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+-   Microsoft denies it built 'backdoor' in Windows 7-> on Thursday November 19, @04:50PM CWmike

Submitted by CWmike on Thursday November 19, @04:50PM
government
CWmike writes "Microsoft has denied that it has built a backdoor into Windows 7, a concern that surfaced yesterday after a senior National Security Agency (NSA) official testified before Congress that the agency had worked on the operating system. "Microsoft has not and will not put 'backdoors' into Windows," a company spokeswoman said, reacting to a Computerworld story Wednesday. On Monday, Richard Schaeffer, the NSA's information assurance director, told the Senate's Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Security that the agency had partnered with the developer during the creation of Windows 7 "to enhance Microsoft's operating system security guide." Thursday's categorical denial by Microsoft was accompanied by further explanation of exactly how the NSA participated in the making of Windows 7. "The work being discussed here is purely in conjunction with our Security Compliance Management Toolkit," said the spokeswoman. The company rolled out the Windows 7 version of the toolkit late last month, shortly after it officially launched the operating system."
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+-   Patent Issued for Podcasting on Thursday November 19, @03:38PM pickens

Submitted by pickens on Thursday November 19, @03:38PM
patents
pickens writes "EFF reports that a company called Volomedia just got the Patent Office to grant them exclusive rights to "a method for providing episodic media" that could threaten the community of podcasters and millions of podcast listeners. "It's a ridiculously broad patent, covering something that many folks have been doing for many years," writes Rebecca Jeschke. "Worse, it could create a whole new layer of ongoing costs for podcasters and their listeners." To bust this patent, EFF is looking for additional "prior art" — or evidence that the podcasting methods described in the patent were already in use before November 19, 2003 (pdf). "In particular, we're looking for written descriptions of methods that allow a user to download pre-programmed episodic media like audio files or video files from a remote publisher, with the download occurring after the user subscribes to the episodes, and with the user continuing to automatically receive new episodes.""
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+-   Ukraine passes "Law 404" to spy on users on Thursday November 19, @02:55PM comrade.putin

Submitted by comrade.putin on Thursday November 19, @02:55PM
censorship
comrade.putin writes "In second reading Ukrainian senate passed amendments to Protection of Social Morals Act, Telecommunication Act and the Criminal Code that would force Internet Service Providers to monitor and record all activity by subscribers and report any illegal activity. The law claims to combat child pornography, but the language in the bill does not limit illegal activity to only that. Originally the bill would force disconnection of questionable resources, but that clause was scrapped after realization that most news sites could potentially be disconnected for criticism of the government. Public ironically started referring to this bill as "Law 404"(Google Translation), because it passed the first reading with 404 votes. This comes after numerous petitions, IT expert and lawyer opinions against it. Since ISPs would be responsible for monitoring and filtering, the cost for implementation falls on ISPs themselves.
The bill is currently waiting for the President's signature. There's still a chance for it to be vetoed."
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+-   DNA testing firm goes bankrupt, who gets the data? on Wednesday November 18, @02:47PM wiedzmin

Submitted by wiedzmin on Wednesday November 18, @02:47PM
privacy
wiedzmin writes "DeCODE Genetics, a genetics research firm from Iceland has filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. and Saga Investments, a U.S. venture capital firm, has already put in a bid to buy deCODE’s operations, raising privacy concerns about the fate of customer DNA samples and records. The company hasn’t disclosed how many clients signed up for its service, but provides a number of customer testimonials on its site, including Dorrit Mousaieff, Iceland’s first lady."
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+-   Smart Grid could pose threat to privacy-> on Wednesday November 18, @02:21PM Presto Vivace

Submitted by Presto Vivace on Wednesday November 18, @02:21PM
privacy
Presto Vivace writes "Brian Kreps of the Washington Post reports on a study jointly released Tuesday by the Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner and the Future of Privacy Forum. It seems that in the process of collecting all that feedback about energy use utility companies will inevitably collect a great deal of information about us.

"Instead of measuring energy use at the end of each billing period, smart meters will provide this information at much shorter intervals," the report notes. "Even if electricity use is not recorded minute by minute, or at the appliance level, information may be gleaned from ongoing monitoring of electricity consumption such as the approximate number of occupants, when they are present, as well as when they are awake or asleep. For many, this will resonate as a 'sanctity of the home' issue, where such intimate details of daily life should not be accessible."

Anyone at Slashdot have any ideas for a possible solution?"
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+-   Spain Codifies 'The Right to Broadband'-> on Tuesday November 17, @04:26PM adeelarshad82

Submitted by adeelarshad82 on Tuesday November 17, @04:26PM
internet
adeelarshad82 writes "Country's industry minister announced that Spanish citizens will have a legal right from 2011 to be able to buy broadband internet of at least one megabyte per second at a regulated price wherever they live. The telecoms operator holding the so-called "universal service" contract would have to guarantee it could offer "reasonably" priced broadband throughout Spain."
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