Links

Another batch of links for your enjoyment. I’m still reading, although we’re moving to a different flat in the next couple of weeks, so there’s likely to be a small gap in gathering these up.

Censorship:

1. Censorship Fail Reveals Big Music ISP Spying Plan    1 August 2011, 12:33 pm
2. BBC News – Government drops website blocking    3 August 2011, 3:51 am
3. New Tool Keeps Censors in the Dark    4 August 2011, 3:46 am
4. Website blocking: gone but not forgotten?    4 August 2011, 6:44 am
5. Website Blocking – Off The Table in the UK (For Now)    5 August 2011, 11:18 am

There’s been a reversal in plans for website censorship plans here in the UK (links 1, 2, 4, 5). I guess the flawed plan finally got enough attention that they’re giving up? Probably not – after all, big entertainment is pushing for just such a thing here. If you’re behind a restrictive firewall, you may not be able to get to link 1, which would be a shame: it turns out that the big media companies were hoping that the UK government would be able to spy on UK citizens and reveal their identities so that the entertainment companies could sue them. Fabulous, eh? And a big “oops” on whomever redacted the .pdf improperly, allowing the redacted text to be read!

Copyright / Patent:

1. Patents against prosperity    2 August 2011, 5:28 am
2. Court Upholds Right to Patent Genes    2 August 2011, 6:45 am
3. EFF Backs Another Blogger Fighting Off Baseless Righthaven Lawsuit    3 August 2011, 10:18 am
4. Mass Copyright Litigation: Another Court Gets It Right    3 August 2011, 1:22 pm
5. Kodak Tries ‘Poison Pill’ to Protect Digital IP Portfolio    4 August 2011, 1:24 am
6. Shock, awe: British government agrees that copyright has gone too far    4 August 2011, 5:46 am
7. Calling Google’s bluff: Which patent is bogus? Why not open source their code?    4 August 2011, 8:36 am
8. Google’s New Patents    4 August 2011, 1:59 pm
9. Court Refuses to Return Seized Domain Name, Claims Shutting Down Speech Doesn’t Cause a Substantial Hardship    4 August 2011, 11:32 pm
10. Defining Non-Obviousness for Patents in the 21st Century    5 August 2011, 2:26 am
11. 3 Chinese Technology Firms to Face Trial in U.S. for Copyright Infringement    5 August 2011, 2:26 am
12. Martin Fowler on Software Patents    5 August 2011, 8:35 am
13. Spanish Court Rules That Linking to Potential Copyright Infringing Material Is Not Copyright Infringement    5 August 2011, 4:47 pm
14. Mark Cuban: If you want to see more jobs created — change patent laws    7 August 2011, 3:44 am
15. Intellectual property: Patents against prosperity    8 August 2011, 1:41 am
16. Apple Sued over Fast Booting in OS X with a Patent linked to LG Electronics    8 August 2011, 4:02 am
17. Patents and Unions: When good intentions go horribly wrong    8 August 2011, 4:53 am
18. What Happens When a Reasonable Developer Runs Into Aggressive Trademark Lawyers    8 August 2011, 7:05 am
19. DARPA Funds Hackers to Innovate Military Tech    8 August 2011, 9:13 am
20. OPL – a viral copyleft style patent license    8 August 2011, 9:21 am
21. Comcast Lobbyists Push Bill Upping Ante for Online Infringement    9 August 2011, 2:02 am
22. Google’s Chief Legal Officer Lashes Out Online Over Tech Patents    9 August 2011, 2:03 am
23. Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 banned from Europe (Apple wins injunction)    9 August 2011, 11:03 am
24. Politicians, Pundits Making Noise About Patent Reform    10 August 2011, 4:01 am
25. Apple to Lodsys: you’ll have to go through us to sue iOS devs    10 August 2011, 4:09 am
26. Patent Trolls Come in All Shapes and Sizes    10 August 2011, 8:38 am

Oh, Copyright and Patent, how the world of technology hates you. Have a read of link 26 if you’re unfamiliar with what a “troll” is, in this context, and you’ll get a clear picture of what’s so wrong with the current system. I threw in link 19, here, because it’s rather interesting that the US Government will be paying hackers to write software and then letting the hackers keep intellectual property rights to the code; odd, indeed, as no company would ever do such a thing.

Digital Activism:

1. LulzSec spokesman in court after police find 750k passwords on his PC    4 August 2011, 1:58 pm
2. Researchers: Anonymous and LulzSec Need to Focus their Chaos    6 August 2011, 7:44 pm
3. Black Hats, Grey Hairs    8 August 2011, 4:47 am
4. Anonymous, LulzSec Dump Data from 70 Sheriffs’ Offices    9 August 2011, 5:40 am
5. Anonymous Pledges to Take Down Facebook    10 August 2011, 4:08 am

The hackers have had a convention (Def Con) and point out (link 2) that the motives digital activists need to be a bit clearer: the world doesn’t understand what they’re trying to accomplish. Hopefully they’re not “just about the lulz” as they’ve been known to claim.

Equality:

1. Gender Gap in Science and Tech Jobs    4 August 2011, 10:00 am
2. Higher Pay Not Luring Women to Tech Jobs    5 August 2011, 9:05 am
3. Women Hitting a Wall in IT    5 August 2011, 9:06 am
4. Tech Girlz Rule: Microsoft Camps Designed to Draw Young Women Into Field    8 August 2011, 9:12 am

Women in tech have it rough, no doubt about it. The question is, what can be done to make the tech field more attractive to them? And what can be done about the men who don’t want them there? Social change is difficult, I guess.

Law:

1. E-Discovery Drives $576K Costs Levied on Plaintiffs    4 August 2011, 1:24 am
2. US judge allows army veteran to sue Rumsfeld    4 August 2011, 4:25 am
3. Warrantless “emergency” surveillance by DOJ up 400%    4 August 2011, 12:41 pm
4. United States – Judge refuses to hold CIA in contempt of court for destroying torture tapes    5 August 2011, 7:10 am
5. Court Says Sending Too Many Emails To Someone Is Computer Hacking    10 August 2011, 4:09 am

I particularly enjoy link 2: Rumsfeld authorized the false imprisonment and torture of a U.S. citizen and the courts have said that the U.S. citizen retained his civil rights even when in another country. Thus, Rummy is subject to a lawsuit. Nice. Of course, links 3, 4, and 5 bring things right back down to earth.

Miscellany:

1. BBC News – Mourners watch funerals at Narberth crematorium online    3 August 2011, 3:51 am
2. China drops U.S. credit rating    4 August 2011, 1:09 am
3. Tell Cisco: Stop helping China abuse human rights!    4 August 2011, 11:02 am
4. The Online Confessionary    8 August 2011, 4:07 am
5. Mechanical turks, AI now grading student essays    8 August 2011, 11:17 am
6. How Bad Is News Corp.?    9 August 2011, 5:32 am
7. Tech companies going all out to recruit talent    10 August 2011, 7:17 am
8. Kids go to computer camp to code instead of canoe    10 August 2011, 7:17 am

Some strange ones in miscellany this week. Want to watch your loved one be cremated on streaming video? Link 1. Want to confess your sins online? Link 4. Think that college grades are inflated? Let an artificial intelligence grade the students’ essays (link 5).

Privacy:

1. NSA General Counsel Questioned About Cell Phone Tracking    2 August 2011, 4:13 am
2. Where Do Profiles Go When Networking Sites Die?    2 August 2011, 8:06 am
3. Senate Panel Keeps ‘Secret Patriot Act’ Under Wraps    2 August 2011, 10:30 am
4. Mug-Shot Industry Will Dig Up Your Past, Charge You to Bury It Again    2 August 2011, 10:52 am
5. Microsoft locks down Wi-Fi geolocation service after privacy concerns    2 August 2011, 8:08 pm
6. Line Noise: Electronic Device Search and Seizure    3 August 2011, 12:57 pm
7. Mexican Newspaper Uncovers Systemic Monitoring Plans of Public Online Sources    3 August 2011, 3:10 pm
8. Virtual People to Get ID Checks    4 August 2011, 3:47 am
9. Randi Zuckerberg Runs in the Wrong Direction on Pseudonymity Online    4 August 2011, 1:30 pm
10. How to remove yourself from all background check websites    4 August 2011, 1:40 pm
11. Encrypt the Web with HTTPS Everywhere    4 August 2011, 3:51 pm
12. “Real Names” Policies Are an Abuse of Power    5 August 2011, 1:12 am
13. Internet Evolution: The War on Web Anonymity    5 August 2011, 7:55 am
14. Google’s Antisocial Behavior    7 August 2011, 3:42 am
15. Profile Pics Put Your Privacy At Risk    8 August 2011, 7:07 am
16. The Growing Portrait of Google As A Scary, Expanding Everywhere Copy Monster    8 August 2011, 11:20 am
17. Survey Finds Smartphone Apps Store Too Much Personal Data    8 August 2011, 1:45 pm
18. Collecting DNA From Arrestees Is Unconstitutional, California Court Says    9 August 2011, 12:57 pm

Oh, SO much going on in the world of Privacy. The one bright spot in the whole lot is probably link 18: the California courts have ruled that the collection of DNA from someone who has been arrested is a violation of that person’s privacy particularly because such evidence is collected for the purpose of a crime other than the one for which that person was arrested. Thus, collecting DNA amounts to an illegal search: there is no reason to suspect the arrestee of any other crime, so to take their DNA is the equivalent of a warrantless search. Awesome!

Robotics:

1. Robot Taught to Think for Itself    2 August 2011, 8:00 am
2. Fear the Zippy Zapping Robo-Chopper    2 August 2011, 2:13 pm

OK, some light and darkness in robotics: a robot which can learn and which can consult other robots in a global network is pretty cool (link 1). A robotic helicopter which is armed with a shotgun or a tazer? NOT so cool.

Security:

1. Sabotaging Iran’s Nuclear Program: Mossad Behind Tehran Assassinations, Says Source    2 August 2011, 2:40 am
2. Android Malware Records Phone Calls    2 August 2011, 4:34 am
3. Hard-Coded Password and Other Security Holes Found in Siemens Control Systems    3 August 2011, 12:00 pm
4. Serious security holes found in Siemens control systems targeted by Stuxnet    3 August 2011, 5:35 pm
5. Stegobot Steals Passwords From Your Facebook Photos    4 August 2011, 3:47 am
6. Google Researcher Exposes Flaws In Sophos Software, Slams Antivirus Industry    5 August 2011, 9:01 am
7. Hacking Home Automation Systems Through Your Power Lines    5 August 2011, 9:42 pm
8. Bored 10-year-old girl hacker finds zero-day exploit in iOS & Android games    8 August 2011, 1:55 am
9. Mossad’s Miracle Weapon: Stuxnet Virus Opens New Era of Cyber War    8 August 2011, 6:04 am

Stuxnet just won’t go away (links 1, 3, 4, and 9)! What I find interesting is that the U.S. connection with it seems to be being downplayed these days, in favor of the Israeli part of its construction. I wonder why. Link 6 makes me happy. Security flaws in antivirus software just shouldn’t happen, but that’s the result of closed-source code: no single team is as good at writing the best code, so the only code which makes sense is open-source, where people can review and comment upon it (and make it better and more secure). That’s one of the ironies of software: hiding the code merely means that you’re hiding your mistakes and making poorer software.

Social Media:

1. Don’t Blame Facebook for the Narcissism Epidemic    4 August 2011, 6:21 am
2. Bloki – Crowdsourced Typo Fixjng    4 August 2011, 2:03 pm
3. Mo. teachers protest social media crackdown    8 August 2011, 12:54 pm
4. Calif. Governor Sends Message to Jurors: No Tweeting    9 August 2011, 2:01 am

It would seem obvious that one shouldn’t use social networking while on a jury (link 4). Apparently not. It would also seem that your online activities should be your own, but Missouri teachers are now required to have no social network contact with their students. How utterly bizarre.

Technology:

1. Stanford U. Offers Free Online Course in Artificial Intelligence    4 August 2011, 3:46 am
2. Developers and Fans Benefit From Humble Indie Bundle Pay-What-You-Want Model    8 August 2011, 3:19 pm
3. Why Has BlackBerry Been Blamed for the London Riots?    9 August 2011, 10:05 am

Apparently BlackBerry phones allow for private conversations to take place (for free) and, since BlackBerry’s target audience in the UK are young people, well, there’s a bit of an uproar with some saying that BlackBerry should open their network up to surveillance. NOT good, and BlackBerry says it’s not going to happen – that they already cooperate with law enforcement while maintaining the privacy of BlackBerry users. That’s how it ought to be, really.

-D