p2pnet World Headlines: Aug 28, 2010
Mozilla shrugs off ‘forever free’ H.264 codec license The Register
Mozilla vice president of engineering Mike Shaver has questioned the importance of the forever free H.264 license introduced … by the MPEG-LA, the organization that oversees the web video codec on behalf of patent holders such as Apple and Microsoft. The patent-pool organization now says that for the H.264 license used by free video broadcasts, it will continue to waive royalty fees through the entire life of the license. Previously, the license was royalty-free only through the end of 2015. The move is an apparent answer to Google’s new WebM media format, which was open sourced under a royalty-free license this spring, but Shaver doesn’t think the move makes all that much difference.
Lawyer appeals decision on Assange case
The lawyer for two women who claim to have been sexually assaulted by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in Sweden said on Friday that he has appealed the prosecutor’s decision not to open a rape probe. “I have appealed the decision by the prosecutor,” Claes Borgström told AFP. “I have asked a higher-ranked special department in the prosecution’s office of Sweden to reconsider the [prosecutor's] decision.” A Swedish duty prosecutor on Friday night issued an arrest warrant for Assange over an allegation of rape, but chief prosecutor Eva Finn abruptly withdrew it on Saturday, saying new information had come to light. On Wednesday, she said there was no reason to believe a crime had been committed in that case, but said she had enough evidence to continue probing a separate molestation allegation against the 39-year-old Australian. Borgström said that he and Finné had reviewed the same material and that he “obviously” had a different opinion to the prosecutor.
Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen sues Google, Apple, Facebook, eight others over patents Telegraph
Billionaire Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft, has sued 11 major Web-based companies, including Apple, Google, Facebook, Yahoo, YouTube and eBay, alleging they infringed internet patents he owns. The suit has been brought by Interval Licensing, which is controlled by Mr Allen. AOL, Netflix, Office Depot, OfficeMax, and Staples are the other companies accused of violating four patents said cover fundamental web technologies first developed at Interval Research in the 1990s. It owns the patents of Interval Reserach, a defunct computer science and communications research company founded by Mr Allen and David Liddle in 1992. According to the complaint, Interval Research employed more than 110 of the world’s leading scientists, physicists, and engineers and was at the forefront in designing next-generation science and technology. It also claims to have helped fund outside projects, including work done by Google founders Sergey Brin and Lawrence Page.
Research experiment disrupts Internet, for some IDG News Service
An experiment run by Duke University and a European group responsible for managing Internet resources went wrong Friday, disrupting a small percentage of Internet traffic. The damage could have been far worse however, and the incident shows just how fragile one of the Internet’s core protocols really is, security experts say. The problem started just before 9 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time Friday and lasted less than half an hour. It was kicked off when RIPE NCC (Reseaux IP Europeens Network Coordination Centre) and Duke ran an experiment that involved the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) — used by routers to know where to send their traffic on the Internet. RIPE started announcing BGP routes that were configured a little differently from normal because they used an experimental data format. RIPE’s data was soon passed from router to router on the Internet, and within minutes it became clear that this was causing problems.
New WoW Game Expansion To Be Launched In China On August 31 ChinaTechNews
U.S.-based Blizzard Entertainment and NetEase.com, the licensed operator for Blizzard’s massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft on the Chinese mainland, have jointly announced that the new WoW expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, will be formally launched on the Chinese mainland on August 31, 2010. Mike Morhaime, chief executive officer and co-founder of Blizzard, said that they are thankful for Chinese users’ enthusiasm and support to World of Warcraft. At present, they are making full efforts to make sure that the new Wrath of the Lich King expansion can bring first-class gaming experience to users. He said the new expansion includes some of the most exciting contents since the launch of this game and they are glad the Chinese users can soon have full access to these contents.
Sony obtains Australia ban on PS3 hack chip BBC
Sony has won a temporary ban to prevent Australian distributors selling a hardware hack for the PlayStation 3 (PS3). The PS3Jailbreak “dongle” allows gamers to play homemade and pirated games on the game’s console. The ban prevents OzModChips, Mod Supplier and Quantronics from importing, distributing or selling the device. Sony has until August 31 to makes its case to the court for a permanent ban. If it fails, the chips could go on sale on 1 September.
Bad doctors to be named in online register The Local
The Swedish Board of Health and Welfare has written to the government to request permission to publish online the names, qualifications and current professional status of all certified workers in the healthcare sector. “This is already public information. Anybody can look it up, but we’re making it more easily accessible,” said Anders Printz, head of the board’s regulatory division. The list will not include any information about accusations of malpractice or official warnings from the Medical Responsibility Board. It will however contain names, certifications, and details on whether a medical professional has incurred any restrictions or been struck off the register. [Good idea - now one for Canada? And the same for bad lawyers? ]
Discovery could challenge established theory of the nucleus PhysOrg.com
By analyzing data from experiments performed earlier this decade at the Oak Ridge Electron Linear Accelerator (ORELA), physicists have made observations that seem to conflict with the widely accepted theory of the nucleus. In 2002, Paul Koehler, a physicist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennesse, and others were measuring neutron resonances in four types of platinum isotopes. These resonance patterns – which are the energies at which the nucleus of a platinum isotope absorbs neutrons – are affected by the motion of the protons and neutrons inside the nucleus. These motions are thought to be chaotic, at least according to random matrix theory, which is used to determine the behavior of large nuclei. However, in a recent study, Koehler and his colleagues found that the protons and neutrons seem to move in a collective way that can’t be explained by any known model of nuclear structure.
… and identi.ca
August, 2010
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August 28th, 2010 at 3:12 pm
“Lawyer appeals decision on Assange case”
This CIA morons don’t get it. Their stupid and hill conceived attempt to Smear Assange failed epically and nobody believe their crap.
If they were true professional they will recognize that and pack up.
Anyway everyone know that they are going to try something else and are now betting on what it might be.
Sending more CIA Slutts after him?
I hate these criminals supposed to work for the people but actually working for themselves. It is time to clean up the CIA.
August 28th, 2010 at 11:47 pm
Montreal Gazette reveals that your Canadian internet communications are monitored all the time.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Montreal+m%C3%A9tro+Parliament+Hill+reported+terror+targets/3448645/story.html
Internet messages among the men triggered computer “sniffers” monitoring electronic signals at Ottawa’s Communication’s Security Establishment, the national cryptologic agency, which alerted the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
“One of the (CSE) filters picked up their chat. The way the system is established, we’ve got red flags everywhere and you can trip one of those flags anytime.
“If you’re travelling to Pakistan, that’s a red flag. If you’re going on certain web sites, that’s another red flag, and if you use in e-mail certain key words. When you’ve got enough red flags, then you become a person of interest. My understanding is they were caught from the Internet.”>/em>
August 29th, 2010 at 11:20 am
“I hate these criminals supposed to work for the people but actually working for themselves. It is time to clean up the CIA.”
There is no way to clean up the CIA just as there is no way to clean up the MAFIA.
There is only one solution. Eliminate the CIA altogether and end all spying activities in all government agencies.
August 29th, 2010 at 4:03 pm
Well, CSE gets something, it’s their mandate to analyze signals entering and leaving Canada.
But Canada does not have that many undersea cables. This means that USA can easily turn off Canada’s Internet access to the rest of the world. Obushma and co. already passed corresponding bills.
Look on the map of undersea cables and make your own conclusions:
http://www.cablemap.info/