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Censorship

Submission + - WikiLeaks to Ship Servers to Micronation of Sealan (foxnews.com) 1

Submitted by Velcroman1
Velcroman1 writes: Julian Assange’s investors are in the process of purchasing a boat to move Wikileaks servers offshore in an attempt to evade prosecution from U.S. law enforcement, FoxNews.com has learned. Multiple sources within the hacker community with knowledge of day-to-day Wikileaks activities say Assange's financial backers have been working behind the scenes on the logistics of moving the servers to international waters.
One possible location: the Principality of Sealand, a rusty, World War II-era, former anti-aircraft platform off the coast of England in the North Sea. Based on a 1968 British court ruling that the facility is outside the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom, Sealand's owner has declared the facility a sovereign state, or "micro-nation."
Crime

Submission + - 350 UK Prisoners Used Facebook to Taunt their Vict (itproportal.com)

Submitted by hypnosec
hypnosec writes: In what could be termed as a rather bizarre and shocking use of social media sites, it was found that as many as 350 violent criminals serving their terms in jail used Facebook to taunt victims and their family. The disclosure was made by the Ministry of Justice and as per their statistics, hundreds of the prisoners were accessing social media platforms without the consent of the authorities. Facebook was quick to react and closed all those Facebook profiles following an investigation by the prison officials. Though inmates are actually not allowed to access the Internet, most of the times, they do it via mobile phones smuggled into the prison. A couple of years back, Colin Gunn — one of the most notorious gangster in the UK was caught using Facebook to threaten his enemies while serving his sentence in a high security prison cell.
Android

Submission + - CarrierIQ makes mainstream news front page (cnn.com)

Submitted by Pat Attack
Pat Attack writes: Today, CarrierIQ, the spyware we have all come to know in the Slashdot community, has made it's way onto the CNN front page. CNN Money reports what we already know. Christopher Soghoian, a cyberprivacy researcher and fellow at human rights organization Open Society is quoted in the article. 'Carrier IQ doesn't seem as nefarious as incompetent, but that may not be enough to allay the legitimate concerns of the public,' he said. 'There would be huge issues if this data were transmitted to a carrier, but even if not, it presents huge concerns. This would be a gold mine for a hacker.'
Does this new public awareness put pressures on the Wireless Overlords to remove the software?
Facebook

Submission + - Facebook posts acted out live online (cnn.com)

Submitted by PolygamousRanchKid
PolygamousRanchKid writes: "Stuff Theater," happening live until 9 a.m. Thursday, is taking the magical, mundane and sometimes mystifying world of Facebook posts to the stage in a 24-hour performance. Sponsored by online security company Norton, the experimental project lets Facebook users volunteer their profiles. If selected, a post from their page will be acted out during the event, which began Wednesday morning at a Chicago theater and is streaming live on Norton's Facebook page. Facebook apps go beyond 'like' feature "We believe it's truly an experimental way to capture people's attention in a relevant way," said Sally Jenkins, Norton's vice president of worldwide consumer marketing.
Earth

Submission + - IBM Aims for World's Top Supercomputer (smartertechnology.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: IBM won the world's fastest supercomputer contest for six years running, but since 2009 has lost out to more specialized supercomputers aimed at Earth-friendly apps like tracking the weather. Next year, however, IBM aims to regain the lead by constructing a BlueGene/Q twice as fast as the current world's fastest supercomputer. Of course, deeds speak louder than words--so we will have to wait until spring to see who wins out--but with over 1.6 million cores, the new IBM supercomputer will be tough to beat!
Science

Submission + - Wiping out mosquitoes with GM mosquitoes (gizmag.com) 1

Submitted by doug141
doug141 writes: Scientists are releasing genetically modifies male mosquitoes that produce flightless female offspring. The male offspring go on to wipe out another generation of females.This is similar to the way screwworms were eradicated in the U.S., except with nature itself making more of the modified males.
Field trials are already underway.
Businesses

Submission + - Patent Expires on Best Selling Drug of All Time

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens writes
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "The US patent has just expired on Lipitor, the best-selling drug of all time, as the first generic versions go on sale, marking the end of a brand that has dominated the drug industry, lowered the cholesterol of tens of millions of patients, and generated $10.7 billion last year in annual sales. But drug manufacturer Pfizer, dependent on Lipitor for almost one-fifth of the company’s revenue, does not intend to go down without a fight. Pfizer is employing unprecedented tactics to hold onto as many Lipitor prescriptions as it can with an aggressive marketing plan and forging deals with insurers, pharmacy benefit managers and patients to meet or beat the price of its generic replacements because even at the lower price, Pfizer has a huge profit margin because of the relatively low cost of materials for Lipitor. Some deals require pharmacies to reject prescriptions for low-cost generics and substitute a discounted name-brand Lipitor while other deals block generic makers from mail-order services that account for an estimated 40 percent of all Lipitor prescriptions. “Pfizer’s tactic of dressing up as a generics company is pulling the rug under the incentive system created to foster the development of generic drugs,” says attorney David A. Balto."
Hardware

Submission + - Cracking Down on "Conflict Minerals" (ieee.org)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: One of the lesser known provisions of 2010's Dodd-Frank financial reform act is about to have a big impact on consumer electronic companies. It's a rule on "conflict minerals," which are mined in eastern Congo and often fund the warlords who are perpetuating an atrocious civil war there. Some of these minerals end up in cell phones, computers, etc. Right now the SEC is finalizing the rules for implementing the law, but the basics are already known: Every company that uses one of the named minerals will have to trace its supply chain back, and try to determine if they're sourcing from Congo's "conflict mines." Some electronic companies are trying to get out ahead of this issue (most notably HP, Intel, and Motorola) by rolling out pilot programs that make it easier to determine where their minerals come from. When the rules go into effect, this will be a big deal. The SEC estimates compliance costs at $71 million, but groups fighting the rules say costs will actually amount to billions.
Google

Submission + - Google goes Political? (blogspot.com)

Submitted by E IS mC(Square)
E IS mC(Square) writes: Google has created a sort of one stop shop for the Egyptian election, giving viewers vast details ranging from candidates to issues to location of voting. It also includes news and videos related to the candidates.

From the blog:
Getting information about the new rules and the new players is no small feat for Egyptians: there are nearly 11,000 candidates vying for 498 seats across 27 governorates nationwide during a multi-stage election that started today and lasts until March 2012. We’re doing our best to organize information to make it easier for voters to find everything they need in one place. For example, millions of Egyptians have learned where they can vote through our landing page, www.google.com.eg/elections.

    .

Submission + - French Nuclear Company Used Malware (cfoworld.co.uk)

Submitted by cstacy
cstacy writes: The head of security and his aide at Électricité de France, whose 66 nuclear power stations produces 22% of the electricity for the European Union, have been sentenced to prison for three years for spying on Greenpeace using trojan malware. Also, EDF is being hit one of the largest fines ever imposed by a court on a French corporation for any reason, 1.5 million euros.

In 2006, the power company employed Kargus Consultants to steal 1,400 documents from the computer of Yannick Jadot, the head of Greenpeace campaigns against nuclear power in France.

Meanwhile, the head of Kargus, Thierry Lorho, was also sentenced to three years in jail, while his technical expert and former secret service man, Alain Quiros, was given two years suspended. Earlier this week, Quiros was sentenced to six months in prison in a separate case for using the same malware, involving a French anti-doping lab, Floyd Landis, and the Tour De France in 2006.

Submission + - SOPA: All Your Internets Belong to US (michaelgeist.ca)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) is generating enormous concern the jurisdictional implications demand far more attention. The U.S. approach is breathtakingly broad, effectively treating millions of websites and IP addresses as "domestic" for U.S. law purposes. The long-arm of U.S. law manifests itself in at least five ways in the proposed legislation. For example, the law effectively asserts jurisdiction over every dot-com, dot-net, and dot-org domain. It also treats all IP address in Canada and 20 Caribbean nations as being domestic US addresses.
Android

Submission + - Barnes & Noble names Microsoft's disputed Andr (networkworld.com)

Submitted by
Julie188
Julie188 writes: "B&N is really blowing the lid off of what Microsoft is doing and how they are forcing money from Android. It has accused Microsoft of requiring overly restricted NDA agreements from those even entering into patent license talks. Because it is disputing Microsoft's claims, and the restrictions of its own NDA signed with Redmond, B&N has gone public. It has named in detail six patents that it says Microsoft is using to get Android device makers to pay up. Plus B&N is also trying to force open Microsoft's other plans for stomping out Android, including the agreement Redmond made with Nokia, and Nokia's patent-troll MOSAID."

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