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Atari Online News, Etc. Volume 13 Issue 45
Volume 13, Issue 45 Atari Online News, Etc. November 11, 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 #1345 11/11/11
~ Google Mulling Divorce ~ People Are Talking! ~ The E-PARASITE Act!
~ Internet Ad-Fraud Case ~ NJ Teacher Faces Firing ~ Nook Tablet Soon!
~ Facebook, FTC To Agree ~ Peers Are 'Mostly Kind' ~ Hard Drive Shortage!
~ Zuck Returns to Harvard ~ Mozilla Updates Fireox! ~ Mexican Cartel Hits!
-* Senate Net Neutrality Vote! *-
-* GOP Bid To Overturn Web Rules Fails *-
-* Cyber Weakness Should Deter U.S. Cyber War *-
=~=~=~=
->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Well, things are relatively quiet around here, for a change. We've
resumed our typical fall weather, although we have been experiencing an
Indian Summer - sun and warmth. Hard to believe that we had an early
snow storm just a couple of weeks ago!
So, while I try to relax from a couple of grueling weeks, from both work
and the weather events, let's just move right into this week's issue!
Until next time...
=~=~=~=
->In This Week's Gaming Section - How The Video Games Industry Is Faring!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Ninja Gaiden 3 Confirmed As A Wii U Launch Title!
Halo To Release The Six Original Halo CE Maps!
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News!
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How The Video Games Industry Is Faring
A look at results from selected companies in the video games business:
Oct. 20: Microsoft Corp. says revenue from the Xbox 360 products and
services grew 7 percent, led by higher revenue from the Xbox Live service
and offset by decreased revenue from video games and fewer consoles sold.
Microsoft says video game revenue decreased because the same period a year
ago had strong sales of "Halo Reach." Microsoft says it shipped 2.3
million Xbox 360 consoles during the latest quarter, compared with 2.8
million a year ago.
Oct. 27: Nintendo Co., maker of the Wii game console and DS handheld,
reports a larger net loss and reduces its full-year forecast, battered by
the strong yen and weak software sales. The company says a price reduction
has lifted sales of the 3DS handheld, which offers 3D gaming without
special glasses. One title, "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D,"
sold more than a million units, but the company acknowledged that the 3DS
"has yet to have many hit titles." Wii console sales for the latest
six-month period fell to 3.35 million units from 4.97 million units a year
ago, while software sales declined to 36.45 million units from 65.21
million a year earlier.
Electronic Arts Inc. takes a hit despite solid results after the video
game publisher failed to raise full-year guidance as some had expected.
Its quarterly loss expanded from a year ago because of higher costs, but
revenue grew. The company says such titles as "FIFA 12," ''Madden NFL 12"
and "The Sims Social" performed well, while "Battlefield 3" was off to a
good start.
Nov. 2: Sony Corp. reports an 8 percent revenue decline in the game
business because of a price reduction in the PlayStation 3 console ahead
of the holiday season.
THQ Inc., a maker of video games, says it lost more money in the latest
quarter than a year ago, as the company spent more on development,
marketing and other expenses. But its revenue grew and surpassed
expectations. The company's upbeat forecast for the all-important holiday
quarter, however, lifted its stock sharply.
Tuesday: Activision Blizzard Inc. raises its full-year outlook on the day
its latest "Call of Duty" blockbuster goes on sale. The game is expected
to break industry records set by its predecessor a year ago for metrics
such as first-day sales and overall dollar sales. The company also says
its third-quarter net income nearly tripled thanks to strong demand for
its video games.
Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., which develops and sells video games
including the top-selling "Grand Theft Auto" and "Red Dead Redemption"
series, reports a net loss in the latest quarter. Its revenue fell 56
percent from a year earlier because of a dearth of big product launches.
Ninja Gaiden 3 Confirmed As A Wii U Launch Title
Although no firm date has been set for the release of the Wii U (or a soft
date for that matter), we are relatively confident that it will be due out
in 2012. Almost certainly. At least there is a very good chance. But while
Nintendo is apparently threatening certain doom to those that leak info on
the console, there have been several announcements regarding what titles
will be released for the console.
So far the announced properties have all come from third-party developers,
and while Nintendo will definitely have a handful of games available at
launch, none of the details on those titles have been released as of yet.
It also isnt clear if the upcoming announced titles will be available
whenever the Wii U is launched, or if they are simply scheduled for the
console eventually.
That has changed, as Ninja Gaiden 3: Razers Edge has been confirmed as a
launch title according to a report from Andriasang, and it is only the
fifth title to officialy be listed for the Wii U in 2012. To be fair, many
of the games announced will likely be available whenever the Wii U is
released, but this is the first game that has been confirmed to be
available at launch.
Ninja Gaiden 3 will be released for the PS3 and Xbox 360 on February 4,
minus the subtitle 'Razers Edge.' The addition to the title for the Wii U
may suggest that the version Team Ninja are preparing for Nintendos
console has some significant alterations to accommodate the more powerful
system and the tablet-like controller.
Well have to keep waiting for more info on the Wii U, but more and more
titles for the system should be announced in the coming months.
Halo To Release The Six Original Halo CE Multiplayer Maps as DLC for Reach
It is a good time to be a Halo fan. Next week marks the 10-year
anniversary of the release of Halo: Combat Evolved on the original Xbox,
and to commemorate the event, Microsoft has two offerings for its fans.
The first is the remastered, anniversary edition of Halo: CE, featuring
all new HD graphics, online connectivity for the six slightly reimagined
competitive multiplayer maps and one new Firefight map, Kinect voice
integration, plus a few other Easter Eggs and surprises. The game will
also feature online co-op, new plot elements, 1,000 achievement points and
3D support. For fans of the game, the $39.99 will also allow you to relive
the experience using the engine from Halo: Reach.
But if the campaign isnt your thing, and you are a fan of Reach, you can
purchase the six remastered maps along with the new Firefight map for $15
(1,200 MS Points). The maps included as DLC and on the Halo: CE
Anniversary Edition disc are: Damnation, Beaver Creek, Prisoner,
Timberland, Headlong, Hang Em High and the Firefight map, Installation
04.
Those that already own Reach but are planning on purchasing the Anniversary
Edition can download the maps off the disc and access them through Reach as
well. Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary Edition hits stores for the Xbox
360 on Tuesday.
=~=~=~=
A-ONE's Headline News
The Latest in Computer Technology News
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
Cyber Weaknesses Should Deter US from Waging War
America's critical computer networks are so vulnerable to attack that it
should deter U.S. leaders from going to war with other nations, a former
top U.S. cybersecurity official said Monday.
Richard Clarke, a top adviser to three presidents, joined a number of U.S.
military and civilian experts in offering a dire assessment of America's
cybersecurity at a conference, saying the country simply can't protect
its critical networks.
Clarke said if he was advising the president he would warn against
attacking other countries because so many of them - including China, North
Korea, Iran and Russia - could retaliate by launching devastating
cyberattacks that could destroy power grids, banking networks or
transportation systems.
The U.S. military, he said, is entirely dependent on computer systems and
could end up in a future conflict in which troops trot out onto a
battlefield "and nothing works."
Clarke said a good national security adviser would tell the president that
the U.S. might be able to blow up a nuclear plant somewhere, or a
terrorist training center somewhere, but a number of countries could
strike back with a cyberattack and "the entire us economic system could be
crashed in retaliation ... because we can't defend it today."
"I really don't know to what extent the weapon systems that have been
developed over the last 10 years have been penetrated, to what extent the
chips are compromised, to what extent the code is compromised," Clarke
said. "I can't assure you that as you go to war with a
cybersecurity-conscious, cybersecurity-capable enemy that any of our
stuff is going to work."
Clarke, along with Gen. Keith Alexander, who heads both the National
Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command, told the conference crowd that
the U.S. needs to do a better job at eliminating network vulnerabilities
and more aggressively seek out malware or viruses in American corporate,
military and government systems.
But Clarke was more strident about pushing for broader government
regulations to enforce such improvements, despite political reluctance.
The problems, he said, will not be fixed unless the government gets more
involved.
He added that the U.S. also needs to make it clear to countries such as
China that efforts to use computer-based attacks to steal high-tech
American data will be punished.
In a forceful and detailed public report last week. U.S. intelligence
officials accused China and Russia of systematically stealing sensitive
U.S. economic information and technologies for their own national
economic gain.
The report called on the U.S. to confront China and Russia in a broad
diplomatic push to combat cyberattacks that are on the rise and which
represent a "persistent threat to U.S. economic security."
On Monday, Clarke said that until there are real consequences for the
massive espionage, countries like China will still keep stealing.
Senate Set To Vote on Neutering Net Neutrality
The Senate is likely to vote within days on a measure that would undo
net-neutrality rules adopted by the Federal Communications Commission in
2010, even though theyve yet to go into effect.
One of the lead sponsors of Senate Journal Resolution 6 (.pdf), Sen. Kay
Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) said "The Internet is not broken and does not
need fixing." She said a likely vote was planned for this week.
The measure simply says that Congress "disapproves of the rule" and "such
rule shall have no force or effect."
The House passed a similar measure, but Obama has threatened to veto it.
It was not immediately clear whether the Senate has the necessary votes
for passage.
The brouhaha dates to 2008, when the FCC ordered Comcast to stop
interfering with the peer-to-peer service BitTorrent, which can use a lot
of bandwidth. That marked the first time the FCC officially tried to
enforce fairness rules put in place in 2005 by Republican FCC head Michael
Powell. The action came as a response to complaints Comcast was sending
forged packets to broadband customers to close their peer-to-peer sessions
- a tactic used by the Chinese government to block internet content it
doesnt like.
Comcast appealed the decision, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia Circuit last year vacated the agencys net-neutrality
rules.
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said the agency was enforcing the
net-neutrality Four Freedoms, a set of agency principles dating to 2005
that supposedly guarantee that cable and DSL users have the right to use
the devices, services and programs of choice over their wireline
connections.
In response to last years appellate court decision, the FCC formalized
the rules again, hoping to put them on stronger legal grounds - though it
did not use all of the regulatory tools at its disposal, which left many
net neutrality proponents angry that the Obama administration was not
living up to campaign promises.
Verizon is already suing the FCC over the rules, which mostly apply to
cable and DSL providers, and go into effect Nov. 20.
The rules prohibit companies from unfairly blocking services they dont
like and require them to be transparent about how they manage their
networks during times of congestion. Mobile carriers like AT&T and
Verizon face fewer rules but are banned from interfering with alternate
calling services such as Skype.
Senate Rejects GOP Bid To Overturn Internet Rules
Senate Democrats on Thursday turned back a Republican attempt to repeal
federal rules designed to prevent Internet service providers from
discriminating against those who send content and other services over their
networks.
Republicans argued that "net neutrality" rules announced by the Federal
Communications Commission last December were another example of federal
regulatory overreach that would stifle Internet investment and innovation.
But Democrats, and the White House in a veto threat, said repealing the
FCC rules would imperil openness and freedom on the Internet. "It would be
ill-advised to threaten the very foundations of innovation in the Internet
economy and the democratic spirit that has made the Internet a force for
social progress around the world," the White House said.
The vote to against taking up the bill, along party lines, was 52-46.
The rules, approved 3-2 with the three FCC Democrats in favor and the two
Republicans opposed, tried to find a middle ground between phone and cable
companies desiring more control over their networks and the content
providers wanting unfettered access to the Internet.
The rules bar service providers from favoring or discriminating against
Internet content and services, including online calling services such as
Skype and Web video services such as Netflix, that could compete with
their core operations. They require broadband providers to let subscribers
access all legal online content and prohibit wireless carriers from
blocking access to any websites or competing services.
The House, where Republicans command a majority, voted last April to
repeal the rules, saying the FCC lacked the authority to set Internet
policy and that there was no need for the federal government to intervene
in an already open Internet. They said the rules would stifle investment
in broadband systems.
The rules, said Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, are "a stunning
reversal from a hands-off approach to the Internet that federal
policymakers have taken for more than a decade."
She brought up the resolution under the Congressional Review Act, which
allows lawmakers to challenge regulations issued by federal agencies. The
rules are scheduled to go into effect on Nov. 20.
The FCC, said Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., "would rule as a de facto police
of the open and free Internet."
But Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Chairman Jay
Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said the resolution was misguided. "It will add
uncertainty to the economy. It will hinder small businesses dependent on
fair broadband access. It will undermine innovation. It will hamper
investment in digital commerce."
Without a free Internet he said, "there would be nothing to prevent
Internet service providers from charging users a premium in order to
guarantee operation in the 'fast lane.'"
The rules give providers flexibility to manage data to deal with network
congestion as long as they publicly disclose those practices. They do not
specifically ban higher charges for faster transmission of data, but do
outlaw "unreasonable network discrimination."
Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said those trying to overturn the rules say they
want to "liberate the Internet when, in fact, what they want to do is
imprison the Internet within the hands of the most powerful communications
entities today to act as the gatekeepers."
Rockefeller and Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., another backer of the FCC rules,
cited a letter to the FCC chairman written before the rules were finalized
saying that "a process that results in commonsense baseline rules is
critical to ensuring that the Internet remains a key engine of economic
growth, innovation and global competitiveness." Among the signees were the
CEOs of Google, Inc., Amazon.com, Netflix, Inc., Facebook, YouTube and
eBay, Inc.
Facebook Nears Privacy Settlement with FTC
A published report says Facebook is nearing a settlement with federal
regulators that would require the online hangout to obtain approval from
its users before making changes that expose their profiles and activities
to a wider audience.
The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Facebook has agreed to
make the changes to resolve a nearly 2-year-old investigation by the
Federal Trade Commission. The Journal cited unnamed people familiar with
the situation.
Facebook declined to comment, and FTC officials didn't immediately return
calls.
The Journal says that if the settlement is approved by FTC's
commissioners, it would require Facebook to get explicit consent from its
800 million users before changing its privacy settings. Facebook would
also submit to government reviews of its privacy practices for 20 years.
Google Mulls Divorcing Chamber of Commerce
Google is considering ditching the U.S. Chamber of Commerce out of
frustration with its support for legislation that would force Internet
companies to police websites that peddle pirated movies and fake Viagra.
The rumblings of a defection - a potentially serious blow to one of
Washingtons most powerful lobbies - come weeks after Yahoo left the
Chamber in October, largely over its support of Sen. Patrick Leahys
(D-Vt.) online piracy bill, the PROTECT IP Act.
A source close to Google said the company is 'frustrated' about paying
dues to an organization promoting legislation that would 'impose new
liabilities' on Google. A second source close to the company confirmed
that thinking.
The Consumer Electronics Association, one of the countrys largest trade
groups, is also weighing whether to part ways with the Chamber over its
aggressive campaign for the Senate bill and its companion introduced in
the House last week, the Stop Online Piracy Act, a tech industry source
said.
The bills would require search engines and online ad companies to clamp
down on websites that illegally peddle copyrighted movies, fake
pharmaceuticals and other counterfeit products if served with a court
order by the Justice Department.
CEA and some top Google executives have publicly argued that the bills
would threaten innovation and encourage censorship of protected speech on
the Web.
CEA and Google declined to comment for this story. The Chamber said it
does not comment on membership matters.
Many in the tech industry believe the Chamber is doing the bidding of
Hollywood and other deep-pocketed members of the content industry. The
Chamber believes the IP bills are needed to stop rogue sites from
profiting off the content its members spend millions making.
In testimony before Congress, entertainment companies have vilified Google
as a facilitator of online piracy.
The Chamber has blasted a series of blog posts touting both pieces of
legislation and orchestrated fly-in trips to D.C. for its content and
pharmaceutical industry members - including Eli Lilly, NBCUniversal and
Rosetta Stone - to canvass the Hill. It also created a website dedicated
to its campaign against rogue sites, FightOnlineTheft.com.
That aggressive push, a tech industry source said, was largely what
prompted Yahoo to quietly cut ties with the Chamber last month. A Yahoo
spokeswoman did not comment on the business lobbys support for the bills,
but told POLITICO at the time that it "has memberships with numerous trade
associations and belongs to a number of organizations that promote a free
and fair marketplace which enable Yahoo! to innovate on behalf of our more
than 700 million users."
"As our membership renewal time neared and we reviewed our membership, we
decided not to renew," the Yahoo spokeswoman said.
Online piracy isnt the first policy issue that has put the Chamber in hot
water with its members. Utility companies including Exelon, Pacific Gas
and Electric Co. and PNM Resources, as well as Apple, left the business
lobby in 2009 to protest its stance on global warming.
Several CEA member companies are upset over the Chambers support of the
two IP bills and have called on the trade association to reconsider its
membership, a tech industry source said.
In particular, CEA members are up in arms over so-called private right of
action provisions in the bills that would allow trademark and copyrights
holders to seek court orders requiring ad networks and payment processors
to cut off business with an allegedly infringing site.
CEA members believe it would trigger a flood of costly lawsuits - which
runs counter to the Chambers huge push for tort reform and opposition to
private right of action measures in previous legislation.
"Theyre really out of left field," an industry source said of the
Chambers support for the private right of action measures.
Google has not taken a formal company position on the pending legislation,
but some of the search giants high-level executives have made their
opinions known.
Googles Chief Internet Evangelist Vint Cerf, known as one of the
Internets founding architects, said this week the bills "wont solve the
problem" of online piracy and will likely disrupt the architecture of the
Web.
And earlier this year, Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt and Public
Policy Director Bob Boorstin both sounded alarm over parts of Sen. Patrick
Leahys (D-Vt.) PROTECT IP Act earlier this year.
Boorstin even went so far as to say that PROTECT IP "would put the U.S.
government in the very position we criticize repressive regimes for doing
- all in the name of copyright."
Unlike a version of the IP bill Leahy introduced last session, PROTECT IP
forces search engines like Google and Yahoo to block access to copyright
infringing websites.
Smiths bill, on the other hand, would require search engines to stop
serving up a "direct hypertext link" to the site if served with a court
order.
But Googles cash cow is online advertising - a service thats targeted
in the legislation.
While both bills would let rights holders seek a court order that would
force ad networks to stop serving an alleged illicit site, tech interests
say Smiths version goes a step farther by allowing IP owners to make that
request to the ad network first. If the ad network doesnt comply, then
the rights holder can seek the court order.
NetCoalition, which represents Google and Yahoo, has argued that the
provision raises due process concerns. They say it would allow rights
holders to strong arm ad networks without a judge weighing in first.
Just A Few Ways The E-PARASITE Act Could Disfigure The Internet
Regulating the Internet is turning out to be much more difficult than the
federal government anticipated. The E-PARASITE legislation, a bill
proposed by Congress that was formerly known as the Senate-backed PROTECT
IP Act, has been making the rounds and will attempt to punish copyright
infringement - as well as toy with its definitions to a harrowing degree.
As one law blog put it, "Its as though George Lucas came out with the
directors cut of The Phantom Menace, but added in another half-hour of
Jar Jar Binks." Its that bad.
Before we tell you whats wrong with it, we should define the bill. The
House of Representatives introduces it as an act that will "promote
prosperity, creativity, entrepreneurship, and innovation by combating the
theft of U.S. property, and for other purposes." Basically, its an
attempt to stop online piracy and give a stronger voice to content thats
been infringed upon via the Internet.
On the surface, that sounds almost noble: E-PARASITE wants to give greater
powers to copyright holders. But its the innards of this legislation that
are shockingly problematic.
Attempting to apply conventional definitions to the Internet is almost
always losing battle. The constantly evolving, hybrid nature of so much
of what constitutes the Web makes turning to traditional terms like trying
to catch water from a faucet. So of course, there are more than a few
problems with how E-PARASITE attempts to define the Internets evil-doers.
One of the sites that would face severe consequences is YouTube. According
to the bills definition, YouTube infringes on someone elses copyrighted
material, and its possible that the site could find itself virtually
hidden from consumers. Whats more, lip-syncing to a song and broadcasting
it on the Internet could violate E-PARASITEs terms.
And these terms are broad and sweeping, see for yourself:
[A site that is] "Primarily designed or operated for the purpose of, has
only limited purpose or use other than, or is marketed by its operator or
another acting in concert with that operator for use in, offering goods
or services in a manner that engages in, enables, or facilitates"
violations of the Copyright Act, Title I of the Digital Millennium
Copyright Act, or anti-counterfeiting laws; or,[The site] "Is taking, or
has taken, deliberate actions to avoid confirming a high probability of
the use of the U.S.-directed site to carry out the acts that constitute a
violation" of those laws; or, [The sites owner] "Operates the
U.S.-directed site with the object of promoting, or has promoted, its use
to carry out acts that constitute a violation" of those laws.
This just opens the door for Internet censorship, and if something like
this passes you can expect new Web content to suffer and plenty of lawsuits
to fight that. We can think of a number of recent innovations that are
likely anxious about the potential passing of the bill (Singboard and
Turntable.fm come to mind). And wouldnt any site that hosts a great deal
of user-generated content be in trouble? Tumblr, Twitter, and the entire
sharing, re-posting, re-tweeting platform would be put on notice.
The Future Music Coalition, which is all-things-anti-piracy, has even come
out against the bill. "[The definitions] are seemingly broad and enough to
include sites that have perfectly legitimate uses. For example: Some of us
here at FMC are musicians and producers. We regularly use services like
Dropbox, etc. to send files back-and-forth to collaborators. Under this
bill, such services - and those yet to be invented - could be subject to
blocking or other penalties."
The way E-PARASITE is currently set up puts law enforcement on its head:
Instead of innocent until proven guilty, Websites are guilty until proven
innocent. If an Internet domain is suspected of infringing on anothers
intellectual property, that Website is more or less ostracized from the
Internet. Search engines are required to hide the accused sites.
Copyright holders would merely have to allege a site is infringing on
their property to shut down business. Hosts and payment services would be
required to, more or less, blacklist a site once receiving a notice
accusing it of stealing "U.S. property." And then that site and its ad
partners would be wiped out until it goes through the court system to
establish its legitimacy.
Perhaps the most shocking element of E-PARASITE is that in order to punish
pirating sites, the government would effectively be using a firewall to
block them. This heavy-handed censorship is something weve supposedly
been lobbying against since the Webs origins, and new light has been shed
on the issue internationally within the last year. But it appears wed be
making an exception in this case, and under certain (vaguely defined)
conditions, DNS blocking would be acceptable.
Which, in turn, could boost traffic for international search engines and
sites. DNS blocks are notoriously easy to get around, and one incredibly
simple option is just to start using overseas portals. It gives a lot of
power to international markets. And not only to already-in use clients:
Innovators could find themselves taking this outside America. In an age
when the digital race is constantly changing and the space becomes
increasingly crowded, ideas are worth more and more. The E-PARASITE act
could have us literally sending them overseas.
Many pundits think that the E-PARASITE bill - or something like it - is
going to pass. This Reddit thread is an interesting assessment of how
Internet users would adapt. You can join online petitions or contact your
congressman to oppose the legislation, but if you take a look at who is
supporting the bill (its largely backed by big business) it seems like
this sort of regulation is in our midst.
Mexican Cartel May Be Trying To Silence Bloggers
Mexico's hyper-violent Zetas drug cartel appears to be launching what one
expert calls a "frontal offensive" against people who post crime reports
on an Internet chat room. It's an apparent bid to control information
about Mexico's drug war.
Residents of the border city of Nuevo Laredo say a man's decapitated body
was found there, laid atop a banner suggesting he had been killed for
posting on the web site "Nuevo Laredo en Vivo."
Experts said Thursday users of the site are probably vulnerable to such
attacks, and that the Zetas could be tracking them from clues they leave
on the web.
If the killing is confirmed to be internet-related it would be the fourth
such slaying in the border city in recent months.
Feds Charge 7 in Internet Ad-Fraud Case
A crew of Internet bandits devised an international scheme to hijack more
than 4 million computers worldwide, manipulating traffic on Netflix, the
Internal Revenue Service and other popular websites to generate at least
$14 million in fraudulent advertising revenue, federal prosecutors said
Wednesday.
About 500,000 computers in the United States were infected with malware,
including those used by ordinary users, educational institutions,
nonprofits and government agencies like NASA, U.S. Attorney Preet
Bharara said at a Manhattan news conference.
Bharara called the case "the first of its kind" because the suspects set
up their own "rogue servers" to secretly reroute Internet traffic to sites
where they had a cut of the advertising revenue.
Six of the seven people named in the indictment were Estonians who were in
custody in that country, and extradition was being sought, prosecutors
said; one Russian remained at large. As part of the takedown, the FBI
disabled the rogue servers without interrupting Internet service,
authorities said.
The problem was first discovered at NASA, where 130 computers were
infected. Investigators followed a digital trail to Eastern Europe, where
the defendants operated "companies that masqueraded as legitimate
participants in the Internet advertising industry," according to an
indictment unsealed on Wednesday.
The defendants "engaged in a massive and sophisticated scheme that
infected at least 4 million computers located in over 100 countries with
malicious software or malware," the indictment said. "Without the computer
users' knowledge or permission, the malware digitally hijacked the
infected computers to facilitate the fraud."
Once their computers were infected, people seeking to visit Netflix, the
IRS, ESPN, Amazon and other legitimate sites were redirected to sites
where the defendants collected income for each click on an ad, authorities
said. The malware and corrupted servers also allowed the defendants to
substitute legitimate ads on other websites with replacement ads that
earned them more illicit income, they added.
"On a massive scale, the defendants gave new meaning to the term 'false
advertising,'" Bharara said.
The indictment estimated the defendants "reaped least $14 million in
ill-gotten gains" over a five-year period.
Facebook Founder Returns to Harvard To Recruit
Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg left Harvard University as a dropout
with a novel idea. He returned Monday with a triumphant message: He's
hiring.
The 27-year-old CEO received a rock-star welcome during his first official
visit since he left for California's Silicon Valley in 2004. He made his
recruitment pitch to 250 students at Harvard after a similar meeting at
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
"We're just getting started," he told reporters and a few hundred
students who gathered at the Harvard campus to catch a glimpse of the
Internet pioneer. "The next five or 10 years are going to be about all
the different products and industries that can be rethought."
So many students turned out to see the sweatshirted billionaire outside
a university library that campus officials had to set up temporary
barriers to separate him from his audience.
Aaron Perez, an 18-year-old freshman from Poughkeepsie, N.Y., said
Zuckerberg's creation was one of the reasons he chose to study computer
science. He said he's encouraged to hear that companies are hiring
computer programmers in today's struggling economy.
"It's an empowering story, especially these days," said Perez, who risked
being tardy to rowing practice to see Zuckerberg. "It makes it seem like
I've got a chance."
Harvard computing officials were working on their own university-wide
online directory when Zuckerberg created Facebook as a campus-only social
network. The then-sophomore told the campus newspaper, The Harvard
Crimson, it was silly that the university needed years to create the
site.
"I can do it better than they can, and I can do it in a week," he said.
An earlier Zuckerberg creation, Facemash, almost led to his expulsion
after he hacked university computers for student photos.
But there were no hurt feelings Monday, as university officials and
faculty welcomed Zuckerberg back to campus for the official visit.
Zuckerberg has returned to Harvard before on informal recruiting trips.
"There are relatively few tech rock stars whose names are known by people
all over the world," said Harvard computer science professor David Malan,
who cited Microsoft's Bill Gates and Apple's Steve Jobs as two other
examples. "He really is in that category."
Zuckerberg said his company has plans to expand and needs talented workers
to do it.
"There's a lot of really smart people here and a lot of them are making
decisions about where they're going to work," he said of his decision to
recruit in Cambridge.
The company's base of operations moved to Palo Alto, Calif., in June 2004,
just months after Facebook began to expand outside of Harvard. By the end
of the year, the site would have nearly 1 million users. Facebook says it
now has more than 800 million active users around the world and 3,000
employees.
It could someday open an office in the Boston area, Zuckerberg said.
The area's status as a center for technological innovation has improved in
the last several years, local entrepreneur Dharmesh Shah said. Shah is
chief technology officer and co-founder of HubSpot, a marketing software
company, and also runs a blog devoted to technology startups.
Shah created HubSpot while an MIT student and said he considered basing
his new company in San Francisco but wanted to stay close to MIT and the
area's growing talent pool.
"There's a vibrant ecosystem here," he said. "There's always been this
stereotype that startups on the East Coast won't take as much risk as the
startups you see on the West Coast, and that held us back. But it's
changing. I've never seen it as vibrant as it is right now."
News that Zuckerberg was on campus spread Monday by word of mouth, Twitter
and, of course, Facebook. Students held their smartphones aloft to snap
photos as he walked through the campus.
Harvard student Madeline Halimi of Brooklyn, N.Y., said Zuckerberg's story
is encouraging, but also a little daunting. The freshman student is still
deciding her field of concentration.
"What's really weird is wondering whether the person next to you will be
the next person to invent something that changes the world," Halimi said.
Barnes & Noble Takes on Amazon, Apple with Tablet
US bookseller Barnes & Noble unveiled a tablet computer on Monday in a
bid to take on Apple's iPad and an upcoming device from digital
book-selling rival Amazon.
The Nook Tablet will cost $249 - $50 more than than the Kindle Fire from
Amazon which goes on sale on November 15 but $250 less than the cheapest
iPad.
Amazon and Barnes & Noble were among the first companies to sell
electronic book readers and both are now staking a claim to the tablet
market which has been dominated by the iPad.
The Nook Tablet will allow users to surf the Web using Wi-Fi connectivity,
do email, watch TV shows and movies and listen to music in addition to
serving as an e-book reader.
Barnes & Nobel's online bookstore offers more than 2.5 million titles.
The Nook Tablet comes with a number of pre-loaded applications including
Netflix, Hulu Plus and Pandora.
It has a seven-inch (17.8-centimeter) color screen like the Kindle Fire.
The iPad has a 9.7-inch (24.6-cm) screen.
The Nook Tablet has 16 gigabytes of memory and Barnes & Noble said its
battery life enables 11.5 hours of reading or nine hours of video
viewing.
The device will go on sale in Barnes & Noble's 700 US stores on
November 17.
Barnes & Noble also announced Monday it was cutting the price of its
cheapest e-reader, the Nook Simple Touch, to $99. Amazon's cheapest
Kindle costs $79.
Sarah Rotman Epps of technology research firm Forrester gave the Nook
Tablet a rave review and said Barnes & Noble could sell 1.5 million to
two million of the devices over the holiday season.
"Still, Barnes & Noble is David taking on not one but two Goliaths: B&N's
market cap is just $700 million, compared with $100 billion for Amazon
and $370 billion for Apple," she said.
Rotman Epps said she expected Amazon to sell up to four million Kindle
Fires over the holiday and for Apple to move 20 million iPads in the
fourth quarter.
Mozilla Updates Firefox
The Windows, Mac and Linux versions of Mozillas popular Firefox web
browser have been freshened up with new Twitter search options and better
control over third-party add-ons.
Theres also a new version of Firefox for Android that gives mobile and
tablet users better control over their saved usernames and passwords so
no one can access their private details should their device be stolen.
The major new version of Mozillas browser, Firefox 8, includes the
addition of Twitter to the search bar for the first time. Users can
quickly and easily search the microblog for anything that is typed in the
search.
"Twitter search is currently available in English, Portuguese, Slovenian
and Japanese versions of Firefox, with more languages to come in future
releases," reveals Mozilla in a November 8 blog post.
Additional features in Firefox 8 include on-demand tab loading when you
restore windows with many tabs (a feature that can be toggled on and off
in "Preferences"), automatic third-party add-ons disabling and additional
support for web standards such as WebGL, CORS and HTML5.
Master Password is the most notable feature in the latest version of
Firefox for Android users.
"With Firefox Master Password, you can protect all your saved usernames
and passwords. This will help your private info stay private if you ever
share or lose your Android device," explains Mozilla.
According to StatCounter, Firefox was the second most used browser in the
world in October with a 26 percent market share. Microsofts IE is first
with a 40 percent share and Googles Chrome is gaining ground with 25
percent of the global web browser market.
To coincide with the release of Firefox 8, Amazon announced that it
launching its HTML5-based Kindle Cloud Reader web app for Firefox users,
enabling them to read Kindle books in the web browser. Kindle Cloud Reader
was previously only available for readers using Chrome and Safari.
Hard Drive Shortage Could Hurt PC Delivery Early Next Year
PC shipments may be crimped by as much as a fifth in the first three
months of 2012, hurt by the shortage of hard disk drives (HDD) after the
Thailand floods, said IDC.
The technology research firm, which puts Thailand's share at 40-45 percent
of the global HDD production capacity, expects half of that to be hit
directly by the floods.
Top HDD makers Seagate Technology and Western Digital have large
manufacturing facilities in Thailand.
Since July, floods killed at least 320 people and devastated
industrialized areas at the center of the south Asian country. HDD
manufacturers have raised prices by 20-40 percent since then.
"While IDC believes HDD industry participants will recover and restore
production capacity relatively quickly, supply will remain constrained for
an extended period of time," the research firm said.
Goldman Sachs recently warned that global PC shipments in the December
quarter are likely to fall 3 percent, year-over-year, compared with an
earlier estimate of a 3.1 percent growth.
"A large part of PC production for fourth quarter shipment has already
taken place or can be completed with existing HDD inventories, limiting
the impact on PC shipments to less than 10 percent," IDC said.
"But in a worst-case scenario, total PC shipments could be depressed by
more than 20 percent in first quarter of 2012."
Dell, HP Respond to Secure Boot Issue
A big issue right now in the world of operating systems - especially Linux
- is Microsoft's requirement that all Windows 8 machines ship with UEFI's
secure boot enabled, with no requirement that OEMs implement it so users
can turn it off. This has caused some concern in the Linux world, and
considering Microsoft's past and current business practices and the
incompetence of OEMs, that's not unwarranted. CNet's Ed Bott decided to
pose the issue to OEMs. Dell stated is has plans to include the option to
turn secure boot off, while HP was a bit more vague about the issue.
Ed Bott contacted HP and Dell, and while his report is a bit abrasive, the
gist of the matter is this. Dell confirmed that they have plans to ship
Windows 8 machines with the ability to turn secure boot off in UEFI, while
HP had no idea what was going on. BIOS maker AMI, meanwhile, has said it
will advise OEMs to not remove the option, but adds that they can't
mandate as such.
A Dell spokesperson told Bott that "Dell has plans to make SecureBoot an
enable/disable option in BIOS setup". Dell plans to move to UEFI with
secure boot in the Windows 8 time frame. Unlike how Bott presents it,
'having plans' is of course far from a definitive promise - but at least
it's somewhat reassuring.
HP, sadly, was less clear. "HP will continue to offer its customers a
choice of operating systems," HP told Bott, "We are working with industry
partners to evaluate the options that will best serve our customers."
Nobody at HP was apparently even aware of the issue, which means this is
a general PR statement with zero actual value.
Lastly, BIOS maker AMI stated that it "will advise OEMs to provide a
default configuration that allows users to enable/disable secure boot, but
it remains the choice of the OEM to do (or not do) so". This is entirely
reasonable - AMI just provides a software package, it doesn't control what
OEMs remove and include.
None of this is the reassuring words Bott makes them out to be. There are
no promises, no assurances, nothing. My biggest fear is that like with
BIOS today, every computer - even revisions within the same model - will
have its own unique UEFI implementation, some of them broken and/or
limited, without any means of telling which features are supported and
implemented and which aren't. Heck, I've encountered countless BIOS
implementations over the years which only allowed you to change the boot
drive order, and nothing else.
All in all, this issue is far from over, and what Bott has presented us
with so far is by no means the smoking gun. Considering Microsoft's
history of anti-competitive practices, its current patent troll behaviour,
and the general incompetence of OEMs, it's entirely reasonable and smart
for us geeks to be on our toes.
Barnes & Noble Urges U.S. To Probe Microsoft on Patents
Barnes & Noble Inc. asked U.S. regulators to investigate whether Microsoft
Corp. seeks to monopolize the mobile-device market by demanding patent
royalties on electronics running on Google Inc.s Android operating
system.
"Microsoft is embarking on a campaign of asserting trivial and outmoded
patents against manufacturers of Android devices," Barnes & Noble said
in an Oct. 17 letter to Gene Kimmelman, the Justice Departments chief
counsel for competition policy. "Microsoft is attempting to raise its
rivals costs in order to drive out competition and to deter innovation
in mobile devices."
The worlds largest software maker accused New York-based Barnes & Noble
of infringing five patents and filed a complaint with the U.S.
International Trade Commission in Washington, seeking to block imports of
the Nook readers. Barnes & Noble made public four letters and a
presentation to the Justice Department in a filing with the commission
yesterday.
Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington, contends it owns patented
inventions that are used in the Android operating system, and has struck
licensing deals with companies including Samsung Electronics Co. and HTC
Corp., two of the biggest makers of Android phones.
"All modern operating systems include many patented technologies,"
Microsoft said in a statement. "Microsoft has taken licenses to patents
for Windows and we make our patents available on reasonable terms for
other operating systems, like Android. We would be pleased to extend a
license to Barnes & Noble."
Barnes & Noble cited as examples Microsofts participation in a group of
companies including Apple Inc. to buy the patents of Novell Inc. and a
three-way licensing agreement with Nokia Oyj and Mosaid Technologies Inc.
Those actions were part of a "series of tactics designed by Microsoft to
raise its rivals costs and prevent Android- based devices from taking
away sales of Microsofts Windows operating system," Peter Barbur, of
Cravath Swaine & Moore in New York, said in the Oct. 17 letter to
Kimmelman.
Without providing figures, Barnes & Noble said Microsoft was demanding
the same amount in patent fees that it would charge users of its Windows
Phone operating system.
Barnes & Noble has sought to remake itself as a digital- content
provider. The company sold $880 million worth of Nook readers in fiscal
2011, and has forecast sales to double this fiscal year to $1.8 billion,
the company said Aug. 30. That would be 24 percent of the companys
revenue.
A trial on Microsofts patent claims against Barnes & Noble is scheduled
for February in Washington. Laura Young, a spokeswoman with Microsoft,
said the company had no comment on the Barnes & Noble filing.
The case is In the Matter of Certain Handheld Electronic Computing
Devices, 337-769, U.S. International Trade Commission (Washington).
New Jersey Teacher Could Be Fired for Comments on Facebook
A first-grade teacher in New Jersey who described her students as "future
criminals" on Facebook could be fired under a judge's decision issued this
week after parents complained her remarks were offensive.
Administrative Law Judge Ellen Bass ruled that the Paterson teacher,
Jennifer O'Brien, "demonstrated a complete lack of sensitivity to the
world in which her students live" and recommended that she lose her
tenured position.
Paterson is a poor, urban New Jersey community with a high rate of violent
crime, and school officials interpreted O'Brien's comment as racially
tinged, according to court documents.
The case marks the first time in New Jersey that a public school teacher
has faced such public scrutiny for social media behavior, according to
Allison Kobus, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Education.
It is also the first time a Paterson teacher has been disciplined for
social media usage, school officials said.
O'Brien, a teacher in Paterson since 1998, has been on administrative
leave since March when she wrote on Facebook: "I'm not a teacher - I'm a
warden for future criminals!"
She testified that she wrote the comment after one of her first graders
hit her and others stole money from her.
Although the comment was intended for her 333 Facebook friends, it was
forwarded to other readers and within days school administrators and
parents had seen it and were outraged.
Parents and community activists picketed in front of the school and called
for her dismissal at school council meetings. In May, Paterson revised its
school board policies to clarify how teachers should conduct themselves
online.
Experts say cases such as O'Brien's are more about free speech than about
social media such as Facebook, a public forum in which postings can be
forwarded and ultimately read by anyone.
Disparaging comments that damage an employer, or in O'Brien's case a
student, without advancing a political issue or cause are not as protected
by the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution, experts said.
"The case should be a stern warning that both students and teachers should
be careful about the dangers of social media postings," said Paul Callan,
a professor of media law at Seton Hall University.
More recently, in October, a high school teacher in Union, New Jersey,
evoked the ire of the gay rights community after she posted what critics
saw as several anti-gay comments on Facebook. The school district is
investigating the case.
In another case, a Florida teacher was fired in July for criticizing New
York's gay marriage law on Facebook. He was his district's 2010-2011
Teacher of the Year.
The New Jersey Education Commissioner has 45 days to accept, modify or
reject the judge's ruling. O'Brien's lawyer could not be reached for
comment, although she has told reporters she planned to appeal the
decision.
US Teens Say Peers Are 'Mostly Kind' Online
Most US teenagers who use social networking sites say their peers are
"mostly kind" to one another online although the vast majority have
witnessed mean or cruel behavior, a study said Wednesday.
The study by the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project,
the Family Online Safety Institute and Cable in the Classroom takes an
in-depth look at the environment and behavior of American teenagers on
social networks.
According to the study, 95 percent of US teens aged 12-17 are online and
80 percent of connected teens use social networking sites such as
Facebook or Myspace.
Sixty-nine percent of the teenagers who use social networks said they are
mostly kind spaces, while 20 percent said their peers are mostly unkind
online and 11 percent said "it depends."
Eighty-eight percent said they have witnessed mean or cruel behavior
online and 15 percent said they have personally been the target of mean
or cruel behavior on social networks in the past 12 months.
Twelve percent said they witnessed cruel behavior on social networking
sites "frequently," 29 percent said they encountered it "sometimes" and
47 percent said it was just "once in a while."
"Social networking sites have created new spaces for teens to interact and
they witness a mixture of altruism and cruelty on those sites," said the
Pew Research Center's Amanda Lenhart.
"For most teens, these are exciting and rewarding spaces," said Lenhart,
lead author of the report, "Teens, Kindness and Cruelty on Social Network
Sites: How American teens navigate the new world of 'digital
citizenship.'"
"But the majority have also seen a darker side," she said. ""And for a
subset of teens, the world of social media isn't a pretty place because it
presents a climate of drama and mean behavior."
Ninety percent of teens said they ignored the mean behavior they
witnessed, 80 percent said they personally defended a victim and 21
percent said they personally took part in the harassment of others on a
social network site.
Nineteen percent said they have experienced bullying in the past 12 months
- either in person, by text message, by phone call or online.
Twelve percent said they were bullied in person, nine percent said they
were bullied by text message and eight percent said they were bullied
online, either by email, on a social network site or through instant
messaging.
While 78 percent of teens said their social media interactions resulted
in a positive outcome - such as deepening a friendship - 41 percent
reported at least one negative outcome such as an argument, loss of a
friendship, problems with their parents or even a physical fight.
Parents are the top source of advice to teens on online issues, according
to the study.
Eighty-six percent of online teens said they have received advice from
their parents about using the Internet safely and 70 percent said they have
received advice from a teacher or another adult at school.
Sixty-one percent of teens said their parents have checked their social
network site profile.
Nicky Jackson Colaco, who manages online safety programs at Facebook - the
world's largest social network, with more than 800 million members -
welcomed the report.
"We believe that educating teens about safety is a responsibility shared
by policy makers, safety advocates, parents and services like Facebook,"
she said.
"Facebook believes in addressing safety, bullying and harassment issues
proactively - because building a trusted environment is fundamental to our
mission and to ensuring a positive experience for people who use our site."
The survey of 799 teens was conducted April 19-July 14 and has a margin of
error of plus or minus five percentage points.
Members of the Family Online Safety Institute include AOL, Comcast, Disney,
Facebook, France Telecom, Google, Microsoft, Verizon and Yahoo!
Cable in the Classroom is the the national education foundation of the US
cable television industry.
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