p2pnet World Headlines – July 10, 2009
Did a charity fundraiser get throttled? CBC
Filmmaker Brad Fox told the CRTC Wednesday that he believes an online fundraiser for the Toronto Sick Kids’ Hospital may have been throttled by Bell because it resembled peer-to-peer traffic. The 30-hour online “telethon” put on by Fox and a group of Canadian comedians in November 2008 was streamed online using Bell internet services, but was forced to reset four or five times because its connection speed was so slow around 3 a.m. and 4 a.m., Fox said. Each time, he told CBC News, he lost up to 10 per cent of his audience…. Advocates for people with disabilities also told the CRTC Wednesday that some of their peer-to-peer traffic was being throttled even during low-traffic times – like during early morning hours. Meanwhile, internet service for some of their non-P2P applications for people with disabilities was also inexplicably slow, they said. (I should note that they also reported throttling during non-peak hours by Rogers). After hearing several similar stories on the same day, some people may suspect that Bell has a funny definition of “peak hours.” But even if its definition is the conventional one, it appears two conclusions can be drawn: * Bell offers no guarantees that it throttles only P2P traffic. * Bell’s internet service doesn’t consistently approach its advertised speeds even during non-peak hours.
Google CEO says will discuss Apple board role Reuters
Google Inc Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said he will discuss with Apple Inc how his role on its board might change after Google’s move to launch a new operating system. Because Google’s new Chrome OS would compete with Apple’s own computer software, Schmidt said on Thursday he would talk to the Mac computer maker about whether he should recuse himself from Apple’s board. “I’ll talk to the Apple people. At the moment, there’s no issue,” Schmidt told reporters at a Sun Valley media and technology conference organized by boutique investment bank Allen & Co.
EU Plans Overhaul Of Internet Download Rules Billboard
The European Union needs new rules for Internet downloads that would make it easier for people to access music and films without resorting to piracy, the bloc’s telecoms chief said. Mapping out priorities of the EU’s executive arm for the next five years, EU Telecommunications Commissioner Viviane Reding said it should consider new laws that would reconcile the interests of intellectual property owners and Internet surfers.
News Corp faces growing storm over phone-hacking allegations Financial Times
British politicians, police officers and senior News Corp executives were yesterday drawn into inquiries over the alleged hacking of high-profile figures’ mobile telephones by journalists for some of Rupert Murdoch’s UK newspapers. The Information Commissioner’s Office, which monitors privacy and access to official information in the UK, said that 31 journalists working for The News of the World and The Sun had paid investigators to obtain personal information through “blagging” – impersonating the target of a journalistic investigation. After a brief inquiry, London police said there was no need for further investigation into claims by The Guardian newspaper that “two to three thousand” public figures’ phones may have been accessed, as no additional information had come to light.
Police decline to reopen mobile phone hacking case The Register
Nothing to hear, move along’ says Yates of the Yard – The UK Police have said no further investigation is needed into the News of the World phone tapping scandal. The paper’s former royal correspondent, Clive Goodman, and a private detective accomplice Glen Mulcaire, were jailed over the illegal wiretapping of the mobile phones of royal aides in 2007. The scandal was re-opened on Thursday after The Guardian reported that three other targets of the wiretapping were paid £1m to drop lawsuits… A Bell spokeswoman confirmed Wednesday that only “P2P traffic that uses up a large amount of bandwidth is slowed down…and only during peak hours.” The company has long said the practice is needed to reduce internet congestion by putting the brakes on a few “bandwidth hogs,” improving service for everyone. The company did not respond directly when asked how it ensures that other types of traffic aren’t throttled by accident, but did specify that it “does not look at content.”
G8 Pushes Ahead With ACTA Negotiations Michael Geist
IP Watch reports (http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/2009/07/09/g8-amid-talks-of-climate-economy-food-health-lies-ip-innovation/) on the role of intellectual property at the G8 meeting, including the commitment to push ahead with Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement negotiations. Full IP report here (http://www.g8italia2009.it/static/G8_Allegato/ITALY%20G8%20IPEG%20Final%20Report,0.pdf). [Comment: Copied/Pasted in whole]
London To Host ‘Music Hack Day’ Billboard
The inaugural Music Hack Day, an event for the international tech and digital music community, is to take place in London this weekend (July 11 to 12). Bringing together 200 delegates, the two-day event is believed to be the first ‘hack’ type event dedicated exclusively to the music industry. In this context, hackers are defined as those who use their expertise to explore the possibilities of open-source software rather than those infiltrating and damaging secure systems.
There’s no excuse for industrial-scale snooping Open Rights Group
Following yesterday’s news that BT have ditched Phorm, it is now reported that Carphone Warehouse have joined the list of big-name clients shunning the service. Commenting on just why this behavioural advertising system causes such controversy, Nicholas Bohm (FIPR General Counsel and ORG Advisory Councillor) – one of Phorm’s strongest critics – wrote this personal view for the Guardian:….
Wireless carriers to offer netbooks Canoe
As wireless carriers look for more customers, they’re starting to offer netbooks with contracts and subsidies just like they sell mobile phones. Rogers Wireless announced Friday it’s offering an Internet-ready mini laptop from HP with a subsidy and two-year contract. [Commet: Said it before & I'll say it again. Avoid contracts with hefty termination fee's that lock you in with no consumer rights.]
More bandwidth, not more rules National Post
What Canadian business and telecommunications consumers need is more broadband — bigger, fatter, wider and faster networks that will allow as many Canadians as possible to upload and download as much Internet content as they want as fast as they want. What Canada seems to be getting instead is bigger and fatter regulation and a growing collection of policies that take money away from consumers and the companies that deliver the broadband.
Special Report: Swedish Author’s Take On The Catcher In The Rye Copyright Court Case IP-Watch
Windupbird Publishing owned by Swedish author Fredrik Colting, alias John David California, promises that its books will “tickle your feet and yank your soul.” But American author J.D. Salinger is not amused and has indeed been wound up by Colting’s latest book, which he says is infringing on the copyright of his best-seller, “Catcher in the Rye.” A New York court recently sided with Salinger, but Intellectual Property Watch talked to Colting about why the battle is bound to go on….
Press freedom violations recounted in real time Reporters without Borders
Comment: List of journalists and reporters detained or jailed for reporting news in June.Use of name, logo in ‘Big Love’ angers University of Utah officials Deseret News
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705315390/Use-of-logo-in-Big-Love-angers-Univeristy-of-Utah-officials.html
It was brought to the U. administration’s attention that the HBO series “Big Love” aired an episode last March in which the school’s name and block U logo were displayed on an allegedly official U. letterhead. In response, the U.’s agent, Collegiate Images, sent a cease-and-desist letter to the program’s producers Tuesday demanding that shots including the logo be deleted from the episode and that HBO never use them in the future.
Trent Reznor Explains What A Musician Needs To Do To Be Successful These Days TechDirt
…And the formula is basically: connect with fans and give them a reason to buy… and use free music to do both of those things. He does note, that if you want to be a superstar, you probably need to sign with a label, but doing so will mean giving up pretty much everything: control, profits, ownership. However, if you just want to be a success…
ASCAP’s Latest Claim: Embedding YouTube Videos Requires Public Performance License TechDirt
… So, the latest? Apparently ASCAP has started sending collection letters to various websites that have embedded YouTube videos that contain music, claiming they need to pay up for a performance license.
Teen cuffed for bomb threat webcam pay-per-view The Register
A North Carolina teenager has been arrested and accused of phoning in bomb threats to schools and universities so he could charge admission for people to watch in real time over webcams as police responded.
Researcher Discovers ATM Hack, Gets Silenced SlashDot
“A researcher working for networking company Juniper has been forced to cancel a Black Hat presentation that would have revealed a way to hack into ATM machines. The presentation focused on exploiting vulnerabilities in devices running the Windows CE operating system, including some ATMs. The decision to cancel was made to give the vendor concerned time to patch the problem, although the company was notified 8 months ago. The article mentions a growing trend in ATM hacking:…
Wireless Cybercriminals Target Clueless Vacationers Fux
The newest trend in Internet fraud is “vacation hacking,” a sinister sort of tourist trap. Cybercriminals are targeting travelers by creating phony Wi-Fi hot spots in airports, in hotels, and even aboard airliners.
Top court strikes down bus ad ban The Star
British Columbia Transit violated rights to free speech when it refused to carry political ads on the outside of its buses, Canada’s highest court said Friday. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled 8-0 to strike down the policy. [Comment: How many ways can you think of that this applies to the Net?]
New wireless contender in talks with Wal-Mart on phone plans Financial Post
Public Mobile Holdings Inc., a new Canadian wireless carrier, is talking to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. about selling phones with unlimited call plans to lure users who have shunned Rogers Communications Inc. and BCE Inc.
Marc - p2pnet
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July, 2009
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July 10th, 2009 at 6:31 pm
@Jon:
Is your news feed down?
July 10th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
Not as far as I know.
Cheers!
July 10th, 2009 at 10:02 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNnX6XRQBec&feature=player_embedded
July 10th, 2009 at 11:15 pm
@surfer …LMAO
July 11th, 2009 at 12:18 am
File Sharing of the Future
Like Liz, I have an announcement coming soon. This announcement will literally change the face of the file sharing community for the next decade. This announcement will be the turning point in the fight for freedom that will literally change the face of the internet itself.
The MAFIAA has gone too far, and it is going to be answered with a protocol that they will be utterly defenseless to thwart. Recently I commented in response to Robert that complete anonymity on the internet is impossible. I retract that statement. There is going to be something coming soon that will not only be impossible to trace, but impossible to comprehend. Absolute total anonymity online. The file sharing community will soon have a protocol that will dwarf bittorrent, yes you heard me right. There is engineering currently in beta phase that will change the face of the internet as we know it. This protocol will satisfy Crosbie’s ideal of a free market, and allow ‘pirates’ of all walks of life to stand proud, and plainly state their intentions, and their flagrant infringement of copyrighted material. Openly, efficiently allow all walks of users to easily offer anything they want to anyone they want, without any hint of reprehensibility. A utopian interface has emerged that will not only obscure the user IP, but the server hosting the content’s IP addy as well. I am currently working directly with the developer of a system that will allow absolute control over any content currently available digitally. THIS is the death knell of the content criminals.
I cannot go into specific details, but ensure that you heard it first on p2pnet. This is a gigantic leap of technological advancement that will affect every single user of the internet itself. It will facilitate functions found on Kazaa, BitTorrent, and every single other platform available to the internet. This is a world changing event.
With this new protocol, users are secure, members are secure, this will spread like Fa$ebook and be available as an open sourced protocol on Linux/Windows/Mac that is going to absolutely fuck the content cartels into oblivion.
Your days are numbered MAFIAA, this new protocol will allow everyone to fuck you and your agenda into oblivion. There is no GOV to lobby, there is no sniffing, there will be no impediment into allowing the world to spread information as far and as wide as technologically possible. There is no lawsuit, intimidation, or parlance that is going to stop this. This is an absolute game changer, and you are going to lose, finally.
Consider a world where you can download a free client, and be able to access everything that exists. Everything. Absolutely everything, without paying you a fucking dime.
Be afraid MAFIAA, be very afraid, we are going to topple your oligarcy, publicly, and messy. Crosbie Finch, the day has come, and we now have the tools to circumvent their lobbying, lawyers, money, influence and distribution models.
It’s interesting that this new protocol would never have been conceived without your motivation, so thanks. You have no one to blame but yourselves. If you are in the movie or music industry, you should start posting your resume on Monster, because you are going to be obsolete within 8 months.
July 11th, 2009 at 1:50 am
@Surfer,
Listen kid, in my time I enjoyed acid as much as you.
But in my time we didn’t have the net to spew our hallucinogenic theories and breakthroughs.
As time, change, and communication evolved, it was concluded that one should not use the net when high on acid.
Am I showing my age?
I call bullshit. And i think you are high as a kite (lay off the chemicals).
However, if you relay what’s going on to Jon and he relays it to Tom, and *IF* Tom can vouch for what you said, Then I’ll invest (if required and if needed).
BULLSHIT, Surfer.
The only person I would listen to in this forum, with all due respect, because he earned my respect, would be our friend Tom (who probably has resources to invest in this as well, if true!).
So be a man, discuss it between you two (encrypted) and show us you’re not high as a kite and just blabbing bullshit in order to try and get in Liz’s pants
(No offense Liz, but you are cute 
)
*If* Tom can collaborate on this new found technology and confirm it, Then you sold me.
*If* you come up with some bullshit to exclude as to why you can’t confirm it, or even discuss it with Tom (who is a guru BTW, and your master in knowledge) then I call your bullshit and will kindly ask that you either lay off the net when stoned, or crawl back under your rock.
For a well “educated man” with a “high IQ”, I expect nothing less.
Don’t tell us since it super secret, but pass it to the master to back-up your claim.
Otherwise, you have no credibility and are talking out of your ass.
It’s not the first time you showed us all that you know dick all and are young.
Proof via disclosure to Tom to collaborate feasibility and ability.
Otherwise, all I can say is lay off the cheap acid and don’t write when stoned.
With kind regards,
July 11th, 2009 at 10:16 am
heheh, ok, scared?
July 11th, 2009 at 10:28 am
think data flow instead of packet pieces
July 11th, 2009 at 11:34 am
@Surfer
You did it? You managed to figure out teleportation? Or is it telepathy? Ha ha, all kidding aside, I look forward to learning this new protocol.
Let’s hope it places the **AA groups in a position where they have no choice but to adjust their business models to the new reality and maybe, just maybe, they will learn to be more flexible in the future (not likely though).
As for helping artists and innovators and inventors, let’s hope we can revolutionize the copyprivilege and patent mess we’re in, so not just paintings, sculptures and music are both free and the artist gets paid, but also the creators of great innovations!
July 11th, 2009 at 11:40 am
not me personally, but I am on the development team now…
its ironically coincidental that Crosbie suggests a system where we dont have to obscure our identities, and I was introduced to this development team that is working on just that type of system. I cant go into alot of details, but this is a game changer, absolutely. it will be quite the opposite of what file sharing currently uses. access will be publicly available, even Tom Reynolds could log in if he wanted to and see all the copyrighted material, but never be able to see physically where it is. he could download, but never get an IP address, or any info on whom to sue.
this is going to make copyright as useless as dial-up.
stw
July 12th, 2009 at 4:15 pm
Will this new system be for the masses, or will it be kept among the “elite”, like whatever previous P2P network you were using that you declined to share with anyone here while telling them to stop using every other P2P network?