UK Home Secretary Will Ban Troublemakers

It seems that the UK police team up on banning people, with Theresa May revealing that the troublemakers might be banned from social media after meetings with such industry giants as Facebook, Twitter and the rest.

Starting with a question on how to address gang culture, Theresa May pointed at the ongoing discussion with representatives of the largest social media networks and BlackBerry. The meetings were also held with the participation of Association of Chief Police Offices and the Metropolitan Police. Regular contact has been kept up since the summer events.

It turned out that taking offline social networks was entirely unrealistic and shortsighted. It seems that the government has finally understood this and is currently considering a more targeted approach. The UK Home Secretary said during a Commons debate that they consider the idea of kicking people off social networks if they have breached “terms and conditions”. Theresa May also noted that there were subsequent meetings on a one-to-one basis between the police and a number of individual companies.

However, she never said how a move to block Internet users from, for example, Facebook could be implemented in reality – especially nowadays, when any web savvy kid knows that it is very easy to circumvent a ban. The industry observers tried to find out how Home Office is planning to kick off people from social networks. In respond, Home Office said that any decisions to delete users from the networks would be subject to discussions between the police and the social networks, as well as subject to terms and conditions. However, there are still no clear rules at the moment, because the meetings are still taking place. In addition, Home Office admitted it won’t be issuing any directives, because it is not getting into the territory of banning individuals right now.

Although the proposed curbs on social media have proved to be a very a controversial issue, one of the recent studies suggests the community is actually in favor of a wider blackout. A survey, carried out by Unisys, revealed that 2/3 of adults are actually in favor of shutting down social networks in times of civil unrest. In addition, 70% of respondents agreed to a blackout on Facebook, Twitter and BlackBerry. Meanwhile, only 27% of them were against such a move.

PS3 3.73 CFW! Near

after long wait "Mathieulh" Has started to flame people by showing them a screen shot of the decrypted lv_0. What does that mean? It means that he was able to get the 3.73 FW keys


By seeing the above screenshot its suggusted that "Mathieulh" did hack the 3.73 FW, Which means that we can have a 3.73 CFW in no time, but it all depends on Mathieulh, whether he would release it to others or not. But as some of us know that Mathieulh is a person who keeps things to himself,which means that he isn't planning to release the 3.73 keys ( bad news ). He also mentioned that he is not going to release it.

Look at what he says:
"By the way, I won’t be posting keys, I won’t be posting dumps and I won’t be saying how it was done, time to work gentlemen."

This might be the $ony harsh act on GeoHot or may be it is his personal intention.

but remember that earlier someone leaked the Metldr method in which it is shows how to decrypt lv_0. of Which "Mathieulh" claimed that it was his work and showed how it will be done. So now it all depends on the other dev to work on it and release the 3.73 keys. Or perhaps someone will leak his work again.

Guess what!! we might have a great gift before or on Christmas. Hope for the Best. Now as he has shown us the 3.73 lv_0 decrypted, some other dev will get excited and release the keys or steal it from him and release themselves just for the fame.
who knows !!

UK File-Sharers Will Receive Warning Letters in 2013

A few days ago, Ofcom, an independent regulator and competition authority for the communications industries of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, made an announcement, saying that starting with summer 2013 online file-sharers alleged of unauthorized file-sharing of copyrighted content will start receiving notification letters.

This step will become the first one in the so-called “graduated response” system introduced by the 2010 adopted UK Digital Economy Act (better known as DEA). With the first step being sending out the warning letters, notifying about registering of illegal file-sharing, the third one would mean for the repeat violators suspension of their broadband connection.

The government outfit Ofcom is responsible for establishing an “obligations code” that would accompany the new anti-piracy system. As it is spelled out in the document, the warning letters will notify Internet subscribers that their broadband connection has been used for some copyright infringing activities. The notifications will also tell the users how they can protect their Internet connection if they believe that someone else has hijacked their Wi-Fi and has been using it to infringe copyright by sharing files.

The country’s Digital Economy Act would also force Internet service providers to track internet users alleged of unauthorized file-sharing and prove they are able to match their personal information to the IP address that had been used in the infringing activity on the Internet. Still, it is not clear how effective would this system prove and how Ofcom is going to address infringement committed though VPNs, proxies and other services allowing to circumvent the legislation.

Oxford University Press Digitized Bible Encyclopedia

Oxford University Press has recently released the Oxford Encyclopedia of the Books of the Bible. This is an outstandingly extensive work that will soon be available through the university’s Digital Reference Shelf.

Indeed, the Digital Reference Shelf can be considered a content-heavy method for users to monitor the Oxford Press’ literary updates. The university has launched a great series for specialized reference works, the Books of the Bible being the first in it. Oxford claimed that each of the titles will be looking at a subfield in biblical studies. In other words, keen researchers should better prepare for the Digital Reference edition.

The Bible Encyclopedia will be available next month, hardback for around $300. In the book, the readers will find entries from more than a hundred scholars from all over the world. In addition, the encyclopedia also has a long list of cross references, let alone a list of numerous abbreviations.

Indeed, each of the 150 entries, each containing from 500 to 10,000 words, would cast your eye over the Bible’s canon. According to Oxford Press, it includes in the New and Old Testaments, coupled with thematic essays of all kinds, such as translation, textual criticism and canonicity. Finally, there are also entries available on the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Nag Hammadi Library. All of this is Coptic to us.

Oxford University Press is recognized as the largest university press worldwide. It’s actually a department of the University of Oxford, governed by 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor. The CEO of the press is the Secretary to the Delegates, who acts as a major representative on other university bodies. It should be noted that Oxford University has used the same system to oversee the press since the 17th century.

Countries Agreed on New Global Internet Outfit

According to the recent news, India, Brazil and South Africa has joined hands to investigate ways and means of establishing a new global outfit within the UN framework that would oversee global online governance. This move was announced by the countries’ officials during a seminar in Rio de Janeiro

This turn of events evoked a mixed response from the world web community, which resulted in a joint declaration that was issued a couple days ago. According to the participants of the agreement, they felt that a body was urgently required for the system of the United Nations. The new outfit is expected to coordinate and develop worldwide public policies pertaining to the web. In addition, the body would also have to ensure that online governance was transparent, democratic, and competitive.

The participants claimed that web-related policies today are created either by the largest global digital companies or directly by the relative bodies of the rich nations, such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. For example, India pointed out that the Rio recommendation was no more than a starting point for discussions, which has yet to be fleshed out by the IBSA. This online dialogue is supposed to help the United Nations’ Secretary-General carry out the mandate set by the World Summit on Information Society. At the same time, the official representatives of the country made it clear that the existing web governance processes and mechanisms have to be changed and made more inclusive and more sensitive to the demands of developing nations.

Some of the industry experts consider this proposal undermining the multi-stakeholder model which is currently in place for governing the web. One of the arguments made by the critics was that there was actually no need for a new global outfit, because there are such bodies as the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, that are able to regulate the functioning of the global web address system and respond to the concerns of developing nations.

The industry participants admit that in most cases governments that pay lip service to the multi-stakeholder systems will be the ones to take the real decisions. At the same time, the private sector and civil society would be given only a minor voice, but the suggestion made by India, Brazil and South Africa might only worsen the situation.

US ISPs Ordered To Disclose Subscribers

Two California adult movie studios, Third Degree Films and Patrick Collins Inc., have recently filed a copyright lawsuit against more than a hundred of Maryland residents for unauthorized downloading and sharing some of their movies. At the moment, none of the studios knew the names of the copyright infringers.


Now the situation has changed, as two of Maryland’s biggest Internet service providers – Comcast and Verizon – were ordered by the court to bring over data about twenty-two of their customers, which would help the plaintiffs to identify the people behind the IP addresses. Meanwhile, suspected Internet users are residing across the state in like fifteen cities.

Of course, the strategy employed by porn studios isn’t new. A number of cases throughout the United States were built around the list of IP addresses without real names behind it. The precedent was set by the Recording Industry Association of America when it has tried to establish the identities behind the IP addresses of Internet users ripping music off through Napster.

Patrick Collins Inc. launched the lawsuit back in June against 22 Joe Does who were suspected to download the porn video called “Cuties 2”. Another studio’s case involves 118 pirates who allegedly downloaded “Illegal Ass 2”. The plaintiffs asked a federal judge to order ISPs Verizon and Comcast to help the studio identify the Joe Does. In respond, the judge handed down an order saying that the studios own exclusive distribution rights to video that was being illegally shared in the web through P2P technology, BitTorrent. Therefore, the plaintiffs have been granted their request and the judge ordered both Verizon and Comcast to provide the required data.

Comcast replied that they didn’t just hand the private information over without due process. That’s why they published an announcement to let the subscribers know the company has been ordered by a judge. As for the industry observers, they call such cases “copyright trolls”, because the tactic employed is aimed at extracting quick money from settlements by threatening people with public disgrace and exposure. Indeed, the plaintiffs agreed to voluntarily drop the charges against the individual who has hired attorneys to defend him. Meanwhile, their own lawyer refused to comment on the situation.

European Commission Called Google Anticompetitive

A Microsoft-backed outfit has recently called on the EC to pay attention to Google when ruling on antitrust allegations.

ICOMP, which stands for the Initiative for a Competitive Online Market Place, is a Microsoft-backed lobbying outfit willing to quash Google’s stranglehold on the Internet. It has recently published a paper that calls for the powers to force the search engine’s hand in creating a competitive market place.

The search giant Google has attracted the consternation of numerous organizations that accused the company of abusing its power. There have already been a number of antitrust cases in the United States, and now some European companies are taking aim at Google, considering it a power-hungry monopolist.

That’s why the European Commission is currently discussing what they should do with the naughty search giant. At the same time, ICOMP is planning to put this case forward for other industry members. The European Commission already seems to think that the search engine has been up to no good, accounting for 95% share in the search market. So, now it is deciding how to deal with Google’s dominance. The Initiative for a Competitive Online Market Place is going to convince the outfit that the world really needs some fundamental changes.

The complaint reads that the scale derived by this search engine from its dominance of search, advertising, and its exclusionary behavior and strategy, has caused a market situation where the other players have no chance to compete, which leaves no viable alternative to Google. The complaint goes on, saying that it isn’t enough for antitrust regulators just to stop the company’s existing anti-competitive practices like illegal exclusion arrangements or profit sharing agreements.

Microsoft, which is also involved in the complaint, claimed that the European Commission has enough powers to fine the search giant up to 10% of its global revenue over antitrust, but at the moment it is unclear whether the Initiative for a Competitive Online Market Place is pushing for this. But it is obviously lobbying for “structural and behavioral remedies” to treat so called “unlawfully obtained scale across Internet platforms.

The outfit is planning to knock the search engine off the top and make sure that the years of illegally obtained riches wouldn’t be used to cement its position. It also wants to make sure Google’s search results are neutral and prevent it from dumping the content from competitors.

New Version of PROTECT IP Act Presented

The revised edition of the new US copyright legislation, specifically designed to fight online copyright violations, features provisions affecting such online services as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. In fact, the innovations affect the copyrighted content that may be posted to the respective services.

Members of the House of Representatives have recently introduced the new version of the PROTECT IP Act, which may share similarities with an older version of the bill, approved by the Senate this past spring. Meanwhile, these new measures may come into conflict with legitimate online services. Apparently, the Department of Justice will be able to obtain court orders demanding search engines and Internet service providers to blacklist all websites affiliated with rights violations.

If this proves to be true, the suggested legislation would overturn provisions of the DMCA, a 13 years old act that had successfully kept broadband providers out of the danger connected with their users’ file-sharing activities. Now the new bill could effectively destroy YouTube and other services that rely on user-generated material by making the site admins legally liable for everything their users publish. The consumer outfits are going to boycott the new version of the legislation, asking those lawmakers who tend to support it to hold back for a while and listen to opponents’ concerns. They argue that the old version of PROTECT IP Act would stifle free speech and innovation, while the new version might appear even worse.

The supporters of the copyright legislation claim that the bill will help them fight foreign websites containing infringing content. This is expected to magically increase the country’s economy. A number of consumer groups, including NetCoalition, Consumer Electronics Association, and Computer and Communications Industry Association have already sent a letter to the US House Judiciary Committee members, expressing their concerns over the proposed law. In the letter the outfits asked the law representatives to reconsider introducing the legislation and wait for feedback from the affected organizations. They point out that it is technology sector that is leading the United States out of the recession, so inadvertent damage to this industry shouldn’t happen now.

Skype Vulnerability Threatens Illegal File-Sharers

When people want to talk with their friends or business associates through the Internet, they usually use Skype, which offers a lot of solutions to meet the demands of hundreds of millions users. However, the suspicion is that IP address and personal data can be monitored when you use Skype.

According to the recent study, an IP address of any Skype user can be tracked down and associated with any unauthorized P2P activities this IP (and, accordingly, the person behind it) may be committing. The researchers that carried out the study revealed that they can identify the person behind the IP address by using the data published by Skype users in their directory, like name, address, and birth date. This could be done due to a major vulnerability in the company’s privacy system.

Nevertheless, the researchers claimed that using this method you are likely to identify only the computer, but not the user, perhaps because not everyone provides their real information, let alone proxies and other means to keep the identity hidden. Despite the fact that Skype was notified about the problem back in May, when it was acquired by Microsoft, they didn’t solve the issue.

Indeed, just as with common Internet communications applications, Skype users connected to each other are able to track down others’ IP addresses. Although you only need to push a button to make a call through Skype, behind this technology there is an entire network of P2P routing systems supposed to keep your identity protected. Now, it seems that the system ensuring that your address is anonymous-proof failed, and so the other users are now able to track sent packets and thus learn IP addresses.

The researchers created a Skype tracker which selected 100,000 identified users, and a software application that could collect BitTorrent file identifiers, i.e. a BitTorrent crawler to gather IP addresses on the network plus a verifier to match a Skype user with a BitTorrent user. However, even if a Skype user and a BitTorrent user share the same IP, it isn’t a complete proof of violation. But the developed system appeared to be quite efficient to identify around 52% of the verified users. The results showed that only 400 out of 100,000 Skype users were surely using BitTorrent application. Meanwhile, only 2 users filled their first names and just one risked to put in his real home address.

China Called Social Media Harmful

The country’s ruling party is going to further clamp down on social media. The Chinese government is planning to eradicate inappropriate data from spreading across the Internet and promised to punish dissidents spouting anti-Totalitarian rhetoric. Unfortunately for the country, it can only do something to censor free speech, but it’s not up to them to change nature of the web.

Actually, this is exactly why the country has promised to come down on free speech activists and dissidents. The local media reported that social media services like Weibo can be too tough for the monitoring rooms to control. The country is going to use the full might of its numerous party members to quash what it calls “unfavorable discussions on the Internet”.

Industry observers believe that China is shooting itself in the foot. In fact, social media users, after being forced into keeping a quiet and uncontroversial line, the country’s almost 200 million microbloggers would simply become as boring as the current Twitter users in the United Kingdom, describing themselves as Social Media Lover, Dad, Coffee Enthusiast.

Meanwhile, the worries are about the danger that the largest players in the telecommunication space might also suffer. Such companies as Tencent and Sina Corp are the ones that largely rely on the Internet, which means that any intention to sanitize them to the tastes of the ruling elite will only have a negative effect for their stocks and shares.

The media reports confirm that the Chinese ruling party is also planning to crack down on "too entertaining" TV programs that are shown during primetime as well. Instead of the entertaining content, the channels are required to promote “fine literary and artistic materials”. It sounds like the Party wants to push for pro-Nationalist, traditional Chinese cultural programming, which is simply being dressed up as an attempt to restore a lost national identity.

The ruling party of China considers the westernization of the country very harmful. This may be the reason why reality and talent shows will only be permitted to run for one hour and a half during the prime time hours between 7.30 pm and 10 pm. Instead, they will have to show news and culture shows, which might be not such a bad idea!