Earlier this year, Nokia had one of its facilities in India raided by the powers that be over what was said to be a very large unpaid tax bill, coming in at about $542 million. It has now been revealed that earlier this summer, Nokia sent a strongly-worded letter to the Indian government, saying that […]
More information was revealed today about how the National Security Agency (NSA) obtained information about U.S. private citizens. According to The Washington Post, leaked court documents show that the NSA paid tech companies like Google and Facebook millions of dollars to participate in their PRISM surveillance program. Many of the NSA’s surveillance tactics were found […]
The mounting national debt? Yeah, you’re probably better off just ignoring why exactly it’s mounting. The Guardian is continuing the blow the lid off of the whole NSA / PRISM saga, today revealing new documents that detail how the NSA paid out “millions” of dollars to cover PRISM compliance costs for a multitude of monolithic tech outfits. As the story goes, the National Security Agency (hence, tax dollars from American taxpayers) coughed up millions “to cover the costs of major internet companies involved in the PRISM surveillance program after a court ruled that some of the agency’s activities were unconstitutional.” The likes of Yahoo, Google, Microsoft and Facebook are expressly named, and while Google is still angling for permission to reveal more about its side of the story, other firms have conflicting tales.
For whatever it’s worth, a Yahoo spokesperson seemed a-okay with the whole ordeal, casually noting that this type of behavior is perfectly legal: “Federal law requires the US government to reimburse providers for costs incurred to respond to compulsory legal process imposed by the government. We have requested reimbursement consistent with this law.” Meanwhile, Facebook stated that it had “never received any compensation in connection with responding to a government data request.” Microsoft, as you might imagine, declined to comment, though we heard that Steve Ballmer could be seen in the distance throwing up a peace sign. At any rate, it’s fairly safe to assume that your worst nightmares are indeed a reality, and you may have a far more enjoyable weekend if you just accept the fact that The Man knows everything. Better, right?
Source: The Guardian
For the last 10 years, if you wanted to understand a complex legal issue in the news, your first stop was Groklaw. A free, open source exchange of theories and ideas, Groklaw has been an invaluable resource for lawyers and laymen alike. Last night, its owner pulled the plug. It was a matter of privacy.
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There’s something unsatisfying about making a traditional complaint. As you’re filling out the form, you can almost see the government bureaucrat crumpling it up and throwing it away a few days later. Wouldn’t it be great if you could just yell at the pencil pushers directly? In Seoul, you can.
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Though we’ve seen our fair share of Area 51 documents in the past, we’re headed for the mother-load with a newly declassified “less redacted” CIA history this week. Thanks to the Freedom of Information Act and the efforts of Jeffrey T. Richelson, senior fellow at the National Security Archives. Back in 2005, Richelson submitted a […]
Bitcoin, the virtual currency, has seen a few big moments in the last few weeks, not the least of which was a federal judge ruling that it is a currency and is subject to regulation. For all its upsides, there is a big downside, too – illicit use prompted by the privacy offered by the […]
If you recall, earlier this month the encrypted email service Lavabit abruptly shutdown, killing the service for over 400,000 users in one swoop. Following that, another encrypted email service run by Silent Circle was preemptively shutdown. Although Ladar Levison, the creator of Lavabit, is under a gag order that prevents him from talking about the […]
The beginning of 2013 was marked with the unfortunate suicide of Aaron Swartz, an action said to be the result of legal pressure from MIT and the Department of Justice following his hacking of the JSTOR academic journal system. In March, it was promised that MIT would release documents related to the case. It has […]
In response to industry petitioners, the FCC is easing outdoor power restrictions on the unlicensed 60GHz spectrum, which could bring faster broadband to rural areas and cost-effective backhaul solutions in urban settings. This ruling change would permit outdoor devices to deliver high-speed data over greater distances — around a mile at 7 Gbps, all told — and “enhance” the unlicensed utility of the 57-64GHz spectrum. While this is the same frequency WiGig uses, indoor power restrictions haven’t changed any. Because this spectrum is unlicensed, it means that basically anyone can use it as long as they follow the FCC’s rules; no funny business, please.
[Image credit: Rennett Stowe / Flickr]
Filed under: Household, Networking
Via: Ars Technica
Source: FCC
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