They really really don't like these guys... The hype is going to make it hard to use this as a case study... How many babies are being tossed out with the bathwater?

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/02/megaupload-superseding-indictment/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Index+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29

Feds Seize $50 Million in Megaupload Assets, Lodge New Charges

The authorities said Friday they have seized $50 million in Megaupload-related assets and added additional charges in one of the United States’ largest criminal copyright infringement prosecutions.

… The government said the site, which generated millions in user fees and advertising, facilitated copyright infringement of movies “often before their theatrical release, music, television programs, electronic books, and business and entertainment software on a massive scale.” The government said Megaupload’s “estimated harm” to copyright holders was “well in excess of $500 million.”

Megaupload was on the recording and movie industries’ most-hated lists, [Ah! That explains it! Bob] often being accused of facilitating wanton infringement of their members’ copyrights. The indictment claims Megaupload induced users to upload copyrighted works for others to download, and that it often failed to comply with removal notices from rights holders under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

New charges (.pdf) levied Friday allege that Megaupload falsely represented to rights holders that it had removed infringing works from its servers.

… The government, meanwhile, also said Friday that, despite claims of having 180 million registered users, the site had 66.6 million. The authorities said that 5.86 million of these registered users uploaded files, “demonstrating that more than 90 percent of their registered users only used the defendant’s system to download.”

Still, anyone who used Megaupload as a way to share and store legitimate files is now likely never going to be able to get them back.

(Related)

Is the Government Scaring Web Businesses Out of the US?

"The federal government has been paying lip service to the idea that it wants to encourage new businesses and startups in the U.S. And this is truly important to the economy, as studies have shown that almost all of the net job growth in this country is coming from internet startups. ... With the JotForm situation unfolding, where the U.S. government shut down an entire website with no notice or explanation, people are beginning to recognize that the U.S is not safe for internet startups. Lots of folks have been passing around [a] rather reasonable list of activities for U.S.-based websites."

Was there any evidence of a crime before the warrants were issued? My little non-lawyer mind thought that you had to assert or show the judge some evidence in order to get the warrant. Is the DA saying he can't prove fraud without the laptop?

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/02/laptop-decryption-appeal/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Index+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29

Feds Urge Court to Reject Laptop Decryption Appeal

The government is urging a federal appeals court not to entertain an appeal from a bank-fraud defendant who has been ordered to decrypt her laptop so its contents can be used in her criminal case.

Colorado federal authorities seized the encrypted Toshiba laptop from defendant Ramona Fricosu in 2010 with valid court warrants while investigating alleged mortgage fraud, and demanded she decrypt it.

Ruling that the woman’s Fifth Amendment rights against compelled self-incrimination would not be breached, [If in fact the decryption provides evidence of another crime, does this mean she has immunity? Bob] U.S. District Judge Robert Blackburn ordered the woman in January to decrypt the laptop by the end of February. The judge refused to stay his decision to allow Fricosu time to appeal.

The Colorado woman’s attorney appealed anyway, and the government on Thursday asked the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reject the petition that asserts the woman’s constitutional rights would be breached by being forced to hand over evidence against herself.

The government argued the same reasons that Judge Blackburn gave when he denied staying his decision: The issue, however novel, was not ripe for appeal.

Generally, appellate courts frown on taking cases until after there’s been a verdict. So the woman, the government said, should unlock the drive and appeal if she gets convicted of the financial fraud charges, which theoretically carry decades in prison.

Fricosu, prosecutor Patricia Davies wrote, “can appeal her conviction — just as defendants do when compelled to produce documents pursuant to subpoena or when denied suppression of evidence or statements pre-trial.”

Davies also said Fricosu’s reasons for appealing are legally baseless.

“Fricosu argues that the order is appealable because of its novelty, and the fact that it is of public interest and importance,” Davies wrote (.pdf) “But courts have properly rejected the claim that otherwise non-final orders should be reviewed on such grounds.”

A “real world” example for my Statistics students.

How Companies Learn Your Secrets

"For decades, Target has collected vast amounts of data on every person who regularly walks into one of its stores. Now the NY Times Magazine reports on how companies like Target identify those unique moments in consumers' lives when their shopping habits become particularly flexible and the right advertisement or coupon can cause them to begin spending in new ways. Among life events, none are more important than the arrival of a baby, and new parents are a retailer's holy grail. In 2002, marketers at Target asked statisticians to answer an odd question: 'If we wanted to figure out if a customer is pregnant, even if she didn't want us to know, can you do that?' Specifically, the marketers said they wanted to send specially designed ads to women in their second trimester, which is when most expectant mothers begin buying all sorts of new things, like prenatal vitamins and maternity clothing. 'We knew that if we could identify them in their second trimester, there's a good chance we could capture them for years,' says statistician Andrew Pole. 'As soon as we get them buying diapers from us, they're going to start buying everything else too.' As Pole's computers crawled through the data, he was able to identify about 25 products that, when analyzed together, allowed him to assign each shopper a 'pregnancy prediction' score and he soon had a list of tens of thousands of women who were most likely pregnant. About a year after Pole created his pregnancy-prediction model, a man walked into a Target outside Minneapolis and demanded to see the manager. He was clutching coupons that had been sent to his daughter, and he was angry. 'My daughter got this in the mail!' he said. 'She's still in high school, and you're sending her coupons for baby clothes and cribs? Are you trying to encourage her to get pregnant?' The manager apologized and then called a few days later to apologize again but the father was somewhat abashed. 'It turns out there's been some activities in my house I haven't been completely aware of. She's due in August. I owe you an apology.'"

(Related) Now we need a law prohibiting “over compliance”

Canadians #TellVicEverything In Response To Bill C-30

"In order to protest the government's new Internet snooping legislation, some Canadians have started a somewhat unorthodox protest. Vic Toews, the minister responsible for tabling the legislation, has had his twitter account bombarded with tweets regarding the boring, banal aspects of regular Canadians' lives. The idea is that since Toews wants to know everything about your personal life, we should oblige him and #TellVicEverything."

Ethical Hackers Be careful what you say. But, don't get too excited, until we figure out what is going on...

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/02/code-theft-conviction-reversed/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Index+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29

Goldman Sachs Code-Theft Conviction Reversed

A federal appeals court on Friday reversed the conviction of a former Goldman Sachs programmer sentenced to eight years for stealing the bank’s high-speed trading software.

Sergey Aleynikov, 41, was convicted in 2010 of theft of trade secrets under the Economic Espionage Act.

… The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard his appeal on Thursday, and hours later and without explanation, reversed the 2010 conviction and ordered him acquitted, which usually forbids a retrial. On Friday, however, the court issued an amended order. It reversed the conviction, and ordered him free on $750,000 bond but removed the acquittal language. The appeals court said it would issue an opinion explaining the order in “due course.” (.pdf)

The New York Times summed up the court’s concerns during Thursday’s oral arguments. The paper noted that a critical issue was whether what he did was actually a crime under the Economic Espionage Act, which requires the theft to be from a “product designed for interstate commerce.” [Perhaps they told the court that the software was not intended to be used anywhere but on their NY trading desk? Bob] Aleynikov’s lawyers took the position that the software wasn’t used in interstate commerce, while the feds argued that it clearly was.

Is this removing laws intended for a monopoly industry?

Kentucky Telephone Companies Pushing For Option To End Basic Service

"There is a bill pending in the Kentucky State Senate that would eliminate almost all Public Service Commission oversight over local phone companies. Written by AT&T lobbyists, SB135 is being pushed by the phone companies as a 'modernization' of rules. It would keep the PSC from investigating phone service on its own and eliminate rules concerning price discrimination, price increases, required published rates, and performance objectives. It also will prevent any state agency from imposing net neutrality, and will enable phone companies to use the fact that there are cell phones to refuse to run a land line. The text of the bill is available online."

I still think this is a bad idea. “When information is outlawed only outlaws will have information”

Deadly H5N1 Flu Studies To Stay Secret... For Now

"A spokesman for the World Health Organization announced that an agreement had been reached, after a debate, to keep details secret of the controversial work about the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian flu virus until deeper risk analyses have been carried out. The scientists who made the study, led by Ron Fouchier, still want to release the full paper at some future date for public viewing, but for the time being, the NSABB got what it wanted."

The moratorium will be extended "probably for several months."

Now this is a great idea for my Computer Security students! (This was part of a Doctoral student's research)

Stealing Laptops For Class Credit

"Students at the University of Twente have stolen thirty laptops from various members of the university's staff. They were not prosecuted for this, so they could just get on with their studies. Indeed, these students even received ECTS credits for these thefts. UT researcher Trajce Dimkov asked the students to steal the machines as part of a scientific experiment. Stealing these laptops turned out to be a pretty simple matter."