Stick and stones may indeed break bones. But causing someone to lose Facebook friends? Well, that'll land you a lawsuit.

A Chicago-based woman is suing her former lover and employer for defamation, after rumors he spread about her being delusional and "post-partum" resulted in a loss of friends on Facebook. WBBM 780 reports that the plaintiff, Annmarie Swatos, asserts that she and Richard Gloor had an illicit affair while the two were working at a real estate agency in Chicago. When their cover was blown, they promptly put an end to both business and pleasure. According to Swatos, Gloor then proceeded to spread virulent rumors about her to former clients and potential employers, saying she was not only "post-partum" but that she was "stalking" him, as well. The complaint goes on to say that all these rumors caused a lot of her friends to "block [Swatos] from communicating with her through the social networking site Facebook." (*gasp!*)

All it took for thousands of Rocky Mountain Bank customers' confidential information to be compromised was one unlucky employee's slip of the mouse. Now, the bank is scrambling to protect its customers, but Google isn't cooperating.

According to Wired, Rocky Mountain Bank is suing Google to reveal the identity of a Gmail account holder who mistakenly received an e-mail containing a bank customer's loan statements, as well as the confidential information of 1,325 individual and business customers. The foolish bank employee later sent another message, asking the still unidentified person to delete the first e-mail and attachment without reading them. Not at all surprisingly, the employee received no reply. Google says it won't identify the account holder unless there's a court order, and even then, the company won't guarantee it will i dentify the person.

If you purchased and downloaded your first digital album this year, then congratulations, you're not alone! Demand for legal music downloads increased an impressive 29-percent last quarter over the same quarter in 2007. Interestingly, while illegal downloads of music also increased over the same period, they rose only 23 percent.

This means that more and more people are turning to legal alternatives like Amazon's MP3 service, or the ubiquitous iTunes. The news isn't all good, though. While online demand is increasing, overall music sales dropped 2-percent -- more bad news for a music industry that's already hurting. [From: Silicon Alley Insider]

The art of dodging a legal summons has been practiced for decades, trying to avoid receipt of some unwelcome document by hiding in your home or going on vacation. That process is getting quite a bit harder these days, and if a recent case in Australia sets a precedent, avoiding a summons could get very difficult indeed. A couple was recently served a document indicating they had defaulted on their mortgage via Facebook!

Yes, the lawyer in the case, Mark McCormack, received permission to legally serve the couple via their Facebook pages as all other attempts had failed. The couple later modified their privacy settings to prevent messages from non-friends, but it was all too late. It remains to be seen whether this will become a common occurrence, but be aware that while you're making it easier and easier for friends to get in touch with you online, you're also making it easier for everyone else to, too! [From: Tech-Ex]

If you had any urge whatsoever to try to your hand at drug trafficking over water while these "weird" economic times sort themselves out, uh, you may want to reevaluate your options. The ever-so-stealthy Stiletto has come to life after tracking down a remarkably quick drug-running boat near Florida; the bad guys were cruising at 42 knots, but that comic book-esque thing you're undoubtedly peering at above can reach speeds of up to 60 knots. The double-M-shaped hull enables it to navigate in extraordinarily shallow waters without trouble, and a plethora of sensors and radars give it all the power it needs to track down goons. Oddly enough, it's having a somewhat difficult time finding a government agency to truly call home, but if it continues to keep the coke out of our seas, we'd say it'll win over some hearts soon enough. [From: Wired]

[Thanks, Laz]

Though not quite as bad as toting the GPS module around with you, one particular marijuana farmer had to be mighty embarrassed / wondering what he ever did to deserve such bad luck when a GPS-equipped turtle meandered into his crop. As the story goes, a close friend of the police -- a box turtle with no fear of Big Brother -- just happened upon a pot stash on US park property. Clearly, Mr. Isiah Johnson (the culprit) was heavily stoned when choosing US land to farm his ganja, and now he's in custody until he's "extradited back DC to face drug charges." And you thought all you had to do was dodge those CCTV cameras... [From: WUSA9 via TechDigest]

We've seen countries institute some pretty weird regulations when it comes to wireless handsets, but this one is apt to seem patently absurd to anyone outside of (and possibly within) Sri Lanka. Government officials are reportedly gearing up to implement legislation that would require handset owners to "to carry a certificate of ownership at all times when carrying their phone around."

The new law will hopefully cut down on some terrorist activities that have apparently been going on, but it will also inconvenience quite a few innocent citizens as well. Ah well, at least locals can legitimately ask their mooching friends to get their own without sounding all snobbish. [Source: Cellular News via textually]

Alright, this is getting a little silly. First it was Gibson claiming that Rock Band and Guitar Hero violated a patent covering "simulating a musical performance," and now Konami is suing Harmonix, Viacom, and MTV Game because Rock Band allegedly violates a similar set of patents covering "simulated musical instruments" and "musical rhythm-based matching games."

Filed in good ol' Marshall, the suit seeks the big green in damages and an order preventing the sale of Rock Band's instruments. Interestingly, Gamasutra noticed last year that the fine print on Activision's Guitar Hero homepage says the game is covered by the Konami patents in question, so it appears that Activision's managed to reach a licensing agreement with Konami -- which, if true, doesn't necessarily bode well for Harmonix and company. No one's commenting yet, but we hear Harmonix's lawyers are furiously punching in the old up-up-down-down trying to get this to go away.

Read - Wired article on the lawsuit
Read - Gamasutra article
Read - Konami's complaint (PDF)
Read - Konami patent covering simulated musical instruments (PDF)
Read - Konami patent covering musical arcade machines (PDF)
Read - Konami patent covering musical game machines (PDF)

Americans are adept at adopting new technology, and texting (sending a text message via a cell phone) is one of the new tools that has been easily learned and utilized among a population that seems driven to constant communication -- and in many cases, driven to distraction.

Take the rise in incidents in which someone writing or reading a text message while driving ends up causing an automobile accident. Several states have enacted or are considering laws to ban texting while driving. Add now Tennessee to the list of places where fumbling with a digital device while driving may soon be illegal, following a trend that is picking up speed around the country.

New Jersey and Washington State already ban the activity and the proposed Tennessee law would slap offenders with a $50 fine plus a $10 court cost. The Tennessee state senate transportation committee has already had a hearing on the bill, introduced by Republican state senator Jim Tracy. The state House has not yet scheduled hearings as the Senate won't be voting for at least another two weeks.

From The Tennessean.

Related links:

• Driver Causes Fatal Wreck While Texting On Cellphone
• Teen Imprisoned for TXTing While Driving
• Text Messaging to Blame in Teen's Car Wreck?

Here's another tale of e-mail messages gone awry that ought to teach you to be careful the next time you hit the "send" button.

A lawyer for pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly mistakenly sent an important e-mail to a New York Times reporter whose name is similar to that of another lawyer working with her on a billion dollar settlement between the drug company and the U.S. government.

Eli Lilly is looking to settle accusations that it hadn't properly marketed the drug Zyprexa, which was developed to treat schizophrenia. If the settlement goes through -- the Times article notes -- the fine would be the "largest ever paid by a drug company for breaking the federal laws that govern how drug makers can promote their medicines." The company had wanted to keep the negotiations quiet.

The New York Times reporter, Alex Berenson, started making calls to the company for comments after getting the e-mail that had been intended for lawyer Brad Berenson, who works at white shoe firm Sidley Austin. The New York Times ended up putting the story on the front page of the newspaper. Eli Lilly executives thought at first the government had leaked the story, but soon found out it was from the Philadelphia-based firm Pepper Hamilton, which is part of its outside legal team.

There's more than one way to make a big e-mail mistake like this. Sometimes a person puts in the wrong address. Sometimes a person sends the wrong message to everyone. And sometimes you've got the right email address but you're forwarding all the wrong information!

The lesson here? Pay attention to the who, what and where of your email. It's a great convenience and good tool for business -- but dangerous in the hands of the sloppy.

Word is Eli Lilly will continue to retain the two lawyers' law firms -- but there is no word on what role the sloppy lawyer will play in the case going forward.

From NetworkWorld.com and Portfolio.com.

Related links:

• Misspelling Costs eBay Seller $500,000
• Lying Male Intern Busted in a Dress on Facebook
• E-Mail, Text Messages, IMs Cost The US $650 Billion in 2006

The facility with which you can advertise what you have for sale, whether by eBay or Craigslist, also means you're under scrutiny from the public at large and local authorities. Case in point: a woman in Ontario, Calif., who tried to sell the fixtures and other installed items from her historic home was found out via her Craigslist ads and is now barred from her home by city officials concerned for the integrity of the home.

The woman claims nothing of historic value was up for sale, but the city disagreed, and got a Superior Court judge to block her access to the home.

We're withholding judgement, though. It seems as though the homeowner has fallen on hard times, as this story ties into the unfortunate larger one of mortgage payments skyrocketing after adjustable rates kicked up in the new year. Her claim? The fixtures and other items were only things she installed herself, since buying the home in 2003.

It's a national craze, scouring the basement, garage and yard for eBay-able items. There's even the almost mythic story of the guy who was able to trade up a red paper clip (eventually) to a house.

Next time you're thinking of hocking your goods, do a little thinking first. Ask yourself the basic questions, including "is it legal?" Unless, of course, you want us to write about you. In that case, set up a blog and let us link to you. We're always looking for a juicy story.

From San Bernardino County Sun.

Related Links:

• Man Caught eBay'ing Stolen Goods from Work
• Teacher Steals and eBays Student's Jacket
• How to Avoid Getting Scammed on eBay and Craigslist

Clearly, none of the marketing brains over at Apple reads 'US Weekly' (if there's any actual reading to be done of that magazine at all). With every other cover faking concern over the Skeletor-like build of another malnourished female celebrity, there's no way Apple would have dreamed up the "You can't be too thin" online campaign for the new iMac -- a rather weak tag line if you ask us, anyway.

But, that's what Apple went with, and soon after the company was called out by the Alliance for Eating Disorders Awareness, which posted a rather nasty press release wondering what kind of message Apple was sending to our youth.

Now, in a move that's so very uncharacteristically Apple, the company has actually changed the campaign to read, simply, "The all-new, all-in-one iMac." Yawn. (Thanks GeekSugar!)

Hey, but Apple isn't the only one in trouble lately for not really thinking an ad campaign through before hitting the 'Go' button. Here are few recent ones you might remember:

Since its inception in 2001, the BitTorrent method of file-sharing's high download speeds and near user anonymity has earned it the ire of record labels, movie studios and just about anyone else that owns any sort of intellectual property. But for the BitTorrent user, the need for a separate client program to connect with downloads (instead of a Web browser) had been in a pain in the copyright-violating behind.

Not anymore! FoxTorrent is a new plug-in for the Firefox Web browser that lets you download files and monitor their progress from within a browser window. You can watch videos and listen to audio as it downloads, and FoxTorrent will even continue downloading files if you close the browser window -- all without hogging bandwidth or memory. The only real cost? Your eternal soul, you low-down, law-breaking, file-stealing scofflaw, you.

From Red Ferret

Related Links:

• iTunes Subscription on the Way?
• Instant Upgrade: Better Gmail