p2pnet World Headlines: March 16, 2010: 1
Australia comes clean on ACTA role IT News
The Australian Government has no intention of changing its domestic laws to harmonise with an international treaty on copyright, according to a spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). Questioned by iTnews on Australia’s role in the ACTA (Anti Counterfeiting Trade Agreement), the DFAT spokesman said Australian negotiators are only participating in the talks in the hope that other parties to the agreement will meet existing Australian standards. Advocates such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and Australia’s own Internet Industry Association (IIA) have long held fears that the ACTA will seek to introduce a global system of copyright protection that compels Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to take responsibility for the actions of their subscribers – to the extent of cutting them off after three warnings. In the latest leak from the ACTA talks, several parties called for ISPs to be forced to hand over customer details at the request of a rights holder, without any mention of legal oversight from a court or police.
Government goes ahead with drug tests for kids The Local
The Swedish government has ignored the advice of Sweden’s Council on Legislation (Lagrådet) and proposed the introduction of drug tests on children below the age of 15.”Early intervention against young abusers is absolutely crucial,” said Beatrice Ask, Sweden’s justice minister. In a previous ruling, the council weighed the invasion of personal integrity occasioned by the supervised collection of a urine sample against the benefits of a child getting help to counter their drug use, and concluded that the invasion of personal integrity was disproportionate. Ask argued however for the importance of timely intervention regarding drug use and underlined that several of the bodies in the referral process supported the government’s stance. The government’s legislative proposal also provides for the tests to be conducted without the consent of the children’s parents.
Online music royalties ‘grow more than fall from CDs’ BBC
The royalties that UK songwriters, composers and music publishers get from online sales are growing faster than the decline from CDs and DVDs. That is the finding of PRS for Music, the not-for-profit body which ensures such groups are paid when their music is played, performed or reproduced. It said UK online revenues for its members rose by £12.8m or 73% to £30.4m in 2009. At the same time, UK revenues from CD or DVD sales were down £8.7m.
iPad Pre-Orders: For Idiots Only PC World
Apple started taking early orders yesterday for its tablet, even though no one’s really sure what they’re buying. Friday morning, the fool’s parade started. Apple is taking online “pre-orders” for its iPad tablet, which is supposed to begin shipping on April 3. Buying a new kind of product sight unseen is foolish. Especially given how mysterious Apple has been on what the iPad can do and what restrictions on capabilities and media access it will place on users and content providers. Why blow $500 to $830 on a device that may not be what you expect? Just wait a mere three weeks to see for sure what it actually does and what surprises, good and bad, Apple has packed into the iPad.
Victim Asks Capital One, ‘Who’s in Your Wallet?’ KrebsonSecurity
Joseph Mier and Associates Inc., a real estate appraisal company based in Hammond, L.a., lost more than $27,000 last year when five four unauthorized automated clearing house (ACH) withdrawals were made from its accounts and sent to individuals around the United States. ‘I immediately contacted the bank, and for about a week dealt with them to correct the error,’ Owner Joseph Mier said. ‘Finally, they said, ‘From what we can see, whoever did this used your credentials, but nobody breached our system and we’re not responsible.’ I told them maybe they should change their slogan to, ‘Who’s in your wallet?” A spokesperson for Capital One said the company does not comment on pending litigation.
Scientology Tries To Block German Documentary Slashdot
“The Guardian is reporting on the strained relationship that Scientology is having with the German government and the airing of a pesky documentary on Southwest Broadcasting. Until Nothing Remains, a $2.3 million documentary, is slotted to air on German television at the end of this month. It recounts the true story of Heiner von Rönn and his family’s suffering when he tried to leave the Church of Scientology. A Scientology spokesperson called the film false and intolerant and also said they are investigating legal means to stop the film from being aired. More details on the film can be gleaned here.”
HSBC admits huge Swiss bank data theft BBC
About 24,000 clients of HSBC’s private banking operation in Switzerland had personal details stolen by a former employee, the company has admitted. In December, HSBC said that just 10 account holders were affected by the theft, which happened three years ago. The information stolen concerns 15,000 accounts that are still active. Another 9,000 accounts have been closed since the theft. HSBC says that it does not think the data can be used to access accounts. “We deeply regret this situation and unreservedly apologise to our clients for this threat to their privacy,” said Alexandre Zeller, chief executive of HSBC Private Bank (Suisse). “We are determined to protect our clients’ interests and are taking every necessary measure to do so, actively contacting all our clients with Swiss-based accounts,” he said.
(Cheers, catflap and Spam Trap)
..… and identi.ca
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi
March, 2010
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March 16th, 2010 at 2:35 pm
The comment section in the PC world article is a hoot.
The Ibots are whining all over the place about the author daring to call into
question the quality of a product created by their ‘god of tech’ and majorly
‘butthurt’ over the author calling people willing to spend a large amount of
cash on yet another Apple product ( completely ignoring the poor track record
of other Apple first release hardware ) idiots.
They demonstrate that they really ARE idiots. Hell, I never even buy a pc GAME until
it’s been out at LEAST a year so that the people who bought the product ( in essence
paying the company for the privilege of beta testing ) weigh in and all the bugs are fixed.
That’s just plain common sense.
Ibots are the model of what the corporate world wants all of us to be like.
March 16th, 2010 at 2:40 pm
The last game I bought for PC was the X3 box set. That’s because all of the
bugs are finally fixed AND Egosoft was smart enough to ditch any and ALL
copy protection. It was initially released with the Starforce DRM system and
the results were so disastrous that it almost killed all sales of the product.
Now that the CP has been removed sales of this game are VERY brisk.
Now if only every company could be that smart.