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Open Source

FSF Wants To Police JavaScript Use->

Submitted by mikejuk
mikejuk writes "The FSF (Free Software Foundation) wants us all to add tags to JavaScript that identifies the code as being open source. This would allow tools such as LibreJS to identify any non-trivial proprietary code and automatically block the web page.
Perhaps this is a step too far — is over-regulating software freedom like fighting for peace?"
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Ask Slashdot: Top ten Geek magazines that still sh

Submitted by QwkHyenA
QwkHyenA writes "I've recently cancelled my Linux Magazine subscription because they went paperless. I know, I'm a heartless geek and should be "shunned" but I enjoy the unplugged sensation of reading paper periodicals. What sort of magazines are out there that still are delivered via USPS that will scratch my Engineering, Coder, System Administrator and 3D Printer itch??"
Security

Naval researchers pioneer TCP-based spam detection->

Submitted by alphadogg
alphadogg writes "Researchers from the U.S. Naval Academy have developed a way for analyzing email traffic in real-time to identify spam messages as they come across the wire, simply using information from the TCP packets that carry the messages. This approach could be a useful addition to the arsenal of today's spam-fighting techniques, observers argue, in that, unlike other typical spam fighting approaches, the content of the email does not have to be scanned. Their work is outlined in this paper. http://www.usenix.org/events/lisa11/tech/full_papers/Kakavelakis.pdf"
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Security

Researchers Build TCP-Based Spam Detection->

Submitted by
itwbennett
itwbennett writes "In a presentation at the Usenix LISA conference in Boston, researchers from the Naval Academy showed that signal analysis of factors such as timing, packet reordering, congestion and flow control can reveal the work of a spam-spewing botnet. The work 'advanced both the science of spam fighting and ... worked through all the engineering challenges of getting these techniques built into the most popular open-source spam filter,' said MIT computer science research affiliate Steve Bauer, who was not involved with the work. 'So this is both a clever bit of research and genuinely practical contribution to the persistent problem of fighting spam.'"
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UN Bigwig: 'The web" should have been patented and->

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes "Cory Doctorow over at BoingBoing has unearthed an amazing video where the head of WIPO, the UN agency responsible for "promoting" intellectual property, suggests that Tim Berners-Lee should have patented HTML and licensed it to all users. Amazingly this is done on camera and in front of the head of CERN and the Internet Society, who look on in disbelief."
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Politics

'So This is America': Veteran Ray McGovern Bloodie-> 1

Submitted by
corbettw
corbettw writes "As Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave her speech at George Washington University yesterday condemning governments that arrest protestors and do not allow free expression, 71-year-old Ray McGovern was grabbed from the audience in plain view of her by police and an unidentified official in plain clothes, brutalized and left bleeding in jail. She never paused speaking. When Secretary Clinton began her speech, Mr. McGovern remained standing silently in the audience and turned his back. Mr. McGovern, a veteran Army officer who also worked as a C.I.A. analyst for 27 years, was wearing a Veterans for Peace t-shirt."
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Apple

Apple Admits Child Labor Problem

Submitted by mvar
mvar writes "Apple has admitted on its latest report auditing the tech firm's contracted suppliers and manufacturers that some 91 child labourers were employed by mainly Chinese companies assembling the popular gadgets marketed by the US consumer electronics giant.The same report also confirmed reports that 137 workers were poisoned while working at a facility contracted by Apple to manufacture its products while more than 30 percent of companies attached with the tech firm's manufacturing activities are found to be complying with its working hours code. Apple said that the number of minors working for its Chinese contractors spiked from the 11 children discovered last year to its present level of 91 young workers, prompting for the separation of one company."
Microsoft

Microsoft Bans Free Software from WP Marketplace 1

Submitted by mvar
mvar writes "A ban on GPL3 and similarly compatible, copyleft licensed software has been found in the terms of use for Microsoft's Windows Phone Marketplace. The terms, noted in a posting on open source evangelist Jan Wildeboer's blog, were originally noticed in a discussion among Nokia developers who were evaluating the issues involved with Nokia's switch to WP7; both Nokia's Symbian and MeeGo platforms have been free and open source friendly. The ban, in section 5.e of the terms, forbids any software which is subject to an "Excluded Licence"; it defines that in section 1.l as any licence which requires, as a condition of distribution, that the source code for the application be made available, or allow the creation of derivative works or redistribution at no charge. It specifically names GPLv3 licences and includes the General Public Licnce (GPL) version 3, the GNU Affero GPL version 3, and the GNU Lesser GPL version 3 as examples of excluded licences."
GNOME

Canonical disables Banshee Amazon Store in Ubuntu->

Submitted by Julie188
Julie188 writes "Banshee is a media/music player for Linux that has support for purchasing music via Amazon MP3. The revenues have always gone directly to the GNOME Foundation. Historically, the default music player in Ubuntu has been Rhythmbox, but that's changing in 11.04 to Banshee. The problem, at least as Canonical seems to see it? Amazon MP3 support in Banshee competes with Ubuntu's own offering, Ubuntu One — which also has support for purchasing music. The alternative? Canonical offered to leave the Amazon Store on by default, but take a 75% cut leaving a paltry 25% for GNOME."
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"That boy's about as sharp as a pound of wet liver" -- Foghorn Leghorn