link5280 - Slashdot User

Comment Re:Micro$oft lie? (Score 1) 311

by link5280 on Thursday January 01, 2009 @03:17PM (#26292319) Attached to: Microsoft Uses WGA To Obtain Record Jail Sentences

Nothing in the article suggests information collected from WGA was used in this case or that it passed on personal data either. MS has visibility when pirated/counterfeit versions of their products attempt to certify as Genuine. WGA only prevents an illegal copy from receiving updates. Headline is very misleading!

Comment Re:How Long? (Score 1) 362

by link5280 on Thursday June 05, 2008 @01:34PM (#23670785) Attached to: Happy Birthday! X86 Turns 30 Years Old

A compiler could do the same thing as the CPU, convert x86 instructions to the native CPU microcode. However, you would lose backwards compatibility. Microcode is architecture dependent, so a higher level instruction set (i.e. x86) provides a level of abstraction for programmers and compilers. So itâ(TM)s actually a good thing.

Lawmakers Debate Patent Immunity For Banks 382

Posted by kdawson on Monday February 18, 2008 @08:17PM from the campaign-contributions-are-merely-a-coincidence dept.

I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "Now that a small Texas company has a patent on scanning and archiving checks — something every bank does — that has survived a USPTO challenge, lawmakers feel they have to do something about it. Rather than reform patent law, they seem to think it wiser to protect the banks from having to pay billions in royalties by using eminent domain to buy the patent for an estimated $1 billion in taxpayer money, immunizing the banks. The bill is sponsored by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL)."

The Doctor Will See Your Credit Score Now 464

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Saturday January 19, 2008 @01:30AM from the what's-up-doc dept.

mytrip writes to mention that the same people who invented credit scores are working to create a similar system for hospitals and other health care providers. "The project, dubbed "MedFICO" in some early press reports, will aid hospitals in assessing a patient's ability to pay their medical bills. But privacy advocates are worried that the notorious errors that have caused frequent criticism of the credit system will also cause trouble with any attempt to create a health-related risk score. They also fear that a low score might impact the quality of the health care that patients receive."

Surveillance Rights for the Public? 273

Posted by Zonk on Thursday January 03, 2008 @07:24PM from the why-can't-we-big-brother-them-back dept.

Ian Lamont writes "Mike Elgan has an interesting take on surveillance technology, and how audio and video recordings should be used in private and public life. He cites the case of a New York City Police Detective who was secretly taped by a suspect during an interrogation that the detective initially denied took place during the suspect's murder trial, as well as a case involving two parents in Wisconsin who slipped a voice-activated recorder in their son's backpack after suspecting he was being abused by his bus driver. In the first case, even though the detective was later charged with 12 counts of perjury, Elgan notes that the police interrogation probably would not have taken place had the suspect announced to the detective that he was recording the session. In the second case, the tape was initially ruled inadmissible in court because Wisconsin state law prohibits the use of 'intercepted conversations' (it was later allowed as evidence). Elgan argues that there should be no questions about members of the public being allowed to record such interactions."

Submission + - Interesting and provocative take on surveillance

Submitted by

Loudog

on Thursday January 03, 2008 @06:32PM

Loudog writes: "Who watches the watchers? We do. Maybe having a personal surveillance system is a good idea: http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9055126&pageNumber=1"

Antitrust Suit Filed To Halt Apple 'Music Monopoly' 510

Posted by Zonk on Thursday January 03, 2008 @06:03PM from the a-bit-too-popular dept.

Dotnaught writes with word of an anti-trust lawsuit filed against Apple late last month. Information Week has the story, a suit charging the company with maintaining an illegal monopoly on the digital music market. "The complaint goes beyond software licensing politics and charges Apple with deliberately designing its iPod hardware to be incompatible with WMA. One of the third-party components in iPods, the Portal Player System-On-A-Chip, supports WMA, according to the complaint. 'Apple, however, deliberately designed the iPod's software so that it would only play a single protected digital format, Apple's FairPlay-modified AAC format,' the complaint states. 'Deliberately disabling a desirable feature of a computer product is known as crippling a product, and software that does this is known as crippleware.'"

Submission + - Recut, Reframe, Recycle - Fair Use Online (centerforsocialmedia.org)

Submitted by

I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property

on Thursday January 03, 2008 @03:48PM

I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes: "If one listens to content distributors, any use of copyrighted material that doesn't bring in significant quarterly revenue is "piracy" and some have gone so far as to say that websites or games that allow user-submitted content are infringement engines. However, the Center for Social Media disagrees. In their study, "Recut, Reframe, Recycle: Quoting Copyrighted Material in User-Generated Video," they found that most of the videos studied qualified for fair use protections under US law. Unfortunately, copyright filters aren't able to understand things like satire, parody, commentary, illustrations, or collages."

Submission + - Dvorak gets it...

Submitted by kristjansson on Thursday January 03, 2008 @08:54AM

kristjansson writes: Dvorak rants about the latest bits of outrage from the RIAA and the trend towards making any sort of copying illegal.

Submission + - AXIOM of Finance, Ethics is Valued Currency

Submitted by

Anonymous Coward

on Wednesday January 02, 2008 @02:01PM

Anonymous Coward writes: "Goolge has proven beyond a reasonable doubt, to lack all ethics in resolution of Infringment and Fraud December 31, 2007 Dear European Union, Petition # [redacted]: Thanking the European Union for acknowledging the receipt of the Petition regarding Google, Inc / You Tube and the importance of Online Privacy and the many relationships to Piracy and Crime. We rest confidently in the operation of the EU to benefit its People. It is with the personal regret of my entire family that the United States Justice Department did not act sooner to protect my family and the rights of my family. Instances of this administrations preference to defer, disrespect and delay the rights of individuals are plentiful. We rest our faith wholly in the European Union's ability to examine the Google/Double Click merger under the cloud of these events and fully consider that Google, Inc. has in no way made any restitution or shown any will to correct itself in a manner that would show diligence in protecting the rights of all other EU Citizens. * Until Privacy Error Correction we implore no use of Google * * Google's disrespect of Our Privacy is endemic in a larger international problem. * The most earnest hope of the Linden/Harris family is that others in the European Union not be further exposed to Google's disrespectful nature to Individual Privacy and Property Rights. Now in US Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, directly related to Google, Inc.'s actions regarding Our EU Privacy Rights. My family has been severely and tortuously damaged by the reckless misconduct of this lawless US Corporation — Google, Inc. Our futures and that of our 4 year old daughter have been intentionally imperiled. We seek that Google, Inc. do no further damage to our fellow EU Citizens. We have bravely stood-up to this Tyranny for all Europeans, at great personal cost, Weakened by this injustice, we ask the same of you now. Sincerely, Gurfrip Says:>_ * Working Together we can Advance * James Reginald Harris, Jr., INVENTOR gurfrip.com/utube — 'You Be the Star'"

Submission + - Lessig Corrects ASCAP on Creative Commons (lessig.org)

Submitted by

sphere

on Wednesday January 02, 2008 @11:15AM

sphere writes: "Lawrence Lessig, the chair of the Creative Commons project, has taken on an ASCAP paper that advises musicians not to use Creative Commons for legal and financial reasons."

Submission + - Saudi Arabia Detains Blogger

Submitted by Penguinisto on Wednesday January 02, 2008 @11:03AM

Penguinisto writes: Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry has confirmed that it is detaining Fouah al-Farhan for violation of 'security laws'. Farhan apparently knew it was coming, and warned about it almost two weeks in advance on his blog. Even in Pro-Western Saudi Arabia, laws are known to be rather draconian... while the poor guy most likely won't get his tongue cut out (so far they said that they merely wanted him to sign and post an apology), this bodes not well for attempts at opening up societies in the Middle East.

Submission + - YouTube censoring atheists. (youtube.com)

Submitted by Metaleks on Monday December 24, 2007 @09:18PM

Metaleks writes: 'Tis the season to be jolly. But all is not well. It would seem that YouTube is censoring those who lack Christmas spirit. One after another, atheists on YouTube are being removed from Top 100 lists, and having their channels stripped of any honours. To prove this wasn't some sort of YouTube glitch, one atheist went as far as creating another account. As soon as he was "discovered" of being an atheist his videos were stripped of any honours and his name taken off of the Top 100 lists. Why is YouTube censoring atheists?

Submission + - Your Identity is Safe with Us (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by TitusC3v5 on Monday December 24, 2007 @09:19AM

TitusC3v5 writes: According to the BBC, the Next Generation Identification database is ready to see a $1bn contract award as of next month. As always, the administration assures us that "innocent people would have nothing to fear from the database. FBI assistant director Thomas E Bush told the BBC the targets would be what he called the 'bad guys' — terrorist and criminal suspects."

Submission + - Can Facebook Take On eBay?

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 18, 2007 @11:27PM

An anonymous reader writes: It looks like Facebook has invited developers to discuss how payments can be done on their site. According to this report, interested developers have to sign an NDA (surprise surprise), with FB saying: "You'll be among the first informed for anything payments-related on Facebook, including opportunities to participate in any related trials".

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