MySpace makes it in the news once again, but not because of wrong doing, but what a collection agency did.

A woman who claims a collection agency seeking the repossession of her father’s Mercedes posted a threatening message on her MySpace page sued the agency and JP Morgan Chase today.

In late March, a message was posted to Gina Ricobene’s MySpace page signed by Chris Flanagan, a senior investigator for Washington-based Universal Tracing Services, the suit said. The message, addressed to Ricobene, sought the recovery of a 2007 Mercedes GL450 owned by her father, James Ricobene.

The message threatened legal action if Gina Ricobene failed to contact Flanagan, and said failure to comply was a felony that could lead to imprisonment. Flanagan claimed to be acting on behalf of JP Morgan Chase, the suit said.

Several friends and family members of Ricobene saw the message, causing her embarrassment and “substantial emotional distress,” the suit claims. The suit seeks at least $100,000 for invasion of privacy and consumer fraud.

James Ricobene had also received multiple phone calls from the bank’s collection personnel regarding the car in the month prior to the MySpace posting, the suit said.

Representatives for JP Morgan Chase declined to comment on the suit or confirm that the bank uses Universal Tracing Services for collection. Messages left with Universal Tracing Services were not returned.

Source: chicagobreakingnews.com

It looks like Craigslist is in hot water once again. As a user of Craigslist I am disappointed with the moderating of the discussion forums. There are way too many users who I consider bullies and will just mark you as a spammer, but in this case, someone isn’t watching over the erotic services section.

Cook County’s sheriff filed a federal lawsuit against Craigslist on Thursday, saying the popular online classifieds site promotes and facilitates prostitution on a massive scale.

Sheriff Tom Dart wants Craigslist to eliminate its “erotic services” section, suggesting that many of the section’s ads are blatant solicitations for prostitution.

“Missing children, runaways, abused women and women trafficked in from foreign countries are routinely forced to have sex with strangers because they’re being pimped on Craigslist,” Dart said.

In a news release, Dart cited ads such as “Teens for cash … $100 quickie” and “Are you looking to make some good money in this tough economy. Minimum pay is $25 per hour … performing duties specified in Naughty Nannies handbook.”

San Francisco-based Craigslist did not immediately return e-mail and telephone message seeking comment. Telephone and e-mail messages also were left for the company’s public relations firm.

Craigslist allows users to post classified ads and other items and, like many other sites, generally doesn’t check the postings or remove them unless it receives complaints. Federal law offers broad immunity to service providers for content posted by users, as long as they respond to specific complaints.

“Erotic services” ads posted on Craigslist have resulted in several prostitution arrests nationwide.

Federal prosecutors charged a New York man in November with being a violent pimp who forced young girls and women into prostitution, alleging he advertised the services of women between the ages of 15 and 20. And in January, two Wisconsin women were charged with misdemeanor prostitution after allegedly offering sex for money in Craigslist ads.

Dart said Thursday’s lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Chicago follows repeated requests for Craigslist to shut down the “erotic services” section. In recent weeks, Dart said, one of his own officers — writing as a 15-year-old girl — posted ads for sex on the site that generated responses from several people, including a convicted sex offender.

We would like to hear your opinions about this issue.

Rock guitarist Joe Satriani has sued British band Coldplay, accusing the Grammy-nominated stars of plagiarizing one of his songs.

Satriani’s copyright infringement suit, filed on Thursday in Los Angeles federal court, claims the Coldplay song “Viva La Vida” incorporates “substantial original portions” of his 2004 instrumental “If I Could Fly.”

The 52-year-old guitar virtuoso is seeking a jury trial, damages and “any and all profits” attributable to the alleged copyright infringement.

Coldplay, whose soaring atmospheric tunes are often compared to those of Irish rock band U2, received seven Grammy nominations on Wednesday, second only to rapper Lil Wayne.

Among its mentions were nominations in the key record and song of the year categories for “Viva La Vida,” which comes from the band’s chart-topping album “Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends.”

The song is credited to the band’s four members, singer Chris Martin; bass player Guy Berryman; guitarist Johnny Buckland; and drummer Will Champion. The title was inspired by a painting by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.

The Satriani track comes from his album “Is There Love in Space?” Further comment from Satriani’s attorney, or reaction from Coldplay’s management was not immediately available.

Plagiarism: to take and use ideas, passages, etc., from (another’s work) by plagiarism.

Source: Reuters

After news that Tiffany company was taking eBay to court over counterfeit goods, it’s now the software industry telling eBay that it needs to do more to detect and delete listings for counterfeit goods–or else.

I took the liberty to validate such claims by browsing through the many software titles offered at eBay, and to my surprise its worst than you think. I contacted a seller to ask if the software was genuine because the price was 80% less than the retail version. The seller replied with “It’s a copy with the CD key and I guarantee the software”.

According to Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA), a Washington, D.C., trade association that counts companies such as Intuit, Sun Microsystems, and Red Hat as board members, said on Thursday that it’s contemplating a lawsuit against eBay. Another option, the group said, would be lobbying Congress to rewrite the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and make online auctioneers liable for what’s sold.

“Their refusal to work with us will only push us closer and closer to a lawsuit,” Keith Kupferschmid, SIIA’s senior vice president for intellectual property policy and enforcement, said in an interview.

Kupferschmid said the SIIA has offered at least 20 suggestions to eBay listing ways it can aid the software industry in curbing the sale of pirated software. Among the suggestions: not allowing the “Buy It Now” option on software; placing a notice in a user’s feedback if they have been caught selling pirated software; adding a delay on software auctions so they can be reviewed; and permitting the SIIA to run a paid ad on the Web site telling eBay visitors about the risk of buying pirated software.

“They just say no,” Kupferschmid said. “We’ve never been given any rationale.”

Give me a break! 50 Cent is a nickname who gives a damn, and his lawyer is a bigger ass for representing this idiotic law suit. Here’s what I think should happen, Taco Bell should not have featured him in print, because he is one ugly mother.

50 Cent has sued Taco Bell, claiming the fast-food restaurant chain is using his name without permission in advertising that asks him to call himself 99 Cent.

The rapper says in a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday that the Mexican-themed chain features him in a print ad asking him to change his name to 79 Cent, 89 Cent or 99 Cent. His real name is Curtis Jackson.

The rapper’s court papers say the ad is part of Taco Bell’s “Why Pay More?” campaign, which promotes items for under a dollar, including Cinnamon Twists for 79 cents, Crunchy Tacos for 89 cents and Bean Burritos for 99 cents. The papers say the Irvine, Calif.-based company sent a bogus letter requesting the name change to the news media but not to the rapper.

The rapper’s lawyer, Peter D. Raymond, said his client didn’t learn about the letter or that he was featured in the ad campaign until he saw a news report about it. Raymond said his client is seeking $4 million in damages.

50 Cent think outside the bun!