BUL2294 - Slashdot User

Submission + - Feds charge 61 people over Indian call center IRS scams

Submitted by BUL2294 on Thursday October 27, 2016 @03:34PM

BUL2294 writes: Following the arrests earlier this month in India of call center employees posing as IRS or immigration agents, USA Today and Consumerist are reporting that the US Department of Justice has charged 61 people in the US and India of facilitating the scam, bilking millions from Americans thinking they were facing immediate arrest and prosecution.

"According to the indictment — which covers 20 individuals in the U.S. and 32 people and five call centers in India — since about 2012 the defendants used information obtained from data brokers and other sources to call potential victims impersonating officers from the IRS or U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services."

Submission + - Copyright Office rules on DRM circumvention in cars, devices, video games. 1

Submitted by BUL2294 on Tuesday October 27, 2015 @01:49PM

BUL2294 writes: Consumerist is reporting that the U.S. Library of Congress' Copyright Office has published their newest rules regarding DRM circumvention. Much to the chagrin of car makers & agricultural vehicle manufacturers, DRM circumvention, with the exception of telmatics ("black box") and entertainment systems, and anything that would run afoul of DOT or EPA regulations, is now allowed for "diagnosis, repair or lawful modification of a vehicle function". In addition, jailbreaking is now extended to tablets, wearables, and smart TVs, but not to single-purpose devices like e-readers. An exemption has been carved out for security researchers to hack cars, voting machines, and medical devices--as long as that device is not being used for its purpose & is in an isolated environment. Finally, owners of abandoned video games that require server authentication (where such authentication is no longer available) may also circumvent DRM. DRM circumvention is NOT allowed for jailbreaking gaming systems & e-readers, and does not allow for "format-shifting" (e.g. moving e-books from one platform to another).

The full text of the new rules, is available here, and will be published in the Federal Register on October 28, 2015.

Submission + - Supreme Court to consider data aggregation suit against Spokeo

Submitted by BUL2294 on Monday April 27, 2015 @03:26PM

BUL2294 writes: Consumerist and Associated Press are reporting that the Supreme Court has taken up the case of Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins — a case where Spokeo, as a data aggregator, faces legal liability and Fair Credit Reporting Act violations for providing information on Thomas Robins, an individual who has not suffered "a specific harm" directly attributable to the inaccurate data Spokeo collected on him.

From SCOTUSblog: "Robins, who filed a class-action lawsuit, claimed that Spokeo had provided flawed information about him, including that he had more education than he actually did, that he is married although he remains single, and that he was financially better off than he actually was. He said he was unemployed and looking for work, and contended that the inaccurate information would make it more difficult for him to get a job and to get credit and insurance." So, while not suffering a specific harm, the potential for harm based on inaccurate data exists. Companies such as Facebook and Google are closely watching this case, given the potential of billions of dollars of liability for selling inaccurate information on their customers and other people.

Submission + - Comcast's incompetence, lack of broadband competition force homeowner to sell 1

Submitted by BUL2294 on Wednesday March 25, 2015 @01:32PM

BUL2294 writes: Consumerist has an article about a homeowner in Kitsap County, Washington who is unable to get broadband service. Due to inaccurate broadband availability websites, Comcast's corporate incompetence, CenturyLink's refusal to add new customers in his area, and Washington state's restrictions on municipal broadband, the owner may be left with no option but to sell his house 2 months after he bought it, since he works from home as a software developer.

To add insult to injury, BroadbandMaps.gov says he has 10 broadband options in his zip code, some of which are not applicable to his address, have exorbitant costs (e.g. wireless), or are for municipal providers that are prevented from doing business with him by state law. Yet, Comcast insists in filings that “the broadband marketplace is more competitive than ever,” which appear to be very carefully chosen words...

Submission + - Declining LG's new ad-friendly Privacy Policy removes features from Smart TVs

Submitted by BUL2294 on Wednesday May 21, 2014 @10:29AM

BUL2294 writes: Techdirt and Consumerist posted articles about a user in the UK who, after a firmware update to his 2-year old LG Smart TV, declined their new Privacy Policy, only to find that most Internet-connected features (e.g. BBC iPlayer, Skype) of the TV now no longer work. From the Techdirt article...
Does a manufacturer have the right to "brick" certain integral services just because the end user doesn't feel comfortable sharing a bunch of info with LG and other, unnamed third parties? LG certainly feels it has the right to do this. In fact, it makes no secret of this in its long Privacy Policy — a document that spends more time discussing the lack thereof, rather than privacy itself. The opening paragraph makes this perfectly clear.

To add, even declining the policy still results in non-specified information being sent to LG.

LG's policy of spying on the viewing habits of customers, along with sending filenames of videos stored on USB devices connected to TVs, was previously discussed on Slashdot.

Submission + - Comcast turning Chicago homes into Xfinity hotspots... 1

Submitted by BUL2294 on Tuesday March 04, 2014 @08:04PM

BUL2294 writes: The Chicago Tribune is reporting that, over the next few months in Chicago, Comcast is turning on a feature that turns customer networks into public Wi-Fi hotspots. After a firmware upgrade is installed, "visitors will use their own Xfinity credentials to sign on, and will not need the homeowner's permission or password to tap into their Wi-Fi signal. The homegrown network will also be available to non-subscribers free for several hours each month, or on a pay-per-use basis. Any outside usage should not affect the speed or security of the home subscriber's private network. [...] Home internet subscribers will automatically participate in the network's growing infrastructure, although a small number have chosen to opt out in other test markets." The article specifically mentions that this capability is opt-out, so Comcast is relying on home users' property, electricity, and lack of tech-savvy to increase their network footprint...

Submission + - 95% of ATMs worldwide are still using Windows XP...

Submitted by BUL2294 on Thursday January 16, 2014 @06:23PM

BUL2294 writes: With the April lifecycle deadline looming for Windows XP, BusinessWeek has indicated that 95% of the world's ATM machines are still running Windows XP and banks are already purchasing extended support agreements from Microsoft as they will not meet the deadline. (The article indicates that some of the affected ATMs are running XP Embedded, which has a support lifecycle until January, 2016). 'Microsoft is selling custom tech support agreements that extend the life of Windows XP, although the cost can soar quickly—multiplying by a factor of five in the second year, says Korala. JPMorgan is buying a one-year extension and will start converting its machines to Windows 7 in July; about 3,000 of its 19,000 ATMs need enhancements before the process can begin...'

Submission + - Mars Rovers facing budget cuts (cnn.com)

Submitted by BUL2294 on Monday March 24, 2008 @06:47PM

BUL2294 writes: CNN is reporting that the Mars Rovers program at NASA will be faced with budget cuts of $4 million for this year and $8 million for fiscal 2009. This will also mean job cuts. Spirit in all likelihood will be put in "hibernation mode", to be reactivated when (if...) future funding becomes available.

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