While Google's principles may have slid sideways in recent years (their selling out on net neutrality being exhibit A) the company does appear to be putting up a good fight against the government's use of national security letters (NSLs). We've covered for several years the growing use (or in a significant number of proven cases, the abuse) of NSLs, which allow the government to obtain personal user records from ISPs (or banks and other companies), then involve a gag order against the company preventing them from ever mention it -- all with no judicial review.

That process is incredibly open to abuse, given the FBI could obtain any records they want, nobody could talk about it, and nobody could review it. Fortunately for users and companies, a California Judge recently ruled the use of such letters Unconstitutional. Now according to court filings (which appear to have accidentally been made public), the recent ruling has spurred Google to begin waging war against NSLs:It's great to see Google involved here, since this so far has been an under-the-radar battle. The field general in the fight against NSLs has been Nicholas Merrill of Calyx Internet Access, who was sued by the DOJ for questioning the practice's legitimacy after he and his ISP were "gagged" by the government for years.

According to documents obtained by CNET, the DEA is upset because the encryption used by Apple's iMessage foils their ability to snoop on those communications. Even with a warrant (increasingly seen as optional these days by law enforcement and intelligence agencies) and the fact that carriers let the NSA snoop on everything in real time, "it is impossible to intercept iMessages between two Apple devices."

Well not entirely impossible; the memo notes that sometimes interception is possible, but it would require the government to conduct man in the middle attacks using spoofed cell towers, something the feds just got busted for using for years without properly informing Judges.

Every so often we see a carrier get the bright idea to use modern network technology to inject their ads into website content -- and once publicized they become very short-lived affairs. You might recall that Mediacom got busted for this back in 2011, when they started using deep packet inspection and Javascript injection technology to insert ads into numerous websites -- even those traditionally without ads (like Apple or Google).

Last month I noted how CISPA was likely returning for a second try, despite complaints that the bill would significantly erode consumer privacy and expand Internet activity surveillance under the guise of "cybersecurity." Sponsor Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger insisted he was working on fixing the bill so it addressed the concerns of privacy advocates, then immediately proceeded in re-introducing a completely unchanged version of the original. Now the bill is heading to Congress for a closed door debate so that the public can't point out how awful the bill is -- again. About that whole Congress supposedly working for the people thing...

In order to get everyone on board the entertainment industry's recently-launched "six strikes" anti-piracy initiative, the entertainment industry-run group behind the program (the Center for Copyright Information) repeatedly stated that data collection from the program wouldn't be used for lawsuits. While the MPAA and RIAA so far haven't requested that data, that hasn't stopped copyright trolls from doing so.

Things have been falling apart for copyright troll Prenda Law, who has been gleefully threatening to sue copyrighted porn downloaders if they don't pony up some cash (aka extortion). The porn focused copyright troll outfit didn't bother to show at a hearing earlier this month that was intended to address some of the sleazier things the group has allegedly been up to, including identity theft.

Streaming OTA video provider Aereo this week saw another major win in their fight against broadcasters looking to shut the service down. Fox network founder Barry Diller started Aereo trials last year in New York City, the service offering users a $12 a month option for local broadcast television services -- adding an interesting and inexpensive option for those eager to cut the cord.

The ACLU recently uncovered heavy government use of devices known as "stingrays," which allow law enforcement to trick a user's cell phone to connect to a spoofed device instead of a tower for the purposes of data collection. As Wired explores, the Department of Justice is under fire for using these devices without informing Judges about either the devices, or the fact they could collect data from uninvolved third parties.

The Supreme Court this week ruled for Comcast in a case that was levied against the company alleging they'd intentionally created a monopoly in the Philadelphia area -- then jacked up prices to punitive levels (we've been talking about the case since it was filed in 2003). According to the decision (pdf), the ruling fell along the usual 5-4 partisan lines.

Despite the fact that Google Glass isn't even launched yet, West Virginia lawmakers are getting ready to pass a law banning people from using Glass while driving. State lawmakers have already been working on new laws that ban texting while driving, so Gary Howell (R-Mineral) is updating the law so that it also covers "a computing device which is worn on the head and projects visual information into the field of vision of the wearer." Google, for its part, is trying to argue that Google Glass could make drivers safer:While the potential for driver distraction might be significant, West Virginia probably has more important things to worry about than passing regulations governing a niche product few people will actually be able to afford at $1,500 a pop. This is the state currently investigating its own incompetence and corruption after state leaders wasted $126.3-million in broadband funding on un-used, overpriced routers and redundant, overpaid consultants, in the process lining Cisco and Verizon's pockets with no-bid contracts.

AT&T this week was forced to pay $27.5 million in damages for violating a Colorado company’s patents for streaming online video and audio. According to Bloomberg, AT&T’s U-verse TV services infringed two patents owned by Two-Way Media LLC -- one of which covered content streaming, and the other of which allows for the tracking of consumer use of those streams. "While the verdict was a small fraction of what the plaintiff sought in this case, we will challenge the amount that was awarded," AT&T said in a prepared statement. AT&T's battle with Two-Way has been ongoing since 2008, when Two-Way sued AT&T, Akamai, and Limelight Networks (the latter two companies settled).

UK's marketing regulator, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) – has censured Virgin Media for claiming that their broadband is unlimited. The ASA's ruling, the first to use new guidance on use of the term 'unlimited', prevents the fastest of the UK's main ISPs from using the line: Unlimited downloads: Download and browse as much as you like with no caps and no hidden charges.

The Federal Aviation Administration says they expect to weaken rules prohibiting the use of electronics in-flight before the end of the year. According to the New York Times, those new rules would not allow the use of cellphone voice calls in flight.

Anonymous sources have been telling outlets like the Wall Street Journal and Politico that FCC boss Julius Genachowski will be announcing his departure from the FCC sometime today. His exit comes during a busy week for departures at the agency, which also saw the exits of chief counsel Sherrese Smith and Commissioner Robert McDowell.

Republican FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell today announced that he'll be leaving the FCC for an unspecified job elsewhere. McDowell was the likely front-runner to lead the FCC if Romney had won the election.

Settling what has been an eight year saga at this point, the Supreme Court says they won't be hearing the infamous Jammie Thomas-Rasset case, meaning the $222,000 verdict levied against her for sharing twenty-four copyrighted songs (a punishment supported by the White House) will stand. Thomas-Rasset was told in 2005 she could settle for $5,000 or be sued, and chose the latter. The case has bounced around the courts for years, at one point her punishment getting as high as $1.92 million. Her case was only one of two such cases to ever go to court; Boston University student Joel Tenenbaum also lost his case against the RIAA and was ordered to pay $675,000 -- a decision also allowed to stand.

Lately there has been a lot of justified focus on the fact that customers should have the right to legally unlock cell phones they own without having to get approval from your carrier. But with more than half a billion Internet connected devices now in U.S.

Back in June of 2010, you might recall that a security hole in AT&T's website allowed two individuals to gain access to the e-mail addresses of 114,000 owners of 3G Apple iPads, including "dozens of CEOs, military officials, and top politicians." A group calling itself Goatse Security at the time claimed responsibility for the hack, which in addition to e-mail addresses resulted the group obtaining user ICC-IDs -- used to identify their specific iPad on the AT&T network.

One of those involved in the "hack" today found themselves sentenced to 41 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release and $73,000 in restitution to be paid to AT&T.

We've covered for several years the growing use (or in a significant number of proven cases, the abuse) of National Security Letters. NSLs allow the government to obtain records from ISPs (or banks and other companies), then involve a gag order against the ISP with no judicial review.

• Google Fiber could bring superfast Internet to every town in America, but for now the company is thinking small [slate.com]
• 4G Smartphone Usage Up 70% Among Small Businesses [cellphonedigest.net]
• Apple proposes 'on-the-go' wireless charging via iPad Smart Cover with built-in battery [appleinsider.com]
• Google Pulls Several Prominent Ad-Blocking Apps From Play Store For Violating Developer Distribution Agreement [techcrunch.com]
• FinSpy Software Used To Surveil Activists Around The World [huffingtonpost.com]
• With User Profiles Still In Testing, Netflix’s Social Sharing Feature Makes No Sense [techcrunch.com]
• Blue Coat, Skype and QQ named despots' best friends - Reporters Without Borders slams "enemies of the internet" [theregister.co.uk]
• What's most important? Bandwidth over kilo-miles, or milli-watts? IBM, AT&T brainboxes beg to differ [theregister.co.uk]
• Rumor Mill: T-Mobile to launch handset trade-in program in shift to Value plans [fiercewireless.com]
• Networking Battles to Run the World [nytimes.com]
• Google Hastens to Show Its Concern for Privacy [nytimes.com]

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