German and US researchers lay low, question just how far new law will go
,----[ Quote ]
| Moore notes that most Linux distros are now illegal in Germany as well,
| because they include the open-source nmap security scanner tool -- and some
| include Metasploit as well.
`----
http://www.darkreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=132255&WT.svl=news1_5
Watch this disgusting article. It says that YouTube is "open source" and
because some "terrorist vidz" survived on it for a few hours, open source is a
danger.
Delights Of Open Source: Al Qaeda's Recruiting On YouTube, Secret Agents Are
Crowdsourcing
http://globalpolitician.com/articledes.asp?ID=3357&cid=11&sid=60
>From Zero to Holy $&*#!
,----[ Quote ]
| What if Linux and Free and Open Source Software became illegal to use due
| to “national security?” Never mind the fact that the American military uses
| it. Never mind the fact that Microsoft funded both political parties in the
| year 2000. Never mind that Richard Stallman has accused Microsoft of
| enabling terrorism in the first place.
`----
http://nixedblog.thenixedreport.com/?p=55
Related:
TorrentSpy shuts doors to America
,----[ Quote ]
| But he eventually admitted that the MPAA case was a "catalyst" in the
| decision.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/08/28/torrentspy_shuts_doors_to_america/
Anime Distributor Has No Legal Right to Threaten BitTorrent Users
,----[ Quote ]
| A company that tracked thousands of users sharing anime via BitTorrent has
| lost its legal battle to force an ISP to reveal its customer’s details.
`----
http://torrentfreak.com/anime-distributor-has-no-legal-right-to-threaten-bittorrent-users/
Comcast Throttles BitTorrent Traffic, Seeding Impossible
,----[ Quote ]
| Over the past weeks more and more Comcast users started to notice that their
| BitTorrent transfers were cut off. Most users report a significant decrease
| in download speeds, and even worse, they are unable to seed their downloads.
| A nightmare for people who want to keep up a positive ratio at private
| trackers and for the speed of BitTorrent transfers in general.
|
| [...]
|
| Last year we had a discussion whether traffic shaping is good or bad, and
| ISPs made it pretty clear that they do not like P2P applications like
| BitTorrent. One of the ISPs that joined our discussions said: “The fact is,
| P2P is (from my point of view) a plague - a cancer, that will consume all the
| bandwidth that I can provide. It’s an insatiable appetite.”, and another one
| stated: “P2P applications can cripple a network, they’re like leaches. Just
| because you pay 49.99 for a 1.5-3.0mbps connection doesn’t mean your entitled
| to use whatever protocols you wish on your ISP’s network without them
| provisioning it to make the network experience good for all users involved.”
`----
http://torrentfreak.com/comcast-throttles-bittorrent-traffic-seeding-impossible/
Torrentspy Disables Searching For US IPs
,----[ Quote
| Torrent indexing site Torrentspy.com appears to have disabled torrent
| searches for IPs that originate in the United States.
`----
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/27/1541244&from=rss
Comcast Cuts Off Heavy Internet Users
,----[ Quote ]
| Customers complain bandwidth limits are secret.
`----
http://consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/08/comcast_ban.html?imw=Y
BitTorrent Admin Monitored by US Government, Forced to Dump Linux
,----[ Quote ]
| Sk0t, an ex-administrator of the EliteTorrents BitTorrent tracker is to have
| his internet connection forcibly monitored by the US Government. If that
| wasn’t bad enough, the monitoring software is Windows based - which means he
| is being forced to ditch Linux - or face being barred from the internet.
`----
http://torrentfreak.com/bittorrent-admin-monitored-by-us-government-forced-to-dump-linux/
,----[ Quote ]
| Opinions Needed
|
| So, I am getting shafted by the Justice Department again...
|
| Here goes: I had a meeting with my probation officer today, and he told me
| that he has to install monitoring software onto my PC. No big deal to me,
| that is part of my sentence. However, their software doesnt support GNU/Linux
| (Which is what I use). So, he told me that if I want to use a computer, I
| would have to use an OS that the software can be installed on. Which
| basically means: MICROSOFT AND MONITORING SOFTWARE or NO COMPUTER. I use
| Ubuntu 7.04 now, and they are trying to force me to switch.
`----
http://sk0t.com/digg/
Microsoft Finds Legal Defender in Justice Dept.
,----[ Quote ]
| Nearly a decade after the government began its landmark effort to break
| up Microsoft, the Bush administration has sharply changed course by
| repeatedly defending the company both in the United States and abroad
| against accusations of anticompetitive conduct, including the recent
| rejection of a complaint by Google.
|
| [...]
|
| In the most striking recent example of the policy shift, the top
| antitrust official at the Justice Department last month urged state
| prosecutors to reject a confidential antitrust complaint filed by
| Google that is tied to a consent decree that monitors Microsoft's
| behavior. Google has accused Microsoft of designing its latest
| operating system, Vista, to discourage the use of Google's desktop
| search program, lawyers involved in the case said.
`----
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/10/business/10microsoft.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
Congress says P2P networks harm national security
http://news.com.com/Congress+P2P+networks+harm+national+security/2100-1029_3-6198585.html?tag=nefd.lede
File sharing could threaten personal and national security
,----[ Quote ]
| A recent government report says that the old adage "buyer beware" now
| even applies to those who are not technically buying anything at all.
| Despite the reputation of "free" downloads, much of the illegal file
| sharing done on the internet comes at a steep price: personal and
| national security.
`----
http://www.edn.com/index.asp?layout=article&articleid=CA6424471&partner=eb&spacedesc=news
Web downloads and P2P traffic consume 75% of the Internet. Much of that's
still illegal.
,----[ Quote ]
| "LimeWire, Edonkey, Ares, BitTorrent--we want to commercialize them
| all," Kozel says. "I hope we can get rich and make a lot of money."
`----
http://www.forbes.com/free_forbes/2007/0326/082.html?partner=yahoomag
US politicians go to bat for Microsoft
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/09/26/microsoft_eu_political_lobbying/
Report Says Nonprofits Sold Influence to Abramoff
,----[ Quote ]
| E-mails released by the committee show that Abramoff, often
| with the knowledge of the groups' leaders, exploited the tax-exempt
| status and leveraged the stature of the organizations to build
| support among conservatives for legislation or government action
| sought by clients including Microsoft Corp., mutual fund company
| DH2 Inc., Primedia Inc.'s Channel One Network, and Brown-Forman,
| maker of Jack Daniel's whiskey.
`----
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/12/AR2006101200889.html
http://tinyurl.com/y2rbpu
Politicians in Microsoft's Pocket
,----[ Quote ]
| Continuing on the theme of which politicians are receiving money from
| who. Here is a list of candidates who took money from MSFT.
`----
http://www.fonz.net/blog/archives/2007/06/04/politicians-in-microsofts-pocket/
Politics and tech companies: follow the money
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft took first place with $651,100 given out, while
| Hewlett-Packard gave only $185,550, and Gateway gave a paltry
| $2,000. Microsoft's donations certainly illustrate well the true
| size of the company and the extent of its political concerns.
`----
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061110-8194.html
Feds seek formal extension of Microsoft antitrust deal
,----[ Quote ]
| The U.S. Department of Justice and Microsoft on Wednesday filed a
| formal application for a two-year extension of portions of their
| landmark antitrust settlement, with the possibility of stretching it
| until 2012.
`---- ^^^^
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-6111240.html
German Supreme Court Deems Police Hacking Illegal
,----[ Quote ]
| Germany's supreme court determined Monday that police may not
| secretly hack into suspects' computers. Some are celebrating
| the decision as a civil rights victory, but the ruling may
| not be the last word on the matter.
`----
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2337932,00.html
Data Protection Commissioner criticizes search of private PCs online
,----[ Quote ]
| "In the case of a search via the Internet a police officer covertly,
| without the person knowing about it, accesses a person's computer."
| During such an operation he or she might copy data and obtain all
| kinds of personal documents; the police officer was acting as a "state
| hacker," so to speak. Mr. Schaar observed. "Such an approach is in
| conflict with the legal obligation to protect the core of
| individuals' privacy," Mr. Schaar stated emphatically.
`----
http://www.heise.de/english/newsticker/news/82529/from/rss09
United States Government Online Watchdogs? Part of the war on terror?
,----[ Quote
| Is there anyone in the abandonia community with a US based connection who is
| experiencing this watchdog behavior? Are any foreign Vista users experiencing
| similar attacks from their own countries ministries and governing agencies?"
`----
http://www.whitedust.net/news/3984/United_States_Government_Online_Watchdogs?_Part_of_the_war_on_terror?.../
FBI ducks questions about its remotely installed spyware
,----[ Quote ]
| There are plenty of unanswered questions about the FBI spyware that, as we
| reported earlier this week, can be delivered over the Internet and implanted
| in a suspect's computer remotely.
`----
http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9747666-7.html
|
|
