Author Archives: admin

Busting Cyberbullying

The death of Tyler Clementi, an 18-year-old Rutgers University freshman and the conviction of his roommate, Dharun Ravi, has focused the nation’s attention of cyberbullying. Currently forty-eight states have anti-bullying laws, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The move now is to strengthen those laws and add specific consequences for electronic intimidation and harassment. Delaware, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine and New York— want to put penalties on the books for the types of digital bullying that led students in several states to commit suicide.

Apr 2

Is “Bully” Being Bullied?

When the documentary ‘Bully’ premiered Monday night in Los Angeles it carried the new “unrated” designation that now leaves the screening of the film up to theater owners.  The movie was originally given an R rating form the Motion Picture Association of America because of the F-bomb was used about six times by a bully in one scene. The curses automatically triggered an R under the MPAA’s guidelines.  The R rating requires anyone under the age of 17 to have an adult with them.  The Weinstein Company were unsuccessful in their attempts to get the rating changed to PG-13 so that the audience it was most intended to impact – children under the age of 17 could see it.

Mar 29

A Victory on Cybercrime

Some of the world’s most sophisticated cybercrime rings were disrupted when Microsoft Corporation confiscated several servers used to steal login names and passwords. The software maker said Monday that its cybercrime investigation group also took legal and technical actions to fight notorious criminals who infect computers with prevalent malicious software known as Zeus. By recruiting computers into networks called botnets, Zeus logs the online activity of infected machines, providing criminals with credentials to access financial accounts.

Mar 26

Apple Fraud

Once portrayed as the safest of shopping environments, Apple’s iTunes Store and in particular its App Store, has received hundreds of online complaints from consumers who say that their accounts have been hijacked or that some apps are falsely advertised. Also complaining are the creators of apps, who say they have to deal with fraudulent purchases that drain their time and resources. Software makers also complain that competition in the App Store has become so brutal that many companies resort to artificially inflating their popularity rankings to grab attention.

Mar 23

Fraud Dog Investigation Leads to Arrest

Randall Seltzer, president of Navarre Industries, a Santa Rosa County construction company, was arrested last week.  Seltzer was charged with multiple felony counts, including workers’ compensation fraud and grand theft.   If convicted, Seltzer could face up to 30 years in prison and may have to pay more than $2.8 million in restitution. “Workers’ compensation insurance is vital to the health and protection of businesses and Florida’s economy as a whole,” Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater said. “Just last week, the Legislature passed reforms that target schemes just like this one that are diverting a billion dollars from Florida’s economy.”

Mar 21