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NETmundial Initiative to use crowd-sourcing as way to fix Internet problems

November 7, 2014February 17, 2016 Staff Writer

NETmundial Initiative consists of Brazil’s Internet Steering Committee (CGI.br), Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and the World Economic Forum (WEF) (Reuters) – Responding to a dizzying array of issues that threaten to break the Internet, from privacy to tax dodging to cybercrime, a group of the world’s leading governance organizations say greater user involvement, not top-down control, is needed. Three organizations — Brazil’s Internet Steering Committee (CGI.br), Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and the World Economic Forum (WEF) — said on Thursday they were…

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US President Obama Reiterates His Support for Net Neutrality

October 14, 2014February 17, 2016 Staff Writer

President Obama said late Thursday that he was “unequivocally committed” to net neutrality and firmly opposed to any proposal that would let companies buy an Internet fast lane to deliver their content more quickly to consumers. The statements, at a town-hall meeting in Santa Monica, Calif., on innovation, gave a strong signal to Mr. Obama’s Democratic appointees on the Federal Communications Commission that he wants them to heed the overwhelming public sentiment expressed in 3.7 million comments sent to the commission in recent months concerning a set of rules proposed…

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Alibaba IPO Pours Shares Into Shrinking Pool of Stock

September 26, 2014February 17, 2016 Staff Writer

Alibaba Group’s (BABA) initial public offering was a success by any measure. At $25 billion, it was the largest in history. Investors were so eager to add the Chinese e-commerce giant to their portfolios that the shares soared 38 percent on their debut, the biggest first-day jump for an IPO of at least $10 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. When trading ended on Sept. 19, the company had a market value of $231 billion, more than Amazon.com’s (AMZN) and EBay’s (EBAY) combined. Some investors warned that the clamor for Alibaba shares could trigger a…

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Following celebrity hacks, here’s how to secure your iCloud account

September 3, 2014February 18, 2016 Staff Writer

Though Apple says it’s investigating a reported hack on the iCloud accounts of several celebrities, there is an easy way for users to secure their accounts. Over the weekend, reports emerged that a number of celebrities had their iCloud accounts compromised by unknown hackers, and personal photos leaked onto the internet. Apple says it is “actively investigating” the situation. The exact details of the hack are unknown, but some security researchers believe Apple left iCloud vulnerable to a brute force password hacking attempt. Basically, hackers could use a piece of…

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California Passes Smartphone Remote Kill Switch Law

August 29, 2014February 18, 2016 Staff Writer

In a move that has me scratching my head, the California legislators have seen fit to pass a law that requires smartphones to have a remote kill switch built into them. Don’t worry for the time being as this only affects smartphones sold after July 1, 2015. Still, it leaves one wondering, what are they thinking? While the premise here is to protect people when they have their phones stolen the possibility of this being perverted by either law enforcement of criminal alike has not gone unnoticed. This reminds me…

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CMO Asia awards Ericsson for Women Leadership in ICT Development

August 22, 2014February 18, 2016 Staff Writer

Award recognizes Ericsson Regional VP for Marketing and Public Affairs in Southeast Asia and Oceania, Stephanie Huf, for contributions to the company’s establishment in Myanmar Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) Vice President for Marketing and Public Affairs for Southeast Asia and Oceania, Stephanie Huf, has been given the Women Leadership in ICT Development Award by CMO Asia awards in recognition of her contribution towards Ericsson’s work in Myanmar. Myanmar is one of the last remaining countries to benefit from widespread mobile telecommunications and internet access, and accordingly telecommunications infrastructure is a high…

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Twitter Reviews Policies After Robin Williams ’s Daughter Zelda Abused

August 19, 2014February 18, 2016 Staff Writer

(CNN) — Twitter is looking to revamp its user-protection policies after Zelda Williams, the daughter of comedian Robin Williams, was run off of the social site by abuse in the wake of her father’s apparent suicide. “We will not tolerate abuse of this nature on Twitter,” Del Harvey, Twitter’s vice president of trust and safety, said in a statement. “We have suspended a number of accounts related to this issue for violating our rules and we are in the process of evaluating how we can further improve our policies to…

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Vodafone admits some governments have a direct link to their network for snooping

June 6, 2014March 3, 2016

LONDON (Reuters) – Vodafone, the world’s second-biggest mobile phone company, said government agencies in a small number of countries in which it operates have direct access to its network, enabling them to listen in to calls. Security agencies across the world, and in particular in the United States and Britain, have faced greater scrutiny since Edward Snowden, a former contractor with the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA), disclosed the extent of their surveillance to newspapers. Snowden’s disclosures caused an international uproar, showing that U.S. and British agencies’ monitoring programs took…

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House of Representatives vote threatens Obama Administration planned internet giveaway

May 29, 2014March 3, 2016

For years, conservative activists have prodded the House of Representatives to use their unique Constitutional power of the purse to rein in Obama Administration excesses. This week, the U.S. House of Representatives is doing just that through a series of amendments that will be considered to the bill that appropriates money for the Departments of Commerce and Justice, along with other science related agencies. One particularly important rider is being offered by Representative Sean Duffy (R-WI). The Duffy amendment prohibits the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) from using any…

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