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Submission + - UK DMCA Effectively Bans Public Wi-Fi (crunchgear.com)

Submitted by hol
hol writes: One of the effects of the UK's DMCA equivalent being discussed is that effectively makes anyone providing free Wi-Fi an ISP, and so liable for pirated/otherwise illegal content being downloaded. Most coffee shops and the like can't afford the filtering software and systems to run them, which basically forces them to close the service.
User Journal

Journal Journal: The ultimate in military training environments 5

Journal by BWJones

I had checked out... The environment was so complete that for a discrete moment I had completely forgotten that we were still in the continental United States. Perhaps it was the smell of kebabs cooking or the sound of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan playing from the electronics shop that also sold pirated Western DVDs or the afternoon call to prayer coming from the tops of the minarets in the local mosque. It could have been the women selling bread, fruits or flowers by the side of the road or the Ara
Google

Submission + - EU Vs Google again - This with time Street View (digitizor.com)

Submitted by a googler
a googler writes: Google seems to be having a very tough time in Europe this month.Now another trouble seems to be brewing with its Street View feature in Google Maps. EU regulators have concerned e about Google's retention policy for Street View images. They want to shorten the retention period to 6 months. As taking Street View pictures is no doubt expensive, a Google privacy lawyer said that the company had reason to hang on to its Street View images for a year. Concerns were also raised about Google retaining unblurred Street View images internally. EU also wants Google to pay for notifications in local newspapers in the areas to be imaged.
Google

Submission + - Microsoft says Google acts raise antitrust issues 2

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Oh ... the irony: Microsoft Corp made its most vehement and public attack on Google Inc on Friday, calling its internet rival's actions potentially anti-competitive, and urging victims to file complaints to regulators.The broadside comes days after a Microsoft-owned business, along with two other small online companies, complained to European Union regulators about Google's operations there. Microsoft is also fighting a plan by Google to digitize millions of books, currently under scrutiny by the Department of Justice.
Security

Submission + - SPAM: New Russian botnet tries to kill rivals

Submitted by alphadogg
alphadogg writes: An upstart Trojan horse program has decided to take on its much-larger rival by stealing data and then removing the malicious program from infected computers. Security researchers say that the relatively unknown Spy Eye toolkit added this functionality just a few days ago in a bid to displace its larger rival, known as Zeus. The feature, called "Kill Zeus," apparently removes the Zeus software from the victim's PC, giving Spy Eye exclusive access to usernames and passwords.

Zeus and Spy Eye are both Trojan-making toolkits, designed to give criminals an easy way to set up their own "botnet" networks of password-stealing programs. These programs emerged as a major problem in 2009, with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation estimating last October that they have caused $100 million in losses.
Link to Original Source
Businesses

GameStop, Other Retailers Subpoenaed Over Credit Card Information Sharing 117

Posted by Soulskill from the you-can-trust-us dept.
New York State's Attorney General, Andrew Cuomo, has subpoenaed a number of online retailers, including GameStop, Barnes & Noble, Ticketmaster and Staples, over the way they pass information to marketing firms while processing transactions. MSNBC explains the scenario thus: "You're on the site of a well-known retailer and you make a purchase. As soon as you complete the transaction a pop-up window appears. It offers a discount on your next purchase. Click on the ad and you are automatically redirected to another company's site where you are signed up for a buying club, travel club or credit card protection service. The yearly cost is usually $100 to $145. Here's where things really get smarmy. Even though you did not give that second company any account information, they will bill the credit or debit card number you used to make the original purchase. You didn't have to provide your account number because the 'trusted' retailer gave it to them for a cut of the action." While there is no law preventing this sort of behavior, Cuomo hopes the investigation will pressure these companies to change their ways, or at least inform customers when their information might be shared.

Submission + - Is a fancy case worth $3000 for a BR player? (audioholics.com)

Submitted by SeattleGameboy
SeattleGameboy writes: Lexicon BD-30 Blu-Ray players is a $3500 high-end audiophile's dream (just read the review here). Only problem; it is just a re-badged Oppo BDP-83 player with a fancier case. Sure, re-badging happens all the time, but they don't usually result in 500% markup (Oppo player retails for $500). Yet another nail in the coffin for how much "audiophile" reviews (and gears) are really worth. Do read the comments section in the review above, it is hillarious!
Idle

Submission + - the LackRack: home colocation made affordable (lackrack.org)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The LackRack is the ultimate, low-cost, high shinyness solution for your modular datacenter-in-the-living-room. Featuring the LACK side table from Ikea, the LackRack is an easy-to-implement, exact-fit datacenter building block. It provides superior mounting for up to 8 U of 19" hardware, such as switches and other professional gear. Multi-shiny LackRack can also be painted to your specific preferences and the airflow is unprecedented.
Google

Submission + - Hong Ke suspected of the Google attacks 2

Submitted by adeelarshad82
adeelarshad82 writes: They are cloaked by pseudonyms and multiple addresses, but China's legions of hackers were thrust into the spotlight last week after Google said it suffered a sophisticated cyber-attack emanating from China. There are tens of thousands of Hong Ke, or red visitors, as they are known in China. Many are motivated by patriotism, although it is more difficult to establish their relationship with the Chinese government or military, which some experts suspect as being behind the attacks. The Honker Union, China's most famous group of Hong Ke, shows the grey area between patriotic hackers and the state. The group has denied involvement in the Google attack. In the past the group has had involvement in cyber-warfare with U.S. hackers over the Hainan spy plane incident in 2001 and last week attacked Iranian websites in retaliation for the Iranian Cyber Army's temporary takeover of Chinese search engine Baidu.

Submission + - Open-Source Javascript Flash Player (HTML5/SVG) (paulirish.com) 1

Submitted by gbutler69
gbutler69 writes: Wow! Someone has gone and done it. Created a Flash Player written in Javascript targetting SVG/HTML5 capable browsers. It's not a complete implementation yet, but, it shows some real promise. Of course, there is the ever-famous vector "Hello World!" called Tiger. This really has promise. How long before HTML5/SVG next-generation browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Safari, Epiphany, and other Web-Kit based browsers completely supplant Flash and Silverlight/Moonlight?

Submission + - Web video restrictions in Italy

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: New rules to be introduced by government decree will require people who upload videos onto the Internet to obtain authorization from the Communications Ministry similar to that required by television broadcasters, drastically reducing freedom to communicate over the Web. Some critics described the decree as an expression of the conflict of interests of Silvio Berlusconi, who exercises political control over the state broadcaster RAI in his role as prime minister and is also the owner of Italy's largest private broadcaster, Mediaset.
PlayStation (Games)

PlayStation Network Expanding To Involve Other Devices 63

Posted by Soulskill from the making-toasters-smarter dept.
At CES, Sony's Kaz Hirai confirmed that the company will build out its PlayStation Network for use with other devices, such as televisions, Blu-ray players, and PCs. Quoting: "... the expansion starts next month with the availability of the PSN video store on these other devices, and Hirai explained they are constructing a mechanism to create a single user ID across the entire network (if you have a PSN account, it's good to go on any other applicable Sony device, and if you create one on another device, it'll work on PSN). And finally, Hirai also announced the formation of a new Sony division — called Sony Network Entertainment, Inc. — to drive this expansion of the PSN service into a Sony-wide network."
NASA

Submission + - NASA Flight Tests Unique Jumbo Jet. (planenews.com)

Submitted by gilgsn
gilgsn writes: As reported by Planenews, NASA tested a jumbo jet that will help scientists unlock the origins of the universe. Infrared observations reached a milestone Friday when doors covering the plane’s telescope were fully opened in flight. The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, a modified 747 jet known as SOFIA, flew for one hour and 19 minutes, which included two minutes with the telescope’s doors fully opened.
Image

Best Man Rigs Newlyweds' Bed To Tweet During Sex 272

Posted by samzenpus from the nice-feed dept.
When an UK man was asked to be the best man at a friend's wedding he agreed that he would not pull any pranks before or during the ceremony. Now the groom wishes he had extended the agreement to after the blessed occasion as well. The best man snuck into the newlyweds' house while they were away on their honeymoon and placed a pressure-sensitive device under their mattress. The device now automatically tweets when the couple have sex. The updates include the length of activity and how vigorous the act was on a scale of 1-10.

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