South Korea looks to block out porn and swear terms on teen cell phones

In efforts to tackle cyberbullying, South Korea is looking at smartphone software that will do just this – blocking out porn and profane content, aiming at kids and teens that are using their smartphones to visit social networks like Twitter and Facebook, likely part of its “Internet Dangers” education program.

The program encourages South Korean teens to overcome problems with Internet gaming addition, and to do something positive such as school work, reading and music.

Source: The Verge

Facebook Banning Gun Owners En Masse

Alex Jones of Infowars.com says in the video that Facebook has blocking accounts that were promoting pro-gun material. Perhaps bad for Facebook's image, or just convert censorship?

List of accounts that were temporarily shut down

More Internet restrictions coming to China

The Chinese regime announced its latest plans for more control over the Internet in the country. The first one is having Net users register their names with ISPs and government-run sites, which is probably been in place before, Then, it legalizes the deletion and interception of posts and data from Net users that may deem “illegal” online, effectively controlling what the Chinese can say and do, and retain data about what a user has posted – which is called data retention.

Such measures like these will allow the Chinese police to identify and snuff out dissidents that are posting info that is frown upon by the Chinese regime, taking the Big Brother internet policing to the next level.

This comes after Internet users in China exposed lower-level officials that may have engaged in government corruption, and wanting extra measures in place to prevent false and anonymous accusations online.

So if you want to expose a corrupt government official, the Chinese regime may not take your word for it without disclosing your real name and info.

Source: Reuters

NYPD looks to identify “deranged” people online

If you’re looking to hunt down criminals, terrorists and mentally ill people online, just spy on as many people as possible. The NYPD is turning to social networks to identify “deranged” people that may pose a danger to the community. The question is, do the big city police in America know how to deal with the mentally ill other than beating them in a seismic way?

But the Internet is already being watched by people like Homeland Security, NSA, DOJ and others. And yet another one of those Thought Police models of trying to catch the “preppers” of crime.

Source: Slashdot

Israeli police looking to censor the web

Israel is the next Middle Eastern nation looking to censor the Internet, in the name of child porn, gambling and piracy (not necessarily looking to engage with its enemies on the web like Hamas on Twitter).

Israeli police under a new Israeli bill will soon issue warrants to ISPs in the country to have websites blocked or seized, which is an initiative that was experimented on in 2010. This can possibly be done without hearing from the Israeli courts. The District Court of Tel-Aviv ruled that police do not have the authority to tell ISPs to block websites or IP addresses, but police still eager to support it under a new bill.

UK looking to spy on the unemployed on the net

What could the British government want with the unemployed, other than helping them find work? They’re turning to benefit claimants who submitted their applications online and looking to track them to see if they’re doing their best to find work in the UK.

According to The Telegraph, the unemployed may not qualify for benefits if a job position is not found on the Universal Jobmatch website.

Another US agency gets the ability to spy on Americans

On top of the NSA, DHS and others wanting to spy on Americans in the name of terrorism, the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) may have the means to track Americans through government files for possible criminal behavior.

What’s worse, this can all be done without warrants and without due process. The NCTC claims that they look through these files to look for counter-insurgency activity.

Source: Slashdot

US Loud commercial ban in effect today

Soon you’ll probably notice a volume difference in commercials on TV – that’s because President Obama signed the CALM Act today (the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act) which makes sure commercial providers and makers are airing commercials that have sound levels equivalent of that of the original programming.

This was made possible because consumers have complained about loud commercials on TV for many years.

With that, the FCC has set up an FAQ page for consumers to report such loud commercials from TV stations that exceed the rest of the TV programming.

Source: Network World

UN group to choose emergency numbers: 911 or 122?

At the International Telecommunications Union meeting in Dubai, member nations will have a say on what numbers can be used for emergency calls, whether its 911 (North America) or 122 (for Europe and other nations).

It is the same meeting in Dubai that debated the control for the Internet, and so far the US backed down on its support on the world issue – but will the US keep its word?

Source: Yahoo

Alex Jones: Transit Authorities Admit to Spying on You, Filming restrictions and more

Alex Jones of Infowars.com protesting on government spying and filming restrictions on police and government buildings. Video from the Infowars Nightly News.

Big Brother Buses: Eavesdropping devices put on US public transport

The US transit authorities are looking into updating their pubic transport systems with audio recording devices for buses, and possibly other means of public transportation. Such microphone sound surveillance systems have the ability to record and store conversations.

See Russia Today video for more:

Iranian regime launches YouTube-like video site, Mehr

The Iranian regime has launched its own video sharing site called Mehr, similar to that of YouTube. The site wasn't just made to compete against Youtube, Vimeo and others, but to have more control over what gets posted. Perhaps it was made in anticipation of its domestic Internet launch?

This Newsy.com video has said that Iran was the country that was planning to get its own national Internet, or Intranet (closed network). It also revealed that in 2002, North Korea had its own closed Internet network, with its own search engine, email and browser.

US law enforcement may soon record and trace text messages

Law enforcement in the US may soon turn to cell phone text messaging data for evidence, as they will try to get cell phone providers to retain that data for a two-year period.

A perfect way to gather evidence about your digital life, should you be charged with a crime, or just an invasion of digital privacy?

Syria shuts down the Internet

Like Mubarak of Egypt, the ISPs in Syria shut down Internet access and an airport in Damascus as rebel troops continue to gain more ground and move towards the capital.

Syria blames terrorists for the outage, while many see this as an attempt to keep rebels in the country from mounting attacks.

Source: The Guardian

Google responds to UN closed meeting about future of Internet with petition

Recently, Google started a petition on United Nation’s closed door meeting on the future of the Internet. The Internet giant and others are concerned that the meeting will invite more control over the Internet rather than promoting Internet freedom around the world, thanks to countries like Russia and China who want to manipulate the Internet to their own advantage.

This UN meeting is set to take place in December, so time is limited.

Sign the petition here if you want a free and open Internet, and tell the UN that you want Internet freedom, privacy, and Net neutrality.

Iran sanctioned by U.S. on “Iron Curtain” internet censorship

The U.S. State Department has announced sanctions on Iran over its national Internet plans and countless censorship of dissidents in the country, including Iran’s Communications and Tech ministry.

Iran recently announced that they have blocked email and search providers, including Facebook and YouTube, probably to test its national Internet, or Intranet (closed network).

This is possibly one of the first sanctions by the U.S. over Iran’s censoring of the web on political opponents and dissidents.

Source: Huffington Post

Can the FBI and CIA read emails?

The fallout about Gen. David Petraeus continues, but the CIA and FBI seems to have access to Petraeus’s emails about his affair with his mistress. He may have resigned, but he’s not off scot-free yet.

But could this mean both the FBI and the CIA have the ability to read and impound emails from anyone with and without warrants? Imagine the CIA having the ability to tap into your computer and collecting data about your Internet activities, such as email, sites visited, keystrokes, etc., and perhaps erasing stuff that are critical to the government.

But in the digital technology age, cyberspace is perhaps still the limit.

Read more at ZDNet.com

Google inaccessible in China

Google has reported that its search engine and services were blocked off, right around the time that China chooses its new party leaders.

Perhaps a way to prevent the Chinese people to use Google to research about the candidates? Then perhaps the choosing of new leaders may not change the country very much.

Source: USA Today

Class-action suit filed in SC over data breach

A lawsuit over the cyber attack was filed against the SC governor and the SC Dept. of Revenue by a former state legislator.

Former state Sen. John Hawkins, a Spartanburg attorney, claimed that state law was broken when the SC authorities took too long to notify the public about the data breach.

The attorney is calling the data breach “a Category Five cyber hurricane.” The breach was discovered on Oct. 10th. By then, the hackers could have already made use of the compromised data.

When it comes to breaches that affect the public, they should have been told about it within 24-48 hours.

Source: WIS News

U.S. ISPs begin six strike anti-piracy program in November

In November 2012, Internet providers such as AT&T, Comcast, Verizon, Cablevision, and a few others will start up their six strikes anti-piracy program. The program is meant to educate Net users about online piracy, and prevents them from downloading materials that may infringe copyright, including the monitoring of peer-to-peer communications.

July 12th was the said date for the program, not sure if this was related to the program, or perhaps rescheduled.

This is made possible thanks to an agreement between the ISPs and the entertainment industry (Hollywood) such as the MPAA and the RIAA, and their associates.

As it stands, the mitigation measures will be used on your sixth strike and beyond, such as the temporary block of Internet traffic, and throttling down of Net speed, that is, after you’ve been warned by your ISP many times.

Source: TorrentFreak

SOPA-supporting Hollywood wants to go after resellers

First, the entertainment industry wants to stump out piracy on the web, and now, they want to go after those who resell their products or works – such as Amazon, Ebay, Craigslist, and others.

To put it simply, your right to resell products you own is in jeopardy. These people claim that if you sell your used i-Pad to someone for example, they say it’s infringing, and leaves the intellectual owners in the dust, with no intervention in the reselling process.

Seems the intellectual owners want some percentage of the take in resales, or want to leave the reselling of their products and works to themselves.

Sign the petition from Demand Progress if you oppose the intervention of intellectual property owners in reselling what you own.

Iran’s new Internet censorship move: blocking by file type

It's no secret that the Iranian government has a bit of an uncomfortable relationship with the internet. First of all, it's trying to build its own internet, at which point it supposedly would like to block out that "other" internet completely. It's also pretty aggressive in censoring various sites it doesn't like.

From TechDirt – Ever heard of a regime censoring the Net by file extension, such as audio, video and picture files? It was even used after the 2009 Iranian elections.

Texas schools punish students who refuse to be tracked with microchips

See this video from RT America: Schools in Texas going after students who do not wish to be tracked with microchip technology. Wearing your ID badge for your safety and security is one thing, being tracked constantly in and out of the school is another.

Maine candidate attacked for playing World of Warcraft

The Maine Republican Party went after Maine candidate Colleen Lachowicz, who is called "lazy and immature" for playing World of Warcraft. As if video gamers aren't permitted to take part in political affairs. The Maine GOP obviously have the wrong idea about the Maine candidate, so here's a chance to tell those Maine republicans what video gamers are really made of. 

Video games in fact work wonders - they boost sales, create jobs and improve our daily lives.

So let's send a message while there's still time: Sign the Video Game Voter's Network petition here.

Iran backs off on blocking Gmail

Iran had second thoughts of blocking one of Google's services: Gmail, after hearing complaints from the country's parliament.  Seems that Iran's Parliament or its supporters have an interest in Gmail, too. With Iran's National Intranet being tested, how long will this Gmail accessibility last?

Source: Huffington Post Tech

YouTube opens Turkish website with a twist

YouTube has launched its Turkish site under a Turkish domain name extension, all thanks to the Turkish regime. The catch: YouTube will need to pay Turkish taxes. The site will show video content locally within the country based on user IP addresses.

Turkey has a history of blocking YouTube on political and religious grounds, and listed as one of many "countries under surveillance."

Source:  Reuters

Russia wants to restrict free public WiFi

Russia is looking at restricting free public WiFi access to those who are under the age of 18 - just another nanny-state initiative of Internet regulation. Probably because the Russian regime do not with to entrust public WiFi with teenagers. With this, Russia is on track of becoming the next behemoth of Internet censorship.

Source: Information Policy Blog

FTC halts tech support scammers

You may be one of those people who gotten a call from someone claiming to be from Microsoft Tech Support, that claim you have a problem with your computer and want to fix it, and trick you into paying to remove malware on your computer that you may not have.

Rest easy, the United States Federal Trade Commission have teamed up with international law enforcement and the tech companies like Microsoft that have been affected reputation-wise, in snuffing out the scammers. Most of them were operating in India, the U.S, and a few other nations, and are targeting consumers in the U.S., U.K., Australia, Ireland, and a few others.

If you still getting calls like these, just hang up.

A video here about the scam, and the conversation between the scammer and a FTC investigator:

Iran closer to launch domestic Intranet

Iranians could be soon cut off from the rest of the world when the Iranian regime deploys its national Intranet, or closed network.

Al Jazeera video on Iran's National Intranet:

Iran blocks out Google's services

Iran has announced that they blocked out Google's services, including Gmail. Some Iranians have said they've been blocked for some time after the Iranian elections, including YouTube. The anti-Islamic film may not have been the motive on this, it's Iran's new National Intranet plans.

The Iranian regime is appearing to go after HTTPS, that what makes online websites secure from hacks and malicious software that intercept data. The key here to make the Net easier for the Iranian regime to spy on its own citizens.

With Iran's National Internet, or Intranet, Iran could be cut off from the rest of the world by establishing its own private, inside network, and blocking websites on the current Internet may not matter much to the Iranian regime anymore. With an inside network, the Iranian regime can set up their sites and servers (their own search engine, email, news blog, etc.) that they approve of, and have easier control on what gets posted on their networks and systems.

Source: Ars Technica

Can Apple shut off your iPhone in remote areas?

It appears that Apple may be prepared to shut off your iPhone in certain areas, such as areas where cell phone use isn't permitted, such as schools, libraries, medical centers, just to name a few. Apple would need to deploy such technical means to render their cell phone products useless at a particular location. With the bid for control over cell phones by governments, you can bet the local, state and federal governments in the US are willing to get their hands on this Apple technology.

Google, Facebook and others join forces to create the Internet Association

Facebook, Google, Amazon and a few others have joined together to create an e-lobby called the Internet Association, that will help preserve your Internet freedoms. But whose internet freedoms are they fighting for, yours or their own?

NY judge tells Twitter to reveal identities of OWS protesters

A NY judge is demanding the Twitter disclose the identities of Occupy Wall Street protesters, otherwise it could face some legal trouble.

This comes after a protester was arrested last October during a march at the Brooklyn Bridge.

Video from Russia Today:

Congress expands spying on Americans, thanks to FISA

Thanks to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the US House is looking to expand it to include wiretapping of Americans without warrants. It's hard to say whether how many Americans will be spied on, or what will be spied on - the cell phones, Internet, etc. if this gets amended.

Indian regime restricts mass cell phone texting

The Indian government is telling its cell phone providers to restrict mass cell phone texting, so that text messages can be sent to a few people at a time, and scan social media sites for inflammatory content, mainly content coming from Pakistan. This was because of rumors spread on the Internet about the ethnic unrest in the country.

Al Jazeera video on this story:

New Hampshire man gets jail time for filming cops

After recording a case of police brutality at a New Hampshire high school, Adam Mueller, a journalist, was sentenced to three months for wiretapping. A huge personal risk for documenting an incident involving a school student. A website called CopBlock.org is taking the lead in this case.

See RT America’s video on the case, with footage from the New Hampshire school.

Are social networks making backdoors for law enforcement?

There’s a chance that online social networks may be constructing "deep packet inspection" technologies to retain data on users, which can be forwarded to law enforcement, government, copyright owners, etc. With this, Internet data can be tracked or recorded without a user’s knowledge in real-time, and perhaps learn more about us as online users. 

This does not just involves social networks  - ISPs are getting in on this too, thanks to the entertainment industry going after online pirates, and dozens of other countries, not just limited to the United States.

Source: Russia Today

UK will fight hackers with hackers?

To stop cybercriminals, one should become a cybercriminal. That’s Britain’s response in dealing with cybercrime or cyber terrorists in the country, by pitting hackers against their own.

To make this even possible, the UK would need to create spying technologies such as the Stuxnet and Flame, aimed at most Middle Eastern countries like Iran, or launch a cyber attack to destroy or corrupt data of foreign enemies.  Will this kind of cyber defense pay off, or provoke cybercriminals even further?

Source: Russia Today

Google plans to de-rank sites suspected of piracy from search engine

Score one for Hollywood and other intellectual property owners putting more pressure on Google to handle websites in their search engine that promote piracy online – Google is now planning to decrease the ranking of websites based on valid DMCA takedown requests on suspected infringing sites, such as file-sharing sites, and blogs, forums, and others that link to pirated materials, by changing their search algorithm.

It’s been said that YouTube may not get caught in the search algorithm change, since the site already has the Content ID system, which is still active in spotting and blocking video and audio material being used by other people.

As of this post, the RIAA and their associates are leading the copyright battle on Google search with over 800,000 links queued to be de-listed, with Microsoft coming in second with about 400,000 links. Based on Google’s Transparency report, the links to infringing sites to be removed tops over a million, with about 1,500 copyright owners leading the copyright fight. The obvious main targets in the report were mainly file-sharing networks.

This may cause legitimate websites to get caught in the mix, so take note of many trusted websites as you can.

Source: ZDNet

TPP Leak reveals U.S. wants to limit Fair Use in copyright law

A leak in the Trans-Pacific Partnership copyright agreement says that fair use or fair dealing in the US and Australia is subject to be limited, while the other nations like New Zealand, Malaysia and others have an option on limiting fair use in those countries.

Sadly, this does put the practice of making fair use of copyrighted materials in jeopardy, especially on sites like YouTube and Blogger.

In Japan, this fall (2012) their revision of copyright law may not take fair use into account, and will likely treat all infringement cases as criminal cases rather then civil, and convict those who uses the country’s intellectual properties without consent. So far Japan has gotten more brazen in their copyright/piracy fight on the Internet and in their streets and cities. The country may or may not be a part of the TPP, but it may serve as an example of things to come to the other nations.

See the leaked text here - WebProNews

Is your cell phone tracked by Neustar?

This is RT America’s video on Neustar possibly tracking your cell phone calls on behalf of the U.S Gov. and law enforcement, and the surge of cell phone tracking requests.

 

Alex Jones: Mancow, Ventura Interview Scrambled by Big Brother!

See video of Alex Jones discussing Mancow Muller’s radio show being scrambled during a interview with Jesse Ventura on certain subjects such as the FEMA camps and Fast and Furious. Also in it, Mancow claims that a TV show on this on TiVo was erased, which was featured as a season pass.

FYI: Scrambling on C-band satellite and satellite radio has been happening since the 1990’s due to blackout restrictions and legal reason, before digital satellite and cable came around with error messages telling subscribers why a channel is not available in their area.

Japan: Download a pirated file, and it’s a two-year jail sentence

We love Japan and their entertainment industry -  the anime, manga, J-pop, etc. But this seems to be the Orwellian approach to copyright enforcement on the Internet.

It doesn’t seem to involve any strikes approach of warning Net users of downloading questionable materials. Japan recently amended their copyright law that will jail illegal downloaders for up to two years and a fine up to two million yen ($20,000). The uploading of copyright materials still stands at a 10-year jail sentence.

For the folks in Japan, start protesting on this if this concerns you the most – because to make this possible, the Internet providers along with copyright owners will have to track your Internet usage in a effort to catch the infringers.

Japan Makes Unauthorized Downloading a Criminal Offense - TorrentFreak

UK Internet Copyright Police to Mail Out Notices by 2014

In their latest updated plans to deal with P2P file sharing networks that host copyrighted materials belonging to intellectual owners, it is said that ISPs in the country will mail out via post office copyright infringement notices to subscribers instead of email/pop-up notices over the Internet.

Perhaps they learned that email/in-screen copyright strikes notices are useless and can easily be ignored? Putting out the copyright alerts by regular post mail maybe the best effective way of tacking those alerts to the subscribers. Then there’s a chance the subscribers may have to acknowledge the copyright notice by mail in writing.

Check out the link to the article below for more.

New Details of UK Piracy Monitoring Plan Made Public - TorrentFreak

Internet Copyright war in India? Pirate Bay and Vimeo censored

Huge news for Internet users in India, the Pirate Bay and Vimeo have become inaccessible in the country.  It's hard to say whether this was done under the direction of the Indian government, or the ISPs acted alone.  The reason may be obvious here, that the Indian regime is seeking to block out sites that infringe the intellectual properties of others, such as the entertainment industry.  This may have come after a British court told its ISPs to block out the Pirate Bay, and possibly others similar to it.

It appears the Internet copyright/piracy fight is already underway for the Indian people - Are they're prepared?

Source: The Pirate Bay, Vimeo blocked in India - Information Policy Blog

Alex Jones's YouTube channel under copyright attack by Bent Pixels

Alex Jones of Infowars.com is in a bind, that his YouTube channel is being targeted by copyright claims coming from Bent Pixels over the voice of Joe Rogan, who he interviewed on the Alex Jones show. Can Alex Jones resolve this copyright dispute before his channel is gone?

Is it possible that a person's voice and/or appearance be copyrighted? Perhaps the YouTube Content ID system tends to be very sensitive and sometimes inaccurate.



Alex Jones's second video on this issue

Could The Pirate Bay be next after MegaUpload?

A British court is telling its ISPs to block out the Pirate Bay, but could this happen in the US? Also it comes recently after its ISPs are told to provide customers with services that will restrict Internet porn, such as software or services they can subscribe to or download.

Video from RT America

CISPA: Fascist Takeover of The Internet, Take 3

Alez Jones of Infowars.com on CISPA and how the U.S. government will use this Internet censor/spying bill to their advantage.

Embed 2012: MPAA says embedding videos may be copyright infringing

The MPAA claims that users who embed copyrighted videos may be as guilty as the person who posted them - one of many still engaging in a Internet copyright war.

If the US appeals court hears this case and goes in favor of the MPAA, embedding content could soon come to an end, the ability known to make content go viral.

From Russia Today America

Iranian Regime’s National Internet plans continue forward

Last March, it’s been said that the Iranian regime was testing out the National Internet system (or Intranet), before or during elections. The kind of Internet the regime will likely use to set up their servers and their own email and web search system. If this happens, the Iranians could be cut off from the rest of the rest of the world, and forced on the regime’s gatekeeper Internet. The Iranian regime would have to go through with it because it claims their own enemies are out there in cyberspace, national security and reputation concerns, un-lslamic/Western content, and more. Possibly in August, the Iranian people’s hope of getting online on the current Internet may be at an end. The government recently set up a council-level position just to oversee the Internet in their country. Denial or not, the current Internet as is, may make or break the Iranian regime, if they refuse to continue censoring content they dislike.

DHS Wants Data From Video Game Consoles

From Newsy Tech: Homeland Security is teaming up with Obscure Technologies to crack video games consoles like the Xbox 360 to collect data, claiming terrorists may be using them to their advantage. Talk about inviting Big Brother and the Thought Police into the world of gaming.

Iranian Regime Denies Setup of National Intranet

Video from Newsy Tech: Whether the Iranian regime denies this or not, we have to assume they will continue to censor anything that is not of Islamic importance and services like Google and Facebook that they cannot control, and force its people on government-approved email and search engines, which they will likely control, track and manipulate.

Britain takes digital spying to the next level

In the name of national security and public safety, the UK government is taking intelligence gathering to a new level, with tracking emails, phone calls and text messages. But to request this info from Internet and cell phone provider, Britain will still need a warrant.

Russia Today America video on this:

SOPA changes name to CISPA

Change of plans, or more of the same? No more SOPA, now it's called the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act  (CISPA) - the bill that will allows ISPs to collect info on their subscribers (data retention) and subject to be forwarded to the government when requested, and it's all in the name of cybersecurity or copyright infringement. Plus law enforcement and internet security providers already have ways to go after cybercriminals and the like.

Russia Today America video on this:

Best of April Fools: The YouTube Collection

YouTube Collection page

Not to worry, it's just a April Fools joke.

Lewd online conduct on the web could soon be illegal in Arizona

If Arizona's harsh immigration law isn't enough, then how about this? The lawmakers have approved and updated an existing telephone harassment law that will apply to the Internet and other electronic communications, and the people of Arizona are really steamed on this one. Now all it needs is the governor's signature.

Careful not to say or post the worst of things while you're in Arizona, if this one gets in the law books.

Lewd or prude? Arizona netizens outraged over internet censorship bill — RT

'via Blog this'

Employers Ask Job Seekers for Facebook Passwords

A good reason why giving out your password from your favorite social networks is a bad idea - Employers have now asking their applicants to hand over login credentials so that they can dig deep into your personal life.

This is like giving them a combination of your safe.

Facebook has condemn this, and are seeking legal action against these employers, who are doing this to access profiles that are set to private. Facebook's policy, like so many others, always forbid its users from sharing their personal login info for their own safety and security because this could cause their account to be compromised.

So if you're looking to get into the workforce, beware that employers and job recruiters will likely type your name in a web search to get more personal info about your digital life.

Associated Press video on this:

Stepanovich: 'NSA are spying on the United States'

Russia Today America video on expansion of NSA data center in Utah, this one goes a bit deeper in what the NSA does and how they operate - such as tracking emails and phone calls.

Is your personal data in the hands of the NSA?

A new data center is being constructed in Utah, which could mean they can extract more data out of Americans, and perhaps abroad. Others think the NSA is doing this to extend its operations to the Internet and computers in the United States in the terms of tracking, spying and having businesses like Google collect info on its user base on its behalf.

Russia Today America video on the new NSA data center:

Cops Can Crack an iPhone In Under Two Minutes

Law enforcement these days still have the ability to track your phone calls and know who you are calling, including GPS tracking, contacts, cell phone history, and keystroke recording.

Thanks to Micro Systemation, a company in Stockholm, exploited a vulnerability to run a program that will crack its passcode.

See video here - Also has more on this story

Cops Can Crack an iPhone In Under Two Minutes - Slashdot

Egypt telling their ISPs to block out Internet porn

Egypt looks to ban Internet pornography - Information Policy

Are the Egyptians ready for another round of Internet censorship and restrictions? The authorities in Egypt is looking into banning Internet porn for the sake of dealing with the increase of rape and divorce cases. They're asking the ISPs over there to block inappropriate content or face penalties.

Guess Egypt and the Middle East have never heard of Internet parental control software - the kind used to block pornography from children.

Switch Off AutoComplete, says Japanese court to Google on behalf of a man

Japan Court to Google: Switch Off AutoComplete - Man complained that results ruined his life: Newser.com

Due to a man's inability in Japan to find a job, a Japanese court has told Google to turn off Autocomplete for the man's name.

When the man typed his name into Google search, the search results pointed him to crimes he did not commit.

This is a reminder perhaps that some people may have the same name, with different info about them on the web, and job recruiters use the web to find more info about you. Because of this, some are being branded for things they did not take part of.

YouTube Email Spam/Phish Alert!

For those who have a Youtube account or don't have one, you may have gotten those emails claiming to be from Youtube. In fact, they look like the original copy but what's written on the spam emails raise a red flag.

If it has the words/phrases: Youtube Administration, Illegal video warning, Your video is approved, You have a notification and so forth, it's definitely not coming from Youtube.

Youtube is working with email providers to handle the spam emails.

If you do get those fake Youtube spam emails, best bet is to mark them as spam/unsafe by your email provider.

RT’s main YouTube channel down for several hours on 3/18

From Russia Today:

RT’s main YouTube channel was suspended for about eight hours, returning online about 2 p.m. Moscow time (10:00 GMT). YouTube ascribed the temporary blackout to a “technical mistake.”

During the temporary suspension, anyone who attempted to access RT’s main YouTube channel was greeted with a startling message: “This channel has been suspended due to multiple or severe violations of YouTube’s policy against spam, scans, and commercially deceptive content.”

During the temporary blackout, all of the content on our main YouTube channel was inaccessible.

RT’s YouTube account manager has confirmed it was the YouTube team's mistake, and they have since apologized for the incident.

RT’s web promotion chief Mikhail Konrad particularly stressed RT has not violated YouTube’s terms of service in any way, shape or form.

“There have been no copyright or community guideline violations on our part which could result in this kind of measures,” he said.

RT is the most popular news broadcaster present on YouTube, having racked up about 700 million views and 275 thousand subscribers since the channel’s inception.

RT has a long-running relationship with YouTube and Google, and its channels are part of YouTube's Premium Partnership program. This is the first such incident in the history of our close partnership.

RT’s main YouTube channel down for several hours — RT:

'via Blog this'

ACTA in UK: 10 years in jail for a download?

Remember RnBxclusive got shut down by the UK's SOCA weeks ago and posted a warning to the site's users about downloading materials off the site? Russia Today finally did a report on it here:

FCC urges Internet companies to safeguard Web

The FCC wants to encourage ISPs to do more to protect its consumers from Internet threats such as botnets and hack attacks, and calls for Homeland Security to do more to secure digital infrastructures such as power plants.

Also the FCC wants to see Internet traffic protected from future hijacking.

FCC urges Internet companies to safeguard Web | Reuters:

'via Blog this'

UK's SOCA seized RnBXclusive music website

Britain's Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) seized the domain name of the music website and blog RnBXclusive and arrested the site's operatives. After the seizure, a warning was posted for those who used the site to download any music.

SOCA claimed the music files on the site was stolen from elsewhere, according to TorrentFreak and had links to copyrighted songs.

Perhaps the first time the world has seen site seizure notices from the UK, and probably more to time. For many of us, the Internet copyright battle continues.

See video for more on this:

Megaupload Shutdown by US Feds

Just after the SOPA/PIPA Internet-wide protest on Jan. 18th, the FBI successfully shut down Megaupload and its sister sites, and arrested the founder and others.

Wikipedia claimed that the site was blocked a few years ago by countries like India, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia for infringement, promoting Western ideals, and other reasons.

If you try going to Megaupload.com it will lead you to a blank page.

The people arrested were charged with breach of copyright, money laundering and other charges.

Perhaps this is the beginning of the Internet fight against SOPA/PIPA?

Wikipedia, Google, Reddit and others protest against SOPA/PIPA on Jan. 18

Anyone visited Wikipedia, Reddit, Mozilla, and other sites and saw their "censored" messages? It's because it's all part of a Internet-wide 24 hour protest against SOPA/PIPA blacklist bills. A video of Google's protest:

Belarus "localizing" the Internet by blocking foreign sites

Belarus will begin around Jan 6th to restrict use of foreign sites, perhaps by allowing sites hosted by the country.

Talk about attempts to "localize" the Net, by allowing sites within its borders. Violators of this law may subject to about a $120 dollar fine.

You can read more about this at the Information Policy blog.

Is Belarus Really Cutting Out The "Foreign Internet?" - Information Policy:

'via Blog this'

Using satellites to block Net censorship?

There may be a way out of the world of Internet censorship after all, as computer hacker activists attempt in the near future to launch satellites to block censorship. Link to article below for more on this story:

Hackers plan to launch satellites to block Internet censorship - Hindustan Times