February 2012

Fight Over iPad Name Spills Into US Court

Proview Electronics Co. has taken its legal battles with Apple Inc. to a U.S. court, claiming the iPhone maker used deception in buying the iPad trademark and shouldn't be allowed to keep it.

The lawsuit, which was filed in the Superior Court of the State of California in Santa Clara County on Feb. 17 but previously unreported, claimed that Apple had committed fraud when it used a company set up by one of its law firms, called IP Application Development Ltd., to purchase the iPad trademark from Proview on Dec. 23, 2009 for 35,000 British pounds ($55,000). Proview, which included U.S.-based Proview Technology Inc. as a plaintiff in the case, said in its filing that by acquiring the iPad trademark through IP Application Development, and not explaining its true purpose, Apple acted "with oppression, fraud and/or malice." An Apple spokeswoman reiterated the company's claim that it had rightfully purchased the iPad name from Proview, adding "Proview refuses to honor their agreement with Apple in China, and a Hong Kong court has sided with Apple in this matter."

Iran's "Second Internet" Rivals Censorship Of China's "Great Firewall"

Iran is unveiling a nationwide "Halal Intranet" this spring that will try to seal the nation off from the corrupting influences of Google, Facebook, and Twitter. But can it work?

In whatever form it will take, other governments will be eagerly watching. Initiatives to envision a successor technology to the Internet such as Stanford's Clean Slate program have been eagerly followed by two separate groups. Nation-states such as China and North Korea believe that a successor technology to the Internet--such as a nationwide intranet--would be easier to monitor, and international organizations such as the United Nations suspect the Internet has fundamentally dangerous native technology flaws and could be bought down by malicious hackers. Either way, if Iran pulls off their “Halal Internet,” it will have profound international consequences.

Why Mozilla Is Entering the Smartphone War

Mozilla’s mission since its outset in 1998, first as a software project and later as a foundation and company, has been to provide open technology that challenges a dominant corporate product. Microsoft and its Internet Explorer browser was Mozilla’s original target. Today, Mozilla sees the rise of Apple and Google in mobile software as a “threat to the open Web,” said Jay Sullivan, vice president for products at the Mozilla Corporation. In recent months, Mozilla has been developing its own open-source smartphone operating system, Boot 2 Gecko. Its published product road map says Boot 2 Gecko will be demonstrated in products before the end of March and will ship in phones by the second quarter of this year. Mozilla is expected to announce handset and carrier partners at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, which starts next week.

Apple Shareholders Meeting: No News, No Complaints, No Dividend

Apple’s shareholders meeting, its first with Tim Cook as CEO, was as anticlimactic and uneventful as they come. Shareholders reelected the company’s board of directors, with each member garnering more than 80 percent approval. And the company did not announce the dividend or share buyback for which some investors have been calling, despite Cook’s remark last week suggesting that the board has been considering the subject.

Google names former GOP House member Susan Molinari to head DC office

Google named former Republican congresswoman Susan Molinari to head its Washington lobbying and policy office, as the search giant fights scrutiny by federal regulators over antitrust and privacy issues.

Molinari represented New York in the House from 1990 to 1997. She takes over from Alan Davidson, who recently left the firm after building the office from a small think-tank type of operation to a more powerful and traditional corporate influence, doubling its lobbying budget to $11 million in the last year. As vice president of public policy and government relations for the Americas, Molinari will manage Google’s policy advocacy in Washington and throughout North and South America.

After her father, former Rep. Guy Molinari (R-N.Y.), left Congress to become borough president of Staten Island, Molinari was elected to his seat in 1990. She was the keynote speaker at the 1996 Republican Convention and served until 1997, when she resigned to join CBS as a television journalist. She joined the Washington Group lobby firm in 2001 and launched her own lobbyist shop, Susan Molinari Strategies, in 2010. She currently serves as chairman of the Century Council, which fights to reduce drunken driving. Molinari is married to former Rep. Bill Paxon (R-NY), who served as chairman of the National Republican Campaign Committee in the 1990s and is now a lobbyist at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld.

Smartphone security gap exposes location, texts, email, expert says

Just as U.S. companies are coming to grips with the threats to their computer networks emanating from cyber spies based in China, a noted expert is highlighting what he says is an even more pernicious vulnerability in smartphones.

Dmitri Alperovitch, the former McAfee cyber security researcher who is best known for identifying a widespread China-based cyber espionage operation he dubbed "Shady Rat," has used a previously unknown hole in smartphone browsers to deliver an existing piece of China-based malware that can commandeer the device, record its calls, pinpoint its location and access user texts and emails. He conducted the experiment on a phone running Google's Android operating system, although he says Apple's iPhones are equally vulnerable. "It's a much more powerful attack vector than just getting into someone's computer," said Alperovitch, who just formed a new security company, called CrowdStrike, with former McAfee chief technology officer George Kutz.

Reps. Barton and Markey vow to push ahead with 'Do Not Track' legislation

Reps. Joe Barton (R-Texas) and Ed Markey (D-MA) vowed to pushed ahead with their "Do Not Track Kids Act" despite voluntary privacy commitments from Web companies. The companies' commitment coincided with the White House's declaration of a "Privacy Bill of Rights"— a set of principles for how companies should handle user information. The administration plans to work with companies and privacy advocates to turn the set of principles into an industry code of conduct. Reps Barton and Markey commended the administration's work, but said voluntary commitments wouldn't be enough to protect consumer privacy.

“I am happy the White House is taking consumer privacy serious, working with private industry to develop a privacy bill of rights for Internet companies to follow,” Rep Barton said. “However, without the adoption of this list of “best practices” by Internet companies, the new guidelines will not be enforceable. The absence of an enforcement mechanism means consumers remain unprotected. That is why I feel Congress must act to ensure transparency among Internet companies that engage in data collection and usage. I hope this first step energizes my colleagues to join me in pushing for stricter privacy measures that gives every consumer the power to decide how their personal information is used.”

Rep Markey called the privacy framework "an important starting point." “Consumers, not corporations, should be in control of personal information. Voluntary, self-regulatory efforts are not a substitute for laws that keep consumers information safe from prying eyes," he said.

Chairman Bono Mack plans hearing on White House privacy plan

Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R-CA), chairman of the House Commerce Committee’s subcommittee on Manufacturing and Trade, said she plans to hold a hearing next month on the White House's "Privacy Bill of Rights."

“Protecting consumer privacy online and preserving American innovation are not mutually exclusive, but they do require a very careful juggling act," Chairman Bono Mack said. "I am committed to achieving both. While I look forward to working with President Obama and [Commerce] Secretary [John] Bryson on this critically important issue, any rush-to-judgment could have a chilling effect on our economy and potentially damage, if not cripple, online innovation." Chairman Bono Mack warned against enacting tough privacy regulations like European governments have. "That’s why my subcommittee has been taking a thoughtful, measured approach to online privacy, which I strongly believe — over the long haul — will benefit both American consumers and the U.S. economy," she said. "Once we have heard from all the stakeholders, we can make an informed decision about the need for legislation.”

Ergen: Dish Has 80% Chance of Wireless Success

Dish Network Chairman Charlie Ergen said the satellite giant has an "80% chance" of successfully launching its own wireless broadband service, adding if it does not receive the necessary regulatory approvals it would have to consider alternatives for its spectrum.

Dish spent about $3 billion last year purchasing about 40 MHz of wireless spectrum from DBSD North America and TerreStar in the hopes of launching its own broadband service in the future, most likely with a partner. However, the company needs the Federal Communications Commission to grant it a waiver to offer the service. On a conference call with analysts to discuss fourth quarter results, Ergen said he met with FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and that the FCC could issue a decision as early as March 12. On the call Ergen said that Dish has more than an 80% chance of success in wireless broadband, adding that the hardest hurdle to clear is launching the service itself.

Freeing Up Spectrum for Rural Broadband

On Jan. 26, Wilmington (NC) rolled out a wireless network that links security cameras and offers Internet access in public parks. No biggie. Networked cameras and free Internet are common. What’s different in Wilmington is the radio bands the network runs on: unused television channels known as “white spaces” that separate stations. The Wilmington experiment shows the potential benefit of a measure tucked into the payroll tax cut law signed by President Barack Obama on Feb. 22.

The Federal Communications Commission created the white spaces between channels decades ago to prevent stations from interfering with each other, ensuring that, say, The Cosby Show in Washington wasn’t compromised by The Simpsons on the same frequency in Baltimore. The new law opens up the white space channels for “unlicensed” use. Unlike the spectrum controlled by carriers such as AT&T and Verizon Wireless, which is reserved for specified companies, unlicensed bandwidth is open to any user with an approved device. Wi-Fi, microwave ovens, baby monitors, and cordless phones all use frequencies that the industry calls the “junk band.” These radio waves can’t easily penetrate walls and are hard to maintain over long distances. The TV frequencies where the white space is located, by contrast, carry long distances and remain strong even inside buildings. Since rural areas have fewer TV stations, opening up white space could prove a boon to rural wireless Internet providers, which have struggled to provide service using a more robust version of Wi-Fi.

Benton

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