newsmakers

newsmakers

Fourth Sony lawsuit

LOS ANGELES

A former director of technology for Sony Pictures Entertainment has sued the company over the data breach that resulted in the online posting of his private financial and personal information.

Lionel Felix’s lawsuit filed Thursday in federal court in Los Angeles states he ran the company’s infrastructure for Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment from 2001 to 2004. His lawsuit is joined by Michael Levine, one of the company’s former technical directors.

The suit seeks class- action status for the nearly 50,000 current and former employees whose data was stolen and posted online by hackers.

Their suit alleges Sony ignored warnings about the security of its networks.

The suit cites previous hacks on Sony’s servers, including a 2011 attack that breached millions of accounts of its PlayStation Network. It also cites a security audit from earlier this year that found faults with the company’s electronic security procedures.

Dog telethon is a hit

LOS ANGELES

Producers say more than 4,400 people filed adoption papers for homeless dogs during “Cause for Paws: An All-Star Dog Spectacular,” billed as the first all-star dog-adoption telethon.

Executive Producer Michael Levitt says it would be huge even if only half the applications result in adoptions. Levitt also says he thinks anyone who watched the show would strongly consider a rescue next time they get a dog.

Seventy dogs from rescues across the country were featured on the two-hour Thanksgiving night telecast.

It was co-hosted by actresses Hilary Swank and Jane Lynch on the Fox Network.

Associated Press