Experts have lambasted new laws to collect information about prepaid cellphone users, citing their “severe” privacy implications. One academic described existing rules that forced operators to retain personal call data for a minimum of three years as “excessive”. And as of last Wednesday the government will collect more data. Operators now have to obtain the…
Category: Business
Jammie Thomas will appeal, lawyer says
It’s official: Jammie Thomas-Rasset intends to appeal her case, one of her lawyers told CNET News on Wednesday. “She’s not interested in settling,” attorney Joe Sibley said in a brief phone interview. “She wants to take the issue up on appeal on the constitutionality of the damages. That’s one of the main arguments–that the damages…
Court upholds Accusearch ruling
The 10th Circuit has upheld (pdf) a ruling against Accusearch that the company violated federal law when it sold telephone records on its web site, Abika.com. The Federal Trade Commission had alleged that Accusearch’s trade in telephone records constituted an unfair practice in violation of § 5(a) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTCA). Accusearch…
Court orders spammers to give up $3.7 million
A U.S. district court has ordered key players in an international spam ring to give up $3.7 million that they made by sending out illegal e-mail messages pitching bogus hoodia weight-loss products and a “human growth hormone” pill they claimed reversed the aging process. In a Federal Trade Commission law enforcement action, the court found…