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Atari Online News, Etc. Volume 18 Issue 28
Volume 18, Issue 28 Atari Online News, Etc. July 15, 2016
Published and Copyright (c) 1999 - 2016
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 #1828 07/15/16
~ TP-Link Loses Domains! ~ People Are Talking! ~ Natcar Racing Game!
~ Game Boy Games Released ~ OLD Printer Bug Fixed ~ Weird CFAA Rulings!
~ DARPA Challenges Hackers ~ More Charges for Fed! ~ NES Is Next Console!
~ Facebook's OpenCellular! ~ ~ Microsoft Appeal Win
-* Guide to GEM Coding with AHCC *-
-* Snowden Says A Dark Day for Russia! *-
-* Bulgaria Passes Law for Government Software *-
=~=~=~=
->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
And the atrocities continue, with the latest occurring in France
this week. Time will tell what kind of "hatred" this latest
terrorist (or perceived terrorist) had that led him to take so
many innocent lives. Earlier today I heard one newscaster ask
another "...when will this madness stop?" The answer is quite
simple: Never! As long as there are extremists in the world,
those with ideologies filled with hatred, these kinds of acts
will continue to occur all over the world.
Quickly changing gears, to a much lighter note... I don't usually
talk about "apps" and gaming on tablet devices and/or phones because
they don't come across (at least in my mind) as real computing or
gaming as I know it. Yes, I'm sure one can argue with me that
there's no real difference simply because of the type of platform
used, but I'm more of a traditionalist when it comes to this stuff.
However, I will briefly mention the latest phenomenon - the newest
gaming app that has generated worldwide attention lately:
Pokemon Go. Whether or not the game is getting a lot more attention
because of the lack of judgment by some players, or the games is
really a lot of fun - I don't know. People are getting hurt and
killed because of their own stupidity and carelessness. Some
people simply cannot walk and chew gum at the same time - an adage
from my childhood days! There's a sound reason why there are laws
that say you cannot text and drive - it's unsafe. Walking around
outside - regardless of the setting - can be dangerous if you're
constantly doing so with your phone in front of your face!
I haven't played the game, yet. I do plan to download it to see
what all of the hype is about. With temperatures here in the
90's, I don't have any immediate plans to wander around town
looking for Pokemon characters! But, I like the premise of the
game; it reminds me of taking part in scavenger hunts when I was
a lot younger. We'll see what happens over the next couple of
weeks! Regardless, be responsible and be safe while playing!
Until next time...
=~=~=~=
Guide to GEM Coding with AHCC
I put together some notes to remind myself how my GEM programs are
working. Most of this comes from CManShip, and things I learnt [sic]
working through a lot of my own misunderstandings. I've also been
helped along at times by members of this forum. These notes try to
put this information together in one place, and may be useful to
anyone else learning how to write GEM programs using AHCC. So far,
I have only covered how to work with windows.
The notes are in the form of a pdf document:
http://peterlane.info/downloads/guide.pdf. I work through a series
of progressively more complex versions of a sample program - the
source code for these versions:
http://peterlane.info/downloads/guide-source.zip The examples have
been tested on a Firebee and an Atari ST.
Let me know if anything's unclear, or could be improved.
Enjoy!
Peter Lane
Firebee | STE (4Mb, TOS 2.06)
http://peterlane.info/firebee.html
Natcar
Hi!
Just wanted to say that we have released a demo of Natcar, a
Supercars inspired racing game! :D It is available at
nature.atari.org.
It requires a SuperVidel, running at a 720x480 32bit resolution.
=~=~=~=
->In This Week's Gaming Section - Surprise: Nintendoís Next Console Is The NES!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Independently Developed Game Boy Games Released!
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Surprise: Nintendoís Next Console Is The NES
Let this tiny box transport you to a time when you didn't have a
job, mortgage, and loud children to distract you.
After years spent letting the software-based Virtual Console
largely rot on its vine, Nintendo is trying to cash in on its
nostalgia-filled back catalog with a new piece of old hardware.
The NES Classic Edition, announced today, is a palm-sized,
HDMI-equipped re-release of the '80s console that will launch on
November 11, preloaded with 30 games for $59.99.
ìWe wanted to give fans of all ages the opportunity to revisit
Nintendoís original system and rediscover why they fell in love
with Nintendo in the first place,î Nintendo of America President
and COO Reggie Fils-Aime said in a statement. ìThe Nintendo
Entertainment System: NES Classic Edition is ideal for anyone who
remembers playing the NES, or who wants to pass on those
nostalgic memories to the next generation of gamers.î
Nintendo hasn't said much about the underlying hardware powering
the re-release, but it doesn't sound like the new system will be
exactly the same as the original. For one thing, the announcement
makes no mention of the ability to plug in old NES game
cartridges, even though pictures show a familiar, cartridge slot
dust-cover styled on the system's boxy case. For another, Nintendo
says that "each game has multiple suspend points, so you can start
where you left off at a later time, no passwords needed,"
suggesting that some sort of virtualized, emulated version of the
underlying games is being used.
The new system also will not support old NES controllers natively.
Instead, it has slots that will fit the existing Wii Classic
Controller Pro and will also work with a new NES Classic
Controller patterned after the original rectangular design (sorry
dog-bone fans). One Classic Controller will be included with the
system; extra ones will retail for $9.99.
Nintendo is coming late to a trend that has hit many other
classic consoles in recent years. Sega licensed its old hardware
and software for a number of "Arcade Classic" system-on-a-chip
Genesis re-releases, most of which have a slot for classic
cartridges and support original controllers as well as built-in
games. The Atari Flashback line similarly recreates the Atari 2600
and 7800, with some hackers going so far as to add a cartridge
port for their decades-old games. Even the Colecovision and
Intellivision got Flashback re-releases.
If you have $500+ to spend on a 30-year-old console, this is the
one to buy.
Nostalgia-minded Nintendo gamers looking for new hardware, on the
other hand, have been stuck settling for gray market Famiclone
systems, or emulation-based hardware like the Retron 5, which have
their issues when it come to compatibility and authenticity. Then
there's the Analogue Nt, a high-end, high-def, high-priced NES
modification sourced from actual Famicom chips, which we recently
reviewed.
Here are the 30 games that will be included on the NES Classic
Edition:
Balloon Fight
Bubble Bobble
Castlevania
Castlevania II: Simonís Quest
Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong Jr.
Double Dragon II: The Revenge
Dr. Mario
Excitebike
Final Fantasy
Galaga
Ghosts N' Goblins
Gradius
Ice Climber
Kid Icarus
Kirbyís Adventure
Mario Bros.
Mega Man 2
Metroid
Ninja Gaiden
Pac-Man
Punch-Out!! Featuring Mr. Dream
StarTropics
Super C
Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros. 2
Super Mario Bros. 3
Tecmo Bowl
The Legend of Zelda
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE Gaming Online - Online Users Growl & Purr!
"""""""""""""""""""
5 New Independently Developed Game Boy Games Released
The Nintendo Game Boy is a popular hand held. Independent
developers seem to love it and we have five new games that were
just released for it. Some are from competitions such as
bitbitjam and others are just games someone thought would be
cool to release.
The Faerie Princess
This is simply a boss battle game. There is a little bit of text
at the beginning to tell you what is going on. Get four hits on
the boss without sustaining one yourself and you win. Let one of
the fireballs hit you and it is game over. This one is REALLY
short. May be good if you are looking for a short game- something
similar to the shortness most people experience with Flappy Bird.
Flappy Boy
Okay, are you sick of Flappy Bird clones and the like yet?
Judging by the number of people reading the articles we post about
them, the videos we make available and general reaction from
readers - nope. Remember, we push the content that you, our
friends, support. Oh, this is just another Flappy Bird clone - it
is tough as nails and annoying as all get out. There was an
actual Flappy Bird development jam where this title was developed.
Run to Databay
This is an endless runner, 3D style, game for the Game Boy.
Developed for the GBJAM 4 event. If you are easily frustrated
then avoid this one- it is as tough in 3D as Flappy Bird is in 2D.
Pillars pop up quickly and it is hard to get out of the way in
time.
Akaru-hime the Red Princess
This is a rather simple game. Deceptively simple. You are
limited to looking left/right and jumping/ducking. You are armed
with a sword and have to defend your home from the invading
ninjas. There are throwing stars that come flying in rather
quickly. Perfect for the older model Game Boy that has severe
blur problems. Developed for bitbitjam #3.
Pretty Princess Castle Escape
Here is an extremely tough action platforming game starring the
Princess. She is not waiting for an overweight plumber and his
brother to come to her rescue. Get ready for frustration and
almost throwing your Game Boy on this one. Created for the
bitbitjam #3 event.
=~=~=~=
A-ONE's Headline News
The Latest in Computer Technology News
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
Snowden Says It's A 'Dark Day for Russia'
After Putin Signs Anti-Terror Law
Whistleblower and ex-NSA employee Edward Snowden has criticized a
new anti-terror law introduced on Thursday by Russian President
Vladimir Putin, referring it as "repressive" and noting that it
is a "dark day for Russia."
The new legislation signed by Putin would compel the country's
telephone carriers and Internet providers to record and store the
private communications of each and every one of their customers
for six months ñ and turn them over to the government if
requested.
The data collected on customers would include phone calls, text
messages, photographs, and Internet activities that would be
stored for six months, and "metadata" would be stored up to
3 years.
Moreover, Instant messaging services that make use of encryption,
including WhatsApp, Telegram, and Viber, could face heavy fines
of thousands of pounds if these services continue to operate in
Russia without handing over their encryption keys to the
government.
"Putin has signed a repressive new law that violates not only
human rights but common sense. A dark day for Russia," Snowden
wrote on Twitter.
Snowden is responsible for revealing global mass surveillance
programs by leaking NSA classified documents back in June 2013
before finding asylum in Russia.
The activist explained that the new Russian law, in addition to
"political and constitutional consequences," would cost
telecommunications providers over $30 Billion to implement the new
law, which is more than they can afford.
The CEO of Russiaís second-largest telecom company Megafon told a
local newspaper Thursday that he would rather pay the government
higher taxes than spend over $3 Billion yearly on infrastructure
upgrades.
"Well be unable to fulfill the requirements of law in the way
that it exists at present," said Megafon CEO Sergey Soldatenkov,
adding that his company only generates an annual profit of $780
Million.
"When we saw the provisions of the bill, we really hoped that it
will not be accepted. I believe we have done everything possible
to inform deputies, Federation Council [and] the government that
the bill in this form is impossible," Soldatenkov added.
A spokesperson for Tele2, another Russian telecom company, said
it might have to raise prices threefold or more in order to
accommodate the new law, The WSJ reported.
The Russian government will establish the precise requirements
of the new legislation, according to the Kremlin website.
This frightening new legislation comes into force on July 20th.
Bulgaria Passes Law That Mandates Government
Software Must Be Open Source
Do you have any idea what the software you have installed is doing
stealthily in the background? If it's not an open source software,
can you find out?
Usually, the answer is no.
After Edward Snowdenís revelations, it's clear that how
desperately government agencies wants to put secret backdoors in
your network, devices, and software.
However, Bulgaria has come forward with an all new set of laws
that would be appreciated by privacy lovers and open-source
community.
The Bulgarian Parliament has passed legislative amendments to its
Electronic Governance Act that require all software written for
the country's government to be fully open-sourced and developed
in the public Github repository.
This means that source code of software developed for the Bulgarian
government would be accessible to everyone and provided free for
use without limitations.
Article 58A of the Electronic Governance Act states that
administrative authorities must include the following requirements
for procuring software:
"When the subject of the contract includes the development of
computer programs, computer programs must meet the criteria for
open-source software; all copyright and related rights on the
relevant computer programs, their source code, the design of
interfaces, and databases which are subject to the order should
arise for the principal in full, without limitations in the use,
modification, and distribution; and development should be done
in the repository maintained by the agency in accordance with
Art 7c pt. 18."
However, it does not mean that Bulgaria is going to shift to
Linux overnight. It means that whatever computer software, code,
databases and programming interfaces the government procures will
be freely available for others to read, modify and use, said
Bulgarian government adviser Bozhidar Bozhanov.
"Existing solutions are purchased on licensing terms, and
they remain unaffected (although we strongly encourage the use
of open source solutions for that as well)," Bozhanov said in a
blog post.
He added that the decision "is a good step for better government
software and less abandonware, and I hope other countries follow
our somewhat 'radical' approach of putting it in the law."
The move will also allow researchers and white hat hackers to
report security loopholes and vulnerabilities in government
websites that are left unpatched for years, helping the
government to detect bad security practices earlier.
However, criminal mind people could also use the flaws for
malicious purpose rather than reporting it to the government.
With the new amendments, Bulgaria becomes the first country to
make a law out of open source governance, and we hope that other
nations follow this suit.
Oops! TP-Link Forgets To Renew and Loses Its Domains
Used To Configure Router Settings
To make the configuration of routers easier, hardware vendors
instruct users to browse to a domain name rather than numeric IP
addresses.
Networking equipment vendor TP-LINK uses either tplinklogin.net
or tplinkextender.net for its routers configuration. Although
users can also access their router administration panel through
local IP address (i.e. 192.168.1.1).
The first domain offered by the company is used to configure
TP-LINK routers and the second is used for TP-LINK Wi-Fi
extenders.
Here's the Blunder:
TP-Link has reportedly "forgotten" to renew both domains that are
used to configure its routers and access administrative panels of
its devices.
Both domains have now been re-registered using an anonymous
registration service by an unknown entity and are being offered
for sale online at US$2.5 Million each.
This latest TP-Link oversight, which was first spotted by
Cybermoon CEO Amitay Dan, could lead its users to potential
problems.
However, it seems like TP-Link is not at all interested in buying
back those domains, as Dan claims that the hardware vendor is
updating its manuals to remove the domain name references
altogether.
In recent years, the hardware vendor has started replacing its
tplinklogin.net domain with tplinkwifi.net domain, which is
currently under its control. So, there is no direct threat to
TP-Link users.
But unfortunately, the tplinklogin.net and tplinkextender.net
usually came printed on the back of the devices. So, users
accessing this domain on devices could end up on a domain under a
third-party's control.
If malicious actors get their hands on these domains, they could
use them to distribute malware, serve phishing pages instructing
users to "download new firmware to your router," and request
device or social media credentials from users before redirecting
them to the router's local admin panel IP.
The bottom line:
Users are advised to avoid accessing their TP-Link routers using
the tplinklogin.net domain; instead, use local IP address.
Dan has also recommended Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to
block the affected domain names in order to prevent its customers
from being hijacked.
DARPA Challenges Hackers To Create Automated
Hacking System ó Win $2 Million
Why we canít detect all security loopholes and patch them before
hackers exploit them?
Because... we know that humans are too slow at finding and fixing
security bugs, which is why vulnerabilities like Heartbleed,
POODLE and GHOST remained undetected for decades and rendered
almost half of the Internet vulnerable to theft by the time
patches were rolled out.
Now to solve this hurdle, DARPA has come up with an idea: To
build a smart Artificial Intelligence System that will
automatically detect and even patch security flaws in a system.
Isn't it a revolutionary idea for Internet Security?
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has
selected seven teams of finalists who will face off in a
historic battle, as each tries to defend themselves and find out
flaws without any human control.
The DARPA Cyber Grand Challenge will be held at the annual
DEF CON hacking conference in Las Vegas next month.
The winner team will be awarded a prize money of $2 Million for
building a system that can not only detect vulnerabilities but
also write its own patches and deploy them without crashing.
"Cyber Grand Challenge [CGC] is about bringing autonomy to
the cyber domain," CGC program manager Mike Walker said in a
conference call Wednesday. "What we hope to see is proof that
the entire security lifecycle can be automated."
Walker said software bugs go undetected for an average of 312
days, which hackers can often exploit. In fact, even after
detecting the flaws, the human takes much time to understand the
bugs, develop patches, and then release them to the broader
community.
The CGC aims to make this issue much easier, building a system
that can sniff out software vulnerabilities and fix them within
minutes, or even seconds, automatically.
For Cyber Grand Challenge, the seven teams of finalists will be
given a DARPA-constructed computer powered by a thousand Intel
Xeon processor cores and 16TB (terabytes) of RAM.
Each team has the task to program their machine with a "cyber
reasoning system" that will be able to recognize and understand
previously-undisclosed software, detect its flaws, and fix them
without human intervention.
Moreover, once the challenge starts, the teams will not be able
to jump on their machine's keyboards and do anything more.
The cyber reasoning systems will be networked in such a way that
the teams can also examine their competitors' systems for issues,
but can't actually hack them, and get extra points if they are
able to generate automatically proof-of-concept (POC) exploits
for flaws found in their opponents.
The contest will be held at 5 pm on August 4 for over 10 hours in
the Paris hotel ballroom in Las Vegas. The first winner team will
take home $2 Million in prize money, while the second and third
winner will get $1 Million and $750,000, respectively.
After the competition, all the teams' code, along with DARPA's own
test code, will be made available online under an open-source license.
Corrupt Federal Agent Charged in Silk Road Theft
Accused of Stealing Another $700,000
A former United States undercover agent who stole hundreds of
thousands of dollars worth of Bitcoins during an investigation
into the underground drug marketplace Silk Road is now suspected
of stealing even more of the cryptocurrency from two other cases.
Shaun Bridges is one of two former US agents who pleaded guilty
last year and was sentenced in December to almost six years in
prison for stealing over $800,000 in Bitcoin while investigating
the Darknet marketplace.
Bridges and his partner stole money from Silk Road accounts and
framed someone else for it, which lead the Silk Road chief Ross
Ulbricht to plan a murder. Ulbricht is now serving life in prison
sentence.
Ulbricht was convicted in February 2015 of running the
underground black market.
According to court filings unsealed on Thursday, Bridges is
believed to have stolen additional funds from a Secret Service
account on two different occasions months after he was initially
charged.
Bridges and 46-year-old former Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)
special agent Carl Force both were part of Baltimore-based task
force to investigate illegal activity in the Silk Road
marketplace.
According to an affidavit, the Justice Department came to
know in April last year that Bridges might have kept a private
encryption key to access a Bitcoin wallet with the $700,000 in
BTC that the Silk Road task force had seized in 2014.
The Justice Department urged the Secret Service to move the funds
to a different online ëwalletí as a means of protecting it. But
when the Secret Service accessed the wallet, all the bitcoins
were gone.
"Unfortunately, the U.S. Secret Service did not do so and the
funds were thereafter stolen, something the U.S, Secret Service
only discovered once it was ordered by a court to pay a portion
of the seizure back to affected claimants," prosecutors wrote in
an accompanying motion.
The missing bitcoins were found by the agency in December when
Bridges was sentenced after admitting that he moved and stole
nearly 20,000 Bitcoins (around US$350,000 at the time), the
affidavit said.
Bridges later liquidated the stolen Bitcoins into $820,000
between March and May 2013 and transferred all the funds to his
personal investment accounts in the United States.
Bridges has started serving his original sentence at the US
prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. Though, it is not clear when
additional charges will be filed against him.
Attorney Steve Levin of Levin & Curlett LLC is representing
Bridges in the case.
Microsoft Fixes Decades-Old Printer Bug in Windows
Printers. They can be the bane of every home office or small
business, but not just when they jam or run out of paper or toner.
They can also spread malware to systems connected to them.
Microsoft this week published a fix for a printer vulnerability
that has existed in the Windows family since Windows 95. However,
Microsoft hasn't really plugged the hole; instead, it added a
warning to Windows as part of its most recent patch cycle, which
will now let you know if you're installing "untrusted" printer
drivers. Presumably, that will prevent you from doing so.
"The vulnerability in question centers on the ways that network
users find and use printers on a network. Needless to say, modern
organizations often have many users, and likewise often have many
different makes and models of printers. Users expect to connect
to and use whatever printer is most convenient, and likewise,
mobile users expect to be able to come in to the office and
print," reads a blog post from security firm Vectra Networks,
which investigated the vulnerability alongside Microsoft.
"To serve these users, organizations need a way to deliver the
necessary printer drivers to the users who need them. Instead of
pushing every possible driver to all users, many networks use the
Microsoft Web Point-and-Print (MS-WPRN) approach that allows a
user to connect to any printer on the network, and have the
printer or print server deliver the appropriate driver on demand.
To make this as easy and seamless as possible, these drivers are
often delivered without a warning or triggering User Account
Controls (UAC)."
The primary problem is that an attacker could compromise a
printer ó a not-so-secure device, Vectra notesówhich would then
allow the printer to act as a distribution center for malware
disguised as system-level printer drivers. The attacker then gains
a great deal of access to the infected system, as well as an easy
way to spread the malware to anyone else foolish enough to try
connecting to the printer.
An intrepid attacker might not even need to infect an actual
printer. All the person would need is a network-equipped device
(like a laptop) that can pretend it's a printer. That, or an
attacker could simply wait for a legitimate driver request to a
legitimate network printer, but throw down a man-in-the-middle
attack that responds with malware disguised as drivers.
Or, in one extreme case, an attacker might not even need to have
physical access to one's local network at all.
"Thus far, you may be feeling relatively safe because all of this
supposes that the attacker is already on your network. However,
the same mechanism works over the Internet using the Internet
Printing Protocol and webPointNPrint. This opens the door to
infections being delivered over the Internet via normal Web-based
vectors such as compromised websites or ads. A bit of javascript
in an advertisement could easily trigger a request to a remote
'printer' that would then deliver the malicious driver to the
victim. Using both of these approaches, an attacker could both
infect a user from the outside and then use his newly gained
internal position to spread laterally within the network,"
Vectra notes.
Microsoft also issued bug fixes for products like Edge and
Internet Explorer, as well as Adobe Flash.
Facebookís OpenCellular Is A New Open-source
Wireless Access Platform for Remote Areas
Facebook is clearly very serious about its mission to connect the
world and in the process, it has launched solar-powered drones
that use lasers to connect to each other and the ground, and more
prosaic efforts like new antennas for covering both urban and
rural areas. Today, Facebook is expanding this work with the
launch of OpenCellular, a new open source hardware and software
project that aims to bring a more affordable wireless access
platform to remote areas.
ìOne of the reasons the expansion of cellular networks has
stalled is that the ecosystem is constrained,î Facebook engineer
Kashif Ali writes. ìTraditional cellular infrastructure can be
very expensive, making it difficult for operators to deploy it
everywhere and for smaller organizations or individuals to solve
hyperlocal connectivity challenges. Itís often unaffordable for
them to attempt to extend network access in both rural and
developed communities.î
Ali previously co-founded Endaga, which worked on a somewhat
similar project. Facebook acquired the company last October. He
also notes that one of the goals of the projects was to build a
system with very little physical footprint and the ability to
use already available infrastructure because the cost of the land,
tower, power and security for setting up a cellular network is
often higher than that of the actual access point itself.
Facebook says OpenCellular will consist of two main subsystems:
one for general purpose and base-band computing, and one to
handle the actual radio. Both of those systems were designed to
be somewhat modular. The radio system, for example, could be
based on a software-defined radio or on a system-on-chip
solution. While the focus here is on providing wireless access
to the Internet over anything from a 2G to LTE network,
OpenCellular could also be used to provide a local network, too.
These devices will likely be deployed in rather harsh conditions,
so both the industrial and mechanical design aims to make them
rugged enough to withstand high winds and extreme temperatures
while still being small enough to be deployed by a single person.
Facebook says it will open source the hardware design, firmware
and control software for OpenCellular so telecom operators,
entrepreneurs, researchers and OEMs will be able to build their
own versions. It will also donate the work to the Telecom Infra
Project, a Facebook-backed initiative for exploring new
approaches to ó well ó telecom infrastructure basics like access
and backhaul.
Along with tackling connectivity trouble in the developing world,
Facebook is also trying to make it easier for them to access rich
media. Today it announced a test of video downloads in India to
enable offline viewing. Facebook wants everyone, no matter where,
on its social network.
I'm Warning You, Don't Read this Article. It's A Federal Crime!
Yes, you heard it right. If I tell you not to visit my website,
but you still visit it knowing you are disapproved, you are
committing a federal crime, and I have the authority to sue you.
Wait! I haven't disapproved you yet. Rather I'm making you aware
of a new court decision that may trouble you and could have big
implications going forward.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has
taken a critical decision on the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
(CFAA): Companies can seek civil and criminal penalties against
people who access or visit their websites without their
permission.
Even Sharing Password is also a Federal Crime...
Yes, a similar weird decision was taken last week when the Ninth
Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that sharing passwords can be a
violation of the CFAA, making Millions of people who share their
passwords "unwitting federal criminals."
Now, you might be wondering how visiting a publically open
website could be a crime. Well, there's a legal battle behind
it:
CASE: Facebook Vs. Power Ventures
The case involves a start-up called Power Ventures ñ allows its
users to log-in and manage all of their social network accounts
from one place ñ claimed on its site that the "First 100 people
who bring 100 new friends to Power.com win $100."
Once clicked on the link, Power used a service that let users
fetch all of their contacts on different social media sites to
send a series of promotional emails and internal Facebook
messages inviting their friends to sign-up on Power.com.
On discovering the activity, Facebook blocked the Power's API
app to access its website and user's data, as well as sent a
cease-and-desist letter to the scammy service telling the
company to stop.
"Facebook does allow third parties to access content by
enrolling in the site's Facebook Connect program, but Power never
registered with the system and conducted activities beyond the
programís scope," says Orin Kerr, Professor of law at the George
Washington University Law School.
According to the cease-and-desist letter, Power was violating
Facebook's terms of use that may have violated federal and state
law.
Even being explicitly warned to stop, Power continued using
Facebookís website, which forced Facebook to sue Power Ventures
in the year 2008 for violating Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
(CFAA).
In September 2013, the federal court ordered Power to pay more
than $3 Million in damages to Facebook on the ground that Power
had violated CFAA Law.
The case was pending before the Ninth Circuit, who has also
sided with Facebook recently.
Well, I'm not convinced. The court ruling is really too broad
that gives prosecutors too much power to turn your activities,
such as password sharing and visiting websites, into federal
crimes.
Microsoft Wins Appeal in Dublin Datacenter Warrant Case
A federal appeals court today overturned a lower court ruling
ordering Microsoft to turn over the contents of e-mails stored
in an offshore datacenter. The decision is a major victory for
Microsoft and all major cloud and data services providers
seeking to ensure user data is protected under the laws of the
countries where information is stored.
The closely watched case centered around Microsoft's refusal to
comply with a search warrant by U.S. law enforcement demanding
that it turn over the contents of specific e-mails residing in
its Dublin, Ireland datacenter in connection with a criminal
investigation. While Microsoft did turn over the data in its U.S.
datacenters, the company argued that complying with the search
warrant's demand to provde the e-mails was beyond the scope of
U.S. law. Despite support from Apple, AT&T, Cisco and Verizon,
along with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the U.S. District
Court for the Southern District of New York upheld the search
warrant issued nearly two years ago. Microsoft subsequently filed
the appeal last year arguing privacy laws superseded the court's
ruling. "This case is about how we best protect privacy, ensure
that governments keep people safe and respect national
sovereignty while preserving the global nature of the Internet,"
Microsoft President and Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith stated at
the time.
Smith hailed today's decision as a key precedent for privacy.
"It ensures that people's privacy rights are protected by the
laws of their own countries; it helps ensure that the legal
protections of the physical world apply in the digital domain;
and it paves the way for better solutions to address both privacy
and law enforcement needs," Smith stated in a blog post.
A panel of three appeals court judges from the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Second Circuit found that last year's ruling
ordering Microsoft to comply with a search warrant was invalid,
noting that search warrants carried out by U.S. law enforcements
are typically limited to locations within this country's borders
or locations it has jurisdiction over, according to the ruling.
Warrants don't traditionally extend further.
"Because Microsoft has complied with the Warrant's domestic
directives and resisted only its extraterritorial aspects, we
REVERSE the District Court's denial of Microsoft's motion to
quash, VACATE its finding of civil contempt, and REMAND the cause
with instructions to the District Court to quash the Warrant
insofar as it directs Microsoft to collect, import, and produce
to the government customer content stored outside the United
States, according to the ruling.
Smith yesterday gave a speech at Microsoft's Worldwide Partner
Conference in Toronto where he gave an impassioned emphasis on
the company's commitment to fighting for customer privacy and
spoke to this closely watched case. "We need an Internet that
respects people's rights," he said. "We need an Internet that is
governed by law [and] we need an Internet that's governed by
good law."
Smith has been a vocal proponent that the Communications Storage
Act under the Electronic Privacy Act of 1986 is based on is
dated and has urged Congress and the White House to create laws
that are consistent with the modern world. Apparently the
appeals court agreed as noted in the ruling: "Three decades
ago, international boundaries were not so routinely crossed as
they are today, when service providers rely on worldwide
networks of hardware to satisfy users' 21stñcentury demands for
access and speed and their related, evolving expectations of
privacy."
=~=~=~=
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