53900929
submission
sl4shd0rk writes:
In 2012, Oracle took Google to court over Java. In the balance hung the legalities of writing code to mimic the functionality of copyrighted software. The trial was set to determine how all future software would be written (and by whom). Oracle's entire case boiled down to an inadvertent 9 lines of code; an argument over a simple and basic comparison of a range of numbers. The presiding judge (who had some background in writing software) didn't buy it stating he had "written blocks of code like rangeCheck a hundred times before." A victory for more than just Google. This week, however, Microsoft, EMC, Oracle and Netapp have filed for appeal and seek to reverse the ruling. It's not looking good as the new bevy of judges Indicating they may side with Oracle on the issue.
53895827
submission
sl4shd0rk writes:
Remember when the ex-cable lobbyist Tom Wheeler was appointed to the FCC chair back in may of 2013? Turns out he's currently gunning for Internet Service Providers to be able to "favor some traffic over other traffic". A dangerous precedent considering the Open Internet Order in 2010 forbid such action if it fell under unreasonable discrimination. The bendy interpretation of the 2010 order is apparently aimed somewhat at Netflix as Wheeler stated: "Netflix might say, 'I'll pay in order to make sure that my subscriber might receive the best possible transmission of this movie.'"
53890511
submission
sl4shd0rk writes:
It seems you can be arrested in Georgia for drawing 5 cents of electricity from a school's outdoor receptacle. Kaveh Kamooneh was charged with theft for plugging his Nissan Leaf into a Chamblee Middle School 110V outlet; the same outlet one could use to charge a laptop or cellphone. The Leaf draws 1KW/hour while charging which works out to under $0.10 of electricity per hour. Mr Kamooneh charged his Leaf for less than 30 mins, which works out to about a Nickel. Sgt. Ernesto Ford, The arresting officer, pointed out a "theft is a theft" and was his argument for arresting Mr. Kamooneh. Considering the cost of the infraction, it does not seem a reasonable decision when considering how much this will cost the state in legal funds. Does this mean anyone charging a laptop or cell phone will be charged with theft as well?
52286109
submission
sl4shd0rk writes:
In what could be an act of desparation of a company in it's death throes, Blackberry has submitted their BBM messaging application to Google Play for download. While this may seem like a logical path for a company on life-support, what wasn't expected is the sheer number of identical 5-star reviews the application has received since being posted. In what appears to be review "ballot stuffing", it poses the questions of just how Google is going to handle the subject of manufactured reviews as well as how many other entities have engaged in the same behavior. The same problems have plagued Amazon's review system as well bringing into question the validity of "crowd based review" and whether it's possible to legitimize this type of system.
52251539
submission
sl4shd0rk writes:
Michael Powell, A former United States FCC chairman, is pushing for "usage-based internet access" which he says is good for consumers who are "accustomed to paying for what they use". Apparently Time Warner and Comcast (maybe others) are already developing plans to set monthly rates based on bandwidth usage. The reasoning on the NCTA website lays out the argument behind Powell's plan.
52173175
submission
sl4shd0rk writes:
CryptoSeal Privacy, a consumer VPN service, has apparently shuttered it's doors saying it has immediately zeroed it's crypto keys citing "it is impossible for us to continue offering the CryptoSeal Privacy consumer VPN product." the statement goes further with a warning: "For anyone operating a VPN, mail, or other communications provider in the US, we believe it would be prudent to evaluate whether a pen register order could be used to compel you to divulge SSL keys protecting message contents, and if so, to take appropriate action,". Sounds like another victim of FISA endorsed illegal NSA activity.
51541217
submission
sl4shd0rk writes:
Adobe Systems Inc. is expected to announce today that hackers broke into its network and stole source code for an as-yet undetermined number of software titles, including its ColdFusion Web application platform, and possibly its Acrobat family of products. The company said hackers also accessed nearly three million customer credit card records, and stole login data for an undetermined number of Adobe user accounts.
51157779
submission
sl4shd0rk writes:
Nvidia, of the infamous Torvalds Salute, has decided to do something about it's crummy image with Open Source developers and release public documentation on certain aspects of it's GPU. Reactions from developers have been mixed; much of what's already been released wasn't a big mystery but Nvidia says more is coming and they will also provide guidance in needed areas as well.
49388595
submission
sl4shd0rk writes:
Director of the NSA, Keith Alexander, has decided that the best way to
prevent illegal activity, or rather be witness to it, is to reduce the number of ears and eyes involved. During a monolog at a cybersecurity conference in New York this week, Alexander revealed his plans to cut 90% of the System Administration workforce at the NSA. "What we're in the process of doing — not fast enough — is reducing our system administrators by about 90 percent," he said. Alluding to an issue of mistrust, Alexander further clarified: "At the end of the day it's about people and trust...if they misuse that trust they can cause huge damage.". Apparently, breaking the law and lying about it leaves one without a sense of irony when speaking in public.
49330567
submission
sl4shd0rk writes:
The American journalist Glenn Greewald, who published much of the initial info on illegal NSA programs, plans to release more damning revelations on the NSA spying machine in 10 days. "The articles we have published so far are a very small part of the revelations that ought to be published," Greenwald said on Tuesday. Greenwald further elaborated on public posturing which many nations are currently taking: "The Brazilian government is showing much more anger in public than it is showing in private discussions with the U.S. government..All governments are doing this, even in Europe."
49302089
submission
sl4shd0rk writes:
The Japanese Fukishama crisis took a turn for the worse this week as it was found a barrier built to contain contaminated water has been breached; a leak defined by 20 trillion to 40 trillion becquerels of radioactive tritium. This is yet another problem on top of a spate of errors plauging the 2011 nuclear disaster site. Nuclear regulatory official Shinji Kinjo has cited Tokyo Electric Power Company as having a "Weak sense of crisis" as well as hinted at previous bunglings by TEPCO as the reason one cannot "just leave it up to Tepco alone". If Nuclear energy is ever to move forward, these types of disasters need to be eliminated. Is the ongoing saga of Fukishama a problem which can be cured with appropriate technology, or are disasters like this simply the element of cost vs. risk in the business of nuclear energy?
49086345
submission
sl4shd0rk writes:
Samsung-is-not-as-cool-as-Apple Judge Colin Birss, rules in favor of Volkswagon to ban Flavio Garcia, a computer scientist, from revealing details about "Wirelessly Lockpicking a Vehicle Immobiliser" at USENIX in August. Volkswagen says the flaw could allow someone to "break the security and steal a car" so it is justifiable grounds for blocking Flavio's paper. No word yet on how soon Volkswagen will have a patch for their bungled technology which is responsible for the exploit.
49004335
submission
sl4shd0rk writes:
Federal Judge William Pauley has dismissed an Obama Administration request to delay a hearing on Verizon/NSA data sifting. The ACLU has argued that the sifting is not authorized by statute and even if it were it would still be unconstitutional. The Obama Administration requested the delay on the grounds it needed more time to search through it's classified material to determine what was suitable for disclosure.
48936939
submission
sl4shd0rk writes:
Edward Snowden, the enlightening NSA Whistleblower, has been granted refuge in Russia as reported by Interfax News. He has apparently been given papers (and a change of clothes) by the Russian government to allow him to soon leave the Sheremetyevo airport. The delay in exodus, cited by a Russian official, is apparently due to the "uniqueness" of the situation being cause for thorough review of Snowden's Asylum request.
47936979
submission
sl4shd0rk writes:
Presuming Aliens won't have terrible Ebay experiences, PayPal means to position themselves to take on payments in the cosmos: "With our fifteen years of experience in global online payments, PayPal has a unique perspective to speak to the possibilities of an interplanetary economy." Apparently, Paypal is taking up bedmates with Virgin Galatic along with Buzz Aldrin and the SETI Institute to allow you to "explore the possibilities of travel" as well as tourism and commerce. Let's hope Black Holes don't end up being a common excuse for lost Troll Doll shipments.
