edX is a new Internet distance learning site that promises to transform education to “enhance campus-based teaching and learning, and build a global community of online learners.” The joint partnership announcement promised that edX will:
…offer online learning to millions of people around the world. EdX will offer Harvard and…
Continue Reading Distance Learning on the Internet – Harvard & MIT Change all the Rules
Myspace agreed to 20 years of US government oversight of privacy, just like Facebook did in 2011 and Google did in 2010. On May 8, 2012 the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a statement about its settlement with Myspace dislosing the following mispresentations which were violations of federal privacy…
Continue Reading Myspace Confesses Failure to Abide by Privacy Laws
Google was fined $25,000 for not cooperating with an investigation regarding Google’s collection of unencrypted wifi data when taking Street View pictures from 2006-10, but the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reported that Google did not violate any US laws. The FCC’s Report included this conclusion regarding alleged violations of Section…
Continue Reading Google Did Not Violate US Law When Collecting Wifi Data
Google finally won a cloud war against Microsoft after years of battle and the US Department of Interior (DOI) will now deploy Google Apps for 90,000 employees instead of Microsoft Office 365. On January 3, 2011 US District Judge Susan Braden issued a temporary injunction enjoining the DOI from awarding…
Continue Reading Cloud Wars – Google Beats Microsoft in Federal Bid War
Freedom of speech under the First Amendment of the Constitution does not protect anonymous libel and slander posted on the Internet. ABC News reported that on April 20, 2012 a jury in Fort Worth, Texas gave a verdict in favor for Mark and Rhonda Lesher whose 2009 lawsuit was filed…
Continue Reading Cybersmear – Jury Verdict of $13.78 Million for Anonymous Postings
Many noted Judges rely on Wikipedia as authority including defining “Blazing Saddles” and “happy hour,” but the US Supreme Court has not yet accepted Wikipedia as authority. The New York Times reported in 2007 that Judge Richard A. Posner of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit…
Continue Reading Wikipedia Considered Reliable Authority by Many Judges
CISPA would permit “Internet companies such as Google and Facebook to collect and share a wide range of user data with the government” as reported by Computerworld. Now the White House is raising concerns about CISPA. Caitlin Hayden (spokeswoman for the White House’s National Security Council) in an interview with…
Continue Reading Privacy Controversy about Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA)
Greenpeace reported that cloud computing may be popular, but generally it’s not very clean and gave Apple Ds and Amazon Fs, while Google got the best grades. The Greenpeace report entitled “How Clean is Your Cloud?” made these observations about electrical consumption:
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Continue Reading Who Has the Dirtiest Clouds? Apple, Amazon, but not Google
“Fair use” of copyrighted works includes criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research, so what about use of public documents? The recent class action copyright infringement suit brought against West and LexisNexis (White v. West) will likely turn on the “fair use” doctrine. The Copyright Office describes “fair use&rdquo…
Continue Reading Copyright Infringement or Fair Use of Court Records?
Allegedly MIT’s computer systems were breached by Aaron Swartz who then downloaded millions of scholarly articles, but there are no claims of copyrights infringement. The New York Times reported that in July 2011 Aaron Swartz was indicted on charges that he:
…broke into the computer networks at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to…
Continue Reading No Copyright Infringement but Criminal Charges for Massive Download
