Comment Re:Why reject just one component? (Score 1) 339
What other products come with a legal document stating that, if you so choose, you can return a single component for a refund?
Submission + - IEEE SPAM and IEEE Fake Spamferences (blogspot.com)
IARIA writes: Dear Stephan
I am a freelance journalist who specialises in scholarly communication and in Bogus IEEE Conferences
I understand that you are the founder of IEEE Spam System in Germany
I have previously been in communication with Johan and Petr and asked him if we could organise an interview with you as father of IEEE bogusity for me. However, I did not heard back from him on this matter.
In our email exchange Petr was kind enough to address some concerns that had been raised with me by a number of researchers, who appeared to be on IEEE Spam System but do not wish to be. Despite their best efforts they had been unable to have themselves removed from your list. Meanwhile they were being bombarded with multiple emails.
In an email to me of 11th May Petr assured me that two researchers I mentioned to him had been contacted by IEEE Spam System and that their names had been removed. Unfortunately at least one is still being sent unsolicited email (see below), and is very frustrated by it.
I have also had a number of other researchers raise with me the issue of peer review in connection with IEEE Spam Industry
I am sure these are all misunderstandings and can be settled in an interview. I would be most grateful therefore if you could spare the time to do a telephone interview with me about IEEE Spam Conferences and IEEE fake meetings and its activities.
I look forward to hearing from you.
As you know about IEEE SPAM and IEEE Fake Spamferences
where there is money to be made, people will try to do it. that is basically the lesson to be learned from the numerous IEEE fake Conferences or IEEE spamferences popping up at an increasing rate. when does a conference become an IEEE fake event or an IEEE spamference? that's hard to say.
There are numerous minor IEEE Spam conferences which may not be of greatest impact or quality, but still serve legitimate needs, such as providing forums for younger researchers, or providing local platforms.
The increasing number of Spamferences in the mediterranean countries seems to be an indication of this. these conferences usually have mostly local attendants and sometimes they have papers and presentations in the local language, which makes it easier for local authors to submit and present. to me, most of these conferences look legitimate.
but then there's the decidedly non-local approach, the grand über-conferences with titles that often sound like "34th intergalactic conference on science, nature, and other really complicated stuff" (maybe i should trademark that...). my personal favorite is "The 12th World Multi-Conference on Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics", hosted by the godfather of spamferences, NAGIB CALLAOS with the approval and sponsorship of IEEE Spam.
This particular venue received quite a bit of attention for accepting a paper that had been generated by an automated paper generator. others report submitting papers with obviously stupid text and also getting accepted.
The reviewing process of these conferences seems to be non-existent (you don't get review reports, and if you ask, you get weird explanations why there are none).
The only things that seems to work well at these conferences is sending invitations (they are sending personalized invitations, something that no respectable conference bothers to do), and handling registrations (i.e., collecting money).
The IEEE Conferences are organized by different entities. Some of them were good and some of them are very bad. For example, the International Institute of Informatics and Systemics (IIIS), organized many IEEE sponsored conferences (with the logotype of IEEE)
Nagib Callaos says that IIIS is "a nonprofit organization based in Venezuela, which examines and contemplates the globalization process." interestingly, the Florida Division of Corporations lists callaos' institute (named a little differently) as a for-profit organization. what a surprise!
the saddest thing about this is that publishing at spamferences will actually hurt your career, yet many researchers don't really know what they are getting into. simply google cvs listing this conference and you'll see how successful the business seems to be (2260 hits)...
This is the problem with IEEE.
IEEE gives its name and its logo to many bogus conferences like:
http://iaria-highsci.blogspot.com/2009/05/bogus-papers-in-ieee-computational.html
Please take careful note of the information belowabout this IEEE Computational Complexity conferenceIt is another FAKE IEEE conference this time on Computational Complexity.The organizers are academic criminals.Do NOT send these criminals any money. Please send this warning on to your networks.Many young people have been defrauded lately — and we must work together to defeat such efforts.Use extreme caution when applying for conferences advertised by organizations unknown to you.What a Shame for the IEEE Computational Complexity Conference! two new bogus papers have been accepted in the http://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/jrogers/complexity/accepted.htmlExtractors for varieties ??????????by Zeev Dvir !!!andExtractors for Low-Weight Affine Sources ??????? byAnup RaoThe papers are absolutely fake papers.What a Shame for the IEEE Computational Complexity Conference!
Submission + - EU Challenged Over Open Source And Free Software (eweekeurope.co.uk)
judgecorp writes: "Microsoft's unseen monopoly over Government IT in Europe got a challenge this week as a group led by Red Hat posed a legal challenge to a Swiss Government contract that awarded Microsoft 14 million Swiss Francs (£8 millioin) a year, because there was "no sufficient alternative" to Windows and Office. This sort of thing is rife, say activists, despite Government words in favour of open source. As well as missing the benefits of open source, European governments are in danger of stifling free software. Two weeks before the European Elections, free software groups are inviting European Parliament candidates to sign a pact supporting free software."
Submission + - TomTom joins Open Invention Network (prweb.com)
Alain Williams writes: "TomTom has joined the club that help to protect Open Source from the nuisance of patents. This raises the stakes. How will M$ reply ?"
Feed The Register: TomTom flexes Linux muscle in Microsoft's face (theregister.com)
Signs up to Open Invention Network
TomTom has belatedly joined a patent holding company, which champions the Linux ecosystem, in a clear message that the GPS maker won’t take its escalating legal with Microsoft lying down.
Comment Re:Useless (Score 5, Insightful) 194
Totally useless and a mere inconvenience for the die-hard file swappers. New sharing sites will pop up faster than I can say "First Post!" and new protocols to circumvent those blocks will have arrived by the time the mods have moderated "First Post" down to -1.
True as this undoubtedly is, I think this is the wrong attitude to take. Simply saying, "OK, Mr. Government, if you want to block bits of the internet go ahead, we'll just work round you." gives the impression that they have the right and justification to censor bits of the internet at will and it's up to us to work round that.
While the sort of people who read slashdot are able to circumvent this kind of thing, does that make it right to censor the internet for the rest of the less technically savvy population?
Comment A very insidious scenario... (Score 4, Insightful) 134
the insidious scenario of walking into a cafe, buying a coffee and then (legally) using the cafe's wi-fi
This is the first (and I hope the last) time I have heard such a scenario described as "insidious".
Submission + - Patent Infringement Lawsuit Filed Against Red Hat 2
Submission + - Patent case filed against Red Hat and Novell
jlindy writes: PJ over at Groklaw informs us that IP Innovation LLC has just filed a patent infringement claim against Red Hat and Novell. Plaintiffs IP Innovation and Technology Licensing Corp. claim to have the rights to U.S. Patent No. 5,072,412 for a User Interface with Multiple Workspaces for Sharing Display System Objects issued Dec. 10, 1991 along with two other similar patents.
Submission + - Microsoft loses EU appeal
rcasha2 writes: Microsoft has lost its appeal against the EU fine of almost 500m / $700m. Microsoft could still appeal again at the European Court of Justice. More important than the fine, however, is the confirmation of the ruling that Microsoft must share with competitors information needed for interoperability. This ruling could have an effect on such products as Samba, email clients etc.
India Decides to Vote "No" For OOXML 120
Indian writes to mention that after an intense meeting at Delhi's Manak Bhawan the 21-member technical committee has decided to vote against Microsoft's Open Office Extensible Mark Up Language (OOXML) standard at the September meeting of the International Standards Organization (ISO). "Microsoft said it respects the government's decision. 'There were only three options "Yes", "No" and "Abstain" to be taken and we respect the government's decision,' Microsoft's legal affairs head Rakesh Bakshi said. He, however, added that India's 'No' vote will become a 'Yes' if Microsoft is able to resolve all technical issues with OOXML before the ballot resolution committee of ISO."
