Connecticut

Hurricane Irene Is Over; Power Still Out for Many

Arik Hesseldahl in News on August 29, 2011 at 6:27 am PT

Hurricane Irene is now a memory, but the mess it left will take days if not weeks to clean up.

After the PlayStation Hack, a Legal Pile-On Against Sony

Arik Hesseldahl in Enterprise on April 28, 2011 at 11:47 am PT

It didn’t take long for Sony to be served with its first lawsuit following the disclosure that its PlayStation Network was hacked. Meanwhile, the number of investigating regulators and outraged U.S. lawmakers is multiplying. Sony’s lawyers are going to be busy.

Voices

Google Rejects Connecticut Request for Wi-Fi Data

Amir Efrati, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on December 17, 2010 at 11:15 am PT

Connecticut’s attorney general said Friday his office may take legal action against Google Inc. after the Internet company rejected his request to turn over personal data it collected inadvertently from unsecured wireless networks.

Google Street View: Chronology of a Cock-Up

John Paczkowski in News on October 29, 2010 at 3:30 am PT

Much as Google would like Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal to follow the Federal Trade Commission’s lead and close his inquiry into the inadvertent collection of user data by its Street View cars, that seems unlikely. Blumenthal, whose office is spearheading a multistate investigation into Google’s Wi-Fi data-gathering debacle, says he has no plans to end it simply because of some announced improvements to the company’s privacy practices.

Voices

Are "Sext" Messages a Teenage Felony or Folly?

Nathan Koppel and Ashby Jones, Reporters, the Wall Street Journal in News on August 25, 2010 at 5:00 am PT

State lawmakers around the U.S. are struggling to decide if teenage “sexting”—the practice of sending nude or sexually suggestive photos by cellphone—is a serious crime, or juvenile folly run amok. About 20 states have enacted or proposed measures that deal with teenage sexters.

State AGs to Probe Google’s “Deeply Disturbing Invasion” of Wi-Fi Data

John Paczkowski in News on June 21, 2010 at 12:26 pm PT

Looks like “no harm, no foul” isn’t good enough for state regulators when it comes to the inadvertent collection of user data from unsecured Wi-Fi networks by Google’s Street View cars. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said today that his office is spearheading a multistate investigation into Google’s Wi-Fi data-gathering debacle.

Video: BoomTown Meets Five Non-SV Techie Dudes in 10 Minutes in Boston

Kara Swisher in News on May 10, 2010 at 5:15 am PT

BoomTown made a trip recently to Boston, where Walt Mossberg and I talked in front of hundreds of East Coast entrepreneurs and investors at an event put on by General Catalyst Partners. The appeal for me: Checking back in with former Excite CEO George Bell, who is now a venture capitalist at GCP. Here’s my interview with him, as well as four start-ups I met with before the event, all of which are not based in Silicon Valley, a relief in and of itself.

Boola, Boola!: Yahoo Marketing Head's Cheerleading Memo Post-MicroHoo

Kara Swisher in News on August 12, 2009 at 1:07 pm PT

BoomTown just got this interesting memo that Yahoo CMO Elisa Steele sent out to her staff immediately in the wake of the deal for Microsoft to take over Yahoo’s search technology business two weeks ago. I render it unto you, dear readers, since it shows just how intent the top managers of Yahoo are, especially internally, in reassuring those concerned that Yahoo had not just gutted itself and how it would remain as innovative as ever. Also amusing–for reasons I cannot understand since it is an internal memo–is the use of the code name for Yahoo, which is called Yale, after the famous university in New Haven, Conn.

Voices

For State, Local Office Seekers, Web Ads Present Potential Pitfalls

Emily Steel, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on August 3, 2009 at 8:06 am PT

An online twist in a hotly contested race for mayor of St. Petersburg, Fla., could signal trouble for local politicians advertising on popular Web sites like Google, Facebook and Twitter.

Craigslist Gives Its Red Light District the Times Square Treatment

Peter Kafka in Media on May 13, 2009 at 9:32 am PT

The online classifieds Web site is shutting down its “Erotic Services” section under pressure from state and local officials from around the country. In its place, Craigslist will open an “adult” category. It promises to keep said area cleaner by having employees sweep it periodically for ads that are obviously soliciting prostitution, etc. It won’t keep Craigslist free of bad stuff, but it may make it harder to find.