Archive for 2012/07/13

An 18-year-old Slovak is facing up to five years behind bars for posting links sharing pirated movie downloads on the Internet

Posted: 2012/07/13 in Copyright, Education / Awareness, Enforcement, Litigation, Public Policy, Stats / reports

“He stands accused of copyright violation for posting download links to at least 150 movies on various discussion forums on the Internet,” police in the capital Bratislava said in a statement Friday.

“Since 2008, he has caused copyright holders damage worth 96,750 euros ($118,175),” the police added.

Downloading movies or music for personal use is legal in Slovakia but it is illegal to share the downloaded content on the Internet, either for commercial use or for free.

According to the justice ministry, 12 people were convicted of copyright violations in Slovakia last year.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jw5Lwk2ojABG2Pc-WmuVH5Chm2TA

US “Six Strikes” Anti-Piracy Scheme Will Roll Out Gradually

Posted: 2012/07/13 in Copyright, Education / Awareness, Enforcement, Illegal File Sharing, New Business Models, Stats / reports, Tech Evolution, Three Strikes

More than a year after the MPAA and RIAA announced their groundbreaking anti-piracy deal with U.S. Internet providers, the first warning letters are yet to be sent out.

Somewhere in the near future the Center for Copyright Information (CCI) will start to track down online ‘pirates’ as part of an agreement all major US Internet providers struck with the MPAA and RIAA.

The parties agreed on a system through which copyright infringers are warned that their behavior is unacceptable. After five or six warnings ISPs may then take a variety of repressive measures, including temporary disconnections.

More:
http://torrentfreak.com/us-six-strikes-anti-piracy-scheme-will-roll-out-gradually-120713/

Apple, Google and Amazon sneakier than BANKERS and OIL FIRMS

Posted: 2012/07/13 in Education / Awareness, Public Policy, Stats / reports

Silicon Valley has copied Wall Street

Internet superstars score far lower than banks or oil companies on a measure of corporate governance released this week by an NGO funded by the UK.

The report from Transparency International ranks the cream of Silicon Valley – Google and Apple, along with Amazon.com – at the bottom of a survey of 106 global companies. Amazon came in at No 100, Google at No 96, Apple at No 92 and Microsoft at No 86 – one place ahead of Cisco Systems.

More:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/13/transparency_survey/

Small ISPs to Steelie Neelie: ‘You’ve turned your back on us’. Euro commish changes tune over telco copper price spanking

Posted: 2012/07/13 in Education / Awareness, Public Policy, Stats / reports

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/13/neelie_kroes_broadband_investment/

ICE-led IPR Center seizes 70 websites duping consumers into buying counterfeit merchandise

Posted: 2012/07/13 in Copyright, Cybercrime, Education / Awareness, Enforcement, Stats / reports

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) -led National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center) seized 70 websites that were illegally selling counterfeit merchandise.

The 70 websites seized are part of Project Copy Cat, an iteration of Operation In Our Sites (IOS), and closely mimicked legitimate websites selling authentic merchandise and duped consumers into unknowingly buying counterfeit goods. Many of the websites so closely resembled the legitimate websites that it would be difficult for even the most discerning consumer to tell the difference.

The websites are now shut down and their domain names are in the custody of the federal government. Visitors to these websites will find a seizure banner that notifies them that the domain name has been seized by federal authorities and educates them about the federal crime of willful copyright infringement.

“This operation targeted criminals making a buck by trying to trick consumers into believing they were buying name brand products from legitimate websites when in fact they were buying counterfeits from illegal but sophisticated imposter sites located overseas,” said ICE Director John Morton. “The imposter sites were simply a fraud from start to finish and served no purpose other than to defraud and dupe unwary shoppers.”

A new twist in the websites seized in Project Copy Cat involved the appearance of Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates. SSL certificates provide authentication for financial information, meaning consumers should be able to trust that they are sending information to the intended server and not to a criminal’s server. Trusted SSL providers should only issue SSL certificates to verified companies that have gone through several identity checks. In addition to providing authentication, SSL certificates also provide encryption, enhancing the security of credit card numbers, usernames, passwords and other sensitive information. These websites, however, displayed SSL certificates, further duping the consumer into thinking they were shopping on a legitimate website, potentially putting customers’ financial information at risk.

Much more:
http://www.ice.gov/news/releases/1207/120712washington.htm

Around a third of O2′s customers in the U.K. were affected by an outage, but the phone giant could escape legal trouble altogether

Posted: 2012/07/13 in Education / Awareness, Stats / reports

http://www.zdnet.com/o2-outage-hit-one-third-of-uk-customers-7000000858/

Facebook ‘likes’ and adverts’ value doubted

Posted: 2012/07/13 in Education / Awareness, Online advertising, Stats / reports

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-18813237

Yahoo breach puts users of other sites at risk

Posted: 2012/07/13 in Cybercrime, Education / Awareness, Network Security, Privacy / Data Protection

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/13/net-us-yahoo-hackers-idUSBRE86B0HT20120713

Manning and Assange: Worse Than Terrorists?

Posted: 2012/07/13 in Education / Awareness, Public Policy, Stats / reports

http://www.infowars.com/manning-and-assange-worse-than-terrorists/

How Facebook Tries (and Sort of Deliberately Fails) to Catch Pedophiles

Posted: 2012/07/13 in Cybercrime, Education / Awareness, Enforcement, Privacy / Data Protection, Stats / reports, Tech Evolution

It’s a real dilemma. On one hand, loudmouths like us hammer Facebook whenever privacy concerns pop up. And rightly so—Facebook and other social services hold a massive amount of our private data, and often seem to forget how violated they can make us feel. No one wants Facebook employees reading their chat transcripts if it’s not necessary.

But public sentiment bends and warps when it comes to child predators, because there are genuine horrors out there. Would we be OK with Facebook reading through millions more innocent-but-idiotic cybersex transcripts between college kids or sad adults if it bumped that hypothetical figure to 5-in-10? 8-in-10? It’s hard to say.

More:
http://gizmodo.com/5925784/how-facebook-tries-and-sort-of-deliberately-fails-to-catch-pedophiles

A Russian hacker has found a method to fool iPhone and iPad apps so that you can get in-app purchases for free

Posted: 2012/07/13 in Cybercrime, Education / Awareness, Stats / reports

http://gizmodo.com/5925795/this-method-to-get-iphone-and-ipad-in+app-purchases-for-free-is-surprisingly-easy

Are You Still Buying Music on iTunes?

Posted: 2012/07/13 in Education / Awareness, New Business Models, Stats / reports, Tech Evolution

http://gizmodo.com/5925743/are-you-still-buying-music-on-itunes

Web TV Service Aereo Plans To Be in Every Major US City By 2013

Posted: 2012/07/13 in Education / Awareness, New Business Models, Stats / reports, Tech Evolution

http://gizmodo.com/5925709/aereo-plans-to-be-in-every-major-us-city-by-2013

Artists unhappy with European Commission’s proposal to reform copyright

Posted: 2012/07/13 in Copyright, Education / Awareness, New Business Models, Public Policy, Stats / reports

The proposal provides that collecting societies will have to pay royalties within 12 months after the financial year in which a song was played. Collecting societies are allowed to keep the fund if the copyright holder can’t be identified within 5 years. According to the group of artists, the 5 year period will encourage collecting societies to keep the money and reduces the incentive to find the copyright holders. “You have broken your promises and encourage the management of collecting societies to keep the fruits of our creativity. You stole our hopes.” the letter reads.

More:
http://www.futureofcopyright.com/home/blog-post/2012/07/13/artists-unhappy-with-european-commissions-proposal-to-reform-copyright.html

Defects leave critical military, industrial infrastructure open to hacks

Posted: 2012/07/13 in Cybercrime, Education / Awareness, Network Security, Privacy / Data Protection, Public Policy, Stats / reports

iTunes has “more robust” security than some of our critical infrastructure

http://arstechnica.com/security/2012/07/ics-security-light-years-behind-itunes/

Apple: leaving green product registry EPEAT was a “mistake”

Posted: 2012/07/13 in Education / Awareness, Stats / reports

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/07/apple-leaving-green-product-registry-epeat-was-a-mistake/

German Supreme Court: In Certain Situations, Cyberlockers Such As Rapidshare Can Be Held Responsible For What They Are Storing

Posted: 2012/07/13 in Copyright, Education / Awareness, Enforcement, Filtering, Illegal File Sharing, Jurisprudence, Litigation, Public Policy, Stats / reports

For example, in case the cyberlocker has been warned of copyright infringement previously and those files are being uploaded again. Even when they’re being uploaded using a different file name, the cyberlocker should do its utmost to prevent that from happening, for example by using filtering technologies.

The court has confirmed that cyberlockers are legitimate businesses and any demands made by rights owners should be reasonable and realistic.

German language news article:
http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/BGH-Filehoster-haften-unter-Umstaenden-fuer-Rechtsverletzungen-1637793.html

FBI Investigating Major Chinese Firm for Selling Spy Gear to Iran

Posted: 2012/07/13 in Education / Awareness, Privacy / Data Protection, Public Policy, Stats / reports, Tech Evolution

ZTE designs and manufactures fixed and mobile communications and is the second largest maker of telecommunications equipment in China. Their systems could be used to intercept voice calls, text messaging, e-mails and chats, as well as to locate users.

Much more:
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/07/fbi-zte/

Botnet’s CnC servers are located in countries like Russia, Panama, and the Netherlands where authorities historically have been reluctant when dealing with abuse notifications

Posted: 2012/07/13 in Cybercrime, Education / Awareness, Enforcement, Network Security, Public Policy, Stats / reports

Back in 2009, I started writing a series of articles called “Killing the Beast.” These articles were primarily focused on the command and control (CnC) coordinates of popular spam botnets. These articles not only provided readers greater visibility into these spam botnets, but also served as the basis for two botnet takedowns. So far, four articles under this series have been published. After a long time, I have decided to write the fifth one.

Much more:
http://blog.fireeye.com/research/2012/07/killing-the-beast-part-5.html

You might be shocked to learn that Facebook is automatically publishing posts under your name and placing them at the top of the News feed for your friends. In some cases, these posts can include controversial political content that you would never voluntarily post

Posted: 2012/07/13 in Education / Awareness, New Business Models, Online advertising, Privacy / Data Protection, Stats / reports

http://www.zdnet.com/is-facebook-damaging-your-reputation-with-sneaky-political-posts-7000000828/

ISP Entanet UK Slams Anti-Piracy Digital Economy Act Law as Out of Date

Posted: 2012/07/13 in Copyright, Education / Awareness, Enforcement, Legislation, Public Policy, Stats / reports

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2012/07/isp-entanet-uk-slams-anti-piracy-digital-economy-act-law-as-out-of-date.html

Zen Internet UK Explains its Preparations for the 2012 Olympic Games

Posted: 2012/07/13 in Bandwidth Management, Education / Awareness, Stats / reports, Tech Evolution

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2012/07/zen-internet-uk-explains-its-preparations-for-the-2012-olympic-games.html

HBO’s Newsroom: “America is not the Greatest Country in the World” (Video)

Posted: 2012/07/13 in Education / Awareness, Public Policy, Stats / reports

Time Warner Is So Scared of Google Fiber That It’s Paying People to Spy on Google

Posted: 2012/07/13 in Education / Awareness, New Business Models, Stats / reports, Tech Evolution

http://gizmodo.com/5925574/time-warner-is-so-scared-of-google-fiber-that-its-paying-people-to-spy-on-google

Netflix users’ taste for movies versus TV are changing

Posted: 2012/07/13 in Education / Awareness, New Business Models, Stats / reports

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57471605-93/netflix-movie-streaming-takes-back-stage-to-tv/

Facebook scans chats and posts for criminal activity

Posted: 2012/07/13 in Education / Awareness, New Business Models, Privacy / Data Protection, Stats / reports

Facebook has added sleuthing to its array of data-mining capabilities, scanning your posts and chats for criminal activity. If the social-networking giant detects suspicious behavior, it flags the content and determines if further steps, such as informing the police, are required.

More:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57471570-93/facebook-scans-chats-and-posts-for-criminal-activity/

“Facebook’s public offering put a spotlight on the “extreme corruption” in Wall Street”

Posted: 2012/07/13 in Education / Awareness, Stats / reports

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57471545-93/mcnamee-says-behavior-on-facebook-ipo-is-criminal/

Finally – one iTunes Store to rule them all (in Europe)

Posted: 2012/07/13 in Education / Awareness, Public Policy, Stats / reports

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/07/finally-one-itunes-store-to-rule-them-all-in-europe/

Canadian Supreme Court embraces fair use in landmark decisions. Court smacks down copyright collectives, Big Content

Posted: 2012/07/13 in Copyright, Education / Awareness, Jurisprudence, New Business Models, Public Policy, Stats / reports

On Thursday, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in five copyright cases heard by the court last year, setting the scene to re-write much of Canada’s intellectual property law as it pertains to digital media.

In the five cases, the Court established broader definitions for fair dealing (down here below the Great White North, we call our version “fair use”), in particular, for photocopying textbooks. Previously, a public umbrella body called Access Copyright charged additional fees, often passed directly to students, for university-given access to copyrighted textbooks and similar work. The Court trashed much of that setup, finding that photocopying textbooks for or by students for private study or research is fair dealing, and likely will save Canadian universities and students millions of dollars annually.

Additionally, the Court ruled in favor of the Entertainment Software Association, which asked for new tariffs imposed on copyrighted music used in video games be overturned. The Court also overturned federally imposed royalty fees by Canada’s top ISPs and media companies for music downloading, as the individual downloads are not a “public performance.” That does not apply to streaming services, however.

The Court also found that samples of songs offered in iTunes and similar services were considered fair dealing and did not require new royalties. The final case confirmed that record labels and artists were not eligible for additional royalties on television and film soundtracks, as they are different than usual sound recordings.

More:
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/07/canadian-supreme-court-embraces-fair-use-in-landmark-decisions/

A team of Canadian researchers have uncovered an unusual new example of “upstream filtering,” where online content in one country is blocked in another country due to filtering that happens in transit

Posted: 2012/07/13 in Blocking, Education / Awareness, Filtering, Network Security, Privacy / Data Protection, Public Policy, Stats / reports

And what about deep packet inspection?

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/07/internet-content-blocking-travels-downstream-affects-unwary-users/