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Saturday, April 16, 2011

Iran: Computer worm could have caused huge damage (AP) : Technet

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Iran: Computer worm could have caused huge damage (AP) : Technet

Iran: Computer worm could have caused huge damage (AP)

Posted: 16 Apr 2011 12:54 PM PDT

By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Ali Akbar Dareini, Associated Press – Sat Apr 16, 3:54 pm ET

TEHRAN, Iran – A senior Iranian military official involved in investigating a mysterious computer worm targeting Iranian nuclear facilities and other industrial sites said Saturday the malware could have caused large-scale accidents and loss of life.

It first emerged in September that Iran was battling a powerful computer worm known as Stuxnet, which has the ability to send centrifuges — used in nuclear fuel production — spinning out of control. Its appearance and the suspicion that Israel and the U.S. might have been involved raised the prospect of covert attempts to thwart a nuclear program that the West fears is aimed at weapons production.

Iran has acknowledged the code infected laptops belonging to employees at its first nuclear power plant, whose launch has been repeated delayed. It is also believed to have temporarily crippled Iran's uranium enrichment program last year.

On Saturday, Gholam Reza Jalali, head of a military unit in charge of combatting sabotage, said Iranian experts have determined that the United States and Israel were behind Stuxnet, which can take over the control systems of industrial sites like power plants.

Jalali said disastrous accidents and loss of life were averted by Iranian experts fighting the computer code. He gave no specific examples.

In recent months, Iranian state media have reported dozens of explosions at industrial sites, particularly oil and petrochemical facilities, that have killed at least 10 people. But there were no official explanations for the blasts.

"Enemies have attacked industrial infrastructure and undermined industrial production through cyber attacks. This was a hostile action against our country," the official IRNA news agency quoted Jalali as saying. "If it had not been confronted on time, much material damage and human loss could have been inflicted."

Jalali heads a military unit called Passive Defense that primarily deals with countering sabotage. The unit was set up on an order from Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Jalali said Iranian experts have traced the Stuxnet virus back to the U.S. state of Texas and Israel, IRNA reported. Western experts say only a number of powerful countries could have developed Stuxnet.

Jalali also blamed the German engineering conglomerate Siemens, whose equipment and software is used at the Bushehr nuclear power plant, where technical issues have halted its planned startup.

"Siemens should explain why and how it provided the enemies with the codes of the SCADA software and paved the way for a cyber attack against us," IRNA quoted him as saying.

Iran has acknowledged Stuxnet affected a limited number of centrifuges at its main uranium enrichment facility in Natanz, central Iran, but has said its scientists discovered and neutralized the malware before it could cause serious damage.

The Natanz enrichment plant is of key concern to those nations who fear Iran is intent on weapons production because the technology can produce either fuel for power plants or material for bombs.

Iran insists its nuclear work is entirely peaceful.

Iran has confirmed that Stuxnet was found on several laptops belonging to employees at the Russian-built Bushehr power plant but has said it didn't affect the facility's control systems. Western intelligence reports have suggested that Stuxnet has infected the control systems there.

Bushehr is not a proliferation concern because of international safeguards on its spent fuel. But Iran has celebrated the plant extensively as a major technological achievement and a sign of its determination to master all aspects of nuclear technology.

Zuckerberg at Ore. Facebook data center (AP)

Posted: 15 Apr 2011 11:45 PM PDT

– Sat Apr 16, 2:45 am ET

PRINEVILLE, Ore. – Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg made a surprise appearance Friday night in Prineville, Ore., at a community party for the grand opening of his company's new data center.

He told a crowd of about 300 people that building the data center "is a massive step up for us from the leased space that we've been operating out of before."

KTVZ says other Facebook officials joined state and local leaders earlier in the day for the official opening.

Facebook says the custom-built data center uses 38 percent less energy to do the same work as the company's existing facilities.

Servers inside data centers are the backbone of Internet services such as Facebook. They store and transmit billions of status updates, links and photos used by the social networking site's members.

U.S. Government Shuts Down 3 Biggest Online Gambling Sites [POLL] (Mashable)

Posted: 16 Apr 2011 10:21 AM PDT

Charlie White Charlie White – Sat Apr 16, 1:21 pm ET

Gambling online just got significantly less convenient Friday when the U.S. Government shut down the three largest Internet gambling sites operating in the United States. Now it's time for a precedent-setting showdown, where courts will determine if this kind of gambling is legal or not.

Federal prosecutors accused the three founders of the gambling sites and eight others with illegal gambling, bank fraud and money laundering, according to the Financial Times [paywall].

The government also filed a $3 billion civil suit to recover profits from the operations, the Financial Times reported. Gambling sites Full Tilt Poker (Update: which responded to the allegations here), PokerStars and Absolute Poker allegedly disguised billions of dollars of gambling payments as online store purchases of items such as golf balls, jewelry and flowers, according to the Wall Street Journal.

If you're in the U.S., when you point your browser to any of those three gambling sites, you see a scary thing: The U.S. government has seized the domain names of the three sites, preventing gambling transactions and anything else:

The indictment says many of the banks that processed payments for these gambling companies were unaware they were handling gambling funds, which is against a 2006 law prohibiting gambling operations from accepting payments in the United States. In addition, it says the three gambling companies found smaller, financially ailing banks to bribe, making investments in those banks that were willing to look the other way when processing gambling funds.

The problem gets a bit dicey when you realize that these three online gambling organizations are not based in the U.S. For instance, PokerStars headquarters is on the Isle of Man, a self-governed British Crown Dependency located in the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Ireland. One of our readers sent a picture of its headquarters to us today:

Will the Isle of Man or other countries where these gambling organizations are based comply with U.S. extradition requests? So far, that's unknown.

There's disagreement about whether online gambling is even a crime or not. Of course, the gambling organizations don't think it should be. For example, former Senator Alphonse D'Amato of New York, who is now the chairman of a gambling group that calls itself the Poker Player's Alliance, told The New York Times, "We are shocked at the action. Online poker is not a crime and should not be treated as such."

Should the government be prosecuting online gambling sites? What do you think?


Graphic courtesy Flickr/JohnSeb

11 charged in US crackdown on online poker (AFP)

Posted: 16 Apr 2011 11:13 AM PDT

by Chris Lefkow Chris Lefkow – Sat Apr 16, 2:13 pm ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Eleven people have been charged with bank fraud, money laundering, illegal gambling and other offenses in a crackdown on the three largest online poker companies operating in the United States.

The founders of the companies -- PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker -- were among those charged in the indictment unsealed Friday by the US attorney for the southern district of New York.

In addition to the charges, restraining orders were issued against 76 bank accounts in 14 countries used by the poker firms, which are all based outside of the United States, along with their payment processors.

Five Internet domain names used by the companies to host their games were also seized by the authorities, who filed a complaint seeking $3 billion in money laundering penalties and forfeiture from the poker companies.

The poker companies' websites were stamped with the official seals of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Justice, as well as a message stating "this domain name has been seized by the FBI."

"These defendants concocted an elaborate criminal fraud scheme, alternately tricking some US banks and effectively bribing others to assure the continued flow of billions in illegal gambling profits," said US Attorney Preet Bharara.

"Foreign firms that choose to operate in the United States are not free to flout the laws they don't like simply because they can't bear to be parted from their profits."

Janice Fedarcyk, assistant director of the FBI's New York field office, said the defendants, "knowing full well that their business with US customers and US banks was illegal, tried to stack the deck.

"They lied to banks about the true nature of their business," Fedarcyk said. "The defendants bet the house that they could continue their scheme, and they lost."

While Internet gambling has been illegal in the United States since 2006, online poker remains a multi-billion-dollar industry with companies using a variety of ways to flout the law, including locating their operations offshore.

According to the indictment, the companies arranged for money received from US gamblers to be disguised as payments to non-existent websites purporting to sell merchandise such as jewelry and golf balls.

The indictment said the poker companies tricked US banks into processing billions of dollars, but some banks were conspirators in the scheme to bypass US laws that make it illegal to handle gambling proceeds.

Among those arrested was John Campos, the part owner of SunFirst Bank, a small private bank in Saint George, Utah.

Campos, 57, allegedly agreed to process gambling transactions in return for a $10 million investment in SunFirst and a $20,000 payment for his assistance.

Three of the 11 charged are under arrest in the United States but eight of them are abroad and US authorities are seeking the assistance of Interpol and foreign law enforcement to apprehend them.

Three of the defendants are Canadians. One of them, Isai Scheinberg, 64, the founder of PokerStars, has dual Israeli-Canadian citizenship and lives on the Isle of Man.

All of the others are US citizens. Most of them live outside the United States -- in Costa Rica, Ireland and the Isle of Man.

If convicted, the defendants can face up to five years in prison for illegal Internet gambling, 20 years for money laundering and 30 years for bank and wire fraud.

US law prohibits US financial institutions from knowingly accepting payments for online gambling made through credit cards, electronic funds transfers and checks.

The US ban on Internet gambling has been challenged as an unfair trade restriction at the World Trade Organization and some lawmakers are seeking to have online gambling legalized.

Russia looks abroad for web laws, including to China (Reuters)

Posted: 16 Apr 2011 09:09 AM PDT

By Maria Tsvetkova and Gleb Bryanski Maria Tsvetkova And Gleb Bryanski – Sat Apr 16, 12:09 pm ET

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia is looking to the experience of other countries, including China, to "regulate" Internet use, though Moscow has no plans to broaden web censorship, a government spokesman said on Saturday.

Weeks after hacker attacks temporarily closed down the country's most popular blog site, a state tender calling for research into "foreign experience in regulating" the Internet has revived fears that authorities plan to clamp down on Internet freedoms ahead of 2012 presidential elections.

Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, said the tender was in no way an indication that Moscow wanted insight into Internet censorship.

"It is enough to look at those resources that exist in the Russian Internet to see that there is no censorship there," he said. Peskov said researchers would study best practices in Internet regulation of other countries, including China.

In a country where much media is state-run, the Internet is one of the last bastions of free speech. Russian bloggers freely criticize authorities, often scathingly, question high-level corruption and swap information.

After Russia's main security service said earlier this month that uncontrolled use of Skype and Gmail was a "security threat," Internet users feared that "regulation" may lead to tightening of freedoms on the Web.

"They're trying in their own way, of course boneheadedly, to tighten the screws," an Internet user under the name alekc75 wrote about the government tender on a popular blog.

Security analysts say cyber attacks this month on blogging site Live Journal could be a test drive for closing down web sites, in particular social networking sites, in case of demonstrations ahead of next year's presidential elections.

The Internet has played a crucial role in the unrest that has rocked Northern Africa and the Middle East, prompting some governments to shut it down.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal in February, Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin said Google was responsible for uprisings that helped unseat Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak.

Ilya Ponomaryov, a member of Parliament and the Duma information committee, said Russia was in a very early stage in developing Internet regulation.

"Our Internet regulation is currently the most liberal in the world because we have none," Ponomaryov told Reuters. He said parliament was now working on amending a series of laws to take into account the rapidly developing Internet.

The Live Journal site was brought down by a denial of service attack -- a tried and tested method of disrupting websites by flooding their servers with requests.

Chechen separatists and the Georgian and Estonian governments have been high-profile victims of similar attacks in the past. Supporters of WikiLeaks also used this method to attack organisations that blocked support for WikiLeaks.

(Writing and additional reporting by Thomas Grove; Editing by Peter Graff)

UAE to limit some BlackBerry services, paper says (Reuters)

Posted: 16 Apr 2011 02:05 PM PDT

– Sat Apr 16, 5:05 pm ET

DUBAI (Reuters) – The United Arab Emirates will stop individuals and small businesses accessing the most private data services offered by BlackBerry, a UAE newspaper said, but the government said no services would be disrupted to any subscribers.

Only businesses with 20 or more subscriptions will be allowed to use high security accounts on the BlackBerry Enterprise Server, which allows for services such as highly secure corporate email, The National newspaper reported on Saturday.

The move comes months after the UAE dropped a threat to suspend BlackBerry services after resolving a dispute over access with Canada's Research In Motion.

It also coincides with efforts by Arab states to stem rolling pro-democracy revolts, largely organized on social media, that have hit all but two Gulf states, the UAE and Qatar.

Citing a ruling by the UAE's telecoms regulator, The National said that small businesses would still be able to use the BlackBerry Internet Service, which does not rely on private servers, as well as encrypted messaging.

UAE officials had no immediate comment but the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority said on its website that BlackBerry services including messenger, email and internet browsing would continue without disruption to all customers.

It said it would clarify "any confusion" in the coming week, but gave no further details. The paper said the ruling would come into effect on May 1.

RIM, which encrypts email messages as they travel between a BlackBerry device and a computer known as BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES), said it had been in contact with the regulator which told it the rules were not specific to BlackBerry.

"The TRA has confirmed to RIM that any potential policy regarding enterprise services in the UAE would be an industry-wide policy applying equally to all enterprise solution providers and with the intent of avoiding any impact on legitimate enterprise customers," it said.

Last year, the UAE threatened to suspend BlackBerry Messenger, email and web browser services unless RIM worked out a way to locate its encrypted computer servers in the country so the state could get access to email and other data -- the same access it says the United States, Russia and other states have.

The UAE, which like many Gulf states has little tolerance for dissent, had voiced concerns over its inability to access information legally, citing security and sovereignty issues.

But it resolved its dispute with Canada's RIM days ahead of an October 11 deadline. The UAE gave no details of what RIM had agreed beyond stating that BlackBerry services had become compliant with UAE telecoms regulations.

That dispute and others in the region highlighted growing nervousness at the time over regional security threats, ranging al Qaeda militancy to worries over Iran's nuclear work.

(Additional reporting by Alastair Sharp in Toronto; Writing by Cynthia Johnston; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

Slim's cellphone subsidiary hit with $1B fine (AP)

Posted: 16 Apr 2011 11:46 AM PDT

nc-kac/kfk Nc-kac/kfk – Sat Apr 16, 2:46 pm ET

MEXICO CITY – Mexico's anti-trust commission has hit billionaire Carlos Slim's cellphone subsidiary with a 12 billion peso ($1 billion) fine, parent company America Movil announced.

The Federal Competition Commission said the cellphone subsidiary, Telcel, engaged in monopolistic practices associated with call terminations, America Movil said in a filing with the Mexican stock exchange late Friday.

The company said it is studying the fine and all options for appeal.

America Movil is the largest provider of wireless service in Latin America with 225 million subscribers. Its 2009 revenue totaled $30 billion.

Named the richest man in the world by Fortune Magazine, Slim is estimated to be worth $74 billion. His companies have come under various allegations of monopolistic practices in the past.

Top 10 Twitter Trends This Week [CHART] (Mashable)

Posted: 16 Apr 2011 03:31 AM PDT

Matt Silverman Matt Silverman – Sat Apr 16, 6:31 am ET

Do you remember the world before it was culturally acceptable to set days of the week to music? 'Twas a simpler time, when pop stars were made of swoopy hair and winky dance moves, and a young Canadian prince ruled the Twitterverse with adolescent smarm.

Well friends, we're happy to report that the king has returned. Thanks to some hubbub on his world tour and an outcry from Latin American fans, His Biebness has reclaimed the throne as this week's number one trending topic on Twitter.

We found the aggregate of Bieber-related topics most encouraging. Read a sampling, won't you?

  • #beforewehadjustin
  • #cheerupjustin
  • #papsleavebiebsalone
  • VenezuelaAsksToSeeNSN3D
  • #thankyoujustin
  • LatinAmericaLOVEDNSN3D
  • #BiebsTweetFans
  • VenezuelaNeedsNSN3D
  • #staystrongbiebs
    •
Stay strong Biebs, indeed.

In fact, music won the week, as far as Twitter is concerned. A duet performed by Rihanna and Britney Spears sent the singers' names to the number two spot, and a meme about people's ultimate fantasy concert mashups hit number three. Beyond that, sports were big, with soccer making its usual appearance, and Major League Baseball creeping into the chart as the season gets into full swing. (See what I did there? No, you shut up.)

To see the full list, check out the chart below. Because this is a topical list, hashtag memes and games have been omitted from the chart. The aggregate is based on Twitter's own trending algorithm, and does not necessarily reflect raw tweet volume.

You can check past Twitter trends in our Top Twitter Topics section.

Top Twitter Trends This Week: 4/8 - 4/14

Rank
Topic
Intensity
Description
#1
Justin
Bieber
3
 Justin Bieber fans from around the world are tweeting encouragement after Bieber complained about being harassed by paparazzis while in Israel. Also, fans in Latin America want his film to be released there.
#2
Rihanna
/ Britney Spears
1
 Rihanna and Britney Spears have done a duet for a new remix of Rihanna's "S&M." Fans of both artists are enthusiastic about the collaboration.
#3
Dream
Concert
1
 People are naming their ultimate artist combos for the perfect concert.
#4
Soccer/Football
1
 Soccer fans were talking about Stan Kroenke, owner of the Denver Nuggets and the Colorado Avalanche, who is set to takeover Arsenal F.C. after agreeing to buy key shares in the club. It has also been revealed that fan favorite Gary Neville, will play one last game for Manchester United.
#5
Masters
Tournament
1
 The Masters golf tournament from Augusta National Golf Club took place between April 8 and 11. Golfers receiving a lot of attention are Charl Schwartzel, Adam Scott and Rory McIlroy.
#6
Happy
Endings
1
 A new ABC comedy TV show starring Elisha Cuthbert debuted. But once this trended, people shared other "happy endings" they experienced or knew about.
#7
WWE
1
 Adam "Edge" Copeland, whose career spanned 13 years with 11 World Championship reigns, announced his retirement due to an injury. The WWE's next "Extreme Rules" is happening May 1. People are talking about possible matches.
#8
MLB
1
 Player Manny Ramirez has announed his retirement, according to a statement released by Major League Baseball. Fans were upset with Bob Davidson who made a bad call against the Toronto Blue Jays in the game against the Los Angeles Angels on April 9, 2011, costing the Blue Jays the game. A Dodgers-Padres game lasted beyond 1 a.m. PT due to a rain delay.
#9
NBA
1
 The Oklahoma City Thunder's Kevin Durant tweeted "God DAMN Derrick Rose" and it got a lot of retweets. The Sacramento Kings just closed out their season with an overtime loss against the Lakers. This week, the NBA will decide if the Kings will move to Anaheim next season.
#10
My
Chemical Romance
1
 The fanbase of the American rock band My Chemical Romance celebrated the birthday of band member Gerard Way.

Data aggregate courtesy of What the Trend.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, 123render

Interested in more Twitter resources? Check out Mashable Explore, a new way to discover information on your favorite Mashable topics.

Cuba: Jailed US contractor appeals 15-year sentence (AFP)

Posted: 16 Apr 2011 01:20 PM PDT

– Sat Apr 16, 4:20 pm ET

HAVANA (AFP) – A US contractor jailed in Cuba for distributing laptop computers has filed an appeal of his 15-year prison sentence, the head of the court said on Saturday.

Alan Gross, 61, was convicted last month of "acts against the independence or territorial integrity" of Cuba, in a case that strained already delicate relations between the United States and Cuba's communist government.

"An appeal has been presented. It has been placed at the disposal of judges who are dealing with the matter," said Ruben Remigo Ferro, chief justice of Cuba's Supreme Court.

Gross was arrested in December 2009 for allegedly delivering laptops and communications equipment to Cuba's small Jewish community, though the community's leaders have denied that.

The US State Department has called for the release of Gross, arguing that his prison sentence was an "injustice."

There's no deadline for the court to rule on an appeal.

40 New Digital Media Resources You May Have Missed (Mashable)

Posted: 16 Apr 2011 07:28 AM PDT

Zachary Sniderman Zachary Sniderman – Sat Apr 16, 10:28 am ET

It's mid-April and we've officially hit jacket weather. If you were lucky enough to be outside enjoying the sun, we can't blame you. But that does mean you might have missed some of our tools and resources from the past week or so.

This week we've got stories about Apple's plan for a world without wires, a breakdown of Google's earnings and a review of the new BlackBerry playbook. Looking for even more social media resources? This guide appears every weekend, and you can check out all the lists-gone-by here any time.

Editors' Picks

Social Media

For more social media news and resources, you can follow Mashable's social media channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

Tech & Mobile

For more tech news and resources, you can follow Mashable's tech channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

Business & Marketing

For more business news and resources, you can follow Mashable's business channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.
Image courtesy of Icon Expo

Meet the Makers: How to fit the best songs of all time into one iOS app (Appolicious)

Posted: 16 Apr 2011 08:11 AM PDT

Sprint CEO blasts AT&T/T-Mobile mega-deal (Reuters)

Posted: 15 Apr 2011 05:51 PM PDT

– Fri Apr 15, 8:51 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Sprint Nextel Corp CEO Dan Hesse attacked rival AT&T Inc's planned acquisition of T-Mobile USA on Friday, saying a tie-up between the two would hurt innovation and set the country's wireless industry back.

The chief executive of the No. 3 U.S. mobile operator lashed out against the $39 billion deal, now undergoing regulatory scrutiny, echoing the comments of other Sprint executives.

"If AT&T is allowed to swallow T-Mobile, competition will be stifled, growth will be stifled and wireless innovation will be jeopardized," Hesse told reporters and industry executives in downtown San Francisco.

James Cicconi, AT&T's senior executive vice president, external and legislative affairs, pointed out that in recent months Sprint executives had said the wireless industry was very competitive.

"It is self-serving for them to argue that the highly competitive wireless market they cited only months ago is now threatened by the very type of transaction they seemed prepared to defend previously," Cicconi said in a statement.

AT&T's deal, announced in March, would concentrate 80 percent of U.S. wireless contract customers in just two companies -- AT&T/T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless, a venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group Plc.

No. 2 U.S. mobile carrier AT&T, often criticized for dropped calls and slow connection speeds, has said the merger would spur innovation and economic growth by improving quality and expanding service to 95 percent of the U.S. population.

Deutsche Telekom AG owns T-Mobile.

(Reporting by Noel Randewich; editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Bernard Orr)

Annoying Orange gets its own TV show (Digital Trends)

Posted: 16 Apr 2011 07:00 AM PDT

Jeff Hughes Jeff Hughes – Sat Apr 16, 10:00 am ET

Annoying OrangeAnnoying Orange, the iconic YouTube phenomenon created by Dane Boedigheimer, will soon be coming to a living room near you. Yes, television.

The Collective, a management, media and production company, has agreed to finance six 30-minute episodes. Tom Sheppard, the man behind Pinky and the Brain will be writing and Shrek 2's Conrad Vernon will be the executive producer.

As of 2011, Annoying Orange is the eighth most subscribed YouTube channel with more than 1.7 million subscribed and the web series has had more than 565 million total views on its channel. The large pre-existing fan base may be a good indicator of success.

Orange isn't the first web series to transition to TV. Lucas Cruikshank's Fred, a YouTube series about a six year old with anger management issues, aired as a movie on September 10 on Nickelodean. It drew 7.6 million viewers and there is a sequel planned.

In an interview with Boedigheimer on Mashable he mentioned that the animation will retain the feel of the webseries and all the core characters such as Pear, Passion Fruit, Midget Apple, Grandpa Lemon and Marshmellow will be there. The setting will move away from the restriction of the kitchen and will now be on a time and space traveling fruit cart. We can look forward to being introduced to new fruit characters as well.

Does the web show have enough story potential for half hour episodes? Boedigheimer said he was excited about the challenge of the transition and believed that Annoying Orange's success may translate into a larger trend of web shows making it to the big television screen. No word yet on which network it will be on. We think it would do quite well on Cartoon Network's [adult swim].

Apple dealt class action lawsuit over in-app purchases, child 'exploitation' (Digital Trends)

Posted: 16 Apr 2011 08:47 PM PDT

Andrew Couts Andrew Couts – 39 mins ago

zombie_cafe_apple_lawsuit_in_app_purchaseA Pennsylvania father has filed a lawsuit against Apple for allowing in-app purchases in free iPhone games, which he claims allows children to spend real-world money without even knowing it.

Filed by Garen Meguerian of Phoenixville, PA, on behalf of himself and other parents and legal guardians, the lawsuit charges that Apple has enabled unauthorized charges for in-game content, which amounts to "unlawful exploitation" of children, reports Apple Insider. The suit specifically targets games made for iOS devices, like the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch that include the option for digital merchandise.

The games that sparked the lawsuit include Zombie Cafe, Treasure Story and City Story. Through these games, Meguerian's two daughters, ages 9 and 12, racked up $200 in in-app purchases, for things like "Zombie Toxin," "Gems" and "City Cash."

The problem, says Meguerian in the suit, was that Apple allowed for in-app purchases for 15 minutes after the iTunes account password has been entered. This enabled app users to authorize whatever purchases they like, even if they didn̢۪t have permission from the account holder, who was then stuck with the bill.

As noted in the lawsuit, Apple recently changed its policy for in-app purchases in the iOS 4.3 update to require password entry for each purchase. But this wasn't good enough for Meguerian, who charges that Apple pocketed "millions of dollars" before implementing the policy change. He also says that the password is not enough to stop unauthorized purchases.

"Because the passwords now required for purchases of Game Currency are the same passwords required for any Apple purchase, minors aware of such password may purchase Game Currency without authorization from their parents for that purchase," the lawsuit states.

This lawsuit follows an instance in which an 8-year-old girl was able to amount a $1,400 bill through in-app purchases made in the Capcom game Smurf's Village. Following this case, the US Federal Trade Commission launched an investigation against Apple for its in-app purchase system.

Oracle to Make OpenOffice.org Community-Based (PC Magazine)

Posted: 15 Apr 2011 12:52 PM PDT

Matthew Murray - PC Magazine Matthew Murray - Pc Magazine – Fri Apr 15, 3:52 pm ET

When a group of developers broke off from Oracle last year to establish the Document Foundation and create the new LibreOffice open-source office suite, it was unclear what would become of the well-known OpenOffice.org project they left behind. Today, Oracle has announced that it will no longer offer a commercial version of the OpenOffice.org software, and that it plans to move the suite to a purely community-based open source project.

In a statement, Oracle Chief Corporate Architect Edward Screven said, "Given the breadth of interest in free personal productivity applications and the rapid evolution of personal computing technologies, we believe the OpenOffice.org project would be best managed by an organization focused on serving that broad constituency on a non-commercial basis. We intend to begin working immediately with community members to further the continued success of Open Office. Oracle will continue to strongly support the adoption of open standards-based document formats, such as the Open Document Format (ODF)."

"Oracle has a long history of investing in the development and support of open source products," Screven continued. "We will continue to make large investments in open source technologies that are strategic to our customers including Linux and MySQL. Oracle is focused on Linux and MySQL because both of these products have won broad based adoption among commercial and government customers."

Oracle provided no additional information about OpenOffice.org, or its own proprietary Web-based office suite, Oracle Cloud Office, which also supports ODF.

The LibreOffice developers released their first stable version of that software earlier this year.

Oracle Dumps Commercial Openoffice.org (PC World)

Posted: 16 Apr 2011 09:48 AM PDT

Chris Kanaracus Chris Kanaracus – Sat Apr 16, 12:48 pm ET

The open-source OpenOffice.org will transition to "a purely community-based open-source project" as Oracle abandons the commercial version of the Open Office productivity suite it acquired along with Sun Microsystems, the company ha s announced.

"Given the breadth of interest in free personal productivity applications and the rapid evolution of personal computing technologies, we believe the OpenOffice.org project would be best managed by an organization focused on serving that broad constituency on a non-commercial basis," said Oracle Chief Architect Edward Screven in a statement.

Oracle will "begin working immediately with community members to further the continued success of Open Office" and plans to continue supporting standards like ODF (Open Document Format), he said.

Open Source Affirmed

Screven went on to confirm Oracle's commitment to other open-source technologies, such as Linux and MySQL. "Oracle is focused on Linux and MySQL because both of these products have won broad based adoption among commercial and government customers," he said.

Oracle's decision suggests the company has had difficulty selling many Open Office licenses since it acquired Sun Microsystems, which sold the software under the name Star Office. Its move is apparently effective immediately; a number of links on its website related to Open Office were dead on Friday.

Although Oracle didn't specify so, the future of its recently announced Cloud Office product also seems in question. Website links for Cloud Office were also dead on Friday.

It's also unclear how Oracle's decision will affect offshoots of the OpenOffice.org codebase, such as the Document Foundation's LibreOffice, which emerged last year amid concerns over how Oracle was dealing with community members.

Previously, the Document Foundation, which counts Google and Red Hat among its supporters, asked Oracle to join the organization and lend the OpenOffice.org brand name to its efforts.

Representatives for the Document Foundation and Oracle both declined comment on Friday.

Open-Source Opportunity

Overall, Oracle's move presents "a double-edged opportunity," said Michael Cot, an analyst with Redmonk. "On the one hand, paranoid community folks are keen to have Oracle spin out beloved open-source projects, thinking this would prevent Oracle from commercializing those projects too much or somehow making them more closed than open," he said.

But tensions that have arisen between Oracle and community members over other open-source projects "have made these same community folk suspicious of anything Oracle does in open source," he added.

"To that second point, what people will want to know is how the organization is being set up, who will be appointed, how it's funded, licensing and trademark assignment, etc.," Cot added.

Chris Kanaracus covers enterprise software and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Chris's e-mail address is Chris_Kanaracus@idg.com
at 9:39 PM

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