Stories by Grant Gross

US brothers sentenced for software piracy

Two brothers in the US were sentenced last week to multiyear prison terms for selling what the US Department of Justice called "massive" amounts of pirated software online, the DOJ announced.

Siemens to cut 3,800 jobs in telecom unit

Siemens plans to cut 3,800 jobs at its Siemens Enterprise Communications (SEN) subsidiary, including 2,000 jobs in Germany, the company announced Tuesday.

Study: More US broadband has $134 billion economic impact

A modest increase in U.S. broadband adoption would have an annual economic impact of US$134 billion, according to a study released Thursday.

Security issues scuttle Bain/Huawei bid for 3Com

A deal for Bain Capital Partners and China's Huawei Technologies to buy 3Com is on hold because the companies were unable to come to agreement with the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) about security concerns.

SIIA sues eBay-based software sellers

Online auction giant eBay has been slow to respond to concerns about pirated software being sold there, prompting the Software & Information Industry Association to file nine lawsuits against eBay-based software sellers, an SIIA official said.

Civil liberties groups sue DHS over laptop, device searches

Two civil liberties groups have filed a lawsuit against the US Department of Homeland Security, complaining that the agency's Customs and Border Protection (CBP) division has routinely searched many US citizens' laptops and other electronic devices and questioned them about their religious practices and political beliefs.

Judge orders end to weight-loss, anti-aging spam operation

A US judge has ordered a Las Vegas company to stop making weight-loss and anti-aging claims and to stop sending unsolicited e-mail, the US Federal Trade Commission announced this week.

Presidential candidates stake out tech positions

Technology policy hasn't played a major role in this year's US presidential campaign, but the major candidates have staked out positions on issues such as net neutrality and skilled-worker visas.

Privacy groups vow to fight Microsoft-Yahoo deal

Privacy groups are promising a fight before U.S. regulatory agencies if Microsoft's offer to buy Yahoo for $44.6 billion is accepted, and the deal could face significant hurdles in Europe as well.

Barracuda vows to fight open-source patent war against Trend Micro

Barracuda Networks plans to focus on finding prior art to defend itself and the open-source ClamAV project against patent claims by rival antivirus vendor Trend Micro, which stressed Tuesday that it owns a tested and valid patent.

Google's Schmidt: NASA should collaborate with public

The US space program should look to collaboration and open systems to drive the next wave of human exploration and innovation, Google Chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt said Thursday.

Colombian man pleads guilty to computer fraud

A Colombian man pleaded guilty Wednesday to a 16-county indictment involving an identity theft scheme in which he installed keylogging software on hotel business center computers and Internet lounges in order to steal passwords, account data and other personal information, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.

New York launches antitrust investigation of Intel

New York state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has launched an antitrust investigation of Intel, and on Thursday, his office served a wide-ranging subpoena on the company.

Symantec: Gov't needs to take new cybersecurity steps

U.S. government agencies need to take additional steps to protect against cybersecurity problems after a series of congressional hearings and reports exposed several weaknesses in 2007, representatives of Symantec said.

Company suing OLPC asked for US$20 million

A company suing the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) Association for patent infringement has asked for US$20 million to settle claims that the nonprofit had copied its keyboard.