court

A Swedish man has been fined more than $600,000 for sharing a single movie online. However, the case is somewhat more complicated than it appears. The man, whose name is being kept secret by Sweden's Vastmanlands District Court, recently faced both ... criminal and civil charges. He was convicted of criminal copyright offenses for sharing a total of 517 movies on a site called 'Swebit'. Swebit is a file-sharing site. However, unlike many high-profile rivals -- such as The Pirate Bay -- Swebit requires users to register as members before they can share files. The court sentenced the man to 160 ... (view more)

A court has ordered Google to remove all links to embarrassing images of an automotive industry icon. Google is appealing the verdict in a case that raises questions about legal, technical, and geographical restrictions on the Internet. The case ... centers on Max Mosley, previously the head of the Formula 1 racing circuit. In 2008, a British newspaper published photographs of Mosley in an intimate setting with several women. Mosley took the case to court and successfully argued that a breach of privacy had taken place. Mosley won a similar verdict in France, where copies of the newspaper had ... (view more)

A federal appeals court has ruled that law enforcement authorities in the United States must get a warrant before hiding a global positioning system (GPS) tracker on a suspect's car. The ruling clarifies an issue left unanswered by a previous ... Supreme Court verdict. The legal confusion followed a high-profile case involving a suspected drug dealer who was tried and convicted after police tracked his movements using a GPS device attached to his Jeep. The man took the case to the Supreme Court, which overturned his conviction because it found that much of the evidence was inadmissible. The ... (view more)

A US federal court has ruled that Google can face charges that it unlawfully collected data through WiFi networks. Google had unsuccessfully argued that what it did was no different than picking up a radio broadcast. The ruling sets a precedent for ... the way WiFi networks are treated under the law. Experts believe it may also make it easier for the authorities to take court action against hackers who intentionally set out to steal data. The case centers on Google's Street View program, which involved taking photos for the company's Google Maps service. Google Mistakenly Collected Personal Data ... (view more)

A court in the United Kingdom has ordered all Internet Service Providers there to stop providing subscribers access to three well-known file-sharing (or 'torrent') sites, including Kickass Torrents, H33T, and Fenopy. Citing piracy concerns, the UK ... High Court ordered every single Internet Service Provider (ISP) in the United Kingdom to stop providing access to the aforementioned torrent sites. It's certainly a more direct approach than that taken by anti-piracy groups in the United States, which recently unveiled a 'Six Strikes' strategy. ISPs Demand, and Receive, Court Order The ruling ... (view more)

A German court has found that a mother and father are not responsible for the extensive filesharing activity of their 13-year-old son. The finding could set a precedent for other such court cases around the world. Back in 2007 record producers found ... that more than 1,100 of their copyright-protected songs were downloaded by a single IP (Internet Protocol) address. Further investigation revealed that the downloading had been the work of a single 13-year-old boy. A search of his computer turned up several filesharing programs, including 'Morpheus' and 'Bearshare.' (Source: computerworld.com ) ... (view more)

Google's top executive in Brazil has been released pending a court date. Fabio Jose Silva Coelhoto was arrested because the company defied a court order to take down YouTube videos some say slander a mayoral candidate. The video clips reportedly ... suggest that a candidate in the city of Campo Grande has committed crimes. It's not clear at this point whether there is any truth to the allegations. However, local court actions suggests there is not. Judge Flavio Peren ruled last week that the videos breached Brazilian election law and must be removed. Peren also ruled that YouTube access should be ... (view more)

A U.S. federal appeals court has ruled that police and other law enforcement officials have the right to use Global Positioning System (GPS) data from a suspect's cellphone without a warrant. The judges decided a technicality in existing law means ... such actions do not violate the Fourth Amendment, which forbids unreasonable search and seizure by the federal government. The Appeals Court ruling came in the case of convicted drug dealer Melvin Skinner, who was tracked down by GPS after an investigation. The investigation involved acquiring a cellphone number used by Skinner. Drug enforcement ... (view more)