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+ - Anonymous takes on a Mexican drug cartel-> 1

Submitted by NarcoTraficante
NarcoTraficante writes "After one of their members was kidnapped in Veracruz, Mexico by the Zetas drug cartel, Mexican Anonymous members have issued an ultimatum to the Zetas in a recently posted YouTube video (Spanish). The video demands release of the kidnapped member and threatens to publish information of cartel members and affiliates in Veracruz if the victim is not released by November 5. The Houston Chronicle article warns that there will be bloodshed if Anonymous publishes information on the Zeta's operations, either perpetrated by rival cartels or reprisal attacks by the Zetas themselves."
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Democrats

WSJ's Mossberg Calls For a Tougher Broadband Plan 332

Posted by timothy
from the top-down-dispensary dept.
GovTechGuy writes "Wall Street Journal tech columnist Walt Mossberg thinks the FCC's national broadband plan is long overdue, but he criticized it for being vague on the details and too focused on expanding access into rural areas. Mossberg pointed out that what passes for broadband in the US wouldn't even qualify as such in many other developed countries. He also noted that Americans pay more per unit of broadband speed than our competitors. He called on the government to devote time and resources to making sure Americans have the broadband access they need to stay competitive in the 21st century global economy."
The Internet

1Mb Broadband Access Becomes Legal Right In Finland 875

Posted by samzenpus
from the give-me-broadband-or-give-me-death dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Starting next July, every person in Finland will have the right to a one-megabit broadband connection, according to the Ministry of Transport and Communications. Finland is the world's first country to create laws guaranteeing broadband access. The Finnish people are also legally guaranteed a 100Mb broadband connection by the end of 2015."
The Courts

+ - Revote likey because Diebold recount impossible

Submitted by Aidtopia
Aidtopia writes "A judge in Berkeley, California, has ordered a re-vote in a 2004 medical marijuana measure which had lost by fewer than 200 votes. A group supporting the measure requested a recount, which was meaningless since the Diebold electronic voting machines didn't produce physical ballots. The group petitioned for audit logs and other supporting documentation. The Registrar initially gave them the run-around, and, with a lawsuit pending, shipped the machines back to the manufacturer where 96% of the stored votes were erased. The ruling is tentative. The revote, if it happens, will be in the 2008 general election, using different electronic voting machines that produce a paper trail."
Networking

+ - A killer Internet connection for mom

Submitted by Rurouni_Jaden
Rurouni_Jaden writes "75-year old woman given killer Internet connection from her son. Lothberg's 40 gigabits-per-second fiber-optic connection in Karlstad is believed to be the fastest residential uplink in the world, Karlstad city officials said. In less than 2 seconds, Lothberg can download a full-length movie on her home computer — many thousand times faster than most residential connections, said Hafsteinn Jonsson, head of the Karlstad city network unit. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19832184/"
Software

+ - Open Standards Threatened in Europe->

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes "From Open Standards: 'On June 29 2007, the European Commission agency IDABC published a document revising the European Interoperability Framework (EIF) and the Architecture Guidelines (AG). This second version wants to 'update' the previous version of the EIF but, contrary to the first version, it threatens explictely the good process of more open standards that had been a long time push of IDABC. "EIF v2.0 should facilitate the most profitable business model(s) of cost versus public value, under proper recognition of intellectual property rights, if any. The support for multiple standards allows a migration towards open standards when appropriate in the long run." There are unacceptable drawbacks from the previous "EIF 2004" that promoted the use of open standards as defined in this European definition, the use of free and open source softwares as well as XML.'

Who also reads 'Microsoft and OOXML out again to find some weak spot' between the lines? Help signing the campaign and sending complaining emails in the request for comments."
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Announcements

+ - Italy forbids RIAA scare tactics->

Submitted by eiapoce
eiapoce writes "In Italy it is forbidden for anybody to monitor internet trafic. This is stated in a recent article by the national press agency ANSA that I gladly translate for the slashdot readers:

http://www.ansa.it/site/notizie/awnplus/internet/n ews/2007-07-18_11897954.html

ROMA, 18 LUG — An italian court "ruled illegal for anyone to monitor network trafic". This is as declared by the innovation responsible of the green party, Mr. Cortiana. As announced by the green leader the Giudges approved the points forwarded from the Privacy Authority in the case of Peppermint against Telecom. This is a important ruling, sais Cortiana, because it sets a important principle: On the internet it is a (exclusive) duty of law forces and judges to investigate and enforce the law.

— - —

The case Peppermin Jam Records VS Telecom originated when the Swiss firm Peppermint used scare tactics like those employed by the RIAA sending 3636 notification letters to Italian Users sharing licensed music on P2P network. Those letters were containing a invitation to deposit a sum of money or face a trial. Telecom initially opposed but was forced to deliver the names on spite of a european directive. Now the Giudges overturned this previous ruling.

On this page http://www.hardwaremax.it/20070718767/network/caso -peppermint-vietati-i-monitoraggi-in-rete.html

Cortiana also criticises the private firm: "Internet is not a 'nobody's land' where there are no rules and you can apply do-it-yourself laws, also on the internet real world citizenship rights apply" and continues as "business models should adapt and cosider that network sharing is a collective cognitive process""
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Businesses

+ - Where does one find a DDoS-resistent ISP?

Submitted by Anonumous Coward
Anonumous Coward writes "Back in April, a friend's webserver was the target of a DDoS attack. The then ISP just null-routed everything and told my friend to go fetch his server. My friend shopped around frantically for an ISP who would protect him against the attack if it continued. It's not an online casino he runs, it's some non-profit anti-cult websites, so cost is a serious concern. He ended up with a "secure managed server" on Fedora 4 (!) with Plesk and no root access at a well-known Arizona domain registrar and ISP who shall remain unnamed. This ISP did in fact defeat the attack. The problem: he also defeated most of the scripts behind the websites, thus the websites themselves, and finally the admin too, who threw in the towel. The server and the local network are a maze of unbelievable misconfigurations, support is responsive and friendly but utterly useless, and most simple things like "please unblock port 25 so that the machine can reach the advertised MX host of its own domain" are "against company policy". I am now administrating that machine and I am at the end of my wits.

Before I throw in the towel, I thought I should ask slashdot for help. Do you know of any decent ISPs who can and will defend against attacks and won't charge you a fortune for it? How hard can it be to find one?"

QOTD: "You want me to put *holes* in my ears and hang things from them? How... tribal."

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