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Privacy

Submission + - Symantec: warrants good "for the gumshoe days& (www.cbc.ca)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The (Conservative) Canadian government appears to have reversed itself, and now says that "We have not and we will not be proposing legislation to grant police the power to get information from internet companies without a warrant." But for some security experts, warrants are too 'old school': Michael Murphy, Canadian VP of Symantec, said "It might work in the gumshoe days, but things are different now".
The Courts

Submission + - RIAA Complaint Dismissed as "Boilerplate"

Submitted by
NewYorkCountryLawyer
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: "The decision many lawyers had been expecting — that the RIAA's "boilerplate" complaint fails to state a claim for relief under the Copyright Act — has indeed come down, but from an unlikely source. While the legal community has been looking towards a Manhattan case, Elektra v. Barker, for guidance, a case in which amicus briefs had been submitted by various industry groups and the US Department of Justice (see case file, and from Warner v. Cassin, a similar motion in the same Court's Westchester division, the decision instead came from Senior District Court Judge Rudi M. Brewster of the US District Court for the Southern District of California, in a decision denying a default judgment (i.e. the defendant had not even appeared in the action). Judge Brewster not only denied the default judgment motion but dismissed the complaint for failure to state a claim. Echoing the words of Judge Karas at the oral argument in Barker , Judge Brewster held (pdf) that "Plaintiff here must present at least some facts to show the plausibility of their allegations of copyright infringement against the Defendant. However, other than the bare conclusory statement that on "information and belief" Defendant has downloaded, distributed and/or made available for distribution to the public copyrighted works, Plaintiffs have presented no facts that would indicate that this allegation is anything more than speculation. The complaint is simply a boilerplate listing of the elements of copyright infringement without any facts pertaining specifically to the instant Defendant. The Court therefore finds that the complaint fails to sufficiently state a claim upon which relief can be granted and entry of default judgment is not warranted.""
Privacy

Submission + - Skype network blowup revealing privacy sellout

Submitted by
Christina K.
Christina K. writes: "Skype commented on the network problems as being caused by too many users updating their pcs overwhelming an "algorythm" in Skype`s server software. Besides other meanings, this implys:

- that all Skype network traffic now runs through THEIR central servers while so far it was understood to be peer to peer with Skype previously not confirming the existence and importance of any central Skype servers for the network in view of privacy issues raised by any such central data processing in an peer to peer network.

- with the malfunction of their "algorythm" affecting such a wide range of the network, it is obvious that their central servers are not merely network headroom providers for high traffic times but are/have been made into central network all-traffic processing infrastructure.

Why has the algorythm not crashed with any of the previous windows upgrades before?

Maybe because the central processing of network traffic at Skype has moved from supplemental to mandatory, all traffic encompassing mode. That would explain the type of crash and why we have not seen it before.

Deep in Skype`s FAQ section, one may find a first hint at what their network crashing "algorythm" may relate to: all inclusive traffic data collection.

Answering the question about how to back up a user contacts on a pc, Skype's official answer is that the most recent Skype software provides an automatic backup of all user contact at Skype`s central servers and will restore contacts at the user machine at next login !

Yes, You read that right. Skype has installed an infrastructure that collects and stores the contacts of 100 million users centrally at Skype corporate servers.

Did You know ?

Considering the vast privacy implications such a facility brings with it, one would be inclined to assume that the user has the option to disengage such data collection of his contacts and that Skype would present the issue openly to the public, considering Skype founders' Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis's past clashes with privacy ethics at Kazaa.

Well, You always have the right to scan www.skype.com every day to bring Yourself up to date with any changes in such crucial issues as discussed here, and the hidden hints at them to be found there, right?

And should You find any user interface option to disable Skype`s central monitoring of Your contacts "service", let me know......

No problem, uninstalling the latest Skype and reinstalling an old version to opt out ?

Well, after doing so, the latest emoticons are still populating Your UI, grinning and waving at You, and Your profile page is still showing layout elements that only the latest Skype version had?

Forced, non-reversable upgrade, anyone ?

I leave that to the code wizzards to explore. If anyone ever wondered why Skype went to such length to keep the inerts of their code hidden by keeping code encrypted when inactive thus making it virtually "review tight" — "forced upgrading" is only one of the options they may have had in mind, after their abuse of privacy issues blew up into their "good guy" faces, when spyware was discovered in their peer-to-peer Kazaa software code.

So did Skype go to all that length, costs and risks of network downtime when installing a hardware intensive, central "monitor all" network processing bottleneck just to save users from having to back up their contacts locally — without even advertising such "enhanced services" heroism to its 100 million users?

Heros of humbleness, silently at the service of their users, right?

Looking at all the above, one picture suggests itself to the observer:

Skype has thrown their much advertised previous "no records kept" Skype-to-Skype traffic data collection policy over board and they go to much length not to "bother" You with the involved privacy issue.

They have started installing complete network traffic monitoring infrastructure, forcing all network traffic through this bottleneck in order to collect not only all user contacts but, as we will see in aminute, all traffic data, including originating and target IP numbers of users, duration of call .......

And they made sure that Your Skype client software cooperates with this new effort, however uncooperative Your mindset may be in this regard.

Doing so they crashed the whole network, probably when going live with the new bottleneck, network wide.

And, of course, having nothing to hide, they made sure we know....but do not get exited, with a litany of creative "explanations" after sinking the grid.

The "good guys" of Kazaa spyware times are all over us again, cementing Janus Friis'and Nikklas Zennstroem`s reputation as icons of "ethics" and "trustworthyness".

While previous versions of Skype`s privacy policy took pride in highlighting the networks "no traffic data collection" policy for Skype-to-Skype traffic (they always collected traffic data for paid Skype-to-PSTN traffic invoicing), their current "privacy policy" reveals a recent, seemingly tiny modification under the "traffic data" paragraph, which qualifies as a masterpiece in evasive linguistics. Savor those last five words.

Quote:

"Skype will erase Traffic Data (edit: by their definition: "...including, but not limited to, the duration of a call and the (IP) numbers of the called party and the calling party. ") , or make Traffic Data anonymous, as soon as it is no longer needed for the purpose of the transmission of the communication or for billing purposes, unless applicable law permit otherwise.

Any questions for Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis, anyone ?"
Google

Submission + - Google revoking DRM permissions on bought videos! 1

Submitted by DoofusOfDeath
DoofusOfDeath writes: A few months ago I purchased a great Discovery Channel video from Google's downloadable video service. Sure I can't media-shift it, but I was willing to trade away some fair-use rights so my kids could see the video. I paid cash, they give me the video. End of story, right?

Wrong. Today I got this email (see below). It just goes to show that with DRM, there's little limit to the evil that can be done to you:

Hello,

As a valued Google user, we're contacting you with some important information about the videos you've purchased or rented from Google Video. In an effort to improve all Google services, we will no longer offer the ability to buy or rent videos for download from Google Video, ending the DTO/DTR (download-to-own/rent) program. This change will be effective August 15, 2007.

To fully account for the video purchases you made before July 18, 2007, we are providing you with a Google Checkout bonus for $20. Your bonus expires in 60 days, and you can use it at the stores listed here: http://www.google.com/checkout/signupwelcome.html. The minimum purchase amount must be equal to or greater than your bonus amount, before shipping and tax.

After August 15, 2007, you will no longer be able to view your purchased or rented videos.

If you have further questions or requests, please do not hesitate to contact us. Thank you for your continued support.

Sincerely,

The Google Video Team

Google Inc.
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, CA 94043
Censorship

Submission + - Porn to be blocked by Australian Goverment (news.com.au)

Submitted by wallior
wallior writes: In a bid to swing voters, John Howard is promising $189 million (AU) on 'cleaning up the internet'. Blocking pornography, removing terror sites and scouring MySpace and Facebook for online predators. Also included will be free internet blocking tools available for all families. The presentation was primarily aimed at Christian voters.

"...the federal Government will enter an unprecedented partnership with service providers to filter pornography at the source..."
Robotics

Submission + - South Korea Drafts Robot Ethics Laws (physorg.com)

Submitted by
eldavojohn
eldavojohn writes: "The nation that aims to have a robot in every home by 2013 has started a project aimed at a law for the ethics of robots. Robots are becoming more mainstream and something must be done to prevent hideous attacks like this video where an observers finger is nearly bitten clean off by a robot run amok. But all joking aside, there is call for this. A robot has already been deployed as a robotic guard at a school in South Korea & they see more applications for mechanized drones such as border patrol, assisting the elderly or even babysitting. We may not be too far from our first Robbie the Killer Robot Court Case."
Censorship

Submission + - Comcast Terms Change: You Lose Right to Sue (wtop.com)

Submitted by
dupeisdead
dupeisdead writes: "Thankfully I don't even have the option to use Comcast where I live, but this is troubling. Almost all companies "reserve the right to change the contract" blah blah blah, but very few people actually read that. Comcast wishes to change existing contract with customers... Why would Comcast need to change this provision, and would this actually hold up if it came to it?"
The Internet

Wikipedia Infiltrated by Intelligence Agents? 428

Posted by Zonk from the super-seekrit-spy-stuff dept.
An anonymous reader writes "International Humanitarian Law professor Ludwig Braeckeleer thinks so. In an article published yesterday in the Korean newspaper OhMyNews, he reveals a discovery he made while researching a story on the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Scotland. It turns out that a Wikipedia administrator named SlimVirgin is actually Linda Mack, a woman who as a young graduate in the 1980s was hired by investigative reporter Pierre Salinger of ABC News to help with the investigation. Salinger later came to believe that Mack was actually working for Britain's MI5 on a mission to investigate the bombing and to infiltrate and monitor the news agency. Shortly after her Wikipedia identity was uncovered, many of her edits to articles related to the bombing were permanently removed from the database in an attempt to conceal her identity. This discovery comes only months after another Wikipedia admin was caught lying about his credentials to the press. What can Wikipedia do about those who would use it for their own purposes?"
Republicans

Submission + - Email snafu sends Bush DOJ emails to Greg Palast

Submitted by destinyland
destinyland writes: 500 of Karl Rove's email messages were mistakenly sent to WhiteHouse.org, who forwarded them to investigative reporter Greg Palast. The DOJ emails were reviewed by a law professor who confirmed they discussed "an illegal way of getting rid of black votes." Palast has just come forward with the information, which affects 4.5 million voters, and in a new interview explains how it sheds a new perspective on the Department of Justice scandal.
Sun Microsystems

Submission + - Sun pledges patents to defend Linux

Submitted by netdur
netdur writes: From TFA

In a surprise move this week Sun Microsystems CEO, Jonathan Schwartz, said the company was ready to use the company's extensive patent portfolio to help defend Red Hat and Ubuntu Linux against Microsoft's patent threat.
Thank you Sun
Linux Business

Submission + - Dell PCs with Ubuntu are Less Expensive

Submitted by
Chandon Seldon
Chandon Seldon writes: "Contrary to many earlier expectations, it turns out that Dell's prices for its Ubuntu PCs are cheaper than similar Windows Vista PCs for all three Models. With the savings for skipping the Microsoft Tax ranging from $50 to $140, it looks like kickbacks for pre-installed software weren't that big a deal after all."
Privacy

Submission + - Bush approved "Domestic Wiretaps" over Obj

Submitted by spikedvodka
spikedvodka writes: NPR is reporting That President Bush overrode the objections of Justice Department officials when it re-authorized the domestic WireTapping.

Comey eventually went to the White House, accompanied by Solicitor General Ted Olsen. The two sides could not agree about the domestic-surveillance program. The rules required the attorney general to sign off on it at regular intervals, but Comey would not. So the next morning, the White House authorized the program without the Justice Department. Comey drafted a resignation letter.
"I couldn't stay if the administration was going to engage in conduct that the Department of Justice has said had no legal basis," Comey said.
Privacy

Submission + - AG threatened to resign over illegal NSA spying

Submitted by debruce
debruce writes: Attorney General John Ashcroft, FBI Director Robert Mueller, and Deputy Attorney General James Comey said they would resign unless unspecified changes were made to the NSA domestic spying program in 2004, the New York Times and Washington Post report. The Justice Department had declined to reauthorize the program. Comey testified that, while he was acting Attorney General during Ashcroft's March 2004 hospitalization, he got word that White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales and Chief of Staff Andrew Card Jr., were going to the hospital to get a very disoriented Ashcroft to sign the reauthorization order. He rushed to the hospital, where an ill Ashcroft threw Gonzales and Card out without the reauthorization. The White House proceeded to reauthorize the program without Comey or Ashcroft's's approval. Comey, Ashcroft, Mueller and others were ready to resign over the incident, but Bush agreed to make changes to the program so it would comply with the law. It's unclear what those changes were and whether the program continued operating without the approval of the Justice Department for a period of weeks.

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