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Comment False Positive (Score 1) 513

by Fuzzzy (#35538714) Attached to: AT&T Cracking Down On Unofficial iPhone Tethering
The contacts legally includes tethering tax. However, the weak point is false positives -- users wrongly charged for tethering.
A certain user is suspected for tethering due to an unusual network usage pattern. AT&T charges him for extra $45 for tethering. Since he did not use tethering, they cannot charge him the extra tethering tax. He takes AT&T to the court, and AT&T fails to prove he was tethering. One successful class action is all that is needed to put an end to tethering tax.

Comment Re:The Real Question (Score 1) 139

by Fuzzzy (#30428680) Attached to: Israeli ISPs Caught Interfering With P2P Traffic
The Ministry of Communication regards such malpractices with an unfavorite eye:

Communications Ministry spokesman Dr. Yechiel Shabi said in response, "The research materials relayed to us paint a picture which arouses the need for thorough examination. After we become familiar with the study's findings, we shall consider the need for interference, supervision or regulation of the matter."

The MoC declared their commitment for the principle of Network Neutrality after a previous case of VoIP blocking by one of the cellular operator in Israel. However, beyond declarations actions are yet to be seen.
The Internet

Submission + - Israeli ISPs caught interfering P2P traffic (ynetnews.com)

Submitted by Fuzzzy
Fuzzzy writes: For a long time, many people have suspected that Israeli ISPs are blocking or delaying P2P traffic. However, no hard evidence was provided, and the ISPs denied any interference. Today Ynetnews published a comprehensive research which for the first time proves those suspicions. Using Glasnost and switzerland, evidences for deliberate delays and DPI were found. From TFA:

Since 2007 Ynet has received complaints according to which Israeli ISPs block P2P traffic. Those were brought to the media and were dismissed by the ISPs.
Our findings were that there is direct and deliberate interference in P2P traffic by at least two out of the three major ISPs and that this interference exists by both P2P caching and P2P blocking.

Submission + - Israeli Knesset approves Biometric Database law (ynetnews.com)

Submitted by Lord Duran
Lord Duran writes: The Israeli Knesset approved a bill tonight that will require every Israeli citizen to submit a visual scan of their face and a biometric scan of their fingerprints to a national database. I, for one, fail to see how this is anything but evil. TFA mentions the Israeli census was breached — I'd like to point out, for comparison, that it's still freely available on your peer-to-peer file sharing network of choice.

Comment Hardware workaround (Score 1) 655

by Fuzzzy (#28094009) Attached to: Ridiculous Software Bug Workarounds?
I know, the coordination is not what it used to be, and it's not that easy to swap cassettes that fast nowadays. Luckily, one good thing came out of MS Word---the magical Cut & Paste mechanism---which can help you to continue to enjoy your favorite games on your favorite minicomputer...

A. Record the loader on a new cassette.
B. Open the loader cassette, and cut the magnetic tape after the location of the generic loader.
C. Open the game cassette, and carefully paste the tape of the generic loader just before the game tape starts.
D. Et voilà, you have a new loader to your Atari game.
The Almighty Buck

Persistence Pays Off With Israel's First Windows Refund 84

Posted by timothy from the paving-the-way dept.
As Niv Lilian reports at Ynet News, Haifa (and the Haifa Linux Club)'s Zvi Devir just preferred to run Linux rather than the pre-installed Windows on his newly bought Dell computer, and didn't want to pay for the unwanted Windows system. Now Devir has prevailed, after a fight in Israeli small-claims court, to become the first Israeli to obtain a Windows refund (also in Hebrew), winning the $137 that Windows added to the cost of his machine and escaping the nondisclosure agreement that Dell had wanted him to abide by as a condition. Perhaps others will follow his lead. Update: 12/03 23:02 GMT by T : Zvi Devir wrote with an update: "BTW, the settlement was out of court, before any court sessions took place."
Microsoft

Microsoft's Annual Report Reveals OSS Mistakes 348

Posted by kdawson from the or-ignorance-possibly-willful dept.
mjasay writes "Microsoft's most recent annual report suggests that the company is increasingly coming to grips with open source, yet also seems determined to perpetuate myths about open source that poorly serve it and its shareholders. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has suggested before that 'free software means no free soda' for Microsoft employees; but this is perhaps the first time that Microsoft has managed to enshrine its ignorance in a public document. In the annual report, Microsoft makes two primary false claims about open source: 1) Open source companies don't invest in research and development and instead largely free-ride on Microsoft's patents and copyrights; and 2) Open source projects don't innovate and instead mimic Microsoft's products. Perhaps Microsoft has forgotten its own 'innovative' past copying of markets and technologies created by Apple and others. But at least Microsoft gets one thing right: 'To the extent open source software gains increasing market acceptance, our sales, revenue and operating margins may decline.'"

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