[For future Bell Canada Palm Pre "smartphone" Owners] How to turn off Palm Pre`s `Big Brother` data collection BetaNews
a user needs only to switch Background Data Collection to the off position and all this controversial location and app data will kept private. [Comment: See Aug. 13th, round-ups for additional info]

Australian ISPs Soon To Become Copyright Cops SlashDot
In the Australian Federal Government`s latest assault on the internet, draft legislation has been released that allows network operators to intercept communications to ensure that their networks are being `appropriately used.` Such legislation is particularly important given the interference of Communications Minister Stephen Conroy in a recent copyright lawsuit against iiNet, one of the largest ISPs in the country. Conroy called prominent filtering opponent iiNet`s inaction over copyright infringement `stunning,` whereas iiNet claimed that it would be illegal under current Australian law to intercept its users` downloads. While this latest legislation appears to be a concession of that point, the government is said to be watching the case closely and along with attempts to introduce a three-strikes law in Australia, it appears the law will be changed if the government dislikes the outcome of the case. The internet villain of the year just continues to earn his title. [Comment: See article below]

[Australia-internet villain of the year] Oz gov suggests world`s worst copyright protection scheme The Register
The motivation behind this proposal appears to arise from a recent piracy trial, in which ISP iiNet defended itself in the NSW Federal Court against allegations that it breached intellectual property rights of 34 major music and movie companies. iiNet have argued quite simply that they have no idea who is downloading what over their network and further, that under existing Australian law, they have no justification for probing further.

Facebook hasn`t met with privacy watchdog recommendations though deadline is tomorrow IT Business
On July 15, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada issued four main requests for Facebook to follow. The popular social network was given 30 days to comply with the suggestions, but it appears not much has been done yet. Is the site planning a last-minute unveiling or will it be taking its chances with the consequences? [Comment: What does facebook care? The Canadian Privacy Commissioner has no bite to do anything about it except maybe write about it.]

Abandon e-voting dreams, hackers warn Montreal Gazette
Elections Canada still plans online voting despite safety warnings from U.S. computer scientists. As Elections Canada moves forward with its proposal to try online voting in Canada within the next four years, a fresh warning was raised this week urging governments to stick to old-fashioned paper. Computer scientists from three prestigious U.S. universities managed to hack into and steal votes from an electronic voting machine that was designed to resist takeover attempts. Based on our understanding of security and computer technology, it looks like paper-based elections are the way to go, said University of California San Diego Prof. Hovav Shacham, who led the project. Probably the best approach would be optical scanners reading paper ballots.

Doctor fired over `America Dies on Dunkin sign Canoe
Dr. Jason Newsom railed against burgers, french fries, fried chicken and sweet tea in his campaign to promote better eating in a part of the country known for people`s unhealthy lifestyles. He might still be leading the charge if he had only left the doughnuts alone. A 38-year-old former Army doctor who served in Iraq, Newsom returned home to Panama City along Florida`s Gulf Coast a few years ago to run the Bay County Health Department and launched a one-man war on obesity by posting sardonic warnings on an electronic sign outside: Sweet Tea Liquid Sugar. Hamburger Spare Tire. French Fries Thunder Thighs. He also called out KFC by name to make people think twice about fried chicken. Then he parodied America Runs on Dunkin`, the doughnut chain`s slogan, with: America Dies on Dunkin`. Some power players in the Gulf Coast tourist town decided they had had their fill. A county commissioner who owns a doughnut shop and two lawyers who own a new Dunkin` Donuts on Panama City Beach turned against him, along with some of his own employees, Newsom says. After the lawyers threatened to sue, his bosses at the Florida Health Department made him remove the anti-fried dough rants and eventually forced him to resign, he says. [Moral of this story: Don't fuq with a county commissioner and 2 lawyers who all own donut shops and profit off of America's obesiety and related health problems.]

U.S. tests technology to break foreign Web censorship Reuters
The U.S. government is covertly testing technology in China and Iran that lets residents break through screens set up by their governments to limit access to news on the Internet. [Comment: The good ol' US of A should be freeing the people in their own damn country first. Like the Woman who blogged about cops and gets arrested for it. Oppression, censorship & restrictive regimes is in their own backyard.]

[Viral Squirrel Pic] Squirrel Portrait, Banff National Geographic
Pic of accidentally photographed squirrel going viral.

AT&T Facing Lawsuit Over MMS Support for the iPhone Cellular News
US network operator, AT&T is facing a class action lawsuit following claims that the latest Apple iPhone was advertised as supporting MMS when the network itself has yet to offer such a functionality. However, AT&T has supported MMS for several years, but seems to be blocking the iPhone from being supported by its MMSC pending upgrades.

Danish FreeBSD Dev. Sues Lenovo Over Microsoft Tax SlashDot
The FreeBSD developer Poul-Henning Kamp (phk) has sued Lenovo in Denmark (Google translation, original here) over their refusal to refund the Windows Vista Business license, even though he declined the EULA during installation. Lenovo argues that they sell the computer as a full product, and that they cannot refund it partially, such as the power supply or the OS even if people intend to use a different one. This seems to be contrary to previous rulings in the EU where Acer and HP has been forced to refund the `Microsoft tax.`

[How to use fear to rally government support] UK Government appeals for IT help to fight terrorists The Inquirer
A Home Office paper released today, The United Kingdom`s Science and Technology Strategy for Countering International Terrorism, creates just the right amount of fear to rally tech-savvy corporate volunteers to its cause.

Morrissey: Don`t Buy My Music TechDirt
Singer Morrissey is going on fan sites, warning fans not to buy the new box sets of his music that EMI is putting out, noting that not only did he have nothing whatsoever to do with them, he won`t see a penny in royalties from them. But it`s all for the artists, right?

AP Almost Gets Something Right But Then Gets It Wrong TechDirt
Zachary Seward over at the Nieman Lab is revealing more of the AP`s top secret plan to figure out this darn web thing. Following the plan to hold back some content from its members, the latest installment is focused on trying to attack Wikipedia`s search dominance with its own SEO play: creating landing pages designed to be the definitive destinations on certain topics, with the idea of using inbound links from partners newspaper sites to goose the Google juice and shoot them to the top of the list.

No Free Competition Allowed In Tampa Bay Taxi Business TechDirt
EEJ alerts us to the news that Hillsborough County transportation officials have announced that the free electric vehicles need to get permits as well — except, oh by the way, there aren`t any available. Too bad. At least one of the electric vehicle operators plans to go to court to fight this, but it may be an uphill battle. While the officials are hiding behind safety claims, the truth is that it`s a typical move of regulatory capture by the cab companies, limiting competition so they can keep their prices artificially high and avoid any sort of business model innovation.

Reveal Poor Web Security Have RSA Threaten You With Trademark Infringement TechDirt
Scott received an angry email from RSA, the well-known security company, who apparently built the NFCU website, claiming trademark infringement and demanding that he take down the post. RSA was upset with the implication that the site was insecure, but rather than either fixing the problem or explaining why the site is actually safe (which they insist), they threaten Scott with a trademark claim because he has a small screenshot of the NFCU website. Doesn`t that make you feel secure?

Use RECAP To Bypass Court Document PACER Paywall TechCrunch
If the RIAA can`t stop music sharing, the U.S. government is going to have an even harder time trying to stop the sharing of federal court documents hidden behind a paywall. Those documents aren`t protected by copyright law. The PACER service provides on-line access to U.S. Appellate, District, and Bankruptcy court records and documents. The fee to access PACER is $0.08 per page: Enter RECAP, a Firefox add-on created by a group of people at Princeton`s Center for Information Technology. Install the add-on and any documents you access on PACER are automatically uploaded to an Internet Archive repository. These documents are then shared with other users when they do similar searches.

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August, 2009

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