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Atari Online News, Etc. Volume 13 Issue 31
Volume 13, Issue 31 Atari Online News, Etc. August 5, 2011
Published and Copyright (c) 1999 - 2011
All Rights Reserved
Atari Online News, Etc.
A-ONE Online Magazine
Dana P. Jacobson, Publisher/Managing Editor
Joseph Mirando, Managing Editor
Rob Mahlert, Associate Editor
Atari Online News, Etc. Staff
Dana P. Jacobson -- Editor
Joe Mirando -- "People Are Talking"
Michael Burkley -- "Unabashed Atariophile"
Albert Dayes -- "CC: Classic Chips"
Rob Mahlert -- Web site
Thomas J. Andrews -- "Keeper of the Flame"
With Contributions by:
Fred Horvat
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=~=~=~=
A-ONE #1331 08/05/11
~ Apple Sues Fake Stores ~ People Are Talking! ~ 'Spam King' Busted!
~ New Tech = Faster WiFi ~ Chrome Instant Display ~ PS PLAY Launched!
~ Vita To Miss Holidays! ~ PayPal Gaff for Lion! ~ .org Guns for .ngo!
~ Missouri Facebook Law! ~ Dumb IE Users A Hoax! ~ Foxconn Wants Robots!
-* Teachers Friending Students? *-
-* France Legalizes Banned Domain Names *-
-* Senator Supports Online Sales Tax Reforms! *-
=~=~=~=
->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Wow, the U.S. avoids a financial meltdown temporarily. You knew that the
politicians would "work things out" to make sure that didn't happen; they
had to because there would be too much damaging finger-pointing had they
failed. Didn't matter, the finger-pointing will still happen (and is).
How much money did you lose in Thursday's Wall St. meltdown? My retirement
investments certainly took a nosedive; and who knows if that will be
recovered by the time I can truly retire and use it!
And you know who is going to suffer the most in order for the politicians
to do something - you and I will lose more, and pay more. We'll continue
to pay for the poor planning and the over-spending that our politicians
are famous. I don't know about you (but I can guess), but I certainly
don't have any "extra" money to pay more taxes or whatever else you'd like
to call it.
Today's and tomorrow's politicians had better freshen up on their early
American history - especially the 1770'2. Focus on the time around the
famous Boston Tea Party, and similar acts of defiance. Another revolution
isn't totally out of the question, if things get bad enough!
Until next time...
=~=~=~=
->In This Week's Gaming Section - PS Vita To Miss the Holidays!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" PlayStation PLAY Launched!
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Sony PlayStation Vita Will Miss Holidays, Launches in 2012
Sony won't launch the PlayStation Vita in the United States and Europe
until early 2012, meaning that it will miss the coveted holiday season.
Kazuo Hirai, the man tapped to replace current Sony chief executive Howard
Stringer, made the announcement in a Tokyo press conference on Thursday,
according to reports.
In June, Hirai announced that the Wi-Fi-only version of the PlayStation
Vita, formerly known as the NGP, would retail for $249.99, and the Wi-Fi/3G
version will retail for $299.99. At the time, Sony said only that it was
due to ship during the holiday season.
That's still technically true; the Vita will launch in Japan by the end of
the year, but won't come to the U.S, or Europe until next year, Hirai said.
"The PlayStation business is a key pillar," Hirai said, according to
Bloomberg. "The video-game industry is evolving constantly. My expectation
is for the PlayStation business to remain at the forefront of this very
dynamic industry."
That means that, given the rivalry between Sony and Nintendo in the
handheld gaming market, that the Nintendo 3DS will be left as the only
dedicated portable gaming console in the United States and Europe for the
holiday season. Nintendo's 3D console costs $250, though two separate
teardowns have reported that the 3DS costs about $100 to produce.
Although Nintendo recorded record sales of the 3DS at its launch, sales
soon dwindled, with 3DS sales reaching 3.61 million devices by April, short
of Nintendo's expectations. At the end of July, Nintendo dropped the 3DS
price to $170.
Bloomberg reported that Hirai said that Sony will not lower the price of
the Vita to keep up with competitors.
The elephant in the room, however, remains the wealth of mobile gaming apps
that have sprung up for the Apple iOS and Android platforms. Reports from
Flurry and others have suggested that gamers are enamored with low-price,
"freemium" games for their phones and tablets, that they can upgrade with
in-app purchases.
Sony Mimics Xbox 'Summer of Arcade' with PlayStation PLAY
Sony took a page from the Microsoft Xbox "Summer of Arcade" and launched
PlayStation Network Play, a way to entice PS3 owners to download games with
free bonus DLC goodies.
Over a period of four weeks, the new annual Play program will offer users
the opportunity to buy four $14.99 games: Street Fighter III Third Strike
Online Edition, The Baconing, BloodRayne: Betrayal, and Rendegade Ops. If
they buy all four, users an receive a code for a bonus gift, Payday: The
Heist, which would otherwise cost $19.99 as a standalone game.
Play kicks off on Aug. 23, and runs through Sept. 13; preorders start
Aug. 9. Sony said that Plus members will receive an additional automatic
20 percent discount.
Since Microsoft has offered a "Summer of Arcade" downloadable summer special
on four separate occasions, it's difficult to see the core Play concept as
something other than a direct copy of Microsoft's own offering. Microsoft's
"Summer Fun Pack" offers users a free code for "Crimson Alliance" if users
buy all four games on offer. (If you click the "Xbox Live Summer of Arcade"
icon on the Microsoft Summer of Arcade page, you'll see video demonstrations
of all the games, alongside summer scenes that look a lot more fun than
sitting indoors, playing games.)
Where the PSN Play offer differs, however, is that buying the downloaded
games also allows the user to download one preset piece of downloadable
content, as well as a theme.
Here's the list of the DLC, according to Sony:
When Street Fighter III Third Strike Online Edition is purchased during the
PLAY promotion, purchasers will be able to unlock GILL, the self-proclaimed
god, without having to beat the game with every character, as day-one DLC.
All pre-orders will also receive a Capcom-produced theme.
When The Baconing is purchased during the PLAY promotion, purchasers will
receive an additional co-op character, Roesha - One Bad Mutha. All
pre-orders will also receive a static theme, exclusive to PLAY.
When BloodRayne: Betrayal is purchased during the PLAY promotion,
purchasers will receive a BloodRayne: Betrayal virtual item for their
PlayStation Home avatar and an exclusive dynamic theme.
When Renegade Ops is purchased through PLAY, purchasers will receive a
Vehicle & Character Pack with two new vehicles and special weapons. All
pre-orders will also receive a static theme, exclusive to PLAY.
=~=~=~=
A-ONE's Headline News
The Latest in Computer Technology News
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
Senator Supports Online Sales Tax Reform
Cash-strapped states seeking to collect billions in taxes from online
transactions gained an ally in Washington on Friday when a senator
introduced a bill for a federal solution to the problem.
Struggling with weak economies, states will lose an estimated $10 billion
this year and $11.4 billion next year in sales taxes that go uncollected
on online purchases, according to studies by three professors at the
University of Tennessee.
Although the fate of the bill by Democratic Senator Dick Durbin was
uncertain given the anti-tax environment on Capitol Hill, his measure is
backed by the National Governors Association and the National Retail
Federation and even earned a pledge of cooperation from giant online
retailer Amazon.
"It's being brought to a head by actions at the state level," said Indiana
state Senator Luke Kenley, who heads the Streamlined Sales Tax Governing
Board, a group of 24 states that has been lobbying Congress to enact a
uniform sales tax for all retailers - online and bricks and mortar alike.
Also pushing the issue to the forefront has been the sheer size of the
online retail market - $165 billion last year, according to Bernstein
Research, which predicts 15 percent annual growth over the next decade.
"Online sales are growing exponentially and this loophole is creating
winners and losers based on the tax code," says Jason Brewer of the Retail
Industry Leaders Association, a trade group in favor of federal rules.
Durbin argued his bill involved no new taxes and applied only to taxes
already imposed by the states that are not being collected. His goal is to
provide states with the clear authority to require retailers to collect
sales taxes already owed, treat all retailers equally regarding sales tax
collection, and release consumers, currently expected to calculate and
send in the taxes themselves, from that responsibility.
Amazon, the largest e-retailer, has been locked in a series of
state-by-state battles over the non-collection of taxes. Amazon declined
comment on Durbin's bill. But in a letter to Durbin, the company's vice
president for global public policy, Paul Misener, supported returning
discussion of the interstate collection of sales tax to Congress and
pledged to cooperate.
On a state level, Amazon has been less accommodating. It is backing a
referendum to end California's new tax collection policy and has pushed for
and gotten incentives in Tennessee and South Carolina tying sales tax
holidays to putting Amazon facilities and jobs in those states. The company
argues the current sales tax system is too complex for it to handle
reasonably.
A recent study by analysts at William Blair & Co of more than 2,000 items
for sale at 24 retailers found more than half the products were also
available on Amazon.com at an average of 11 percent below store prices. If
Amazon collected all state sales taxes, that price discount would drop
into a "mid single-digit" range, the analysts said.
Amazon warned in a recent SEC filing that if states or foreign countries
succeeded in forcing the company to start collecting taxes where it did not
do so already, it "could result in substantial tax liabilities, including
for past sales, as well as penalties and interest."
Brick and mortar retailers have been waiting for federal action for nearly
two decades since a Supreme Court decision encouraged Congress to come up
with some kind of national framework for remote sales taxes.
Apple Takes Aim at Copycat Fake Retail Stores with New Lawsuit
After a number of fake Apple retail stores in China gained publicity online,
Apple appears to have taken legal action, undoubtedly looking to shut down
the counterfeit locations designed to look like its own operations.
Apple has gone on the offensive against a number of defendants, including
50 John Does and unnamed businesses, in a new trademark infringement suit.
The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of New
York remains under a court seal, so the specifics of the complaint are not
known.
However, one of the defendants in the case is "Apple Story Inc.," matching
the name of a retail outlet that mimics Apple's own highly successful
retail operation. "Apple Story" is located in the neighborhood of Flushing
in Queens, New York; Apple's lawsuit was filed in Brooklyn.
A photo of the "Apple Story" store, submitted to BirdAbroad, shows
accessories for Apple products held in displays designed to look like
Apple's iPhone and iPad.
Based on the photo, the New York store does not appear to go to the same
great lengths taken by some highly elaborate fake stores in China. A handful
of locations in the city of Kunming look nearly identical to Apple's
legitimate stores, and employees at the fake locations even wear signature
blue t-shirts.
AppleInsider attempted Thursday afternoon to contact Samuel Joseph Chuang,
the attorney representing defendants Apple Story Inc., Fun Zone Inc., and
Janic Po Chiang, to confirm the exact nature of Apple's lawsuit. A request
for comment was not returned as of the time of publication.
Because the lawsuit is sealed, it is unknown whether this particular
complaint, filed on July 25, also targets the elaborate overseas
operations. It's possible that Apple does not yet know who runs those
stores, and could be included in the 50 anonymous John Does that are named
as defendants with no attorney listed.
Also named as a defendant in the case are generic "XYZ Businesses," with no
total number given. Finally, a person named Jimmy Kwok is also listed as a
defendant with no attorney.
Apple is represented by New York-based attorneys Mark N. Mutterperl and
Todd Ryan Hambridge of the firm Fulbright & Jawardi LLP.
The case's docket report reveals that Apple's legal team spoke with defense
attorney Chuang on Tuesday of this week, and both gave the court consent
that the case be unsealed, which is how its existence was discovered by
AppleInsider. However, the documents will remain sealed with access only
to counsel and the court, leaving the exact details unknown.
After the fake Apple Stores in China garnered attention around the world,
city officials in Kunming began investigating the retail locations.
Outraged customers duped by the operations also reportedly returned,
demanding proof that their purchases were genuine Apple products and not
cheap knock-offs.
Two of the fake retail locations were ordered to close by the government
because they did not have official businesses permits. But those stores
were allegedly not found guilty of any copyright infringement in China.
Las Vegas Man Accused of Mass Spamming on Facebook
A federal grand jury has indicted a Las Vegas man on charges he sent more
than 27 million spam messages to Facebook users.
Forty-year-old Sanford Wallace, the self-proclaimed "Spam King," turned
himself in Thursday to face charges outlined in last month's indictment
filed in San Jose, Calif.
Prosecutors say Wallace compromised about 500,000 Facebook accounts between
November 2008 and March 2009 by sending massive amounts of spam through the
company's servers.
In March 2009, a judge banned Wallace from using the social networking
site, but the indictment alleges that he violated that order within a
month.
Wallace is charged with six counts of electronic mail fraud, three counts
of intentional damage to a protected computer and two counts of criminal
contempt. He posted $100,000 bond after a court appearance Thursday.
PayPal Users Mistakenly Charged As Much As $4,000 for Mac OS X Lion
Multiple PayPal users have been incorrectly charged for purchasing Mac
OS X 10.7 Lion from the Mac App Store numerous times, with one user
claiming to have received a bill of nearly $4,000 for the $29.99 software.
One customer who contacted AppleInsider on Wednesday said they were
charged $3,878 on July 28 in a series of 122 separate charges for $31.79
each. They said they reached out to Apple but have not been able to
secure a refund.
"Apple blames PayPal, PayPal blames Apple," they wrote in an e-mail. "They
both are claiming to investigate, but I am stuck broke for three days
now."
The story is bolstered by a growing thread on the official Apple Support
Communities, filled with users who have also seen multiple mistaken
charges for Lion. The thread was started by user "abhas," who found they
were charged by the iTunes Store 20 times for Lion, leaving them with a
bill of $599.80.
The problem seems to lie solely with users who have a PayPal account
connected to their iTunes Store account for payments. Some who contacted
PayPal said they were told that the multiple charges were made by the
iTunes Store, while Apple has insisted to some that the iTunes Store only
charged ones.
"I just got off the phone with PayPal," user "JustinIowa" wrote. "They said
that even though Apple has refunded the balance and it shows that in my
PayPal account, that they will not refund the money back to my bank
account. It will wait until it withdraws the full amount from my bank
balance, then it will be refunded to my PayPal balance."
Some reported that they have been hit with overdraft fees and other
charges because of mistaken multiple charges. Some have also been left
waiting days for the refunds to reappear in their PayPal accounts.
"App Store agents have told me this is now a known issue and Apple is
investigating the specific causes," user "teknikks" wrote on the Apple
forums. "So far they can only blame an overload in their automated payment
system from all the Lion downloads."
Currently available only on the Mac App Store, Lion got off to a strong
start last week, topping a million downloads in its first day of
availability. That's the fastest start of any operating system in Apple
history.
The switch from disc-based operating system installs to the Mac App Store
did result in issues for a handful of users who experienced problems
updating their systems to Lion. But by all accounts those issues have been
rare, as 14,772 customers on the Mac App Store have given Lion an average
score of four-and-a-half stars out of five.
With New Domain Names on Market, .ORG Guns for .NGO
The Public Interest Registry, the non-profit that runs the .org domain name
has officially announced its intention to grab the soon-to-be-released .ngo
domain name.
New generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs) will be launched worldwide in 2012.
This means websites can end with something other than the usual .com, .net
and so on. The .ngo domain name will be reserved exclusively for
non-government organizations. So far, .org has been the de facto domain for
non-profits and charity groups. However, there are no formal restrictions
against for-profit companies signing up under the banner.
To qualify for .ngo, an organization must be official identified as a
non-governmental organization. The Public Interest Registry hasn't
disclosed how it will accurately vet applications though a process will
be put in place.
The .ngo domain will be a way to both consolidate and expand the global NGO
community. "NGOs themselves have a very strong identification with that
acronym," says Brian Cute, the registry's CEO.
The registry is also hoping to bring more organizations online from the
developing world. Cute says the registry is working with partners in
developing countries on how to take their philanthropy online and expand
their reach. The goal, Cute says, was not to simply collect money a second
time: "There are a lot of NGOs, grassroots NGOs, who are not online. The
intent here is not to effectively garner a second registration fee [on top
of .org]."
Losing .ngo, a dedicated charity domain, would be a big hit to the Public
Interest Registry, which has staked its name and brand on online
philanthropy. Right now, .org has more than 9 million users, according to
the registry.
France Legalises 30,000 Banned Internet Domain Names
French Internet authorities have been swamped by demands for domain names
since a new law authorised the use of around 30,000 previously banned
website addresses such as "islam.fr" and "internet.fr".
The decree authorising the new law was published on Wednesday, and French
authorities say they now have to deal with over 6,000 requests that have
been made since the law was passed a month ago.
France's constitutional court in October ruled the 2004 law banning the use
of the French words for such terms as xenophobia, Satan, mosque, slave,
Jew, brothel, church, cannabis and business was unconstitutional.
"More than 6,100 requests have been made," since July 1, Mathieu Weill of
the French Association for Internet Naming and Cooperation (AFNIC) told
AFP.
"By far the most sought after are terms like 'internet.fr', 'url.fr' and
'entreprise.fr' (business)," Weill said.
Anyone who can demonstrate a "legitimate interest" and was the first to put
in a request since the new law came into effect will get the domain name
they want.
For sensitive names such as those of religions, an applicant can be refused
because of the risk of "disturbing public order," Weill said.
The law's decree also says that offices receiving requests for domain names
should tell the government immediately "of requested or registered domain
names that are obviously illicit or against public order."
New Tech Will Allow 22Mbps for 100 Kilometers over TV Broadcast Bands
The IEEE standards body that oversees the development of WiFi technology
announced today a next-generation WiFi 802.22 technology designed to
facilitate wireless data transfer up to 22Mbps over great distances up to
60 miles, or a hundred kilometers. The interesting thing is, the new
technology is utilizing television bands without interfering with reception
of existing TV broadcast stations:
This new standard for Wireless Regional Area Networks (WRANs) takes
advantage of the favorable transmission characteristics of the VHF and UHF
TV bands to provide broadband wireless access over a large area up to 100
km from the transmitter. Each WRAN will deliver up to 22 Mbps per channel
without interfering with reception of existing TV broadcast stations,
using the so-called white spaces between the occupied TV channels.
The technology will be great in rural areas and developing countries with
vacant TV channels, IEEE says. In our view, this could also knock out any
rationale for the much talked-about AT&T/T-Mobile merger. For example, why
use pricey cellular data if your phone is within the range of a 802.22
hotspot? Apple is one of the leading backers of WiFi and has long ago
incorporated wireless capabilities to all their products. As of recently,
Apple ships its Macs with souped up WiFi capable of hitting 450Mbps over
wireless networks, even though they arent advertising this as a feature.
Newest Version of Chrome Displays Web Pages Instantly
Hate waiting a few seconds for pages to load in your web browser? Perhaps
it's time you thought about switching over to the latest version of
Chrome.
The latest stable version of Googles web browser, Chrome 13 build, brings
with it Google's Instant Pages feature.
"When we can predict with reasonable confidence that you'll click the first
result, Instant Pages will begin loading the webpage early. By the time you
click on the result, the entire webpage will often appear to have loaded
instantly," said Google Software Engineer Ziga Mahkovec in an August 2 post
on the company's Inside Search blog.
Additional Chrome enhancements include a smarter omnibox ("Chrome's
combination search box and address bar") that makes it easier to get back
to previously visited pages and a built-in print preview for Windows and
Linux users.
According to web metrics firm Statcounter, Chrome overtook Firefox to
become the the second most used browser in the UK in June.
Missouri Facebook Law Bans Teachers From Friending Students Online
In Missouri, a new bill effective on August 28 will formally ban teachers
from befriending students on social networking websites like Facebook. The
law is an aggressive step toward dictating the interactions educators are
allowed in online social spaces - a relatively uncharted legislative
territory.
Missouri Senate Bill 54 is also known as the Amy Hestir Student Protection
Act, named for a Missouri student who allegedly had a sexual relationship
with an abusive teacher beginning when she was 12. The case, which happened
decades ago, exceeded Missouri's statute of limitations and never came to
trial.
Under the stipulations of new bill, school districts must report
sexually-related allegations within 24 hours, and disclose any allegations
of sexual misconduct to other school districts in the state during the
hiring process.
While the law expressly forbids direct, private online contact (or
"exclusive access") between social media-savvy youth and their educators,
its wording may permit teachers to use more transparent platforms, like
the kind of Facebook pages that businesses and organizations often use.
Should Teachers Be Allowed To 'Socialize' With Students After School?
Teachers in Columbia, MO are outraged by the requirements enforced by a
recent state law that bans them from communicating with their students
after the bell rings.
Specifically, they're prohibited from befriending or following their
classes in virtual environments like Facebook and Twitter.
According to DigitalBurg.com:
The law was proposed after an Associated Press investigation found 87
Missouri teachers had lost their licenses between 2001 and 2005 because of
sexual misconduct, some of which involved exchanging explicit online
messages with students.
The teachers are now protesting this stemming of extra-curricular
interaction, declaring that it impedes their capacity to offer advice,
additional scholastic attention, even emergency help.
Last year, the Chronicle of Higher Education focused on Tanya M. Joosten,
a professor at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, who gives out her
Facebook address to students, uses privacy settings to control what various
"friends" can see, and posts updates to her courses Facebook page, which
are automatically pushed to the pages of students who follow it. And in the
case of younger students, social medias two-way communications
capabilities have helped parents, law officials and teachers track and
rescue children who are the victims of natural disasters like earthquakes
and tornadoes.
Neither argument is black-and-white. In a 2009 article in TheJournal.com,
Patricia Deubel wrote:
The National School Board Association [NSBA] published results of three
surveys regarding social networking, which included 9- to 17-year-olds,
parents, and school district leaders in charge of Internet policy...more
than 50 percent talk specifically about schoolwork'...schools and
especially parents have strong expectations about the positive roles that
social networking could play in students' lives, and both are interested in
social networking as a tool.
The NSBA makes clear references to several caveats, of course, each of
which prioritizes the safety of all students.
So what's the primary complaint? Public forums that extend the classroom to
transparent conversations in concert are still permitted. But some teachers
feel that stopping private social messaging is viewed as too harsh a rule.
Some students need more direct, one-on-one attention, is the argument.
According to DigitalBurg, private messages enable teachers to aid students
that may be "in dangerous or compromising situations," says Lucinda Lawson,
an English teacher who must remove roughly 80 current and former students
from her Facebook friends list, per the new law.
I wonder if building more walls actually does keep the abusers at bay, or
if it merely makes their pursuit to abuse more insidious and stealthy. Are
social networks really useful as education tools, or are they the new
"don't talk to strangers" cautionary tale? There seems to be too much gray
area to find an extreme. Mary Kay Letourneau didn't need social media to
develop an after-school relationship with her sixth-grade student, after
all.
While the educators seem to be the focus of this legal kerfuffle, the
medium itself is also targeted as suspect. That's always the case,
though.
When television started to gain popularity and began diversifying its
programming, the potential for the technology to educate was driven by the
likes of Edward R. Murrow:
This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and even it can
inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined
to use it to those ends. Otherwise it's nothing but wires and lights in a
box.
Less than 25 years after Murrow, one of the most trusted newsmen in
America, said those words during his speech to the Radio and Television
News Directors Association in 1958, TV shows had explored, broken and
dismissed the boundaries of what many audiences deemed appropriate viewing
for mass consumption.
Less than 25 years after that, the Internet had been packaged and
distributed to consumers as a tool that would take information and
education to new heights, lengths and depths.
Social networks have made global classrooms easy to put together,
participate in, even preserve. They've also further facilitated identity
theft and sexual predation.
All media can be corrupted and can corrupt. That's not news. But stifling
a medium - or rather access to it - for its potentially dangerous capacity
can be a dangerous practice. Who's got ideas for keeping this system in
check? Or opened up more? Social media also enter our - and our children's
- daily lives via a box, or some sort of technological device that broadens
and exposes.
Foxconn To Replace Workers with 1 Million Robots in 3 Years
Taiwanese technology giant Foxconn will replace some of its workers with
1 million robots in three years to cut rising labor expenses and improve
efficiency, said Terry Gou, founder and chairman of the company, late
Friday.
The robots will be used to do simple and routine work such as spraying,
welding and assembling which are now mainly conducted by workers, said Gou
at a workers' dance party Friday night.
The company currently has 10,000 robots and the number will be increased
to 300,000 next year and 1 million in three years, according to Gou.
Foxconn, the world's largest maker of computer components which assembles
products for Apple, Sony and Nokia, is in the spotlight after a string of
suicides of workers at its massive Chinese plants, which some blamed on
tough working conditions.
The company currently employs 1.2 million people, with about 1 million of
them based on the Chinese mainland.
Journalists Miss Hoax Clues in Dumb IE User 'Study'
A press statement and "study" released online Friday claiming lower IQ test
scores for Internet Explorer users was a deliberate attempt to trick
journalists into publishing bogus information. The data reported by
AptiQuant was distributed by major news sites around the world.
As the BBC reported early Wednesday, however, investigators discovered that
the content hosted online by AptiQuant - which claimed to be a psychometric
consulting company - was actually lifted from a number of other legitimate
web sites. For example, the thumbnail images of the firm's researchers were
lifted from the official site of French research company Central Test, the
BBC reported.
The prankster has since admitting having "pasted most of the material from
'Central Test' and got lazy to even change the pictures." The perpetrator
also listed eight telltale signs "that should have uncovered the hoax in
less than five minutes, [including the fact that] the domain was registered
on July 14, 2011," and the test mentioned in the report "is a copyrighted
test and cannot be administered online."
Over the weekend, the hoax gained worldwide traction as major media outlets
gleefully ran with the scam's principal theme. Examples include Forbes
("Internet Explorer Users Are Stupid"), the International Business Times
("Internet Explorer Users Not so Clever: Study"), NPR ("Study Suggests
Internet Explorer Users Are, Um, Kind Of Slow") and PC World ("Just How
Stupid are Internet Explorer Users?").
Using the name Leonard Howard, the prankster responded to an e-mail from
this reporter sent Friday questioning the validity of the study's findings.
When I pointed out that business users often have no browser choice and
asked whether the "study" had taken this into account, he replied, "No."
"The people who took the test could either be using their home computers or
office computers," the prankster wrote in an e-mail.
In a later posting at the AptiQuant web site picked up by other journalists,
Howard claimed his "firm" was being threatened with legal action by Internet
Explorer users. "A win in a court would only give a stamp of approval and
more credibility to our report," Howard wrote. However, it remains to be
seen whether Microsoft deems the hoax an amusing episode or a liable
action.
AptiQuant's original statement contended that Microsoft thwarted innovation
in the past by adopting technologies in older IE versions that don't comply
with web standards, which suggests the prankster might be a disgruntled
web-page designer or app developer. "This trend not only makes their job
tougher, but has also pulled back innovation by at least a decade," the
bogus AptiQuant statement read.
As our article pointed out on Friday, Microsoft has long since moved to
adopt web standards and is actively encouraging IE6 users to upgrade to a
modern browser. Still, the anti-Microsoft bias of the so-called "research"
was a red flag that should have alerted journalists that something was not
on the level.
The individual behind this hoax has demonstrated that you don't have to
launch a distributed-denial-of-service attack to wreak havoc on the
Internet. The good news is that journalists will be more careful before
accepting at face value whatever appears in press statements released by
organizations lacking an established standing.
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