Compare Broadband survey suggest 75 per cent of consumers are willing to leave their ISPs over the voluntary filter
Archive for 2010/07/28
Survey: Australian’s spurn voluntary Internet filter
Posted: 2010/07/28 in Filtering, Stats / reportsIndia: Rajamouli wages war against piracy
Posted: 2010/07/28 in Cybercrime, Enforcement, Illegal File SharingIn the recent years, the film industry has been hit badly by piracy and Rajamouli’s recently released Maryada Ramanna (MR) is not an exception for it. The director has formed four teams to find the websites, which allows users to download the film and watch the movie for free of cost. The team will delete those links and sends a legal notice to those websites.
http://entertainment.oneindia.in/telugu/top-stories/2010/rajamouli-war-piracy-280710.html
New Zealand: Bill to ban file-sharing ‘goes too far’
Posted: 2010/07/28 in Education / Awareness, Legislation, New Business ModelsLast week, internet entrepreneur Lance Wiggs told the committee the recording and film industries needed to give a “legal alternative” to piracy, with better access to movies and music in New Zealand.
Ms Holloway-Smith said: “We have suggested that if the downloaded item isn’t available legally on the internet we don’t see how you can claim a lost sale.”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/3968119/Bill-to-ban-file-sharing-goes-too-far
Google, Everywhere, Or How Privacy Is The Net’s Biggest Quagmire
Posted: 2010/07/28 in Education / Awareness, Google, Privacy / Data ProtectionThat’s something we take for granted: The behemoth controls our e-mail and our searches; their tracking codes cover a great portion of the usable web.
Jamie Wilkinson, a technologist and artist based in San Francisco, has been trying to bring this issue into public discussion for a while now. Today, he released a plugin for Firefox and Google’s own Chrome that sounds an alarm whenever it finds that your browser is sending any information to Google.
“In effect,” he said, “it’s an exploration of how ubiquitous Google has become.”
New uncapped ADSL fair use policy (we’re not throttling…we’re shaping)
Posted: 2010/07/28 in Bandwidth Management, Education / Awareness, Network SecurityMWEB CEO Rudi Jansen has recently clarified their Acceptable Use Policy, making it clear that MWEB’s ‘uncapped means uncapped’ – as long as you play by the rules.
“The issue of our shaping policies has been raised a few times, and the question asked as to whether or not we throttle line speeds to curb downloads. I’d just like to clear this up for everyone. MWEB doesn’t throttle line speeds,” said Jansen.
“Our Uncapped ADSL plans are exactly that, Uncapped. And they’ll remain so! We are, however, constantly monitoring the performance of our network to give you guys a top quality service. From time to time we uncover a small number of users that aren’t using the service within our Acceptable Use Policy.”
New Internet Solutions/Axxess Uncapped ADSL accounts
Shaping the top users in preference of speed throttling is a strategy which clearly takes aim at P2P file sharing users which can potentially burn through hundreds of gigabytes per month.
This strategy may encourage some high-end uncapped ADSL subscribers to start using Virtual Private Server and related services which are specifically designed to ‘un-shape’ torrent file downloads which may bypass the IS shaping policies.
http://mybroadband.co.za/news/adsl/14014-New-uncapped-ADSL-fair-use-policy.html
How can enterprise WLANs manage the bandwidth crush from mobile devices and multimedia apps?
Posted: 2010/07/28 in Bandwidth Management, Education / Awareness“Good routing, protocol throttling, and fat backhaul are the only keys,” says ExtremeLabs Managing Director Tom Henderson. “Unless you shoot the users.”
Senators fail to agree on privacy approach
Posted: 2010/07/28 in Education / Awareness, Privacy / Data Protection, Public PolicyAfter six months worth of allegations of privacy invasions involving some of the largest Internet companies, it should come as no surprise that politicians are calling for new laws. The fact that it’s an election year probably made it inevitable.
But an unusually lengthy Senate Commerce Committee hearing on Tuesday, titled “Consumer Online Privacy,” made it clear that there was zero consensus on what approach to take.
DHS attempts to defuse privacy criticism, asks for help
Posted: 2010/07/28 in Education / Awareness, Enforcement, Legislation, Network Security, Privacy / Data ProtectionThe public view of the Internet needs to shift from Wild West metaphors to a more secure space, she said. “Will there be rules?” Lute said, then added: “There will be rules! There will be rules.”
Why You Can’t Subscribe To Digital Magazines On Your iPad
Posted: 2010/07/28 in Education / Awareness, New Business ModelsFacebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s Age of Privacy Is Over
Posted: 2010/07/28 in Education / Awareness, Privacy / Data ProtectionPhotographer Nick Stern spent a long weekend following Zuckerberg around Silicon Valley. He trailed Zuckerberg around Palo Alto streets by car, tailed him to a Stanford University event, snapped pictures of the young CEO outside a bar, and trained his camera lens on the people coming in and out of Zuckerberg’s modest College Terrace abode. Stern brought back these pictures of the 212th-richest man in the world spending time with his buddies, girlfriend, sister, and colleagues.
http://gawker.com/5597100/mark-zuckerbergs-age-of-privacy-is-over
Google & Copy Protection: New Android Licensing Service Has Apps Calling Home
Posted: 2010/07/28 in Copyright, Education / Awareness, New Business ModelsGoogle has announced Android’s new attempt to curb piracy, an online “licensing service” that automatically contacts the Android Market when an app is launched
http://gizmodo.com/5598829/new-android-copy-protection-has-apps-calling-home
http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/28/new-licensing-service-replacing-existing-copy-protection-metho/
British Library Worries That Copyright May Be Hindering Research
Posted: 2010/07/28 in Copyright, Education / Awareness, Stats / reportsThe British Library has apparently come out with a new report entitled Driving UK Research — Is copyright a help or a hindrance?
Facebook Apparently Won’t Let Users Talk About Facebook’s Lawsuit With Power.com
Posted: 2010/07/28 in Blocking, FilteringiiNet has escalated its actions to bring out the truth with a brilliant publication called Hollywood Dreams
http://www.p2pnet.net/story/42257
See also:
Coercion: short for AFACT Code of Conduct
Smart meters pose hacker kill-switch risk, warn boffins
Posted: 2010/07/28 in Education / Awareness, Network SecurityPrivacy lawsuit targets ‘Net giants over “zombie” cookies
Posted: 2010/07/28 in Education / Awareness, Litigation, Privacy / Data ProtectionESPN, MTV, MySpace, Hulu, and a host of other popular websites are being sued for secretly using Adobe Flash to recreate cookies deleted by users
Senator: Internet gatekeepers biggest threat to free speech
Posted: 2010/07/28 in Net Neutrality, Public PolicyWhile government was once the greatest threat to First Amendment rights regarding freedom of speech, Franken argued that the great threat now is corporations. Specifically, the threat comes from corporations who also control the major Internet pipes
Just two Chinese ISPs serve 20% of world broadband users
Posted: 2010/07/28 in Education / AwarenessThe two largest Internet providers in the world are Chinese. Last year, each one added as many new subscribers as Verizon has total customers—and all of those Internet users are censored
Hackers replace Buchenwald Book of the Dead with neo-Nazi slogans
Posted: 2010/07/28 in Cybercrime, Education / Awareness, Network Security, Privacy / Data ProtectionNeo-Nazis hack into Buchenwald foundation website dedicated to memory of victims and Holocaust research
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/28/hackers-buchenwald-neo-nazi-slogans
Handling stolen computer data to be illegal in The Netherlands?
Posted: 2010/07/28 in Cybercrime, Enforcement, Legislation, Privacy / Data Protection, Public PolicyAccording to a statement by the Dutch government, the Minister of Justice will propose
- To sanction unauthorized copying of non-public data from automated works;
- To sanction handling of stolen data;
- To provide Public Prosecutor’s with the authority to have illegal information removed from the internet, or to have it made inaccessible. The Prosecutor can also threaten with a fine if data is not being removed or made inaccessible in a timely fashion;
- To sanction illegal interception of confidential conversations, also in cases the one eavesdropping also is participating in the conversation;
Examples of relevant situations mentioned in the statement:
- Employees of corporations or organizations who are intentionally copying personal data of Dutch celebrities from computers to sell it to third parties now risk a prison sentence of two years. (This was already the case in relation to employees working at telecom providers)
- Criminals who are handling stolen digital data – such as passwords – to third parties are currently not acting in an illegal way because this information – from a legal point of view – is not considered to be a ‘good’ (as in ‘handling stolen goods’). Typically a ‘good’ is defined by Dutch Law as something that one does not possess anymore when another one takes off with it. The legislative proposal will change this situation and it is not required that the owner of the data actually has lost all (original) data. It does remain relevant whether or not the suspect was aware that the data was retrieved in an illegal way.
Dutch language article: http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/nieuws/2010/07/28/heling-van-computergegevens-wordt-strafbaar.html
Draft legislation in Dutch: https://www.internetconsultatie.nl/wetsvoorstel_versterking_bestrijding_computercriminaliteit
Dutch mobile operator KPN to guarantee minimum speed
Posted: 2010/07/28 in Bandwidth Management, Education / Awareness, Mobile tech, Tech EvolutionDutch media are reporting that Dutch telco KPN is going to guarantee a minimum data transfer speed when offering mobile internet access subscriptions. This has never been done before in the Netherlands. Providers typically work with maximum speeds as it is much harder to actually guarantee a minimum speed as users, usage and network performance are influencing the overall situation.
Dutch language article: http://www.nu.nl/internet/2300805/kpn-gaat-minimumsnelheid-mobiel-internet-garanderen.html
A hacker responsible for hijacking over 10 million computers around the world has been arrested in Slovenia after a major international investigation, the FBI says. The 23-year-old hacker, known as “Iserdo,” is accused of masterminding a scam in which the Mariposa “botnet” network infected computers belonging to dozens of banks and over half the Fortune 1,000 companies, AP reports.
http://www.newser.com/story/96631/fbi-botnet-mastermind-nabbed.html
ASA UK Slaps Virgin Media for Sending Unwanted SPAM Email to a Customer
Posted: 2010/07/28 in Education / Awareness, Online advertisingVirgin said they were entitled, under the Data Protection Act, to contact customers in infrequent situations where there had been business developments to ensure their data remained up-to-date and accurate
Going Beyond Prepaid – Enabling Real-time Control for all Subscribers Through Service Brokers
Posted: 2010/07/28 in Education / Awareness, New Business ModelsThe answer lies in migrating the offline charging processes that are based on post processing of the Call Detail Records to online services that rate and charge in real time. The service broker is the network solution that provides the vehicle for doing that, enabling charging control and bill shock prevention to the entire subscriber base – whether on the prepaid system or not – while maintaining total service delivery. Service brokers provide integration between the existing rating, billing and revenue management systems, existing intelligent networkService Control Point platforms, and next generation application server platforms for a combined offering of services and real time charging control – enabling service providers to provide consumers with control over usage and cost when and where they need it, regardless of their plan type.
FiberHome Selects Celeno to Support Shanghai Telecom with Wireless HD IPTV
Posted: 2010/07/28 in New Business Models, Tech EvolutionBy leveraging Celeno’s Wi-Fi chipset, the FiberHome optical gateway distributes IPTV wirelessly, providing cost-effective home network self-installation without the trouble of house wiring, enabling the flexibility to watch video content anywhere around the house
Report: Most data breaches tied to organized crime
Posted: 2010/07/28 in Organized Crime, Privacy / Data Protection, Stats / reportsOrganized criminals were responsible for 85 percent of all stolen data last year and of the unauthorized access incidents, 38 percent of the data breaches took advantage of stolen login credentials, according to the 2010 Verizon Data Breach Investigations report to be released on Wednesday.
While external agents were behind 70 percent of the breaches, nearly 50 percent were caused by insiders and only 11 percent were attributed to business partners, concluded the report, which focused on data breaches that took place in 2009.
The study combined data from investigations and statistics worldwide compiled by Verizon and the U.S. Secret Service in which 141 cases were analyzed involving more than 143 million compromised data records, compared with the more than 360 million records compromised in 2008.
Google changes tempo of music approach
Posted: 2010/07/28 in Education / Awareness, Google, New Business ModelsElizabeth Moody, a well-respected attorney who has negotiated numerous licensing on behalf of Web music services, has joined the search engine, TechCrunch reported on Friday. Another story that appeared Monday in the New York Post says Google is in New York trying to rush a licensing deal through with the Harry Fox Agency.
Google has more ambitious plans to strike an unprecedented cloud-music licensing deal with the four major record companies, music industry sources told CNET. That is why music industry insiders believe Google went outside for legal help.
Seven People Have Been Entrusted With The Keys To The Internet
Posted: 2010/07/28 in Education / Awareness, Network SecurityThe basic idea is that in the event of an Internet catastrophe, the DNSSEC (domain name system security) could be damaged or compromised and we’d be left without a way to verify if a URL is pointing to the correct website. That’s when the holders of these smart cards would be called into action
http://gizmodo.com/5597964/seven-people-have-been-entrusted-with-the-keys-to-the-internet
