October 2012

Google Introduces New Emergency Resources in Response to Sandy

Google has scrambled to post online resources for people who want information about the deadly storm Sandy, including maps showing evacuation routes and shelters and a new service that sends emergency alerts to Google users.

The company introduced the new service, public alerts, to show warnings about natural disasters and emergencies based on information from government agencies like Ready.gov and the National Weather Service. Google said it had planned to introduce the service later, but sped up the process in response to Sandy. In the future, it will add alerts from other services, like Nixle, which publishes messages from the local police. The alerts show up in response to searches on Google.com and Google Maps, and appear unprompted on the cellphones of people with the latest version of Android, through Google Now.

During Hurricane Sandy, misinformation and fact-checking clash on Twitter

When Hurricane Sandy drew near the East Coast, Twitter and Instagram came alive with pictures of the storm. One showed ominous clouds gathering over Midtown Manhattan. In another, soldiers guarded Arlington National Cemetery's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier under a haze of rain. A third showed a massive wave crashing around the Statue of Liberty. They were stunning images, capturing the scale of the disaster as well as its human impact. There was just one problem: none of them were actually pictures of Sandy. Every event begets misinformation, but as people increasingly look to social media in times of disaster, fact-checking viral images can be as useful as issuing a news update. During the hurricane, as people were trying to separate fact from rumor during heavy storms and power outages, it was easy for misinformation to spread.

Tweeting fake news in a crisis – illegal or just immoral?

Shashank Tripathia, a hedge fund analyst, began issuing false and alarming news reports on Twitter at the height of Sandy.

As hospitals lost power and a major power station exploded, Tripathia contributed to the chaos by falsely claiming that all of Manhattan had gone black and that the New York Stock Exchange trading floor was under three feet of water. The tweet was finally refuted by the stock exchange, but not before it had been repeated hundreds of times, including on CNN and the Weather Channel. In short, Tripathia used a media platform at the height of an emergency to promote panic and anxiety. Everyone agrees that his behavior was reprehensible. But there is also the question of whether tweets like Tripathia’s are (or should be) illegal.

Disney Buying Lucasfilm for $4 Billion

The Walt Disney Company, in a move that gives it a commanding position in the realm of fantasy movies, has agreed to acquire Lucasfilm Ltd. from its founder, George Lucas, for $4.05 billion in stock and cash.

The sale provides a corporate home for a private company that grew from Lucas’s hugely successful “Star Wars” series, and became an enduring force in creating effects-driven science fiction entertainment for large and small screens. Lucas, who is 68 years old, had already announced he would step down from day-to-day operation of the company. Disney plans to release a seventh “Star Wars” feature film in 2015, with new films in the series coming every two or three years after that. Lucas will be a consultant on the film projects.

Disney purchased Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion in 2009 and Pixar Animation Studios for $7.4 billion in 2006.

Attorney General Kamala Harris puts mobile apps on notice about privacy

California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris (D) began putting top mobile app makers on notice that they will be held accountable for how they handle Californians' personal information.

The state’s top cop has sent out notices to 100 mobile apps that don’t have a written privacy policy that explains what information the app collects and shares. AG Harris initially targeted the most popular mobile apps, among them Open Table and apps for Delta and United Airlines. The companies could not be immediately reached for comment. The companies were given 30 days to post a “conspicuous” privacy policy or face penalties of as much as $2,500 every time a Californian downloads an app that does not comply with California law. “Protecting the privacy of online consumers is a serious law enforcement matter,” AG Harris said. “We have worked hard to ensure that app developers are aware of their legal obligations to respect the privacy of Californians, but it is critical that we take all necessary steps to enforce California’s privacy laws.” AG Harris is looking to close a privacy loophole with the explosion in the use of mobile devices to access the Web. She is extending privacy protections required by state law for personal computers to smartphones and tablets.

With a Week to Go Before the Election, Techies Prefer President Obama

A survey of more than 2,000 technology professionals by Dice.com found that while support for President Barack Obama among tech pros has dropped substantially, he is still the candidate they trust most. Forty-five percent said Obama was the best candidate for tech professionals, compared to 37 percent who said Mitt Romney was the best candidate. Obama’s support among tech professionals is drastically different from what it was during the 2008 race, however, Dice found. At that time, 63 percent of tech professionals said President Obama was the best candidate, compared to 27 percent who favored Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).

What This Election Means To Silicon Valley

[Commentary] For our nation to remain a leader in scientific advancement, training a dynamic competitive workforce, and bolster America’s position as a global leader in technological innovation, this is what must be done and what one candidate — Barack Obama — clearly understands. Silicon Valley, the choice is clear in terms of candidates who will keep us at the forefront of all things tech. A greener, more sustainable valley is possible, but only with the right man in office.

Liberal advocacy groups push for free wireless Internet

Ten advocacy groups launched a coalition to promote the use of free, open Wi-Fi networks.

The groups argue that widespread wireless Internet access would benefit users and lead to new technological innovations. The coalition, called the Open Wireless Movement, is made up of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Fight for the Future, Free Press, Internet Archive, NYCwireless, the Open Garden Foundation, OpenITP, the Open Spectrum Alliance, the Open Technology Institute and the Personal Telco Project. The coalition provides information and tips to households, small businesses, developers and Internet service providers for how to implement open Wi-Fi networks.

Health Care Group Puts Focus on Current Cybersecurity Efforts

The health care industry is joining other businesses in urging Congress and federal officials to consider existing cybersecurity efforts before enacting new measures to better protect American computer networks. Congress is expected to revisit cybersecurity legislation before the end of the year and the White House is considering an executive order on the issue.

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) helped sponsor legislation that would have created more government oversight of certain critical networks, including those that control electric grids. After that bill floundered in the Senate partly because of industry opposition to new rules, Rockefeller wrote to leaders of Fortune 500 companies asking for their views on cybersecurity. The Healthcare Information Trust Alliance (HITRUST), which represents information security officers at the nation's largest health care organizations, outlined efforts to share information and collaborate to increase cybersecurity.

Commerce, Justice Reviewing .com Contract

The Departments of Commerce and Justice are scrutinizing Verisign's bid for a six-year renewal of its contract to continue running the .com registry, the Internet's most popular generic top-level domain name.

Verisign said late last week in releasing its latest earnings results that the department may not finish its evaluation before the company's current contract expires on Nov. 30. Verisign said Commerce informed it earlier this month that both Commerce and the Justice Department are examining the agreement's "pricing terms." If Commerce doesn't approve the contract before it expires, Verisign's current contract will be extended for six months, Verisign President and CEO Jim Bidzos said. Despite this, Bidzos said he was confident the company's contract will get renewed. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the nonprofit group that manages the Internet's domain-name system, in June approved Verisign's contract to continue operating the .com registry, which is the database of all the second-level domains that have been registered under the top-level domain ".com".

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