Facebook blasts snooping employers

Facebook on Friday blasted employers that want to peer at what workers have posted on their personal accounts at the world's leading social network.

Facebook Chief Privacy Officer Erin Egan urged members of the online community not to share passwords with current or potential employers and warned companies to resist pressing for access.

"In recent months we've seen a distressing increase in reports of employers or others seeking to gain inappropriate access to people's Facebook profiles or private information," she said in a blog post.

"The most alarming of these practices is the reported incidences of employers asking prospective or actual employees to reveal their passwords."

She argued that snooping employers undermine the privacy of workers, and their friends at Facebook, while exposing themselves to legal risks.

For example, prospective employers could be accused of discriminating against an applicant based on seeing Facebook account information revealing someone's age or sexual preference.

"You shouldn't be forced to share your private information and communications just to get a job," Erin Egan said.

"As the friend of a (Facebook) user, you shouldn't have to worry that your private information or communications will be revealed to someone you don't know and didn't intend to share with just because that user is looking for a job."

To enforce the point, Facebook made it a violation of its policy to share or solicit an account password.

"We don't think employers should be asking prospective employees to provide their passwords because we don't think it's right the thing to do," Erin Egan said.

Delhi HC quashes charges against Microsoft India

The Delhi High Court Monday quashed charges of hosting objectionable content against Microsoft India and set aside a trial court order for initiating criminal proceedings against the company.

Justice Suresh Kait accepted the company's plea that Microsoft was not providing a platform to people to interact with each other and post or publish their views, but one engaged in developments and sale of software and computing solutions.

The company's counsel told the court that no defamatory material was posted on its websites.

The move came as Microsoft India approached the high court, challenging the trial court's order initiating criminal proceedings against it for hosting "obscene and derogatory content".

The high court also gave the complainant Vinay Rai liberty to file a fresh complaint if any credible piece of evidence was found against the company.

Rai had approached the trial court to remove objectionable content from 21 websites, including Microsoft, Facebook, Google, Yahoo and YouTube. Among these, 12 websites are of companies based abroad.

Metropolitan Magistrate Sudesh Kumar had summoned the companies to face trial for allegedly committing offences punishable under the Indian Penal Code sections 292 (sale of obscene books and material) and 293 (sale of obscene objects to young person).

The trial court observed that the material submitted by the complainant contained obscene pictures and derogatory articles pertaining to Hindu deities, Prophet Mohammad and Jesus Christ.

Indian-origin student Dharun Ravi convicted on webcam spying case

A former Rutgers University student convicted on Friday in the webcam spying episode that ended in his gay roommate's suicide could be headed off to prison in a case experts say stands as a tragic lesson for young people about casual cruelties and unintended consequences in the Internet age.

Dharun Ravi was found guilty of all 15 charges against him, including invasion of privacy and anti-gay intimidation. The jury decided that he not only spied on Tyler Clementi and another man as they were kissing but also singled out Mr Clementi because he was gay.

Mr Ravi, 20, could get up to 10 years in prison by some estimates and could be deported to his native India even though he has lived legally in the U.S. since he was a little boy.

The case stirred a national conversation about anti-gay bullying and teen suicide. It also illustrated the dangers of technology in the hands of people who have grown up with the likes of Twitter and Facebook.

"They don't feel like they're spying. It's just their own iPhone they're using, their own laptop," said Annemarie McAvoy, an adjunct professor at Fordham Law School in New York.

On the Rutgers campus, student Melvin Ways said: "I think the lesson here is not everything is meant to be publicised to the entire world, especially private matters and things that are personal to people."

Prosecutors said Mr Ravi set up his webcam in his dorm room and watched Mr Clementi kissing another man on September 19, 2010, then tweeted about it and excitedly tried to catch Mr Clementi in the act again two days later. A half-dozen students were believed to have seen the live video of the kissing; no video was taken in the second instance.

On September 22, Mr Clementi threw himself off the George Washington Bridge after posting one last status update on Facebook: "Jumping off the gw bridge, sorry."
At a courthouse news conference after the verdict, Mr Clementi's father, Mr Joe, addressed himself to college students and other young people, saying: "You're going to meet a lot of people in your life. Some of these people you may not like. Just because you don't like them doesn't mean you have to work against them."

Mr Ravi shook his head faintly after hearing the verdict. He and his parents left the courthouse without comment, his father's arm around his shoulders.

His attorney Steven Altman issued a brief statement saying "everyone could rest assured that at the appropriate time an appeal will be filed."

Mr Ravi's lawyers had argued at the trial that the college freshman was not motivated by any hostility toward gays and that his actions were just those of an immature "kid."

In letting the case go to trial, Mr Ravi gambled and may have lost big. Months ago, he and his lawyers rejected a plea bargain that would have spared him from prison, and prosecutors would have even helped him avoid deportation.

The most serious charges - two counts of bias intimidation based on sexual orientation - carry up to 10 years in prison each. But legal experts said the most Mr Ravi would probably get all together at sentencing May 21 would be 10 years. The judge could also give him no prison time at all.

Prosecutors said they would consult with Mr Clementi's family and the other man in the video - identified as only as M.B. - before recommending a sentence.

Mr Ravi was also convicted of seven counts of covering up his actions by instructing a friend what to tell investigators and deleting tweets and text messages.

He was not charged with causing Mr Clementi's death. And while the jury was told Mr Clementi had taken his life, prosecutors did not argue directly that the spying led to his suicide.

Mr Clementi's death was one in a string of suicides by young gays around the country in September 2010. President Barack Obama commented on it, as did talk show host Ellen DeGeneres.

New Jersey lawmakers passed an anti-bullying law in the aftermath, and Rutgers changed its housing policies to allow people of the opposite sex to room together in an effort to make gay, bisexual and transgender students feel more comfortable.

"The verdict today demonstrates that the jurors understood that bias crimes do not require physical weapons like a knife in one's hand," said Hayley Gorenberg, deputy legal director of the gay rights organization Lambda Legal.

Some of the jurors said that Mr Ravi's tweets, especially one that "dared" friends to watch the webcast that never happened, were key evidence in convicting him of anti-gay intimidation.

"That post, what it said, struck a chord in all of us," said Ed Dolan, a finance manager..

Mr Ravi and Mr Clementi, both 18-year-old freshmen from comfortable New Jersey suburbs, had been randomly assigned to room together, and Mr Clementi had arrived at college just a few days after coming out to his parents as gay.

A line of students testified they never heard Mr Ravi say anything bad about gays in general or Mr Clementi in particular. But students did say Mr Ravi expressed some concern about sharing a room with a gay man.

On September 19, according to testimony, Mr Clementi asked Mr Ravi to leave their room so that he could have a guest. Later, Ravi posted on Twitter: "Roommate asked for the room till midnight. I went into molly's room and turned on my webcam. I saw him making out with a dude. Yay."

Mr Ravi told police that he watched only seconds of the encounter. His friend Molly Wei testified that she and a few other students also watched the live stream of the men kissing. (Wei was initially charged in the case but cooperated with prosecutors and will be allowed to keep her record clean.)

Two nights later, Mr Clementi asked for the room alone again. This time, Mr Ravi tweeted: "I dare you to video chat me between the hours of 9:30 and 12. Yes, it's happening again." He also texted a friend about a planned "viewing party" and allegedly went to friends' rooms to show them how to access the feed.

However, there was no evidence the webcam was turned on that night. Mr Ravi told police he had put his computer to sleep. Prosecutors argued Mr Clementi himself unplugged the computer.

Yahoo: Facebook must pay license fee or face action

Yahoo Inc has threatened action against Facebook if the the social networking giant does not pay licence fee for using technologies which the Internet search major claimed come under its intellectual property rights.

"We must insist that Facebook either enter into a licensing agreement or we will be compelled to move forward unilaterally to protect our rights," Yahoo said in a statement.

Yahoo, however, did not disclose which are the specific technologies, for which Facebook should pay.

The New York Times had earlier reported that Yahoo is forcing Facebook to license 10 to 20 patents over technologies that include advertising, personalisation of websites, social networking, and messaging.

"Yahoo has a responsibility to its shareholders, employees and other stakeholders to protect its intellectual property. We have invested substantial resources into these innovations. Recognising that, other major web and technology companies have already licensed some of these technologies," Yahoo said.

Meanwhile, Facebook in a statement has reportedly said that "Yahoo contacted us at the same time they called The New York Times and so we haven't had the opportunity to fully evaluate their claims."

Yahoo owns more than 1,000 patents.

Interestingly, Yahoo's revenue has been steadily falling during the past three years, while Facebook's revenue has witnessed a significant surge

Raped in car in Kolkata, police scours Facebook for clues

At least two men have been detained by the Kolkata police in connection with the rape of a woman in Kolkata on the night of February 4.

The woman, in her late 20s, has alleged that she was raped in a car. There were five men in the car; while one assaulted her, the others allegedly held her down.

When she tried to cry out, the men hit her and threatened her with a gun.

The woman says she was waiting for a taxi outside a nightclub on Park Street on the night of February 4.

She was offered a lift by a man who had struck up an acquaintance with her at the night club.

Initially, there were two men in the car. But when she got into the back seat, three other men got in. She says she was later thrown out of the car.

Traumatised and in shock, the woman filed a police case four days later.

She went to the police on the 9th. The next day, she was taken to a hospital for medical tests. The specialist was not available. Other doctors said that since a few days had gone by since her rape, it would be hard to gather medical evidence. She was finally tested on Tuesday. The report is awaited.

She has identified the man who offered her the lift home, and later held her down while she was raped. But his family says he has not been in the country since the first of January and they have papers to prove this.

The rapist is believed to be another man whose name was revealed by her. But when the police showed the woman Facebook photos of different men from Kolkata with this name, she could not identify him.

The woman has been called by the police to see if she could positively identify the men detained.

'Facebook for women' Pinterest is fastest-growing social site

A vision board-styled social photo sharing website Pinterest has become one of the fastest-growing social sites, and is increasingly becoming popular among women, according to a report.

The website, that increased its market share by 68 per cent in January in the UK, has hit 12 million unique visitors in the US, the fastest social network ever to hit the figure.

According to Techcrunch, 97 per cent of Pinterest's one million Facebook likes are from women.

Earlier data from Experian Hitwise put the figure at 58 per cent female in December, driven by the photo-sharing site's focus on arts and crafts, The Daily Mail reports.

The site, which is a 'pinboard' where users share images and links about their interests, was launched in March 2010.

The site is described as a visual version of Twitter.

Like Twitter, you can 'follow' users who share your interests, and quick, brief picture posts make up the bulk of posts on the site.

Unlike Facebook and Twitter, posts appear as a 'pinboard' of images built according to user interests.

Delhi HC threatens to block Facebook, Google website

The Delhi High Court on Thursday warned social networking site Facebook India and search engine Google India that websites can be "blocked" like in China if they fail to devise a mechanism to check and remove objectionable material from their web pages.

"Like China, we will block all such websites," Justice Suresh Kait said while asking counsel for Facebook and Google India to develop a mechanism to keep a check and remove "offensive and objectionable" material from their web pages.

Justice Kait, who did not stay the proceedings against the two websites before magistrate's court, however agreed with the plea of lawyers that they would not press for an effective hearing in the trial court tomorrow.

Former Additional Solicitor General Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Google India, said the postings of "obscene, objectionable and defamatory" articles and other things cannot be "filtered" or "monitored".

"No human interference is possible, and moreover, it can't be feasible to check such incidents. Billions of people across the globe, post their articles on the website. Yes, they may be defamatory, obscene but cannot be checked," he said.

Rohatgi tried to distinguish between Google India and its US-based holding company Google Inc.

"The US-based Google Inc is the service provider and not me (Google India) and hence, we are not liable for the action of my holding company. Moreover, it is criminal case where a vicarious liability can be fastened on a company which has no role, whatsoever, in the alleged offence." Google India, which is not a service provider, is a subsidiary of Google Inc and is a separate entity distinct from its holding US-based firm, said Rohatgi.

"Google India is a subsidiary of Google Inc and has a separate legal identity. Moreover, it is not bound by the acts or offences committed by its holding company," he said.

Even Google Inc cannot be held accountable for the acts of third parties who simply used the websites for posting or publishing "obscene or objectionable" materials, he said.

"We cannot control billion minds. Some are conservative, some are liberal and some write all the defamatory and obnoxious articles on web pages. There is a procedure for getting them removed," he said.

So far, it was nobody's case that either the complainant or the government approached the service provider seeking removal of the alleged defamatory material from websites.

Another advocate N K Kaul, appearing for Google India, said "nobody has done the homework. With great respect, neither the complainant nor the trial judge did the homework before setting the criminal law into motion."

Search engines like Google India did not host material and it simply takes a netizen to his destination, he said.

He assured the court that if the complainant provides defamatory articles to Google India, then it can use "its good office" in getting them removed by its holding US-based firm.

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) A S Chandhiok, appearing for the Centre, objected to the plea of Google India saying the US-based Google Inc has "sufficient mechanism" to know that what is offending material.

Court ordered to websites, delete derogatory content by Feb 06

An Indian court ordered websites on Saturday to remove derogatory contents by February 06.

According to reports, the court has also ordered 21 defendant companies to submit order of compliance by the same date. 

On Friday US companies Facebook, Google, Yahoo and other Internet firms, were ordered by a court to remove material considered religiously offensive.

This news of screening web content comes amidst recent controversy sparked off by Union Minister Kapil Sibal, who had urged Facebook, Twitter, Google and others to remove offensive material, unleashing a storm of criticism from internet users complaining of censorship.

A court in Delhi on Friday had issued summons to 19 companies to stand trial for offences relating to distributing obscene material to minors, after being shown images it said were offensive to Hindus, Muslims and Christians, a news agency said.

India has generally unrestricted access to the Internet for those of its 1.2 billion people who can afford it and are on the electrical and telephone grids.

So far only about a tenth of the population uses the Web, but with the number of connections growing fast in the religiously conservative society, concerns about the nature of web content are growing in some quarters, including senior government officials.

Another Delhi court earlier this week told the websites to remove photographs, videos or text which might hurt religious sentiments.

Despite rules to remove offensive content, India's internet access is largely free when compared with tight controls in fellow Asian economic powerhouse China. But in line with many other governments around the world, India has become increasingly nervous about the power of social media.

India has 100 million internet users, the third-largest user base behind China and the United States which is forecast to grow to 300 million users in the next three years.