“The attacks, which researchers say are the world’s first iPhone worm in the wild, target jailbroken iPhones that have SSH software installed and keep Apple’s default root password of ‘alpine.’ In addition to showing a well-coiffed picture of Astley, the new wallpaper displays the message ‘ikee is never going to give you up,’ a play on Astley’s saccharine addled 1987 hit ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’.”

“Tricking victims in to inadvertently playing the song has become a popular prank known as Rickrolling.”

And, it’s a lot more than a joke, confirms Peter Hansteen on That grumpy BSD guy

“The rickroller is about bad passwords, no more, no less,” he says, going on, “this incident only underscores what we’ve been repeating until your eardrums wear thin an my vocal cords swell from exhaustion: Publishing your username and password is a really bad idea. It’s almost as bad as picking a guessable password.

“Add to this that the fact, as we’ve noted here earlier, there is a whole cloud of hijacked machines out there beavering away at guessing passwords right now, and they have been at it for quite a while.”

Finally, he adds, “some words of advice for those of you who want to avoid both rickrolling and getting cracked by other password guessing” »»»

You should at least consider setting a password policy and enforcing it with something like John the ripper, which more than likely is available at the cost of a few keystrokes from your package system. And of course there is the fine art of sshd configuration. Some of the things you could do are, in no particular order:

• disable root logins over the network
  
• use packet filtering or other means to restrict where users can log in from
  
• disable password logins entirely allowing only key-based logins
  
• set up your sshd to listen on a non-standard port

… whatever your users can bear to live with.

Now you know.

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First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi

The Register – World’s first iPhone worm Rickrolls angry fanbois, November 8, 2009
That grumpy BSD guy – Rickrolled? Get Ready for the Hail Mary Cloud!, November 15, 2009

“The end of Rogers’ iPhone monopoly is drawing near, as its two main Canadian rivals prepare to launch their next-generation wireless network this week,” says the Toronto Star, going on:

“BCE Inc. president and CEO George Cope said Bell Canada will launch its new high-speed wireless network Wednesday, one day before Telus Corp. does, though both companies worked to build the network and are sharing the new infrastructure.

“That means Bell and Telus customers will be able to upgrade to smartphones, like the trendy Apple iPhone, much more easily — and without switching over to Rogers.”

Yay, eh?

The network was “jointly built with rival Telus at a cost of $1 billion” and will “also be compatible with the majority of networks around the world and will be able to accommodate popular devices such as Apple’s iPhone,” says the CBC.

But, “Few existing devices — including the iPhone — are capable of achieving the sorts of speeds the network is capable of,” it adds.

Meanwhile, according to the Liberals,  “The average monthly cell phone bill in Canada is $43.35 (US), compared to the average of $29.42 for OECD countries.

“For broadband internet service, Canada was ranked 28th in terms of speed versus cost, with the average Canadian paying $87.32 a month for high-speed internet, compared to the average of $59.10 for OECD countries.”

And, “New entrants are still having a hard time getting into the market to provide services to Canadians,” says at Liberal consumer affairs critic Dan McTeague

“The federal government should also re-instate the online cell phone calculator to provide greater transparency for Canadians.”

No need to stay tuned.

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Toronto Star – Bell races to launch high-speed network one day ahead of Telus, November 3, 2009
CBC – Bell’s new cellphone network launches Wednesday, November 2, 2009
$29.42 for OECD countries – Liberals want better cellphone, net, competition, November 2, 2009

But, it goes on, “the early evidence shows that Rhapsody’s subscriber base isn’t expanding as a result — it’s shrinking.

RealNetworks boss Rob Glaser admits the company has “not yet seen a significant number of new subscribers” as a result, says the story.

RealNetworks put its subscriber base at the end of the third quarter ast “somewhere north of 700,000, down from 750,000 during the previous quarter and 800,000 in the first three months of the year,” it states, going on »»»

The dwindling subscriber base suggests that Rhapsody’s paying customers are either switching to other services — possibly because the price point of such services has fallen — or opting to use free streaming services, legal or otherwise.

Such numbers don’t bode well for any music service expecting to rely on mobile apps to give their revenues a shot in the arm. European startup Spotify is dangling a mobile app that only works for paying customers in front of its free users in the hopes that it will get enough subscribers to cover the cost of its free streams, but recent estimates suggest that its conversion rate is still below 2 percent.

“RealNetworks’ overall net revenue from music, including Internet radio subscriptions, MP3 sales and other channels, dipped to $38.8 million in the latest quarter from $40.5 million during the previous quarter,” GigaOm adds.

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iPhone app – is

November, 2009

But her preoccupation with texting lead directly to the death of another young woman.

Because Curtis, now 22, “plowed” her car into the rear Victoria McBryde’s vehicle, which’d broken down on Britain’s A40 Motorway , “killing Ms. McBryde, 24, instantly,” says the New York Times in an article that’s part of a series examining the “dangers of drivers using cellphones and other electronic devices, and efforts to deal with the problem”.

She was was remanded for 21 months to a high-security women’s prison, says the story.

Other posts include:

At 60 M.P.H., Office Work Is High Risk
For those who have turned their vehicles into wired offices, constant contact and work efficiency outweighs the risk of a wreck.

Truckers Insist on Keeping Computers in the Cab
The industry says computers that connect drivers to dispatchers can be used safely and should be exempt from legislation.September 28, 2009

Driver Texting Now an Issue in the Back Sea
Differences of opinion about distractions behind the wheel are creating disputes among family members and friends. September 9, 2009

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Daily Mail – Driver who sent texts at the wheel jailed over fatal crash, February 3, 2009
New York Times – When Texting Kills, Britain Offers Path to Prison, November 1, 2009

So says Mashable.

“Thankfully, federal judge Denise Cote has ruled that a ringtone going off does not constitute a public performance, because the carrier has no way to control when a ringtone plays nor any expectation of revenue when it does,” says the story, continuing »»»

She also said there was no way to determine whether the threshold for ‘public performance’ would be met for any particular ringtone playback, since it usually requires a ’substantial number of persons outside of a normal circle of its social acquaintances is gathered.’

And her ruling has implications for Big Music efforts to claim royalties on 30-second song previews and performance fees for TV show downloads, says mMashable, adding:

“Part of the language in the judge’s ruling also considered a ringtone download as not being a public performance either, which could set a precedent for the other suit in which ASCAP/BMI are seeking royalties on downloads.”

(Cheers, catflap)

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Mashable – Judge: No Royalties for Music Industry Each Time a Ringtone Plays, October 15, 2009

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Judge: No Royalties for Music Industry Each Time a Ringtone Plays

And just hours after Verizon Wireless said it would sell new phones bundled with Google’s Android mobile operating system, AT&T said it’d, “reverse its restrictions on voice-over-Internet calls,” writes Sam Gustin in DailyFinance, continuing »»»

Apple iPhone users will now be able to use Internet-calling applications like Skype on AT&T’s data network, in addition to making calls using Wi-Fi networks.

AT&T’s move comes on the eve of the annual wireless industry conference amid a flurry of action in the mobile space. It represents a major reversal for the mobile giant, which is under Federal Communications Commission scrutiny for its role in Apple’s decision to restrict the Google Voice application from its app store.
A Google spokesman said the company had not been informed of any change in Apple’s policy regarding Google Voice. Apple did not immediately return a request for comment.

Prior to today’s reversal, AT&T had resisted allowing applications like Skype on its data network, saying such services would clog up its network. But on Tuesday, AT&T notified the FCC that it was reversing course and would now allow Internet voice services like Skype, which users had previously been able to use only with access to a Wi-Fi hotspot.

“IPhone is an innovative device that dramatically changed the game in wireless when it was introduced just two years ago,” said Ralph de la Vega, the chief executive of AT&T’s consumer and wireless unit, in a statement. “Today’s decision was made after evaluating our customers’ expectations and use of the device compared to dozens of others we offer.”

AT&T’s decision comes as the FCC, under the leadership of new Chairman Julius Genachowski, is plunging head first into wireless broadband policy with its recently announced net neutrality rules, which aim to prevent broadband carriers from blocking certain types of web traffic in favor of their own data. Genachowski hopes to formalize existing net neutrality policies and add two more, including a rule which would extend the principle to wireless networks.

“When AT&T indicated, in response to the FCC’s inquiry, that it would take another look at permitting VoIP on its 3G network I was encouraged,” Genachowski said in a statement late Tuesday. “I commend AT&T’s decision to open its network to VoIP. Opening wireless services to greater consumer choice will drive investment and innovation in the mobile marketplace.”

AT&T has maintained that it was Apple’s decision to reject Google Voice, but many industry watchers believe that AT&T’s role in the rejection may have been more significant than then company is saying. For its part, Apple has maintained that it is still evaluating whether to allow Google Voice.

One explanation for AT&T’s timing may be that the mobile giant is trying to preempt Genachowski’s push for wireless net neutrality, which the commissioner is sure to emphasize during a speech Wednesday at the CTIA Wireless Association conference in San Diego. Now that AT&T has reversed itself on Internet calls, it can argue that net neutrality rules aren’t needed in the wireless space and the market will advance consumer interests without the need for government regulation.

AT&T has been fiercely opposed to net neutrality regulations, especially in the wireless space, and recently engaged in a bitter round of sniping with Google over the issue.

Skype, the eBay owned company currently at the center of a billion-dollar tug of war, has complained for years about being blocked from wireless data networks, but its arguments never gained much traction under the Bush Administration. But under Genachowski, a former Harvard law school chum of President Obama, the FCC has taken up the cause of network neutrality and openness on both wired and wireless with vastly more vigor.

“All of us at Skype applaud today’s announcement by AT&T (in an FCC filing to be published shortly) that it’ll open up its 3G network to Internet calling applications such as Skype,” Skype said in a statement. “It’s the right step for AT&T, Apple, millions of mobile Skype users and the Internet itself. Nonetheless, the positive actions of one company are no substitute for a government policy that protects openness and benefits consumers. We’re all looking forward to further developments that will let people use Skype on any device, on any network.”

The FCC is currently investigating Apple’s decision to reject Google Voice, which is different from pure voice-over-IP services like Skype because it routes calls through the user’s existing cell phone or land line. Pure VoIP services like Skype only require an Internet connection.

Google declined to comment on AT&T’s announcement other than to say that it had not been been notified by Apple of any change in the status of its Google Voice iPhone application.

AT&T’s move comes just hours after Google and Verizon Wireless announced a plan to introduce phones equipped with the web giant’s Android smart phone, which until now had only been available on T-Mobile smart phones.

Importantly, Verizon said it would allow Google Voice on two new handsets. In a dig at arch-rival AT&T during a conference call with reporters Tuesday morning, Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam said, “Either you have an open device or not. This will be open.”

“Hours later, AT&T reversed course on Internet voice calls, but as of 6 p.m. Tuesday, Google had not been notified by Apple of any change in the status of its Google Voice iPhone application,” adds DailyFinance.

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DailyFinance – Cell phone war! AT&T about-face on Web calls follows Verizon-Google pact, October 6, 2009

Missing, however, is Apple’s iPhone.

Are Adobe  executives immune to the  wonder of the Jobs Reality Distortion Field?

Nope.

“In the past, Adobe executives have stated that it is working with Apple to make Flash work on the iPhone, but that it will come out on a separate time table,” says paidContent, going on:

“The new Adobe Flash Player 10.1 software will be one piece of software that work [sic] across PCs, smartphones, netbooks and other devices, which is the vision of the company’s Open Screen Project”

Meanwhile, to date, “phones have been running a scaled back version of Flash, called Flash Lite, says the story.

But, “now that phones have faster processors, the content renders more easily and has to be tweaked less, Adobe says. Phones capable of running Flash 10.1 will get updated over the air, meaning phone owners will receive Flash without having to do anything, much less buy a new phone.”

Palm will likely be the first to update, “with other platforms coming later,” it says.

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paidContent – Adobe Extends Full Flash To Just About Every Phone But The iPhone, October 4, 2009

And that’s official —-

—- according to GrindHouse Mobile, anyway.

Sashaying through the “the first and only official pornstar iPhone” portals are “adult nude super star Aria Giovanni” and “adult super star Sunny Leone,” it says.

“While developing the first two adult themed iPhone Apps and getting them approved by Apple, Grindhouse closely followed Apple’s strict guidelines,” it promises.

heh

“The first version of Sunny Leone’s App was declined due to the explicit nature of the content,” says the fluff piece, adding:

“We worked closely with Apple to meet all of their guidelines while developing an offering that is compelling and user friendly.”

We can just picture it — Apple minions closeted behind locked doors with Grindhouse grinders, zealously pouring through porn pic after porn pic, selecting this, discarding that, until finally, after weeks of dedicated non-stop perusal, the selections are taken upstairs for Steve Jobs’ final approval.

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GrindHouse Mobile – Apple Approves First Official Porn Star App for iPhone, September 22, 2009

Because there, texting messaging has taken on a new and important meaning .

Now, “loo-goers are requested to send a message to a number detailed on the toilet door,” says The Local.

Then the loo phones them back.

There’s a, “short wait before visitors receive a code, which they enter into a touch pad,” says the story, adding park manager Sverker Haraldssonsays he’s, “overjoyed by the new regime,” suitably approved by Sweden’s Data Inspection Board (Datainspektionen).

“I do not have anything against the SMS toilet,” he says.

“On the contrary I like it, it is a safe facility to avoid any sort of hassle and for all our tourists we do provide toilets that are free of charge,” he told The Local.

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The Local – Malmö gets thumbs up for text message pee charge, September 2, 2009

Because Rogers, Bell, and Telus Sign Wireless Code of Conduct to be implemented by the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association.

Phewwww. That’s a relief.

Our mobile phone companies, “will be required to make sure consumers understand their contracts when they buy a cellphone under a new code of conduct,” says Macleans.

“The code of conduct also says cellphone companies are to ‘communicate with their customers in a way they understand’.”

Rates, terms and coverage, “all have to be explained clearly to consumers, the story has Bernard Lord, head of the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association, saying, adding:

“In some cases, our members will have to change and adapt some of their practices to meet the code that is now in force as of today,” Lord said Tuesday.

Says Telecommunications Industry News »»»

The code, which is being implemented by the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (an industry trade group), seeks to demystify customers about the terms of their cell phone contracts. It also gives customers the ability to cancel a contract at no cost in cases where the carrier changes the terms of service.

“In the case of such material changes that are unfavourable to customers, we either give them the right to terminate the contract without any additional fees for early termination, or allow them to remain on the unchanged contract,” the code says.

Bell Mobility, Telus Mobility, and Rogers Wireless, “have all agreed to the code of conduct as have most minor carriers,” says the story, adding:

“The one exception is Toronto-based DAVE Wireless, a new market entrant which expects to follow suit and sign the code before launching its service.”

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Macleans – Cellphone players have code of conduct to help consumers understand contracts, September 1, 2009
Telecommunications Industry News – Rogers, Bell, and Telus Sign Wireless ‘Code of Conduct’, September 1, 2009

“The company has asked people to turn in the devices in question so they can be studied,” says Bloomberg News.

The pic on the right showing one that went up is from Technolgia21.com in Spain.

“”In all cases the glass cracked due to an external force that was applied to the iPhone,” the story has Apple Europe spokesman Alan Hely saying.

“There are no confirmed battery overheating incidents for iPhone 3GS and the number of reports we are investigating is in the single digits.”

French Trade Minister Herve Novelli today, “met with Michel Coulomb, Apple’s French marketing director, in Paris about an investigation by the country’s consumer protection agency into the iPhone ‘implosions’,” says the story.

Consumers in the UK, Holland and Sweden had reported similar problems, says the BBC, adding:

“On Tuesday, a 26-year-old security guard has claimed that he was hit in the eye with a glass shard when his iPhone screen cracked up.

“The recent cases prompted French watchdog DGCCRF to investigate the complaints. The European Commission also used its Rapex system to issue an alert to its 27 member states about the problem.

“Rapex is the EU rapid alert system for dangerous consumer products.”

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Bloomberg News -  iPhone cracks, explosions caused by external force: Apple, August 28, 2009
BBC – Apple denies ‘exploding’ iPhones, August 28, 2009

But the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania ended up representing the three girls and their parents, claiming the DA, George Skumanick, had violated the girls’ First Amendment rights.

Now in Britain, a growing number of teenagers are, “swapping sexually explicit images of themselves on mobile phones leaving them open to bullying and victimization by their peers,” says the Montreal Gazette.

It’s also resulted in, “intimate images of children being posted on websites used by pedophiles without the knowledge of the sender,” according to Britain’s Child Exploitation and Online Protection Center (CEOP), says the story, going on:

“A survey of 2,000 young people released by children’s charity Beatbullying on Tuesday found that more than a third of 11 to 18-year-olds had received a sexually explicit text or email.

“It also found that 70 percent of young people knew who had sent the message.

The story has Beatbullying CEO Emma-Jane Cross saying it’s important parents and schools understand the rise of the phenomenon, “well documented in the United States and Australia, but comparatively unknown in Britain”.

Some 70 young people 11 to 16 surveyed by CEOP’s youth panel found almost all of them had no idea, “holding on to the images or distributing them could be breaking the 2003 Sexual Offences Act”.

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charges of child pornography – Girls sue DA in sexting ‘porn’ case, March 26, 2009
Pittsburgh Post Gazette – DA’s case over teen ’sexting’ draws ire of parents, March 26, 2009
DiscsMontreal Gazette – “Sexting” craze on the rise among British children, August 4, 2009

The question is posed by Gizmodo as it quotes Taiwan’s Apple Daily as reporting Hon Hai Precision Industry (aka Foxconn, Apple’s presence in China) is, “building the Apple tablet using previously rumored 10-inchish screens from WinTek and a battery from Dynapack, for launch in September or October”.

A week ago, “25 year-old Sun Danyong committed suicide after a fourth-generation iPhone prototype he was responsible for went missing,” said Digital Beat, going on:

“It’s a story, from what tech-industry friends in China tell me, of how Apple’s secretive ways send extreme pressure all the way down the company’s international supply chain.”

Be that as it may, Gizmodo has the Financial Times saying Apple is, “racing to offer a portable, full-featured, tablet-sized computer in time for the Christmas shopping season”.

Meanwhile, RIP, Sun Danyong.

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driven to suicide – Apple iPhone worker kills himself, July 21, 2009
Digital Beat – iPhone prototype goes missing; Chinese worker investigated, commits suicide, July 21, 2009

So instead of coming up with something to deal with it competitively, it tried to scupper the move.

In a, “petty, and some would say Microsoftish move,” Apple updated iTunes to block Palm users, Fudzilla noted.

But Palm has slapped Apple back.

“That’s right,” blogs the company’s John Traynor, “you once again can have seamless access to your music, photos and videos from the current version of iTunes (8.2.1).”

That’s always assuming anyone would want to pay $1 and up for digital music files one can get for free, or for a few cents, from one of the many online independent web sites or services, of course.

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scupper the move – Apple goes after the Palm Pre, July 16, 2009
Fudzilla – Apple does the nasty on Palm, July 16, 2009

That’s the final quote from Jonathan Zdziarski (right), an iPhone developer and a hacker who teaches forensics courses on recovering data from iPhones. And it comes in a Wired story which kicks off with »»»

Apple claims that hundreds of thousands of iPhones are being used by corporations and government agencies. What it won’t tell you is that the supposedly enterprise-friendly encryption included with the iPhone 3GS is so weak it can be cracked in two minutes with a few pieces of readily available freeware.

“It is kind of like storing all your secret messages right next to the secret decoder ring,” the story has said Jonathan saying.

“I don’t think any of us [developers] have ever seen encryption implemented so poorly before, which is why it’s hard to describe why it’s such a big threat to security.”

He says it’s just as easy to access a user’s private information on an iPhone 3GS as it was on the previous generation iPhone 3G or first generation iPhone, “both of which didn’t feature encryption,” says the story, continuing »»

If a thief got his hands on an iPhone, a little bit of free software is all that’s needed to tap into all of the user’s content. Live data can be extracted in as little as two minutes, and an entire raw disk image can be made in about 45 minutes, Zdziarski said.

Wondering where the encryption comes into play? It doesn’t.  Strangely, once one begins extracting data from an iPhone 3GS, the iPhone begins to decrypt the data on its own, he said.

To steal an iPhone’s disk image, hackers can use popular jailbreaking tools such as Red Sn0w and Purple Ra1n to install a custom kernel on the phone. Then, the thief can install an Secure Shell (SSH) client to port the iPhone’s raw disk image across SSH onto a computer.

Not only but also, there are other weaknesses, says Jonathan. “Pressing the Home button, and even zooming in on a screen, automatically creates a screenshot temporarily stored in the iPhone’s memory, which can be accessed later,” says the Wired story.

“And then there’s the keyboard cache: key strokes logged in a file on the phone, which can contain information such as credit card numbers or confidential messages typed in Safari. Cached keyboard text can be recovered from a device dating back a year or more.”

So when you get right down to it, it’s up to the app developers to add an extra level of security to their apps because Apple’s encryption feature is so poor, he says, stating:

“If they’re relying on Apple’s security, then their application is going to be terribly insecure. Apple may be technically correct that [the iPhone 3GS] has an encryption piece in it, but it’s entirely useless toward security.”

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Wired – Hacker Says iPhone 3GS Encryption Is ‘Useless’ for Businesses, July 23, 2009

“Thirteen days after etisalat issued a patch that was designed to ‘enhance performance’, Research in Motion (RIM) said on Tuesday ‘etisalat appears to have distributed a telecommunications surveillance application’ designed and developed by California-based company SS8′,” says the Khaleej Times.

“The BlackBerry ‘snifferware’, which can intercept emails and drain battery life quickly, was pushed as an update to 145,000 BlackBerry users on the etisalat network,” says the story, going on:

“Over 300 of them immediately complained their smartphone had been rendered useless with the battery dying out on them in less than 60 minutes.

“Etisalat’s update sent to BlackBerry users was ‘not a patch and not a RIM authorised upgrade.’ The etisalat update was sent to users on July 8 as a wide-area protocol (WAP) message. The Java file could intercept data and send a copy to a server without the user’s knowledge.”

Says a July 17 RIM customer update »»»

Recently, Etisalat, a carrier in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), sent an SMS message to a number of their customers informing them of a software patch that was available for BlackBerry smartphones and indicating that the software patch would enhance the performance of the BlackBerry service if it was downloaded and installed on the smartphone. Etisalat included a web link in the SMS message urging these customers to download and install the software.

Etisalat also issued a press release that referred to the software as a BlackBerry Software Upgrade.

RIM confirms that this software is not a patch and it is not a RIM authorized upgrade. RIM did not develop this software application and RIM was not involved in any way in the testing, promotion or distribution of this software application.

RIM further confirms, in general terms, that a third party patch cannot provide any enhancements to network services as there is no capability for third parties to develop or modify the low level radio communications protocols that would be involved in making such improvements to the communications between a BlackBerry smartphone and a carrier’s network.

In addition, RIM is not aware of any technical network concerns with the performance of BlackBerry smartphones on Etisalat’s network in the UAE.  In situations where there is a need to upgrade the firmware on a BlackBerry smartphone to address network performance issues, RIM distributes official BlackBerry software updates through standard channels, including direct downloads from BlackBerry.com and over-the-air software updates using the built in Wireless Upgrade feature of the BlackBerry smartphone.  RIM does not use SMS or WAP push as an
official distribution channel for these types of official BlackBerry software updates.

In this case, Etisalat appears to have distributed a telecommunications surveillance application that was designed and developed by SS8.  In order to install and successfully run this application, a user would need to click on the link to the web site and then confirm their intent to download the software and provide their explicit authorization for the application to access network resources.  Under such circumstances, independent sources have concluded that it is possible that the installed software could then enable unauthorized access to private or confidential information stored on the user’s smartphone.

Note: RIM does not endorse this software application and, if a user installed the software application, it can be subsequently removed from the user’s smartphone as described below.

The update also gives a detailed description of how to remove the ’snifferware’.

Etisalat officials were yesterday expected to meet RIM executives to, “discuss a statement issued by the latter suggesting that etisalat covertly installed surveillance software on its BlackBerry subscribers’ devices,” says the Gulf News, quoting an etisalat spokesperson as saying:

“There is no dispute between us and RIM.”

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Khaleej Times – BlackBerry Update, A Surveillance Application: RIM, July 22, 2009
Gulf News – BlackBerry developer to meet with etisalat, July 21, 2009

And in a report, Apple admitted there were indeed, “violations to our Code of Conduct”.

Now, “Last Thursday, 25 year-old Sun Danyong committed suicide after a fourth-generation iPhone prototype he was responsible for went missing,” says Digital Beat, going on:

“It’s a story, from what tech-industry friends in China tell me, of how Apple’s secretive ways send extreme pressure all the way down the company’s international supply chain.”

In the 2006 scandal, the BBC quoted Apple as describing the Foxconn facility in China, where the women worked, as a ‘campus’.

It, “includes factories, employee housing, banks, a post office, a hospital, supermarkets, and a variety of recreational facilities including soccer fields, a swimming pool, TV lounges and Internet cafes,” says Apple. “Ten cafeterias are also located throughout the campus offering a variety of menu choices such as fresh vegetables, beef, seafood, rice, poultry, and stir-fry noodles. In addition, employees have access to 13 different restaurants on campus. Employees were pleased with the variety and quality of food offerings.”

In this new story, “Sun was a recent engineering graduate, and had landed a job handling product communications for electronics manufacturing giant Foxconn in Shenzhen, a leading city in the industry-heavy Guangdong province near Hong Kong,” says Digital Beat, continuing »»»

He was tasked with shipping iPhone prototypes from Foxconn to Apple. The sequence of events goes as follows, based on news reports currently coming out of China, including a major local paper, Southern Metropolis Daily. The news has yet to be reported in the English-language press, at least that I’ve seen, although it’s all over the Chinese-language Twittersphere.

On Thursday, July 9th, Sun got 16 prototype phones from the assembly line at a local Foxconn factory. At some point in the next few days, he discovered that one of the phones was missing. He suspected that it had been left at the factory, but couldn’t find it. On Monday, July 13, he reported the missing phone to his boss.

Then, that Wednesday, three Foxconn employees searched his apartment — illegally, according to Chinese law. Accusations are flying that Sun was detained and physically abused during the investigation, although this has not been substantiated (possible evidence: there’s this somewhat garbled and potentially faked instant message exchange from Sun shortly before his death).

What is known: On Thursday — a little after 3 a.m. according to surveillance videos in the apartment building — he jumped out of a window in his apartment building to his death.

“I’m not saying that Apple’s to blame for the worker’s suicide, but there’s something to be said about the side effects of borderline-insanity level of secrecy that Apple demands of its partners,” PowerPage editor Jason O’Grady says in ZDNet.

Stay tuned.

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Apple iPods – iPod sweat-shop accusation, June 15, 2006
Apple – Report on iPod Manufacturing, August 17, 2006
Digital Beat – iPhone prototype goes missing; Chinese worker investigated, commits suicide, July 21, 2009
BBC – Apple admits excessive iPod hour, August 18, 2006
ZDNet – Chinese worker commits suicide after losing prototype iPhone 4G, July 21, 2009

“In a somewhat petty, and some would say Microsoftish move, Apple has updated iTunes to block Palm users,” says Fudzilla, going on:

“Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr said the update ‘disables devices falsely pretending to be iPods, including the Palm Pre’.”

But, “Palm spokeswoman Leslie Letts pointed out that Apple’s move hurts customers not Palm,” says the story, adding:

“Anyway Pre owners can stick to the older version of iTunes, move music from computers to a Pre with a USB cable or consider third-party music applications.”

That is, of course, always supposing they’re dumb enough, with all the user-friendly alternatives around, to want to pay $1 and up for tracks worth only a few cents in the first place.

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Fudzilla – Apple does the nasty on Palm, July 16, 2009

Because Big Brother Bluetooth may be watching you.

“Researchers are using Bluetooth technology to observe the meanderings of tens of thousands of festival-goers at a top European rock festival, hoping their findings will launch a new generation of tracking devices,” says Reuters.

A University of Ghent in Belgium teams reckons their work might end in new satellite navigation applications for the retail and security sectors.

“We have installed 36 Bluetooth scanners across the site and along a few surrounding roads, as well as bus stops,” the story has Nico Van de Weghe saying.

Bluetooth is an open wireless protocol for exchanging data over short distances from fixed and mobile devices, creating personal area networks (PANs), explains the Wikipedia.

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First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Reuters – Bluetooth “Big Brother” tracks festival-goers, July 3, 2009

Demands by the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) could raise costs for consumers, jeopardize consumer rights, and curtail new technological innovation, they say.

“Millions of Americans have bought musical ringtones, often clips from favorite popular songs, for their mobile phones,” says an EFF statement, going on:

“Mobile phone carriers pay royalties to song owners for the right to sell these snippets to their customers”. But, “as part of a ploy to squeeze more money out of the mobile phone companies,” ASCAP  has told a federal court each time a phone rings in a public place, “the phone user has violated copyright law”.

Does this remind you of anything?

“The content police just got a new weapon,” p2pnet quoted InforMilo as saying, going on, “Spanish start-up BMAT has developed software that can track live performances and reinterpretations of copyrighted works on or off the Internet.”

Say ‘ASCAP’ and then say ‘tracking live performances and reinterpretations of copyrighted works on or off the Internet’.

Meanwhile, “ASCAP argues, phone carriers must pay additional royalties or face legal liability for contributing to what they claim is cell phone users’ copyright infringement,” says the EFF.

In an amicus brief it, it points out copyright law doesn’t reach public performances, “without any purpose of direct or indirect commercial advantage,” and, “if phone users are not infringing copyright law, then mobile phone service providers are not contributing to any infringement”.

ASCAP says it doesn’t plan to charge mobile phone users, “just mobile phone service providers,” says the foundation, adding:

“But if ASCAP prevails, consumers could find themselves targeted by other copyright owners for ‘public performances.’ Worse, these wrongheaded legal claims cast a shadow over innovators who are building gadgets that help consumers get the most from their copyright privileges.”

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First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi

EFF – ASCAP Makes Outlandish Copyright Claims on Cell Phone Ringtones, July 2, 2009
p2pnet – Sued for singing in the shower? July 1, 2009
InforMilo – Play it again Sam: Spanish company’s software tunes in to derivative works, June 26, 2009