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| Google loses bid to keep anti-Islamic video online during appeal Friday, Feb 28, 2014 05:43 PM PST  By Dan Levine SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc on Friday lost its bid to keep an anti-Islamic film on its YouTube video sharing website while it appealed a federal appeals court order that the company said would have "devastating effects" if allowed to stand. Earlier this week, a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2-1 to reject Google's assertion that the removal of the film "Innocence of Muslims," which sparked protests across the Muslim world, amounted to a prior restraint of speech that violated the U.S. Constitution. In a court filing on Thursday, Google argued that the video should remain accessible to the public while it asks that a larger, 11-judge 9th Circuit panel review the issue. Google called this week's opinion "unprecedented" and "sweeping." However, the 9th Circuit on Friday rejected Google's request in a brief order. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. utilities need industry group focused on cyber defense: report Friday, Feb 28, 2014 02:09 PM PST By Ayesha Rascoe WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. utilities would benefit from an independent group to set industry-wide guidelines on combating cyber threats, according to a think-tank report released on Friday that was co-authored by a former director of the Central Intelligence Agency. The report, from the Bipartisan Policy Center, said a new independent organization could bring together the disparate interests in the sector to help manage cybersecurity for the nation's electric grid, and help to deal with threats such as new malware that could be targeted at plants' information technology systems. "We don't have one group looking at this holistically to see what the answers are," said Curt Hebert, a co-author of the report who is a former chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the agency which oversees aspects of the nation's elecric grid. The other authors of the report were Michael Hayden, director of the CIA under President George W. Bush, and Susan Tierney, former assistant secretary at the Energy Department under President Bill Clinton. Full Story | Top |
| EBay founder rejects Icahn's call for PayPal spinoff Friday, Feb 28, 2014 01:37 PM PST  (Reuters) - EBay Inc founder and Chairman Pierre Omidyar rejected investor Carl Icahn's call to separate the company's fast-growing PayPal payments unit, saying the businesses were better off together. Omidyar, who is the largest shareholder in eBay with a stake of 8.37 percent, said separating PayPal from eBay was not a new idea and the board had evaluated the option but decided to keep the businesses together. Icahn, who disclosed a 2.15 percent stake in the e-commerce company last week, had also accused two long-time eBay board members, Marc Andreessen and Scott Cook, of having business interests that directly competed with eBay. Full Story | Top |
| Apple CEO promises new products, says Apple TV no longer a 'hobby' Friday, Feb 28, 2014 01:27 PM PST  By Alexei Oreskovic CUPERTINO, California (Reuters) - Apple Inc sold more than $1 billion of Apple TV set-top boxes in 2013 and is investing heavily in the next generation of products, Chief Executive Tim Cook said at the company's annual meeting on Friday. Apple's ability to again transform the fast-moving technology arena is the central question in investors' and Silicon Valley executives' minds as the company's growth slows, and rivals like Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Google Inc take chunks out of its market share. Industry executives and Apple observers continue to believe that the company will come up with some sort of wearable device, like a smartwatch, and speculation persists about a long-rumored TV product of some sort to shake up the living room viewing experience. Responding to a question about innovation, Cook said Apple preferred not to talk about new products under development so as not to tip off the competition. Full Story | Top |
| Google seeks to repost anti-Islamic film during appeal Friday, Feb 28, 2014 01:20 PM PST By Dan Levine SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc, saying a federal appeals court order directing it to remove an anti-Islamic film from its YouTube video sharing website would have "devastating effects" if allowed to stand, asked the court to put it on hold. Earlier this week, a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2-1 to reject Google's assertion that the removal of the film "Innocence of Muslims," which sparked protests across the Muslim world, amounted to a prior restraint of speech that violated the U.S. Constitution. In a court filing on Thursday, Google argued that the video should remain accessible to the public while it asks that a larger, 11-judge 9th Circuit panel review the issue. Google called this week's order "unprecedented" and "sweeping." The plaintiff, Cindy Lee Garcia, had objected to the film after learning that it incorporated a clip she had made for a different movie, which had been partially dubbed and in which she appeared to be asking: "Is your Mohammed a child molester?" Garcia's attorney, Cris Armenta, opposes Google's request to repost the video while the appeal proceeds. Full Story | Top |
| Sears says investigating possible security breach Friday, Feb 28, 2014 11:55 AM PST  Sears Holdings Corp said Friday it has launched an investigation to determine whether it was the victim of a security breach, following Target Corp's revelation at the end of last year that it had suffered an unprecedented cyber attack. "There have been rumors and reports throughout the retail industry of security incidents at various retailers and we are actively reviewing our systems to determine if we have been a victim of a breach," Sears spokesman Howard Riefs said in a statement on Friday. He did not say when the operator of Sears department stores and Kmart discount stores had begun the investigation or provide other information about the probe. Sears Holdings Corp operates nearly 2,500 retail stores in the United States and Canada. Full Story | Top |
| Mt. Gox files for bankruptcy, hit with lawsuit Friday, Feb 28, 2014 11:30 AM PST  By Yoshifumi Takemoto and Sophie Knight TOKYO (Reuters) - Mt. Gox, once the world's biggest bitcoin exchange, filed for bankruptcy protection in Japan on Friday, saying it may have lost nearly half a billion dollars worth of the virtual coins due to hacking into its faulty computer system. Wearing a suit instead of his customary T-shirt, Mt. Gox's French CEO Mark Karpeles bowed in contrition and apologized in Japanese at a news conference at the Tokyo District Court, blaming his firm's collapse on a "weakness in our system", but predicting that bitcoin would continue to grow. Gregory Greene, who estimated his bitcoin stake at $25,000, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Chicago late on Thursday, saying Mt. Gox had failed "to provide its users with the level of security protection for which they paid. Baker & McKenzie, a Chicago-based law firm that represents Mt. Gox, declined to comment. Full Story | Top |
| Mt. Gox sued in United States over bitcoin losses Friday, Feb 28, 2014 10:09 AM PST  Mt. Gox, once the world's largest bitcoin exchange, has been sued by a customer in what may be the first of many U.S. lawsuits seeking to recoup millions of dollars of losses linked to a hacking attack that led to the exchange's bankruptcy. In a complaint filed on Thursday in U.S. District Court in Chicago, plaintiff Gregory Greene said Mt. Gox and its chief executive, Mark Karpeles, were negligent and committed fraud for having failed to protect the Tokyo-based exchange from theft. Greene said bitcoin prices plummeted after Mt. Gox found the security breach, but said he and other investors in the virtual currency could not cut their losses because the exchange had halted trading. Mt. Gox took down its website on Tuesday. Full Story | Top |
| Mt Gox: The brief reign of bitcoin's top exchange Friday, Feb 28, 2014 08:14 AM PST  The collapse of Mt. Gox might appear sudden, but bitcoin insiders say its downfall began nearly a year ago as the virtual currency exchange tangled with regulators, split from former business partners and grappled with cyber attacks. Mt. Gox's fall lays bare the difficulties the bitcoin community faces as it tries to square its freewheeling, libertarian ideals with the rigorous regulation required in financial services and customers' needs for reliable service. Once the world's biggest bitcoin exchange, Mt. Gox on Friday filed for bankruptcy protection, saying it may have lost nearly half a billion dollars worth of the virtual coins due to hacking into its faulty computer system. U.S. federal prosecutors have subpoenaed Tokyo-based Mt. Gox - and other bitcoin businesses - to seek information on a recent spate of disruptive cyber attacks that overwhelmed some exchanges and forced them to suspend withdrawals. Full Story | Top |
| Man Utd team with Google to put faraway fans pitchside Friday, Feb 28, 2014 06:46 AM PST  Manchester United have joined forces with technology giant Google to allow a handful of soccer fans around the world to follow next month's clash with Liverpool as if they were pitchside at Old Trafford. To heighten the sense of being at the game, images of the fans will appear live on the digital advertising hoardings at the stadium during the Premier League game on March 16. Google described the move as an "experiment into what the future of supporting your team could be", although the initiative will be limited to only around 10-20 fans this time. United fans are being asked to share a picture on Google+ with the tag "#MUFrontRow" to show their support and the participants will be chosen from this group. Full Story | Top |
| Mt. Gox bitcoin debacle: huge heist or sloppy glitch? Friday, Feb 28, 2014 06:10 AM PST Mark Karpeles, the 28-year-old French CEO of Mt. Gox, which once handled around 80 percent of the world's bitcoin trades, filed for bankruptcy at a Tokyo District Court late on Friday. "If the theft is true," said Campbell Harvey, a professor at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business, "it's the biggest bank heist in history," aside from when Saddam Hussein ordered his son to withdraw $1 billion from Iraq's central bank in 2003. But most observers say Mt. Gox's laxness played a key role in the debacle. But things got better, he said: "It has been a process of learn-by-doing that they have discovered all sorts of things they should be doing, but were not." No official explanation has been forthcoming beyond blaming hackers and weaknesses in Mt. Gox's system. Full Story | Top |
| Italy cancels "Google tax" on web companies Friday, Feb 28, 2014 05:36 AM PST ROME (Reuters) - Italy has dropped a planned internet tax sometimes dubbed the "Google tax", in one of the first measures enacted by the new government of Matteo Renzi, an official said on Friday. The former government of Enrico Letta passed a law on the tax last year, but promptly delayed the date it would come into effect until July. The European Commission warned that it could break EU rules before it was approved in parliament. ... Full Story | Top |
| German court rejects 1.6 billion euro claim vs Apple by IPCom Friday, Feb 28, 2014 04:34 AM PST  MANNHEIM, Germany (Reuters) - A German court on Friday dismissed a lawsuit filed against Apple by German patent manager IPCom claiming 1.57 billion euros ($2.15 billion) in damages. The claim concerned a mobile telephone patent that enables mobile phones to make emergency calls even when networks are overloaded. (Reporting Peter Maushagen; Writing by Thomas Atkins; Editing by Maria Sheahan) Full Story | Top |
| Mexican telecoms bill to raise pressure on Slim: draft Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 09:01 PM PST  By Simon Gardner and Dave Graham MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico will give its new telecoms regulator sweeping powers to police dominant telecommunications companies, right down to their prices and discounts, according to a draft bill that fleshes out a constitutional reform passed last year. The spearhead of efforts to curb the power of telecoms mogul Carlos Slim, the Federal Institute for Telecommunications (IFT) will be able to force phone companies to seek approval every year for interconnection and infrastructure-sharing terms, according to a draft of the legislation obtained by Reuters. It is part of a massive remit granted to the IFT that allows the watchdog to order phone and TV companies to sell assets, share networks and infrastructure and revoke concessions. The local mobile and fixed-line units of Slim's firm America Movil as well as broadcaster Televisa are widely expected to be declared dominant by the IFT. Full Story | Top |
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