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Crime

Submission + - TOS Violations No Longer A Crime (On Their Own) (forbes.com)

Submitted by nonprofiteer
nonprofiteer writes: The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act previously made "unauthorized access to a computer system" a crime — meant to apply to hackers, it also criminalized violations of a website's TOS or of a workplace's computer policies. The law is being changed to make the crime a felony rather than a misdemeanor. Senators Franken and Grassley added an amendment to exempt violations of TOS and employer policies from the lists of felony activity. w00t for common sense.
Crime

Submission + - Two People Killed For Social Media Use in Mexico (cnn.com)

Submitted by nonprofiteer
nonprofiteer writes: A man and a woman in Mexico were tortured — the man's arm nearly severed, the woman disemboweled — and hung from a bridge in Nuevo Laredo. From CNN: "Signs left near the bodies declared the pair, both apparently in their early 20s, were killed for posting denouncements of drug cartel activities on a social network.

"This is going to happen to all of those posting funny things on the Internet," one sign said. "You better (expletive) pay attention. I'm about to get you.""

Awful. And preceded by a story of two Mexicans being threatened with 30-year-sentences for tweeting a rumor about an attack on a school: http://articles.latimes.com/2011/sep/05/world/la-fg-mexico-tweeters-20110906
Google

Submission + - Be Careful Talking About Your Google Results (forbes.com)

Submitted by nonprofiteer
nonprofiteer writes: Personalized search results means you might spill private information about yourself by talking about yours. Piece has an anecdote from a conference session: "One of the speakers was talking about a racial bias he had noticed in Google search: when he searched for “black women” or “black girls,” Google suggested a series of porn-related pages. But it did not offer up XXX-content when he searched for “white women” or “white girls.”

An interesting anecdote! But when my friend ran the search on her own computer, she didn’t get the same explicit results. When she told the speaker about not getting too porn with those particular search words, he was surprised (and perhaps embarrassed). It appeared Google had personalized content for him, without him realizing."
Iphone

Submission + - Smartphones Becoming Sole Computer of Choice (smartertechnology.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The build-out of 3G networks in developing coutries, plus ultra-low prices from the likes of Samsung, will make the smartphone the sole compuuter of millions of citizens worldwide. And by 2016, 97 percent of smartphones will use touchscreens. Now don't get me wrong--I carry an iPad and an iPod Touch in my backpack and love touchscreens--but I still like a phone that fits in my pocket. However I'm going to be in the minority because apparently in five years the majority of wireless communicators will be smartphones.
Businesses

Submission + - Netflix To Lose 1 Million Subscribers (tekgoblin.com)

Submitted by
tekgoblin
tekgoblin writes: "In light of the recent price increase at Netflix, it made quite a few subscribers mad. Netflix expects to lose around 1 million total subscribers in the short term after the price changes. Price changes that split the streaming and DVD costs separately when they were combined previously which inevitably increase the subscription prices. On top of the price increase Netflix will lose their contract with Starz in February which will cost them around 1,000 total streaming titles from their collection."
Cloud

Submission + - Facebook Revamping Friend Lists This Week

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: As expected, Facebook has announced updates to its Friend Lists feature. The goal is make it easier to see more from the people you care about, as well as share content with only the right people. The improved Friend lists will be rolling out to everyone on Facebook this week. Looks to me like another response to Google+ Circles.
Security

Submission + - Court Denies EPIC's Rehearing Request, Awards Fees (epic.org)

Submitted by OverTheGeicoE
OverTheGeicoE writes: The Electronic Privacy Information Center posted a news release about the DC Circuit Court awarding them attorney's fees yesterday. They are to receive $21,482 in attorneys fees for an open government lawsuit against DHS that ultimately released documents about DHS' airport body scanner program. EPIC used these released documents in EPIC v. DHS, another lawsuit that attempts to end the use of airport body scanners. At the end of an e-mailed version of this news release (EPIC Alert 18.18, not yet posted on the Web), EPIC states that "EPIC requested an en banc review of the court's decision not to suspend, but, on September 12, 2011, the court declined the request." Is this the end of EPIC v. DHS, or does this simply open the door for an appeal to the Supreme Court?

Submission + - Will heteros take to location-based dating? (forbes.com) 1

Submitted by nonprofiteer
nonprofiteer writes: Over two million gay users find dates/hook-ups using the smartphone app, Grindr, which shows users the profiles of people nearby for messaging/meeting-up. Now the app's creator is launching a version that does the same thing for the straights: Blendr. OkCupid has also launched a 'geosocial' app that will allow users to see when other singles are around. Do you think these apps will take off in the hetero community as successfully as did Grindr among gay men or do you think women or less likely to want to advertise their singledom?
Government

Submission + - Legislation Would Punish Mishandling of Data (nytimes.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: A bill introduced Thursday by Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) would regulate the handling of consumers' private data and punish companies who screw up (e.g. Sony). 'These rules would require companies to follow specific storage guidelines and ensure that personal information is stored and protected correctly. Companies that do not adhere to these security guidelines could be subject to stiff fines.' Blumenthal told the NY Times, 'The goal of the proposed law is essentially to hold accountable the companies and entities that store personal information and personal data and to deter data breaches. While looking at past data breaches, I’ve been struck with how many are preventable.'
Crime

Submission + - How a hacker "sextortionist" ruined girls' lives (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by nonprofiteer
nonprofiteer writes: I've seen quite a few articles about the 32-year-old illegal immigrant that installed RATs on over 100 computers to get girls' nude photos, sex videos and financial details, but this article really drills down into how he did it and the psychic trauma of his victims. Via Ars Technica:

"Citing a few more recent examples, an August Associated Press story claimed that sextortion is on the rise in the US, and the government has taken to using the term in its criminal filings.

Without nude pictures and compromising videos, the attackers in such cases have no leverage—but digital devices have made it so easy to point, shoot, and share that everyone involved in the Mijangos hacks already had such pictures, and didn't appear to have hidden or secured them. With pictures that common, but taboos against their public distribution still strong, sextortion will certainly continue. But at least Luis Mijangos won't be doing it."
Desktops (Apple)

Submission + - Hidden Wi-Fi Diagnostics application in OS X Lion (subrosasoft.com)

Submitted by WankerWeasel
WankerWeasel writes: The latest version of Apple's operating system, OS X 10.7 Lion, has a hidden Wi-Fi Diagnostics application that allows the user to view information about their wireless network performance, record performance and also capture raw frames. Hidden away in the System folder the application is meant for Apple tech diagnostic use but is also very useful for any user interested in diagnosing wifi problems or checking network performance.
Crime

Submission + - Unknowingly Sending Naked Photos on Stolen Laptop (forbes.com)

Submitted by nonprofiteer
nonprofiteer writes: Embarrassing thieves by exposing them using laptop recovery software makes for fun tech stories, but what about a case of a person being literally exposed after cops and a software company got their hands on naked photos she exchanged with her long-distance boyfriend, not realizing the machine was stolen? (She bought it for $60 so she should have known, but still.) The case is going to trial in Ohio in September. The plaintiffs argue that the software company had the right to get the computer's location in order to recover it, but that it should not have intercepted the nude photos and shared those with the cops. Seems like a legitimate complaint and the plaintiffs are especially sympathetic in not realizing the device was stolen.
The Almighty Buck

Submission + - New Twitter-Based Hedge Fund Beat the Stock Market (theatlanticwire.com)

Submitted by nonprofiteer
nonprofiteer writes: Derwent Capital, a new hedge fund that makes trades and investments based on Twitter sentiment, beat the market--and other hedge funds--in its first full month of trading. From the Atlantic: " Using an algorithm based on the social media mood that day, the hedge fund predicted the market to make the right trades. Sounds unbelievable that something cluttered with mundane musings and media links could have anything smart to say about the market. But it's working so far." Blind luck?
Facebook

Submission + - Looks Like That Dude Doesn't Own Half of Facebook (forbes.com)

Submitted by nonprofiteer
nonprofiteer writes: Facebook's lawyers got their hands on the computers used by Paul Ceglia, the guy who claims that Mark Zuckerberg signed over half of Facebook to him. Computer forensics work turned up a 2004 version of the contract that makes no mention of the company, lending credence to Facebook's claims that Ceglia is a scam artist and that the contract he recently "found" is a fraud. Forensics work also showed that a thumb drive had been inserted into the computer with some suspicious docs. Is this a surprise to anyone?

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