Law and Order

In a case believed to be the first of its kind, federal authorities have seized a Charleston man's virtual currency due to an alleged drug law violation with possible links to a shadowy online black market.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration recently posted a forfeiture notice indicating that agents had seized 11.02 Bitcoins worth $814 from 31-year-old Eric Daniel Hughes for allegedly violating the federal Controlled Substances Act. No other details were provided.

Cyber criminals could face tougher penalties across the European Union under new rules adopted by the European Parliament, which include the creation of a specific offence of using botnets.

The draft directive adopted by the parliament on Thursday defines specific criminal offences for cybercrime and sets specific sanctions for each. It also requires E.U. countries to assist fellow member states and respond to urgent requests for help within eight hours in the event of a cyber attack.

A Tennessee man has been charged over a high-profile extortion and wire fraud scam involving former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's tax returns.

Michael Mancil Brown, 34, of Franklin, Tennessee faces six counts of wire fraud and six counts of extortion over his alleged involvement in a plot to blackmail Romney with threats to expose his tax records during last year's presidential campaign.

Expect to see a number of unhappy faces at Nintendo headquarters this weekend – at least, wherever Nintendo's legal team sits – as the company has officially lost an appeal with the World Intellectual Property Organization over the rights to the domain name wiiu.com.

Didn't expect to see that one coming, eh?

A convicted hacker who was detained in a young offender institution has been released - but will now face strict limitations on his technology use. Jake Davis, 20, was convicted of computer hacking for his role in the notorious group LulzSec.

He cannot contact anyone who associates themselves with the wider Anonymous hacktivist collective. He told the BBC he planned to release a prison diary and to write a film about the internet.

The United States is directing threatening language at countries which don't do what they're told when it comes to handing over former spy agency contractor Edward Snowden, who is on the run after leaking details of PRISM to the media.

U.S. officials Monday testily asked the Russian government to expel fugitive document leaker Edward Snowden, who arrived there Sunday after spending several days in hiding in Hong Kong.

In a statement, the White House National Security Council blasted government officials in China and Hong Kong for permitting Snowden to leave despite an official U.S. request to detain him.

California's Department of Financial Institutions has issued a cease and desist letter to the Bitcoin Foundation for "allegedly engaging in the business of money transmission without a license or proper authorization," according to Forbes. The news comes after Bitcoin held its "Future of Payments" conference in San Jose last month.  (The license information is available on CA.gov and Forbes placed the cease and desist letter on Scribd.)

U.S. federal prosecutors charged eight people on Wednesday in connection with a multimillion-dollar fraud that siphoned money from hacked accounts at banks and financial institutions, laundered it and sent it overseas.

Four of the eight have been arrested by authorities, one as he arrived at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport on Tuesday afternoon, while four remain at large. Prosecutors unsealed details of the case on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, a Chinese national was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and criminal copyright infringement. The sentencing is part of a plea deal with federal prosecutors over a massive software piracy ring. Once the prison term is complete, Xiang Li will be deported back to China.