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+ - US Senator to support iPod ban

Submitted by
CautionaryX
CautionaryX writes "A New York state senator, Sen. Carl Kruger, will " propose a bill that would ban using an iPod — and any other electronic device that is a distraction — while crossing traffic, he told FOX News on Wednesday." http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,250644,00.html "The bill would levy a $100 fine against those who use iPods, cell phones and BlackBerrys while in a crosswalk in all of New York's major cities."


The senator says that the legislation is mainly to create public awareness of the growing problem of using your iPod while walking across busy intersections. Here's the really funny part: "If you want to listen to your iPod, sit down and listen to it," Kruger told WCBS-TV. "You want to walk in the park, enjoy it. You want to jog around a jogging path, all the more power to you, but you should be crossing streets and endangering yourself and the lives of others." (emphasis added) Is the public really in danger of pedestrians using iPods?"
Media (Apple)

+ - iPods banned from pedestrian use?

Submitted by Nitack
Nitack writes "New York State Sen. Carl Kruger is trying to push through a bill that will ticket New Yorkers to the tune of $100 for listening to an iPod or talking on a phone while crossing the street. Sen. Kruger has had three people in his district die from crossing the street while distracted by personal electronics. According to Kruger it is the governments responsibility to protect his citizens from themselves. "This electronic gadgetry is reaching the point where it's becoming not only endemic but it's creating an atmosphere where we have a major public safety crisis at hand.""
The Courts

+ - Former RIAA defendant wins countersuit

Submitted by
KingSkippus
KingSkippus writes "Debbie Foster, who was accused by the RIAA of sharing music on a peer-to-peer network and fought for a year and a half to have her case dismissed, has won a countersuit seeking $55,000 for attorney's fees. Ars Technica reports, "The industry cartel will have to tread carefully with any secondary infringement claims now that there is case law that owning an Internet account used for infringement does not automatically make the owner liable for said infringement. Attorney Ray Beckerman told Ars that he believes there are huge implications from this opinion. 'It sends a message to the RIAA... that there are consequences to this 'driftnet' litigation strategy.'""
Movies

+ - European theater chains boycotting movies

Submitted by S.R.
S.R. writes "A handful of European theater chains — two each in the U.K. and Germany — are boycotting 'Night at the Musuem' and 'Eragon.' The reason? The relatively short window between the theatrical and DVD releases. 'Night at the Museum' is set for a DVD release 13 weeks after its debut, and the theater owners are blaming the short windows for the decline in theater attendance. But their problems are much bigger than that. 'Tickets are expensive, lines can be long, while popcorn and pop cost an arm and a leg. Perhaps most irritating, movie starting times are treated as mere suggestions by cinemas who use advertised start times to launch a barrage of previews and advertisements upon their audience. Once the movie starts, we are then treated to whispered conversations and cell phone usage.'"
Announcements

+ - QEMU accelerator released under GPL

Submitted by kebes
kebes writes "According to the official QEMU site, the QEMU accelerator module, KQEMU, has just been released under the open-source GPL license. QEMU is a cross-platform processor emulator, allowing you to virtualize an entire PC. The KQEMU module allows significatn virtualization speedup when emulating an x86 processor on x86 hardware. The module was previously available as a binary-only add-on to the open-source QEMU. This recent relicensing makes QEMU a fully open-source, high-speed virtualization tool available to all."
The Internet

+ - DMCA Notices: Guilty until proven innocent

Submitted by Ben Maurer
Ben Maurer writes "It's no secret that media companies have started to hire companies automatically find file sharers and send letters to their ISPs. Many ISP's trust the good faith of these companies and will automatically deactivate the Internet connection of those who they get notifications for. I decided to investigate the reliability of notices from these companies. The answer: the companies do not actually gather the data they claim to and may falsely accuse users of copyright violation."
Security

+ - Should security firms sandbox their executives?

Submitted by
Giorgio Maone
Giorgio Maone writes "Brian Krebs of the Security Fix Washington Post blog is attending the RSA Conference 2007 in San Francisco and noticed that "the kiosks of Microsoft Windows XP machines set up for attendees to freely access e-mail were running under the all-powerful Administrator account". More amusing, he's been watching executives from the major security firms which happily used those insecure Windows boxes to check their messages or even access their remote desktops. "Had I spent a bit more than 10 seconds at the terminals", he says, "I could have downloaded software that would let me steal user names and passwords from important companies in the information security community". Brrrr..."
Privacy

+ - U.S. doesn't sign ban on disappearances

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes "Jamey Keaten, writes:

Nearly 60 countries signed a treaty on Tuesday that bans governments from holding people in secret detention, but the United States and some of its key European allies were not among them.

The signing capped a quarter-century of efforts by families of people who have vanished at the hands of governments.

"Our American friends were naturally invited to this ceremony; unfortunately, they weren't able to join us," French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy told reporters after 57 nations signed the treaty at his ministry in Paris.

Full Story:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070207/ap_on_re_eu/fr ance_un_disappeared;_ylt=AmvBtfSe6.HGN0Rvsa45QoN0b BAF"
The Courts

+ - RIAA Victim Wins Attorney's Fees

Submitted by
VE3OGG
VE3OGG writes "Debbie Foster, one of the many caught-up in the RIAA's drift-net attacks who was sued back in 2004 has recently seen yet another victory. After having the suit dropped against her "with prejudice" several months back, Foster filed a counter-claim, and has just been awarded "reasonable" attorney's fees. Could this, in conjunction with cases such as Santangelo be showing a turning of the tide against the RIAA?"
United States

+ - Glass Walkway over the Grand Canyon

Submitted by
hac
hac writes "Afraid of heights? In March 2007, you will be able to walk over the rim and into the Grand Canyon, with glass separating you from a 4000 foot fall.

"The Skywalk will jut out 70 feet (21 meters) from the canyon rim, allowing tourists to go for a stroll with nothing between their feet and the Colorado River — 4,000 feet (1,220 meters) below — except for four inches (ten centimeters) of glass. "
How long until someone sets a record for wireless transmission within the Canyon?"
Google

+ - Google Apps to become paid service

Submitted by FredDC
FredDC writes "Business Week reports Google Apps is becoming a paid service soon for companies who wish to use it for their domain. Disney and Pixar are reportedly thinking about switching to Google Apps innstead of using Microsoft Office. Could this be the end of a monopoly? Or the start of a new one?"

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