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Sunday, February 6, 2011

FCC to update phone subsidy program for broadband (AP) : Technet

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FCC to update phone subsidy program for broadband (AP) : Technet

FCC to update phone subsidy program for broadband (AP)

Posted: 06 Feb 2011 03:00 PM PST

By JOELLE TESSLER, AP Technology Writer Joelle Tessler, Ap Technology Writer – Sun Feb 6, 6:00 pm ET

WASHINGTON – The federal government spends more than $4 billion a year, collected from phone bills, to subsidize phone service in rural and poor areas. Now, it's considering ways to give those places more for the money: high-speed Internet connections instead of old-fashioned phone lines.

The Federal Communications Commission is set to vote Tuesday to begin work on a blueprint for transforming a subsidy program called the Universal Service Fund to pay for broadband.

The details the agency works out could have profound consequences not just for residents of rural areas who are still stuck with dial-up connections or painfully slow broadband speeds. Many rural phone companies — including both landline and wireless carriers — rely heavily on Universal Service funding and could lose some of this money. New FCC rules could also pave the way for cable companies to begin collecting from the program.

Although the Universal Service Fund was established to ensure that all Americans have access to a basic telephone line, the Internet is replacing the telephone as today's essential communications service, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said.

"Broadband serves the same role in the 21st Century that telephone service served in the 20th Century," Genachowski said. "So we need to modernize this program."

The Universal Service Fund already pays for Internet access in schools, libraries and rural health clinics, in addition to subsidizing phone service for the poor. But more than half of last year's $7.9 billion in overall spending went to the High Cost fund, which pays phone companies that provide landline voice service in remote, sparsely populated places where phone lines are unprofitable. Mississippi, Texas and Kansas were the biggest beneficiaries of these payments in 2009, according to FCC data.

In the corporate world, the biggest beneficiaries are the biggest phone companies: AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. But smaller, more rurally focused carriers like CenturyLink Inc., Windstream Corp. and Telephone & Data Systems Inc. derive a larger share of their revenue from the fund.

The FCC envisions gradually transforming the High Cost program into a new Connect America fund that would underwrite the cost of building and operating broadband networks in underserved and unserved communities. Those networks would be able to handle data traffic as well as regular voice calls.

The FCC expects the transition to take place over a period of years, so that subsidies for phone lines would not disappear before an Internet-based alternative is available in an area.

According to AT&T Senior Vice President Robert Quinn, the changes to the Universal Service Fund are long overdue since the current program is spending billions to support a shrinking voice communications market instead of the technology of the future.

"If we don't come up with a rational way to support broadband, the cost of maintaining yesterday's technology will crush us," Quinn said.

Genachowski stressed that one of the agency's top priorities is ensuring that Universal Service money is well spent. Over the years, the program has come under fire — particularly among Republicans — for promoting waste by subsidizing multiple rural phone companies in places where the free market doesn't support even one. Critics also complain that the program gives many carriers little incentive to keep their costs down since reimbursements are based on the expenses that they report.

Among other things, the FCC will explore capping the size of the Universal Service program, limiting the number of carriers that can receive funding in a particular place and setting strict benchmarks to help determine reimbursement rates for companies that do get funding. It will also propose using "reverse auctions" to award Universal Service money to carriers that can build broadband networks at the lowest cost.

As part of its plan to modernize the Universal Service Fund, the FCC will also look at ways to revamp the multibillion-dollar "intercarrier compensation" system, the Byzantine menu of charges that phone companies pay each other to connect calls and link their networks. Any changes to the Universal Service Fund would also require changes to intercarrier compensation because rural phone companies tend to rely heavily on both funding sources.

AT&T, Verizon and others argue that the current intercarrier compensation system is outdated and irrational since phone company payments vary widely based on the type of carrier involved, the type of network traffic being exchanged and the distance that the traffic travels. That leads carriers to game the system — by sending traffic along inefficient routes or pumping up traffic volumes, for instance — in order to manipulate access payments.

The FCC says the current set-up also produces incentives for phone companies to maintain old voice lines that bring in intercarrier compensation payments, instead of investing in new broadband networks. The agency hopes to gradually reduce these payments and use Universal Service funding to help fill the gap for companies that rely on that money.

WikiLeaks' Assange faces extradition hearing in UK (AP)

Posted: 06 Feb 2011 01:58 PM PST

By JILL LAWLESS, Associated Press Jill Lawless, Associated Press – Sun Feb 6, 4:58 pm ET

LONDON – WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and his entourage of lawyers, supporters, protesters and journalists are headed back to a London court for a showdown between the secret-spilling computer hacker and Swedish authorities who want him extradited to face sex crimes allegations.

A two-day hearing that begins Monday will decide Assange's legal fate. It will also keep the spotlight away from WikiLeaks' revelations and on its opinion-dividing frontman.

Assange is accused of sexual misconduct by two women he met during a visit to Stockholm last year. At Belmarsh Magistrates' Court, a high-security judicial outpost beside a prison, defense lawyers will argue that he should not be extradited because he has not been charged with a crime, because of flaws in Swedish prosecutors' case — and because a ticket to Sweden could land him in Guantanamo Bay or on U.S. death row.

American officials are trying to build a criminal case against WikiLeaks, which has angered Washington by publishing a trove of leaked diplomatic cables and secret U.S. military files. Assange's lawyers claim the Swedish prosecution is linked to the leaks and politically motivated.

Preliminary defense arguments released by Assange's legal team claim "there is a real risk that, if extradited to Sweden, the U.S. will seek his extradition and/or illegal rendition to the USA, where there will be a real risk of him being detained at Guantanamo Bay or elsewhere."

The document adds that "there is a real risk that he could be made subject to the death penalty" if sent to the United States. Under European law, suspects cannot be extradited to jurisdictions where they may face execution.

Many legal experts say the Guantanamo claims are fanciful, and Sweden strongly denies coming under American pressure.

Nils Rekke, head of the legal department at the Swedish prosecutor's office in Stockholm, said Assange would be protected from transfer to the U.S. by strict European rules.

"If Assange was handed over to Sweden in accordance with the European Arrest Warrant, Sweden cannot do as Sweden likes after that," he said. "If there were any questions of an extradition approach from the U.S., then Sweden would have to get an approval from the United Kingdom."

Assange's lawyers will also battle extradition on the ground that he has not been charged with a crime in Sweden and is only wanted for questioning.

They argue that "it is a well-established principle of extradition law ... that mere suspicion should not found a request for extradition."

Lawyers for Sweden have yet to disclose their legal arguments.

WikiLeaks sparked an international uproar last year when it published a secret helicopter video showing a U.S. attack that killed two Reuters journalists in Baghdad. It went on to release hundreds of thousands of secret U.S. military files on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and it later began publishing classified U.S. diplomatic cables whose revelations angered and embarrassed the U.S. and its allies.

The furor made Assange, 39, a global celebrity. The nomadic Australian was arrested in London in December after Sweden issued a warrant on rape and molestation accusations.

Released on bail on condition he live — under curfew and electronically tagged — at a supporter's country mansion in eastern England, Assange has managed to conduct multiple media interviews, sign a reported $1.5 million deal for a memoir, and pose for a magazine Christmas photo shoot dressed as Santa Claus.

He drew a large media scrum at a brief court appearance in London last month, where he vowed to step up the leak of a quarter million classified U.S. diplomatic cables.

The full extradition hearing should shed light on the contested events of Assange's trip to Sweden, where WikiLeaks' data are stored on servers at a secure center tunneled into a rocky Stockholm hillside. Two Swedish women say they met Assange when he visited the country and separately had sex with him, initially by consent.

In police documents leaked on the Internet, one of the women told officers she woke up as Assange was having sex with her, but let him continue even though she knew he wasn't wearing a condom. Having sex with a sleeping person can be considered rape in Sweden.

Assange is also accused of sexual molestation and unlawful coercion against the second woman. The leaked documents show she accuses him of deliberately damaging a condom during consensual sex, which he denies.

The picture is more confused by the fact that one Stockholm prosecutor threw out the rape case, before a more senior prosecutor later reinstated it and asked for Assange's extradition from Britain so she could question him.

Assange's lawyers argue that amid the confusion, the European arrest warrant was improperly issued. They allege Assange "has been the victim of a pattern of illegal and/or corrupt behavior by the Swedish prosecuting authorities," who leaked his name to the media, rejected his requests to be interviewed from London, and failed to make the evidence against him available in English.

They also say the accusations against Assange would not constitute a crime in Britain, and complain they have not been given access to text messages and tweets by the two women which allegedly undermine their claims. They say text messages exchanged by the claimants "speak of revenge and of the opportunity to make lots of money."

Whatever happens in court this week, Assange's long legal saga — and his stay in the tranquil Norfolk countryside — is far from over. The extradition hearing is due to end Tuesday, but Judge Howard Riddle is likely to take several weeks to consider his ruling — which can be appealed by either side.

Assange, meanwhile, may be tiring of his nomadic life. On Friday he told a meeting in Melbourne by video link that Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard "should be taking active steps to bring me home."

Anti-Berlusconi hackers block Italy government website (Reuters)

Posted: 06 Feb 2011 12:17 PM PST

– Sun Feb 6, 3:17 pm ET

ROME (Reuters) – The Italian government's website came under attack from computer hackers on Sunday, police said, after opponents of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said they would target the site to protest against curbs to media freedom.

The action was the latest against Berlusconi, who has faced protests since prosecutors opened an investigation last month into wild parties at his Milan villa, accusing him of illegally paying for sex from a prostitute who was under 18.

Access to the website www.governo.it appeared to be blocked briefly during the afternoon, although it was working normally by evening.

The hackers, calling themselves Anonymous Italy, criticized a number of Italian government policies and said they were responding to a cable leaked by anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks from the U.S. embassy in Rome.

In the cable dated a year ago, U.S. diplomats described a new Italian media law as "troubling, as it appears to have been written to give the government enough leeway to block or censor any Internet content."

"The bill also appears to favor PM Berlusconi's Mediaset television service, while disadvantaging Sky, one of its major competitors."

Computer hackers using the name Anonymous have acted in recent weeks on behalf of WikiLeaks, which infuriated the United States by releasing U.S. military and diplomatic documents in the past year.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said in an Italian television interview on Sunday that in coming weeks Wikileaks would publish new, sensitive documents about Italy's government.

A weekend of protests against Berlusconi continued on Sunday when demonstrators gathered outside his villa. Italian television reported that six people suffered slight injuries when marchers tussled with police.

(Writing by Gavin Jones)

Pea's will.i.am says cell service stopped tweets (AP)

Posted: 06 Feb 2011 08:46 PM PST

By JAMIE STENGLE, Associated Press Jamie Stengle, Associated Press – 28 mins ago

ARLINGTON, Texas – The Black Eyed Peas' will.i.am said his attempt to tweet during the band's halftime Super Bowl performance Sunday was thwarted after he discovered his cell phone had no service.

His Twitter handle was silent until after the game, when he sent out a series of tweets beginning with: "Att crashed ... ahhhh!!!! The worse."

An AT&T spokesperson did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press on Sunday night.

He said in an interview after the performance that his favorite moment of the halftime show was when the band took the stage by being lowered from the ceiling.

"We were getting beamed down like we came from another planet," he said.

The band sang hits including the party anthem "I Gotta Feeling," "Pump It" and "Boom Boom Pow." They were also joined on stage for brief appearances by former Guns `N Roses guitarist Slash and Usher.

The Peas' frontman, will.i.am, sent several tweets before the show, including one that said, "My butterflys are flying around like crazy."

After lamenting the cell service during halftime, will.i.am started tweeting again. One message said, "That was so freakin sick ... wow ... !!!"

"I'm feeling like I'm on top of the world," he said after the performance.

"It was fresh man," he said. "It felt like cinematic."

He said performing the show with his fellow band members — Fergie, Taboo and apl.de.ap — was an emotional experience.

"Playing this show just showed what you can do when you believe in a team," will.i.am said.

He also was excited about the Super Bowl commercials because he directed the two TV spots that were shown before and after the live performance. He created and directed the commercials for Chatter.com.

Android Assistant app maximizes your phone's performance (Appolicious)

Posted: 06 Feb 2011 01:46 PM PST

Why Fashion's Top Brands Are Flocking to Tumblr (Mashable)

Posted: 06 Feb 2011 08:58 AM PST

Lauren Indvik Lauren Indvik – Sun Feb 6, 11:58 am ET

First, fashion bloggers came to Tumblr, and now brands are headed there too.

The latest major brand to land on the platform is Kate Spade, which went live at katespadeny.tumblr.com Thursday morning. The brand is already active on Facebook (for fielding, primarily, customer inquiries), Twitter (for talking to fans, and sharing images and content related to the brand's #livecolorfully and #thingswelove campaigns), YouTube (for distributing branded short films), Instagram and Foursquare.

Tumblr, Digital Marketing Manager Cecilia Liu says, is an opportunity for Kate Spate to engage with fans on a more visual level. "People are using and sharing beautiful visuals on Tumblr, posting things they think are inspirational," she observes. "In that vein, it seems like a really great platform for us to get our voice out there, not just as tweets and text, but through images and color, which is the DNA of the brand," she says.

Like the company's Twitter account, the Tumblr blog is already proving to be highly interactive by frequently responding to and reblogging other users' questions and content. The brand plans to ask users to submit posts that align with Kate Spade's #livecolorfully and #thingswelove campaigns in the future, which Liu says they will then share with the brand's Twitter and Tumblr followers.

Tumblr's Appeal

Fashion brands are creating increasing amounts of visually rich, branded content to share via their websites, blogs and social networks like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr. Tumblr provides, among other things, another outlet for distributing that material. And, best of all, the native fashion community on Tumblr is highly receptive to it.

According to Tumblr founder and CEO David Karp, approximately 180 of the top 1,000 Tumblr blogs are fashion-related. And fashion-related Tumblr posts are reblogged on a much greater scale than general Tumblr posts, Tumblr Fashion Director Rich Tong says, suggesting that "there's a huge capacity for fashion content to go viral on Tumblr."

Tong joined the startup in September 2010 to help advance the Tumblr experience for the fashion community, and to bring fashion brands, publications and personalities onto Tumblr. As part of that effort, and to increase awareness of Tumblr among the fashion industry in general, the startup is sending around 20 bloggers to New York Fashion Week next week, and hosting a party for attendees.

Luxury Brands

Other fashion brands are taking a slightly different approach from Kate Spade.

Erika Bearman, director of communications for luxury brand Oscar de la Renta, launched a Tumblr under the same handle she uses for Twitter, @oscarprgirl, in December 2010. Like Kate Spade's marketing team, Bearman uses Tumblr as an extension of Twitter, but with a greater emphasis on images -- mainly vintage photographs of Oscar de la Renta and women wearing his designs -- with the occasional short caption or quotation. For Bearman, the platform is primarily a way to distribute branded content; she does not use Tumblr to interact with fans, reblog others' posts, or, notably, push merchandise.

After all, most Tumblr users can't afford a $5,000 cocktail dress, Tong pointed out, noting that most users in the fashion community are in the 13 to 24 age demographic. The goal of Oscar PR Girl's Tumblr, he said, is to give the community something to aspire to, to make Oscar de la Renta "present and persistent in their minds" so that if and when they can afford a dress or a prized accessory, it's one of Mr. de la Renta's.

Another luxury brand that's established a presence on Tumblr is Alexander McQueen, which is using the platform to get the word out about the relaunch of its younger, more affordable McQ line through a series of photographs and videos.

Mid-Range Retailers

ModCloth, a retro indie e-tailer whose target consumer is the Tumblr fashion set, and Ann Taylor, a brand whose products are marketed to a slightly older clientele, have approached Tumblr in still different ways, but in ways that still resonate with the Tumblr community.

Their Tumblr blogs are more product-focused. ModCloth's Tumblr is simply a collection of other Tumblr bloggers wearing ModCloth clothes, which the e-tailer has reblogged from their respective Tumblrs. Ann Taylor's Tumblr is comprised mainly of styling collages featuring Ann Taylor wares, and contains frequent links to the company's e-commerce site.

Ann Taylor also has two side blogs on Tumblr that are far less commercial, and more experimental: one, On Tumblr, produced in collaboration with BlackBook, curates posts from across the Tumblr's creative communities for its followers. The other, called "The Smartest Thing She's Ever Said," ran for 12 weeks beginning in mid-August, and featured sponsored content created by artists and writers under that theme. At the end of the campaign, Ann Taylor gave away the theme it created to all of its followers.

Both blogs allow Ann Taylor to reach users who wouldn't necessarily go out of their way to subscribe to Ann Taylor's blog, but are still involved in many of the things Ann Taylor celebrates as a brand.

"We wanted to be blogging because we knew it was relevant; that's what smart, stylish woman do these days: they blog or read blogs," Julie Frederickson, Ann Taylor's social media manager, says of the latter project. "We wanted to get our voice out there in a way that wasn't contrived, that was as natural and beautiful as we are as a brand. Tumblr has been good for telling the holistic story of who Ann Taylor is," she says.

Looking Ahead

Several major brands and retailers I've spoken to in recent weeks are planning to launch Tumblr blogs in the near future. It will be a space to watch as fashion brands look for new outlets and communities to share their branded content beyond more established platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.

10 Online Resources for Free, Legal Music (Mashable)

Posted: 06 Feb 2011 10:10 AM PST

Brenna Ehrlich Brenna Ehrlich – Sun Feb 6, 1:10 pm ET

Free stuff. Those two words are enough to make one kick up one's proverbial heels and dance out of pure, plasma-searing joy. And when that free stuff comes in the form of tunes, well, then the dancing becomes quite literal.

While we know no one in our illustrious readership would ever steal music (nay! death before thieving the whiskey and cereal from the gaping maws of those starving musicians!), we understand that sometimes one just doesn't have the capital to load up on songs on a daily basis.

That's why we've gathered 10 resources for scoring tunes online for merely a song.

1). MySpoonful

San Francisco-based startup MySpoonful just launched recently, touting itself as "Daily Candy for Indie Music." Three times a week, the startup chooses a new artist, writes up a bio for the band in question and sends users a free MP3 for download.

It's like having that dude at the record store who always knows about the newest freak folk band in your mailbox -- without all the "I can't believe you've never heard of these guys!" finger-wagging.

2). RCRD LBL

RCRD LBL aims to be the modern version of MTV's 120 Minutes, a show that specialized in new, alternative music.

It's a curated site that launched as a joint venture between Downtown Music LLC (Gnarls Barkley, Cold War Kids, Santigold), and Peter Rojas (Engadget, Gizmodo, Weblogs, Inc.), featuring music that the editors think is catching on/will be catching on soon.

The editorial team curates between five to seven MP3s daily, and users can get jams sent to their inboxes via a daily newsletter as well. Unlike sites such as Pitchfork, which condemn or commend new tunes, RCRD LBL only shares music that the staff likes. We can't guarantee all these tunes will be to your tastes, but considering the site was an early adopter of the likes of Kid Cudi and Passion Pit, we think signing to this label seems prudent.

3). Insound

Do you enjoy the smooth, plasticine feeling of vinyl in your mits? Well, online record (yes, real records) store InSound has you covered when it comes to that -- and the less tangible MP3 as well.

Every month, InSound sends out a downloadable, digital mixtape packed with artists both known and up-and-coming -- each one has between 10 and 20 songs. The store has also just started sending out a vinyl newsletter mixtape, which features tracks from new vinyl releases (this comes out every other Thursday). The site also has a dedicated free MP3 section.

Think of Insound's fare as your own, personal listening booth -- that you can take with you.

4). The Downplayer

The Internet is crawling with free MP3s -- however, unless you're a musician in between tours without anything to do all day -- it can be hard to track them down. Well, let The Downplayer be that idle band member for you.

The Downplayer is a website that is updated daily (sans weekends and holidays) with 10 new MP3s per day. Add it to your bookmarks and reap the benefits of new jams every dreary day of the work week.

5). Free Music Archive

You know that friend who always knows what's going down in the reggae scene -- and only the reggae scene? It's cool that he's so into reggae -- if not a tad hilarious, considering he's from Mount Carroll, Illinois -- and he always has good recommendations when it comes to that space, but he's not good for much else.

Well, imagine having a ton of musically inclined friends with a wide array of eclectic tastes, all down to make you a mixtape. That's kind of what's it's like visiting the Free Music Archive. The Archive is populated by an array of Curators -- indie radio stations, venues, art organizations, record labels etc -- who all contribute content like original recordings (some of which they have produced), jams from Creative Commons and more.

So if you're really itching to hear song tunes from Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum or a live performance by Suuns -- or even some reggae -- the FMA is for you.

6). mFlow

mFlow, by its own description, is "Twitter meets iTunes," in that it allows users to both share and buy music. In essence, it's a music discovery service/social network.

Create a free account on mFlow, connect it to your social networks, and start searching for music. When you find something you like, you can "Flow" it (share it to your social networks) -- and the first 10 songs you Flow you can download for free. You can also buy tracks.

The coolest part of this service, however, is the rewards you can reap for flowing/recommending jams. If a friend buys a song you share, you get credit for future purchases. In short: Sometimes it pays to be an overbearing music snob.

Sadly, the site is not fully available in the U.S. yet — you can still listen to Flows and download your 10 free tracks, but you can't buy music. mFlow, however, has plans to become fully available in the U.S. toward the end of 2011.

7). Disrupt.fm

Disrupt.fm is based on the premise that pirating music is a common occurrence -- one that yields no benefit for musicians when it comes to publicity. To solve that quandary, Disupt.fm has come up with an alternative method of free music sharing.

Basically, artists can upload their music to Disrupt.fm, which users can then download for free. However, that song doesn't just end up in the black void of a user's iTunes library -- since one is prompted to connect to Disrupt.fm via Facebook, the song is also automatically shared to the user's Facebook wall, where it can be listened to as a stream by friends.

8). SoundCloud

A frontrunner (in my opinion) in the race to replace MySpace, SoundCloud is a site where bands can share music and interact with fans. Although not all music on the site is free -- some is merely streaming -- bands often offer singles for download.

You can also follow your favorite bands and keep up with their doings via your Dashboard, and join groups dedicated to various kinds of jams. This is a much more active experience than some of the previous services, but diehard fans and those looking to discover new bands should definitely considering deferring to SoundCloud when MySpace goes up on the block.

9). OverClocked Remix

Do you dig the stylings of such bands as Anamanaguchi (they scored Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game)? Well, then, you'll love OverClocked Remix, a site dedicated to pumping out free remixes of video game music themes.

From The Goonies to Donkey Kong, artists pay tribute to game music, submit their jams, and the site releases those songs to the general public, free of charge.

Finally, something to listen to whilst playing Grand Theft Auto -- besides the radio.

10). Ex.fm

Love the free MP3s available on music blogs, but too lazy to actually read said music blogs (or maybe you can't read, either/or)? Well, there's always Ex.fm, a chrome plugin that allows you to scrape MP3s from music blogs and create playlists from that sweet, sweet residue. Just surf from blog to blog to capture the embedded tunes.

It's important to note that the service does not actually download the MP3s it gathers -- you can only stream them online. Still, it does provide a handy playlist of available songs on any given blog (not all are downloadable, however -- some are just for streaming purposes) that you can then go in and nab.

Bonus

Sometimes, bands choose to bestow upon us -- Saint Nick-like -- free downloads of their various and sundry jams. Girl Talk released his most recent disc, All Day, for free, and Trent Reznor released a preview of his The Social Network soundtrack sans fees as well.

Rock band Everest recently decided to give away music in a rather interesting way -- as series of 20 or so downloadable MP3s of concerts called "The Bootleg Series."

Jason Soda, guitarist and keyboardist for Everest, says, "For so many years people were always trying to find our music for free -- illegally. [But we realized] the music industry is in such a weird state that you're lucky that you can get people to listen to your music."

Fans apparently appreciate the band's willingness to share their music online -- especially shows that the fans themselves have attended. "People go crazy, they want to be a part of something," Soda says. "It's like a makeout session with a thousand people."

Image courtesy of Flickr/Sean Rogers/Charlie White

More Social Music Resources from Mashable:

- How To Make Your Music Video Go Viral: 10 Tips From Cee-Lo, OK Go & More
- 4 Ways Bands Can Cash in Online Without a Label
- Top 10 Twitter Tips for Bands, By Bands
- 5 Great Ways to Find Music That Suits Your Mood
- 5 Free Ways to Identify that Song Stuck in Your Head

Egypt move revives US 'kill switch' debate (AFP)

Posted: 06 Feb 2011 12:45 AM PST

by Chris Lefkow Chris Lefkow – Sun Feb 6, 3:45 am ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Egypt's five-day shutdown of the Internet has revived debate in the United States over how much authority the president should have over the Web in the event of a crisis.

Some opponents of cybersecurity legislation wending its way through the US Congress have condemned the bill as a danger to free speech and civil liberties that would equip the White House with an Internet "kill switch."

Supporters deny it would confer any such power on the president.

As Hosni Mubarak cut his 80 million people off from the Web, the US senators behind the legislation denounced the move by the Egyptian president as "totally wrong" and leapt to the defense of their bill.

"(Mubarak's) actions were clearly designed to limit internal criticisms of his government," said Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine, and Tom Carper, a Democrat from Delaware.

"Our cybersecurity legislation is intended to protect the US from external cyberattacks," Lieberman, chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Collins and Carper said in a joint statement.

"We would never sign on to legislation that authorized the president, or anyone else, to shut down the Internet," they said. "Emergency or no, the exercise of such broad authority would be an affront to our Constitution."

At the same time, the senators continued, "our current laws do give us reason to be concerned" and their bill, which has yet to reach the Senate floor, was designed to replace "broad and ambiguous" presidential authority with "precise and targeted" powers to be used only in a national emergency.

In June, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, American Civil Liberties Union and some two dozen other privacy, civil liberties and civil rights groups wrote a letter to Lieberman, Collins and Carper to express concern about the bill.

"Changes are needed to ensure that cybersecurity measures do not unnecessarily infringe on free speech, privacy, and other civil liberties interests," they said.

"The Internet is vital to free speech and free inquiry, and Americans rely on it every day to access and to convey information," the groups said. "It is imperative that cybersecurity legislation not erode our rights."

Taking note of the concerns, Lieberman, Collins and Carper said "we will ensure that any legislation that moves in this Congress contains explicit language prohibiting the president from doing what President Mubarak did."

"Our bill already contains protections to prevent the president from denying Americans access to the Internet -- even as it provides ample authority to ensure that those most critical services that rely on the Internet are protected," they said.

Cindy Cohn, the EFF's legal director and general counsel, said the latest version of the cybersecurity legislation was an improvement on its "draconian predecessors" but remained wary.

"The Egyptian regime's shutdown of the Internet in an attempt to preserve its political power highlights the dangers of any government having unchecked power over our Internet infrastructure," Cohn said in a blog post.

"The lesson of Egypt is that no one, not even the President of the United States, should be given the power to turn off the Internet.

"(Egypt's move) puts a fine point on the risks to democracy posed by recent Congressional proposals to give the president a broad mandate to dictate how our Internet service providers respond to cyber-emergencies," she said.

"Any proposal to give the president the ability to interfere with Internet access of Americans -- whether to address cyberattacks or for any other reason -- must be tightly circumscribed," she said.

"It must be limited to situations where there are serious and demonstrable external security threats and must be strongly checked by both Congressional and court review."

James Lewis, a cybersecurity expert at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the cybersecurity bill sets the threshold for invoking the presidential powers "very, very high."

"It's not some arbitrary power to turn off the Internet," Lewis told AFP. "It's an authority consistent with other wartime authorities to act in an emergency.

"It's not an Internet kill switch," he said. "That's just insane. How do you kill a globally distributed network with millions of devices?

"The answer is you don't," Lewis continued. "But you can think about isolating certain domains or certain enterprises.

"Say a big power company gets infected," Lewis said. "You say to them 'Disconnect yourself before you infect other power companies.' It's like an avian flu quarantine for the Internet.

"It's not like Egypt where the dictator wakes up in a bad mood and does it," he said. "It would be a legitimate process. It would have to be the threshold of an act of war or a major terrorist event."

It's Not 1984 Anymore: Motorola Xoom Commercial [VIDEO] (Mashable)

Posted: 06 Feb 2011 11:51 AM PST

Charlie White Charlie White – Sun Feb 6, 2:51 pm ET

Here's one of the best spots of the Super Bowl this year, created for the Motorola Xoom tablet.

Notice the not-so-subtle reference to that historic 1984 spot by Apple, except this time, Motorola is the one throwing the hammer. Except for that lucky Motorola Xoom owner, everyone else is dressed in white, moping around like expressionless sheep.

With a quick look at the multitouch capability of the Motorola Xoom, we get a quick hint of its graphics power. But the message here is that the Motorola Xoom is a transcendent product, powerful enough to make people take out their white Apple earbuds and learn to live again.

True? Maybe. Skillful piece of propaganda? Definitely.

Your opinion? Please discuss in the comments.

Flood of new iPhone buyers coming says uSamp survey (Appolicious)

Posted: 06 Feb 2011 09:02 AM PST

Expo Notes: A last look at the Mobile Apps Showcase (Macworld)

Posted: 06 Feb 2011 09:36 AM PST

Philip Michaels, Lex Friedman Philip Michaels, Lex Friedman – Sun Feb 6, 12:36 pm ET

Since Apple opened up the iOS platform to third-party developers in 2008, the ensuing Macworld Expos have become a showcase for mobile app makers. Last month's Macworld 2011 was no exception—we counted around 60 exhibitors crammed into the Mobile Apps Showcase on the Moscone West showfloor, each trying to garner attention for their goods and services.

We profiled many of the apps and app makers during Expo week, but that doesn't mean there weren't a few more apps that deserve your attention. Before we file away our Expo notebooks for another year, here's another look at some apps that made news at this year's trade show.

Peterson Birds takes flight

Expo served as the first public showing for Peterson Birds of North America, a $30 universal bird guide that arrived on the App Store in December. The app takes the illustrations and writings of naturalist Roger Troy Peterson and combines them with content from multiple Peterson Field Guide books to create a comprehensive tool for identifying and chronicling the birds you spot.

The app's approach is to display bird species by family, showing similar birds on a single screen. Illustrations using the Peterson Identification System—arrows that point to field markings—help users tell the difference between similar birds. You can also compare bird songs and range maps to pinpoint the differences between a Bullock's oriole and a spot-breasted oriole. The app offers a number of ways to log what birds you've seen and where and you've spotted them, including multiple kinds of checklists.

During a demo of the iPad version on the Expo showfloor, I was struck by one feature in particular that helps Peterson Birds users identify what they̢۪re looking at. When playing the song of a particular bird, the app will sharpen the focus of that bird; the other birds on the screen fade into the background, making it easier to focus on the task at hand.

The app looks gorgeous on the iPad, but Appweavers president Nigel Hall concedes that the iPhone version needs a little work, as the focus with the 1.0 release was placed on the iPad implementation. Fortunately, Appweavers plans an update for the app this month that should improve the interface on the iPhone version of the app. In addition, the update will give users the ability to add photos of birds they've taken and stored on their iOS device's camera roll to the appropriate entry in Peterson Birds of North America.—Philip Michaels

Pointer apps monitor snoring, babies

Pointer Software took to the Macworld 2011 showfloor to help attendees sleep better. The company demoed Snoring U, an app released last year that listens while you sleep and tries to "nudge" you back into silence if you start cutting noisy Z's.

When the app detects snores—and it uses technology to avoid getting confused by coughs or other non-cyclical, rhythmic sounds—it can vibrate and/or sound an alert of your choosing. New in the app is the ability to record your sleep sounds all night long, which you can then listen to. (This feature isn't advertised as combatting insomnia, but you never know.)

Pointer also showed off a newer app called Baby M. Using the same technology as Snoring U, Baby M plays a lullaby when it detects your baby crying. It does not change diapers.

Baby M is free for a limited time; Snoring U costs $6. Each is universal and requires iOS 3.0 or later.—Lex Friedman

Putting Writepad to work

Nothing helps emphasize an app's utility like having someone on hand to explain how they use it on a daily basis. App maker PhatWare couldn't have have asked for a better spokesperson for its WritePad app than 16-year-old Fallon Jones. The teenager from Washington state was on hand at Expo last week to show how the mobile handwriting recognition app helps her write novels.

That's right—the 16-year-old is a novelist, having already published her first book, finished writing her second, and just started working on her third. And the iPad version of WritePad plays an important part in her writing process.

Jones can use WritePad's handwriting recognition capabilities to write out chapters with the touch of a finger. She uses the app's customization tools to pick different themes and colors for settings—one color for chapters set at night, for example, and another for interior scenes. She finds the iPad a lot lighter to carry around the notebook. "And I don't have to worry about losing my iPad because I can back up everything to Dropbox," she added.

Whether in its iPad or iPhone forms, WritePad requires some use before you get comfortable with its handwriting recognition tools and gesture-based commands—about five hours worth, developer Stan Miasnikov told me at Expo. But WritePad offers users an extensive array of tools—a shorthand feature that fills in frequently used words or phrases, a built-in spell checker, the ability to print and export documents to PDFs, and more. The same handwriting recognition technology in WritePad also appears in PhatPad, PhatWare's $8 brainstorming and collaboration tool which the company also showed off on the Expo showfloor.—PM

iStudiez Pro to jump from iOS to Mac

I don't miss school too much—I'm happy to have long ago left behind the homework, the cliques, and the math. But were I still a student, I'd go gaga for iStudiez Pro. It's a $3 universal iOS app focused on helping students organize their studies.

It's a calendar (with iCal integration), a to-do list manager, a grade organizer, a teacher organizer, and more, and it's beautifully designed. And at Macworld 2011, the team behind the app previewed a forthcoming desktop version of the app, coming soon to a Mac App Store near you.

The desktop and iOS versions of iStudiez Pro sync wirelessly via the cloud so that each version is always up to date. Pricing for the desktop edition hasn't edition hasn't been settled upon yet, but the company suggests it will land in the $10 range.—LF

Dorling Kindersley to add more iPhone travel guides

Publisher Dorling Kindersley has already brought five of its Top 10 guidebooks to the iPhone and iPod touch. In March, that figure will double.

The DK Top 10 apps—currently available for $5 each for Barcelona, London, New York, Paris, and Rome—are mobile versions of the company's list-based city guides. DK's apps give you an overview of things to say and do, where to eat, stay, and shop, and other lists to help you plan out a trip. The apps come preloaded with city maps, saving users from having to download data when they're traveling.

Dorling Kindersley plans to add guides for five more cities. Look for those iPhone and iPod touch offerings to appear in the App Store in March.

iPad users have Dorling Kindersley apps of their own to aid in their travels. The company publishes three iPad-optimized DK Eyewitness guides for London, New York, and Paris. In addition to hotel, shopping, eating, and entertainment data, the $17 apps include offline maps and 3D cutaways of notable buildings and points of interests that you can tap and zoom for a closer look. (The London version of DK Eyewitness is on sale for $8 as of this writing.)—PM

Vector maps coming to City Maps 2Go

With its universal City Maps 2Go app, Ulmon Solutions wants to help iOS device owners find their way around cities across the globe. And with the upcoming 3.0 update, Ulmon wants those maps to provide greater detail.

At Expo, Ulmon was previewing version 3.0 of City Maps 2Go. The app, which is optimized for the iPad as well as the iPhone and iPod touch, provides offline access to around 2600 maps. Users launch the app and download any map they want for storage on their iOS device. That lets City Maps 2Go users consult their mobile maps without racking up roaming charges for downloading data in a strange city.

The 3.0 update, due in a few weeks, introduces a new vector maps feature. Ulmon says the new map engine technology renders maps directly on your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad, adding more zoom levels and shrinking the size of the files. An old 30MB map of San Francisco, for example, takes up just 4MB thanks to vector mapping. The effect on an iPhone 4 or a fourth-generation iPod touch with a Retina display is quite striking as well.

Ulmon is looking to attract new users to the coming update by cutting the price on the current version of City Maps 2Go (making the 3.0 update free). Normally $2, version 2.0 of the app is selling for $1 as of this writing.—PM

Hackers attack Italian government site: ANSA (AFP)

Posted: 06 Feb 2011 11:23 AM PST

– Sun Feb 6, 2:23 pm ET

ROME (AFP) – Software hacker group "Anonymous" launched attacks Sunday against the Italian government's website citing political grievances, ANSA news agency reported.

"Anonymous" announced its distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) assaults earlier in the day, saying they were launched because "the political and economic situation in Italy has become unstable."

The website (www.governo.it) did not immediately appear to be blocked.

DDoS attacks are efforts to overload websites with so many simultaneous requests that computer servers can't handle the load and freeze or crash.

Police had alerted the site and its manager of the potential attack ahead of time, allowing them to put counter measures in place.

A loose-knit group of online global hackers, "Anonymous" previously attacked government websites in Egypt and Tunisia, both roiled by anti-government protests, among other sites.

Last Thursday, it apparently zeroed in on Yemen, where the website of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, presidentsaleh.gov.ye, was inaccessible following calls by "Anonymous" members to attack it.

In December, the group also claimed attacks on the websites of Visa and Mastercard among others, in revenge for their stances regarding whistleblowing website WikiLeaks.

In its announcement on Italy, the group skewered the judiciary system and government, which it said was "implicated in prostitution, including minors," in apparent reference to a sex scandal dogging Italy's prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.
at 9:37 PM

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