Archive for January, 2010

Justice Department questions Google if they are violating antitrust in regards of digitalizing world’s books into a database that is online.

This settlement between Google, Association of American Publishers, and the Authors Guild was made back in October. A fund of over one-hundred million would pay out the authors. Back in 2005, publishers and authors sued Google’s book scanning project, which had dealt with copyrighted books, and public domain.

Some say that Google has the right to monopoly the books for online access since the deal was done.

Earlier this month, the Department of Justice was called by a nonprofit group, to investigate Google and their plans to scan these books to the online database. Google was planning on scanning books that are copyrighted, but the person that holds the rights, can’t be found. They are known as “Orphan” books.

John Simpson, an advocate for the nonprofit group had sent a letter to the U.S. Attorney General, wanting the government to intervene with this settlement between Google and the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers stating that the settlement needed to be relooked at to see if it took the consumers interest or not. Simpson also stated in his letter that this settlement, that was done, protects Google, but there is no protection for others. Simpson describes it as a barrier for other competitors to join in on the digital book process.

The digitized book business has become competitive and on the rise in the market. Back in March Sony had announced it eBook domain free for readers.

With the legal people chatting with Google and the other businesses involved, we shall see soon what the investigation will bring forth.

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The Conservatives have unveiled plans to deliver a “nationwide super-fast broadband”, part of which could be funded from the BBC licence fee.

Shadow chancellor George Osborne said a Tory government would deliver speeds of 100 megabits per second (Mbps) to the “majority” of homes by 2017.

He said cabling in rural areas could be paid for by private investors or part of the licence fee.

But Labour said the Tories had opposed plans to improve broadband.

The government has set a target that homes should have access to speeds of 2Mbps by 2012.

‘Thousands of jobs’

Mr Osborne told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: “In the 19th Century we built the railways. In the 20th Century we built the motorways.

“n the 21st Century let’s build the super-fast broadband network that will create hundreds of thousands of jobs for Britain.”

The Tories said money from private investors would pay for better cabling.

But it was added that it might not be attractive for private companies to install broadband cabling in some rural areas, in which case a proportion of the BBC licence fee could be used.

The Conservatives said the BBC could continue to set aside 3.5% of its licence fee – which currently goes to the digital switchover – to fund broadband expansion.

For Labour, Treasury Minister Stephen Timms said: “On broadband it’s not Britain but the Tories that are playing catch-up.

“Labour have already announced measures for rolling out broadband across the country – and the Tories have opposed the plans to make that happen. ”

A government report on the UK’s digital future – dubbed Digital Britain – was published in June 2009.

The action plan included universal access to broadband by 2012.

The wide-ranging report also tackled internet regulation and public service broadcasting.

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Tens of thousands of fraudulent e-mails have been sent out ahead of Sunday’s tax return deadline, officials say.

Recipients are told they are due a tax refund and asked to fill in an online form with bank or credit card details.

Victims have their accounts emptied or card limits used, and risk having the details sold to other criminal gangs.

Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has warned taxpayers not to respond to the “phishing” e-mails, as it informs customers of a refund by post only.

Massive upsurge

An HMRC spokesman said: “We never use e-mails, telephone calls or external companies in these circumstances.

“We strongly urge anyone receiving such an e-mail to send it to us for investigation before deleting it.”

The Revenue said at least 20,000 fake e-mails had been sent out in the past week alone.

HMRC is expecting a massive upsurge in such correspondence following the 31 January deadline when many people will be waiting to hear about genuine tax refunds.

Investigations by HMRC alongside law enforcement agencies have shut down scammers in the UK and countries such as Austria, Mexico, South Korea, the US, Thailand and Japan in the last year.

About 5.8 million people filed their self-assessment tax return online last year, up from 3.8 million the previous year.

Self-assessment is required primarily from the self-employed or those who have income from several sources.

Anyone who completes the details online after 31 January, or who filed on paper after 31 October, could face a fine of £100.

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Cyber conmen are cashing in on hype surrounding Apple’s iPad.

Security firms have come across attempts to subvert search engines to catch out those seeking more information about the tablet.

Those who follow rogue links are re-directed to pages that scan their computer looking for loopholes and vulnerabilities.

Some scammers are using these to peddle security software and others are trying to steal valuable data.

Apple attack

Before and after the launch of the tablet computer, terms such as “Apple” and “iPad” were among the most popular on search sites and micro-blogging services such as Twitter.

Symantec said it had seen hi-tech criminals tuning booby-trapped webpages to show up near the top of search results when people go looking for more information.

Those visiting such webpages risk losing personal data, Symantec researcher Joji Hamada warned in a blog posting.

Looking for search terms such as “Apple Ipad rumor” or “Apple Ipad size” led people to sites peddling rogue security software, he said.

Methusela Ferrer of software firm CA said she had seen so-called “scraper sites” change to take advantage of iPad interest. Scraper sites are automated pages that grab or “scrape” information from news sites and other sources and combine them to keep their pages at the top of search results.

Scraper sites often sell their services to cyber criminals who create viruses and code to exploit vulnerabilities in browsers and other programs.

She said she had seen a sophisticated site that tuned its attack depending on whether visitors were using an Apple machine or a Windows PC.

Mac users got sent to a site that tried to entice them to use a credit card to pay for pirated movies. On another site users got sent to a site peddling fake Mac security software.

Another iPad-themed attack sends visitors to a site that poses as Google’s search page and manipulates the results people see.

To avoid falling victim to hi-tech scams, security firms say people should ensure their machine has all the latest operating system patches, has up to date security software, uses a firewall and exercise caution when visiting unfamiliar sites.

Newsworthy events are regularly targeted by cyber conmen. For instance, the earthquake in Haiti has prompted some to try to trick people into handing over donations to conmen rather than charities.

Big events also often trigger a rash of e-mails that travel with booby-trapped attachments. Those opening the attachment often find their computer is hijacked by a virus and can mean credit card numbers and valuable logins are stolen.

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Google has begun to phase out support for Internet Explorer 6, the browser identified as the weak link in a cyber attack on the search engine.

The firm said from 1 March some of its services, such as Google Docs, would not work “properly” with the browser.

It recommended individuals and firms upgrade “as soon as possible”.

Google threatened to withdraw from the Chinese market following the “sophisticated and targeted” attacks, which it said originated in China.

Hackers used a flaw in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE) browser to target the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists.

‘Key functionality’

Following Google’s revelations, the French and German governments advised their citizens to switch to a different browser until the hole had been closed.

Microsoft reacted by quickly updating the browser, nearly three weeks ahead of its regular security update.

However, Google has now said it is going to phase out support for the browser “starting with Google Docs and Google Sites”.

It said that as a result, some “key functionality” of the applications would not work when used with IE6.

Google Docs is the firm’s answer to products such as Microsoft Office, whilst Google Sites allows people to create web pages.

“The web has evolved in the last ten years, from simple text pages to rich, interactive applications including video and voice,” wrote Google’s Rajen Sheth in a blog post.

“Unfortunately, very old browsers cannot run many of these new features effectively.”

Threat downplayed

Around 20% of web users still use the nine-year old browser, including many UK government departments.

But many developers want to see the browser phased out as soon as possible.

The online campaign ie6nomore, supported by more than 70 web firms, says that because the browser does not support modern web standards it restricts what developers can do and is “holding the web back”.

Microsoft has said that it will support the browser until 2014.

Microsoft has released a fix for Internet Explorer and recommended that customers install the update as soon as possible or update to the latest version of the web browser for “improved security”.

Microsoft normally issues patches monthly but the high-profile nature of the attacks led it to act more quickly.

Market share

The UK government played down the threat and said there was “no evidence that moving from the latest fully patched versions of Internet Explorer to other browsers will make users more secure”.

However, Microsoft took the unusual step of patching the hole nearly three weeks ahead of its regular security update.

The new patch is available via the Microsoft Update site and will also be fed out to those who have their machines set to update automatically. All versions of Internet Explorer will receive the update.

Microsoft has admitted that it has known about the vulnerability “since early September” 2009 and had planned to patch it in February.

The bad publicity has allowed rivals such as Firefox to gain market share.

According to web analytics company StatCounter, Firefox is now a close second to Internet Explorer (IE) in Europe, with 40% of the market compared to Microsoft’s 45% share.

In some markets, including Germany and Austria, Firefox has overtaken IE, the firm said.

Mozilla, the foundation behind Firefox, has just released the latest version (3.6) of the open-source browser.

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On Thursday, Tom Dart- Sheriff of Cook County in Chicago sued the internet classified site Craigslist

He accuses them of being one of the largest prostitution sources in the United States. Dart believes that the website makes prostitution easy and he wants to close the ‘Erotic Services’ section of the classifieds. He also believes that this section of classifieds is a strong advertising tool for those involved and makes it easier for them to get around the police.

Last year Craigslist did start charging fees and requiring ID when placing ads in this section. There have been many prostitutions who have worked around the rules but placing ads in non-paying areas and ordinary sections while disguising their services.

A spokeswoman for Craigslist says criminal acts are found to be very rare on Craigslist compared to the number of legal activity. Craigslist has stated that the fees and the phone system have both reduced the number of ads in the Erotic Services by 80 percent. They are doing everything they can to prevent this illegal activity from being on the site. This criminal activity is unacceptable to Craigslist and they are doing what they can to prevent it.

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Amazon has urged a New York court to reject a deal that would allow Google to build a vast digital library.

The online retailer says that if Google is given exclusive rights to scan books for use on the internet, it is “likely to lead to a monopoly”.

Interested groups and authors have until 28 January to file objections to the project to a US court.

Google says the project will “unlock access to millions of books” and give authors new ways to distribute books.

Google Books aims to scan millions of books worldwide and make them available – and searchable – online.

It was first launched in 2004 but was put on hold a year later when the Authors Guild of America and Association of American Publishers sued over “massive copyright infringement”.

As a result, in 2008 Google agreed to pay $125m (£77m) to create a Book Rights Registry, where authors and publishers could register works and receive compensation.

A decision on whether the deal could go through was originally scheduled for early October.

‘Split opinion’

But, the presiding Judge sent the deal back to the drawing board after criticism and objections from around the world.

Groups have until 28 January to file objections to the revised settlement to a US court, which will decide whether to approve it. Authors have the same deadline to opt-out of the project.

A fairness hearing has then been set for 18 February.

In the run up to the deadline, industry and authors have once again started mounting pressure on Google.

If approved by the court, this settlement stands to unlock access to millions of books in the US while giving authors and publishers new ways to distribute their work Google spokesperson

Fantasy writer Ursula K Le Guin has asked for the US to be excluded from the project.

In an open letter to Judge Denny Chin, who will preside over the hearing, Ms Le Guin expresses concern about the “opt-out” clause in the settlement, which she says “disguises an assault on authors’ rights”.

It means that unless authors in certain countries specifically do not give their permission, their books will be scanned and eventually sold in digital form by Google Books, who will share a percentage of the revenue.

“Google, like any other publisher or entity, should be required to obtain permission from the owner to purchase or use copyrighted material, item by item,” she wrote.

Her letter has been signed by 365 other authors also concerned about the plan.

In addition, Ms Le Guin says that the National Writers Union, the American Society of Journalists and Authors and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America are against the proposed settlement.

However not all authors oppose Google’s proposals. Amy Tan, Simon Winchester and the heir of John Steinbeck are among those who support the move.

“If approved by the court, this settlement stands to unlock access to millions of books in the US while giving authors and publishers new ways to distribute their work,” said a Google spokesperson.

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