CNET News - Politics and Law

U.S. Chamber seeks climate solutions from tech sector, not EPA

Stephanie Condon — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 19:07:00 GMT

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said Wednesday it is optimistic about the stimulus package currently in the works yet warned that the group may butt heads with Democratic leaders over issues like climate change regulation and energy policy.

"The chamber is very encouraged by the direction the President-elect is ...

Yelp user faces lawsuit over negative review

Elinor Mills — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 23:52:00 GMT

Christopher Norberg, defendant in a lawsuit accusing him of libel for a negative review he posted on Yelp.

(Credit: Christopher Norberg)

San Franciscan Christopher Norberg went to a chiropractor after being injured in a car accident in 2006. After a disagreement with the chiropractor over billing, he posted a negative ...

Obama picks RIAA's favorite lawyer for a top Justice post

Declan McCullagh — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 22:55:00 GMT

As a presidential candidate, Barack Obama won applause from legal adversaries of the recording industry. Stanford law professor Larry Lessig, the doyen of the "free culture" movement, endorsed the Illinois senator, as did Google CEO Eric Schmidt and even the Pirate Party.

That was ...

Obama supporters downplay CTO's near-term role

Stephanie Condon — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 21:16:00 GMT

As supporters of President-elect Barack Obama in Washington try to downplay near-term expectations for his administration's chief technology officer, an Obama aide on Tuesday said reports of an imminent announcement are incorrect.

With nearly of all Obama's cabinet named, recent speculation has swirled around whether news about the ...

Chinese government to Web companies: No porn allowed

Declan McCullagh — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 08:01:00 GMT

In what amounts to a thinly veiled legal threat, the Chinese government has intensified its campaign against sexually explicit material online by instructing companies, including Google, to curb the availability of pornography.

Monday's announcement from a collection of seven government agencies singles out 19 sites as unlawfully providing access ...

Meg Whitman, governor of California? Maybe

Declan McCullagh — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 04:49:00 GMT

Caption: Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman speaks to delegates at Republican convention last year.

(Credit: Declan McCullagh/CNET)

Meg Whitman has been talked about as long ago as March 2008 as a candidate for governor of California. Now there's more evidence the former eBay CEO will actually run.

The ...

Texting and tweeting through Obama's swearing in

Stephanie Condon — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 22:37:00 GMT

Crowd control at President-elect Barack Obama's January 20 inauguration ceremony will present quite a challenge: On top of the 240,000 ticketed guests who will descend upon the National Mall that day, millions more are expected to join. Ten thousand charter buses will converge on the Washington area. Metro ...

Business groups sue over Homeland Security E-Verify program

Stephanie Condon — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 20:11:00 GMT

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business organizations filed suit against U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff last week, complaining that the Homeland Security Department cannot legally require federal contractors to use its online worker verification database.

Beginning January 15, 2009, the department will require certain federal ...

Telcos look to benefit from broadband funding

Stephanie Condon — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 15:53:00 GMT

As Congress and the next administration consider potential investments in a national broadband infrastructure, cable companies and phone companies are at odds over what should be considered high-speed broadband and how the investment should be made, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

Members of Congress are drawing up plans for ...

Vote Facebook for California attorney general?

Matt Asay — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 14:37:00 GMT

TechCrunch suggests that Facebook's chief privacy officer, Chris Kelly, will shortly announce his candidacy to become California's attorney general in 2010. Given how poorly Facebook has handled privacy, it's difficult to see why California voters should assume Kelly would do better in the higher matters of public ...