Looks like high time to rewrite this law.

Va. Court Strikes Down Anti-Spam Law - News Story - WRC | Washington:


RICHMOND, Va. -- The Virginia Supreme Court has declared Virginia's anti-spam law unconstitutional.

The unanimous ruling Friday reversed the conviction of a man once considered one of the world's most prolific spammers. The court agreed with Jeremy Jaynes' claim that the anti-spam law violates free speech protections under the First Amendment because it isn't limited to commercial speech.

In 2004, Jaynes became the first person in the country to be convicted of a felony for sending unsolicited bulk e-mail, also known as spam. Authorities claimed Jaynes sent up to 10 million e-mails a day from his home in Raleigh, N.C. He was sentenced to nine years in prison.

Jaynes was charged in Virginia because the e-mails went through an AOL server in Loudoun County, where America Online is based.

Posted by mikki at 01:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dad chases nude boy from daughter's room with pipe:


DELTONA, Fla. (AP) - An angry Deltona father whacked his teenage daughter's boyfriend with a metal pipe after finding the boy naked in his daughter's room. Authorities say the father, 45, didn't even know his daughter had a boyfriend or that the youngster had been sneaking into the home for more than a year.

When he heard noises coming from his daughter's bedroom Thursday morning and saw a stranger standing naked on the girl's bed, he swung a metal pipe. He then chased the teen out the front door and called police.

The boy was taken to the hospital where doctors closed a head wound with staples.

The father was charged with aggravated battery on a child and bonded out on $10,000.

Posted by mikki at 01:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Court: Constitution Protects Stored Cell Phone Location Information:


A federal court ruled September 10th that stored cell phone location information is protected by the Fourth Amendment. The court said the government needed a warrant, based on probable cause, in order to gain access to stored cell phone location information. Other courts have required probable cause for law enforcement access to real-time cell phone location information; however, this decision is particularly important because it extends the probable cause requirement to stored location information. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, joined by CDT, ACLU and the ACLU of Pennsylvania, had argued for the warrant requirement that the court adopted in an amicus curiae brief filed in July.

Posted by mikki at 01:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Proposed Copyright Law a 'Gift' to Hollywood, Info Groups Say | Threat Level from Wired.com:


A dozen special-interest groups urged lawmakers Wednesday to squelch proposed legislation that for the first time would allow the U.S. Justice Department to prosecute civil cases of copyright infringement.

The Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights Act, scheduled to be heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, also creates a Cabinet-level copyright-patent czar charged with creating a worldwide plan to combat piracy. The czar would "report directly to the president and Congress regarding domestic and international intellectual property enforcement programs."

The bill, a nearly identical version the House passed last year, is strongly backed by the music and movie industries. The House and Senate versions encourage federal-state anti-piracy task forces, the training of other countries about IP enforcement and, among other things, institute an FBI piracy unit.

In a letter to the Judiciary Committee, the groups said granting the Justice Department the power to file civil lawsuits on behalf of Hollywood and others is "an enormous gift" to copyright holders.

"Movie and television producers, software publishers, music publishers, and print publishers all have their own enforcement programs," the letter said. "There is absolutely no reason for the federal government to assume this private enforcement role."

The dozen groups include American Association of Law Libraries, American Library Association, Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, Digital Future Coalition, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Essential Action, IP Justice, Knowledge Ecology International, Medical Library Association, Public Knowledge and Special Libraries Association.

The House version does not contain language granting the Justice Department the ability to sue copyright infringers. The department does prosecute criminal acts of infringement, although rarely.

If the Senate version becomes law, it is not immediately clear how the Justice Department's expanded powers would work in practice. For example, would the department assume the role of the Recording Industry Association of America, which has sued more than 30,000 people in the United States for copyright infringement since 2003?

Posted by mikki at 01:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Virginia County's Statements On Student Voting Rights Draws Concern:

A Virginia County registrar is drawing concern for disseminating information supposedly aimed at helping college students prepare to vote. The Montgomery County registrar issued two documents suggesting that college students who register to vote in Virginia could jeopardize their scholarships, health insurance and tax status, reported the RK Blog. The first document released in late August says, “If you have a scholarship attached to your former residence, you could lose this funding. And, if you change your registration to Montgomery County, Virginia Code requires you to change your driver’s license and car registration your present address within 30 days.” A second release issued days later said students should consider whether there “health, automobile or other insurance coverage could be affected” by registering to vote in Montgomery County.

Sujatha Jahagirdar, with the Student Public Interest Research Group’s New Voters Project, told Inside Higher Ed that, “For a county registrar to issue what really are in our experience unsubstantiated warnings for a particular demographic is alarming. It’s upsetting that this is coming up in Virginia. But it’s even more upsetting that the ability of young people to vote is questioned in many other states too.”

The American Constitution Society has launched a Web page that provides educational information on students’ voting rights. The Web site, Resources on Student Voting, offers access to voting guides and other resources.  

Posted by mikki at 02:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Comcast Sues FCC, Says Net Neutrality Order Legally Inappropriate:

Comcast has filed suit against the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today in order to block the agency's decision to sanction Comcast for blocking certain Internet traffic.

Comcast has released the following statement attributed to David L. Cohen, Executive Vice President of Comcast Corporation:

"Although we are seeking review and reversal of the Commission's network management order in federal court, we intend to comply fully with the requirements established in that order, which essentially codify the voluntary commitments that we have already announced, and to continue to act in accord with the Commission's Internet Policy Statement. Thus, we intend to make the required filings and disclosures, and we will follow through on our longstanding commitment to transition to protocol-agnostic network congestion management practices by the end of this year. We also remain committed to bringing our customers a superior Internet experience.

We filed this appeal in order to protect our legal rights and to challenge the basis on which the Commission found that Comcast violated federal policy in the absence of pre-existing legally enforceable standards or rules. We continue to recognize that the Commission has jurisdiction over Internet service providers and may regulate them in appropriate circumstances and in accordance with appropriate procedures. However, we are compelled to appeal because we strongly believe that, in this particular case, the Commission's action was legally inappropriate and its findings were not justified by the record."

The formal petition can be seen here [PDF].

Update 9/4/2008: Statement of Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge: "We expected Comcast would appeal the Commission's order. The company opposed it every step of the way, even as they failed to disclose their throttling of Internet traffic. We believe the Commission will prevail and the rights of Internet users will be protected."

Update 9/4/2008: Martin responds to Comcast lawsuit: we still want answers

Elsewhere: BroadbandReports, GigaOm, Bits NYT

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Posted by mikki at 11:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ACLU calls for investigation of journalist arrests at Republican convention:


[JURIST] The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has renewed its call for an investigation into the actions of law enforcement officials at the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Minnesota this week. The ACLU alleges that officers in St. Paul conducted "mass arrests, police raids on private homes and several journalists" in possible violation of First and Fourth Amendment rights. ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero spoke out against the alleged actions, commenting that "olitical conventions should be a showcase for free expression, not a venue for bullying and intimidation." The Minneapolis Star Tribune has local coverage. Minnesota Public Radio has additional analysis.

The ACLU of Minnesota had announced on Wednesday that it would represent several reporters and other attendees who were arrested during the RNC, including Amy Goodwin, host of Democracy Now!. Goodwin was charged with a misdemeanor while her producers were charged with felony intent to riot. According to the ACLU, charges against Amy Goodwin and her producers should be dropped, and the felony charges against Goodwin's producers have since been suspended pending investigation. St. Paul police have denied using excessive force, saying they were doing their job to maintain the peace at the convention.

Posted by mikki at 11:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

BOSTON -- A flight that left Boston headed for Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Saturday was forced to land in North Carolina after a fight broke out on board, according to Jet Blue authorities.

Jet Blue flight 455, which took off from Logan airport at 3:28 p.m. on Saturday, was scheduled to arrive in Florida in the afternoon, but made an unscheduled landing in Raleigh, N.C., following the incident.

One person sustained a facial injury, which may have been from a fist, the Transportation Security Administration said. TSA said the fight involved three people, who were all possibly related to each other. One person was smoking in the bathroom, TSA said.

So far, one person has been detained. According to Jet Blue, 88 passengers and four crew members were onboard the plane.

Posted by mikki at 11:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

All your content are be used by us

Posted by mikki at 10:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

All your content are be used by us

Thanks RS

Posted by mikki at 10:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)