And while Julian Assange’s website has taken a generally dim view of the US government, the memo it chose to leak portrays an intelligence agency that’s surprisingly thoughtful and, well, liberal-sounding.
http://motherjones.com/mojo/2010/08/wikileaks-shows-cia-soft-side-red-cell-memo-terror
Previously:
Assange — who has denied both accusations — is still suspected of molesting a woman on Aug. 13, but molestation is not a sex crime under Swedish law, said Karin Rosander, a spokeswoman for the Swedish Prosecution Authority.
The lawyer representing both women, Claes Borgstrom, also dismissed any foreign involvement in their complaints.”There is not an ounce of truth in all this about Pentagon, or the CIA, or smear campaigns, nothing like it,” Borgstrom told Swedish news agency TT. Borgstrom criticized the prosecutor’s decision, saying both complaints should be investigated as sex crimes.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j67FZIpdD8zrIyYcrXZQ4cqFj_mgD9HQLNSO0
Previously:
The French body HADOPI, the authority in charge of regulating the country’s new three-strikes scheme, has launched a public information campaign about the anti-piracy measures.
http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3i1108aba159819c850b28f0d01585351e
http://www.messagelabs.com/mlireport/MLI_2010_08_August_Final_EN.pdf
In a Dutch Q&A with legal expert Arnout Engelfriet an internet user is wondering whether Microsoft is acting in an illegal way by filtering and harvesting download URLs he has been sending out to other internet users. Microsoft is said to be doing this for the purpose of blacklisting malicious URLs.
The internet user who is sending out the URLs did not give Microsoft any explicit permission to go and do this.
Engelfriet explains that Microsoft is probably not acting in an unlawful manner because the recipient of the download URL usually has activated the SmartScreen technology himself. If SmartScreen then goes out and checks this URL on behalf on the person who has activated the technology and has received the download URL, this should not be any problem.
Dutch language article: http://security.nl/artikel/34262/1/Juridische_vraag%3A_Is_Microsoft_illegaal_bezig_met_SmartScreen%3F.html
Attorney General Steve Six has joined colleagues from 17 states in a letter to craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster and founder Craig Newmark stating they should immediately remove the craigslist “Adult Services” section. The letter comes after repeated attempts to have craigslist comply with an agreement from 2008 have only led to additional complaints.
CVG has been told by a cast iron source close to the project that it has been canned by Warner Bros after three years in development.
Libox has launched on iTunes, with an accompanying desktop client scanning the media content of your ‘primary’ computer, then distributing it all via a P2P network among your own devices. This could even beat Dropbox for modern media convenience
http://gizmodo.com/5621380/libox-is-your-own-personal-p2p-network
New Analysys Mason research, which is based upon data obtained from over 1000 fixed broadband bundles in the UK, Europe and USA, reveals that the average monthly price paid (PPP) for a fixed broadband service bundle has fallen by £4.10 (5 Euros) between Q4-2009 and Q2-2010 to £33.42 (40.7 Euros) per month.
Customers receive a call from an unknown company, which informs them that their broadband connection has been flagged as having problems. The customer is then directed to a website where they can download a “fix” for the problem.
In a technology industry addicted to perpetual upgrade cycles, as the PC market has been for two decades, infrastructure and equipment companies are looking to video as the next big killer app to drive demand for faster networks and services
Photoshop, MS Office and many other applications can be downloaded for free
http://torrentfreak.com/iranian-government-runs-public-warez-server-100824/
“If it is illegal for you to bypass ISP throttling or randomize your ports then I suggest you do not use this application”
The US Justice Department is “apparently considering prosecuting” WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange under the rarely used WWI Espionage Act of 1917, says Ivan Eland (right) on AntiWar.com.
http://www.p2pnet.net/story/43235
Previously:
Scientists are developing an identity verification system that would spot terrorists and pedophiles by scanning their skeletal features and comparing them against a database of stored images.
The system could be deployed in airports, sporting events, and other settings vulnerable to criminals and ideally will be able to positively identify an individual’s unique skeletal structure from 50 meters, the researchers, from Wright State Research Institute, said here. It would analyze a variety of skeletal attributes – including shape, density joint structure and previously broken bones – to identify the individual.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/08/24/skelital_image_scanner/
Belgian and French media are reporting that Attorney General Cédric Visart de Bocarmé and Court expert Suzanne Hage are of the opinion that posting 1,200 plus pages of the Dutroux case file online is an illegal act. It is said the case file is still confidential.
The information would mention where and when the rape victims were being abused and some of the information would relate to innocent people who are not to blame and were only being quoted in the report. These people are now subject to public humiliation on the internet.
The Attorney General feels that this is about sections from a judicial inquiry that need to remain confidential.
Apparently WikiLeaks already posted this document online in 2009.
Dutch/Flemish language articles: http://www.destentor.nl/algemeen/buitenland/7175396/Dossier-Dutroux-op-Wikileaks-is-illegaal.ece
This criticism coincides with Wikileaks announcing that it will publish a ‘CIA paper’: http://www.news.com.au/technology/wikileaks-announces-cia-paper-release/story-e6frfro0-1225909810635
Previously:
Microsoft probes Halo leak
Stephen Toulouse, Director of Policy and Enforcement for Xbox LIVE, warned hackers on his Twitter account: ‘Remember, legit store bought copy runs no risk of ban. Key word: UNAUTHORIZED. We have ways of knowing. As with all unauthorized play on Xbox LIVE, anyone playing any unauthorized title runs the risk of account permaban and console.’
http://www.metro.co.uk/tech/838964-microsoft-probes-halo-reach-leak
and: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20014528-17.html
Previously:
Halo: Reach put on Xbox Live for reviewers, then pirated
http://vrritti.com/2010/08/23/halo-reach-put-on-xbox-live-for-reviewers-then-pirated/
According to recent CEA figures, shipment revenue for wired earbuds will top $447 million this year, with a projected increase of another $10 million by the end of 2011. This, despite an average factory manufacturing price that continues to hover around $8.
Quoting commenter ‘frigg’: “I wonder how much thought went into the color used for each ethnicity on the graph.”
http://gizmodo.com/5620989/black-people-call-and-text-way-more-than-everyone-else
