security flaws

Google underwent a firestorm last month over security concerns and provisioning difficulties with its Google Wallet service, and now the Internet giant is doling out $5 to users as an apology for the fiasco.

Upon opening Google Wallet today, users will each notice a bonus added to their pre-paid card accounts. The Mountain View, Calif.-based Company has not officially confirmed the rueful gesture, but a circulating email from the Google Wallet Team seems to confirm the $5 deposits are not a glitch.

The full email from the Google Wallet Team is below (via DroidLife).

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Google Inc., announced it will insert a link and censor its logo on the search engine’s home page tomorrow to emphasize its opposition to U.S. anti-piracy bills in conjunction to rolling out a new campaign that promotes online privacy awareness.

Business Week reported the globally popular search engine is among many Internet companies that criticize the measures, claiming the bills could encourage online censorship and stunt the growth of the American technology industry.

The movie and music industries have experienced huge sale declines in recent years and subsequently support the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate.

According to the Recording Industry Association of America, music sales in the U.S. have dropped 47 percent, from $14.6 billion to $7.7 billion, since peer-to-peer file sharing emerged in 1999. Moreover, the Motion Picture Association of America released an info graphic (PDF) last year that claimed 29 million American adults by 2010 had downloaded illegal copies of film or television shows.

However, both bills —if passed— would be a means to prevent the sale of illegal content or counterfeit goods by websites operating outside United States borders…

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