justice

In what was a much more expedient process than many believed, Google's controversial plan to acquire travel search company ITA Software for $700 million is a done deal. After posting a blog entry on Friday that the deal was close to completion, Google added an update yesterday that said, "Our acquisition of ITA has now closed."

Google's announcement on Friday was that it had reached a settlement with the Department of Justice over regulator concerns that Google would have too much power by owning ITA Software, which provides its travel search technology to companies like Kayak, … Read more

The U.S. Justice Department today dismissed as "absurd" any privacy and free speech concerns about its request for access to the Twitter accounts of WikiLeaks volunteers.

In a 32-page brief filed in federal court in Virginia, prosecutors characterized their request for a court order as a "routine compelled disclosure" that raises no constitutional issues.

These types of records "are widely subpoenaed by grand juries without raising 'chilling effects,' or occasioning constitutional litigation and delays," prosecutors wrote. Any claim that Twitter's logs "are subject to heightened protections under the First Amendment is … Read more

An emerging dispute over electronic privacy is testing whether President Obama will live up to his promise to protect Americans' online rights.

Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Justice criticized changes backed by Internet companies and privacy groups that would update a 1986 federal law to extend greater legal protections to cloud-computing and mobile-device users.

Yet strengthening privacy laws is precisely what Obama pledged during the 2008 presidential campaign. He told CNET at the time that: "I will work with leading legislators, privacy advocates, and business leaders to strengthen both voluntary and legally required privacy protections." … Read more

The U.S. Justice Department today offered what amounts to a frontal attack on proposals to amend federal law to better protect Americans' privacy.

James Baker, the associate deputy attorney general, warned that rewriting a 1986 privacy law to grant cloud computing users more privacy protections and to require court approval before tracking Americans' cell phones would hinder police investigations.

This appears the first time that the Justice Department has publicly responded to a set of digital privacy proposals unveiled last year by a coalition of businesses and advocacy groups including AT&T, Google, Microsoft, eBay, the American Civil … Read more

Links from Tuesday's episode of Loaded:

Texas Instruments announces plans to acquire National Semiconductor for $6.5 billion

Google may have an antitrust investigation on its hands soon

AT&T will now charge an extra $50 if you want to upgrade your iPhone before your two-year contract is up

Sprint is looking into mobile phone payments using NFC

Google updates Maps for Android with enhanced check-in and location-based features

Sony is reportedly launching Honeycomb tablets later this year

The Commodore 64 is back

Google could find itself the target of two separate antitrust probes launched by Ohio and Wisconsin, according to a story published today by Bloomberg.

Concerned over the search giant's business practices, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine is "evaluating the facts to determine if it's something we want to review," his spokesman Dan Tierney told Bloomberg.

Tierney confirmed the information to CNET, saying that the attorney general's office is "reviewing the facts regarding the matter to determine if there's any action that needs to be taken."

Asked if the attorney general is looking … Read more

Draft legislation would provide new privacy protections for Americans by requiring police to obtain search warrants to track the locations of cars and cell phones.

The forthcoming bill being prepared by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) and reviewed by CNET would provide legal protections for "geolocation information," meaning data that can locate a person through a wireless device or through a GPS tracker placed on a vehicle.

Even though police are tapping into the locations of mobile phones and implanting GPS bugs thousands of times a year, the legal ground rules remain unclear, and federal privacy laws written a … Read more

The usual suspects are already sharpening their knives against AT&T's announced acquisition of T-Mobile's U.S. business.

Within hours, the Media Access Project announced that "if approved, this deal would further increase costs and decrease choices for the public." Media reform group Free Press headlined its press release, "Consumers lose when there's less competition." And Public Knowledge condemned the deal as "unthinkable."

That sort of rhetoric is par for the course inside-the-beltway where, for some reason, every combination of business assets is presumed to be hostile to consumers. These … Read more

A former manager at Apple has pleaded guilty in a major kickback case that could land him 20 years in prison.

Paul Shin Devine, once employed at Apple as a supply manager, admitted guilt yesterday in federal court in San Jose, Calif., on charges of wire fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering. He was accused of taking kickbacks from Apple suppliers in exchange for information, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Devine, who worked at Apple from 2005 through 2010, sent forecasts, roadmaps, product specifications, and other confidential information to Asian suppliers and manufacturers of Apple components, according to … Read more