It's that Dell/Sony thing again...

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/J/JAPAN_SONY_BATTERY_TROUBLE?SITE=VALYD&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Japan: Sony, Dell Must Probe Batteries

By HIROKO TABUCHI Associated Press Writer Aug 24, 8:21 AM EDT

TOKYO (AP) -- Japan's trade ministry on Thursday ordered Sony Corp. and Dell Inc. to investigate the trouble involving Sony batteries that caused Dell to recall 4.1 laptop computers last week because they were at risk of catching fire.

The ministry said Sony and Dell must report on their findings and say how they will prevent future problems by the end of August, or face a fine under Japan's consumer safety laws.

“Hey buddy, are you using that Osama inspired laptop battery?”

http://digg.com/tech_news/Qantas_Airline_Has_New_Rules_For_Dells

Qantas Airline Has New Rules For Dells

MrBabyMan submitted by MrBabyMan 13 hours 35 minutes ago (via http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/gadgets/qantas-airline-has-new-rules-for-dells-196219.php )

If you've got a Dell laptop and you're going to be flying Qantas sometime soon, be aware of their new rules regarding your precious lappy. One is to remove your battery and move up to first or business class and power your computer via power supply.

[From the article: However, some airports are making people tape up their batteries entirely, which means your laptop's only usable if you plug it in.

I thought this violated my “Only tell them bad news on Friday” rule, 'till I read the last sentence...

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14487686/

Education Dept. says personal data at risk

Agency arranging free credit monitoring for 21,000 student-loan borrowers

By Hope Yen Associated Press Updated: 6:10 p.m. MT Aug 23, 2006

WASHINGTON - The Education Department said Wednesday it would arrange for free credit monitoring for as many as 21,000 student loan borrowers after their personal data appeared on its Web site.

Terri Shaw, the department’s chief operating officer for federal student aid, said the people involved are holders of federal direct student loans who used the department’s loan Web site — www.dlssonline.com — between Sunday and Tuesday.

... Education Department officials blamed the breach on a routine [but apparently untested... Bob] software upgrade, conducted by Dallas-based contractor Affiliated Computers Services Inc., that mixed up data for different borrowers when users accessed the Web site. Since Sunday, 26 borrowers have complained.

... The Web site program includes names, birthdates, Social Security numbers, addresses, phone numbers and in some cases account information for holders of federal direct student loans. It does not involve those who have loans managed through private companies.

... The Boston Globe first reported the Education Department’s glitch on Wednesday.

Ignore what we said earlier, we didn't actually say that... Okay, I did, but I had my fingers crossed...

http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=13277233&src=rss/ElectionCoverage

Qwest says not calling for data retention laws

Wed Aug 23, 2006 11:11 PM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Telephone and broadband Web provider Qwest Communications International Inc. on Wednesday denied that it is calling for federal data retention laws in a statement responding to a story on news.com Web site.

... Mardosz disputed the report, saying she had been talking about Colorado State laws that are already in place, not showing support for proposed federal laws.

"I misspoke," Mardosz told Reuters in a phone interview. "If there are proposals at the state or federal level we want to be involved at the table when those discussions happen. We're not asking for it."

It's not stealing, donations are voluntary!

http://www.techzonez.com/comments.php?shownews=19063

Child porn spam hides Trojan

Posted by Reverend on 23 Aug 2006 - 20:42 GMT

Techzonez Cyber-criminals have launched a "massive spoof email attack" that accuses victims of being associated with a child porn site in a bid to trick them into downloading malware.

The messages, which use the subject line 'CP investigation was started', claim that the recipient's email address has been found in a child porn database discovered by the Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection (ASACP).

The email actually contains the Agent-CPK Trojan horse.

The ASACP has published a warning on its website, informing recipients of the message that they may be at risk of infection.

Part of the malicious email reads as follows:

'I'd like to inform you that investigating activity of the one of child porno sites; we found e-mails data base, in which was your e-mail . In view of this, I have two versions: either you are the client of this shop, or your e-mail appeared there accidentally. I sincerely hope that it was accidental coincidence and believe that you are interested in this version as well. If you show a good will, make modest, voluntary donation on our site [URL removed] I will be convinced in your being not implicated in this business.'

Full story: vnunet

This is merely a foretaste.

http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/24/037232&from=rss

Diebold Flops in Alaska

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday August 24, @03:54AM from the they-usually-work-so-well dept. Politics Technology

lukej writes "From the Anchorage Daily News, During yesterday's preliminary and ballot measure election across Alaska, Diebold built voting machines failed to 'phone home' causing a hand recount. As a party spokesperson said: "I can say there are many systematic problems with Diebold machines that have been identified in many contexts." Additionally, the state itself has mandated some hand counts of all electronic results, [..uh...How can you recount electrons? Bob] and the Democratic Party is simply suggesting voters request paper voting."

Is this the way to do it? What if one of those random searches is “How do I join Al Quada?”

http://michaelzimmer.org/2006/08/21/trackmenot-firefox-extension-obfuscates-your-search-history/

TrackMeNot Firefox Extension Obfuscates Your Search History

Posted on Monday, August 21st, 2006 at 4:03 pm

As concerns about the privacy of one’s search engine history steadily increase, various solutions have been offered to help avoid the wholesale surveillance and aggregation of one’s search queries. While most solutions rely on attempts to cloak one’s IP address, a new solution instead relies on obfuscation: TrackMeNot.

Developed by Daniel Howe and Helen Nissenbaum, TrackMeNot (TMN) is a Firefox extension (download here) that protects against search data profiling by issuing randomized queries to popular search-engines with fake data:

I'll be sending a few hundred nominees...

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/08/22/stupid_security_awards/

Gongs on offer for stupid security measures

By John Leyden Published Tuesday 22nd August 2006 10:43 GMT

Human rights watchdog Privacy International has re-launched its hunt for the World's most stupid security measures.

The "Stupid Security" awards aims to highlight the absurdities of so-called security procedures that make little contribution to real security improvements. The international compo aims to unearth the world's most pointless, intrusive, stupid and self-serving security measures.

... "The situation has become ridiculous" said Davies. "Security has become the smokescreen for incompetent and robotic managers the world over".

Although the airline industry has become the most prominent offender in introducing pointless security measures it is far from alone in its folly. For example, a rail company recently banned (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/2943304.stm) train-spotters on the grounds of security. Meanwhile the security desk of a US office building complained because paramedics rushing to attend a heart-attack victim had failed to sign-in.

The Streisand Effect

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/08/23/homeoffice_pron/

Home Office in trouble for advertising porn sites

By Lucy Sherriff Published Wednesday 23rd August 2006 12:03 GMT

The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) has sent the Home Office to sit on the naughty stair [I wish I spoke English, they have such interesting phrases... Bob] after complaints about a radio campaign promoting online child safety that sent listeners to porn sites instead.

The ad, which was to promote an online child safety website, directed listeners to check out the site at www.ThinkuKnow.co.uk. Sadly for the Home Office (no, really, our hearts are bleeding), there is also a website called www.thinkyouknow.co.uk which lists various services such as web hosting, broadband providers, car insurance, online dating and so on.

Just one more click, the complainants said, will lead you to adult chatrooms, including www.womenwant.co.uk, which advertises itself as follows: "Find your kinky kicks here! Erotic chat, casual hot sex & more."

... It said: "This was particularly concerning as the ad was aimed at teenagers and the service being promoted was to help them stay safe online."

This could never happen here... (See next article)

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,,20234772-1702,00.html?from=rss

Privacy concerns over Centrelink breaches

August 24, 2006 02:43am

PRIVACY advocates have serious concerns about the Federal Government's proposed Smartcard after Centrelink staff were caught inappropriately accessing client records.

Six hundred Centrelink staff were caught using sophisticated spyware programs to browse the welfare records of friends, family, neighbours and ex-lovers without authorisation.

A total of 19 Centrelink employees were sacked and 92 resigned after 790 cases of inappropriate access were uncovered.

See... They promise!

http://www.nbcactionnews.com/kshb/nw_local_news/article/0,1925,KSHB_9424_4939005,00.html

Privacy concerns continue to bedevil livestock ID program

August 23, 2006

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns assured livestock owners Wednesday that information collected in a planned animal identification program will be kept confidential and used only in the event of a disease outbreak.

Why would a Capitalist Tool become politically correct?

http://news.com.com/2061-10796_3-6108978.html?part=rss&tag=6108978&subj=news

Forbes.com yanks articles over marrying-career-women flap

August 23, 2006 9:40 PM PDT

Bowing to blogospheric criticism, Forbes deleted two articles from its Web site on Wednesday, one of which was titled "Don't marry career women."

Someone gets it!

http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/012234.html

August 23, 2006

Appeals Court's Website Features RSS, Audio Recordings

Press release: "...the Seventh Circuit is the first federal court of appeals to make RSS feeds of opinions and audio recordings of oral arguments available from its Web site .

...but ANYONE can do the obvious. We're the FBI, we have to do it the Jedger way.

http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/012224.html

August 23, 2006

Judge Cites Google Searching in FBI FOIA Case

FindLaw: "A federal judge scolds the FBI in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit for failing to "just Google" the names of people about whom plaintiffs sought audio recordings and other information in their litigation. According to Judge Garland, "Surely, in the Internet age, a "reasonable alternative" for finding out whether a prominent person is dead is to use Google (or any other search engine) to find a report of that person’s death." John Davis v. U.S. Dept. of Justice, August 22, 2006.

Did you think Public meant “except for some people?”

http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/012230.html

August 23, 2006

China Downloading DoD Data According to Warfighting Info Tech Director

Government Computer News: "China has downloaded 10 to 20 terabytes of data from the NIPRNet (DOD's Non-Classified IP Router Network)," said Maj. Gen. William Lord, director of information, services and integration in the Air Force's Office of Warfighting Integration and Chief Information Officer, during the recent Air Force IT Conference in Montgomery, Ala."

• See also: Warfighting integration reduces inaccuracy, inefficiency

Perhaps this is another case for the Virtual Law specialists?

http://techdirt.com/articles/20060823/105852.shtml

Brazil Tries To Shut Down Google, After Talking To The Wrong People

from the take-that dept

This fight has been brewing for a while, as the Brazilian government has been demanding information from Google on certain users of its Orkut social networking site, which is used mostly by Brazilians. Now, Brazil is officially suing Google for failing to comply, and is also beginning procedures to shut down its local office in Brazil. Of course, there are a few problems with this lawsuit. First, when presented with the proper evidence, Google did shut down parts of Orkut that were being used for illegal activity. However, much more problematic is that Google has pointed out that Brazil keeps pressuring the company's Brazilian office, which is only an ad sales office and has nothing to do with Orkut at all. Google has noted repeatedly that Orkut is entirely run on U.S. soil, and therefore is subject to U.S., not Brazilian, laws. It seems a little unfair for Brazil to be punishing a totally unrelated Brazilian office just because it's what's there.

Another area of “virtual law?”

http://images.businessweek.com/ss/06/08/starwood/index_01.htm

Starwood Tests Space Before Breaking Ground

The conglomerate behind Westin and Sheraton is launching a new chain of sleek hotels. The first one is open for business in cyberspace

By Reena Jana

This seems reasonable to me, but then I hold a patent on “a medium of exchange for use in real-time transactions” -- I call it “Currently™” and I'm suing the Treasury for violating my Trademark (They called theirs “Currency” and thought I wouldn't notice...)

http://techdirt.com/articles/20060823/190318.shtml

Flat Rate Pricing For Wireless Service? Patented!

from the oh,-come-on dept

Seems like today's been quite the day for patent related stories. Just as we were discussing the question of obviousness when it comes to patents, comes the news of mobile operator Leap Wireless' patent lawsuit against Metro PCS. Apparently, Leap was able to get a business method patent on offering flat-rate pricing for a mobile phone service. Note that this patent was filed in 2001, when flat-rate pricing was very much the standard for internet access. It seems positively obvious that someone would eventually offer flat-rate service for mobile phones as well. In fact, there were flat-rate, no roaming charge mobile plans well before 2001. I remember AT&T Wireless (the old one) offering such a plan around 1998. Reading the patent, though, Leap makes it sound like some amazing new invention that has wonderfully mysterious properties to increase capacity while lowering peak capacity. So, can someone explain how this idea could possibly be called "new and non-obvious"? Then, can you explain how it helps the market in the slightest to have Leap try to block the competition from offering a flat-rate pricing plan as well?

Somehow, I doubt this...

http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=45613

Viruses and Spyware Cost Users $7.8 Billion

August 23, 2006 7:38AM

"It's hard to tell who's losing the money -- the insurance company, the credit card company or the consumer -- but it's coming out of someone's pockets," said Dan Hubbard, vice president of security and research for Websense Inc.

Consumers paid as much $7.8 billion over two years to repair or replace computers that got infected with viruses and spyware, a Consumer Reports survey found.

That figure was down from a similar survey a year ago.

Seems reasonable. In 1982, the wife and I founded the US Gelding Breeders Association, and trademarked the term “Clip Art”

http://digg.com/general_sciences/Cloned_Beef_It_s_what_s_for_dinner

Cloned Beef: It's what's for dinner

parislemon submitted by parislemon 14 hours 9 minutes ago (via http://www.popsci.com/popsci/science/64b99082cc73d010vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html )

"What if you could carve off a chunk of the most succulent slab of steak you've ever eaten, clone a bull from it, then produce weeks of identically delectable dinners? Irina Polejaeva, chief embryologist at ViaGen, a livestock-cloning lab in Austin, Texas, aims to bring cloned beef to the American dinner table within the next few years."

[From the article:

Why clone from dead animals?

It’s hard to evaluate whether a live animal will produce great meat.

Today's Dilbert pretty neatly sums up Worker's Rights law

http://www.unitedmedia.com/comics/dilbert/

Could some low level employee release data that could bring down your company? If so, shouldn't you fix that hole?

http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/06/08/22/137226.shtml

Execs at AOL Approved Release of Private Data?

Posted by Zonk on Tuesday August 22, @10:10AM from the thats-an-oops dept. America Online Privacy The Courts The Internet

reporter writes "The New York Times has published a report providing further details about the release of private AOL search queries to the public. According to the report: 'Dr. Jensen, who said he had worked closely with Mr. Chowdhury on projects for AOL's search team, also said he had been told that the posting of the data had been approved by all appropriate executives at AOL, including Ms. [Maureen] Govern.' The report also identifies the other two people whom AOL management fired: they are Abdur Chowdhury and his immediate supervisor. Chowdhury is the employee who did the actual public distribution of the private search queries. He, apparently, has retained a lawyer."

It's not like Nazi medical research in the camps... Someone is doing this research (identity thieves, con artists, etc.) why not someone who can explain consequences?

Perhaps we should get a copy for “privacy research?”

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/23/technology/23search.html?ex=1156996800&en=e89acc952bf626e2&ei=5040&partner=MOREOVERFEATURES

Researchers Yearn to Use AOL Logs, but They Hesitate

By KATIE HAFNER August 23, 2006

When AOL researchers released three months’ worth of users’ query logs to a publicly accessible Web site late last month, Jon Kleinberg, a professor of computer science at Cornell, downloaded the data right away. But when a firestorm over privacy breaches erupted, he decided against using it. [No ethical questions until it hits the headlines, eh Professor? Bob]

“Now it’s sitting there, in cold storage,” said Professor Kleinberg, who works on algorithms for understanding the structure of the Web and searching it. “The number of things it reveals about individual people seems much too much. [I thought you hadn't looked at it? Bob] In general, you don’t want to do research on tainted data.” [Can you give us examples of when “in specific” you would do research on tainted data? Large government grants, for example? Bob]

... Professor Etzioni said Dr. Chowdhury was horrified by what had happened. “He didn’t anticipate that this kind of data could be used to track down individuals.” [Maybe those 'insiders' don't think about the data the way academics might? Bob] Dr. Chowdhury declined to comment, at the advice of his lawyer.

... The last similar case involved a set of hundreds of thousands of internal e-mail messages from Enron, posted in 2003 on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Web site, in connection with the agency’s investigation into the company.

Although some of the e-mail was relevant to the investigation, most of it was not. So hungry were researchers for a coherent body of e-mail messages to work with that they were able to set aside their concerns that the privacy of many people who had nothing to do with the Enron scandal was severely compromised.

... Professor Kleinberg said he hoped that over time, the AOL incident would lead to “a richer, more informed discussion about what it means to create data sets that are clean and anonymized.”

After I tell you not to drink the Kool-Aide, don't you assume some liability? What happens when an employee is injured?

http://techdirt.com/articles/20060822/0919217.shtml

After All The Fuss, Will People Bother With Dell's Battery Recall?

from the fully-charged-and-ready-to-blow dept

Dell last week announced a recall of more than 4 million laptop batteries after several high-profile incidents in which they caught fire. Despite the danger of the batteries being pretty vividly illustrated, some are now wondering how many people will actually bother to send their batteries back. Deals like mail-in rebates are often used by retailers because of their relatively low redemption rate, and one analyst says that asking people to drop a battery in the mail, as opposed to just a form and a receipt, could result in one even lower. But what could have a bigger impact is businesses' attitude towards the recall: some, with thousands of Dell laptops, may not want to spend the time dealing with identifying which machines are included in it, or delegate the responsibility to employees, who may or may not bother to check. One thing is clear, though -- patience with Dell is wearing thin, not just from disgruntled customers, but also from institutional investors unhappy with the company's management.

Unexplored territory?

http://www.cnn.com/2006/AUTOS/08/21/event_data_recorder_rule/index.html

New rule: Car buyers must be told about 'black boxes'

Rule will also require a uniform set of data be recorded, making it easier to use.

Tuesday, August 22, 2006; Posted: 8:46 a.m. EDT (12:46 GMT)

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has passed a regulation requiring car makers to inform customers when their car has been equipped with an Event Data Recorder, the agency said Monday.

EDRs, similar to "black boxes" used in commercial airliners, record data about what a car is doing in the moments just before and after a crash. They do not record the voices of occupants but they do record things like speed, steering wheel movement, how hard the brakes are being pressed and the actual movement of the car itself.

About 64 percent of model year 2005 cars were equipped with EDRs, according to NHTSA. Some manufacturers already include information about the EDR in the owners manual, but not all, said Rae Tyson, a spokesman for NHTSA.

"If you have a new vehicle, chances are it's got one," he said.

Data from the recorders is used by law enforcement and attorneys to recreate events directly leading up to an accident. Data is also used by car companies to research how cars and drivers perform in actual crashes.

Some privacy advocates have expressed concern that the data, which can be used as evidence in court cases, is being collected without the knowledge of vehicle owners and drivers.

The devices are virtually impossible to disable because their functioning is so tightly integrated with vehicle safety systems such as airbags and anti-lock brakes.

Several states have already passed laws that restrict how the data can be used.

Car companies must comply with the new regulation beginning in the 2011 model year. Information about the EDR, if one is installed, will have to be included in the vehicle's owner's manual.

The new rule also requires EDRs to collect a uniform set of data. Having access to uniform data will help investigators to recreate crashes and determine causes, the agency said.

More-uniform data will also make it easier to develop systems so that, in cars equipped with automatic 911 emergency notification, data about the crash can also be passed along to paramedics and ambulance crews. [..and local TV news? Bob]

The data can also be used to research better road designs and ways to better protect young and old drivers, said Robert Sinclair, a spokesman for the New York chapter of AAA.

AAA had previously expressed concern to NHTSA about privacy issues that might hamper public acceptance of the systems. Those concerns seem to be addressed by the new rule, Sinclair said.

http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/22/2039258&from=rss

SCO Lawyers Ambush IBM Witness

Posted by Zonk on Tuesday August 22, @05:29PM from the what-is-this-case-about-again dept. Caldera The Courts IBM Linux

Mr. E. writes "In a sneaky legal maneuver, [High praise? Bob] SCO's lawyers managed to ambush an IBM witness into having to give a no-holds-barred deposition in front of an unrelated court in another state. After SCO was limited in what they could depose Mr. Otis Wilson about by the Utah court, the company blindsided IBM with last-second subpoenas before a North Carolina court. IBM's lawyer was on vacation at the time, didn't give prior notice to big blue, and now they've won the right to ask him anything they want. They've asked him about whether he has a criminal record, about ex-wives, etc. and they have four hours in which to do so. According to PJ of Groklaw, 'I'd say [Magistrate Judge Brooke Wells] has thrown poor Mr. Wilson to the wolves in North Carolina and told him it's his own fault.' SCO, of course, is fishing for something — anything — they can use to stave off IBM's Motion for Summary Judgement which is fast approaching, and if they can somehow trip up Mr. Wilson, they might be able to do just that. However, there was at least one line of cold comfort in Magistrate Well's order '[T]he court wishes to note that its decision should not be viewed as any type of invitation to reopen the discovery process.'"

An anthem for the RIAA?

http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/22/2124255&from=rss

Weird Al Says 'Don't Download This Song'

Posted by Zonk on Tuesday August 22, @06:41PM from the really-he-would-like-you-to-though dept. Music It's funny. Laugh. The Internet

Kazzahdrane writes "Known geek and comedy singer/songwriter Weird Al Yankovic has released the first song from his new album 'Straight Outta Lynwood' for free on his MySpace page. The track is entitled 'Don't Download This Song' and tells of the dangers of illegally downloading music from filesharing sites."

Can the Serbs be far behind?

http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/23/009210&from=rss

Croatia Adopts Open Source Policy

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Tuesday August 22, @09:26PM from the everybody-is-doing-it dept. Software Linux

lisah writes "Croatia says that concerns over the expense and limitations of proprietary software led to last month's decision to adopt a free and open source software policy within Croatia's government. Officials say the move will make the government's work more transparent [I haven't seen this argument before. Bob] as well as help to better manage its operating costs. Taking it a step further, under the new policy the government will also support the use of open source in schools, saying, 'both closed and open source solutions will be equally presented to students.' Vlatko Kosturjak, president of the Croatian Linux User Group, is unmoved. Citing the practical and technical difficulties of embracing open source on such a broad scale, he says until the policy is actually implemented, '[it] is just like an unsent letter.'"

Worth looking at?

http://www.infoworld.com/article/06/08/22/HNgovtgridtoolkit_1.html?source=rss&url=http://www.infoworld.com/article/06/08/22/HNgovtgridtoolkit_1.html

Update: US government lab offers grid computing toolkit

Programs will share video, audio, data, and text for real-time collaboration for users worldwide

By Robert Mullins, IDG News Service August 22, 2006

A new open-source software toolkit is available Tuesday to improve remote online scientific collaboration via grid computing.

The Access Grid Toolkit from the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory enables development of programs to share video, audio, data and text for real-time collaboration between people at different locations around the world.

Corporations should look hard at this one.

http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/012215.html

August 22, 2006

GSA Telework Laws

• GSA Telework Laws

• A Guide to Telework in the Federal Government, August 3, 2006: the "guidance from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) suggests that one of the keys to success and continuity of operations during any emergency, especially a pandemic health crisis, is an effective teleworking program that is just a matter of routine to employees. The report states that when agencies permit as many employees as possible to telework as often as possible, they are on the right track under Public Law 106-346.

So if the data you need to save your life is on Google, you won't read it out of principle?

http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/012213.html

August 22, 2006

Point - Counterpoint on Google Book Search Project

• Washington Post Op-ed today: The Books Google Could Open, by Richard Ekman, president of the Council of Independent Colleges.

• eWeek.com: Publishers Fight Back Against Google with New Book Search Service: "Publisher HarperCollins and Austin, Texas-based LibreDigital announced today a hosted service called LibreDigital Warehouse that will give publishers and booksellers the ability to deliver searchable book content on their own Web sites." See also the August 3, 2006 HarperCollins press release: "HarperCollins Publishers is proud to announce a series of digital initiatives, including the beta launch of "Browse Inside," a new application allowing consumers to sample pages of HarperCollins titles online. The implementation of expanded digital technologies signals the latest development in the HarperCollins global digital warehouse initiative and emphasizes the company's commitment to reach consumers on the Web by providing robust content in a wide variety of digital formats."

e-discovery issues?

http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/012216.html

August 22, 2006

Presentation on Metadata Pitfalls and Protections

Metadata and other things that go bump in the night (41 pages, PDF) - "There is data lurking in your data. Some people call it "invisible ink". Microsoft refers to it as "metadata". Either way, the reference is to information in an electronic document that is not always visible. This session will explain the dangers of metadata, how to avoid it, and recent bar association interest in the ethics of exposing or mining metadata." [by Catherine Sanders Reach]

http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/012222.html

August 22, 2006

New on LLRX.com for August 2006 - Part 1

• Pragmatic Approaches to Knowledge Management, by Ron Friedmann

• Criminal Justice Resources - Prisoners' Rights and Resources on the Web, by Ken Strutin

• It's Not Rocket Science: Making Sense of Scientific Evidence, by Paul Barron

• Global Law Firm Knowledge Management Survey 2006, by Gretta Rusanow

• The Government Domain: Government Documents and the News, by Peggy Garvin

• E-Discovery Update - Demonstrating Burden in E-Discovery, by Conrad J. Jacoby

• FOIA Facts: Improving FOIA Operations, by Scott A. Hodes

• After Hours: Highlights of the 2006 New York Fancy Food Show, by Kathy Biehl

• Burney's Gadgets for Legal Pros: Batteries and Backups, by Brett Burney

Legal techniques: Spamigation

http://techdirt.com/articles/20060822/1148213.shtml

The RIAA's Last Profitable Business Model: Automated Extortion?

from the it's-so-profitable dept

Michael Geist points us to Brad Templeton's email on the Interesting People mailing list, describing how the RIAA has embraced "spamigation," which he defines as the automated process of sending out mass lawsuits for those it accuses of copyright infringement. While the rest of his description isn't new, it is a concise explanation of how the process works, quite similar to DirecTV's automated suing of people from a list they got, where they made it clear to those who were being sued that it was cheaper to pay up the fine that to contest it in court, even if they were innocent. Eventually, DirecTV was sued for racketeering and the courts forced them to stop the spamigation campaign (though, we thought "extortion" campaign was more fitting). The RIAA has been similarly charged with racketeering a few times for its lawsuits -- but so far those cases haven't gone very far. In the meantime, Cory Doctorow suggests that this is the last profitable business model for the music industry -- which is a bit of hyperbole. It may very well be the last profitable business model of the current recording industry run by the RIAA, but these lawsuits will eventually be seen as a backwards blip in the progress of the industry. While the practice of automating mass lawsuit filings against totally unrelated plaintiffs is still seen as legal, eventually the RIAA will be forced to stop. It won't be soon after that people begin to realize that there are business models that work well and are profitable -- without treating everyone as if they were a criminal.

http://techdirt.com/articles/20060822/131236.shtml

Qwest Says Data Retention Laws Are A Great Idea

from the huh? dept

The federal government has wanted to enact data retention requirements for some time, and now Qwest has taken the curious position of saying it supports the legislation, making it the first broadband provider to do so. It's a slightly curious position for the company, which gained a lot of consumer goodwill when it refused to cooperate with the NSA in the wiretapping imbrolgio that sucked in other major telcos. It's unclear why Qwest thinks the laws are a good idea, the company's chief privacy officer not giving any reasons beyond saying that Qwest wants to be present in the discussions in hopes of coming up with something reasonable -- but given lawmakers' involvement, that's wishful thinking. What's a little more striking is her admission that the company keeps logs of "more than 99 percent of its services" for a year, which doesn't seem to really jibe with the privacy-protector image Qwest cultivated with its NSA stance. It doesn't look like the recent AOL search data leak clearly enough illustrated the downside of data rentention, while Qwest's support of new laws doesn't change the fundamental problems with it, including its costs and technical challenges -- but most crucially, how data retention just creates more data, not better data for law enforcement to comb through.

http://techdirt.com/articles/20060822/1330220.shtml

Microsoft Offers One-Click Solution For Reporting Annoying Chatters To Police

from the have-fun-with-it dept

A few years ago, Microsoft decided to shut down their chat rooms in the UK after a few well-publicized stories of children being approached by predators in those chat rooms. Of course, this seemed silly to us. It's not like the kids (or predators) would stop chatting. They'd just move somewhere else -- perhaps somewhere with even less supervision or controls in place. Three years later, and it seems MSN in the UK has realized that many people are simply using the MSN instant messenger service for the same purpose. So, in what appears to be a part of their new internet safety effort, they're adding a button to file a "one-click" police report complaint about who you are talking to. Of course Amazon need not worry about this violating their famous "one-click" patent. It appears there are actually a few more clicks. The single click just takes you to some sort of police service, where officers will then help the user capture information about what's happening in the chat. Of course, making it so easy to report a problem probably means that people are going to report all sorts of non-problems, inundating the police, perhaps making it even more difficult for police to go after the actual predators.

Read this.

http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/15325521.htm

What do they know about you?

By Elise Ackerman Mercury News Posted on Sun, Aug. 20, 2006

America's top four Internet companies -- Google, Yahoo, AOL and Microsoft -- promise they will protect the personal information of people who use their online services to search, shop and socialize.

But a close read of their privacy policies reveals as much exposure as protection.

The massive amounts of data these companies collect -- which can include records of the searches you make, the health problems you research and the investments you monitor -- can be requested by government investigators and subpoenaed by your legal adversaries.

But this same information is generally not available to you.

... Two months ago, the Mercury News began asking the Big Four Internet companies to clarify their privacy policies. The newspaper wanted to know precisely what information was recorded when someone made a date on Yahoo, sought help for addiction on Microsoft's MSN or plotted their daily peregrinations on Google Maps.

How long was the data kept? Could someone's Internet searches be cross-referenced with their horoscope habit? Could a person find out exactly what was stored about him or her? Could a person ask Google, Yahoo, AOL or Microsoft to delete that data?

How often was personal data being requested by law enforcement? Could someone subpoena someone else's searches in a civil suit? Was this happening?

Few answers were forthcoming.

Chart: http://www.mercurynews.com/multimedia/mercurynews/news/privdata.pdf

Wow! What a great idea!

http://www.ipod-notes.com/

Create ebooks on your iPod

Did you know you can store notes to read on your iPod? They're very readable, but cumbersome to create. So we created this web page to make it super-simple.

There are two ways to create an ebook on your iPod. You can either upload a text file (not a PDF or DOC file) or point to a web page. Pick the form you want below and click submit to have your ebook automatically created!

http://networks.silicon.com/webwatch/0,39024667,39161662,00.htm?p5=3bx

Cheat Sheet: Web 2.0

What on earth is it and should you care?

By Will Sturgeon Published: Monday 21 August 2006

... Gartner is also convinced web 2.0 should be a major consideration for businesses.

But should I care?
Absolutely you Luddite.

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

War is an economic event. Isn't this war?

http://english.vietnamnet.vn/tech/2006/08/603967/

Illegal internet phone cards claim 90% of market

20:54' 20/08/2006 (GMT+7) Soạn: AM 872491 gửi đến 996 để nhận ảnh này

VietNamNet Bridge – Though many Vietnamese companies provide prepaid internet phone cards, more than 90% of the market is filled by smuggled cards.

The market for internet phone cards in Vietnam is growing at 30% per annum. However, illegal cards claim more of the domestic market than legal ones.

Illegal cards are distributed widely and publicly, with no hindrance from state agencies. [How can that be? Bob] Users can buy illegal cards from almost any IT or phone shop, although the primary stockists are internet agents.

Could Dell set a new standard for product recall?

http://www.infoworld.com/article/06/08/21/HNdellrecalloptions_1.html?source=rss&url=http://www.infoworld.com/article/06/08/21/HNdellrecalloptions_1.html

Dell gives enterprises options in battery recall

Dell is working with corporate customers to develop strategies for getting their users replacement batteries

By Robert Mullins, IDG News Service August 21, 2006

Dell has come up with several ways to help corporate customers replace defective laptop batteries that may have thousands of the dangerous batteries deployed all over their enterprises.

"We are working with customers to develop a plan that best suits their specific circumstances," said Anne Camden, a spokeswoman for Dell, in Round Rock, Texas. "But we are constantly tweaking the plan."

... Dell is pursuing any one of three strategies to help corporate customers get replacement batteries, Camden said. For companies with a large dedicated IT staff, that staff will track down the affected laptops within the company, order the replacements and install them when they arrive from Dell. In other instances, Dell may set up and staff kiosks on the campus of a corporate customer to handle the recall.

But the third option may be the most likely: "In some cases, some larger corporate customers may just leave it to the end user," [This is not wise, is it? Bob] Camden said.

... If an enterprise has people in offices scattered around the country or the world, the simplest thing for them to do is have each employee go to Dell's Web site, determine if their battery is subject to the recall, and apply online for a replacement to be sent to that field office, Jacobsen said.

The hardest thing to do: Rethink old concepts...

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/aug2006/tc20060821_810437.htm?chan=technology_technology+index+page_more+of+today's+top+stories

AUGUST 20, 2006 Technology By Olga Kharif

A Quantum Leap for Cell Phones

A new no-buttons handset by Pilotfish and Synaptics signals that mobiles as we know them may soon be a thing of the past

It's likely to evoke the children's song inquiring, "Where's the button?" On Aug. 21, designer Pilotfish and sensor maker Synaptics are releasing a prototype of a cell phone, and the funny thing is, it doesn't have any buttons.

Instead, the Onyx device understands signs and gestures, thanks to the sensitive touch pad covering most of its surface. It opens and closes applications when swiped by one or two fingers. The phone recognizes shapes and body parts. Lift Onyx to your cheek and it will pick up a call.

Will this become a “Best Practice?”

http://cbs5.com/topstories/local_story_231174740.html

Aug 19, 2006 2:21 pm US/Pacific

UC Students Get Crash Course In Internet Privacy

(AP) BERKELEY This Sunday thousands of University of California, Berkeley freshmen moving in to residence halls will not be able to use their computers until they attend a mandatory social networking workshop.

Is this a Tim Allen survival kit or a terrorist tool?

http://www.kk.org/cooltools/archives/000003.php

Tool Belt

Another way to have your tools "always on"

A carry-around tool that can pass through airports security (without me even taking it off) is the Tool Belt. It is designed for snowboarders but is useful all the time. The buckle can be disassembled easily (without removing the belt) and gives you a phillips, a flat head and 8, 10, and 11mm hex wrenches (which turn out to have handy standard equivalents). It's also a good tough and comfy belt which I have been wearing and using since 1999.

... Tool Belt $50 Available from Daddy's Board Shop Manufactured by 686 Enterprises

Those who do not study history are doomed to repeat it.

http://www.janes.com/defence/news/jdw/jdw060818_1_n.shtml

Opinion - Asymmetry and other fables

By Helmoed-Roemer Heitman JDW Correspondent 18 August 2006

Cape Town Today we are fascinated with asymmetric warfare, net-centric warfare and precision warfare and we are convinced that heavy forces and the tank (yet again) are passe.

Asymmetry works both ways. There is nothing quite as asymmetric as a tank driving over an infantryman.

Asymmetry is not new. It is as old as warfare: mounted knights totally outclassed foot soldiers until faced with new weapons and tactics. The crossbow reversed things and declaring it "unchristian" and attempting to ban it did not work too well. Both mounted and foot soldiers remain on the battlefield, however, despite the shifting advantage.

Guerrilla warfare is also hardly new and can be defeated by forcing the guerrillas to fight on unfavourable terms - asymmetrically. The South African Army, for example, used mechanised forces against guerrilla bases in Angola and light mechanised forces to track and defeat those guerrillas who did get across the border.

The reverse side saw South Vietnam conquered by conventional North Vietnamese forces of armour, infantry and artillery that rolled over the South Vietnamese Army without much difficulty. They were able to do so because the south was organised and armed primarily for operations against guerrillas. This is asymmetry at work.

Armies rushing to become lighter, more agile and more deployable - and more fragile - might want to ponder that example.

Asymmetry is real and can offer a real edge to those who recognise its potential in the particular situation and exploit it - in either direction.

246 of 1,032 words © 2006 Jane's Information Group [End of non-subscriber extract]

The first comment set off a DRM debate...

http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/19/1838253&from=rss

Locking Up Linux, Creating a Cryptobook

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Saturday August 19, @03:22PM from the operational-paranoia dept.

Tom's Hardware has a nice overview about some of the latest ways to secure your data looking specifically at open source solutions that wont lock down your credit card. Since many people presented performance issues for why they don't implement encryption there was also special attention given to how well your system will perform after implementation of encryption. From the article:

"At least where LUKS is concerned, performance is hardly an issue - one must expect to pay some penalty for additional encryption facilities that handle unencrypted data transparently. All of these solutions are simple to set up and use on a daily basis, but LUKS is portable across Windows and Linux platforms."

Video that does not say much about where the information comes from or how it is used. I wonder where Colorado's is?

http://news.com.com/1606-2_3-6107497.html?part=rss&tag=6107497&subj=news

First U.S. government intelligence center opens

CNET News.com's Joris Evers gets inside the first Joint Regional Intelligence Center, whose workforce is drawn from the FBI, Homeland Security and regional agencies. Our camera was allowed in for a visit from Michael Chertoff, secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Marginally interesting

http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/012178.html

August 18, 2006

National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism Annual Report 2006

National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism Annual Report 2006 (82 pages, PDF)

This is the probable future of all journals – free and online

http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/012182.html

August 18, 2006

International Journal of Not-for-Profit Law Available Free Online

International Journal of Not-for-Profit Law "...is ICNL's quarterly journal of analysis on global civil society. IJNL addresses legal topics as well as social, cultural, political and economic issues affecting the legal environment. Our readers include attorneys, government officials, grantmakers, scholars, and activists...IJNL is electronically distributed without charge to subscribers." [Lawsites]

Far be it for me (a great fan of governmental bureaucracies) to point out that this is hardly the logical approach. Wouldn't it be better to capture the data at the source? Should it take 70 years to complete ANY task?

http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/012177.html

August 18, 2006

DHS Announces Establishment of Records Digitization Facility

Press release, August 17, 2006, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services: "USCIS Announces Establishment of a Records Digitization Facility in Williamsburg, Ky., that will digitize more than one million UCIS Alien-Files (A-Files) during the first phase...[there are approximately 70 million immigration records]."

[From the press release:

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today the establishment of a new Records Digitization Facility (RDF) in Williamsburg, Kentucky to digitize more than one million USCIS Alien-Files (A-Files) during the first phase of the inaugural project. While this is a relatively small percentage of the approximately 70 million immigration records, USCIS plans [i.e. They haven't even STARTED yet. Bob] to use the digitized files to begin the transformation of its business processes. Congress has provided dedicated funding for the digitization of approximately one million files per year. [Scheduled to be done in 2076 (except for all the new stuff) Bob]

Raw data for my database class...

http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/012188.html

August 19, 2006

Portal to Census 2000 Data

"CensusScope is an easy-to-use tool for investigating U.S. demographic trends, brought to you by the Social Science Data Analysis Network (SSDAN) at the University of Michigan. With eye-catching graphics and exportable trend data, CensusScope is designed for both generalists and specialists."