Oct 24
Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany, spoke to Barack Obama on Wednesday evening to demand explanations over reports suggesting that the NSA has been monitoring her mobile phone.
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Aug 11
Weekly Roundup: Moto X review, LG G2 hands-on, Apple’s next iPhone event, and more!
Posted in: Today's Chili
You might say the week is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workweek, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Weekly Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past seven days — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Aug 09
Daily Roundup: Obama’s response to NSA scandal, Distro Issue 102, NVIDIA’s second generation Surface, and more!
Posted in: Today's Chili
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Aug 04
Weekly Roundup: Moto X preview, Nexus 7 review, Chromecast review, and more!
Posted in: Today's Chili
You might say the week is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workweek, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Weekly Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past seven days — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Aug 03
Obama vetoes ITC ban on older AT&T-compatible iPhones and iPads (update: Samsung responds)
Posted in: Today's Chili
Remember that ITC ban on the import, sale and distribution of some AT&T-compatible iPhone 3G, 3GS, 4, iPad 3G and iPad 2 3G models Samsung won in June? The Obama administration has officially vetoed the ruling. A letter issued to Irving A. Williamson, Chairman of the U.S. International Trade Commission ITC, explains that the decision considers the ban’s “effect on competitive conditions in the U.S. economy and the effect on U.S. consumers.” If you’ll recall, the case focused on patent 7,706,348 for encoding mobile communications, which Samsung claimed the aforementioned devices infringed upon. The administration notes that despite his decision on the ruling, Samsung will still be able to “pursue its rights through the courts” (i.e. monetary compensation, etc.). In a statement to All Things Digital, an Apple representative notes:
We applaud the Administration for standing up for innovation in this landmark case. Samsung was wrong to abuse the patent system in this way.
You can peruse the full four-page memo for yourself at the source link.
Update: Courtesy of 9to5Mac, here’s Samsung’s response:
We are disappointed that the U.S. Trade Representative has decided to set aside the exclusion order issued by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC). The ITC’s decision correctly recognized that Samsung has been negotiating in good faith and that Apple remains unwilling to take a license.
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, Apple, Samsung
Source: United States Trade Representative, All Things Digital
Jul 16
While we know the government’s spying on our personal data, what’s it doing with all of the public info it gathers? President Obama’s answer to that question was creating Data.gov, a portal that publishes, among other things, public school funding amounts. Four years on, though, and the site looks and navigates like a product of its time. The modern redesign that launched today as a preview is part of this May’s Open Data Executive Order that hopes to graft non-proprietary and machine-readable data formats “into the Federal Government’s DNA.” The homepage combines published research from a range of headings — education, energy, finance, global development, health, research and safety — and the tweets of public servants about said data, into one river of news. It’s cool to see the government taking charge and making all this easier to access, but we’re wondering how much it’ll cost us next April.
Filed under: Internet
Via: The Verge
Source: Whitehouse, Data.gov
Jun 21
The Guardian has obtained a series of documents which reveal that, while the NSA is expected to "minimize" collection of data suspected to belong to US citizens, any "inadvertently acquired" domestic communications can still be kept and used without a warrant.
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Jun 17
President Obama will be on Charlie Rose tonight to chat about all the NSA spying that came to light last week. But ahead of the broadcast, PBS has released a portion of the transcript to Buzzfeed. Below is a portion of said transcript:
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Jun 07
If you’ve missed the news on PRISM and the hugely disconcerting allegations that the NSA is basically tracking everything you do on the internet and every call you make on your cellphone, we’re guessing that’s because you’re stuck in a cave that has access to neither technology. The allegations are incredibly troubling to say the least, and President Obama this afternoon took the time to address them — albeit briefly. For one thing, he clarified that “nobody is listening to your phone calls,” indicating that people are looking at metadata about those calls (destinations, length, etc.) rather than the calls themselves. Additionally, he clarified the internet side of the program thusly: “Internet monitoring is only for those outside United States; we have to balance keeping America safe with privacy concerns.” That’s great for Americans, but perhaps a bit troubling for everyone else.
This more or less echoes the statements made yesterday by James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence. President Obama also reminded that this program predates his taking office, and that he himself was skeptical but has come around to the program, stating that this is something “Americans should feel comfortable about.” Well, then, how comfortable do you feel? Let us know in comments.
Update: The Wall Street Journal has a full transcript of President Obama’s comments.
Filed under: Internet
Source: The Washington Post, CNBC (Twitter)
Jun 04
Obama administration announces initiative to target patent trolls, protect consumers
Posted in: Today's Chili
The White House announced an initiative today to curb the use of patents by patent holders as a tool for “frivolous litigation,” and to protect “Main Street retailers, consumers and other end-users of productions containing patented technology.” The initiative’s inception is composed of legislative recommendations to Congress and a handful of executive actions being carried out directly by the White House — it’s essentially an initiative targeting patent trolls. Administration officials wouldn’t say which congressional representatives might propose bills carrying the White House’s recommendations; they characterized today’s announcement as part of the administration’s ongoing effort to reform patent law.
Though the terms are broad, a senior Obama administration official told Engadget that today’s announcement is “specifically designed to deal with abusive patent legislation” rather than sweeping patent reform, and is, “not designed in any way to pursue legit patent rights holders.”
The executive actions (five in total) range from making sure that patent holders are clearly identified — meant to target patent trolls that intentionally confuse litigation with myriad “shell” companies — to providing more clear information on patent use to consumers who may be targeted by patent trolls. The legislative recommendations list includes many of the same provisions as the executive actions, and adds even more protections for individual consumers (a stay in suits that target consumers when “an infringement suit has also been brought against a vendor, retailer, or manufacturer,” for instance).
Filed under: Science
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