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Submission + - Group Thinks Anonymity Should Be Baked Into the Internet Itself Using Tor

Submitted by Hugh Pickens DOT Com
Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes: David Talbot writes at MIT Technology review that engineers on the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), an informal organization of engineers that changes Internet code and operates by rough consensus, have asked the architects of Tor to consider turning the technology into an Internet standard. If widely adopted, such a standard would make it easy to include the technology in consumer and business products ranging from routers to apps and would allow far more people to browse the Web without being identified by anyone who might be spying on Internet traffic. The IETF is already working to make encryption standard in all web traffic. Stephen Farrell believes that forging Tor into a standard that interoperates with other parts of the Internet could be better than leaving Tor as a separate tool that requires people to take special action to implement. “I think there are benefits that might flow in both directions,” says Farrell. “I think other IETF participants could learn useful things about protocol design from the Tor people, who’ve faced interesting challenges that aren’t often seen in practice. And the Tor people might well get interest and involvement from IETF folks who’ve got a lot of experience with large-scale systems.” Andrew Lewman, executive director of Tor, says the group is considering it. “We’re basically at the stage of ‘Do we even want to go on a date together?’ It’s not clear we are going to do it, but it’s worth exploring to see what is involved. It adds legitimacy, it adds validation of all the research we’ve done.”

Submission + - $2 Smartphone App checks IDs better than TSA (komonews.com)

Submitted by McGruber
McGruber writes: According to KOMO News (http://www.komonews.com/news/local/TSA-Should-Take-Notice-of-Bartender-App-That-Checks-ID-233397761.html) Barzapp, an $2 smartphone app being marketed to bartenders, bouncers and anyone who could lose their job if they don't spot a fake ID, could offer up a better ID check than the TSA now has in place.

Currently, a TSA agent must review a passenger's government issued ID and check the name on the boarding pass against it prior to entering electronic scanning area. This name check happens so fast that passengers sometimes wonder if they are really checking the ID at all. "I guess they are making sure you name matches your boarding pass and confirming, like, who you are, maybe?" said passenger Casey Stengal, who is not really sure why the check is necessary.

Since 2007, TSA has been working on developing a Credential Authentication Technology to use at airport checkpoints. But after spending tens of millions of dollars and four rounds of soliciting vendors and testing possible equipment, the TSA still doesn't have an electronic ID verification system in place.

"The TSA is still testing this type of technology," TSA Press Secretary Ron Feinstein said in an email. The TSA has not identified a technology it would like to use with no deadline for it to be in service.

Comment Thanks you've really helped - I had the wrong term (Score 1) 324

by Press2ToContinue (#45544219) Attached to: Jury Finds Newegg Infringed Patent, Owes $2.3 Million

It seems I meant "undue hardship" - I didn't know that was different from "undue burden," because I'm not a lawyer, but it sound like you are - that's great. :) And this makes more sense because it seemed weird that it was a constitutional test.

So if undue hardship is "Special or specified circumstances that partially or fully exempt a person from performance of a legal obligation so as to avoid an unreasonable or disproportionate burden or obstacle." then how could that be applied? Do you think it could it be used as a defense in an infringement case?

Comment Good idea, but a dead end so far. (Score 1) 324

by Press2ToContinue (#45544121) Attached to: Jury Finds Newegg Infringed Patent, Owes $2.3 Million

From what I could find, it seems patent litigation is implicitly excluded from normal E&O insurance, and on new policies for tech firms is explicitly excluded, due to the high cost of patent litigation and the scale of the potential damages. Also, it is excluded from commercial general liability (CGL) insurance, and this has been upheld by the courts.

Interestingly, you -can- specifically get patent infringement insurance, but it is "generally considered too expensive to be worth the cost." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patent_infringement#Patent_infringement_insurance)

And insurance seems like such a reasonable idea and a great solution. I wish it were practical. But hell. if the insurance companies won't even insure us for it at reasonable rates, then that is the "we ain't touchin' this cause it will make us broke" stamp that provides the undeniable proof that this system is an impractical nightmare.

Comment The competing interests are ... (Score 1) 324

by Press2ToContinue (#45534519) Attached to: Jury Finds Newegg Infringed Patent, Owes $2.3 Million

1) the interest to create and sell a software product of my own choosing, and derive my livelihood from it.
2) the interest of the government to foster innovation and progress

If I can't create -anything of significance- without impinging on a patent (and I believe that to be true), then the system prevents me from creating anything of significance and both of these interests are destroyed.

 

Comment Yes it seems the standard of ordinary skill is... (Score 1) 324

by Press2ToContinue (#45532941) Attached to: Jury Finds Newegg Infringed Patent, Owes $2.3 Million

far too low. Most of what is patented, in my opinion is obvious. Even the MP3 encoding algorithm to me is obvious. I can barely imagine something software-related that is not obvious.

Does that make the system wrong, or does that make me someone with extra-ordinary skill, or does that make me delusional? Along with a million other coders?

And is the bar for ordinary skill static in the software industry? No, it changes every year. So if a patent is contested on this basis, how is it verifiable years later? These things seem obvious to me, but I guess I have above-average skill, just like almost everyone else.

Comment Thanks, that makes me think (Score 1) 324

by Press2ToContinue (#45532601) Attached to: Jury Finds Newegg Infringed Patent, Owes $2.3 Million

that the simpler or more generic the idea, the more time-consuming the search becomes. Because 1) the simpler the idea, the more likely it is that it has already been thought of, and therefore more likely to be patented, and 2) the simpler and more generic the search terms are, the more hits are returned in a search. So this means the simplest of ideas are the hardest ones to verify, and there are many many more of them in a program.

I tested my theory by searching the USPTO database to see if the idea of a calculator program is covered by any patents. Using the Google patent search engine, the search results were overwhelming:

https://www.google.com/search?num=100&site=&tbm=pts&source=hp&q=calculator+program+&oq=calculator+program+&gs_l=hp.3..0l10.6707.22776.0.23191.31.23.6.2.2.1.221.3044.5j17j1.23.0....0...1c.1.32.hp..6.25.2141.3USxvlIs4TQ

I tried reading the first one and gave it an honest try to determine if it covers a generic calculator program, and it seemed to in places, and in other places it seemed not to cover it, But that leaves me with an even larger quandary, if parts of it encompass the generic calculator, does it encompass the generic calculator? So even on the very first one, I would need legal opinion. This is out of my league; in no way can I be expert enough nor have time enough nor resources enough to perform a patent analyses encompassing enough to determine if I should write my generic calculator program. The programming is far more trivial than the search.

Using the USPTO search tool was even worse, I could not even verify that my search was finding what I was looking for.

You could argue that I should then \hire an expert to determine this, but that seems to corroborate that this is an undue burden with somewhat similar legal president, because the IRS is required to make tax filings for individuals able to be reasonably filled out by the individual and not be required to hire an expert to file their taxes for them. Of course a business is different, but to me the burden here is orders of magnitude higher than with a tax filing.

Comment "Undue burden" is a constitutional test.... (Score 0) 324

by Press2ToContinue (#45531841) Attached to: Jury Finds Newegg Infringed Patent, Owes $2.3 Million

fashioned by the Supreme Court. The test was developed in the 19th century and is widely used to determine if a law or requirement is constitutional.

More here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Undue_burden_standard

It seems a fait-de-complete that this -is- an undue burden. But sincerely, how could this not have been challenged already by giant corporations on this basis?

Comment Is it possible that patents are an undue burden? (Score 5, Insightful) 324

by Press2ToContinue (#45530957) Attached to: Jury Finds Newegg Infringed Patent, Owes $2.3 Million

As a developer of original software products, I consider it impossible - just my opinion - to determine if any software I create infringes on existing patents. There are usually thousands and often tens of thousands of ideas, algorithms and design approaches in a product that would need to be checked, and patents are so wordy that the time it would take to determine if there was infringement would always far exceed the time it takes to make the product. This seems to me to pose an undue burden, and is therefore unconstitutional?

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Submission + - Reuters: Snowden stashed "doomsday" cache as insurance policy against harm (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by Dega704
Dega704 writes: US and British intelligence officials are concerned former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden has stored an online "doomsday" cache of extraordinarily sensitive classified information that will be unpacked in the event he is arrested or physically harmed, according to a report published Monday.

The article, headlined Spies worry over "doomsday" cache stashed by ex-NSA contractor Snowden, cited seven current and former US officials, as well as other sources briefed on the matter, who spoke on the condition they not be identified. The report claimed the cache contained documents generated by the NSA and other agencies that include previously unpublished names of US and allied intelligence personnel. One of the sources described the documents as an insurance policy against arrest or harm.

Ars was unable to confirm the claims in the article, and some of the reported details sounded technically implausible, at least as they were described.

Submission + - Art Makes Students Smart

Submitted by Hugh Pickens DOT Com
Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes: For many education advocates, the arts supposedly increase test scores, generate social responsibility and turn around failing schools but research that demonstrates a causal relationship has been virtually nonexistent. Now the NY Times reports that with the opening of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, a 50,000 square foot museum with an $800 million endowment funded by Alice Walton, the daughter of Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart, a large-scale, random-assignment study of school tours to the museum, has determined that strong causal relationships does in fact exist between arts education and a range of desirable outcomes. Students who, by lottery, were selected to visit the museum on a field trip demonstrated stronger critical thinking skills, displayed higher levels of social tolerance, exhibited greater historical empathy and developed a taste for art museums and cultural institutions. Moreover, most of the benefits are significantly larger for minority students, low-income students and students from rural schools — typically two to three times larger than for white, middle-class, suburban students — owing perhaps to the fact that the tour was the first time they had visited an art museum. Further research is needed to determine what exactly about the museum-going experience determines the strength of the outcomes. How important is the structure of the tour? The size of the group? The type of art presented? "Clearly, however, we can conclude that visiting an art museum exposes students to a diversity of ideas that challenge them with different perspectives on the human condition," write the authors. "Expanding access to art, whether through programs in schools or through visits to area museums and galleries, should be a central part of any school’s curriculum."

Submission + - Anti-censorship org: Google can end censorship in China in 10 days (techienews.co.uk)

Submitted by hypnosec
hypnosec writes: GreatFire.org, an anti-censorship organization, has urged Google and Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt to lead the way and call on China’s bluff and end its web censorship by following two simple steps. Charlie Smith, GreatFire.org’s co-founder, has urged Google to put Schmidt’s words into practice in one of the most censored markets in the world – China. Less than a week back Schmidt claimed that global censorship will end within a decade while stating that “the solution to government surveillance is to encrypt everything.” Smith revealed that Google can opt for a two-pronged approach and bring an end to censorship in China in 10 days. First, Google should enforce HTTPS on its search engine in China (google.com.hk) and secondly, redirect all those users who try to visit a blocked site to a mirrored site that it hosts.

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