Ban Lifted

Yahoo Inc. convinced a federal judge in New York to lift a temporary restraining order barring the Internet portal from blocking the e-mail account of a subscriber who refused to provide his credit card number. U.S. District Judge Richard Owen concluded that Santa Clara, Calif.-based Yahoo has a valid reason for demanding credit card information from customers who register for e-mail accounts--specifically, verification that account holders are adults. Ashwood Kavanna, who sued Yahoo last month, said he planned to press ahead and continue representing himself in the lawsuit, which seeks up to $1 billion in damages for alleged violations of privacy laws and a permanent injunction stopping Yahoo from demanding credit card information from e-mail account holders.