Secret police wiretaps flying under the radar CBC
Bob McMynn knows first-hand how Canada’s laws allow police to eavesdrop and use emergency wiretaps without a judge’s approval. He says Section 184.4 of the Criminal Code helped to save his son Graham’s life after a group of young men abducted the then 23-year-old university student at gunpoint in April 2006, in what turned out to be a kidnapping for ransom. “[The emergency wiretap] was paramount in solving where my son was,” McMynn told CBC News. “Without that and other fantastic police work, we may never have got him back.” Vancouver police had little time to ask a judge for permission, so they used the Criminal Code provisions to eavesdrop on a group of key suspects without court approval. Eight days later, police moved in to arrest the gang and free the younger McMynn. CBC News has learned that McMynn’s case is just one of at least 267 cases between 2000 and 2008 where major police forces across the country used warrant-less wiretaps. [Comment: Yet the Canadian Gov is trying to pass a citizen spy program under the guise of safety for the kids and terrorism...]

Canadians support high-tech identification tools Canoe
Canadians support the idea of using fingerprints and other biometric information to identify those coming to Canada or to prevent abuse of government programs, according to a public opinion poll conducted for the immigration department. However, respondents were also more likely to agree with biometric information being collected from non-Canadians than from Canadian citizens. The poll, conducted in January, comes as the immigration department is planning to start fingerprinting applicants for temporary resident permits in 2011. By 2013, anyone who applies for a study permit or work permit, as well as those visiting Canada from countries that require visas, will have to supply their fingerprints.

Supreme Court Clears Way for Cablevision DVR Wall Street Journal
The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to consider a legal challenge by television networks and Hollywood studios to Cablevision Systems Corp.’s next-generation digital video recorder, clearing the way for the cable company to offer the new service this year. The networks and studios argued that Cablevision’s new remote-storage DVR violated federal copyright laws. Cablevision’s service would allow customers to record and store television shows on central computer servers maintained by Cablevision instead of having to record them on expensive DVR cable boxes installed in their homes. nCablevision says the system would allow it to provide DVR services at lower costs, which could lead to a rise in new subscribers to a technology that allows viewers to watch programs whenever they choose and to skip commercials while they do so.

Sugar on a Stick brings sweet taste of Linux to classrooms Ars Technica
Sugar Labs, a nonprofit organization that builds open source educational software, has announced the official release of Sugar on a Stick, a Linux-based platform that includes a suite of child-friendly learning tools. The software is available for download and is designed to be run entirely from a USB memory stick or similar removable media…. SoaS is built on top of Fedora 11, which was released earlier this month. It is distributed as a 380MB ISO file which includes the operating system and all of the software applications. The image is intended to be written to a CD or USB memory stick so that the entire platform can be booted from removable media and used on regular desktop computers without requiring installation, partitioning, or any other changes to the computer itself.

IPhone 3GS Handsets Overheat, Turn Brown Wired

The iPhone 3G may, at least for some users, have an additional, undocumented feature: It can be used to toast bread. Reports are coming in that the new, million-selling iPhone is suffering from overheating issues. The handsets are getting so warm, in fact, that the plastic cases of the white models are discoloring to pink. The picture above is from Ben on the French site Le Journal du Geek. It’s not just anonymous forum posters, either. Melissa J. Perenson of PC World has a toasty 3GS, too …

Mormon-affiliated Brigham Young University lifts YouTube ban Associated Press
Brigham Young University, the Mormon church school where students agree to live a chaste and virtuous life, has lifted its almost three-year policy of blocking access to YouTube. Administrators lifted the ban Friday, citing an increasing amount of educational material on the popular video-sharing site, university spokeswoman Carri Jenkins said. YouTube has its own filters for porn, but BYU added it to the list of Web sites blocked by campus online filters in 2006 because administrators felt there was too much content that could violate the school’s strict, conservative standards. The university’s software also blocks pornography, adult content and violence from other sites.

CRTC decisions key to future of local TV programming coming July 6 The Globe and Mail
“We can not simply allow it to whither away,” Rita Cugini told the group assembled at a meeting held by RTNDA Canada. “There is no ready replacement for the core services that it provides — local programming, local news and programs of a national interest.” She went on to broadly outline how the regulatory body will address several issues that will impact the livelihoods of local TV stations nationwide, with answers to be delivered in an announcement set for July 6. For example, the report will include details on how the CRTC will restructure a funding formula that could have profound impact on several stations whose licences are set to expire at the end of August…. “I’m confident that we’ve done the absolute best that we can under the circumstances and with the powers or authorities that the commission has,” she said.

Panasonic camera firmware update blocks 3rd party batteries CDFreaks
Panasonic has released a firmware update for various DMC-FS and Travel Zoom series cameras that will prevent the use of non-Genuine Panasonic batteries in the camera. Panasonic claims this is necessary for the protection of its customers due to some aftermarket 3rd party batteries not meeting its safety standards against overcharging, internal heating and short circuiting…. While Panasonic may claim this is a safety move, it looks more like a move similar to chipped Inkjet cartridges to force consumers into buying the manufacturer’s own high priced accessories.

Microsoft puts Razorfish up for sale Financial Times
Microsoft has appointed Morgan Stanley to find a potential buyer for Razorfish, its digital agency. Publicis, the French marketing company that says it is planning more acquisitions in online advertising, is thought to be a possible bidder. Microsoft acquired the agency, formerly called Avenue A Razorfish, as part of its $6bn takeover of aQuantive in 2007. One analyst valued Razorfish at $600m-$700m, based on sales of about $400m last year and profit margins for similar businesses of 12-13 per cent.

Men at Work accused of stealing melody CTV
Australian rock band Men at Work are fighting accusations that the melody of their 1980s international hit, “Down Under,” was stolen from a popular children’s song about a bird. Publisher Larrikin Music is suing for compensation from royalties earned by Men at Work. On Friday, lawyers for the band’s recording companies — Sony BMG Music Entertainment and EMI Songs Australia — asked for the case to be dismissed.

ID cards for India: 1.1billion citizens will go into second largest citizens’ database Daily Mail
India is planning to provide its 1.1 billion-plus citizens with ID cards. Entrepreneur, Nandan Nilekani has been chosen to lead the ambitious project which will be the second largest citizens’ database in a democracy, with China being the biggest. The government believes the scheme, which will be finalised over three years, will aid the delivery of vital social services to the poorest people who often lack sufficient identification papers. It also sees the scheme as a way to tackle increasing amounts of identity fraud and theft and, at a time of increased concern over the threat of militant violence, to boost national security and help police and law officials. [Found via SlashDot]

D.C. Summer Jobs Contractor Fired for Posts on Twitter Washington Post
The D.C. Department of Employment Services fired a contractor who was working with youths in the city’s summer jobs program after officials became aware of messages on his Twitter site that Anacostia is “ghetto” and that he was loafing at work.

Iranian protesters avoid censorship with Navy technology Washington Post
Iranians seeking to share videos and other eyewitness accounts of the demonstrations that have roiled their country since disputed elections two weeks ago are using an Internet encryption program originally developed by and for the U.S. Navy. Designed a decade ago to secure Internet communications between U.S. ships at sea, The Onion Router, or TOR, has become one of the most important proxies in Iran for gaining access to Web sites such as Twitter, YouTube and Facebook.

‘Hacktivists’ take up Iran fight as streets quiet Associated Press
Raymond described his site as a place for hackers and Iranian protest movement sympathizers from around the world to team up in developing a system of proxy sites that cloak the location of users in Iran from the Iranian government. Iranian authorities have launched a wide-ranging clampdown on many Web sites, including blogs, independent news outlets and sites linked to opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, who claims the June 12 presidential election was rigged to hand victory to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. On Saturday, Raymond reported the group would be forced to change some of its tactics because the Iranian government had “upped the level of Internet censorship it’s engaging in.” Iranian government monitors were inspecting traffic more closely to see if users were accessing blocked web sites, he said. “We’re trying to provide a covert communication channel for dissenters and revolutionaries to organize through,” said Raymond in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

Jackson music, videos quickly sell out after death Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/26/AR2009062602615.html
Michael Jackson’s death has led to skyrocketing sales of his music and videos, with major retailers selling out of products that have regained immense popularity overnight…. Barnes and Noble Inc.’s Web site and retail stores also sold out most Jackson CDs, DVDs and books, and its 10 bestselling CDs were Jackson titles as well. Borders Group Inc.’s Web site sold out almost everything related to the star; albums also sold out at some of the book seller’s retail locations, including its New York stores.

Google chief: Iran can’t control the net Guardian

The Google chief executive, Eric Schmidt, said today that he hopes that clips of the Iranian election protests posted on YouTube, allowing people in other countries to keep up with developments despite the government’s media censorship, have helped to lessen the retribution meted out by the authorities…. Last week Google, and Facebook, swiftly rolled out Farsi-language tools so that Persian speakers could “communicate directly to the world, and vice versa – increasing everyone’s access to information”.

Guatemalan fears a tweet will make him a jailbird Washington Post
Jean Anleu was so fed up with corruption in his country that he decided to vent on the Internet, sending a 96-character message on the social-networking site Twitter. That message has now earned him a potential five-year prison sentence and the unfortunate distinction of becoming one of the first people in the world to be arrested for a tweet.

Google Thought Michael Jackson Traffic Was Attack CNet News
Google has confirmed that the surge of Michael Jackson-related searches on Google News Thursday was first interpreted as an attack on its service. Google News was inaccessible for some people Thursday afternoon right as rumours of Jackson’s death began to circulate, replaced by an error message reading “We’re sorry, but your query looks similar to automated requests from a computer virus or spyware application. To protect our users, we can’t process your request right now.”

Net Neutrality – The “Build Out” Argument Brad Fox
I’ll be going off to Ottawa at the end of next week to offer the CFTPA whatever help I can for their “Net Neutrality” presentation to the CRTC on the 8th (incidentally it’s nice to see that the CFTPA’s position on throttling and neutrality is actually getting some appreciative notice from sectors that, incorrectly, seem to automatically assume that content producers are “the enemy”). One of the major arguments of the CFTPA’s initial filing to the CRTC is that if solving network congestion is truly the primary concern of ISP’s, increasing network capacity is the only way to do so without stifling consumer choice, competition, and tying an anchor to the creative sector. As I’ve said many times before – the moment that ISP’s get the green light to *evaluate* content (instead of just transporting it) you will make them the sole gatekeepers of how (and what) content will be transported to their end-users. Even if they didn’t misuse that power (and given that both Rogers and Bell have significant digital content-delivery interests – I’m not sure how they could, in good faith to their shareholders, not push the envelope as far as possible) content creators, distributors, and the public would never again know where they stand, and the viability of an entire future of independent content distribution would be lost (or at the very least imperilled).

Liberal Party dissenting opinion on the recommendations to the Report of the Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors House of Commons
“In relation to a recommendation on copy rights and antipiracy of intellectual property, the Liberal Party of Canada supports the recommendation as follows: “That the Government of Canada immediately introduce legislation to amend the Copyright Act, ratify the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty (WCT) and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT), amend related acts and ensure appropriate enforcement resources are allocated to combat the scourge and considerable economic and competitive damage to Canada’s manufacturing and services sectors and to Canada’s international reputation by the proliferation of counterfeiting and piracy of intellectual property.”" [Found via M. Geist]

Girls Aloud net obscenity case falls at first hurdle The Register
A landmark case, which could have led to draconian new restrictions on what UK authors may publish on the internet – and elsewhere – has been dismissed. Prosecution counsel were due today to open their case against Civil Servant Darryn Walker, aged 35, of South Shields, who was accused of publishing an allegedly obscene story online. Instead, they stood up in Newcastle Crown Court this morning and informed the judge that they would be offering no evidence. A statement may follow.

Stop ID cards, says Scottish minister The Register
The Scottish government has reiterated its opposition to Whitehall’s plan for national identity cards. Minister for community safety Fergus Ewing has written to the new UK home secretary Alan Johnson asking for the scheme to be cancelled. He has disputed claims by UK immigration minister Phil Woolas that the scheme would bring economic benefits to the UK, raising doubts about the figures quoted by the government.

A Google monopoly today means packet snooping tomorrow The Register
There’s an inherent conflict between traditional notions of personal privacy and the Internet’s emerging goldmine, targeted advertising. Other than the subscription fees that carriers collect for access to the Internet itself, the only reliable revenue stream the ’Net has ever generated is ad sales, which mostly depend on the advertiser having knowledge of the consumer’s tastes and interests. Google’s targeted advertising program AdSense is even more intrusive than the controversial Phorm and NebuAd systems. For example, Gmail scans your personal communication for keywords – there is no opt-out, and using a secure tunnel is no protection. More recently, Google has stepped up the aggressiveness of its program by shifting the tracking cookie used by AdSense from an opt-in to an opt-out system of consent, where opting-out requires arcane knowledge on the part of the consumer

Licensing Issues Shut Down Pandora Outside US Slashdot
“I’m in France for the summer and have been listening to Pandora at work. I tried logging on tonight and was greeted with a surprising message: ‘We are deeply, deeply sorry to say that due to licensing constraints, we can no longer allow access to Pandora for listeners located outside of the US. We will continue to work diligently to realize the vision of a truly global Pandora, but for the time being we are required to restrict its use. We are very sad to have to do this, but there is no other alternative. …

Marc - p2pnet

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