Ask yourself this: Are you a statistic or a specific example? That’s the question being raised in the aftermath of a study in which researchers secretly tracked the locations of 100,000 people to determine their movement patterns. Such studies are considered invasions of privacy — and illegal — in the United States, but this one was done in an undisclosed industrialized nation. The subjects were chosen at random out of a pool of 6 million from a mystery wireless provider and tracked based on cell tower triangulation and other “tracking devices.” Study co-author Cesar Hidalgo at Northeastern University promises that researchers didn’t know the individuals’ phone numbers or identities, and offers that the results are a major advance for science. The study found that people are homebodies — most stay within 20 miles of their home and are rather habitual. Scientists say the findings — to be published in Nature on Thursday — can help improve public transit systems and even fight contagious diseases.
Jack Thompson, the infamous attorney that has been a factor in multiple anti-video game lawsuits, reportedly walked out of a hearing before the Florida Bar Association today. Thompson’s hearing went on without him and the Florida Bar Association recommended Thompson be disciplined with an “enhanced disbarment” stipulating that Thompson can’t apply to practice law again for a decade.
The reason Thompson cited for walking out of the courtroom was that Judge Dava Tunis, whom Thompson calls the referee, didn’t have the authority to hear his case. Thompson claims that Tunis has an invalid loyalty oath and that because the oath is invalid Tunis will be removed from office and can’t preside over his Bar hearing. Thompson also claims that Tunis forged a new loyalty oath to cover the fact that her original oath was invalid due to improper wording.
Thompson filed a massive and rambling 14 page document he titled “Thompson’s Formal Objection to June 4 Sanctions “Hearing””. Thompson points out in the opening lines of his objections that, “I depart from the traditional identification of myself, a party herein, in the third person and instead speak in my own voice in the first person directly to the referee.” After all speaking about himself in the first person would make him sound crazy.
In the rambling objection document, Thompson claims that he has been denied is due process by not having the accusations against him made clear “in English any rational person can understand.” Thompson also claims that Tunis leaked the court document outlining that he was found guilty on 27 of the 31 counts raised by the Florida State Bar.
Thompson goes on to compare his quest to confront Howard Stern and his supporters to John the Baptist confronting Herod about marrying his brother’s wife.
The best sentence from the entire rambling document says, “The consequence of all of this post facto oath taking is that all that the Florida Supreme Court has done in this case is invalid and will be voided, and if you think I will not accomplish that end then a) you do not understand the lawsuit already filed, and b) you don’t know Jack.”
Concerned over privacy incursions, citizens strike back
Fed up Germans took to the streets last Saturday (English), speaking out against the German government’s data retention policies at protests and rallies in over 30 different cities, including Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, and Hamburg.
The protest, the first in 2008 in a growing series of “Freedom Not Fear” rallies, reflects a rising pro-privacy and anti-surveillance sentiment stretching across Europe as citizens realize the extent of government monitoring in their personal lives. The rallies’ organizer, Stoppt Die Vorratsdatenspeicherung (German Working Group on Data Retention), says it is specifically targeting recent German legislation, passed January 2008, that allows government officials to store and recall detailed information on all phone and e-mail conversations for a period of six months.
Germany’s Telecoms Data Retention Act is the manifestation of a larger European Union directive dating back to 2006, which forced member countries to enact data retention legislation laws in order to enhance crime-fighting and terrorism investigations. The directive has met heavy resistance thus far, writes the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and rights groups in Ireland and Germany are slowing the process further with a handful of constitutional challenges against the directive’s many forms. Digital Rights Ireland’s challenge is set to be heard today, and the Working Group says it has another challenge pending.
While attendance figures are currently unknown, a similar rally taking place last September drew in over 25,000 people. Current reports indicate that over 2,500 showed up for the rally in Munich alone, and the Working Group said it has plans to “expand across Europe” for “an even larger protest on September 20th of this year.”
“Until 2007, telecommunications providers were permitted to retain only data required for billing purposes,” reads a Working Group summary, which goes on to point out that retention policies place heavy financial strains on businesses, violate basic privacy rights, and disrupts professional activities that rely on discretion, such as those in the fields of medicine, law, or journalism.
Curiously, German government officials are investigating private companies’ storage and use of private data. Criminal investigations are currently underway against the actions of Deutsche Telekom, for example, which recently rocked the country last month after the company admitted to spying on prominent company executives and journalists in order to root out leaks.
Rep. Tim Couch proposes legislation to ban Internet anonymity; knows of its impending doom and doesn’t follow through
Anonymity is one of the great things about the internet. The web is one place where people can be whoever they want, or say whatever they want. But according to one Kentucky lawmaker, attention should be drawn to the anonymous bullying.
Tim Couch proposed a bill criminalizing anonymous internet posting (HB775) and would mandate posters to give up their complete name, mailing address, and e-mail address. The information would have to be posted on websites alongside any comments made on the Internet. Failure for any website to require this or any person to give up their information will result in a $500 fine. That sum is just for the first offense; it is a $1,000 fine for any following offenses.
There are certain obvious flaws with the proposed bill such as the infringement on First Amendment rights, and the state’s ability to regulate Internet, or rather their inability to do so. The most important flaw in this bill is that it only includes websites hosted out of Kentucky. Even if the bill was passed, people would see very little effect from it.
Couch admits that the bill is unlikely to get passed and is unconstitutional. He notes that his goal with this move is that he just wants to make aware the “bullying” that takes place on the internet.
“I think right now (online posting) is pretty much just on its own. It’s a machine that’s going to go its own way,” said Couch in an interview with the Lexington Herald-Leader. “The state can try to pass some rules, but I don’t really think it would do anything.”
Lawmakers in the past have sidestepped censoring internet anonymity with other laws, like libel. Just in this case as in others in the past, it is the rights of the First Amendment that come into question.
“Some nasty things have been said about high school kids in my district, usually by other kids,” Couch said. “The adults get in on it, too … When you’re anonymous, you can say anything you want to about someone, and nobody knows who you are.”
In other cases, courts explored the idea of devaluing a public company via negative anonymous comments. But there still exists that idea that a price will always have to be paid in order to retain our rights.
Poor, poor client number 9, Eliot Spitzer. Having suffered a humiliating week in the US press, corporate Canada is now taking its shot at the disgraced New York governor. That’s the actual print ad which Virgin Mobile will run in Toronto newspapers this week with the following subtext:
“At Virgin Mobile, you’re more than just a number. When you call us we’ll treat you like a person, not a client. Whether you’re #9 or #900, you’ll get hooked up with somebody who’ll finally treat you just how you want to be treated.”
Let’s just see if Spitzer swallows the jab, or comes out fighting this unauthorized use of his image. Full text blow-up after the break.
A district attorney in Rockwall County, Dallas, is under scrutiny from the FBI due to a PC he built as a backup server — using office money. Ray Sumrow claims he was using the system for business, but the “server” actually seems to be a tricked out gaming rig, featuring two hard drives, seven fans, high end graphics and sound cards, WiFi, and cables which “glow under ultraviolet light.” Rod Gregg, the FBI examiner on the case says, “I would not configure a backup computer in that way,” and added, “When I saw that, I did not think of anything related to a government agency.” Charges of forgery, theft, and records tampering have been made against Mr. Sumrow due to his use of the district attorney’s “fee fund,” which is meant to be used for office supplies or employee salaries. Testimony will take place through the week, and prosecutors expect to hear how it was imperative to Mr. Sumrow’s legal work that he, “Frag the crap out of dudes.”
Residents in Sderot have had enough of rocket attacks and want the laser-based Nautilus system in place
DailyTech recently discussed the use of military-grade laser used as weapons in a number of articles. Boeing installed a 12,000-pound, high-energy laser into its C-130H Gunship and Northrop Grumman has similar “laser ambitions” with the Guardian anti-missile system installed in an MD-10 cargo jet.
While Americans are typically apathetic to the use of such technology for military duties, some residents in Israel are clamoring to have laser-based weapons as a safety net for their towns. Sderot residents have gone so far as to sue the Israeli government — more specifically, they named Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as defendants in the civil suit.
The Sderot residents want the Israeli government to install the Nautilus Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL) system to protect the region from Kassam and Katyusha rockets. Sderot has been heavily bombarded with such rockets over the years which have resulted in numerous deaths. The residents feel that suing the government may be its only chance for protection against further attacks.
“Israel could bring the system to Sderot and use it to protect the people there from Kassam rockets,” said Nitsana Darshan-Leitner who heads the Israel Law Center which represents the Sderot residents. “In 1996, when Israel was under threat from Lebanon, Israel asked the United States to help them establish a system to protect northern settlements from Katyusha rockets. This system, called Nautilus, shot down Katyushas, Kassams and bombs with 100 percent success.”
Unfortunately for the Sderot residents, the Nautilus program stalled in 2005 after ten years of development and $400 million USD spent between Israel and the United States. Since that time, rocket fire has increased which has led the Israeli government to develop yet another system dubbed “Iron Dome.” The Iron Dome system will cost the government $100,000 for each incoming rocket it destroys – if it destroys them at all. Recent tests show that Iron Dome is incapable of protecting Sderot from incoming Kassam rockets.
“[Nautilus is] just sitting there in New Mexico. There is a way to take it apart, bring it to Israel and rebuild it,” Darshan-Leitner continued. “A company told me that it would take no longer than five or six months. It would cost around 50 million dollars to rebuild it, but there would be unlimited protection against Katyushas, Kassams, and bombs.”
Despite Darshan-Leitner’s optimism of the performance of the Nautilus system — she quotes an extremely optimistic 100 perfect effective rate — a spokesman for the Israeli Defense Ministry says that such claims are preposterous. “As long as there was a chance that the results would lead to a functional, effective missile defense system we stuck with the program. But in 2005 the US military backed out of the program because it wasn’t working, and we decided to end our involvement as well,” said spokesman Shlomo Dror.
Despite the concerns from Sderot residents, Dror tried to express that the government is working hard to provide protection for its citizens.
“There is no way to put a price tag on the trauma caused by living with the ongoing threat from, and even more for people injured or even killed by Kassam attacks, God forbid,” said Dror. “We are spending as much as we need to in order to develop the most effective system we can to protect residents of Sderot and the entire western Negev region.”
You know, we’ll actually be a little sad when the endless legal battle between Nokia and Qualcomm actually comes to an end — but until then, we’re going to revel in all the dirt that comes out of having over a dozen simultaneous lawsuits going worldwide. Nokia now says that it owes Qualcomm nothing for its “early” CDMA patents, because it’s dropped a cool billion dollars into license payments for them over the past 15 years and those deals have expired, so it’s in the clear now. As you might expect, Qualcomm disagrees, and says that if Nokia wants to keep using its tech, it’s got to pay up — that’s on top of the estimated $500 million a year Nokia’s already paying Qualcomm for other patents. Guys, guys, why fight like this? What’s a couple billion a year between friends? Video summary of the entire dispute after the break.
You know, we’ll actually be a little sad when the endless legal battle between Nokia and Qualcomm actually comes to an end — but until then, we’re going to revel in all the dirt that comes out of having over a dozen simultaneous lawsuits going worldwide. Nokia now says that it owes Qualcomm nothing for its “early” CDMA patents, because it’s dropped a cool billion dollars into license payments for them over the past 15 years and those deals have expired, so it’s in the clear now. As you might expect, Qualcomm disagrees, and says that if Nokia wants to keep using its tech, it’s got to pay up — that’s on top of the estimated $500 million a year Nokia’s already paying Qualcomm for other patents. Guys, guys, why fight like this? What’s a couple billion a year between friends? Video summary of the entire dispute after the break.
We’re not huge fans of overzealous security camera deployment, but if you’re going to spend taxpayer money deploying nannycams, at least make sure they’re capturing more than one frame every two seconds — the rate at which San Francisco’s $900,000 system is running. A study of the city’s 68 cameras found that the system has only led to one arrest in two and a half years of operation, and the main reason for the failure is uselessly slow video — which is grainy, to boot. Compare that to Chicago’s much-hated (but effective) system, which runs at 30fps, and it’s obvious why the president of San Francisco’s Police Commission said the city was “throwing money away.” There’s no word on how or when the issue might be resolved, but the city is due to review the system and issue a determination soon. Check the read link for a video of the system in (in)action.
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