December 2011

OECD Calls on Members to Defend Internet Freedoms

As a rising tide of digital dissent raises alarms in many capitals around the world, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development called on member countries to “promote and protect the global free flow of information” online.

The OECD , a group of 34 developed countries, urged policy makers to support investment in digital networks and to take a light touch on regulation, saying this was essential for promoting economic growth via the Internet. “It’s really a milestone in terms of making a statement about openness,” said Karen Kornbluh, the U.S. ambassador to the OECD, “You can’t really get the innovation you need in terms of creating jobs unless we work together to protect the openness of the Internet.” The approval of the recommendations by the OECD council builds on a communiqué issued at a meeting in June, when the broad outlines of the policy were drawn up. The guidelines are not binding, but are intended to work through the power of persuasion . Also, the Internet recommendations will from now on be included among the criteria for assessing candidates for membership in the OECD, which is based in Paris. Among other things, the OECD recommendation urges policy makers to “limit Internet intermediary liability” — that is, to shield Internet companies from responsibility for the content that they carry. Under existing U.S. laws, Internet companies have a so-called safe harbor if they take down copyright violations when they are informed of them.

2 Leaders in Russian Media Are Fired After Election Articles

A high-ranking editor and a top executive from one of Russia’s most respected news publications were dismissed after an apparent conflict over coverage that appeared to highlight widespread anger with the results of parliamentary elections this month. The dismissals followed the publication this week of an election issue of the newsmagazine Kommersant Vlast, which detailed accusations of large-scale electoral fraud by the ruling party, United Russia, and included a photograph of a ballot scrawled with profanity directed against Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin. The firings came as tensions built between the Kremlin and a new constituency of reform-minded activists who held a protest against the election results in Moscow last weekend that drew tens of thousands of people.

EU accepts IBM antitrust concessions, ends probe

EU antitrust regulators accepted concessions offered by International Business Machines to end an antitrust investigation and avert a possible fine, the European Commission said.

IBM had in September proposed to provide certain spare parts and technical information to other companies which maintain its mainframe hardware and software, under fair and reasonable terms. The European Commission said it was satisfied that the concessions, which were revised after a market test and are valid for five years, were sufficient to address competition issues.

UK heading for a fight over cookies

The rhetoric over cookie legislation ratcheted up a notch, as the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office told companies they “must try harder” in working out how to comply with the new rules on online privacy. Christopher Graham, the commissioner, suggested that very few companies had yet come up with ways to get permission from online users to collect their details, as required by the new law.

Ofcom highlights risk of 4G auction delay

The UK mobile phone market is one of the cheapest and most developed in Europe but Britain risks falling behind rival nations because of delays in the auction of next generation mobile services, according to the telecoms watchdog. The use of smartphones is higher in the UK than in comparable European nations, according to the sixth international market report by Ofcom. Some 46 per cent of all UK mobile customers use internet-connected devices such as Apple’s iPhone, and UK ownership of smartphones nearly doubled between February 2010 and August 2011. Ofcom found mobile services in the UK were cheaper than in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the US.

However, superfast broadband networks using next-generation mobile technology have already launched in countries such as Sweden, the US and Japan, while the UK auction of the spectrum needed to carry similar services has been delayed until the end of next year. The next generation of mobile broadband – normally called 4G or LTE (long term evolution) – is increasingly seen as critical for a UK market where more mobile customers than elsewhere are using phones to access data rather than solely make voice calls. The 4G network will allow a much faster data service. Ofcom found that nearly half of UK internet users accessed internet services on their mobile phones in October 2011 – more than in the US, Italy, France and Germany, where around 40 per cent did so – and more UK customers used their phones to play games.

Spectrum Auction Authority Passes in House

The Republican payroll tax extension bill, which also includes spectrum incentive auction legislation, passed the House of Representatives.

The legislation, which passed 234-193, essentially incorporates the Republican House version of legislation that authorizes the Federal Communications Commission to compensate broadcasters for returning spectrum that will then be re-auctioned for wireless broadband use. A handful of Republicans voted against the bill, and about the same number of Democrats voted for it. The Senate is unlikely to pass the payroll tax bill in its current form, and the president has pledged to veto it. Since Democrats have major issues with the spectrum bill, it may have to modified if it is to be part of an ultimately acceptable package, or deleted and voted on as a stand-alone at a later date.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski called passage of the spectrum incentive auction authority legislation a major achievement, but still has issues with the bill as do many Democrats. He is concerned about portions of the bill he said could "tie the agency's hands in ways that could be counterproductive." He also addressed the bill’s prohibition on allocating any more of that freed-up spectrum for unlicensed wireless. "Precluding the FCC from adopting innovation-enhancing policies around unlicensed spectrum could threaten U.S. global leadership in spectrum-related innovation," he said in a statement. "The same is true for the bill's restrictions on the Commission's ability to construct band plans and structure auctions in ways that maximize the value of licensed spectrum."

Carrier IQ: Bug made some keypresses, message data accessible

In a 19-page report from Carrier IQ, the company explains what information it does and does not collect and finally offers an explanation of why research posted by security expert Trevor Eckhart showed the software reacting to keypresses and revealing location data.

In short, they said it wasn’t their fault. “Our investigation of Trevor Eckhart’s video indicates that location, key presses, SMS and other information appears in log files as a result of debug messages from pre-production handset manufacturer software,” the company said in a statement. “Specifically, it appears that the handset manufacturer software’s debug capabilities remained ‘switched on’ in devices sold to customers.” The company also acknowledged that, due to a bug in its software, some text messages may have been included in some of its data if, for example, calls and text messages were made at the same time. “SMS messages may have unintentionally been included in the layer 3 signaling traffic and are not human readable,” the company said in its report. Carrier IQ asserted that “no multimedia messages, e-mail, web, application, photo, voice or video” has been captured because of the bug and that its software cannot read or copy the content of Web sites. It also denied that the program, as designed, captures keystrokes or the content of SMS messages. Data is held for an average of 24 hours, the company said, and can’t be read without Carrier IQ’s own tools.

New Californian Justice Department unit to fight tech crimes, identity theft

California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris (D) announced the creation of a unit within the state Department of Justice that will fight technology crimes and identity theft.

The eCrime Unit will "make sure that vulnerable populations are safe, that consumers are safe and that we allow good behavior to occur," AG Harris said at a news conference in San Jose, chosen because of its location in the tech hub of Silicon Valley. "Where there are predators and predatory practices, we want to ensure we have the skills and technology to go after them and that there is accountability and consequences," AG Harris said. The eCrime Unit, operational since August, will investigate and prosecute identity theft such as email phishing scams; fraudulent Internet auction sites; child exploitation and child pornography; theft of computer services and intellectual property; and other tech-related crimes. Twenty investigators and attorneys have been assigned to the unit, and Harris said that number is expected to grow; she said she redistributed resources in her office to bolster the unit.

Opponents of online piracy bill unswayed by changes

The manager's amendment offered by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) for the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) has failed to stem criticism from the bill's most prominent opponents.

"The manager's amendment retains the fundamental flaws of its predecessor by blocking Americans' ability to access websites, imposing costly regulation on web companies and giving Attorney General Eric Holder's Department of Justice broad new powers to police the internet," said House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA).
Consumer Electronics Association President Gary Shapiro said the bill is still fundamentally flawed because it includes a private right of action and would criminalize linking to infringing sites. Shapiro reiterated his organization will not be supporting SOPA, and credited the grassroots campaign against the bill for turning the tide.

National Governors Association calls for piracy legislation

The National Governors Association urged lawmakers to pass legislation to combat online copyright infringement.

"Criminals have turned to the Internet, abusing its virtually unlimited distribution opportunities to expand their illicit activities and profits," Govs. Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Jay Nixon (D-MO) wrote in a letter to top lawmakers in the House and Senate. "Some rogue sites dupe Internet users into thinking they are legitimate, accepting major credit cards as forms of payment and featuring advertising from blue chip U.S. companies." The House's Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Senate's Protect IP Act would allow the government and copyright holders to demand that Internet providers, search engines, credit card companies and ad networks cut ties to websites "dedicated" to copyright infringement.

Benton

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