Archive for 2012/09/12

Historic Verdict In The Netherlands: ‘Making Public’ Copyrighted Material Via Hyperlinks Without Proper Authorization Of Rights Owners Is Unlawful Conduct

Posted: 2012/09/12 in Copyright, Education / Awareness, Enforcement, Illegal File Sharing, Jurisprudence, New Business Models, Stats / reports

Case: Sanoma Media & PlayBoy Enterprises International vs Geenstijl.nl

Most popular Dutch blog Geenstijl.nl posted links to pirated PlayBoy pictures of Dutch celeb Britt Dekker, which were not yet officially released by PlayBoy Magazine. The Dutch judge argued that “making public” copyrighted pictures without proper permission is an unlawful act both in relation to the rights owner and the person portrayed in these pictures.

This is a historic verdict as no judge has ever been willing to argue that the use of hyperlinks equals ‘making public’ as defined by Dutch law. This jurisprudence may unleash a fresh anti-piracy campaign as previously judges would differentiate between people actually hosting, storing and caching files – who would have a duty of care to remove that content when asked by rights owners – versus those ‘merely’ linking to those files.

Various legal sanctions may now apply to internet users who are linking to copyrighted content without permission of the owner of that content. Among them can be large fines and substantial prison sentences.

Geenstijl argues that this jurisprudence may also have significant consequences for the likes of Google and other services which crawl and monetize links (by third parties) to unauthorized copies of copyrighted content.

Dutch language jurisprudence:
http://www.geenstijl.nl/archives/images/vonnisbrittdekkernaakt.pdf

Dutch language article at Geenstijl.nl:
http://www.geenstijl.nl/mt/archieven/2012/09/vonnis_rechter_verbiedt_google.html

UPDATE:

More Details Emerge About Historic Verdict In The Netherlands: “Placing a hyperlink on a website is not a publication, unless three criteria are met: there must be an intervention, a new audience and profit”
http://vrritti.com/2012/09/14/more-details-emerge-about-historic-verdict-in-the-netherlands-placing-a-hyperlink-on-a-website-is-not-a-publication-unless-three-criteria-are-met-there-must-be-an-intervention-a-new-audience-and/

Dutch Blog Geenstijl.nl To Appeal Historic “Hyperlink Equals Publication Therefore HyperLink To Pirated Material Equals Unlawful Publication” Verdict Using “But Google Does It Too” Argument
http://vrritti.com/2012/09/14/dutch-blog-geenstijl-nl-to-appeal-historic-hyperlink-equals-publication-therefore-hyperlink-to-pirated-material-equals-unlawful-publication-verdict-using-but-google-does-it-too-argument/

Facebook thinks it has a bigger role to play in how we seek out information online

Posted: 2012/09/12 in Education / Awareness, New Business Models, Stats / reports

http://www.wired.com/business/2012/09/mark-zuckerberg-at-disrupt/

Dutch Data Protection Authority: Dutch Businesses Using U.S. Based Cloud Services Carry Their Own Responsibility Regarding Data Protection And Data Privacy

Posted: 2012/09/12 in Education / Awareness, Privacy / Data Protection, Public Policy, Stats / reports

…and the Dutch DPA can now go back to playing Pong

Dutch language news article:
http://webwereld.nl/nieuws/111737/cbp–bedrijven-mogen-niet-vertrouwen-op-safe-harbor.html

Apache Web software overrides IE10 do-not-track setting

Posted: 2012/09/12 in Education / Awareness, Privacy / Data Protection, Stats / reports

Microsoft’s new browser is set by default to tell advertisers not to track user behavior on the Web, but Apache’s Web server has become a new obstacle to that Microsoft approach

More:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57508351-93/apache-web-software-overrides-ie10-do-not-track-setting/

Department Of Dutch Ministry Of Justice Faces 1.7 Million Euro Piracy Claim

Posted: 2012/09/12 in Copyright, Education / Awareness, Illegal File Sharing, Jurisprudence, Litigation, Stats / reports

The collection agency (CJIB) of the Dutch Ministry of Justice has installed Attachmate’s software on 1,600 PCs. Attachmate claims that the organization is only licensed to install its software on 750 machines. The CJIB argues that only 750 people are using it. Attachmate stated that the CJIB contract does not allow for ‘roaming profiles’.

A Dutch Court has now referred this case to the legal experts of the IJI for a final decision on the matter.

Dutch language news article:

http://webwereld.nl/nieuws/111735/justitie-krijgt-licentieclaim-van-1-7-miljoen-euro.html

Apple: Sorry, Those BitTorrent Apps Were Approved by Mistake

Posted: 2012/09/12 in Blocking, Education / Awareness, Illegal File Sharing, Stats / reports

Apple just informed one of the developers that it made a mistake during the approval process, and the company is about to pull his BitTorrent app from the App Store.

More:
http://torrentfreak.com/apple-sorry-bittorrent-apps-were-approved-by-mistake-120911/

Security researchers have traced a continuing run of zero-day attacks to the hackers who infamously hit Google and other hi-tech firms three years ago

Posted: 2012/09/12 in Cybercrime, Education / Awareness, Network Security, Privacy / Data Protection, Stats / reports

Symantec has kept close tabs on the hackers behind the so-called Aurora attacks ever since. No other group has used more zero-day vulnerabilities – eight – to further their malicious goals than the attackers behind Aurora (Hydraq) and other related attacks, the researchers said. Previous unknown vulnerabilities leveraged by the group have included Internet Explorer and Adobe Flash security bugs.

More:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/09/10/elderwood_cyberespionage/

Health minister warns ISPs: Block suicide websites or face regulation. Now didn’t OFCOM say blocking doesn’t work?

Posted: 2012/09/12 in Blocking, Education / Awareness, Enforcement, New Business Models, Public Policy, Stats / reports

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/09/10/norman_lamb_calls_for_isps_to_block_suicide_websites/

Lovefilm Germany’s backend has been down for 14 days, leaving subscribers unable to access their accounts to rent films or use the video streaming service

Posted: 2012/09/12 in Education / Awareness, Network Security, Stats / reports

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/09/10/amazon_lovefilm_germany_customer_accounts_offline/

Open IPTV joins HbbTV in connected telly love-in

Posted: 2012/09/12 in Education / Awareness, Stats / reports

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/09/10/iptv_testing/

Valve puts Steam on the TV

Posted: 2012/09/12 in Education / Awareness, New Business Models, Stats / reports, Tech Evolution

http://www.reghardware.com/2012/09/10/valve_to_release_steam_big_picture/

Intel contextual awareness: ‘We know what your wife is up to’

Posted: 2012/09/12 in Education / Awareness, Stats / reports, Tech Evolution

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/09/10/contextual_awareness/

Anonymous doxes Cambodia after Pirate Bay arrest

Posted: 2012/09/12 in Cybercrime, Education / Awareness, Privacy / Data Protection, Public Policy, Stats / reports

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/09/12/anonymous_cambodia_optpb/

Anonymous Hackers Didn’t Steal Your Apple ID From The FBI – Thanks To Apple, They Didn’t Need To

Posted: 2012/09/12 in Cybercrime, Education / Awareness, Privacy / Data Protection, Stats / reports

The massive collection of users’ data came instead from one of the hundreds of obscure companies that Apple’s app model has purposefully allowed to track and identify the company’s devices in an extensive data-sharing network most users aren’t aware of.

More:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2012/09/10/anonymous-hackers-didnt-steal-your-apple-id-from-the-fbi-thanks-to-apple-they-didnt-need-to/

The Japanese Defense Ministry has said it will create a special defense force with about 100 members to fight cyber-attacks

Posted: 2012/09/12 in Cybercrime, Education / Awareness, Enforcement, Network Security, New Business Models, Privacy / Data Protection, Public Policy, Stats / reports

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T120907004328.htm

Blizzard Is Hiding Personal Details Of Its Customers As A Watermark In Gaming Footage

Posted: 2012/09/12 in Education / Awareness, Privacy / Data Protection, Stats / reports

Watermark can be retrieved from screenshots made by gamers

Dutch language news article:
http://www.security.nl/artikel/43039/1/Blizzard_verstopt_gegevens_WoW-spelers_in_screenshots.html

Taliban pose as women to friend soldiers on Facebook

Posted: 2012/09/12 in Education / Awareness, New Business Models, Stats / reports

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/9535862/Taliban-pose-as-women-to-friend-soldiers-on-Facebook.html

Analysys Mason Warns New ITU Regulation Could Break the Internet

Posted: 2012/09/12 in Education / Awareness

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2012/09/analysys-mason-warns-new-itr-regulation-could-break-the-internet.html

Will Humanity Survive The Singularity?

Posted: 2012/09/12 in Education / Awareness, Stats / reports, Tech Evolution

http://www.infowars.com/will-humanity-survive-the-singularity/

Scientists Invent Method to Create Memories in Brains

Posted: 2012/09/12 in Education / Awareness, New Business Models, Stats / reports, Tech Evolution

I find this extremely hard to believe, but according to new research published in Nature Neuroscience, scientists have invented a method to induce memories in brains for the first time in history.

More:
http://gizmodo.com/5942291/scientists-invent-method-to-create-memories-in-brains

Wired has a borderline frightening look at how, along with his group UGNazi, a kid became wanted by the FBI

Posted: 2012/09/12 in Cybercrime, Education / Awareness, Enforcement, Network Security, Privacy / Data Protection, Public Policy, Stats / reports

They DDoS’ed all manner of government and financial sites, including NASDAQ, ca.gov, and CIA.gov, which they took down for a matter of hours in April. They bypassed Google two step, hijacked 4chan’s DNS and redirected it to their own Twitter feed, and repeatedly posted Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s address and Social Security number online. After breaking into one billing agency using social-engineering techniques this past May, they proceeded to dump some 500,000 credit card numbers online. Cosmo was the social engineer for the crew, a specialist in talking his way past security barriers.

Cosmo, who is currently being held in a juvenile detention center, explains that many of these attacks he’s taken part in aren’t all that difficult—in many cases all he needed was a few pieces of information like the last four digits of a social security number and an email address.

More:
http://gizmodo.com/5942330/a-hacker-who-isnt-old-enough-to-drive-but-can-destroy-your-digital-life

Why It Is About to Get a Lot More Difficult to Produce Counterfeit Cash

Posted: 2012/09/12 in Education / Awareness, Stats / reports, Tech Evolution

http://gizmodo.com/5942482/why-it-is-about-to-get-a-lot-more-difficult-to-produce-counterfeit-cash

Neelie Kroes calls for copyright harmonisation in Europe

Posted: 2012/09/12 in Copyright, Education / Awareness, New Business Models, Public Policy, Stats / reports

For future discussion on copyright, Kroes asks to leave passionate opinions aside and adopt a pragmatic approach. “Is our current system consistent and relevant within the real world?” This should be the main question during this debate. Kroes has shown herself to be proactive towards Internet openness, and an advocate for copyright reform. Therefore, she now proposes to amend the Copyright Directive 2001 on the basis of a public consultation; “I am open to ideas from all stakeholders: artists, consumers, businesses, researchers. Only together we can adapt ourselves to the future, and stimulate innovation and growth.”

More:
http://www.futureofcopyright.com/home/blog-post/2012/09/11/neelie-kroes-calls-for-copyright-harmonisation-in-europe.html

Twitter ordered to turn over user data or face fine

Posted: 2012/09/12 in Education / Awareness, Enforcement, Jurisprudence, New Business Models, Stats / reports

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57510950-93/twitter-ordered-to-turn-over-user-data-or-face-fine/

Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, 27, who is also known online as “Anakata,” appears to be the third suspect in a case involving a hack of Logica, a Swedish IT firm that contracts with the Swedish tax authority (Pirate Bay)

Posted: 2012/09/12 in Cybercrime, Education / Awareness, Enforcement, Public Policy, Stats / reports

Earlier this year, Logica was hit by an online attack that resulted in around 9,000 Swedes (Google Translate) having their tax data released to the public. Normally in Sweden, such data is made public, but there are cases where that data can be kept hidden—as it was amongst the people that were targeted. Two Swedes were arrested (Google Translate) earlier in 2012 in connection with this case, one of which was a former member of Piratbyrån (Pirate Bureau), the group that later founded The Pirate Bay.

More:
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/09/pirate-bay-cofounder-in-police-custody-after-deportation-to-sweden/

“Six strikes” Internet warning system will come to US this year

Posted: 2012/09/12 in Copyright, Education / Awareness, Enforcement, Illegal File Sharing, New Business Models, Stats / reports, Three Strikes

Last year, the newly formed Center for Copyright Information (CCI), along with major ISPs across the US and representatives from the recording and film industries, agreed to come up with a six-stage warning scheme that would progressively impose warnings—and eventually penalties—on alleged online copyright infringers. Collectively, once deployed, the system could cover 75 percent of all American Internet users.

The Copyright Alert System, as it’s formally known, was originally slated to deploy by the end of December 2011, a date that was then pushed back to July 2012. Now the CCI’s head, Jill Lesser, tells Ars the group is on track to launch by the end of the year. However, Lesser provided scant new details about the program.

“We are still very much intending to launch this year, but in no way was missing a July deadline a missed deadline,” she said in a recent interview. “This isn’t the American version of the French system, and it isn’t a baseball game.”

More:
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/09/six-strikes-internet-warning-system-really-truly-coming-to-us-this-year/

GoDaddy Interim CEO Scott Wagner: Anonymous Lied

Posted: 2012/09/12 in Education / Awareness, Network Security, Stats / reports

Monday’s five-hour outage that left GoDaddy unable to serve millions of websites that depend on it for Web hosting was not caused by an external attack as claimed by an anonymous hoaxster. An internal network error was at fault, company officials said Tuesday morning.

“It was not a ‘hack’ and it was not a denial of service attack (DDoS),” GoDaddy Interim CEO Scott Wagner wrote in an e-mail. “We have determined the service outage was due to a series of internal network events that corrupted router data tables.”

Once engineers identified the problem, they were able to restore e-mail and connectivity to the company’s and customers’ websites, Wagner added. Customer data was never at risk of being exposed during the outage, which prevented people from accessing many or all of the websites that rely on GoDaddy.

More:
http://arstechnica.com/security/2012/09/godaddy-outage-caused-by-router-snafu-not-ddos-attack/

Google VP says Apple v Samsung verdict was a “wake-up call”. Giant is asleep on many issues

Posted: 2012/09/12 in Education / Awareness, Google, New Business Models, Stats / reports

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/09/google-vp-says-apple-v-samsung-verdict-was-a-wake-up-call/

Twitter won’t take down “giant food” photos, so artist sues. ‘We’re just the messenger making money from other people’s use of your message’

Posted: 2012/09/12 in Copyright, Education / Awareness, Litigation, Stats / reports

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/09/twitter-wont-take-down-tiny-food-photos-so-artist-sues/

File-sharer will take RIAA case to Supreme Court

Posted: 2012/09/12 in Copyright, Education / Awareness, Illegal File Sharing, Jurisprudence, Litigation, Stats / reports

After losing three trials and one appeal, Jammie Thomas-Rasset still won’t quit.

More:
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/09/file-sharer-will-take-riaa-case-to-supreme-court/

E-books are already getting cheaper, thanks to Department of Justice

Posted: 2012/09/12 in Education / Awareness, Public Policy, Stats / reports

http://arstechnica.com/business/2012/09/e-books-are-already-getting-cheaper-thanks-to-department-of-justice/

The New Yorker was briefly banned from Facebook on Monday for posting a cartoon that ran afoul of Facebook’s “Nudity and Sex” community standards

Posted: 2012/09/12 in Blocking, Education / Awareness, Filtering, Stats / reports

Electronic Frontier Foundation…any comments? Censorship by algorithm.

More:
http://arstechnica.com/business/2012/09/noted-smut-rag-the-new-yorker-banned-from-facebook-for-obscene-cartoon/