U.S. Department of Justice - News, Features, and Slideshows

News

• End of an era: Microsoft antitrust oversight ends

  A U.S. court's antitrust oversight of Microsoft is ending after eight and a half years, with some observers questioning what the long fight accomplished.

• Senators question AT&T acquisition of T-Mobile USA

  Several U.S. senators questioned Wednesday whether AT&T's proposed acquisition of rival mobile carrier T-Mobile USA would be good for customers, as the companies have claimed, with critics saying the deal would create a duopoly in the U.S. mobile telecom business.

• DoJ wants more wireless location tracking

  In a stunning example of the left hand of government not knowing what the right hand is doing, a representative from the U.S. Department of Justice reminded a Senate subcommittee today that his agency wants to require wireless carriers to keep records of users' location and web sites they access on their smartphones.

• Man sentenced to prison for defrauding Cisco

  A Maryland man has been sentenced to seven years in prison for directing a multimillion-dollar warranty fraud scheme targeting Cisco Systems, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.

• US man pleads guilty to music piracy charges

  A California man who participated in a so-called warez music-sharing group faces a sentence of five years in prison and a US$250,000 fine after pleading guilty to copyright infringement charges in a California court.

• Feds Agree to End Antitrust Oversight of Microsoft

  After May 12, Microsoft will no longer be the subject of antitrust oversight as U.S. Department of Justice lawyers have agreed to let the 10-year-old settlement between the United States and Microsoft expire.

• Seattle police say 'wardrivers' are hitting small businesses

  Seattle police are investigating a group of criminals who they say have been cruising around town in a black Mercedes stealing credit card data by tapping into wireless networks belonging to area businesses.

• US man pleads guilty to $36.6 million worth of ID theft

  A Georgia man connected to US$36.6 million in credit card fraud pleaded guilty Thursday to trafficking in counterfeit credit cards and aggravated identity theft, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

• US woman pleads guilty to selling counterfeit software

  A Michigan woman pleaded guilty Wednesday to a charge related to selling more than US$400,000 worth of counterfeit software on a website, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

• DOJ limits Microsoft's purchase of Novell patents

  Microsoft will not be able to keep patents it proposed to buy from Novell under an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday.

• Justices question Microsoft's vision of patent law

  U.S. Supreme Court justices questioned Monday whether they should side with Microsoft and weaken the legal standard needed to invalidate a patent, with some justices suggesting there are alternatives to changing established law.

• Executives with online poker sites face US charges

  Eleven people, including the founders of three large poker websites, have been charged with bank fraud, money laundering and illegal gambling offenses in a New York court, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.

• DOJ gets court permission to attack botnet

  The U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation have obtained a temporary restraining order allowing them to disrupt a computer virus that created an international botnet controlling more than 2.3 million computers as of early 2010, the DOJ announced Wednesday.

• US police increasingly peeping at e-mail, instant messages

  Law enforcement organizations are making tens of thousands of requests for private electronic information from companies such as Sprint, Facebook and AOL, but few detailed statistics are available, according to a privacy researcher.

• Level 3 to acquire Global Crossing in stock deal

  Telecom infrastructure provider Level 3 Communications will acquire Global Crossing, which provides Internet Protocol-based networks and Ethernet services and runs data centers, in an all-stock deal.