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TCLP 2011-11-20 News

Thomas Gideon — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 22:17:11 +0000

This is a news cast, an episode of The Command Line Podcast.

In the intro, if you are interested in my recent trip to Brussels, check out my four part travelogue (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4), a great short film about the EU Hackathon, or my beer focused take on it in the most recent episode of Living Proof. I will be heading back to Europe, to visit Paris for the first time the week of December 5th. On the events side, I will be interviewing Cory Doctorow live at New America this Tuesday and the organizers of the fantastic Southern California Linux Expo have extended a special discount code to my listeners. Just put “CMDLN” (without the quotes) in when registering to receive 50% off. In addition, they’ve given me one free pass to give away, just be the first to email me asking about it.

This week’s security alerts are study finds privacy tools are failing to protect users and security researchers bypasses Windows 8 secure boot.

In this week’s news, gamers create recipes for protein-folding algorithms, a public library completely re-imagined, high resolution microscopy advance could shrink CPUs beyond current limits, and a super computer on a chip.

Following up this week Senate votes down anti-network neutrality resolution and the online piracy debate is far from over.

View the detailed show notes online. You can also grab the flac encoded audio from the Internet Archive.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Following Up for the Week Ending 11/13/2011

Thomas Gideon — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 20:25:22 +0000

Phorm still finding investors, looking for large scale deployment, Techdirt
Analyzing SatckOverflow’s data on users’ programming language preferences, Slashdot
Feds seek unfettered GPS surveillance power as location-tracking flourishes, Threat Level at Wired
Following the roadmap for Mozilla’s mobile operating system, ReadWriteWeb
White space trial points to 2011 launch, The Register
Supreme Court invokes “1984″ fears with GPS car tracking, InSecurity Complex at cnet
Supreme Court considers constitutionality of GPS tracking, Ars Technica
White House pledges to veto anti-net-neutrality resolution, Ars Technica
Two more GPS surveillance devices found on SUV, Threat Level at Wired
Stop Online Piracy Act still includes black list even if it goes by another name, EFF
Warner admits to issuing takedowns for files it never saw, to which it doesn’t own copyright, Ars Technica
Firefox celebrates 7 years of development, The H Open
Apple kills code-signing bug that threatened iPhone users, The Register
House judiciary committee refuses to hear wider tech industry concerns about SOPA, Techdirt
Facebook settlement will make all future privacy changes opt-in, Ars Technica
IPv6 adoption boosted by commitment from Comcast, BBC
Misleading metaphors that drive the war on online sharing, Techdirt

Following Up for the Week Ending 10/9/2011

Thomas Gideon — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 13:50:04 +0000

Verizon sues to halt FCC’s net neutrality rules, Ars Technica
Canada signs ACTA and what comes next, Michael Geist
More on US signing of ACTA, Knowledge Ecology International
As countries sign ACTA, many finally admit their copyright laws will have to change, Techdirt
Mass piracy lawsuits come to Australia, Delimiter via Slashdot
BerliOS software repository will close at year’s end, Slashdot
California’s reader privacy act signed into law, EFF
GPS inventor joins EFF in fight against warrantless GPS tracking, EFF
SCOTUS lets stand ruling that downloads are not performances, Ars Technica
Judge suggests DMCA allows DVD ripping if you own the DVD, Ars Technica
Bletchley Park wins 4.6M GBP Heritage Lottery Fund grant, BBC
Princeton tells its academics not to hand over copyright when publishing in scholarly journals, Techdirt
SCOTUS refuses to re-consider copyright case that erodes first-sale doctrine, Threat Level at Wired
SCOTUS weighs legality of putting public domain works back under copyright, Ars Technica
The story behind This American Life’s “When Patents Attack”, Techdirt
HADOPI to disconnect 60 people in France, Techdirt
OLPC 1.75 laptop preview, phoronix via Groklaw NewsPicks
BT hauls Digital Economy Act back to court, The Register
Laurence Golan speaks about Golan V. Holder and his fight to protect the public domain, Techdirt
Linux kernel bug means power usage remains high, Slashdot
Linux in JavaScript, now with persistent storage, Slashdot

Quick Security Alerts for the Week Ending 10/2/2011

Thomas Gideon — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 19:14:15 +0000

Judge takes apart then dismisses iPhone privacy class-action, Ars Technica
NinjaVideo founder pleads guilty to criminal copyright infringement, Ars Technica
Three senators condemn OnStar for tracking former customers, Ars Technica
Kernel.org updates its status, The H Open
Online petition proposes ending software patents, Hillicon Valley at The Hill
Japan to sign ACTA this weekend, Michael Geist
House version of PROTECT IP to cover cyberlockers too, Techdirt
Copyright is back as bill to be tabled on Thursday, Michael Geist
Righthaven copyright suits tossed in Colorado, Ars Technica
OnStar reverses ToS changes, GM via Slashdot
Canadian government’s clause-by-clause internal analysis of C-32 raises constitutional concerns, Michael Geist
Net neutrality supporters file suit against new FCC rules, Ars Technica
Psystar loses appeal against Apple, Ars Technica
AT&T starts throttling heaviest wireless users, Slashdot

Following Up for the Week Ending 9/25/2011

Thomas Gideon — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 21:11:13 +0000

The German Pirate Party wins 14 state parliamentary seats in Berlin, BoingBoing
Lawyer wants US Marshals to seize Righthaven’s bank account, Ars Technica
More on the Authors Guild suit against the Hathi Trust and its handling of orphan works, Techdirt
Hacker graphic novel, WIZZYWIG, is complete and to be published soon, WIZZYWIG Comics
DigiNotar goes bankrupt after hack, Slashdot
A trio of post-Bilski cases fail to clearly define the meaning of “abstract”, EFF
More details post-launch of NewzBin2′s anti-block tool, TorrentFreak
Digitization of Babbage’s plans to aid in building modern Analytical Engine replica, BBC
Verizon chief defends AT&T, T-Mobile merger, Slashdot
FCC net neutrality rules official November 20, Post Tech at The Washington Post
Italy prepares one-strike anti-piracy law, TechWorld via Slashdot
First quantum computer with separate quantum RAM, Technology Review
MIT working on industrial scale graphene printing press, Slashdot
Dutch government sets September 28th kill date for DigiNotar certificates, threatpost
The looming video codec fight, ITworld via Slashdot

Following Up for the Week Ending 9/18/2011

Thomas Gideon — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 20:04:15 +0000

Operation In Our Sites targets NinjaVideo with criminal copyright charges, Ars Technica
Industry pitches questionable piracy research in Australia before Attorney General meeting, The Register
GlobalSign resumes issues SSL certificates, BBC
Apple drops suit against Motorola claiming Google acquisition nullifies its patent rights, Ars Technica
Canada’s Tories set to re-introduce DRM-friendly copyright bill without consultation, BoingBoing
JSTOR freely releases public domainn documents that Greg Maxwell already freed, Techdirt
First alpha version of Raspberry PI hardware ships, The H Open
Belgians aim to be third net neutral nation, The Register
ReactOS attracts significant government backing, BBC
Australian authors join book scanning lawsuit, The Register
NJ e-voting cover up, Freedom to Tinker
FCC will beginning testing white spaces database, Hillicon Valley at The Hill
Newzbin2 readying software they claim will foil anti-piracy efforts, BBC
EFF’s Corynne McSherry doesn’t rate chances of Hathi Trust suit very highly, EFF
Did NJ election officials fail to respect court order to improve security of elections?, Freedom to Tinker
ToS violations no longer a crime, on their own, Slashdot
Seven states join suit to block AT&T, T-Mobile merger, Hillicon Valley at The Hill
Appeals court reinstates massive file sharing decision against Tenenbaum, TorrentFreak

feeds | grep links > FCC Open Internet Challenge Winners, A Cable that Improves iOS Exploits, Plans for KDE 5 Announced, and More

Thomas Gideon — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 00:25:18 +0000

FCC announces winners of its open internet challenge, Hillicon Valley at The Hill
Guide to building a cable that improves iOS exploits, Slashdot
Plans for KDE 5 announced, The H Open
The Bitcoin economy is collapsing with no sign of recovery, The Atlantic
Charting a high tech give a coffee, get a coffee experiment, The Atlantic
Why philosophers, or anyone, should care about computational complexity, Shtetl-Optimized
DEFCON round up, threatpost

Following Up for the Week Ending 7/10/2011

Thomas Gideon — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 19:58:14 +0000

Anonymous launches a WikiLeaks for hackers, Forbes via Slashdot
Italian telco grants itself the power to censor the net, Joho the Blog via BoingBoing
pdf.js reaches first milestone, Chris Jones’ Mozilla blog via Slashdot
Are Google Music, Amazon Cloud Player illegal without licenses from the labels?, Ars Technica
Developer calls Amazon Android app store a disaster, BitHack via Slashdot
UK looks to US on piracy blocking, BBC
First WebCL demos arrive from Nokia, AMD, ConceivablyTech via Slashdot
Samsung releases code of WebCL implementation for WebKit, Ars Technica
Massive infringement case against CNet dropped, Threat Level at Wired
Texas Supreme Court rules no e-voting paper trail required, Ars Technica
Copyright troll, Righthaven, starts paying those it sued, Ars Technica
Senator Jerry Moran removes himself as PROTECT IP Act co-sponsor, Techdirt
Latest from researchers developing de-centralized BitTorrent client is to improve download speed, TorrentFreak
Tons of users upload YouTube videos protesting bill that would criminalize infringing streams, Techdirt
The time to speak up against internet censorship in Australia is now, Techdirt
FCC delivers net neutrality rules to OMB, Hillicon Valley at The Hill
RIAA starts going after BitTorrent sites, TorrentFreak
Canada’s net neutrality enforcement failure, Michael Geist
Microsoft ditching the term “Native HTML5″, ReadWriteWeb

feeds | grep links > Charting Good and Bad Hackers, Considering Steampunk’s Longevity, Studying Emergence of Good and Bad in Virtual Worlds, and More

Thomas Gideon — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 21:55:48 +0000

Helpful chart explains the difference between good and bad hacking
Thanks to Annalee Newitz at io9 for sharing this surprisingly helpful chart. You have to visit the source article at IEEE Spectrum to actually filter the good, bad and neutral hacks. I don’t necessarily agree with all of the placements along the simple-innovative axis but overall this should prove a useful reference for dealing with people who have a perception of all hackers as doing only bad in the world.
Why has steampunk lasted so long?
Rob at BoingBoing linked to this excellent rumination by Jeff VanderMeer and several other authors. For me at least VanderMeer’s bona fides are impeccable; he co-edited the eponymous Steampunk anthology which included a wonderful essay expanding many of the themes he touches on in this SFSignal piece. Not surprisingly, I tend to agree most strongly with VanderMeer’s answer informed by a keen grasp of the relevant history and literature.
Study of virtual worlds may shed light on emergence of good and bad behavior
This Technology Review article discusses research being conducted at the conjunction of computer science and sociology. Constrained, and correctly so, by privacy concerns over combining too many distinct data sets, the researchers here have turned instead to a virtual world to observe the sort of cross network interactions that interest them. The conclusions are one of those wonderful counter-intuitions about how localized effects may lead to surprising outcomes and are well worth the read.
Seafloor identified as containing potential new sources of rare earth metals, Ars Technica
Does network neutrality cover mobile tethering?, Ars Technica
An open hardware and open source eight-bit gaming console, ComputerWorld via Slashdot
Google wrestles with privacy bugs in its new social network, Slashdot

Following Up for the Week Ending 7/3/2011

Thomas Gideon — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 14:42:25 +0000

e-voting reform in an out year, Slashdot
LulzSec announces it’s finished, Business Insider via Slashdot
Citibank customers lost more than $2.7 million in recent attack, The H Security
Identifying the cause of Linux’s recent power management regression, Phoronix via Slashdot
Cambridge, UK latest to host a white space trial, The Register
Supreme Court takes important GPS tracking case, Freedom to Tinker
Supreme Court strikes down video game law on 1st Amendment grounds, Ars Technica
Dutch parliament passes net neutrality law, Ars Technica
Reinforcing the fair use argument for Kind of Bloop’s cover art, Techdirt
FCC net neutrality rules about to be official, Washington Post
Pretty much everyone who isn’t a broadcaster comes out against broadcast treaty, Techdirt
Major French political party puts repealing Hadopi/three strikes on its platform, Techdirt
Microsoft patent points to Skype snooping, The Register
OpenOffice.org site goes offline, Oracle declines to comment, The Register
Senators split over privacy regulation, Hillicon Valley at The Hill
Report on civilising the net recommends deputizing ISPs for policing infringement, Ars Technica
Reps Bono-Mack and Walden to hold a series of hearings on Internet privacy, Washington Post
Some Dems want net neutrality rules enforced, Hillicon Valley at The Hill
Report concludes LightSquared interferes with GPS, Washington Post
Lighsquared blames GPS makers for interference, Hillicon Valley at The Hill
Judge warns Google that sniffing even open WiFi may be wiretapping, Ars Technica
Newspaper chain fights for copyright troll’s survival, Ars Technica
EU council trying to push through ACTA without much scrutiny, Techdirt
Alaska judge strikes down yet another online censorship bill, Ars Technica

feeds | grep links > Internet Archive Upgrades Video Player, MAFIAA and ISPS Ready to Strike Enforcement Deal, Sonic the Hedgehog Turns 20, and More

Thomas Gideon — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 22:34:44 +0000

Internet Archive to offer all videos via HTML5
Audrey Watters at ReadWriteWeb explains that the Archive is rolling out Kaltura’s open source video platform to serve as a front end for their media. They’ve experimented with HTML5 video before now but you had to check a box that set a cookie that would preferentially use HTML5, if you browser supported the formats on offer, or fell back to Flash. The use of this particular technology will make the auto-detection of browser capabilities seamless and degradation across vintages more graceful.
MPAA, RIAA and ISPs close to striking a deal to beef up enforcement against copyright infringers
enigmax at TorrentFreak was the first I saw with this concerning news. The graduated response to which he refers does not include disconnection as that term originally was applied. It does include what CNet in its coverage calls a menu of sanctions should a notice-and-notice approach not curb infringement. Actions against repeat infringers could range from limiting customers to white lists sites to compelling some online education similar to YouTube’s recently unveiled copyright school. The deal will be voluntary but that hardly seems a concession as undoubtedly content licensing deals will be heavily affected based on a given ISPs stance, gating access to lucrative deals based on some infringement quid pro quo.
Sonic the Hedgehog turns 20
The BBC has a good retrospective on Sega’s spiky blue mascot from the days of its 16-bit consoles. I have many fond memories of Sonic and other titles on my Genesis, the first major electronics purchase I made on my own with my own money as a young teen. I love that the long life of the franchise has seen it introduced to my own kids, especially the emulated original versions legitimately available on the Wii console. They enjoy the 16-bit vintage as much if not more than the later fully 3D incarnations.
Lawmaker wants 4G carriers to discloser throttling and speed, Ars Technica
Remembering Alan Turing on his 99th birthday, thinq via Slashdot
Model net neutrality for municipalities, Envision Seattle via BoingBoing

Three Arguments against the Singularity, The Rise of Wearable Electronics, Dutch Net Neutrality Enacted but with a Mistake, and More

Thomas Gideon — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 22:40:18 +0000

Three arguments against the singularity
No surprise why I like this post on Charlie Stross’ blog. He presents arguments against the likelihood of a massive acceleration in the capabilities of AI if they ever reach human equivalence, mind uploading, and massive simulation. On top of being well researched and cited, Stross goes beyond a flat denial. Earning his writer’s card, he offers some interesting notions for how the current trends he debunks as seeds of the Singularity may in fact play out more plausibly down the line.
Is the rise of wearable electronics finally here?
Speaking of post humanism, Make has an illustrated timeline of a trope dating to around the birth of the Cyberpunk genre, that of the wearable computer rig. The post is much broader than I had anticipated, covering a genuine wealth of gear. The author, Phil Torrone, also weaves through it his own personal experiences with wearables. Well worth a read even if you have some familiarity with the space.
Dutch government enacts net neutrality law, with a slight mistake
Slashdot links to a translation of an article originally on nu.nl explaining how in voting for a proposed network neutrality law, the labor party did so while adopting a web censorship provision they did not intend. The translation is a bit rough, it isn’t clear whether the error will be fixed and if so, how. The party does intend to fix the error regardless and hopefully will be successful in doing so.
Verizon Wireless to start charging by bits, end flat-rate plans, Washington Post
FBI seizes web servers, knocking sites offline, NYTimes
Bitcoin developers say the currency will recovery in wake of market hack and crash, BBC

Quick Security Alerts for the Week Ending 6/12/2011

Thomas Gideon — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 18:08:33 +0000

Worm uses built in DHCP server to spread, The H Security
Flash player patches fixes zero-day flaw, Krebs on Security
Python 2.6.7 security-only fix released, The H Security
VLC media player 1.1.10 fixes vulnerabilities, The H Security
Acer inadvertently releases 40,000 customer details, The H Security
Hackers exploiting Flash player XSS vulnerability, Zero Day at ZDNet
RSA to replace SecureID tokens after hack, The H Security
Java patch plugs 17 holes, Krebs on Security
Siemens SCADA flaws to be disclosed at Black Hat, ITworld via Slashdot
Chrome 12 brings a host of security features and fixes, The H Security
Sony shuts down site targeted by LulzSec, The Register
Most vulnerabilities attacked by Stuxnet are still unpatched, threatpost via Slashdot
US bill would make concealing breaches a crime, The Register
Dutch to enact net neutrality law, Ars Technica
Cross-domain WebGL textures disabled in Firefox 5, Mozilla
More details on Mozilla disabling WebGL cross-domain textures, specifically future fixes, The H Security
Customer data stolen from Citibank, Reuters via The H Security
Adobe to patch critical holes in Reader and Acrobat, The H Security
Changes to Twitter authorization end up misleading users, The H Security

TCLP 2011-04-10 News

Thomas Gideon — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 23:58:08 +0000

This is a news cast, an episode of The Command Line Podcast.

In the intro a reminder I will be at Public Knowledge’s 3D/DC event at the end of this month.

This week’s security alerts are scientists develop new methods to improve passwords and proposals for the future of SSL certificates.

In this week’s news, content farmers are targeting ebooks which is a reflection of other fraud in the space and changing economics, a project to secure the mobile phones of activists which nicely compliments other efforts, the case against GUIs revisited, and storing bits is not the same as preserving them.

Following up this week COICA sponsor set to re-introduce the bill despite 1st Amendment concerns and anti-net neutrality resolution moves through the House though it is unlikely to pass the Senate.

View the detailed show notes online. You can also grab the flac encoded audio from the Internet Archive.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Following Up for the Week Ending 4/10/2011

Thomas Gideon — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 21:27:32 +0000

Tenenbaum appeal heard this week, Recording Industry vs. The People
Google re-affirms stance against software patents, Slashdot
Judge severs mass infringement case, Ars Technica
Verizon’s anti-net neutrality lawsuit tossed on technicality, Ars Technica
Appeals court strengthens warrant-less border searches, Threat Level at Wired
FCC commissioner slams NC attack on city owned broadband, Ars Technica
Google may face broad US antitrust probe, The Register
Key music industry lawyer now EU copyright chief, Ars Technica
European commission wants ISPs, online servies to act as copyright cops, snoops, censors, BoingBoing
Feds, RIAA seek to restore award amount in Tenenbaum case, Threat Level at Wired
Clarifying some of the copyright questions around 3D printing, Public Knowledge
Next steps for the Google Books settlement, The Atlantic
Net giants challenge EU data retention law, BBC
Google speaks before Congress against censorship aspects of COICA, Ars Technica
House hearing on potential domain seizure powers turns critical of Google, Techdirt
Operation in Our Sites will continue seizing domains, TorrentFreak
French data retention law outlaws zero knowledge storage of passwords as hashes, Slashdot

feeds | grep links > End of Copyright’s Social Contract, Internet Use for Researching Midterm Elections, Visualizing M-Labs Data, and More

Thomas Gideon — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 21:43:58 +0000

The end of copyright’s social contract
Glyn Moody shares a report by Joel Waldfogel at The Carlson School and Department of Economics, University of Minnesota that attempts to test the rhetoric advanced by big content that with strong intellectual monopoly, cultural creation would diminish. As Moody summarizes, Waldfogel’s finding that file sharing appears to have had little impact on availability of new, acclaimed music is far from conclusive mostly due to the limited data it considers. Still it is another arrow in the quiver in arguments for more directly dealing with the actual issues of outdated business models and experimenting with new means to support artists.
Use of internet to research election info reaches new high water mark
Alex Howard at O’Reilly Radar summarizes the findings of a new Pew research study covering the mid-term elections last year. The uptick is remarkable but likely a part of the trend towards more people using the net to research all kinds of topics important to them. All the same, Howard’s article pulls out some of the more interesting trends, including the perception that extremists views are more evident and influential online than off.
Visualizing M-Lab data on broadband access speeds, potential interference
Several of the folks at Google helping the Measurement Lab project have posted visualizations produced using new tools recently made available by the search giant. M-Lab is a collaboration between academics and technology companies trying to empirically assess concerns over violation of network neutrality. I suspect the second visualization, showing networking limiting over time may correlate to public discussion of discriminatory practices. It may be possible to get a better sense of that using the full data explorer tool set with some historical news links in hand.
Brief history of the Linux graphics stack, Ars Technica
Firefox 4 now available, Open Source at ZDNet
Google spends 1M USD on censorship, throttling detection, Ars Technica

feeds | grep links > UK ISPs May Charge per Device, Full Encryption for Android, Questions over Google’s Copyright Purge, and More

Thomas Gideon — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 22:35:30 +0000

British ISPs could start charging per device
Slashdot links to PC Pro UK who has the details. The idea is being considered as fixed line providers are meeting with British regulators over network neutrality and network management. The latter was used as a reason by wireless carriers to pursue variable pricing in the wake of the iPad’s success. Reading the quotes from a technical director at F5, this is exactly the definition of discriminatory pricing but apply to end consumers rather than service providers.
WhisperCore brings device level encryption to Android
The H Security has the details of the latest offering from Moxie Marlinspike and the company he co-founded. Whisper Systems already offers voice encryption and secure texting. The new software uses the same disk encryption protocol as similar offerings for regular PCs. This is a very early release, more of a technology demonstrator but looks promising nonetheless.
Google copyright purge may leave developers exposed
The Register describes a potential rats nest of licensing issues. On first blush it seems like stripping the GPLv2 copyright notice from the Linux kernel headers Google uses in building Android violates that license, making this a simple compliance case. The lawyers who looked into this though think that if Google is required to leave the license intact that any code making use of those headers would trigger copyleft. I am unconvinced this is a sound reading but am sure that someone from the SFLC or FSF will weigh in before long.
Understanding how IE9′s Tracking Protection Lists complement Do Not Track, EFF
MIT-designed game used to train an AI system, Slashdot
A PS3 hacker claims to have defeated latest security features in 3.60 firmware, Slashdot
Imaginary Foundation’s enlightened response to pirate copies of its tee shirt designs, BoingBoing

Following Up for the Week Ending 3/13/2011

Thomas Gideon — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 20:42:04 +0000

Judge says no anonymity for anyone visitor PS3 hacker’s site, Techdirt
Rep. Lofgren tells seized sites they should sue government for defamation, Techdirt
Hackers claim to be able to unban modded PS3s and ban umodded ones, Techdirt
Supreme Court to hear challenge to law that removes works from the public domain, EFF
EFF action alert encouraging Congress to debate, re-consider Patriot Act provisions, EFF
LimeWire settles with labels, still faces $1B claim, TorrentFreak
Senate passes near useless patent reform bill, Techdirt
Key house subcommittee votes to undo net neutrality rules, Ars Technica
EU: time for a new take on copyright, Michael Geist
Apple changes purchases policy to protect kids on iOS games, The Washington Post
Judge characterizes P2P suit as fishing expedition, Ars Technica
After iiNet, internet industry formulates copyright code of conduct, TorrentFreak
Righthaven sues Canadian newspaper over misattribution of photo, Techdirt
France goes overboard with data retention, requiring passwords, Techdirt

Following Up for the Week Ending 3/6/2011

Thomas Gideon — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 20:11:32 +0000

Republicans say no compromise is possible on net neutrality, Ars Technica
Comcast-NBC deal accidentally protects the internet, Slashdot
Senator Wyden demands debate over Patriot Act, Techdirt
Interview with Senator Franken on net neutrality, etc., Ars Technica
Intel completes McAfee acquisition, Slashdot
Gmail access, data to be restored soon, ReadWriteWeb
Considering the possible constitutional limits in online tracking laws, Freedom to Tinker
Australia considers new digital locks exceptions, Michael Geist
New law in Connecticut would make it illegal for police to stop you recording them, Techdirt
DHS/ICE files charges against one operator of a seized domain, Ars Technica
Student sues FBI for planting GPS tracker, Slashdot
Rep. Lofgren challenges IP Czar on legality of domain seizures, Techdirt

Following Up for the Week Ending 2/20/2011

Thomas Gideon — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 22:13:12 +0000

One case where Catan publishers did press an infringement complaint, Public Knowledge
MPEG calling for royalty-free web video codec, The H Open
France latest country to adopt internet censorship, Techdirt
Metered billing stalled in Canada as ISP admits it can’t actually count bits, Ars Technica
In ACS:Law mass infringement case court confirms IP addresses aren’t people, Ars Technica
Feds seize 18 more domain names in piracy crackdown, Wired
Another Texas judge scrutinizes mass copyright litigation, EFF
What Congress can learn from recent ICE domain seizures, EFF
Rep. Walden moves to block FCC funding for net neutrality, Washington Post
Sony threatens disconnection from its network for PS3 hackers, Ars Technica
Debate over internet back doors heats up in Congress, courts, EFF
Wyden speaks out against COICA, Techdirt
FBI renewing push for internet back doors, Techdirt
Google asks USPTO to re-examine four Oracle patents, Slashdot
House votes to stop FCC funding for net neutrality, Washington Post
The Hurt Locker lawsuit branches out across the country, Ars Technica

Join PK’s “Internet Strikes Back” Campaign

Thomas Gideon — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 22:40:00 +0000

The current rules the FCC is pushing for network neutrality are far from ideal. I am not even entirely settled on what makes the most sense in terms of outcomes and how to reach them. However, I disagree with the current movement in Congress to strip the FCC of its ability to make and enforce these rules.

On Friday at the annual Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) conference, Representative Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) railed against Net Neutrality as “basically the fairness doctrine,” “nationalization of the Internet,” and “regulating political speech” and promised to overturn it.

This is far from a constructive, critical response and I happen to agree with Public Knowledge that it requires a response. A legitimate debate about network neutrality needs to be kept alive, not utterly derailed by this subjective, partisan rhetoric. The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology will be holding a hearing on this very subject this Wednesday. Public Knowledge is organizing a calling campaign for Thursday in response.

I urge you to read through their announcement and consider signing up. Network neutrality isn’t an unalloyed good, to be sure, but we need to move past loaded rhetoric to building the tools and policies necessary for an empirical understanding of what is at stake and how to arrive at the most desirable outcomes in terms of free expression and innovation.

The Internet Strikes Back to Save Net Neutrality, Public Knowledge

Following Up for the Week Ending 2/13/2011

Thomas Gideon — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 18:24:30 +0000

Latest IP terrorism tactic, reverse class action suits, Ars Technica
Congresswoman writes on net neutrality, broadband, Slashdot
More on BBC shuttering of online offerings, adactio, via Nat’s Four Short Links on O’Reilly Radar
Report from UK’s in progress work to develop a new report on IP, ComputerWorld UK
Sony now targeting anyone who posts PS3 hack, Ars Technica
Sony to inspect PS3 hacker’s hard drive, Wired
Norway to investigate Sony over complaints on removal of other OS boot option, The Register
OpenJDK based fork of Android launches to bypass Oracle-Google conflict, Open Source at ZDNet
Do Not Track feature included in latest Firefox 4 beta, Ars Technica
Patriot Act extension defeated in the House, EFF
Expired Patriot Act provisions may yet be ressurrected, Wired
Court tells UK IP terrorist firm they cannot drop their case, BoingBoing
US, EU differ on whether ACTA is binding or even a treaty, Techdirt
Obama pitches $18 billion wireless broadband plan, Washington Post
MPEG LA attempts to start VP8 patent pool, Slashdot
Open Source Hardware Definition 1.0 released, The H Open

Following Up for the Week Ending 1/30/2011

Thomas Gideon — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 22:51:22 +0000

US case against hundred of BitTorrent file-sharers dismissed, TorrentFreak
UK mass infringement racketeers quit, TorrentFreak
More on news of ACS:Law quitting its mass pursuit of file sharers, Techdirt
Confirmation of ACS:Law giving up on infringement suits, Techdirt
Google submits VP8 bitstream to IETF but not as a standard, Ars Technica
IP legal experts say ACTA is inconsistent with EU law, Techdirt
FCC net neutrality rules already yielding claims of violation, Washington Post
Law to shutdown P2P sites resurrected by Spanish coalition, TorrentFreak
Strict network neutrality bill introduced in the Senate, Ars Technica
Bill introduced for spectrum auctions, safety networks, Washington Post
IANA address space about to run dry, The Register
Canadians lodging protests online of ISP usage based billing , Ars Technica
USCG demands sanctions against those suing them, Ars Technica
Canadians speaking out on C-32: only five days left, Michael Geist
FCC approves Google, nine others to run white space databases, Ars Technica
Sony granted temporary restraining order against PS3 hacker, Ars Technica
Sony releases security patch for PS3, hackers crack it as a matter of course, Ars Technica
FCC says net neutrality law suits filed too soon, Ars Technica
Sony sends DMCA takedown to github over PS3 hacks, Slashdot

Following Up for the Week Ending 1/23/2011

Thomas Gideon — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 20:24:08 +0000

TPP free trade agreement may revive copyright liability for ISPs, ComputerWorld NZ via Groklaw NewsPicks
Righthaven moves on to suing board posters rather than site operators, Techdirt
Window for public comment on Canada’s C-32 copyright bill closes at the end of this month, Michael Geist
Nokia spins down its music subscription service, Ars Technica
Google offers more in-depth explanation of offering only open codecs in Chrome, The H Open
Customs boss defends domain seizures, says more censorship is on the way, Techdirt
Comcast-NBCU merger approved by FCC, DoJ, Ars Technica
An ex-regulator’s take on Comcast-NBCU, The Atlantic
More details on the conditions on the Comcast-NBCU merger, Ars Technica
US official speaks untruths about Torrent-Finder domain seizure, TorrentFreak
NZ unions want more information on TPPA, The Register
Motorola sticks to guns on locking down Android, Slashdot
EU ACTA resolution contains fundamental flaws, ht @glynmoody
Far Cry P2P suits revived, re-file country wide, Ars Technica
Verizon sues FCC, claiming net neutrality lite rules are illegal, Ars Technica
New alleged evidence of Android infringement isn’t a smoking gun, Ars Technica
Google didn’t ship re-licensed Java code after all, Slashdot

Following Up for the Week Ending 1/16/2011

Thomas Gideon — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 13:50:57 +0000

FCC rhetoric, plan on impending spectrum scarcity has advanced little, The Technology Liberation Front
Canadian recording industry to pay $45M to settle class action over copyright infringement, Michael Geist
Code released to sign homebrew projects to run on PS3, The H Security
First project looking into implementation of Do Not Track, DoNotTrack.us, ht @BiellaColeman
Copyright trolls team up hoping to reverse trend of failures, Techdirt
Some technical clarifications of Do Not Track, Freedom to Tinker
Consumer groups ask FCC to investigate Metro PCS for net neutrality violation, Washington Post
VLC for iOS developers still want to work things out, The H Open
AP settles copyright suit against Shepard Fairey, Wired
Sony takes legal action against PS3 hackers, The H Security
Sony’s legal options limited by pure software nature of PS3 crack, Ars Technica
No court order against PS3 hackers for now, The Register
Canadian regulator smacks Rogers for network neutrality failures, BoingBoing
Google to release plugin for open video in IE and Safari, The Register
Amazon to set prices in their Android app store, not developers, Slashdot
French ISP caught throttling direct download site, Slashdot

Following Up for the Week Ending 1/9/2011

Thomas Gideon — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 21:19:37 +0000

DHS finally files for civil forfeiture of domains seized in June, Techdirt
End result of French three strikes is just higher ISP fees, Techdirt
BT’s new prioritized service could bring net neutrality to a head in the UK, BBC
EFF calls on court to affirm reduced damages in Tenenbaum file sharing suit, EFF
Is State Department call for internet freedom making it more difficult for US companies?, Techdirt
Net neutrality rules may depend heavily on where you access the net, Ars Technica
Court rules it’s legal to sell promotional CDs, Techdirt
EFF’s press release on promo CD, first sale doctrine win, EFF
The next trade agreement that may ratchet up IP enforcement, Public Knowledge
USCG brings on more film makers for its IP extortion scheme, TorrentFreak
Amazon launches the developer portal for its forthcoming Android app store, ReadWriteWeb
FCC invites developers to write apps to detect network discrimination, Ars Technica
New House introduces bill to halt FCC’s plans for net neutrality, Ars Technica
Industry push for ISPs to adopt three strikes rules has seen little uptake, Techdirt
DECE DRM finally coming midyear, Ars Technica
Australian net filter overrun, may be pulled altogether, The Register

Rushkoff Rejects the Net Neutrality Debate

Thomas Gideon — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 22:02:56 +0000

Media theorist Douglas Rushkoff has a thoughtful and thought provoking post on Shareable today. In the midst of escalating rhetoric fueled increasingly by the maddening dissolution of whatever spine the FCC once had, he asks whether fighting for network neutrality is even worth the effort.

The moment the “net neutrality” debate began was the moment the net neutrality debate was lost. For once the fate of a network – its fairness, its rule set, its capacity for social or economic reformation – is in the hands of policymakers and the corporations funding them – that network loses its power to effect change. The mere fact that lawmakers and lobbyists now control the future of the net should be enough to turn us elsewhere.

I am not as skeptical of the ability to manage a useful commons on the kind of public-private partnership the actual ownership of network infrastructure now requires. I take his points though as more fuel for thought on whether the private half of such partnerships will ever concede to the balance of rights that would support any sort of true commons. After all the ISPs pretty much to a one have been fighting to keep their management practices opaque and routinely raise the bugbears of network congestion and insufficient capacity to keep this cloak drawn tight.

There is a certain appeal to Rushkoff’s call to just build something else that better incorporates the principles network neutrality is meant to preserve. The problem, which he only touches upon, is it would need to be funded on infrastructure that is truly citizen owned or genuinely able to route around attempts at censorship or both.

So let’s get on it. Shall we use telephony, ham radio, or some other part of the spectrum? Do we organize overlapping meshes of WiMax? Do we ask George Soros for some money? MacArthur Foundation? Do we even need or want them or money at all? How might the funding of our network by a central bank issued currency, or a private foundation, or a public university, bias the very architecture we are trying to build? Who gets the ability to govern or limit what may spread over our network, if anyone? Should there be ways for us to transact?

Even if you are far less optimistic about our technical abilities to pull of this trick, I think it is an excellent thought experiment. Certainly entertaining it could lead to better policy decisions around future technologies, like wireless networking via television spectrum white spaces, that might make future debates about openness, fairness, and freedom somewhat less fraught.

The Next Net, Shareable

Following Up for the Week Ending 1/2/2011

Thomas Gideon — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 20:02:39 +0000

Ways you can register net neutrality complaints to the FCC, Ars Technica
FCC refutes ISP attempt to use 1st amendment to bypass new net neutrality rules, Ars Technica
Spanish politicians already planning to bring back rejected copyright bill, Techdirt
Latest attempt at a content identification system for copyright enforcement, Ars Technica
Paul Allen re-initiates his patent attack, The Register
White spaces could expand beyond unused TV spectrum, Ars Technica
Amazon Kindle loaning feature goes live, ReadWriteWeb
Pirate Party leader resigns on 5th anniversary, TorrentFreak
Ubisoft’s draconian DRM patched?, Slashdot

Following Up for the Week Ending 12/26/2010

Thomas Gideon — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 14:17:35 +0000

File sharing sites go dark to protest Spanish copyright act, TorrentFreak
Google’s UK street view Wifi data deleted, BBC
Pirate Bay backer taking case to Sweden’s Supreme Court, The Register
Some evidence used to justify domain seizures cam from the labels, Techdirt
More details of the domain seizures by the US government, Ars Technica
Spain rejects proposed law to shutdown p2p sites, TorrentFreak
Final ruling in Al-Haramain case, EFF
Privacy icons alpha release, Aza Raskin, ht Simon Phipps
FCC posts text of new net neutrality rules, PC Magazine via Groklaw NewsPicks
FCC chair seeking conditions on NBC-Comcast merger, Slashdot
IBM closer to practical implementation of race track memory, Bruce Sterling at Wired

feeds | grep links > AI Beats Hivemind, Venezuela Expands Censorship to the Net, New Firefox Betas, and More

Thomas Gideon — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 23:42:58 +0000

AI beats hivemind
Technology Review points to some research by folks at the online review site pitting an AI against people engaged through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk service. The problem they were investigating is one of basic classification, an arena where certain algorithms have proven to be pretty strong. It is surprising how poorly the human agents did, even in the pre-qualification tests just to participate on a reasonably even footing. I don’t know that these results can be generalized too far but are definitely intriguing.
Venezuela passes new law drastically limiting online freedoms
Xeni at BoingBoing has details of what is an expansion of existing laws from traditional media to now also cover the internet. The goal is to place responsibility squarely on web site operators, unlike other countries that have developed safe harbors for mere publishers of content. Speech that questions authority or fosters unrest will be squelched by this legislative update.
First details of FCC’s new neutrality plan disallows paid prioritization , Ars Technica
FCC cites openness of Android as reason for not needing neutrality for wireless internet, BoingBoing
Gillmor’s insightful and incisive critique of the new network neutrality rules, BoingBoing
Firefox 4 beta 8 is available, The H Open
Mozilla also releases new Firefox 4 beta for mobile devices, The Register