Archive for 2012/07/18

Court May Order Google to Censor ‘Torrent,’ ‘RapidShare’ and ‘Megaupload’

Posted: 2012/07/18 in Blocking, Education / Awareness, Filtering, Google, Jurisprudence, Litigation, Stats / reports

Google has suffered a setback in its case against the music industry group SNEP. Last week the French Supreme Court ruled that Google can be required to censor the search terms ‘Torrent’, ‘RapidShare’ and ‘Megaupload’ from its Instant and Autocomplete services. The court argued that Google indirectly facilitates copyright infringement by failing to filter these terms. The case is now going back to the Appeals Court for a final decision.

The Supreme Court ruled that keyword filters are an appropriate measure to curb online piracy.

While the Court recognizes that Google is not accountable for any of the infringements that take place on other websites, it says that Google does have a responsibility to make it more difficult for the public to “discover” unauthorized content.

By filtering these search terms, Google helps to prevent future infringements, the Court noted.

Much more:
http://torrentfreak.com/court-may-order-google-to-censor-torrent-rapidshare-and-megaupload-120718/

Cyberlocker Oron effectively blocked third parties from uploading repeat infringing content to Oron’s servers

Posted: 2012/07/18 in Blocking, Copyright, Education / Awareness, Enforcement, Filtering, Illegal File Sharing, Litigation, New Business Models, Stats / reports, Tech Evolution

The owner of Oron.com has stepped forward.

Stanislav Davidoglov made a declaration to federal court that he is the rightful owner of the file-sharing site. Stanislav made the statement Friday from Chisinau, Moldova. (In court documents, Davidoglov is named as Davidoglov Stanislav, with surname in reverse.)

The declaration is the latest move by Oron counsel to defend against a $34.8 million copyright infringement suit that, according to plaintiff Corbin Fisher, has been settled.

Davidoglov said that “Oron is and for years has been extremely diligent in establishing safeguards to deal with potential copyright infringement.”

“Oron has always had a program in place under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, by which a copyright owner can report and click on copyright infringement on Oron’s website,” Davidoglov said in the declaration. “A copyright owner need only go to the front page of the website to the ‘report abuse’ link, which will result in the offending material being deleted.”

Davidoglov also said that Oron has assisted adult studios, including Corbin Fisher, with efforts to monitor Oron.com for potential copyright infringement.

Davidoglov noted that his company has not only been compliant on take-down notices, but it also has taken an extra step further. He said that Corbin Fisher appointed Porn Guardian to submit DMCA notices on its behalf and that last December, upon Porn Guardian’s request, Oron granted Porn Guardian access to a removal tool that enables it to directly take down infringing material.

“When Porn Guardian had difficulty removing some content, Oron offered to process those folders manually. Further, prior to allowing final deletion of any material taken down by PornGuardian, Oron has automated the running of MD5 Hash algorithms on all such material thus blocking any such material from ever being uploadable again on Oron’s servers. The latter two technical means have effectively blocked third parties from uploading repeat infringing content to Oron’s servers.”

More:
http://newswire.xbiz.com/view.php?id=151346

See also:

Cyberlocker Oron offered to turn over the IP addresses, banking details and email addresses of its users alleged to have infringed copyright
http://vrritti.com/2012/07/06/cyberlocker-oron-offered-to-turn-over-the-ip-addresses-banking-details-and-email-addresses-of-its-users-alleged-to-have-infringed-copyright/

Cyberlocker Oron said it needed to pay its hosting company, Netherlands-based LeaseWeb, $75,000 by last evening plus an additional payment of $280,000 by next Monday
http://vrritti.com/2012/07/02/cyberlocker-oron-said-it-needed-to-pay-its-hosting-company-netherlands-based-leaseweb-75000-by-last-evening-plus-an-additional-payment-of-280000-by-next-monday/

Clash Of The Titans: Adult Content Industry United Foundation Versus Leaseweb Hosted Oron.com
http://vrritti.com/2012/06/23/clash-of-the-titans-adult-content-industry-united-foundation-versus-leaseweb-hosted-oron-com/

House bill in Philippines seeks to penalize online piracy

Posted: 2012/07/18 in Copyright, Education / Awareness, Enforcement, Illegal File Sharing, Legislation, New Business Models, Public Policy, Stats / reports

Citing its violation to intellectual property rights of many creators, artists, producers, songwriters, and musicians, a bill that seeks to penalize online piracy has been filed in the House of Representatives.

House Bill 6187, known as “Anti-Online Piracy Act,” was filed by Buhay party-list Representatives Irwin Tieng and Michael Velarde.

The bill prohibits any person to make in a manner not authorized by the copyright owner, copies of music recordings or films, in complete or substantially complete form, by any means, including but not limited to uploading, downloading or streaming.

“With the tremendous expansion of the Internet, it has regrettably become a cash-cow for the criminals and organized crime cartels that profit from digital piracy,” Tieng said.

Under the bill, first-time offenders shall be penalized with imprisonment of two years plus a fine ranging from P50,000 to P150,000. Second-time violators will be slapped with a fine of P150,000 to P300,000 and three years imprisonment.

For the third and subsequent offenses, the bill proposes a penalty of five years imprisonment plus a fine ranging from P300,000 to P1,000,000.

With the advent of new technologies of MP3 and the video compression formats, song and movie downloading have relatively become fast and free of charge, the lawmakers said.

“Regardless how the infringer sees it, piracy is theft of intellectual property and is no more justifiable than shoplifting. The damage done to the entertainment industry and legitimate end users do not outweigh the few advantages that piracy does have,” Tieng said.

More:
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/2012/07/18/house-bill-seeks-penalize-online-piracy-232661

Servers Of Dutch Hosting Provider Proserve Have Been Comprimised. Data On 800,000 Dutch Consumers Has Been Accessible

Posted: 2012/07/18 in Cybercrime, Education / Awareness, Enforcement, Network Security, Privacy / Data Protection, Stats / reports

Large databases hosted at Proserve have been compromised. They were used by various online news media and e-commerce websites.

A white hat hacker has discovered the security breach as well as three possible vulnerabilities within the infrastructure at Proserve.

Proserve has filed a criminal complaint with Dutch enforcement authorities.

Dutch language news article:
http://www.nu.nl/internet/2861788/gegevens-800000-nederlanders-gestolen-hacker.html

Newest U.S. Counterterrorism Strategy: Trolling

Posted: 2012/07/18 in Education / Awareness, Enforcement, New Business Models, Public Policy, Stats / reports

The program, called Viral Peace, seeks to occupy the virtual space that extremists fill, one thread or Twitter exchange at a time. Shahed Amanullah, a senior technology adviser to the State Department and Viral Peace’s creator, tells Danger Room he wants to use “logic, humor, satire, [and] religious arguments, not just to confront [extremists], but to undermine and demoralize them.” Think of it as strategic trolling, in pursuit of geopolitical pwnage.

More:
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/07/counterterrorism-trolls/

Scientific data: open access to research results will boost Europe’s innovation capacity

Posted: 2012/07/18 in Education / Awareness, New Business Models, Public Policy, Stats / reports

The European Commission today outlined measures to improve access to scientific information produced in Europe. Broader and more rapid access to scientific papers and data will make it easier for researchers and businesses to build on the findings of public-funded research. This will boost Europe’s innovation capacity and give citizens quicker access to the benefits of scientific discoveries. In this way, it will give Europe a better return on its €87 billion annual investment in R&D. The measures complement the Commission’s Communication to achieve a European Research Area (ERA), also adopted today.

Much more:
http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/12/790&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

Google Ideas: joining the fight against drug cartels and other illicit networks

Posted: 2012/07/18 in Education / Awareness, Enforcement, Google, New Business Models, Organized Crime, Stats / reports

Eighteen months ago we launched Google Ideas with the belief that Google is in the unique position to explore the role that technology can play in tackling some of the toughest human challenges in the world. Our first area of focus was counter-radicalization; last year we convened the Summit Against Violent Extremism with former gang members, right-wing extremists, jihadists and militants as well as survivors of violent extremism. Among the many outcomes of the summit was a platform that we established as a one-stop shop for tackling violent extremism through formers and survivors.

Recently, we’ve expanded our focus to include violent illicit networks such as narco-trafficking, human trafficking, organ harvesting and arms dealing. We believe that technology has the power to expose and dismantle global criminal networks, which depend on secrecy and discretion in order to function. And for the past few months, we’ve been working with people fighting on the front line to gain a better understanding of what drives these networks and how they function.

This week, in partnership with the Council on Foreign Relations and the Tribeca Film Festival, we’re convening Illicit Networks: Forces in Opposition (or the INFO summit) in Los Angeles, Calif. Too often illicit networks are seen only in the silos of those who study them. This summit aims to break down those silos by bringing together a full-range of stakeholders, from survivors of organ trafficking, sex trafficking and forced labor to government officials, dozens of engineers, tech leaders and product managers from Google and beyond. Through the summit, which lasts until Wednesday, we hope to discover ways that technology can be used to expose and disrupt these networks as a whole—and to put some of these ideas into practice.

More:
http://googleblog.blogspot.nl/2012/07/google-ideas-joining-fight-against-drug.html?m=1

Syrian Electronic Army Says It Has Exposed E-mail Database Of Anonymous In The Netherlands

Posted: 2012/07/18 in Cybercrime, Education / Awareness, Privacy / Data Protection, Stats / reports

Posts around 700 (nick)names and e-mail addresses on Pastebin. The information has allegedly been retrieved from the database of the website AnonymousNetherlands.nl.

Dutch language news article:
http://www.security.nl/artikel/42300/1/Gegevens_Anonymous_Nederland_gelekt.html

Scientists have created a record-breaking laser that could solve the energy crisis

Posted: 2012/07/18 in Education / Awareness, New Business Models, Stats / reports, Tech Evolution

http://www.rt.com/news/laser-beam-ignition-clean-energy-426/

Banned in the UK! BBC fights for right to air riot docudrama

Posted: 2012/07/18 in Blocking, Education / Awareness, Jurisprudence, Public Policy, Stats / reports

The BBC is considering making an appeal against a court order which stopped it from broadcasting a dramatized film on last year’s riots in London.

The film, which features actors portraying anonymous rioters sharing their experience of the events, was due to be broadcast on Monday evening, but was banned by a court order hours before hitting the airwaves

Its script was written by award-winning playwright Alecky Blythe and is based on interviews from some 270 people conducted by the Guardian and London School of Economics as part of a study into the massive public disorder.

The first installment of The Riots: In their own Words focuses on rioters, while the second film of the two-part series shares the impressions of police officers on duty at the time.

Both were banned from being broadcast by a court ruling, which BBC lawyers now plan to appeal against, reports the Guardian. The newspaper says for legal reasons it cannot report the name of the judge who made the controversial ruling, the court in which it was done or the case he was presiding over.

More:
http://www.rt.com/news/bbc-riot-film-banned-432/

Assad’s brother-in-law and defense minister killed by suicide bomber bodyguard

Posted: 2012/07/18 in Education / Awareness, New Business Models, Public Policy, Stats / reports

Syrian Defense Minister Gen. Daoud Rajha was killed by a suicide bombing attack at a national security building in Damascus. His deputy – Assad’s brother-in-law Assef Shawkat – has also been mortally wounded by the blast.

Another prominent governmental figure targeted by the attack is Syrian intelligence chief Hisham Bekhtyar. Bekhtyar is currently undergoing surgery for injuries sustained in the blast, a security source told Reuters.

The bomber worked as a bodyguard for President Bashar Assad’s inner circle, the news agency reports its sources as saying.

It also cites a Facebook statement by Liwa Al-Islam, a Syrian rebel Islamist group which has claimed responsibility for the attack.

http://www.rt.com/news/damascus-suicide-government-wounded-458/

Alternative media blows the lid on Big Pharma’s massive bribery network

Posted: 2012/07/18 in Education / Awareness, Stats / reports

These revelations are surfacing on the heels of the drug industry’s largest settlement in history: GlaxoSmithKline’s $3 billion fine and guilty plea to committing felony crimes (http://www.naturalnews.com/036416_GlaxoSmithKline_fraud_criminal_char…). NaturalNews editor Mike Adams (the Health Ranger) was able to connect with one of the key whistleblowers who initiated that nine-year DOJ investigation, and he went on the record with shocking allegations about off-label pharmaceutical marketing and the systematic bribery of doctors (http://www.naturalnews.com/036499_Glaxo_whistleblower_bribery.html).

The video interview with Blair Hamrick is available at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_RJ9QPG70U
and:
http://tv.naturalnews.com/v.asp?v=1FE6404520AA77A877753AA936722510

Blair was also interviewed by Adams on the Alex Jones Show (www.InfoWars.com), where he revealed additional information about Glaxo’s activities such as the “coaching” of pharmaceutical sales reps to enroll doctors in elaborate kickback schemes. The video of that interview is available below.

Caller blows the whistle on the physician bribery underground

Following Blair’s interview on the Alex Jones Show, a woman who identified herself as “Ally” called in to the show and described, in authentic language and tone, how she had worked inside a company that managed the “kickback” relationships between drug companies and doctors. On live national radio, she proceeded to describe details about how doctors would earn up to $6,000 a day as part of Big Pharma’s speakers bureaus. In her own words, below, she explains how doctors and physicians lined up to cash in on the bribery payoffs, happy to sell their souls to Big Pharma while pimping out drugs that were often shown to be dangerous — even deadly — to the consuming public.

Much more:
http://www.infowars.com/alternative-media-blows-the-lid-on-big-pharmas-massive-bribery-network/

Obama’s Birth Certificate Proven Fraudulent. Sheriff Arpaio has now promised to elevate the issue to a higher authority within the federal government

Posted: 2012/07/18 in Education / Awareness, Enforcement, Public Policy, Stats / reports

The most stunning revelation is the fact that in numerous places, Obama’s birth certificate has had information added at a later date than the original.

The posse was able to obtain the original 1961 coding guide used to fill in the birth certificates at the exact time Obama’s document was filed. For example, when describing the “race of father,” the number 9 on the coding guide indicates “unknown or not stated.”

The number 9 appears on Obama’s birth certificate in section 9 entitled “race of father.” This means that the race of Obama’s father was unknown or not stated at the time the original birth certificate was filed. However, the box also contains the word “African,” which was not even used as a descriptive term at the time. The fact that the document contradicts itself in that it denotes the “race of father” as not stated but then also “African” clearly indicates that “African” was added in at a later date.

The same error can be found in box 12b, “kind of business or industry,” which is also marked with a number 9 to denote ‘not stated’ yet also contains the word “University,” again clearly suggesting the document was tampered with at a later date.

No matter what spin the media and political establishment attempt to put on this, the facts cannot be denied. President Obama’s birth certificate betrays innumerable instances clearly indicating that the document has been tampered with in an effort to manufacture the myth that Obama was born in the United States.

The manifestly logical conclusion that he was not creates an urgent national security threat and represents one of the biggest cover-ups in U.S. political history.

Much more:
http://www.infowars.com/national-security-threat-obamas-birth-certificate-proven-fraudulent/

See also:

Investigators for an Arizona sheriff’s volunteer posse have declared that President Barack Obama’s birth certificate is definitely fraudulent
http://www.infowars.com/arpaio-obama-birth-record-has-been-tampered-with/

Previously:

Arizona sheriff unveils Obama birth probe – “Forgery and fraud may have been committed” (video)
http://vrritti.com/2012/03/03/arizona-sheriff-unveils-obama-birth-probe-forgery-and-fraud-may-have-been-committed/

It’s unlikely – though perhaps not entirely impossible – that Amazon would ever end up with a prediction engine that knew exactly what you were going to buy and when

Posted: 2012/07/18 in Education / Awareness, Stats / reports, Tech Evolution

http://gizmodo.com/5926922/what-if-amazon-did-yesterday-shipping

Why There’s More to Rising Sea Levels Than Melting Ice

Posted: 2012/07/18 in Education / Awareness, Stats / reports

http://gizmodo.com/5926931/why-theres-more-to-rising-sea-levels-than-melting-ice

Texting overtakes calling in U.K., says research

Posted: 2012/07/18 in Education / Awareness, Mobile tech, New Business Models, Stats / reports, Tech Evolution

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57474473-94/texting-overtakes-calling-in-u.k-says-research/

The U.S. Government’s Mass Migration to the Cloud

Posted: 2012/07/18 in Education / Awareness, New Business Models, Public Policy, Stats / reports, Tech Evolution, The Cloud

http://www.wired.com/cloudline/2012/07/government-cloud-migration/

Barnes & Noble Launches Web-Based E-Reader

Posted: 2012/07/18 in Education / Awareness, New Business Models, Stats / reports, Tech Evolution

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/07/nook-for-web-released/

AT&T Charging for FaceTime Would Breach Net Neutrality, Groups Say

Posted: 2012/07/18 in Education / Awareness, Net Neutrality, New Business Models, Stats / reports

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/07/facetime-net-neutrality/

Syrian Rebels Use YouTube, Facebook for Weapons Training

Posted: 2012/07/18 in Education / Awareness, New Business Models, Stats / reports

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/07/syria-youtube-facebook/

By indexing all copyright takedown requests online, Google is rapidly building the world’s largest database of links to pirated content

Posted: 2012/07/18 in Blocking, Copyright, Education / Awareness, Enforcement, Google, Illegal File Sharing, Litigation, New Business Models, Stats / reports

Who said transparency can’t be lucrative?

Just last week, a record-breaking 719,415 new URLs were added to the takedown database. Copyright holders are responding to this effort with a comical display of meta-censorship, in which Google is asked to remove links to takedown requests, because these link to sites that link to copyrighted material.

Much more:

http://torrentfreak.com/google-builds-largest-database-of-links-to-pirated-media-120717/

 

Dotcom Extradition Judge Steps Down After “U.S. Enemy” Comment

Posted: 2012/07/18 in Copyright, Education / Awareness, Enforcement, Illegal File Sharing, Litigation, Public Policy, Stats / reports

The New Zealand judge handling the extradition case of Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom has dramatically stepped down from the role. Speaking at the “Fair Deal” campaign launch last week, Judge David Harvey had voiced his feelings on the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, describing the United States as “the enemy”. Accepting that the comments could lead people to question his impartiality in the case, Harvey has surrendered his role.

More:
http://torrentfreak.com/dotcom-extradition-judge-steps-down-after-u-s-enemy-comment-120718/

The New Zealand judge in Kim Dotcom’s case has referred to the United States as “the enemy,” with respect to intellectual property policy
http://vrritti.com/2012/07/17/the-new-zealand-judge-in-kim-dotcoms-case-has-referred-to-the-united-states-as-the-enemy-with-respect-to-intellectual-property-policy/

Firefox 14 encrypts Google searches by default

Posted: 2012/07/18 in Education / Awareness, New Business Models, Privacy / Data Protection, Stats / reports

http://www.zdnet.com/firefox-14-encrypts-google-searches-by-default-7000001063/?edition=us

Six new internet and telecoms providers have joined ISPA since last month when nine others joined, which is perhaps partly a reflection of the seemingly anti-ISP stance that increasingly appears to emanate from the UK government

Posted: 2012/07/18 in Education / Awareness, Public Policy, Stats / reports

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2012/07/six-new-uk-isps-join-the-internet-services-providers-association.html

Dropbox users get spammed via personal e-mail accounts

Posted: 2012/07/18 in Education / Awareness, Online advertising, Privacy / Data Protection, Stats / reports

David P. was the first Dropbox user to post on the company’s Web site forum titled “Email-Address leaked from Dropbox” yesterday. He wrote that he received spam from an email address he uses only for Dropbox.

“So I guess you have a security problem with your user account data,” he wrote. “And this sucks a lot.”

As of this writing, there are now 106 posts in the forum of people complaining of receiving e-mail spam from online casinos and gambling sites via the online file storage service. The majority of the users are European, coming from Germany, Holland, and the U.K.

More:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57474396-93/dropbox-users-get-spammed-via-personal-e-mail-accounts/

Can an algorithm win your fantasy football league?

Posted: 2012/07/18 in Education / Awareness, Stats / reports, Tech Evolution

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-57474399-71/can-an-algorithm-win-your-fantasy-football-league/

Washington State will enable voter registration via Facebook

Posted: 2012/07/18 in Education / Awareness, New Business Models, Privacy / Data Protection, Public Policy, Stats / reports

http://arstechnica.com/business/2012/07/washington-residents-to-be-able-to-register-to-vote-via-facebook/

The music publisher BMG Rights Management appears to have used the DMCA takedown process to remove another video of the commander-in-chief belting out “I’m so in love with you”

Posted: 2012/07/18 in Blocking, Copyright, Education / Awareness, Enforcement, Public Policy, Stats / reports

The video, one of many uploaded in the wake of an event at the Apollo Theater earlier this year, was made by YouTube user sNewsCast. When Ars clicked the “play” button from our Philadelphia office, we got the message “This video contains content from BMG_Rights_Management, who has blocked it in your country on copyright grounds.”

More:
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/07/yes-video-of-obama-belting-out-im-so-in-love-with-you-is-fair-use/