Employees of the online file storage service Megaupload discussed widespread copyright infringement on the site in internal communications released Friday by the U.S. Department of Justice. and other defendants with criminal copyright infringement and other crimes. In a May 2007 Skype conversation, according to the DOJ, Megaupload CTO Mathias Ortmann told head software developer Andrus Nomm: “I have a feeling that Kim tolerates a certain amount of copyright violation.” ”Yep, but not too obvious ones,” Nomm responded.
'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, because they were all sacked out watching these festive films.
T-Mobile could start paying early-termination fees for people who switch from other carriers.
There’s a . The latest report shows a 68 percent increase in takedown requests from government agencies around the globe compared to the second half of 2012. Overall, Google says it received 3,846 requests asking for takedowns of more than 27,000 pieces of content during the first six months of 2013. Not all takedowns were successful, but the majority were. In the end, Google removed more than 18,000 pieces of content from its search index and other properties such as Blogger, Google+, and Orkut during the first half of the year. Political speech wasn’t the only reason that governments requested takedowns. For this report, the eighth since Google began publishing them in 2010, only 93 of the 3,846 requests concerned criticism of various governments, according to Google. Nevertheless, any government attempt to control political speech is a concern—especially when those censorship requests come from ostensibly democratic countries.
Another day, another batch of startups with augmented reality glasses. The latest contenders are Atheer Labs and Meta. The two startups have different approaches, but they’re both pursuing similar goals of blending the physical and digital worlds with 3D glasses. Atheer thinks of itself more as a software company, according to . It’s trying to create an Android-based platform for 3D augmented reality apps that you can control with your hands, but to get the platform rolling, Atheer decided to build its own hardware. Atheer One
Designed for Apple iMacs or Apple displays, this kit lets you sit or stand at your desk, but it comes with a case of the jiggles.
Blackberry is turning to Foxconn, the world’s largest contract manufacturer of electronics, to jointly develop and produce some models of handset, the two companies said on Friday. The deal, announced as the company reported another quarterly loss, marks a major change in strategy at BlackBerry and is the first step away from the hardware market by the struggling phone maker, which until now had developed its own devices. Working jointly with Foxconn, the partnership will begin with joint development of a handset for the Indonesian market, said John Chen, CEO of Blackberry, in a conference call with analysts. Indonesia is one of Blackberry’s most important markets. The phone will be produced at a new factory Foxconn is building in Indonesia and is expected to be available in the country in March or April 2014, said Chen.
The European Commission will reject Google’s latest proposals aimed at settling a three-year antitrust dispute, the Commissioner in charge of the case said Friday. ”The latest proposals are not acceptable in the sense that they are not proposals that can eliminate our concerns regarding competition and in particular regarding the way Google’s rivals in vertical search are being treated,” Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia told Spanish radio station Radio Nacional de España. The news comes following a second so-called “market test” in which rivals and other interested parties were asked to review the search giant’s proposals. Google has been under investigation by the Commission since November 2010, after rivals accused the search giant of directing users to its own services by reducing the visibility of competing websites and services. It was also accused of content-scraping and imposing contractual restrictions that prevent advertisers from moving their online campaigns to rival search engines.
Verizon Communications will report on law-enforcement requests for information on its customers that it received in 2013, following similar moves that major online companies have made but rival AT&T has not. The carrier expects to put out its initial report in early 2014 with data about requests from the U.S. and other countries where it operates. Verizon is one of the two incumbent wireline telecommunications carriers in the U.S. and parent company of Verizon Wireless, the country’s biggest mobile operator. ”To the extent permitted by applicable U.S. and foreign laws and regulations, Verizon’s transparency report will identify the total number of law enforcement agency requests received from government authorities in criminal cases,” Verizon said in a press release on Thursday. The report will categorize the requests under headings such as subpoenas, court orders and warrants, and provide some other information, Verizon said. It will also include information about requests for information in emergencies. The carrier said it is working with the U.S. government on how much detail it can provide about National Security Letters it received but it won’t reveal information about other national security requests.
Commuting sucks, and its costs go beyond public-transit fares and gas-tank refills. The labor of getting to and from work robs you of productivity, and consumes time that you’d rather spend doing things you enjoy. It’s also hazardous to your health: Commuting can contribute to obesity, stress, and loneliness, and a commute longer than 45 minutes can even that a couple will divorce. Only you can decide whether your commute is worth the costs. In the meantime these apps can help you save money, stay sane, and reclaim some time from the road. Are you aware of how the way you drive affects fuel consumption? According to San Francisco–based , you can save up to a third of what you spend on gas just by accelerating and braking gradually, and minding the speed limit.
If you have a reason, it’s definitely the season—for a PC upgrade, that is. Perhaps ye merry olde desktop is struggling to keep up with the demands of modern, high-resolution games and media. Or maybe someone on your holiday gift list has a computer that needs rejuvenating. Rejoice! We have a PC upgrade to fit every budget. We set an upper limit of $300, but we did so just to cover some of our pricier recommendations. Most of these upgrades cost far less. Presented in order of the performance boost they provide, here are our twelve favorites. One for each day of—nah, I won’t say it. An SSD is our number one upgrade recommendation for the second year in a row, and it’s likely to remain so for the foreseeable future. Why? No upgrade provides a more noticeable, practical increase in performance than a fast SSD. Getting one is like buying a new PC without buying a new PC.
Some of our best friends are tech bloggers, but they are an excitable bunch that can make some bad gift recommendations.
