A panel of US copyright judges Monday denied a request by a group of private and public webcasters to reconsider a royalty hike for playing digital music that broadcasters say could ruin the webcasting industry. The Copyright Royalty Board last month decided to change the system by which Internet broadcasters must pay royalties to artists [...]
The father of a Guantanamo Bay detainee accused CIA officials of torturing his son – Pakistani terror suspect Majid Khan – after arresting him in Pakistan in March 2003, according to an affidavit released Monday. Khan was one of 14 "high value" prisoners previously held at a CIA secret prison but transferred last year to [...]
A federal judge Monday refused a request to close portions of the upcoming espionage trial of two former American Israel Public Affairs Committee lobbyists because doing so would violate the defendants' right to an open trial. The lobbyists, Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, were indicted last year under the 1917 Espionage Act for allegedly conspiring [...]
The US Supreme Court handed down decisions in three cases Tuesday, including Watters v. Wachovia Bank , where the Court held that the National Bank Act and regulations promulgated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency preempt state laws regulating mortgage lending by national banks and their operating subsidiaries, affirming the Sixth Circuit's [...]
Arafat Rahman, the son of former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Khaleda Zia , was released Tuesday after being arrested the day before on corruption allegations, according to local media reports. The reason for Arafat's release was not apparent Tuesday, but negotiations between Zia and the military-backed government Monday ended in Zia agreeing to leave Bangladesh if [...]
The Nigerian electoral commission said Tuesday that Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar would be included on the ballots for this coming Saturday's presidential elections, after the Nigerian Supreme Court overturned his disqualification as a candidate. A spokesman for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) did not say how Abubakar's name would be added to the [...]
A federal judge began hearings Monday to decide whether John Hinckley, Jr. should be given more freedom outside the mental hospital where he was sent after being found not guilty by reason of insanity in the 1981 attempted assassination of US President Ronald Reagan . Hospital officials and Hinckley's family are arguing that restrictions currently [...]
A US federal jury in Louisiana Monday awarded $2.8 million in damages and penalties to an Allstate Insurance Co. policyholder in the second federal lawsuit to go to trial involving Louisiana homeowners affected by the Hurricane Katrina disaster . Homeowners Robert and Merryl Weiss sued Allstate for bad faith, alleging that the insurance carrier did [...]
Guantanamo Bay military prison detainee Abu Zubaydah denied accusations of al-Qaeda involvement and made allegations of torture, according to a transcript released Monday of his March 27 testimony before a US Combatant Status Review Tribunal . Zubaydah, a Palestinian, testified that from 1994 until approximately 2000, he worked at guest houses in Pakistan that were [...]
The US Senate Judiciary Committee Monday postponed until Thursday the scheduled Tuesday testimony of US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales regarding his role in the firings of eight US Attorneys in the wake of Monday's Virginia Polytechnic Institute shootings that left 33 people dead and wounded at least 15 others. Committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) [...]
