Category: TECH

Russia and China Edge Out US With Proposed Cyber Security Pact

Staff Writer

Russia and China look set to sign a bilateral cyber security agreement next month in a move which could further isolate the US on the world stage. Russian newspaper Kommersant, whose owner has ties to Vladamir Putin, cited sources “close to the Kremlin” as saying the “two-sided agreement” would probably be ready by November 10, when the president will be in Beijing to attend the APEC summit. Putin and China’s president Xi Jinping are also expected to hold a joint address on information security during the visit, the report said. The…

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US President Obama Reiterates His Support for Net Neutrality

Staff Writer
Liquid Telecom

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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Apple vs. Google: New privacy battle looms

Staff Writer

A new battle is brewing over privacy for mobile devices, after moves by Google and Apple to toughen the encryption of their mobile devices sparked complaints from law enforcement Washington (AFP) – A new battle is brewing over privacy for mobile devices, after moves by Google and Apple to toughen the encryption of their mobile devices sparked complaints from law enforcement. The issue is part of a long-running debate over whether tech gadgets should have privacy-protecting encryption which makes it difficult for law enforcement to access in time-sensitive investigations. FBI…

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Reddit Is Raising Big Funding of $500 Million

Staff Writer

Reddit, the social news site with a big Web footprint, is raising a big funding round — with help from some of the people who helped launch the site nine years ago, including co-founder Alexis Ohanian and other people associated closely with startup incubator Y Combinator. Sources said the almost-anything-goes site has reached a preliminary agreement to sell less than 10 percent of the company for more than $50 million. That could give the company a valuation of upwards of $500 million. Given investors’ new-found appetite for content companies — see:…

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Most U.S consumers ‘unlikely’ to purchase or use bitcoin

Staff Writer

A study conducted by the Massachusetts Division of Banks on the bitcoin use found that close to two – thirds of those who responded said they were unlikely to buy or use the virtual currency. The article by Andrew Moran also highlights a study from the U.K. where 71 percent of British consumers don’t want to use bitcoin for their shopping needs. Of course we are very early in the game and the age of the respondent’s matters, those in their late teens and twenties may be more willing to…

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Reuters: Time Warner Cable suffers major outage

Staff Writer
Liquid Telecom

(Adds Time Warner’s comment) By Jim Finkle, Marina Lopes and Alina Selyukh Aug 27 (Reuters) – Time Warner Cable Inc , the No. 2 U.S. cable operator, suffered a massive network outage on Wednesday due to suspected human error that cut Internet services to some 11 million businesses and residences, prompting a New York state investigation. The outage to all of its Internet customers across 29 states began at about 4:30 a.m. EDT (0830 GMT), said company spokesman Bobby Amirshahi. Services were restored by 7.30 a.m, he said. The outage…

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Google, five Asian telecom firms partner to build $300 million undersea cable to Japan

Staff Writer
Liquid Telecom

(Reuters) – Search engine Google Inc and five Asian telecom and communications companies have agreed to invest about $300 million to develop and operate an undersea cable trans-Pacific cable network connecting the United States to Japan. To be named “FASTER,” the cable network will have an initial capacity of 60 terabits per second and will connect Los Angeles, Portland, San Francisco, Oregon and Seattle to Chikura and Shima in Japan. NEC Corp, which will be the system supplier for the undersea cable network, said in a statement that construction would…

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Understanding the Copyright’s Volition Requirement After Aereo

Staff Writer

Jonathan’s post continues DisCo’s ongoing coverage of the Aereo case.  Last week, Prof. Michael Carrier wrote a post for DisCo on the possible effect of Aereo on investment.  Previously, DisCo writer Matt Schruers guest-posted on SCOTUSblog about how Aereo creates uncertainty for the cloud. One of the great attractions (or frustrations) of copyright law is that it is based on metaphysical distinctions. The most obvious of these is the idea/expression dichotomy. The Second Circuit in Computer Associates v. Altai observed that “drawing the line between idea and expression is a tricky business.”…

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Big IT vs SME IT in government – it’s really about changing IT suppliers’ behaviour

Staff Writer
Compulynx

The Cabinet Office plan to bring in more SME IT suppliers and reduce dependence on the old “oligopoly” of big systems integrators (SIs) was always going to come under greater scrutiny once some of those SIs saw their lucrative outsourcing deals come to an end. The Financial Times ran a strange article recently featuring unattributed claims that ministers including business secretary Vince Cable were telling David Cameron that the pro-SME IT policy was wrong, after his department suffered email problems soon after it transitioned away from a Fujitsu mega-outsourcing deal.…

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Report: NSA was allowed to spy on Africa since 2010

Staff Writer

Virtually no foreign government is off-limits for the National Security Agency, which has been authorized to intercept information “concerning” all but four countries, according to top-secret documents. The United States has long had broad no-spying arrangements with those four countries — Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand — in a group known collectively with the United States as the Five Eyes. But a classified 2010 legal certification and other documents indicate the NSA has been given a far more elastic authority than previously known, one that allows it to intercept…

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