china
Clampdown Week: iPhone vs. Pre, China vs. Web, FTC vs. Worst ISP Ever
Google doesn’t want you to use Bing to search the Web, and it would much rather see you using Gmail and Google Docs than Hotmail and MS Word. But if you want to use Google’s Chrome browser, you have to run M|cr0s0ft’s Windows operating system. Does the irony just kill you? Don’t worry — it’s all temporary. Google has released versions of Chrome for the Mac and Linux platforms. Don’t get too excited, though; from a general-user point of view, both versions suck. They crash, they behave unpredictably, and they don’t even support Google’s own YouTube videos.
Is China Creating the World’s Largest Botnet Army?
david_a_eaves writes “The Chinese government is mandating that all computers sold in China come with Internet blocking software. Rob Cottingham writes an excellent piece noting how the censorship application of this software should be the least of our concerns. This new software may create an opportunity for the Chinese Government to appropriate these computers and use them to create the worlds largest botnet army.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Senator Applauds Pirate Bay Trial, Chides Canada
eldavojohn writes “Republican Senator Orrin Hatch spoke Tuesday at the World Copyright Summit in Washington DC and hailed the Pirate Bay guilty verdict as an important victory. He expressed severe disappointment in Canada for showing up on our watch list for piracy next to China and Russia. Senator Hatch also said, ‘In fact, one study reports that each year, copyright piracy from motion pictures, sound recordings, business and entertainment software, and video games costs the US economy billion in total output, costs American workers 373,375 jobs and .3 billion in earnings, and costs federal, state, and local governments .6 billion in tax revenue. During this time of economic turmoil, we must ensure that all copyrighted works, both here and abroad, are protected from online theft and traditional physical piracy. After all, US copyright-based industries continue to be one of America’s largest and fastest-growing economic sectors.’ GamePolitics notes that for his 2006 campaign, Hatch was rented for ,000 by the RIAA and also got on his knees for ,640 from the MPAA.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Chinese Govt Spyware Puts Computers At Risk
Ihmhi writes “China’s mandatory ‘Green Dam Youth Escort’ web filter software apparently has a series of severe flaws. In addition to not working on Linux or MacOS, traffic between the software and its servers is unencrypted.” I’m sure it only gets better after that.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
China dominates NSA-backed coding contest
Programmers from China and Russia have dominated an international competition on everything from writing algorithms to designing components.
Online Vigilantes, Or "Crowdsourced Justice"
destinyland writes “The Chinese credit the ‘human flesh search engine’ for successfully locating ‘the kitten killer of Hangzhou’ from clues in her online video. But in February, the same force identified a teenage cat-abuser in Oklahoma — within 24 hours of his video’s appearance on YouTube. ‘Netizens are the new Jack Bauer,’ argues one science writer, and with three billion potential detectives, ‘attempts to hide will only add thrill to the chase.’ But China’s vigilantes ultimately turned their attention to China’s Internet Propaganda Office, bypassing censorship of a director’s personal information using social networks, including Twitter. The author suggests there’s a new principle emerging in the online world: ‘The Internet does not forget, does not forgive and cannot be stopped. Ever.’”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
China Dominates In NSA-Backed Coding Contest
The Narrative Fallacy writes “With about 4,200 people participating in a US National Security Agency-supported international competition on everything from writing algorithms to designing components, 20 of the 70 finalists were from China, 10 from Russia, and 2 from the US. China’s showing in the finals was helped by its large number of entrants, 894. India followed at 705, but none of its programmers was a finalist. Russia had 380 participants; the United States, 234; Poland, 214; Egypt, 145; and Ukraine, 128. Participants in the TopCoder Open was open to anyone, from student to professional; the contest proceeded through rounds of elimination that finished this month in Las Vegas. Rob Hughes, president and COO of TopCoder, says the strong finish by programmers from China, Russia, Eastern Europe and elsewhere is indicative of the importance those countries put on mathematics and science education. ‘We do the same thing with athletics here that they do with mathematics and science there.’”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Pleo Robot Dinosaur Back From Extinction
robotsrule sends in a follow-up to our earlier discussion of the bankruptcy of Ugobe, maker of the Pleo robotic dinosaur: “Jetta Company Limited, based in China and Hong Kong, the company that manufactured the Pleo baby robot dinosaur for Ugobe, has bought the intellectual property rights and other assets at the Ugobe bankruptcy sale that occurred on May 21. Jetta is an established company with a 32-year history in manufacturing. They have issued a short press release announcing Pleo’s rebirth. Steve Ohler, the US liaison for Jetta, confirmed the news, saying that the company is firmly committed to re-launching Pleo and continuing the line including producing accessories such as the vital battery and charger components. Jetta, as the original manufacturer, is the best possible company to have acquired Ugobe’s intellectual property and to announce plans to re-launch Pleo. Ohler remarked that all of the equipment needed to produce Pleos and accessories is still intact and ready to go.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
China to Mandate Web Filtering Software On All New PCs
Sometimes, even a great firewall isn’t enough. China has apparently ordered PC makers to bundle access control software – ostensibly to protect its citizens from porn – that may allow it to remotely update a blacklist of sites.
China’s New PC Policy Injects Big Brother With Steroids
China is stepping up the monitoring of its citizens’ Internet activity. A new directive requires PC makers selling products in the country to include software that can filter out pornography and other online content the government deems inappropriate. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology order, which reportedly has caught PC makers by surprise, is to go into effect starting July 1. The software is reportedly called “Green Dam”; the “green” represents a foil to the “yellow smut” of the Internet.
