Journalists in China Totally Switching Back to Yahoo

At least two foreign reporters in China, including an AP television reporter, discovered that their GMail accounts have been hacked (by the government??). Oh, ChinaGuy69@aol.com was just not "professional" enough, right? You had to switch to Gmail. Fools. [NYT]

How Silicon Valley Rationalizes Its Scammy Profit Center

It's hard to say what's more pathetic: That the social networks at the center of Silicon Valley's growth derive so much money from online scams, or the way one venture capitalist excuses the whole sad scene. More »

Alisher Usmanov: The Scary Russian Oligarch Seducing Silicon Valley

Alisher Usmanov is nicknamed "the hard man of Russia," but he's good at seducing the softies in California's tech community: An investment firm he backs lead a $180 million investment in Zynga, the gaming company that trafficked in scammy ads. More »

Yahoo Puts a Price on Your Privacy: $10

Lawful online spying is so common, Yahoo has a detailed price list to reimburse for staff time helping authorities: $10 for basic account information, $35 for the whole email inbox, etc. China's authoritarians presumably get a discount.

Facebook Absolutely Demolishing MySpace in the Sex Offender Demographic

About 3,500 New York sex offenders have been kicked off Facebook and MySpace after identifying their accounts under a new state law. And, go figure, like 80 percent of them were on Facebook. Even sex fiends are ditching MySpace. More »

YouTube Beatings Migrate Down to Middle School

Time was, vicious YouTube beatings didn't start until high school. But police just arrested two San Francisco-area middle-school girls, 12 and 14, after finding video of them beating a classmate they lured to an open field. They face felony charges.

Facebook Named in Federal Class-Action Suit over Scammy Zynga Ads

Facebook and Zynga are the defendants in a federal class-action lawsuit filed Tuesday, which seeks upwards of $5 million for social network users scammed in online game ads. Neither company's top-drawer investors can be happy. More »

Investors Punish Online Scam Trafficker with $15 Million

Just as the public was learning that a huge chunk of Zynga's social gaming revenue came from scammy "quizzes" and "special offers," Silicon Valley's most prestigious venture capitalists rewarded the company with $15 million. Hey, that's just how VC's roll. More »

Class Action Suit in the Works for Victims of Social Gaming Scams

Facebook and MySpace might finally pay the price for the big social gaming scandal: At least one law firm is investigating whether to launch a class action suit on behalf of duped users. More »

Yelp's Lost Chance to Prevent a Brawl

Yelp couldn't have guessed one of its reviewers might end up in a vicious wrestling match with a store owner, right? Wrong: the owner had visited Yelp HQ the day before the fight, been ignored, then turned away. More »

Yelp-Fight Participant: I Was Trying To Apologize

The Yelp reviewer supposedly attacked by a store owner just got a zero-star rating for honesty. The store owner says it was the reviewer who attacked, even though the owner came in peace to apologize. More »

Yelp Fights Make Leap To Real-World Violence, Says Reviewer

To hear Yelp reviewer "Sean C." tell it, San Francisco's Ocean Avenue Books really didn't appreciate his pan of the "TOTAL MESS" of a store: The owner somehow found his home, he said, and tried to force her way in. More »

Arrest Over Facebook 'Poke' Makes Meaningless Gesture Risque

When the internet was young and innocent, it was acceptable to "finger" college classmates. These days, a simple Facebook "poke" can land you in jail, in Tennessee, and CNN has say "alleged" poking, because, hey, libel. More »

Bus Seat Fistfight: More Transit Mayhem Policed By YouTube

One of the amazing things about this screaming fight on a San Francisco Muni bus is the way the citizen cameraman deftly captures every moment. At one point he's even shooting over his shoulder. Cell phone cameras never sleep, straphangers. More »

Legendary Valley Escort Ordered To Lay Around House

Cristina Warthen, who worked her way through Stanford Law as an escort and later pled guilty to tax evasion, has been sentenced to one year home detention and ordered to pay $243,000 in back taxes and fines. More »

Meet the Postal Worker Who Stole Your Netflix DVDs

Wondering why that one Lost DVD never arrived? If you live in New England, blame the Netflix Nabber. Myles Weathers pinched more than 3,000 DVDs from the mail distribution center where he worked. He faces five years in prison. More »

Druggy Suicide Presumed for Accused California Swindler

Danny Pang, California's answer to Bernie Madoff, most likely died last weekend at his own hand, sources close to the police told the Wall Street Journal. The idea of life as a pariah, per Madoff, was apparently too much. More »

Respect Facebook's Crime Fighting Abilities, Or Pay the Price

Some people claim that Facebook makes you easy prey for criminals, good-for-nothings and other unseemly characters. But that's not always true. Sometimes the site helps put people behind bars, as it did this week. More »

A Mysterious Death for California's Purported Ponzi Schemer

Danny Pang, the California financier being sued by the SEC for international securities fraud, died at home in Orange County of unknown causes. He was 42. More »

Five Ways YouTube Could Land You in Jail

Cyrus Yazdani, the Los Angeles tagger made famous through a YouTube video, has cashed in his viral stardom — for a four-year prison sentence. He's hardly the first delinquent done in by a Web video. More »