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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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Historic eBay password database hack, Change your password!

May 22, 2014March 3, 2016

eBay revealed that attackers “compromised a database containing encrypted passwords and other non-financial data” between late February and early March. The database included names, e-mail addresses, home addresses, phone numbers, and dates of birth. While there is “no evidence of the compromise resulting in unauthorized activity for eBay users,” the company is recommending that users change their passwords. The attackers were able to log in to eBay employee accounts.”Cyberattackers compromised a small number of employee log-in credentials, allowing unauthorized access to eBay’s corporate network,” the eBay announcement said. “Working with law…

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ICANN fails to follow its own Bylaws and procedures says IRP panel

May 21, 2014March 3, 2016

“Our bylaws are very important to us. They capture our mission of security, stability and accessibility, and compel the organization to be open and transparent.” — from the ICANN website ICANN may claim its bylaws are important, but apparently ICANN doesn’t follow its bylaws. At least that is what an IRP panel ruled yesterday in the DotConnectAfrica (DCA) Trust Case #50117T108313, full decision here (pdf), stating “In the Panel’s unanimous view, it would be unfair and unjust to deny DCA Trust’s request for interim relief when the need for such a relief by…

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More IPv4 exhaustion alerts as ICANN address pool dwindles

May 21, 2014March 3, 2016

The impending exhaustion of the IPv4 address space has been raised as an issue once more by ICANN, as it begins allocating the remaining blocks of addresses to the five Regional Internet Registries (RIRs). According to ICANN, this move signals that the global supply of IPv4 addresses is now reaching a critical level. With more and more devices coming online, especially with new trends such as the Internet of Things, the demand for IP addresses continues to rise, and IPv4 is incapable of supplying enough to meet demand, ICANN said.…

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Email exchanges between NSA and Google executives reveal far cozier relationship

May 7, 2014March 3, 2016

Email exchanges between National Security Agency Director Gen. Keith Alexander and Google executives Sergey Brin and Eric Schmidt suggest a far cozier working relationship between some tech firms and the U.S. government than was implied by Silicon Valley brass after last year’s revelations about NSA spying. Disclosures by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden about the agency’s vast capability for spying on Americans’ electronic communications prompted a number of tech executives whose firms cooperated with the government to insist they had done so only when compelled by a court of law.…

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Big Data: Five things Big Data Experts warned Obama about

May 5, 2014March 3, 2016

The rise of big data techniques poses risks to society that call for new laws, a White House report concludes When President Obama spoke in January about reforming U.S. surveillance, he also asked a panel of experts to spend 90 days investigating the potential consequences of the use of technology that falls under the umbrella term “big data.” The 68-page report was published today and repeatedly emphasizes that big data techniques can advance the U.S. economy, government, and public life. But it also spends a lot of time warning of…

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WSJ: Brace for increased domain registration fees should the UN oversight ICANN

April 3, 2014 Staff Writer

The Wall Street Journal just published a story by Karl Borden who is a professor of financial economics at the University of Nebraska who warns that if the US gives up its oversight control over ICANN and the United Nations winds up in that roll, expect that fees are going to be imposed on every domain registration to support not only ICANN but UN activities. The world may see history repeat itself with the Internet, and the unintended consequences are likely to be profound. The United Nations has long craved…

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Microsoft Office for iPad, How it all started

March 28, 2014 Staff Writer

Han-Yi Shaw didn’t like what he saw, and he told Microsoft so. The software giant, by Shaw’s reckoning, didn’t really understand Apple’s platform or how to develop Office for it. Shaw told Microsoft exactly what he thought — and the company responded by agreeing to all of his changes, then hiring him. That was more than a decade ago. Today, Shaw heads up Microsoft’s Office Design Studio and is the architect of one of the tech giant’s most important innovations in years: Office for iPad. The product is available now…

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US Commitee Chairs pledge to conduct aggressive oversight on NTIA announcement on future of the internet; Schedules hearing for first week of April

March 27, 2014 Staff Writer

Committee Will Hold Hearing the First Week of April as Administration Examines Whether Department of Commerce Can Turn DNS Functions Over to Internet Stakeholders. WASHINGTON, DC – House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) today pledged to conduct aggressive oversight following the recent announcement by the Obama administration on the future of Internet governance. The administration is looking to engage the multi-stakeholder Internet community to investigate future models for administration of the Domain Name System (DNS). The Department of…

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Microsoft May Introduce Office for Apple’s iPad Next Week

March 18, 2014 Staff Writer

Newly appointed Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is said to be announcing a version of the company’s popular Office productivity suite, including Word, Excel and Powerpoint for Apple’s iPad tablet devices at an event next week Microsoft may finally introduce a version of its Office software suite for Apple’s iPad devices at an event next Thursday, according to multiple reports. Sources close to Reuters, ZDNet and The Verge have said Microsoft’s about to introduce a suite of Microsoft Office applications designed for the Apple tablet. The suite is expected to include…

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