Tag archive: Minnesota

Minnesota hacker Barry Ardolf was sentenced to an 18-year term in a federal prison this Tuesday. Ardolf had terrorized a neighboring family for two years through a carefully planned campaign involving a hijacked Wi-Fi network to harass, frame and embarrass the next-door neighbors in every facet of their lives. Ardolf's obsessive passive-aggression was apparently ignited in late 2008 when his neighbors, Matt and Bethany Kostolnik, filed a… Read More

Last week in court, Boston college student Joel Tenenbaum admitted illegally downloading and sharing music files. As a result, he’s been hit with a fine of $675,000, payable to four major record labels. Tenenbaum told AP he was initially happy the fine wasn’t in the millions: "That to me sends a message of 'We considered your side with some legitimacy'." However, his lawyer is planning an appeal.… Read More

Joel Tenenbaum is the second person in the US to be taken to court for illegally downloading music. To try and avoid potentially massive fines, the teen has admitted he downloaded and shared hundreds of songs. The first of these cases to land in court, that of Minnesota’s Jammie Thomas Rassett, saw her hit with $1.92 million in fines for sharing 24 songs. Tenebaum has been accused to using a computer both at college and at his… Read More

Jammie Thomas-Rasset, the Minnesota mom who was convicted again of file-sharing in her second trial and given a $1.92 million fine, is seeking yet a third trial. Calling her conviction for downloading and sharing a grand total of 24 songs through Kazaa "excessive, shocking, and monstrous," she had her lawyers argue a motion that the damages awarded to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) were “grossly… Read More

A federal jury in Minnesota has found Jammie Thomas-Rasset guilty of infringing 24 music copyrights and awarded the record labels a stunning $1.92 million in damages to the music industry. The jury verdict represents the second time Thomas has been found guilty of infringement, although the first verdict—for a mere $220,000 in damages—was thrown out by the trail judge because he found he had made an error instructing the jury,… Read More

These days, electronics retailers are feeling increasing pressure from watchdog groups, municipalities, and even consumers to help clean up some of the so-called e-waste they help create: by peddling new phones, computers, televisions, and other gizmos, they help generate a surfeit of unwanted technology items, many of which contain hazardous chemicals and toxic materials. Throw them away, and that stuff essentially goes straight into the… Read More

Privacy advocates may have been powerless to prevent Google from cataloging pictures of their homes and lawns when Street View debuted last summer, but residents of one small Minnesota town have found a way to prevent it entirely: own the streets. Residents of North Oaks, Minn. have successfully removed their town from Street View because of its unique system of privately owned streets. Unlike the vast majority of U.S. roads which are… Read More

Minnesota's Digi International has introduced its Wi-Point 3G, a three-in-one network router that combined Wi-Fi and Ethernet capabilities with a PC card-based, 3G cellular router. With the Wi-Point 3G, users can set up secure, high-speed ad-hoc networks with Internet access from a wide range of locations. “The Digi Wi-Point 3G allows remote sites and devices to wirelessly connect to the Internet or securely integrate into a… Read More

The Recording Industry Association of America may be running into resistance in Oregon, but further up in the judicial system, the organization’s pursuit of small-time file sharers is being viewed favorably. In a brief filed Monday, the U.S. Department of Justice sided with the RIAA in a file-sharing case where $220,000 in damages had been racked up against one person. Specifically, the case was that of Jammie Thomas, a single… Read More

Telecommunications operator Sprint and high-speed wireless company Clearwire have announced they're mutually calling off an agreement to work together on deploying a nationwide high-speed WiMax network by the end of 2010. According to Sprint, the companies could not see their way through the “complexities” involved in the agreement and could not agree to terms of a formal business arrangement. “We are on track for… Read More

Back in 2002, Microsoft agreed to a landmark settlement in its huge antitrust case with the federal government. Part of the settlement was that Microsoft agreed to oversight of its business activities to ensure the company did not abuse its monopoly position in the computer operating system market. Most of those restrictions were set to lapse on November 12, 2007, but Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, who is responsible for overseeing the… Read More

When July 1 rolls around, Californian teens will have to find new time to catch up with one another on their cell phones – because using electronic devices while behind the wheel will become a crime for those under 18. Governor Arnold Schwarzeneggar signed the bill, known as SR33, into law on Thursday, banning the use of cell phones, laptops, PDAs, pagers and all two-way messaging devices while operating a motor vehicle for 16- and… Read More

Scientific debate about whether watching television is a good thing or bad thing for children's cognitive and brain development may be ongoing, but one thing is very, very clear: parents and caretakers are perfectly willing to plop infants and young children in front of the Boob Tube. A new study from the University of Washington's Frederick Zimmerman published this month in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine… Read More

The Assocated Press is reporting U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton has issued a summary judgement against spammer Christopher William Smith, ordering the Prior, Minnesota man to pay America Online some $5.3 million in damages, along with more than a quarter million dollars in legal fees. The judgement is believed to be the largest ever levied in a junk email case. Smith is believed to be one of the world's most notorious spammers,… Read More

Computer software giant Microsoft today announced they’d filed eight lawsuits against companies in Arizona, California Illinois, Minnesota and New York. Each company named in these lawsuits is accused of distributing counterfeit and/or infringing Microsoft software or software components.   Microsoft, based upon tips they’d received on their anti-piracy hotline, filed some of the lawsuits after purchasing evidence against the… Read More