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AP Technology NewsBrief at 9:36 a.m. EDT(Associated Press Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Sony faces jittery shareholders after cyberattackTOKYO (AP) _ Sony Corp. Chief Executive Howard Stringer credited "very loyal" PlayStation Network gamers for flocking back to the service in big numbers, as he sought Tuesday to reassure shareholders following a series of embarrassing hacker attacks. Stringer apologized for the data breach in April, which compromised personal data from more than 100 million online gaming and entertainment accounts. Sony was subsequently criticized for lax security and acting too slowly to inform customers as it grappled with one of the largest-ever security thefts. Can't ban violent video sales to kids, court saysWASHINGTON (AP) _ States cannot ban the sale or rental of ultraviolent video games to children, the Supreme Court ruled Monday, rejecting such limits as a violation of young people's First Amendment rights and leaving it up to parents and the multibillion-dollar gaming industry to decide what kids can buy. The high court, on a 7-2 vote, threw out California's 2005 law covering games sold or rented to those under 18, calling it an unconstitutional violation of free-speech rights. Writing for the majority, Justice Antonin Scalia, said, "Even where the protection of children is the object, the constitutional limits on governmental action apply." French Internet company seeks $419 mln from GooglePARIS (AP) _ Google faces a new, multimillion-dollar challenge in Europe after a French Internet company filed a lawsuit Tuesday saying the search engine giant unfairly squeezed out competitors in France. The company, 1plusV, says it is mounting the largest single claim of its kind in Europe against Google. It comes soon after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, following the lead of European regulators, started investigating claims that Google has abused its dominance of Internet search and advertising to stifle competition. Supreme Court to review warrantless GPS trackingWASHINGTON (AP) _ The Supreme Court will weigh in on an important privacy issue for the digital age: whether the police need a warrant before using a global positioning system device to track a suspect's movements. The justices said Monday they will hear the Obama administration's appeal of a court ruling that favored a criminal defendant. The federal appeals court in Washington overturned a criminal conviction because the police had no warrant for the GPS device they secretly installed on a man's car. New arrest in UK phone hacking scandalLONDON (AP) _ Britain's Press Association news agency said Monday one of its reporters was arrested by detectives investigating a widening phone hacking scandal. Scotland Yard said that detectives questioned the 34-year-old on suspicion of intercepting private communications, after she turned herself in at a central London police station. She was released on bail hours later. Study: 12 percent of US households own e-readerNEW YORK (AP) _ A study finds that 12 percent of U.S. households now own a reading device for electronic books, such as Amazon's Kindle. That's three times the number of households that owned an e-reader just a year ago, pointing to rapid acceptance. Teenage UK hacking suspect released on bailLONDON (AP) _ A teenager accused of attacking a string of U.K.-based websites has been released on bail. Nineteen-year-old Ryan Cleary was released Monday on condition that he obey a curfew, wear an electronic tag and only leave the house accompanied by one of his parents. LulzSec member says group is 'bored'NEW YORK (AP) _ A member of a publicity-seeking hacker group that sabotaged websites over the past two months and is dissolving itself says his group isn't disbanding under pressure from the FBI or enemy hackers. "We're not quitting because we're afraid of law enforcement," the LulzSec member said in a conversation with The Associated Press over the Internet voice program Skype. "The press are getting bored of us, and we're getting bored of us." Pope may go online to launch Vatican news portalVATICAN CITY (AP) _ The Vatican, whose communications problems are no secret, is taking a leap into the world of new media with the launch next week of a news information portal that Pope Benedict XVI himself may put online with a papal click. Vatican officials said Saturday that Benedict has been following the development of the portal, which will for the first time aggregate information from the Vatican's various print, online, radio and television media in a one-stop-shop for Holy See news. FTC's antitrust inquiry turns up heat on GoogleSAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ Google may be entering a make-or-break phase in its colorful history now that U.S. regulators have opened an investigation into whether the company has been abusing its dominance of Internet search and advertising to stifle competition. The probe by the Federal Trade Commission, confirmed by the company Friday, will require Google to convince regulators that its closely guarded recipe for search results is designed to give people the best recommendations, not bury links to its rivals. (c) 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |