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Submission + - New Apple Os Mavericks Corrects NSA Address Book Spying Issue (blogspot.com.au)

Submitted by quantr
quantr writes: Apple's new operating system, OS X Mavericks, doesn't just offer a spiffed up Web browser and extended battery life. It may also help protect you from the National Security Agency.
Hours after Mavericks was released on Tuesday, Stanford University computer science PhD student Jonathan Mayer identified a change in the way the new operating system syncs Apple Contacts with Google accounts. Updates to address books in Mavericks are apparently now sent only in encrypted form, Mayer said, fixing a vulnerability that may have left some users' information exposed to government spying.
"The speculation seems to be that this is one of the ways in which the NSA was able to collect Google address book information," Mayer told HuffPost. "Certainly to the extent the NSA was doing simple keyword searches on the content of unencrypted Web traffic.

Submission + - Facebook backtracks again on decision to allow controversial beheading video (blogspot.com.au)

Submitted by quantr
quantr writes: Facebook has altered its stance on the issue of violent viral videos once again. Yesterday, it emerged that the social network was allowing clips of beheadings to be shared on users' news feeds after a six-month moratorium, taking the stance that "Facebook has long been a place where people turn to share their experiences, particularly when they're connected to controversial events on the ground." But now Facebook has performed another U-turn by removing a graphic clip that depicts a beheading allegedly carried out in Mexico, as noted by All Things D.

In a statement, Facebook says that it now considers the video in question to "improperly and irresponsibly glorify violence." The company previously used that line of reasoning as justification for keeping the video online in the first place, arguing that "if the video were being celebrated, or the actions in it encouraged, our approach would be different."

While Facebook appears to have changed its mind on the merits of certain content, it will still allow violent clips that have been uploaded for the purpose of condemnation. However, it now asks that users "do so in a responsible manner, carefully selecting their audience and warning them about the nature of the content so they can make an informed choice about it." The company had previously hinted that it would consider implementing a system of advance warnings for graphic content.

Submission + - Controversial cyber threat bill CISPA may return to Congress (blogspot.com.au)

Submitted by quantr
quantr writes: After suffering defeat this spring, the controversial legislation aimed at preventing cyber threats, CISPA, may be returning to the Senate. According to Mother Jones, two senators are now working on a new version of the bill that looks to curb some of the concerns that kept it from initially passing. The goal of the bill will still be to make it easier for private companies to share information with the government regarding cyber threats, however the type of information that can be shared will reportedly be narrower in scope this time around.
As the legislation is still being written, it's not clear exactly how different its updated form will be. Mother Jones reports that Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) are working together to draft the bill. "The goal is to allow and encourage the sharing only of information related to identifying and protecting against cyber threats, and not the communications and commerce of Americans," Feinstein's office tells Mother Jones in a statement. Feinstein in particular has been a major proponent for facilitating this type of sharing, having also been in support of expanding FISA.

Submission + - Accidentally Revealed Document Shows TSA Doesn't Think Terrorists Are Plotting (blogspot.com.au) 1

Submitted by quantr
quantr writes: Jonathan Corbett, a long-time vocal critic of TSA body scanners, has been engaged in a lawsuit against the government concerning the constitutionality of those scanners. In the course of the case, the TSA gave him classified documents, which he was ordered not to reveal. In using some of that information to make his case, he needed to file two copies of his brief: a public one with classified stuff redacted, and the full brief under seal, for the government and the courts to look at. Just one problem: someone over at Infowars noticed that apparently a clerk at the 11th Circuit appeals court forgot to file the document under seal, allowing them to find out what was under the redactions... Included in there is the following, apparently quoted from the TSA's own statements:
“As of mid-2011, terrorist threat groups present in the Homeland are not known to be actively plotting against civil aviation targets or airports; instead, their focus is on fundraising, recruiting, and propagandizing.”
Elsewhere, the TSA appears to admit that "due to hardened cockpit doors and the willingness of passengers to challenge hijackers," it's unlikely that there's much value in terrorists trying to hijack a plane these days (amusingly, that statement is a clear echo of Bruce Schneier's statement criticizing the TSA's security theater — suggesting that the TSA flat out knows that airport security is nothing more than such theatrics).

Elsewhere, in the redacted portions, the TSA is quoted as admitting that "there have been no attempted domestic hijackings of any kind in the 12 years since 9/11."

Submission + - How Apple's Address Book app could allow the NSA to harvest your contacts (blogspot.com.au)

Submitted by quantr
quantr writes: Overlooked in last week's revelation that the National Security Agency is harvesting hundreds of millions of e-mail address books around the world was this surprising factoid: Apple makes this mass collection easier because the Address Book app that by default manages Mac contacts doesn't use HTTPS encryption when syncing with Gmail accounts.
As a result, addresses that automatically travel between Macs and Google servers are sent as plain text, independent privacy researcher Ashkan Soltani wrote in The Washington Post last Monday. He provided the above screenshot demonstrating that Address Book contents appear in the clear to anyone who has the ability to monitor traffic over a Wi-Fi network or other connection. His observation came 15 months after another Mac user also warned that the Mac app offered no way to enable HTTPS when syncing e-mail address lists with Gmail.
"It appears that it's an Apple issue," Soltani told Ars, referring to the inability to enable HTTPS when Apple's Address Book is updated to a user's Gmail account. "Their other products support Gmail over via HTTPS, so I suspect it would be a three-line fix in the contacts to alleviate this problem."
In fairness to Apple, Soltani pointed to this description of the Google contacts programming interface, which was officially discontinued in April 2012. It indicated HTTP as the sync mechanism for address books. It's possible Apple developers haven't updated their code since Google introduced the change. It's also possible the lack of HTTPS encryption will be fixed in Mavericks, the upcoming version of Mac OS X that Apple is expected to unveil Tuesday.
Once the current version of Address Book is configured to sync with Google's popular e-mail service, the Apple app checked in about once an hour on Macs Soltani tested. Anytime the app contained an address not found in Gmail, it would send the data unencrypted. Interestingly, the program uses the HTTPS protocol to cryptographically authenticate the machine advertising itself as a Gmail server, but the app goes on to send the addresses in plain text over an unencrypted HTTP connection, he said.

Submission + - Google's iron grip on Android: Controlling open source by any means necessary (blogspot.com.au)

Submitted by quantr
quantr writes: Six years ago, in November 2007, the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) was announced. The original iPhone came out just a few months earlier, capturing people's imaginations and ushering in the modern smartphone era. While Google was an app partner for the original iPhone, it could see what a future of unchecked iPhone competition would be like. Vic Gundotra, recalling Andy Rubin's initial pitch for Android, stated:

        He argued that if Google did not act, we faced a Draconian future, a future where one man, one company, one device, one carrier would be our only choice.

Google was terrified that Apple would end up ruling the mobile space. So, to help in the fight against the iPhone at a time when Google had no mobile foothold whatsoever, Android was launched as an open source project.
In that era, Google had nothing, so any adoption—any shred of market share—was welcome. Google decided to give Android away for free and use it as a trojan horse for Google services. The thinking went that if Google Search was one day locked out of the iPhone, people would stop using Google Search on the desktop. Android was the "moat" around the Google Search "castle"—it would exist to protect Google's online properties in the mobile world.

Submission + - Facebook decides to allow videos of beheadings in your news feed (blogspot.com.au)

Submitted by quantr
quantr writes: Facebook is once again allowing graphic videos of human beheadings to be posted on the social network. It's a controversial decision, and one that's likely to raise objections from some psychologists and parents who claim that children being exposed to such content can have harmful, long lasting effects. In May, the company bowed to pressure from safety advisors and began removing clips of decapitations. But according to BBC News, Facebook now says its users should have the freedom to view (and hopefully condemn) such violent content. That's the same stance Facebook originally held on the subject.
"While this video is shocking, our approach is designed to preserve people's rights to describe, depict and comment on the world in which we live," the company said back in May, after a video — allegedly filmed somewhere in Mexico — depicted a woman being beheaded by a masked man. Facebook subsequently began removing similarly violent clips while it evaluated its policies. Apparently the company concluded that its initial approach was the right one.
That said, Facebook doesn't want its users coming across graphic images or videos while casually scrolling through their news feed. "Since some people object to graphic video of this nature, we are working to give people additional control over the content they see. This may include warning them in advance that the image they are about to see contains graphic content, a spokesperson tells BBC News. Facebook also says it's reserving the right to take down beheading videos, particularly in cases where the subject matter is being glorified. If the video were being celebrated, or the actions in it encouraged, our approach would be different.

Submission + - Piracy site IsoHunt to shut down and pay $110m (blogspot.com.au)

Submitted by quantr
quantr writes: IsoHunt, a popular website offering BitTorrents of mostly pirated material, is to shut down following a court settlement.
The site's owner, Canadian Gary Fung, has agreed to pay $110m (£68m) to the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA).
MPAA chairman Chris Dodd said the move was a "major step forward" for legitimate commerce online.
In a blog post, Mr Fung said: "It's sad to see my baby go."
The site is currently still online, but will soon be shut. It is one of the most popular sites of its kind on the internet.
A group of companies, including Disney, Paramount and Twentieth Century Fox, accused the site of wilfully infringing copyright by listing millions of popular movies and TV programmes — in a court battle that has lasted for more than seven years.
Now Mr Fung has agreed to settle. He added: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race and I have remained faithful. 10.5 years of IsoHunt has been a long journey by any business definition and forever in internet start-up time.
"It started as a programming hobby in my university days that has become so, so much more."
Court documents acknowledged that it is unlikely that Mr Fung's company could pay $110m, and that the MPAA would probably receive between $2m and $4m

Submission + - How an NFL running back is out-smarting investors (blogspot.com.au)

Submitted by quantr
quantr writes: Arian Foster is the smartest guy in the room. He’s an American football player who’s convinced a start-up to pay $10 million for 20% of his future income—and there’s little chance he’ll make enough money for the firm to recoup its investment.

That’s not stopping a group of Silicon Valley veterans taking advantage of newly loosened securities rules from asking you, potential investor, to buy stock and fund the deal, which it hopes to repeat with other famous athletes. This is probably not the kind of ”emerging growth company” the US legislators who drafted the JOBS Act had in mind.

“Third-party ownership”—purchasing a minority stake of an athlete’s future contracts—is new to the United States. It’s not new to the world, particularly in the free-market world of international soccer, which doesn’t have the same cartel-driven collective bargaining agreements that dominate big American sports leagues. Teams will pay tens of millions of dollars to other franchises just to purchase player contracts, on top of the salaries they pay the players themselves, and investors have occasionally stepped in to help clubs afford those contracts—and to benefit when those contracts are sold again.

This summer, for example, Barcelona Football Club paid €57m to the Brazilian club Santos for the rights to sign their star player, Neymar. An investment fund who bought a share of his contract in 2009 for the equivalent of $2.6 millionreceived €6.84 million ($8.9 million) as part of the deal—a pretty nice return. But soccer’s global governing body is trying to crack down on the practice, worried about the potential for foul play.

Nonetheless, a US company called Fantex is attempting a similar play. It’s created a platform to purchase shares of players’ brand income, including salary, endorsements and investment opportunities, with up-front payments. Foster is the only player on the Fantex roster, and if it succeeds in its plan to sell $10 million in equity, he’ll be the main beneficiary. For Fantex and its investors to break even, Foster will need to earn at least $50 million for the rest of his life, paying the company back in quarterly installments.

Submission + - US scout leaders get death threats for toppling rock in Goblin Valley State Park (blogspot.com.au)

Submitted by quantr
quantr writes: TWO US scout leaders say they have received death threats after a video of them toppling an age-old rock formation in the western state of Utah went viral online.
Nearly two million people have watched the video of Glenn Taylor pushing a massive 170 million-year-old red rock over in Goblin Valley State Park, filmed by his fellow scout leader Dave Hall.
The pair, who celebrated by doing high fives after the rock fell, insist they pushed it because it was loose and they feared it could topple onto a visitor to the park.
But facing possible felony charges, they admit they probably should have found a park ranger before taking action themselves, whether filmed or not.
"I think we made the right decision, but probably the wrong method," Hall said, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. "We take full responsibility for whatever mistake we made, and we're open to whatever that means from the state, from the Boy Scouts' office, etc," he added.

Submission + - Apple Hilariously Called the Gold iPhone 5S 'The Kardashian Phone' (blogspot.com.au)

Submitted by quantr
quantr writes: As Apple was prepping the perfectly glitzy hue of the goldpagne iPhone 5S, the phone was being referred to as "the Kardashian phone" inside Apple according to NY Times reporter Nick Bilton. Yes, that would be the same Kardashian as notorious iPhone auteur Kim and her well manicured yet totally overexposed family. Which means yes, Apple was completely aware of how ridiculous the goldpagne iPhone was going to be.
TechCrunch also confirmed that the Kardashian phone was a real nickname that was bandied about in and around Cupertino. The name was obviously used in jest and not in any ways official (which should be obvious!) but it's nice to see Apple poke fun of itself every now and again.

Submission + - Snowden Journalist's New Venture to Be Bankrolled by eBay Founder (blogspot.com.au)

Submitted by quantr
quantr writes: For years, the tech billionaire Pierre M. Omidyar has been experimenting with ways to promote serious journalism, searching for the proper media platform to support with the fortune he earned as the founder of eBay. He has made grants to independent media outlets in Africa and government watchdog groups in the United States. In a more direct effort, he created a news Web site in Hawaii, his home state.
Then last summer, The Washington Post came calling in its pursuit of a buyer. The Graham family ended up selling The Post to a different tech billionaire, Jeffrey P. Bezos of Amazon. But the experience, Mr. Omidyar wrote on his blog on Wednesday, “got me thinking about what kind of social impact could be created if a similar investment was made in something entirely new, built from the ground up.”
Mr. Omidyar also confirmed that he would be personally financing just such a new “mass media” venture, where he will be joined by the journalist Glenn Greenwald of The Guardian, the British daily. Mr. Greenwald gained notoriety this summer when he reported on the revelations about National Security Agency surveillance contained in papers leaked by Edward J. Snowden.
The details of the project are vague. “I don’t yet know how or when it will be rolled out, or what it will look like,” Mr. Omidyar wrote.
What is clear is that Mr. Greenwald will be there, and he is expected to be joined by Laura Poitras, the documentary filmmaker who was the crucial conduit between Mr. Snowden and Mr. Greenwald.

Submission + - Randi Zuckerberg Book Tells Kids to Go Offline (blogspot.com)

Submitted by quantr
quantr writes: Parents: ever had a hard time taking a device away from a small child and telling them to go outside? Mark Zuckerberg's elder sister wants to help.
Randi Zuckerberg is set to release a children's book at the beginning of November called simply Dot. (Zuckerberg's blog, and online etiquette book for adults, are both called Dot Complicated.) It stars an eponymous little girl who learns that the great outdoors can be a lot more fun than her tablet.
"Life's a little bit richer when you look up from the screen," Zuckerberg writes. "As I watch my two-year-old begin to discover technology, I feel certain that this is an important message to share with a younger audience."

Submission + - ParkerVision Wins Round in Patent Trial Against Qualcomm (blogspot.com.au)

Submitted by quantr
quantr writes: Qualcomm infringed ParkerVision patents and none were invalid, a federal jury in Orlando, Florida, said today. The jury decision came after more than a week of testimony and two days of deliberations. ParkerVision rose $2.06, or 61 percent, to $5.43 at 4 p.m. in New York trading of 19 million shares, 23 times the three-month daily average.
A second phase now begins to determine how much Qualcomm should pay and whether the infringement was intentional, which could mean an even higher damage amount. ParkerVision claims Qualcomm, which owns the most widely used technology standard in mobile phones with Internet access, was the chief impediment to its wireless designs being adopted by the telecommunications industry.
“We are extremely pleased with the jury’s verdict in this case and we look forward to presenting our damages and willfulness arguments over the coming days,” ParkerVision Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Parker said in a statement.
Qualcomm said it was disappointed in the verdict. “There is still more to come in this case so we cannot comment further at this time,” said Christine Trimble, a spokeswoman for San Diego-based Qualcomm.

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