p2pnet World Headlines: Dec 16, 2009
ACTA briefing reveals little, details kept secret Computerworld
The Ministry of Economic Development still refuses to reveal the draft text of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) or fully define the position that New Zealand is taking in the negotiations. Ministry of Economic Development (MED) spokesperson George Wardle, at a briefing in Wellington today, said government could not release the draft text of the treaty as all parties to the negotiation had agreed to keep it confidential. Computerworld sought access to the briefing, but media were excluded. “We asked whether they could at least publish New Zealand’s position on the agreement,” says Don Christie of software company Catalyst IT. “We were told that could compromise negotiations.” The meeting was “way too short”, running for little over an hour, says Christie and while time was allocated for questions, “there was no time for structured feedback”. He wanted to ask about the definition and identification of a “rights-holder”, seeing disputes blowing up between competing “owners” of software intellectual property in particular, but there was no chance for a detailed discussion of such aspects, damaging as they may be to developing industries. Officials “kept talking about the need for strong rights enforcement, but they didn’t seem to appreciate how claims to such rights can be used as a competitive weapon”, Christie says. [Also see New Zealand 3 Strikes Law, Mk II]
Facebook’s Great Betrayal Valleywag
Facebook’s privacy pullback isn’t just outrageous; it’s a landmark turning point for the social network. Facebook has blundered before, but the latest changes are far more calculated. The company has, in short, turned evil. Its new privacy policy have turned the social network inside out: millions of people have signed up because Facebook offers a sense of safety. For the last five years — as long as you’re relatively careful about who you accept as your friends — what you do and say on Facebook for the most part stays on Facebook. Katie Couric’s daughter first posted pictures of her famous mom dancing silly in 2006, but it took three years for them to leak to us. (Thank you tipsters!) But virtually overnight and without a clear warning, Facebook has completely reversed those user expectations. Their new privacy settings amount to making anything you post on Facebook to be public, unless you go to great lengths to keep your info private.
Plot thickens over Russian pantyhose probe The Local
The mystery surrounding why exactly a Swedish diplomat was selling smuggled pantyhose in a Moscow kiosk grew on Tuesday as the Swedish foreign ministry alleged the Russian media portrayal of the incident was a deliberate smear attempt. “They’ve presented the story in a way which deliberately sullies the diplomat’s reputation,” Swedish foreign ministry spokesperson Anders Jörle told The Local. The comments come following a report by Russia’s NTV television which shows the 35-year-old Swedish diplomat unloading cartons of nylon stockings from a car bearing diplomatic plates and standing behind the counter of a kiosk in Moscow where the hosiery was being sold. The diplomat was subsequently arrested and taken in for questioning by Russian police, who accused the the Swede of selling stockings smuggled into Russia from Belarus.
Obama Sides With Blind in Copyright-Treaty Debate Wired
The Obama administration announced Tuesday it supports loosening international copyright protections to enable cross-border distribution of special-format reading materials for the blind, a move that puts it at odds with nearly all of U.S. industry. The government announced its support for the underlying principle of the WIPO Treaty for Sharing Accessible Formats of Copyrighted Works for Persons Who are Blind or Have other Reading Disabilities. The announcement was made in Geneva (.pdf) before a subcommittee of the the World Intellectual Property Organization, which has about 180 members.
Congress earmarks $30 mil to fight piracy Hollywood Reporter
Congress agreed to provide $30 million in new funding for the battle against piracy as authorities on Monday also reported success with a recent year-end piracy crackdown code-named Operation Holiday Hoax. The new funds target personnel and programs authorized by last year’s Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act. The funds include $20 million for new state and local economic, high technology and Internet crime prevention grants; $8 million for new FBI agents targeting IP crimes; and $2 million for new Department of Justice IP prosecutions. “Congress took a major step forward by providing $30 million in funding for new FBI agents, federal prosecutors, and local and state law enforcement grants to protect American jobs and creativity by cracking down on the theft of movies and other intellectual property,” MPAA chairman and CEO Dan Glickman said.
Ohio justices: Cell phone searches require warrant Associated Press
The Ohio Supreme Court said Tuesday police officers must obtain a search warrant before scouring the contents of a suspect’s cell phone, unless their safety is in danger. The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio described the ruling as a landmark case. The issue appears never to have reached another state high court or the U.S. Supreme Court. The Ohio high court ruled 5-4 in favor of Antwaun Smith, who was arrested on drug charges after he answered a cell phone call from a crack cocaine user acting as a police informant. Officers took Smith’s cell phone when he was arrested and, acting without a warrant and without his consent, searched it. They found a call history and stored numbers that showed Smith had previously been in contact with the drug user.
Morgan Stanley: Mobile Internet Market Will Be Twice The Size of Desktop Internet ReadWriteWeb
Morgan Stanley has released a couple of bulky documents about the mobile Internet: ‘The Mobile Internet Report,’ a 424-page report which explores eight major themes; and ‘The Mobile Internet Report Key Themes,’ a 659-slide presentation that drills down on thoughts covered in the report. We’ve embedded both documents below. Perhaps the most remarkable statement in the report is that the Mobile Internet market will be “at least 2x size of Desktop Internet,” which Morgan Stanley bases on analysis comparing Internet users with mobile subscribers. The report starts out by saying that Apple’s iPhone/iTouch/iTunes ecosystem “may prove to be the fastest ramping and most disruptive technology product / service launch the world has ever seen.” It goes on to state that “a handful of incumbents (like Apple, Google, Amazon.com and Skype) appear especially well positioned for mobile changes.”
EU group urges China to delay tech-purchasing rule Associated Press
A European business group urged China on Tuesday to delay a new government procurement plan that gives priority to Chinese “indigenous innovation,” a practice that links government purchases with local patents. The rule, in place for six weeks but only widely known last week, requires sellers of high-tech products to have them accredited based on “indigenous innovation” — or local intellectual property — before they can be listed in a government procurement catalog. Approved products will get preference over those without accreditation. Billions of dollars of business are potentially at stake. China’s Finance Ministry announced in August that government purchasing, including nontechnical goods, in 2008 rose 28.5 percent year-on-year to 599.1 billion yuan ($81.9 billion).
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December, 2009
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December 16th, 2009 at 5:37 pm
@facebook
“Their new privacy settings amount to making anything you post on Facebook to be public, unless you go to great lengths to keep your info private.”
That is the master plan. Google anyone?
December 17th, 2009 at 11:53 pm
“Congress earmarks $30mil to fight piracy”
Two things wrong with that statement. 1. “earmarks”, wtf, haven’t these people spent enough money already. Members of Congress will soon be the only people in America with any money at all and that’s only because they can print it. 2. “$30mil”, who are they lying to. Name me one government program or policy that hasn’t gone over budget and ended up costing billions of dollars.
December 18th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
“Members of Congress will soon be the only people in America with any money at all and that’s only because they can print it.”
There’s one thing wrong with that statement…
Congress doesn’t print money.
The Federal Reserve prints American money.
The Federal Reserve is not even an agency of the American government.
It’s a private 3rd party, that charges the US interest on every dollar printed.
(Food for thought)