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Censorship

Submission + - Telecomix Offers Help Against Belgium Censors

Submitted by bs0d3
bs0d3 writes: Today a court ruling in Belgium over-ruled an earlier court ruling and is ordering an isp to block thepiratebay. It's been announced that the type of block to be used by the isp is a simple DNS filter which is similar to ones used before in Denmark. In Denmark, the dns block was extremly easy to circumvent and the attention to thepiratebay actually increased Danish site traffic after the block. Today an hacktivist group called telecomix; which is more recently known for helping to establish communications during the internet blackout in Egypt, is offering their help. Their custom made "censorship proof" dns service is designed for situations just like this. ISP customers facing a block can simply use telecomix's dns server instead of the isp provided one to access blocked sites such as thepiratebay.

Comment Re:Phone home? (Score 1) 548

by Proteus Child (#33203984) Attached to: Canonical Begins Tracking Ubuntu Installations
There would still be ways to disable it - rename the script in /etc/cron.daily, use the 'crontab -e' command to comment it out, set the daemon itself to non-executable... unless they hardcode it into the kernel there will likely always be a simple way to render it nonfunctional.

That said, I really doubt that Canonical will do such at thing, at least, unless they get bought out.
Wireless Networking

Some LA Coffee Shops Are Taking Wi-Fi Off the Menu 312

Posted by kdawson from the cup-of-bits-to-go dept.
As New York is putting Wi-Fi on wheels, reader Hugh Pickens notes a counter trend in Los Angeles coffee shops. (We remarked on a similar backlash in Seattle in 2005.) "Coffee shops were the retail pioneers of Wi-Fi, but Jessica Guynn reports in the LA Times that now some owners are pulling the plug after finding that Wi-Fi freeloaders who camp out all day nursing a single cup of coffee are a drain on the bottom line. Other owners strive to preserve a friendly vibe and keep their establishments from turning into 'Matrix'-like zombie shacks where people type and don't talk. 'There is now a market niche for not having Wi-Fi,' says Bryant Simon. After Dan and Nathalie Drozdenko turned off the Wi-Fi at their Los Angeles cafe, the complaints poured in, but so did the compliments: Lots of customers appreciated a wireless cup of joe at the Downbeat Cafe, a popular lunch spot in Echo Park. 'People come here because we don't offer it. They know they can get their work done and not get distracted.'"
Privacy

Chatroulette To Log IP Addresses, Take Screenshots 194

Posted by CmdrTaco from the price-of-fame dept.
littlekorea writes "Chatroulette, the strangely addictive online game in which users are connected via webcam and microphone to random strangers at the click of a button, has had enough of users exposing themselves to the unsuspecting public, among other disgraces. The founder of Chatroulette has announced the company has hired developers to collect IP addresses and take screenshots of those users breaking the rules."
The Courts

Facing 16 Years In Prison For Videotaping Police 878

Posted by kdawson from the we-are-watching-you dept.
krou sends this snip from the Maine Civil Liberties Union: "The ACLU of Maryland is defending Anthony Graber, who faces as much as sixteen years in prison if found guilty of violating state wiretap laws because he recorded video of an officer drawing a gun during a traffic stop. ... Once [the Maryland State Police] learned of the video on YouTube, Graber's parents' house was raided, searched, and four of his computers were confiscated. Graber was arrested, booked, and jailed. Their actions are a calculated method of intimidation. Another person has since been similarly charged under the same statute. The wiretap law being used to charge Anthony Graber is intended to protect private communication between two parties. According to David Rocah, the ACLU attorney handling Mr. Graber's case, 'To charge Graber with violating the law, you would have to conclude that a police officer on a public road, wearing a badge and a uniform, performing his official duty, pulling someone over, somehow has a right to privacy when it comes to the conversation he has with the motorist.'" Here are a factsheet (PDF) on the case from the ACLU of Maryland, and the video at issue.
Advertising

Forced iAds Coming To OS X? 416

Posted by CmdrTaco from the my-worst-nightmare dept.
mario_grgic writes "Apple insider brings a story about expansion and renewal of a current 'Advertisement in Operating System' patent that Apple's Steve Jobs and other contributors have. The patent describes in detail (with OS X screen shots) how the forced ads would work (they would disable some OS functionality until the ad is viewed), but apparently it also applies to any device with a UI, including phones, TVs, set top boxes, etc. With Apple's recent entry into the mobile ad business, and its ambition to own half of all the mobile ads served during the second half of this year, it certainly makes one wonder if Apple would dare and put something like this in its desktop OS. I wonder if this would push more people to open source alternatives?"

Comment Re:"Definition of open-source hardware" (Score 1) 93

by Proteus Child (#32912946) Attached to: Open Source Hardware Definition Hits 0.3

Does it simply allow someone to post schematics, firmware sources, Gerber files and BOMs with the implied, "Please don't make a bunch of these and sell them as your own design," or is there more to it?

This license might work just as well for that: Creative Commons by attribution/non-commercial/share-alike (v3.0)

Comment Re:I have to say (Score 1) 93

by Proteus Child (#32912842) Attached to: Open Source Hardware Definition Hits 0.3

People who are "dreaming" threaten the status quo, and thus also threaten people who are frightened of change and progress. I don't know why there's so much scoffing about open source hardware (or open source anything) because it's not like it's going to take away your safe mass-marketed gear or anything.

Those who scoff tend to lack the imagination to do anything along those lines, or lack the confidence to build their skills up to the point where they are capable of doing something interesting, new, and innovative. It's far easier to bust someone's chops for "dreaming" or "being unrealistic" to cover the fact that the naysayer has balls the size of peas (if applicable) than it is to get off of one's ass and do something.
Cellphones

Fring Calls Skype 'Cowards'; Skype Responds 152

Posted by kdawson from the pot-comma-kettle dept.
An anonymous reader writes "It seems that Skype and Fring are not getting along so well today. First, Fring made a claim that Skype was blocking Fring and in a subsequent blog post, called Skype 'cowards': 'Now that Fring expanded capacity to support the huge demand for video calling for all users, Skype has blocked us from doing so. They are afraid of open mobile communication. Cowards.' Skype has responded, stating that Fring's misuse of Skype software was damaging their brand and reputation: 'There is no truth to Fring's claims that Skype has blocked it. Fring made the decision to remove Skype functionality on its own.'

Comment As much as I'd love to have my DNA sequenced... (Score 1) 233

by Proteus Child (#32874316) Attached to: I'd like my DNA analyzed ...
I'm concerned about what would be done with the information. I'd feel a hell of a lot better if I had any assurance that the company doing the work wasn't going to sell it or give it to someone else for archival. I'm also concerned about my health insurance company getting a copy of the data, analyzing it, and thereafter deciding that my coverage should be dropped entirely rather than staying at sucktacular because there is one gene they decided that will cost them too much in the long run.
Censorship

China Says US Uses Facebook To Spread Political Unrest 274

Posted by kdawson from the yeah-and-if-you-don't-watch-out-we'll-twitter-too dept.
crimeandpunishment writes "A Chinese government-backed think tank says the US and other western governments use Facebook and other social networking sites to spread political unrest. Their report says, 'We must pay attention to the potential risks and threats to state security as the popularity of social-networking sites continues to grow,' and calls for increased scrutiny of the sites."
Security

Cisco Says Vegas Conference Attendees' Information Was Leaked 97

Posted by timothy from the hopefully-no-dropped-rows-on-the-flight-home dept.
Julie188 writes "Thousands of people got a nasty e-mail this morning from Cisco. The company was warning people that its attendee registration database for its Cisco Live 2010 event was hacked. Cisco Live 2010 is the company's annual user conference, held last week in Las Vegas with an estimated 18,000 in attendance. If it's not embarrassing enough for a company that sells security gear to get hacked, the e-mail also went out to people who didn't register and didn't attend the event. That raises questions about exactly what database was pried open and how bad the damage is. Cisco's e-mail said the hole was quickly closed and only business-card type information was exposed."
The Courts

RIAA Calls YouTube-Viacom Decision Bad Public Policy 260

Posted by timothy from the manufacturing-outrage dept.
adeelarshad82 writes "The Recording Industry Association of America voiced its opposition to the recent decision in the YouTube-Viacom copyright infringement case, stating that 'the district court's dangerously expansive reading of the liability immunity provisions of the [Digital Millennium Copyright Act] upsets the careful balance struck within the law and is bad public policy.' Cary Sherman, RIAA president, also wrote in a blog post, 'It will actually discourage service providers from taking steps to minimize the illegal exchange of copyrighted works on their sites.'"

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