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Movies

Submission + - Download-To-Burn Standards Approved

Submitted by Copy Counsler
Copy Counsler writes: A major hurdle in the legitimate download-to-burn services taking off has been removed: At its Nov. 29 meeting, the DVD Forum gave formal approval to a new type of recordable disc that will accept movies encrypted with CSS, the same copy-protection system used on retail discs, for playback on set-top DVD players. http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/download-to-burn- standards-approved-launching-early-07/
Movies

Journal Journal: Download-To-Burn Standards Approved

Journal by Copy Counsler
A major hurdle in the legitimate download-to-burn services taking off has been removed: At its Nov. 29 meeting, the DVD Forum gave formal approval to a new type of recordable disc that will accept movies encrypted with CSS, the same copy-protection system used on retail discs, for playback on set-top DVD players. http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/download-to-burn-standards-approved-launching-early-

Feed Debating Traveler Terror Ratings (wired.com)

From feed by wiredfeed
Two prominent lawmakers call a controversial program that assigns risk scores to international travelers secret and unlawful. The Bush administration disagrees, saying it's talked about the program repeatedly. In 27B Stroke 6.


Handhelds

Submission + - FBI taps cell phone mic as eavesdropping tool

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The FBI appears to have begun using a novel form of electronic surveillance in criminal investigations: remotely activating a mobile phone's microphone and using it to eavesdrop on nearby conversations.

The technique is called a "roving bug," and was approved by top U.S. Department of Justice officials for use against members of a New York organized crime family who were wary of conventional surveillance techniques such as tailing a suspect or wiretapping him.

Nextel cell phones owned by two alleged mobsters, John Ardito and his attorney Peter Peluso, were used by the FBI to listen in on nearby conversations. The FBI views Ardito as one of the most powerful men in the Genovese family, a major part of the national Mafia.

The surveillance technique came to light in an opinion published this week by U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan. He ruled that the "roving bug" was legal because federal wiretapping law is broad enough to permit eavesdropping even of conversations that take place near a suspect's cell phone.

Kaplan's opinion said that the eavesdropping technique "functioned whether the phone was powered on or off." Some handsets can't be fully powered down without removing the battery; for instance, some Nokia models will wake up when turned off if an alarm is set.

While the Genovese crime family prosecution appears to be the first time a remote-eavesdropping mechanism has been used in a criminal case, the technique has been discussed in security circles for years.

The U.S. Commerce Department's security office warns that "a cellular telephone can be turned into a microphone and transmitter for the purpose of listening to conversations in the vicinity of the phone." An article in the Financial Times last year said mobile providers can "remotely install a piece of software on to any handset, without the owner's knowledge, which will activate the microphone even when its owner is not making a call."

Nextel and Samsung handsets and the Motorola Razr are especially vulnerable to software downloads that activate their microphones, said James Atkinson, a counter-surveillance consultant who has worked closely with government agencies. "They can be remotely accessed and made to transmit room audio all the time," he said. "You can do that without having physical access to the phone."

Because modern handsets are miniature computers, downloaded software could modify the usual interface that always displays when a call is in progress. The spyware could then place a call to the FBI and activate the microphone — all without the owner knowing it happened. (The FBI declined to comment on Friday.)

"If a phone has in fact been modified to act as a bug, the only way to counteract that is to either have a bugsweeper follow you around 24-7, which is not practical, or to peel the battery off the phone," Atkinson said. Security-conscious corporate executives routinely remove the batteries from their cell phones, he added

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1035_22-6140191.html
Hardware Hacking

Submission + - RV processes own fuel in cross country trip

Submitted by
Anonymous Coward
Anonymous Coward writes: "Frybrid has realized the dream of Dr. Emmet Brown's Delorea: putting garbage directly into your vehicle, and have it be turned into directly into fuel. This fall, Frybrid installed a system into a 40' luxury RV that will suck up waste vegetable oil from the back of restaurants, remove the water and filter it, and then burn the dry and cleaned vegetable oil as fuel. The family drove their converted RV from Seattle to Rhode Island on $47 worth of diesel fuel. Plans are underway for a smaller version of the system to fit in the bed of a pickup truck."
It's funny. Laugh.

Journal Journal: Would you admit this? 5

Journal by smooth wombat
I'm not sure if I would be brave enough to admit what this article says. I have what I have and there isn't anything I can do change what I have but I'm not sure I'd be willing to admit it.
Movies

Submission + - What code DOESN'T do in real life

Submitted by
Billosaur
Billosaur writes: "As with anything, Hollywood has a weird way of viewing computer code. On Drivl.com, they have an article entitled "What code DOESN'T do in real life (that it does in the movies)", a list of ten things that occur to code in Hollywood movies that doesn't happen when you're sitting at your terminal scrolling through it. It's sad to think that as Hollywood is becoming more dependent on coders to produce special effects and such for movies, that they are completely overlooking what coders do and how they do it. But then again, not every NYPD officer acts like Bruce Willis in "Die Hard," so why should any of this be a shock?"
Microsoft

Submission + - 'Information Rights Management' - DRM in MS Office

Submitted by thesuperbigfrog
thesuperbigfrog writes: It seems like the days of Trusted Computing are not far off. Documents created with MS Office 2003 will allow the creator to make use of an emerging form of DRM that Microsoft calls Information Rights Management. Essentially, IRM is a use-restriction system that permits a document's creator to choose how the document can be used by other parties, to include printing, saving, editing, or forwarding the document to others. IRM also gives the document creator the power to later revoke access to the document. Vista will implement Information Rights Management through the use of the previously-inactive Trusted Computing module found on a majority of motherboards.

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