Archive for 2012/06/07

The operations of these anti-piracy companies are usually shrouded in secrecy, but on condition of anonymity an insider has been speaking out about his work hunting pirates at proMedia. The individual, referred to only as ‘Peter’, told SpiegelOnline that he has worked for the company for four years, tracking down copyright infringements on behalf of the big labels.

Peter, a musician and student teacher, works in proMedia’s Hamburg office, but he is not alone. According to the 26-year-old, proMedia employs a total of 35 students in a range of anti-piracy roles.

In addition to using Google to search forums, blogs and cyberlockers for infringements, Peter and his colleagues also engage in the most controversial anti-piracy work – tracking down file-sharers on P2P networks such as BitTorrent in order to extract cash settlements from them.

The labels’ aggressive stance towards infringement is well-known, so file-sharers shouldn’t be surprised if they’re targeted, Peter says. “If someone is caught, it’s his own fault,” he explains.

Much more:
http://torrentfreak.com/big-four-music-labels-hire-students-to-chase-file-sharers-120607/

In April, the U.S. Trade Representative’s office published its annual “priority watch list” of countries with the worst reputation regarding the prevention of theft of copyright protected material. China is put on top of the list for the eight consecutive time and is subject to a special monitor program since 1990.  The list is intended to shame governments and encourage them to change their copyright laws.

Although the Chinese have had a poor reputation on the protection of intellectual property for numerous years, it has to be noted that things are gradually improving. At the moment, copyright legislation in the People’s Republic is under review. Western criticism often points to underdeveloped enforcement policy in China. The Chinese show that they take this feedback seriously and have strengthened their approach in the past few years.

More:
http://www.futureofcopyright.com/home/blog-post/2012/06/07/china-plans-to-double-penalties-for-copyright-infringement.html

Same applies to regulatory safe havens

China released proposed changes to its Internet law on Thursday that aim to further eliminate anonymity on the Web and expand control over the companies behind the country’s boisterous microblogging scene.

In a draft update of the government’s “Methods for Governance of Internet Information Services”, China is proposing to widen the definition of Internet information service providers to include online forums, blogs and microblogs.

It will also require microblog operators, like Sina Corp and Tencent Holdings, to obtain an administrative licence to run the popular service.

More:
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/06/07/oukin-uk-china-internet-idUKBRE8560AP20120607

New Zealand lawyers for Kim Dotcom and associates allege that FBI agents committed an “illegal act” by cloning data from the file-sharing tycoon’s seized computers and FedExing it to the United States.

The cloned data was sent overseas just days after a judge decided a court hearing was needed to work out if the FBI agents were allowed to take the material, Dotcom’s lawyer Willy Akel told the High Court of Auckland Wednesday.

Akel said the FBI sent material back to the States without the New Zealand police having any say in the matter and that the police force had effectively lost control over it.

More:
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/06/fbi-pirated-kim-dotcom/

OPTA will probably start receiving product specifications from companies that claim that they CAN check just that, starting right about now

Dutch language news article:
http://webwereld.nl/nieuws/110746/opta–nederlandse-cookiewet-geldt-voor-hele-wereld.html

There’s only one truth internet and that’s our truth internet

No less a figure than Vint Cerf has been addressing the US Congress on why the UN can’t be allowed to control the internet, whipping up sentiment against a supposed takeover bid and at the same time advocating something at least as controversial.

Testifying to the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee, on Google-headed paper (PDF), the “father of the internet” called for Americans to rise up against the threat of the UN (in the guise of its telecommunications standards agency, the ITU) seizing control of the internet in the name of communism (well, of China and Russia anyway). His testimony also contains an interesting plea for the “internet stakeholders” to have more control over international telecommunications.

More:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/06/07/un_vint_cert/

German authorities confirmed Tuesday in a parliamentary document that their military possesses a top secret cyberwarfare unit which is already operational, but gave no details of how big it is or what kind of attacks it could conduct.

The German armed forces have been working for 20 years to defend the country’s computer networks from external attack, but have never disclosed before that they have an offensive capacity as well.

The existence of the unit, set up in 2006, was disclosed in a six-page paper presented to the parliamentary committee on defence in Berlin.

More:
http://www.stripes.com/news/germany-confirms-existence-of-operational-cyberwarfare-unit-1.179655

As widely expected BE Broadband, which is the sibling fixed line network operator of O2 UK (Telefonica), has today confirmed the implementation of a “network-wide block” that aims to prevent its internet access customers from being able to view the The Pirate Bay (BitTorrent P2P / File Sharing) website.

The move follows an April 2012 ruling by the High Court of Justice in London (here), which imposed a court order requiring Sky Broadband, Everything Everywhere (Orange UK and T-Mobile), TalkTalk, O2 (BE Broadband), BT and Virgin Media to block access to the site over internet copyright infringement (piracy) abuse. TalkTalk and BT will imminently impose a similar block.

BE Statement

Overnight we’ll be implementing a network-wide block of known Pirate Bay websites to comply with the court ruling in late April. Here’s a screenshot of the page you’ll see if you try to visit one of these URLs.

Whilst we’re on the subject, we wanted to say that BE takes pride in the fact that our broadband products are unlimited and unthrottled. Unlike other ISPs, we never slow down or limit your connection artificially no matter what protocol or site you’re using. Legally we need to comply with court orders but wherever possible we leave it up to you.

More:
http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2012/06/isp-be-broadband-and-o2-uk-begin-blocking-the-pirate-bay-website.html

See also:

Pirate Bay Popularity Continues To Drop In Blocking Countries UK And NL
http://vrritti.com/2012/06/03/pirate-bay-popularity-continues-to-drop-in-blocking-countries-uk-and-nl/

Internet users in the UK who fancy joining the first “exclusivecustomer trials of YouView’s (Project Canvas) broadband ISP based and subscription free video-on-demand and catch-up TV (IPTV) service can now register on their website to take part.

At present the service is only being tested by 100 staff from the Joint Venture partners (BBC, ITV, BT, Channel 4, TalkTalk, Arqiva, Channel 5) and, according to last weeks report (here), the new “alpha” trial aims to expand this by adding 350 homes to the service.

More:
http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2012/06/uk-youview-broadband-iptv-service-opens-trial-registrations.html

Is Sean Parker introducing ”one strike and you’re out” because it makes sense from an economical perspective?

Airtime was created by Napster co-founders Sean Parker and Shawn Fanning and has been described as an evolved version of Chatroulette, a video service that randomly matched up people around the world for chatting. Chatroulette ended up being a short-lived venture because it quickly devolved into a place where certain male users enjoyed flashing their genitalia.

Quick to avoid this type of behavior, Airtime put several measures into place to prevent it from deteriorating into a porn platform. During the video service’s launch, Parker said one of Airtime’s top principles is safety. The secret sauce to defeating the flashers is Facebook, Parker said, since Airtime is built on top of the social network there is accountability. “The system knows who you are,” Parker said.

Listed in Airtime’s terms of service are types of inappropriate behavior that are banned on the site, including nudity or partial nudity, obscene or vulgar behavior, sexually suggestive behavior, violence, animal cruelty, and drug use.

But the only real way to tell if this type of behavior is happening, especially on anonymous chats, is by monitoring the calls.

“Since it’s likely the two people in a matched call don’t know each other, we take periodic screenshots during the video chat to monitor for any inappropriate conduct,” an Airtime blog post from today says. “Screenshots are taken for all matched calls and we only take screen captures, not video or audio recordings, as part of our safety measures.”

These screenshots are then run through a computer algorithmic review process that uses technology like face and luminosity detection. Those shots flagged as “problematic” by the computer are then examined by Airtime’s “team of trained safety professionals.” If the shots do show lewd behavior, the accused user is immediately locked out of the service.

“One strike and you’re out,” the blog says.

According to MSNBC, Airtime stores these screenshots indefinitely “for historical perspective” and to “detect abuse patterns.” However, besides users’ Facebook accounts, the video service’s safety team affirms that it doesn’t view any other user information.

More:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57448671-93/airtime-curtails-privacy-for-the-sake-of-safety/

Outrage from advertisers appears to have hobbled Microsoft’s renegade plan.

There’s no likelihood now that Microsoft IE 10, or any other browser, will ship with DNT turned on by default, though they could come with a very easy way for users to turn it on. And there’s also nothing in the specification that would prohibit browsers from blocking tracking cookies by default by refusing “third-party” cookies, as Apple’s Safari browser has done for years.

But the lifetime of a browser with DNT turned on by default is clearly measured in internet time. IE 10 with DNT turned on lived for six days before getting its death sentence.

More:
http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/06/ie-10%e2%80%b2s-do-not-track-default-dies-quick-death/

Football economy vs equality rights & ethical and moral values

Michel Platini has warned players they will be booked if they walk off the pitch at Euro 2012 in protest at being racially abused

More:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/jun/06/michel-platini-yellow-racism-protest

The movie studios don’t want users to have access to copyright-infringing files

http://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-megaupload-users-can-have-their-files-back-but-120606/

http://torrentfreak.com/riaa-wants-search-engines-to-censor-pirate-sites-120606/

Dutch language news article:
http://webwereld.nl/nieuws/110733/miljoen-nederlanders-dupe-van-brand-in-datacenter.html

See also:
https://www.fox-it.com/uploads/pdf/fti__v3__en.pdf

Dutch language news article:
http://webwereld.nl/nieuws/110699/politieagent-krijgt-digihulp-in-herkennen-bewijs.html

Economy + freedom of speech vs human trafficking victims

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/06/online-sex-advertising/

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/06/kindle-fire-is-first-android-tablet-to-get-hbo-go/

More:
http://www.wired.com/business/2012/06/hackathons-arent-just-for-hacking/