Blogger Critical of South Korea Faces 18 Months in Prison Wired

South Korea’s democracy seems to be deteriorating by the day — this time with the proposed 18-month incarceration of a blogger critical of the South’s economic policy. The 31-year-old blogger’s crime: falsely reporting that South Korea had barred banks from purchasing U.S. currency. The authorities said the blogger, Park Dae-sung, will find out his sentence on April 20 for posting the inaccurate story that prosecutors said undermined the county’s credibility, The Associated Press reports. The move against the blogger, known as “Minerva” in the online world, came a week after the country became the first democratic nation to adopt a “three strikes” law targeting online copyright scofflaws. Repeat online copyright offenders face having their internet access cut off.

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Author of Rickrolling song says Google ‘exploited’ CNet News

The man who co-wrote “Never Gonna Give You Up,” the 1980s song revitalized by the Rickrolling phenomenon on YouTube last year, is accusing Google of exploiting him. The music video, featuring singer Rick Astley, has been viewed more than 150 million times but Pete Waterman earned about $16, just enough money to buy a CD. The cult of Rickrolling helped generate more than 150 million views of “Never Gonna Give You Up” but only $16 for song’s author.

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E8 automatic update option likely to begin next week Beta News

In a heads-up message on the company’s IE blog over the Easter weekend, Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 lead program manager Eric Hebenstreit warned users that as soon as next week, some Windows users will be automatically given the option of downloading IE8. It will not be a massive land rush, and as Hebenstreit repeated, the company’s new Web browser will not automatically install itself. “IE8 will not automatically install on machines,” the program manager wrote, emphasizing what will be Microsoft’s general policy in this new and more careful era of interoperability. “Users must opt-in to install IE8.”

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Twitter Co-Founders Evan Williams and Biz Stone Speak! All Things Digital

BoomTown visited Twitter`s San Francisco HQ for a pie-filled tour yesterday. But I also got a chance to sit down to have a chat with two of its founders, CEO Evan Williams and Biz Stone (pictured here, right to left), about all the doings at the wildly popular microblogging start-up. For the record, Williams is the quiet one, while Stone is more volublebut don`t let appearances deceive you, as both are ambitious and aggressive entrepreneurs.

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YouTube Korea squelches uploads, comments CNet News

Citing free-speech concerns about an anonymity-blocking law in South Korea, Google has disabled the ability to upload YouTube videos or comment on them in the country. “We believe that it is important for free expression that people have the right to remain anonymous, if they choose,” the company said in a blog post that also tells people that they can get around the restriction by using a different country’s version of the site. A Korean law requires “real-name verification” for Internet services with more than 100,000 different daily users, Google said. Under the law, people must identify themselves with a name and identification number before they can upload video or post comments.

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Wild boar attacks woman in Gothenburg cemetery The Local

A wild boar attacked a woman out walking her dog in a graveyard in Gothenburg on Tuesday morning. The woman was out walking her dog in the woods at Västra KykogÃ¥rden cemetery at 7am this morning when she came face to face with a large wild boar, according to local newspaper Göteborgs-Posten. “I have never run as fast in all my life,” the woman told the newspaper.

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Texting may allow Finns to don8 to church Reuters

Text messages may allow worshippers in Finland to donate money to their church without having to attend services. Under current laws, the church cannot raise funds by texts in Finland, the home of mobile phone giant Nokia. Dean Matti Pikkarainen of Oulu Cathedral said he aimed to raise the issue at a nationwide church meeting next month. “I’ve spoken this morning with some people who are in leading positions in our church to see if we can change the law,” Pikkarainen said. “It depends more on parliament than the church … I believe the church is ready for this kind of modernization this year.”

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Judge allows sale of Madoff’s Mets tickets Associated Press

A federal bankruptcy judge signed off Tuesday on a plan to raise tens of thousands of dollars for victims of the Bernard Madoff fraud by auctioning off pricey New York Mets season tickets owned by the disgraced financier’s investment firm. Before signing an order allowing a court-appointed trustee to sell the tickets at the Mets’ sparkling new ballpark to the highest Internet bidder, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Burton Lifland playfully suggested that the team needed to rebound from its mediocre start to help the cause. “Suppose the trustee would wait a couple of months to see if the Mets do well?” Burton quipped at a brief hearing in a lower Manhattan courthouse. Madoff, 70, pleaded guilty last month to charges that his investment advisory service actually was a massive Ponzi scheme that paid longtime clients with money from new ones. He is jailed, awaiting a June sentencing for charges that carry a sentence of up to 150 years in prison.

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Workers ‘”sucking up” bad for business: experts Reuters

If there’s a bit more false flattery and loud enthusiasm at the office than usual, don’t be surprised. Whether it’s called buttering up the boss, brown-nosing, sucking up or managing up, experts say ingratiating behavior is bound to be on the rise in the workplace as workers fret about keeping their jobs in tough economic times. But such behavior can be bad for business, they said. “People who tend to ‘manage up’ anyway are managing up more. They really want to make sure people are noticing what they’re doing,” said Max Caldwell, an expert in workforce effectiveness at Towers Perrin management consultants.

April 8, 2009