AGs Pow-Wow Over Google's Wi-Fi Network Data-Trolling

Image via CrunchBase

Attorneys General from 30 states conferred this week on whether to consolidate their investigations into Calif.-based Internet search engine colossus Google's assembly of private data culled from unsecured wireless networks, according to a story in The New York Times.

Google admitted last month that it collected emails and other personal information from unsecured Wi-Fi networks while its vehicles were providing photographic content for Google's Street View service. Google concedes the data-gathering was improper, but denies it was illegal.

Attorneys general  are probing whether Google may have violated any state laws. The Times credits Connecticut AG Richard Blumenthal as being the prime mover behind the conference call regarding whether to join forces to investigate Google. That's the same Blumenthal running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Christopher Dodd who the Times took to task for allegedly inflating his military record. In a series of stump speeches, Blumenthal "mis-remembered," as pitching great Roger Clemens used to say, that his stint as a sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve  included a tour of duty in Vietnam during the war.

Forecast: Newspapers to See Ad Revenues Disappear 'Virtually'

Image via CrunchBase

Over the next four years, the Internet will leave newspapers in a trail of dust in pursuit of advertising revenues, and will supplant the print media as second only to television as the nation's largest advertising medium.

So says the annual Global Entertainment and Media Outlook report released today by accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. The report, covering 2010-2014, predicts online advertising (excluding mobile ads) will climb from $24.2 billion in 2009 to $34.4 billion by 2014, according to a story in today's Wall St. Journal.  The report is less confident about newspapers, forecasting ad revenues to shrink in 2014 to $22.3 billion. According to  the Newspaper Assn. of America,  print advertising revenue was $24.82 billion in 2009.

Advertising in interactive media, email and video will increase dramatically, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers, to $6.6 billion in 2014 from its $4.7 billion level in 2009. The report cites the Internet's inventory potential and greater broadband saturation as factors underlying the report's estimates. Roughly 64 percent of U.S. households currently have broadband access, up from 34 percent broadband penetration in 2005.

UPDATE: Mistrial in Blogger's Alleged Death Threats Against Judges Case

Image by Jim Frazier via Flickr

Following a three-day trial in federal court in Brooklyn, a deadlocked jury resulted in a mistrial being declared by U.S. District Court Judge Donald E. Walter in the case against Harold C. Turner, an Internet broadcaster/blogger, who prosecutors allege issued death threats against three sitting justices of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

The jury heard testimony from six federal agents, but not from the purported targets of Turner's rants, Judges Richard Posner, Frank Easterbrook and William Bauer. Turner was arrested in North Bergen, N.J. by FBI agents in June based on a Web post that said: "These judges deserve to be killed." Turner was upset by the court's ruling in a gun case. Another posting included the judges' names, phone numbers, office numbers, and a schematic of the courthouse in which they sit. (See "TUOL" post 6/25/09).

Prosecutors will retry Turner, and Judge Walter has set a March 1, 2010 date.

Blogger Busted for Alleged Death Threats to Judges

Image via Wikipedia

FBI agents in North Bergen, N.J, yesterday arrested controversial Internet radio host and blogger Hal Turner for allegedly posting death threats against three judges sitting on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

Turner was scheduled to appear before a federal magistrate in Newark, N.J., today, but will be tried in Chicago following a criminal complaint issued in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois charging him with threatening to assault and murder three federal judges with intent to retaliate against them for performing official duties. If convicted, the 47-year-old Turner faces a $250,000 fine and up to 10 years in prison, according to a press release from the office of U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald.

Authorities claim Turner was upset by the appellate court's unanimous decision on June 2 in National Rifle Assn. v. Chicago (No. 08-4241, 08-4243, 08-4244) that upheld a trial judge's dismissal of challenges to handgun bans in Chicago and suburban Oak Park, Ill. The opinion was written by Judge Frank Easterbrook, who allegedly was targeted by Turner, along with Judge Richard Posner and Judge William Bauer, who joined in the decision.

The criminal complaint alleges that on June 2, Turner wrote a Web post entitled "OUTRAGE: Chicago Gun Ban UPHELD," that discussed the decision and allegedly stated: "These judges deserve to be killed." The post alluded to another 7th Circuit case involving the murder of a judge's spouse and mother, allegedly stating: "Apparently, the U.S. 7th Circuit Court didn't get the hint after those killings. It appears another lesson is needed."

According to authorities, on June 3, Turner 's blog included an item listing the names, photos, work address, room numbers, and telephones numbers of the three judges, along with a photo of Chicago's Dirksen Federal Courthouse modified with arrows marking anti-truck bomb barriers.

Earlier this month, Turner was arrested in N.J. by Connecticut State Police and charged with the felony of inciting injury to persons based on blog postings that allegedly called for violence against two Connecticut lawmakers and a state official.

Spammer Going to the Can for Wire Fraud

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Notorious spammer Alan Ralsky, 64, and his 38-year-old son-in-law, Scott Bradley, were among five men who pleaded guilty this week in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering, and violating the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003.

Pursuant to their plea agreement, Ralsky faces a $1 million fine and up to 87 months in prison, while Bradley also is subject to a $1 million fine and a maximum 78 months in prison under federal sentencing guidelines. Sentencing is scheduled for October 29, 2009.

A 41-count indictment was returned against the defendants in January 2008. The defendants were accused of engaging in a multimillion dollar international stock fraud scheme that illegally employed bulk commercial emails, or "spam," to drive up Chinese stock prices.

The 108th Congress in 2003 passed the "Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003" or CAN-SPAM Act (15 U.S.C. sec. 7701, P.L.108-187) to regulate interstate commerce by imposing restrictions and penalties on the transmission of unsolicited commercial electronic mail via the Internet. Criminal provisions of the CAN-SPAM act forbid falsifying certain data used in transmitting emails.

Also pleading guilty were John Bown, William Neil, and James Fite, all of California. Ralsky's spamming activities led to his being sued in 2001 by Verizon Communications, Inc., with whom he settled a year later.