Top Legal and Regulatory News for the Week

As the US technology sector continues to grapple with fiscal woes, critical regulatory decisions are unfolding in the courts and at government agencies. This week's roundup of top legal and regulatory news highlights key developments in antitrust penalties, internet addressing, and communication policy.

Key Takeaways:

• A federal judge has scheduled a hearing for January 7 to decide whether to grant Microsoft Corp.'s request to delay hearings on antitrust penalties that could be imposed on the company.
• A New Jersey judge has ruled that public officials do not have the right to discover the identities of people who criticized or insulted them on public internet bulletin boards.
• NeuStar Inc.'s layoffs, which cut 10% of its staff, have highlighted broader addressing concerns in the tech sector, where the company's fortunes are linked to thousands of companies that rely on it to maintain their online identities.
• CompTel has demanded access to Verizon Corp.'s competition audit, claiming that the company is hiding information about its efforts to open up its historical local phone service monopoly.
• The FBI is satisfied with a software patch issued by Microsoft Corp. to protect against security holes inherent in its Windows XP, Millennium Edition, and 98 operating systems.
• President Bush has relaxed US restrictions on shipping high-performance computers to several countries, making it easier for companies to export such equipment.
• A study by Netcraft has found that the total number of internet addresses has shrunk, primarily due to a fall-off in domain name speculation.
• Thirty-nine states have asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to re-adopt a rule requiring phone companies to use an opt-in policy to get customer approval to share personal information.
• The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has ordered a website to stop touting one of its products as a cure for cancer.
• A federal appeals court has upheld the Federal Trade Commission's authority to regulate internet ad claims, even in cases where such claims are made by companies already facing scrutiny from securities regulators.
• Security experts have identified a serious AIM security hole that could allow remote attackers to penetrate users' computers.

Statistics:

• 10%: The proportion of NeuStar Inc.'s staff that was laid off.
• 39: The number of states that have asked the FCC to re-adopt a rule requiring phone companies to use an opt-in policy to share personal information.
• January 7: The date on which a federal judge has scheduled a hearing to decide whether to grant Microsoft Corp.'s request to delay hearings on antitrust penalties.
• 2001: The year in which Verizon Corp. conducted a competition audit, which has been demanded by CompTel.

Sources:

• http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/173330.html
• http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/173369.html
• http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/173370.html
• http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/173390.html
• http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/173365.html
• http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/173360.html
• http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/173336.html
• http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/173328.html
• http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/173327.html
• http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/173326.html
• http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/173320.html