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Atari Online News, Etc. Volume 14 Issue 03
Volume 14, Issue 03 Atari Online News, Etc. January 20, 2012
Published and Copyright (c) 1999 - 2012
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 #1403 01/20/12
~ Parts of Web Go Black! ~ People Are Talking! ~ Obama Opposes SOPA!
~ EU Web Czar: SOPA Bad! ~ Megaupload Fights Back! ~ SOPA Vote Next Month?
~ Yahoo's Yang Leaving! ~ Diablo 3 Delayed Again! ~ McAfee Patches Flaw!
~ Twitter Users in DDoS! ~ Students Malware Horror ~ Internet Addiction!
-* Atari's Social Gaming Push! *-
-* Key Facts About Online Piracy Bills *-
-* SOPA/PIPA Indefinitely Shelved on Protest! *-
=~=~=~=
->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
The past few weeks have been a deluge of anti-SOPA/PIPA sentiments, and
has culminated in many internet blackouts earlier this week. I've been
trying to follow a lot of the news, both pro and con, and I feel that both
pending bills go too far. Yes, the primary premise of both bills is to
try and stop international piracy, but as usual, the politicians do a lot
to add a lot of their own hidden agendas to the situation. Fix these bills
and then start again.
The world finally took notice this past week, and boldly made an online
statement to protest these two bills - they went black in deference to
these bills.
Our politicians, if they hadn't known up to now, realize the power of the
internet. They, the politicians, are now on notice. So, let's see what
these political "defenders" will come up with to change these two bills
to reflect the true [initial] cause for the bills. My guess is that
there is going to be a long time before a "final" edition of these bills
come to light, if ever.
On the local scene, it looks like winter has finally taken root here in
the Northeast. We've had a couple of "duster" storms over the past couple
of weeks; and we're staring down the barrel of our first major storm of the
year this weekend. I say major because it's reported going to be more than
a dusting. But, experience tells me that this is going to just be a
"typical" snow event, and nothing overly significant. Still, however, I
might just have to dust off the snowblower and use it to clear things up!
That's fine. Other than that, we've been laden with bone-chilling temps
for the past few weeks, making us remember fondly the lengthy time we had
enjoyed with our Indian Summer back in December. Rumor has it that we're
going back up with temps closer to Spring rather than Winter! Looking
forward to that!
Until next time...
=~=~=~=
->In This Week's Gaming Section - Diablo III Has Been Delayed Again!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Atari Plans for Social Gaming Push!
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Everybody Look Surprised - Diablo III Has Been Delayed Again
It looks like fans of Diablo III will have to wait a little longer for the
game to hit shelves. Try to act surprised. But really, its already been
12 years, whats a few more months/years/decades?
The thing that makes this delay especially troubling is the amount of work
that Blizzard suggests still needs to be done. Typically, when a game is
delayed for technical reasons (as opposed to marketing reasons) it is just
a matter of fixing glitches and polishing a few things - and that is for
games that have had development cycles closer to 2-3 years than the 12
years that Diablo 3 has had. This delay actually sounds like a major
overhaul of a few of the games core systems.
On Battle.net, Diablo IIIs game director Jay Wilson explained the reason
for the delay, and highlighted what work still needs to be done.
"While working on Diablo III weve been called out for messing around with
systems too much, that the game is good as-is and we should just release
it. I think thats a fair argument to make, but I also think its
incorrect. Our job isnt just to put out a game, its to release the next
Diablo game," Wilson posted. "No one will remember if the game is late,
only if its great. We trust in our ability to put out a great game, but
were not quite there yet. In addition to finishing and polishing the
content of the game were continuing to iterate on some of the core game
systems."
Many of the changes Wilson lists are relatively minor - identifying objects
will be quicker and easier (the Scrolls of Identification are gone), and
the developer is introducing a dedicated potion button for example. The
customization system is also being cleaned up, and things like the "Mystic
artisan," which Wilson claims just wasnt adding anything, will be
removed. That may change in future DLCs, but for now it is gone.
But once you begin to pull the thread, it is hard to stop it from
unraveling. Along with the somewhat minor changes above (in the sense that
they just need to be reworked in the coding), Blizzard is also
reconsidering some of the core systems. The biggest changes will be with
the skill and rune systems, but for now Wilson is keeping those under
wraps.
Blizzard will also be reworking the strength, dexterity, intellect, and
vitality of each character class, and defense, attack, and precision have
also been dropped as attributes. These are not just minor tweaks, but
fundamentally change the balance of the characters. Some of the display
menus will also be changed, including character stats will now be visible
in the inventory interface. All of which is going to take time.
Those that played the beta will also notice in the final game that the
Cauldron of Jordan and Nephalem Cube have both been removed. The Stone of
Recall has also been renamed the Town Portal, which makes the items
obsolete.
Considering the game is - or was - scheduled for a Q1 release (Best Buy
even announced a February 1 release date, which Blizzard quickly denied),
the amount of work that apparently needs to be done is significant. The Q1
release date is almost certainly out of the question now, and there is
even a chance that a 2012 release is in jeopardy.
Still, for as frustrating as the delays may be for fans, Wilson is right
- people will forget the delays as long as the game is solid. You have to
give Blizzard credit for standing by its guns and deciding to make major
changes, under what must certainly be incredible pressure to deliver the
game. In a day when most developers are happy with releasing a title and
issuing patches to fix any issues, it is laudable that Blizzard is waiting
until it is happy before releasing the game.
On the other hand, it has been 12 freaking years.
"Our hope is that by embracing our iterative design process in which we
question ourselves and our decisions," Wilson said, "Diablo III wont just
live up to our expectations, but will continue to do so a decade after
its released."
Atari Reveals Plans for Social Gaming Push
Atari has been looking closely at the modern video game industry to identify
the direction it should take next. According to current CEO Jim Wilson, who
has been speaking to CNN, their new approach will be to continue building a
library of updated classic titles, while also moving into the burgeoning
social gaming market.
Atari has already started to change their mobile gaming strategy and adapt
well-known titles for iOS and Android. Asteroids: Gunner and Breakout:
Boost are two of the most recent, and show Ataris adoption of the
'freemium' model, where the game is free to download, but in-app purchases
are often needed to advance in the game or unlock new levels.
Breakout: Boost attracted 2 million downloads during its launch month, and
Asteroids: Gunner reached the iTunes Top 10 list in its first two weeks of
release. Mr. Wilson says Ataris brand name is very recognizable, and this
'discoverability' is crucial to success in the App Store.
The company has between 10 and 15 new titles planned for the coming year,
some of which will be re-releases, while others will be new titles created
by outside developers, but remaining true to the brand. The intention is
to "bring back a powerful brand that consumers know and love" according to
Wilson, but can some re-hashed classics and a series of social games do
that?
It will perhaps depend on their definition of 'social gaming', as
more-often-than-not, this means free games that rely heavily on in-app
purchases to succeed.
Having already had a go at the MMO genre with City of Heroes before selling
off Cryptic Studios, Ataris plan is to appeal to gamers outside their
existing fanbase, indicating its targeting companies such as Zynga rather
than Blizzard this time around.
=~=~=~=
A-ONE's Headline News
The Latest in Computer Technology News
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
Key Facts About U.S. Online Piracy Bills SOPA and PIPA
The House of Representative's Stop Online Piracy Act and the Senate's
Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of
Intellectual Property Act have generated fierce opposition within the
technology community. Here are some facts about the bills:
What would SOPA and PIPA do?
** The legislation, known as SOPA in the U.S. House of Representatives and
PIPA in the Senate, would use court orders to curb access to foreign
websites "dedicated to theft" through techniques such as disabling links
to those sites.
** They also cut off U.S.-based payments processing for those overseas
websites that traffic in stolen content or counterfeit goods.
Why do copyright holders say the law is needed?
** Entertainment companies and other copyright holders say many legal
copyright remedies aren't effective against big foreign sites such as
PirateBay. They say the bills will help curb online piracy that they claim
costs them billions of dollars a year. Technology companies say they too
oppose such piracy but argue that the proposed laws go too far.
What is the current status of the bills?
** The White House weighed in on January 14 with objections to the
legislation, particularly a provision that would have required Internet
service providers such as a Verizon Communications and Comcast Corp to
cut off access to infringing sites through a technology known as DNS
blocking.
In the days before the White House statement, backers of both bills had
said they planned to move away from those provisions. The Senate bill is
scheduled for a vote on January 24, although some supporters of the bill
have asked to postpone that vote. The House bill is still before the
Judiciary Committee.
Why do technology companies oppose the bills?
** Technology companies say the legislation would undermine an existing
law called the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and its "safe harbor"
provisions for websites and others that act in good faith in their
handling of third-party content on their sites. Content companies say the
bills simply fill gaps in the DMCA and wouldn't affect the safe harbor
provisions.
** Technology companies express concerns that the legislation would
encourage frivolous litigation. Content companies believe the difficulty
of squeezing large payments out of illegal overseas sites would discourage
frivolous litigation.
** Technology companies say users would circumvent new restrictions and
piracy would still occur. Content companies say the law would create
important tools for fighting piracy.
** Technology companies worry they would have to police their services for
links to overseas pirated content. Content companies say the technology
companies would have to act only if notified.
** Technology companies say part of the House legislation encourages
providers to act against foreign sites on their own initiative by
providing immunity from liability, which could lead to overaggressive
actions against foreign sites. Content companies say that sites that act
against pirates in good faith and with evidence to back up their actions
shouldn't have to worry about lawsuits.
** Technology companies say there is no due process for overseas sites
that are accused of piracy. Content companies say normal due process
applies.
Wikipedia, Google Protest US Antipiracy Proposals
January 18 is a date that will live in ignorance, as Wikipedia started a
24-hour blackout of its English-language articles, joining other sites in
a protest of pending U.S. legislation aimed at shutting down sites that
share pirated movies and other content.
Reddit.com shut down its social news service for 12 hours. Other sites
made their views clear without cutting off surfers. Google blacked out the
logo on its home page, directing surfers to a page where they could add
their names to a petition against the bills.
Local listings site Craigslist took a middle route, changing its local home
pages to a black screen directing users to an anti-legislation page. After
10 seconds, a link to the main site appears on the home page, but some
surfers missed that and were fooled into thinking the whole site was
blacked out.
The Internet companies are concerned that the Stop Online Piracy Act in
the House and the Protect Intellectual Property Act under consideration in
the Senate, if passed, could be used to target legitimate sites where
users share content.
The 24-hour Wikipedia blackout is an unprecedented move for the online
encyclopedia. The decision was reached after polling the community of
contributors, but dissenters say political advocacy undermines the site's
mission as a neutral source.
However, it's not complete: the block can be bypassed by changing browser
settings to disable JavaScript, or by using the version of the site
designed for cellphone screens.
There's also a "mirror" or copy, of Wikipedia called The Free Dictionary,
but it's not up to date.
Obama Walks A Thin Line on SOPA
The White House waded into the red-hot online piracy debate with a
statement Saturday that won't satisfy either side.
In a blog post penned by three administration officials, the White House
said it opposes any bill that would make it easier for government to
censor the Web or make the Internet less secure, but it stopped short of
saying whether that includes two bills that have sent the tech industry
into a panic.
If that sounds like a careful effort to walk a thin line, it is: Some of
the president's biggest supporters in Hollywood and Silicon Valley and
beyond are sharply divided over the bills, and the White House needs a
way to keep both sides happy.
The Stop Online Piracy Act in the House and Protect IP Act in the Senate
are an attempt by business interests led by Hollywood to crack down on
people pirating movies and music and stop the sale of knockoff goods.
But Web companies and Internet freedom activists have cried foul, saying
the bills would put restrictions on the Web in a way that could destroy
the fundamental openness of the Internet and prevent the next generation
of Facebooks or eBays from getting off the ground.
And where President Barack Obama comes down has been closely watched -
because of his image as a technology guy, someone who harnessed the Web
and young Internet users to win the presidency.
The administration did not take a definitive position on SOPA or PIPA on
Saturday. But it was clear that the White House - while calling pirated
movies and knockoff pharmaceuticals on the Web "a real problem" in need
of a legislative solution - isn't enamored of either bill.
"While we believe that online piracy by foreign websites is a serious
problem that requires a serious legislative response, we will not
support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases
cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global
Internet," the administration officials said. "Any effort to combat
online piracy must guard against the risk of online censorship of lawful
activity and must not inhibit innovation by our dynamic businesses large
and small. "
The authors - Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra, OMB Intellectual
Property Enforcement Coordinator Victoria Espinel and Howard Schmidt,
special assistant to the president and cybersecurity coordinator for
National Security Staff - called on the bills' opponents to do more than
just fight the bills and to work on private solutions to piracy problems.
"This is not just a matter for legislation. We expect and encourage all
private parties, including both content creators and Internet platform
providers working together, to adopt voluntary measures and best
practices to reduce online piracy," they wrote. "So, rather than just
look at how legislation can be stopped, ask yourself: Where do we go
from here? Don't limit your opinion to what's the wrong thing to do, ask
yourself what's right. Already, many members of Congress are asking for
public input around the issue. We are paying close attention to those
opportunities, as well as to public input to the administration. "
They said the administration would host a conference call and an "online
event" to get more input and answer questions from the bill's opponents.
"Washington needs to hear your best ideas about how to clamp down on
rogue websites and other criminals who make money off the creative
efforts of American artists and rights holders," the officials said. "We
should all be committed to working with all interested constituencies to
develop new legal tools to protect global intellectual property rights
without jeopardizing the openness of the Internet. Our hope is that you
will bring enthusiasm and know-how to this important challenge.
In the meantime, though, the administration said it will "continue to
work with Congress on a bipartisan basis on legislation that provides
new tools needed in the global fight against piracy and counterfeiting,
while vigorously defending an open Internet based on the values of free
expression, privacy, security and innovation."
But it's not clear how far any legislation will get in a fiercely
divided Congress.
Early Saturday morning, House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa
said that Majority Leader Eric Cantor has assured him that SOPA won't
move to the House floor this Congress without a consensus.
Cantor did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
Despite 40-plus Senate cosponsors from both parties and bipartisan
support in the House, too, backers of the bills are reeling. This week,
PIPA sponsor Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and SOPA author Rep. Lamar Smith
(R-Texas) both abandoned a key part of their bills backed strongly by
Hollywood interests.
The provisions would have allowed the government to seek a court order
to block domain names of foreign sites that peddle pirated content.
On Friday, meanwhile, a half-dozen GOP senators pressed Majority Leader
Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to postpone a critical Jan. 24 cloture vote on PIPA.
Reid declined Friday night, but the uproar over the legislation - and
Reid's willingness to allow a free-wheeling debate - make for a hard
slog ahead.
The two bills have ignited a firestorm online, with websites including
Reddit and Wikipedia planning to stage a "blackout" Wednesday to protest
them. They say that the legislation would create a new Internet
"censorship" regime.
Smith tried to portray the administration statement as a win.
"I welcome today's announcement that the White House will support
legislation to combat online piracy that protects free speech, the
Internet and America's intellectual property," Smith said. "That's
precisely what the Stop Online Piracy Act does."
But opponents said the blog post showed the administration isn't on
board with SOPA and PIPA.
It "shows that the messages being sent by the public in opposition to
this bill are finally getting through to Washington," Sherwin Siy,
deputy legal director of the consumer group Public Knowledge, said in a
statement.
And NetCoalition, which represents Google and Yahoo, called the
administration's statement "welcome news."
EU Internet Czar Tweets Against SOPA
The European Union's Internet czar on Friday added her voice to resistance
to the Stop Online Piracy Act, in an unusually open comment on pending
U.S. legislation.
"Glad tide is turning on SOPA: don't need bad legislation when should be
safeguarding benefits of open net," Neelie Kroes, the EU's Commissioner
for the Digital Agenda, said in a Twitter message.
The piece of legislation, currently in the House of Representatives,
would allow the U.S. Justice Department to target legitimate sites where
users share pirated content.
Outrage over SOPA earlier this week triggered a one-day blackout by
Wikipedia's English-language service and other popular websites and
sparked growing scrutiny of the bill.
The EU is also working to tackle online piracy, but is trying hard to do
so without restricting Internet freedom.
"Speeding is illegal too: but you don't put speed bumps on the motorway,"
Kroes said in a second tweet.
The EU usually avoids openly criticizing pending legislation in the U.S,
one of its biggest political allies and trading partners. But politicians
on different sides of the Atlantic often don't see eye to eye when it
comes to regulating the Internet.
The Commissioner's spokesman defended Kroes's comments, pointing to the
widespread criticism of the bill.
"It shows that people do have very serious concerns about their access to
the Internet and it shows that in addition to enforcement, which is very
important, we need to be increasing the number of legal content offers
that are available online," Ryan Heath told reporters.
He added that the EU already has legislation in place to fight online
piracy and is currently working on an overhaul of it's rules for
intellectual property rights in an effort to make it easier to obtain the
rights to distribute content online legally.
Kroes, one of the most outspoken commissioners who imposed massive fines
against Microsoft during her time as the EU's antitrust regulator, has
embraced new media.
Also on Friday, she asked her more than 32,000 followers on Twitter to
comment on the shutdown of popular file-sharing site Megaupload.com on her
department's Facebook page.
House To Take Up Anti-piracy Bill in February
The House of Representatives will resume work next month on a
controversial bill aimed at stopping online piracy of movies, music and
other content, a leading lawmaker said on Tuesday.
The anti-piracy legislation has been a top priority for entertainment
companies, publishers, pharmaceutical firms and others, who say it is
critical to curbing online piracy.
Internet companies vigorously oppose the bills, arguing they would
undermine innovation and free speech rights and compromise the functioning
of the Internet.
The debate escalated over the weekend when White House officials raised
concerns that the legislation could make businesses on the Internet
vulnerable to litigation and harm legal activity and free speech.
Representative Lamar Smith, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee,
said the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) was needed to protect
American businesses from intellectual property theft, and that legislation
would move forward.
"Due to the Republican and Democratic retreats taking place over the next
two weeks, markup of the Stop Online Piracy Act is expected to resume in
February," added Smith, a Texas Republican. "I am committed to continuing
to work with my colleagues in the House and Senate to send a bipartisan
bill to the White House."
The Senate is expected to begin voting on January 24 on how to proceed in
considering its own version of the bill.
Both Smith and Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy have said that they plan
to jettison a controversial portion of their bills which would block
access for Internet users who seek stolen movies or music.
White House officials, including cyber-security czar Howard Schmidt, said
in a blog posting on Saturday that they opposed the bills as currently
written. But they said the Obama administration would work with lawmakers
on a narrower, more targeted approach to online piracy to ensure that
legitimate businesses - including start-up firms - would not be harmed.
Wikipedia, the popular community-edited online encyclopedia, will black
out its English-language site for 24 hours Wednesday to oppose the
legislation. Other smaller sites leading the campaign include Reddit.com.
Senate Vote on Online Piracy Bill Delayed
US Senate leaders announced Friday they were delaying next week's vote on
an anti-online piracy bill that Wikipedia, Google and other Web giants
have denounced as a threat to Internet freedom.
"In light of recent events, I have decided to postpone Tuesday's vote on
the Protect IP Act," US Senate majority leader Harry Reid said in a
statement two days after a wave of online protests against the bill swept
the Internet.
"There is no reason that the legitimate issues raised by many about this
bill cannot be resolved," Reid said. "I am optimistic that we can reach a
compromise in the coming weeks."
Reid's announcement came amid eroding congressional support for the bills
- the Protect IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act
(SOPA) in the House of Representatives - intended to crack down on online
piracy of movies and music and the sale of counterfeit goods.
Republican House speaker John Boehner said Wednesday there was a "lack of
consensus at this point" on the House version of the bill and it would
need further work in committee.
Wikipedia shut down the English-language version of its online encyclopedia
for 24 hours on Wednesday to protest the legislation.
Google blotted out the logo on its US home page with a black banner and
published an exhortation to users to "Tell Congress: Please don't censor
the Web!"
Hundreds of other websites joined in the protest and Google said more than
seven million people in the United States had signed an online petition
against the bills.
The draft legislation has won the backing of Hollywood, the music industry,
entertainment giants like Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., the National
Association of Manufacturers, the US Chamber of Commerce and others.
But the bills have come under fire from online companies and digital
rights groups for allegedly paving the way for US authorities to shut down
websites accused of online piracy, including foreign sites, without due
process.
On Thursday, US authorities shut down Megaupload.com, one of the world's
largest file-sharing sites, and charged seven people in what they called
one of "the largest criminal copyright cases ever brought by the United
States."
The shutdown of Megaupload triggered a wave of retaliatory attacks by the
online hacktivist group Anonymous, which temporarily disabled the websites
of the Justice Department, FBI and Recording Industry Association of
America.
In his statement, Reid said "counterfeiting and piracy cost the American
economy billions of dollars and thousands of jobs each year, with the
movie industry alone supporting over 2.2 million jobs.
"We must take action to stop these illegal practices," he said. "We live
in a country where people rightfully expect to be fairly compensated for
a day's work."
Reid urged a co-sponsor of the bill, Senator Patrick Leahy, to "continue
engaging with all stakeholders to forge a balance between protecting
Americans' intellectual property, and maintaining openness and innovation
on the Internet."
Another co-sponsor of the Protect IP Act, Senator Marco Rubio, withdrew
his support for the bill on Wednesday saying Congress should "avoid
rushing through a bill that could have many unintended consequences" on
the Internet.
Other lawmakers also distanced themselves from the legislation, including
influential Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah.
"After listening to concerns on both sides of the debate over #PIPA, it is
simply not ready for prime time," Hatch said on Twitter.
The controversy has pitted Hollywood against Silicon Valley, forcing
members of Congress to try to walk a fine line between two powerful forces,
and led to an unprecedented outpouring of coordinated protest on the Web.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said Wednesday that the problem of online
piracy needs to be tackled but "in a way which does not impinge upon a free
and open Internet."
Stop Online Piracy Act Markup to Resume in February
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) today said that
he expects the Committee to continue its markup of the Stop Online Piracy
Act in February.
Chairman Smith: "To enact legislation that protects consumers, businesses
and jobs from foreign thieves who steal America's intellectual property,
we will continue to bring together industry representatives and Members to
find ways to combat online piracy.
* Due to the Republican and Democratic retreats taking place over the next
two weeks, markup of the Stop Online Piracy Act is expected to resume in
February.
* I am committed to continuing to work with my colleagues in the House and
Senate to send a bipartisan bill to the White House that saves American
jobs and protects intellectual property."
SOPA/PIPA Indefinitely Shelved After Massive Protest
After a massive online protest that saw top 500 websites such as
Wikipedia, Reddit, and Craigslist shut down for day, the controversial
SOPA and PIPA bills have been tabled indefinitely in the Congress. The
Protect IP Act (S.968, a rewrite of the failed 2010 Combating Online
Infringement and Counterfeits Act) was scheduled for a vote next week in
the Senate, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has stated that he was
postponing the vote "in light of recent events", according to CNN. The
House of Representatives has also held their version of the bill, the
Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA, or H.R.3261.IH). House Judiciary Committee
Chairman Lamar Smith stated that the House will "postpone consideration
of the legislation until there is wider agreement on a solution." Both
bills had widespread bipartisan support, but after key politicians
withdrew their endorsement, the bills quickly withered on the Floor.
With protests in New York, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, and
with an online petition containing more than 7 million signatures,
opposition against SOPA/PIPA has been extremely vocal. However, the
voluntary blackouts of several tech firms' websites have drawn the largest
scorn toward this legislation. The fear that these acts will allow large
media firms an unfair hand in seeking copyright infringement lawsuits and
"cease and desist" injunctions against alleged copyright violators was the
key motivation behind this protest; companies like News Corporation (who
supported SOPA/PIPA) could legal order the shutdown of sites like YouTube,
which may be hosting user-created content that violated Fox trademarks
under the current wording of the bills.
Reid has suggested that the bills are not dead. "There is no reason that
the legitimate issues raised by many about this bill cannot be resolved,"
according to the Senate Majority Leader. PIPA and SOPA have received
uncharacteristic Democratic support, mostly due to Hollywood lobbyists.
Time Warner, News Corporation, Comcast, and the Motion Pictures
Association of America have all came out in support of SOPA/PIPA.
SOPA/PIPA is intended to combat piracy sites, such as the Pirate Bay, by
forcing payment and network advertising services to investigate and respond
to any outside claim that one of their customers is actively involved in
the distribution of stolen or misappropriated American property, such as
pirated software, movies, music, and television shows. The service would
then have to terminate relations with that customer within five days.
While the false accusations are illegal under SOPA/PIPA, the burden of
proof is placed on the accused site and not on the accuser or the service
provider.
Major Democratic contributors, such as the Teamsters and the AFL-CIO, are
in support of SOPA/PIPA, and have threatened to withhold funding from the
president's reelection campaign and from Congressional Democratic races.
Key Democrats are concerned about this development, even though the White
House has publicly came out against both bills although it did offer the
possibility of support with a rewrite. In an open letter, the White
House's Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator at the Office of
Management and Budget, Victoria Espinel, wrote:
"Any effort to combat online piracy must guard against the risk of online
censorship of lawful activity and must not inhibit innovation by our
dynamic businesses large and small. Across the globe, the openness of the
Internet is increasingly central to innovation in business, government,
and society and it must be protected. To minimize this risk, new
legislation must be narrowly targeted only at sites beyond the reach of
current U.S. law, cover activity clearly prohibited under existing U.S.
laws, and be effectively tailored, with strong due process and focused on
criminal activity" We must avoid creating new cybersecurity risks or
disrupting the underlying architecture of the Internet. Proposed laws must
not tamper with the technical architecture of the Internet through
manipulation of the Domain Name System (DNS), a foundation of Internet
security. Our analysis of the DNS filtering provisions in some proposed
legislation suggests that they pose a real risk to cybersecurity and yet
leave contraband goods and services accessible online. We must avoid
legislation that drives users to dangerous, unreliable DNS servers and
puts next-generation security policies, such as the deployment of DNSSEC
at risk"
Yahoo Co-founder Jerry Yang Leaving Company
Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang is leaving the struggling Internet company,
as it tries to revive its revenue growth and win over disgruntled
shareholders under a new leader.
The departure, announced Tuesday, punctuates the end of an era at Yahoo,
a tarnished Internet icon that has spent much of the last decade
scrambling to catch up to Internet search leader Google Inc. - a company
that got early encouragement and advice from Yang. It comes just two
weeks after Yahoo Inc. hired former PayPal executive Scott Thompson as
its CEO.
Thompson is the fourth CEO in less than five years to try to turn around
Yahoo. It's a daunting assignment that Yang was unable to pull off during
his own tumultuous 18-month reign as the company's CEO in 2007 and 2008.
Yang, 43, endorsed Thompson in his resignation from Yahoo's board of
directors. He had been on Yahoo's board since the company's 1995
inception.
"My time at Yahoo, from its founding to the present, has encompassed some
of the most exciting and rewarding experiences of my life," Yang wrote in
a letter to Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock. "However, the time has come for
me to pursue other interests outside of Yahoo."
The letter didn't say what Yang plans to do next. He doesn't need to work,
thanks to the fortune he has amassed since he began working on Yahoo in a
trailer at Stanford University with fellow graduate student David Filo.
Yang is worth about $1.1 billion, according to Forbes magazine's latest
estimates.
Yang is also stepping down from the boards of China's Alibaba Group and
Yahoo Japan. Yahoo is negotiating to sell its stakes in both of the Asian
companies as part of its efforts to placate investors. The deal could be
worth as much as $17 billion, but it still faces a series of potential
stumbling blocks.
Besides surrendering the board seats, Yang is giving up his position as
"Chief Yahoo," an honorary title he held as he mingled among workers,
while keeping tabs on various company projects.
Thompson could have an easier time overhauling Yahoo without Yang looking
over his shoulder and possibly second guessing his decisions, said BGC
Financial analyst Colin Gillis.
"This has the fingerprints of frustration on it," Gillis said. "It's one
of those situations where it looks like (Yang) is losing the battle to
control the company's direction and now he is saying, 'That's it, I'm
out.'"
Although a popular figure among Yahoo employees, Yang had alienated the
company's shareholders by turning down a chance to sell Yahoo in its
entirety to Microsoft Corp. for $47.5 billion, or $33 per share, in May
2008. Yahoo shares haven't topped $20 for more than three years. The stock
gained 44 cents to $15.87 in extended trading after Yang's decision was
announced.
The slump in Yahoo's stock has diminished Yang's wealth. He still owns a
3.6 percent stake in the company.
Yang conceivably could leverage those holdings to attempt to buy Yahoo's
U.S. business after the Asian investments are sold. That is, if he can
line up additional financing, Macquarie Securities analyst Ben Schachter
wrote in a research note late Tuesday. Several buyout firms have already
expressed interest in buying a substantial stake in Yahoo, spurring
speculation that Yang might work with them to acquire a controlling
interest in what remains of the company if the Asian assets are sold.
When he announced Thompson's hiring earlier this month, Bostock stressed
that Yahoo intended to remain an independent, publicly traded company.
Yang had been someone more interested in preserving the company than he
created than dismantling parts of its to boost the stock price, analysts
said. "Investors tend to want to keep trying to fix the company than
carve it apart," Gillis said.
Now that he is out of the way, investors are likely to conclude the sale
of the Asian investments will eventually be completed, Schachter wrote.
Investor anger over Yang's handling of the Microsoft negotiations led to
his resignation as CEO in late 2008 and the hiring of Silicon Valley
veteran Carol Bartz to replace him. Bartz and Yang had gotten to know each
other as part of Cisco Systems Inc.'s board of directors.
After initially hailing Bartz as the solution to Yahoo's problems, Yang
and the rest of Yahoo's board fired her as CEO in September.
Yahoo's revenue has been falling in recent years even as advertisers have
poured more money into the Internet. Much of the money, though, has been
going to Google and Facebook's online social network, as Yahoo has fallen
further behind in the race to innovate and develop products that attract
Web traffic.
Despite its struggles, Yahoo remains profitable and still boasts a
worldwide audience of 700 million people.
But visitors aren't sticking around Yahoo's services as much as they once
did, depriving the company of more opportunities to sell ads - the main
source of its revenue.
It has been a jarring comedown for Yahoo, which emerged as one of the
Internet's first stars after Yang and Filo expanded the service beyond its
roots as a hand-picked directory of websites.
Yahoo's early success turned it into a Wall Street darling and landed Yang
on the covers of leading business magazines. At the height of the dot-com
bubble 12 years ago, Yahoo's stock was trading above a split-adjusted $100
amid talk that the company might eventually try to buy a long-established
media franchise such as the Walt Disney Co.
But now investors widely regard Yahoo as a misguided company that can't
come up with a cohesive plan to define itself for Web surfers and
advertisers.
Yang and Bostock have been the focal point for much of the criticism,
partly because of their key roles in the Microsoft talks in 2008. After
buying a 5.2 percent stake in Yahoo last autumn, hedge fund manager Daniel
Loeb demanded that both Bostock and Yang step down from the company's
board. If they refused, Loeb indicated he would finance a shareholder
rebellion to oust both men from the board.
Loeb's fund, Third Point LLC, didn't immediately return phone calls seeking
comment late Tuesday.
Bostock, Yahoo's chairman for the past four years, has given no indication
that he plans to step down.
Megaupload Site Wants Assets Back, To Fight Charges
The Internet website Megaupload.com, shut down by U.S. authorities over
allegations that it illegally peddled copyrighted material, is trying to
recover its servers and get back online, a lawyer for the company said on
Friday.
The company and seven of its executives were charged in a 5-count, 72-page
indictment unsealed on Thursday accusing them of engaging in a
wide-ranging and lucrative scheme to offer material online without
compensating the copyright holders.
Authorities in New Zealand arrested four of those charged, including one
of its founders, who legally changed his name to Kim Dotcom. Assets were
also seized money, servers, domain names and other assets in the United
States and several countries.
"The company is looking at its legal options for getting back its servers
and its domain and getting its servers back up online," Megaupload's lawyer
Ira Rothken told Reuters. "Megaupload will vigorously defend itself."
He said the company simply offered online storage. "It is really offensive
to say that just because people can upload bad things, therefore
Megaupload is automatically responsible," he said.
No decision has been made yet about whether they will fight extradition
from New Zealand to the United States, Rothken said.
U.S. authorities have painted a much darker picture of the company's
operations, saying that Megaupload readily made available copyrighted
material including music, television shows, movies, pornography and even
terrorism propaganda videos.
Users could upload material to the company's sites, which then would
create a link that could be distributed so others could download it,
according to the indictment. Some paid subscription fees for faster upload
and download speeds.
Despite complaints from copyright holders, the Megaupload did not remove
all of the material when requested to do so, prosecutors said. The
company's executives earned more than $175 million from subscription fees
and advertising, they said.
Less than a day after U.S. authorities shut down the Megaupload.com site
and several of its sister sites, there appeared to be an attempt to
resurrect the site.
Twitter was flooded with messages circulating a new Internet Protocol
address, but the site offered no substantive content immediately and it
did not appear that it was sanctioned by Megaupload.
The new website, which is being hosted in the Netherlands, looked similar
to the original Megaupload.com website. The company's lawyer said that he
was not directly familiar with the new site.
"We're not familiar with any official effort at this point to get the site
back up in light of the fact that its major servers are in the possession
of the United States government and other governments," Rothken said.
One of those arrested on Thursday was Bram van der Kolk, who has
citizenship in the Netherlands and New Zealand. He oversaw programming and
the network structure for Megaupload's websites, according to court papers.
U.S. officials were asked on Thursday about the risk of the site
reappearing elsewhere in the future, a key issue that has confronted
authorities in the past when they've tried to shut down Internet sites
selling counterfeit goods.
"Right now we're in the process of executing search and seizure warrants
and certainly it's not going to pop up again today. But I couldn't
speculate as to what may or may not happen in the future," one Justice
Department official said on Thursday.
Another official said "maintaining and running and assembling a site like
this is very expensive. And obviously the seizure of financial assets is
critical in this type of investigation and prosecution in preventing it
from going forward."
The case, which started as an investigation in March 2010, emerged just as
lawmakers in Congress have been battling over new legislation sought by the
television, movie and music industries that was aimed at making it harder
for such material to be so easily peddled over the Internet.
Some major technology companies, including Google and Facebook, have sought
to derail the current versions of the legislation because they were
concerned they would lead to censorship and lengthy litigation.
Earlier on Friday, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid postponed
a vote on one bill that was set for Tuesday until several issues are
resolved.
Twitter Users Unknowingly Take Part in Anonymous DDOS Attack
Several New Zealand governmental websites have been taken offline in the
continued retaliation by self styled "hacktivist" group Anonymous as DDOS
links are spread among unknowing Twitter users.
Just hours after numerous websites around the world, including Wikipedia
and Reddit, blacked out in protest of the proposed SOPA (Stop Online
Piracy Act), the FBI announced that it had closed down one of the world's
largest file sharing sites Megauploader.com.
The site, which had over 180 million registered users, was accused of
copyright violation and its founder Kim Dotcom aka Kim Schmitz arrested.
Shortly after, Anonymous launched an attack on several US based sites,
including the FBI and Universal Music.
Anonymous has now turned its attention to New Zealand, reportedly taking
down police.gov.nz, among other sites.
The attacks sparked a worldwide Twitter trend, "World War Web," after the
organization (@YourAnonNews) tweeted several lines of blacked-out text
with the words "WORLD WAR WEB. The Internet is here. Expect US" at around
14:30 GMT.
These attacks were allegedly carried out by spreading a link on Twitter
that, when clicked on, repeatedly redirected any computer to the target
website, thereby overloading the servers with traffic. Known as a DDOS
attack, this is a tactic commonly used by Anonymous, though not through
Twitter.
Gawker reports that the link is being shared among unknowing Twitter users
at a rate of four times a second, often with no explanation other than that
it relates to #operationmegaload, an operation mentioned by Anonymous in
its January 19 video available at http://goo.gl/VUeWJ.
McAfee Patches Flaw That Turned Protected Systems into Spam Relays
Security software is an everyday necessity for most people, especially
Windows users, businesses, and enterprises. But one of the ironies of
security software is that, once in a while, it turns out to be the source
of security problems all by itself. The latest instance involves McAfees
SaaS Total Protection suite, a cloud-based solution designed to provide
comprehensive email and and Web filtering along with centralized security
management for businesses and organizations. However, McAfee has just had
to issue an update to the service to block a flaw that could let attackers
execute code on protected machines, and to fix another problem that could
potentially enable attackers to turn protected systems into spam relays.
"Two issues in SaaS for Total Protection have arisen in the past few days,"
wrote McAfees David Marcus in the companys blog. "In the first, an
attacker might misuse an ActiveX control to execute code. The second
involves a misuse of our rumor technology to allow an attacker to use an
affected machine as an open relay, which could be used to send spam."
McAfee says the ActiveX control issue, while new, is similar to a problem
the company patched back in August 2011: As long as customers have applied
that update, they arent vulnerable to the new problem. McAfee has begun
rolling out an update for the spam relaying issue, and customers should
receive the update soon if they havent already.
The Saas Total Protection suites 'rumor' technology enables protected
computers to communicate updates with each other in a fashion like
peer-to-peer networking. The idea is to distribute updates automatically
in-house on local networks rather than forcing every protected system to
grab new updates from McAfee, potentially straining an organizations
Internet connectivity. According to reports, the service installs itself
even if users dont specifically ask for it, and while it can be shut down
using Windows built-in administrative tools it gets restarted whenever
McAfee delivers a software update.
Although the spamming vulnerability never put data on protected machines
at any risk, attackers were able to use the rumor service to essentially
bounce email messages off the protected systems, making it appear to the
rest of the Internet that the McAfee-protected computers were the origin
of the spam, rather than the attackers themselves. As a result, some McAfee
users were mysteriously finding their machines and networks blocked by spam
filters - in one case, apparently by McAfees own antispam technology
within the organization.
College and Students Ravaged By Viruses for Over a Decade
Malware that lay undetected on the PCs at a US college for over a decade
has probably allowed criminals as far afield as China, Russia and Iran
to steal sensitive data, admins have discovered to their horror.
The scale of the data theft from City College in San Francisco (official
motto: 'the truth shall make you free') is not yet known, but the length
of time the malware was able to transmit data is giving IT staff cause
for concern.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the problem only became apparent
in November when security monitoring systems detected unusual traffic
patterns emanating from one of the college's computer labs.
Closer examination revealed a clutch of malware that was scanning for
data on computers attached to the network at the same time each night
for up to a decade. In one example this involved sending what was found
back to IP addresses associated with the infamous Russian Business
network gang whose heyday was at least three years ago.
Widening the search, admins discovered similar problems on 17 different
computer systems including servers used for admin, instructional and
WiFi with only those holding medical data thought to be in the clear;
payroll, admissions and accounting systems are still being analysed.
There is particular concern that students might have infected themselves
via USB sticks while using College computers, potentially compromising
external PCs used later on. Data at risk in this scenario would include
online banking logins.
"We may never know the full extent of the damage, and how many lives
have been affected by this," City College CTO David Hotchkiss told the
Chronicle. "These viruses are shining a light on years of neglect."
That malware found its way on to computers in an environment such as
university or college will surprise nobody. Harder to explain is the
length of time a multitude of different pieces of common and certainly
old malware was able to transmit data without being detected.
Educational hacks tend to be inside jobs, such as the former University
of Central Missouri students who broke into databases and pilfered data on
90,000 people working for or attending the institution.
In 2010, a report from RSA drew attention to the growing number of
attacks on universities by outsiders, including one in which criminals
impersonated a university server in order to harvest data from students.
Study Finds Internet Addiction Causes Changes in Brain Development
Is Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD) real? A new study suggests it may be
- and that its effects can be seen in the human brain.
The study asked those between the ages 14 and 21 questions about how their
internet use had negatively impacted their lives. Many of these questions
run parallel to those that help diagnose an alcohol or drug problem: "Have
you lied to your family members, therapist, or others to hide the truth of
your involvement with the internet?" "Have you taken the risk of losing a
significant relationship, job, educational, or career opportunity because
of the internet?" Researchers followed up with questions to the subjects'
friends and families.
Participants who were found to be "addicted" to the internet had
significant differences in brain development than those who were not. These
include areas of lower volume in the parts of the brain that control
emotional processing, executive thinking skills and attention, and
cognitive control - very similar to the brain changes in drug addicts.
There also appeared to be disruptions in the white matter between brain
cells, affecting how neurons communicate with each other. The longer a
person had suffered from IAD, the more pronounced the brain differenceswere.
There are a lot of questions still present in light of the study.
Researchers are not sure whether addiction to the internet causes peoples'
brains to develop differently, or whether the brains were already like
this, making people more susceptible addiction.
=~=~=~=
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