

In fact, Dinner Dash Animal Letters is such a feature-barren app that it's hard to know exactly what its purpose is. The game essentially shows … Read more

Google has undertaken what appears to be a legal first: an open court challenge by a major Internet company to a warrantless electronic data-gathering technique used by the FBI.

The company asked U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco last week to grant a "petition to set aside legal process" in response to a national security letter it received from the FBI.

National security letters allow FBI officials to send a secret request to Web and telecommunications companies requesting "name, address, length of service," and other information about users as long as it's … Read more

Google today became the first Internet company to shed light on a highly secret -- and controversial -- warrantless electronic data-gathering technique used by the FBI.

The technique allows FBI officials to send a secret request to Web and telecommunications companies requesting "name, address, length of service," and other information about users as long as it's relevant to a national security investigation. No court approval is necessary, and disclosing the existence of the FBI's request is not permitted.

Because of that legal prohibition, Google was able to disclose only the numerical ranges of requests it receives … Read more

A hoax status update making the rounds on Facebook has some folks thinking a posted copyright statement will keep Facebook from using the content they post. It won't, and it wouldn't matter if it did.

This is because the post -- which urges users to copy and paste a message declaring rights to the material they post to their profiles -- doesn't apply to Facebook. The social network notes in its terms of service agreement that it doesn't own any user content. It does, however, use the data users generate for its business, something users agree … Read more

Anyone with at least $3 million to spare may be able to own a 1954 letter written by Albert Einstein.

Up for auction on eBay starting today, the letter was written by Einstein a year before his death and sent to Eric Gutkind in response to Gutkind's book "Choose Life: The Biblical Call to Revolt." As such, it offers a revealing look into the scientist's private and unadulterated attitude toward religion and his own Jewish heritage.

"The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a … Read more

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is seizing domains and taking down URLs in the name of copyright infringement, but its tactics are worrying certain members of Congress.

In a letter (pdf) sent last week to Attorney General Eric Holder and Secretary Janet Napolitano, three members of the House Judiciary Committee aired their unease.

"We are concerned about your Departments' seizure of domain names under Operation In Our Sites, launched in November 2010," the letter said. "Our concern centers on your Department's methods, and the process given, when seizing the domain names of websites whose … Read more

How serious is Apple about getting a court-mandated sales ban against Samsung's Galaxy Tab and Nexus smartphone in place? Serious enough to start sending messages about it to carriers and other retailers, even before one of the injunctions was temporarily put on hold.

In a new filing in the case between the two technology giants in California, which was picked up by FOSS Patents, Samsung notes that Apple took the liberty of sending do-not-sell letters to carriers and retailers that carry Samsung's products.

Those letters include a copy of the court-ordered injunction, as well as a postscript suggesting … Read more