Tag: POLITICS

RIM has decided to pull all BlackBerry apps designed to help drivers avoid sobriety checkpoints, in response to a request filed by four Democratic Senators. Thus far, at least one app has already vanished from the BlackBerry App World, a fact that drew praise from New York Senator Charles Schumer. "RIM's decision to remove these apps from their online store proves that when it comes to drunk ...

The parents of Tyler Clementi -- the 18-year-old Rutgers student who committed suicide last year after his classmates secretly recorded and streamed video of him having sex -- said yesterday that they want his former roommate Dharun Ravi's invasion of privacy case prosecuted, though they do not want him to receive "harsh punishment." His parents hope that the invasion of privacy charges will ...

A group of Senators is asking Apple to remove from its App Store all apps designed to help drunk drivers avoid checkpoints -- apps that the politicians consider "harmful to public safety." In a letter, four Senators -- Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Charles Schumer (D-NY), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Tom Udall (D-NM) -- argued that apps that help drivers avoid speed traps, sobriety checkpoints and police ...

China has always maintained tight control over what its citizens read and write online. But according to the New York Times, the Leviathan of governmental censorship seems to be digging its tentacles even deeper into the lives of mainland Web surfers. In the wake of the Middle East protests, the Chinese regime has only ratcheted up its surveillance and censorship of electronic communications ...

It used to be that spying on military aircraft required the sort of technology and training that only a government-backed espionage outfit could manage. Those days are long gone. Now, with a few hundred dollars' worth of radio gear and a little Web savvy, a private citizen can gather a surprising amount of information about supposedly secret government and military operations. Dutch radio ...

The ACLU and other civil liberties groups can continue their legal battle against a federal wiretapping law, now that a New York appeals court has reinstated their lawsuit. At issue is a 2008 federal law known as the FISA Amendments Act, which empowered the U.S. government to conduct widespread electronic surveillance on suspected terrorists. The ACLU's challenge had been previously thrown out ...

Perhaps you've heard of this Exodus International iPhone app fracas? The leading organization behind the ex-gay movement (the belief that religious counseling can help LGBT people "struggling" with their sexualities to reorient themselves to heterosexuality) recently had its official app approved by Apple, and gay rights groups are now in an uproar. Surprise? Despite the fact that Apple deemed ...

Having trouble with your Gmail in China? Google politely requests that you blame the government, not the company. For several weeks now, users in China have been complaining about glitches within the popular mail program. When Google's engineers looked into the issues, they discovered that the Chinese government was the source of the problem. "Relating to Google there is no issue on our side... ...

The man who invented the Internet seems pretty worried about the future of net neutrality. During a roundtable discussion in London yesterday, Tim Berners-Lee warned that a two-tiered Internet would threaten the openness upon which the Web has thrived. "Best practices should also include the neutrality of the net," he told a group of representatives from various content companies, including ...

The Obama administration is pushing Congress to adopt a so-called "privacy bill of rights," in order to offer greater protection for Americans concerned about online data gathering and targeted advertising. Assistant Secretary of Commerce Lawrence E. Strickling is expected to propose the legislation today during a hearing of the Senate Commerce Committee. A source familiar with the matter told ...

During a speech at Cambridge University yesterday, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange suggested that his whistleblowing organization played a significant role in the recent protests across the Middle East and North Africa. According to Assange, WikiLeaks' diplomatic cables may have convinced Middle Eastern leaders that they wouldn't be able to rely on U.S. assistance if military forces were to ...

House Republicans are moving forward with their plan to repeal the FCC's new net neutrality regulations. Yesterday, the GOP-controlled House Commerce Committee voted to overturn the rules by a 30-23 vote that split along party lines. The vote comes less than a week after a House Subcommittee approved the measure by a similarly partisan vote. The FCC is also facing legal challenges from Verizon and ...

The New Jersey Assembly passed a bill yesterday that essentially decriminalizes teen 'sexting,' by allowing the courts to send teens to a diversionary program, rather than strapping them with a criminal record. As sexting among teens grows increasingly popular -- the bill's sponsor, Assemblywoman Pam Lampitt, notes that 20-percent of teens surveyed have sent explicit images -- the legislation ...

Early this morning, Anonymous released a collection of internal e-mails sent between employees at Bank of America, in an attempt to expose what the group calls widespread "corruption and fraud." The e-mails, allegedly obtained from a former bank employee, document discussions among workers at Balboa Insurance, a Bank of America subsidiary that offers mortgage and car insurance to banks and home ...

We know that the iPad is a popular device, and the iPad 2 will only make it more popular. It's an important piece of pop culture! We get it. But here's a piece of advice: When trying to explain to a crowd of angry people that inflation isn't really that bad and that the economy is doing well, you probably shouldn't turn to a luxury item like the iPad 2 as your example of economic stability. ...