Craigslist takes down adult services section, silent as to why

By Ed Oswald, Betanews Craigslist shut down its adult services section quietly late Friday, seemingly acquiescing to the demands of child welfare groups. Organizations such as The Rebecca Project had said that Craigslist’s policy of allowing sex ads was assisting criminals in sex trafficking,...

September 7th, 2010 | Policy & Law | Read More

DRM company acquires technology from music search engine killed by copyright suits

By Tim Conneally, Betanews Monday, Intertrust Technologies Corporation, a company with more than a hundred patents for various Digital Rights Management (DRM) technologies, announced it has acquired all of SeeqPod’s software and patents. The company went bankrupt after being sued by Warner Music...

August 30th, 2010 | Policy & Law, Software | Read More

Mobile phones in class: the next back to school accessory

By Tim Conneally, Betanews As school districts across the country open their doors for the 2010-2011 school year, a remarkable shift in thought is taking place: cell phones, once regarded as distractions or liabilities are coming to be viewed as viable learning tools. This fall, Wisconsin’s Milwaukee...

August 28th, 2010 | Policy & Law | Read More

Paul Allen sues Apple, Google, nine others over patent infringement

By Ed Oswald, Betanews Microsoft co-founder and former executive Paul Allen filed a suit against 11 tech companies on Friday, accusing them of infringement over patents he acquired from the now defunct Internal Research. While Allen had invested in the company, he never participated in the development...

August 27th, 2010 | Policy & Law | Read More

Germany moves to ban bosses from checking your Facebook

By Ed Oswald, Betanews In an age where just about anything is shared on Facebook, employers have turned to it and other social networking sites to ensure its employee’s behavior is on the up and up. In Germany, that practice may become illegal. German news outlets are reporting that Interior Minister...

August 25th, 2010 | Policy & Law | Read More

New industry meetings over net neutrality being hosted by lobbyists

By Ed Oswald, Betanews While much of the focus has been on Google and Verizon when it comes to net neutrality as of late, the Wall Street Journal has reported that lobbyists began a new set of talks among a much wider group on Wednesday. The Information Technology Industry Council is a lobbying firm...

August 20th, 2010 | Policy & Law | Read More

Comcast-NBCU merger opponents make one last push at FCC

By Ed Oswald, Betanews The final comment period before the Federal Communications Commission makes its ruling on whether or not to approve the Comcast-NBC Universal merger ended on Thursday, and opponents made one last effort to stop it in its tracks. Comcast fought off those complaints, calling them...

August 20th, 2010 | Policy & Law | Read More