Cybercrime at Essex

Anonymity

2010-06-16T18:06:00.002+01:00

French Senator Proposes Outlawing Anonymous Blogging (TechDirt, 02 June 2010)Twitter Fighting Pennsylvania Subpoena Seeking Names of 2 Tweeters from the NY Times as cited on 20 May 2010 on the Business and HR Watch website http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/1001004 some would obviously benefit from anonymity for illegal purposes...! If You're Trying To Sell Insider Info,

Offensive behaviours - distortions

2010-06-16T17:49:00.005+01:00

Careful WithThat Fake Social Networking Profile; If You 'Personate' Someone, You Can Go To Jail(TechDirt, 02 June 2010) - the article is critical of the offence: it should not be criminal to impersonate somebody on Facebook in California. I tend to disagree. Using the name of somebody can be criminal whatever the motives. French law considers that the simple use of a name is

Search and Seizures - interception of communication: US

2010-06-16T12:20:00.005+01:00

For the US, but to which extent it applies elsewhere?Judge Says DHS Can't Hang Onto Travelers Laptops To Search Much Later Without A Warrant (TechDirt 11 June 2010)Police And Courts Regularly Abusing Wiretapping Laws To Arrest People For Filming Cops Misbehaving In Public Places (TechDirt, 04 June 2010)Court Says Border Patrol Can Take Your Laptop For Off-Site Search If They Have Reasonable

offensive and harmful content: reaction or education?

2010-06-16T12:11:00.007+01:00

We may well be in a transition period where people are not fully understanding that what on the net is not necessarily reliable, accurate and representative of the truth. Therefore it may be more an educational issue than a legal issue and to modify the law or use it and distort it appears quite silly. Guy Charged With Harassment For Sending Email Complaint To Senator Jim Bunning (TechDirt, 04

File sharing and piracy

2010-06-16T11:36:00.004+01:00

three articles recently, two showing the opposite approaches that can be adopted by courts and one the absurdity of trying to get rid of the file sharing via the ISPsISP Tries To Charge Users To Block File Sharing... Ends Up Installing Malware That Exposes Private Info (TechDirt 14 June 2010)Dutch Court Says Just Publishing Links To A Movie Is Illegal And Must Be Blocked (TechDirt, 04 Jun 2010)

Wi-fi issues: access and use

2010-06-16T11:11:00.006+01:00

When travelling, if one does not have a smartphone or blackberry, it becomes really annoying not to be able to use wi-fi knowing that lots of networks are available. the silliness of it all appeared when I was in Gare du Nord Paris, compared to St Pancras - London. You would have guessed I was a Eurostar traveller. At St Pancras, free wi-fi; in 45 minutes, I checked my e-mails, sent a couple of

second life ownership of items

2010-05-20T16:17:00.001+01:00

Lawsuit Questions Whether Or Not Second Life Users Really 'Own' Their Virtual Land (TechDirt, 11 May 2010)IP belongs to Linden Lab now; but ambiguity is there about ownership

suicide and free speech

2010-05-20T16:13:00.002+01:00

An interesting issue as a lot of countries prohibit assisting suicide but not suicide itself. Moreover, criminal actions are rarely made of speech only; complicity for example requires something else than mere talking and there is an assumption of personal contact, a one to one contact rather than general advertisement.Is It Illegal To Tell People How To Commit Suicide Online? (TechDirt, 14 May

Piracy: looking at IP in other ways

2010-05-20T16:07:00.003+01:00

three articles in a week to remind us that we have to rethink IP because of the new technologies, the same way printing forced us to rethink IP. Interestingly enough, Sage publishers are conducting a survey online about open access journals: whether people are in favour of it and on which terms (free of charge or pay to publish type of model)"EU Digital Agenda Commissioner Admits That 'Piracy'

Privacy infringement

2010-05-20T16:01:00.003+01:00

The two infringements make you wonder what non-famous companies do and how they are controlled:Google Admits It Was Accidentally Collecting Some Open WiFi DataData (TechDirt, 14 May 2010)EU watchdog slams Facebook privacy settings (Euractiv, 14 May 2010)and new challenges ahead...Does Storing Your Documents In 'The Cloud' Mean The Gov't Has Easier Access To It? (TechDirt, 5 May 2010) Obviously

Digital Economy Act: after all the controversy, may well be dropped

2010-05-20T15:40:00.003+01:00

UK Politicians Looking To Repeal Digital Economy Act (TechDirt, 19 March 2010)London Wants To Offer Full WiFi Coverage... But How Will That Work With The Digital Economy Act? (TechDirt, 18 March 2010)UK Regulator Says Digital Economy Act Only Applies To Big Wireline ISPs (TechDirt, 18 March 2010)

Critical Legal Studies Conference 2010

2010-05-18T10:52:00.002+01:00

With a vested interest as I am chairing stream 9 of the Critical Legal Conference 2010 @ Utrecht in September 2010 : The WWW: great expectations or great disenchantments?To see all the streams of the Conference on Modernities, click here

Secondary source analyses Italian's judgment on Google

2010-05-12T14:24:00.005+01:00

Legal Analysis Of Italian Criminal Conviction Of Google Execs Says Judge Made A Big Legal Error (TechDirt, 30 April 2010)

enforcing the law: France and US updates

2010-05-07T14:56:00.002+01:00

In France, JDN reported on the Institut de la recherche criminelle de la gendarmerie nationale (the Institute on criminal research of the Gendarmerie nationale, the French police force) and its work in the Fort Rosny-sous-bois (the Fortress...). databases, recognition of images, techniques to recover data... - 12 February 2010More recently, news on the US Cybersecurity Act which first draft was

Patterns

2010-05-07T14:30:00.002+01:00

"Cybercriminals target non-conventional appliances" (ZDnet.co.uk, 09 April 2010). not surprising, and among the devices: mobiles phones, USB flash drives and peripherals.and DDOS attacks linked with extortion/blackmail notices, "Chinese DDoS attacks hit News Limited" (ZDnet.co.uk, 14 April 2010)

Criminalisation of DRM bypassing - ACTA becoming transparent?

2010-05-07T14:23:00.003+01:00

If the process was certainly not transparent, the draft is at last published. Will comments be published and listened to?"Acta copyright treaty draft gets first public airing" (ZDnet.co.uk, 21 April 2010)and earlier on, the EU Parliament's rejection of the treaty by 633 to 13! "European Parliament votes down Acta treaty" (ZDnet.co.uk, 11 March 2010)

The gold mine: ID and other data thefts

2010-05-07T14:12:00.003+01:00

Between the NHS desktops that were hacked and controlled as part of a botnet, and facebook accounts also hacked, it is obvious that security and privacy are at the heart of cybercrime. Accessing illegally and controlling data/computers is at the heart of a successful criminal entreprise."Over 1,000 NHS desktops part of botnet, says Symantec" (ZDnet.co.uk, 23 April 2010)"iDefense: 1.5 million

Privacy of Wi-fi data: Google Street View

2010-05-07T13:52:00.004+01:00

A very interesting story that does not seem to make the big headlines despite its crucial importance in my view.Google Street View, already criticised for other reasons, all linked to privacy, acknowledged that it takes the Wi-Fi details of people, i.e. their MAC addresses, that will be able to any user using location-based services. In other words, your neighbour or your potential hacker can

Security again

2010-05-07T13:40:00.003+01:00

Security seems to be the word of the week.The EU commission wants to create an agency to foster better collaboration in cyber-investigations, albeit the UK, Germany and France remain to be convinced. One concerns is also the overlap with ENISA, in addition to the fact that ENISA has not been the success story that it was hoped for when it was launched. "EU to establish cybercrime agency" -

Security review by Symantec and other issues of web security

2010-05-07T13:00:00.005+01:00

Symantec published its report analysing cyber-issues in 2009. Most of the attacks continue to come from the US (19%), followed by China (8%) and a new comer, Brazil (6%). The bulk of the attacks (37%) focuses on acquiring data, then it is accessing structural tools of companies (26%) and piracy (15%). Fraud represents only 2%. It confirms that the new value or currency today is data, rather than

Scam

2010-04-23T14:09:00.000+01:00

US Convicts Nigerian 419 Email Scammer (TechDirt, 22 April 2010) - speaks for itself.

Google search in court

2010-04-23T13:26:00.004+01:00

In the story below, I am troubled by two things:- the assumption that a diversity of items being available proves that each of them are rarer to come by (here a yellow hat). How a Google search can help assessing this baffles me. Statistics of sale would be more relevant. Education of judges in how to use Google and how Google gathers its information?- why indeed a judge can 'google' but not

Copyrights

2010-04-23T13:12:00.003+01:00

Just a few additional links about posts published earlier on:"Copyright A Priority For The DOJ; But Identity Fraud Has Fallen Off The List" (TechDirt, 8 April 2010)which contrats with the EU Parliament's perception: Parliament threatens court action on anti-piracy treaty (Euractiv, 10 March 2010)and the side effects of wanting more inforcement in non-democratic countries: "Careful What You Wish

Social networking and risks

2010-04-23T13:07:00.003+01:00

Social networks put careers at risk, survey finds (Euractiv, 1 February 2010) with employers looking on the internet profile of applicants! Question of education about impact of the internet in people's lives.Social networks put minors at risk, EU warns (Euractiv, 10 February 2010), a campaign which echoes ENISA reports about the use of internet/virtual worlds by minors. Again, educationEU to

Hyping issues up: distortions when it comes to internet

2010-04-23T12:26:00.006+01:00

1 - "The Real Problem With Internet Comments Isn't Anonymity" (TechDirt, 12 April 2010). That I would agree; people before internet could be anonymous for the better or for the worse (blackmail...). They could also be discovered and were accepting the risk; so why not now? Why the internet should change anything in us allowing anonymity? What we need is better education for people to understand

Circulation of information and saving of

2010-04-23T12:08:00.006+01:00

The Economist On Why Copyright Needs To Return To Its Roots (TechDirt, 20 April 2010). The argument is that the Statute of Queen Anne granted copyrights for only 14 or 21 or 28 years maximum. It was not during the artist/writer's lifetime. Well, I would like to introduce a nuance here: the life expectation of people was probably at the time around 40 years old. If one writes the book in their

Google and China

2010-04-23T11:10:00.004+01:00

Rob Hanlon and Stephen Frost, CSR Asia, on 31 Mar 2010, criticised Google's HR motives to withdraw from Mainland China. The core of their arguments is nothing new: Google was not making any profit, to stay would have been counterproductive to their business model; to withdraw in the name of HR is not helpful to China's HR activists and it is an illusion to believe a foreign company can influence

Beware The Seductive Power Of Surveillance

2010-04-06T13:54:00.002+01:00

TechDirt - 5 AprilRefers to an article by Jesse Hirsh http://jessehirsh.ca/the-seductive-power-of-surveillancesame as previous post: common sense means that surveillance will exist and that we need to assess the risks and stop treating the internet as something different than the telephone, for HR purposesSee the previous interview of Thomas Berners-Lee: "Web under threat from 'snooping'

Once Again, A Court Overturns Internet Ban For Convicted Criminal

2010-04-06T13:51:00.002+01:00

TechDirt, 5 April 2010 -technology seems to make people lose their common sense. Would we agree to a ban on using the telephone because the offender committed the offence with it?

Are Computers in Africa Really Weapons of Mass Destruction?

2010-04-06T13:44:00.003+01:00

I am as skeptic as Kevin Donovan about the correctness of the analysis made in Foreign Policy. Yes, it is true that Africa does not use the latest softwares, but nor does Europe and a lot of other countries. And to use the nicknamed Nigerian scam as an example supporting the argument seems rather week. Nigeria has not been the only country sending that type of scam and if 'Western' people were

EU divided on ways to defeat online child pornography | EurActiv

2010-04-05T17:14:00.000+01:00

EU divided on ways to defeat online child pornography | EurActivThe EU Commission wants members states to filter content, but Germany is not particularly happy about it and wanted that it will refuse to do so, should there be a directive in that sense. The new EU treaty forbids member states to filter content on justice and home affairs. How will this provision be interpreted?

Interpretation of traditional offences

2010-03-23T11:32:00.004Z

Three scenari demonstrating how the internet affects the interpretation of criminal lawSexting: no child porn for the US courts"Court Rejects PA DAs Attempt To Charge Teens For Sexting Themselves", TechDirt, 18 March 2010 - The court is right in legal terms. The child porn offence was meant to protect children against others (and adults) rather than against themselves (and their peers). But

Meaning of "without authorisation"

2010-03-23T11:24:00.004Z

Quite interesting facts and legal issue of defining what is "without authorisation". In the US, an employee used his employer's computer to access personal information that he then deleted. The seventh circuit court found it was hacking but the ninth circuit court rejected the interpretation. I quote from TechDirt:"In declining to adopt the Seventh Circuit's interpretation of "without

Google, China, HK

2010-03-23T11:13:00.002Z

"Google Approach In China: Redirect To Hong Kong", TechDirt, 22 March 2010with the original post from Google also from 22 March 2010.What I was intringued by in Google's statement was the following sentence: "We believe this new approach of providing uncensored search in simplified Chinese from Google.com.hk is a sensible solution to the challenges we've faced—it's entirely legal and will

Copyrights: our level of acceptance in surveillance and prosecution techniques

2010-03-23T11:04:00.003Z

Self-explanatory and completely in line to my point of view about the level and type of surveillance we accept online being disproportionate to what we would tolerate offline; it is like the spirit of the Enlightenment being swallowed by the new technologies."Would UK Politicians Support The Digital Economy Bill If It Applied To Offline Activities As Well?" TechDirt, 19 March 2010It is especially

Discipline and surveillance: school's attitude

2010-03-18T16:04:00.001Z

Pretty silly attitude for a school: education should be about transparency of thinking.And of course completely illegal, thus scary:"School Accused Of Spying On Kids In Their Homes With Spyware That Secretly Activated Webcams" TechDirt 18 February 2010

Passport control: awaking the dead

2010-03-18T15:50:00.002Z

"Is Elvis Dead? Who Knows, But His Passport Made It Through Airport Security In Amsterdam", TechDirt 01 March 2010I like the irony of it all. Trying to secure identities of people, and yet failing badly...

Copyrights

2010-03-18T15:39:00.004Z

The bug in HADOPI 2 (French version of three strikes law for piracy) was "patched" by governmental decree or statutory instrument, with the possibility to ask for damages in the criminal proceedings. But some more difficulties have been highlighted, mainly due to the administrative status of HADOPI which does not have the quality of police officer and thus can't receive complaints linked to

Plagiarism

2010-03-16T16:43:00.002Z

Although I would agree that there is a difference between a print mindset and an internet mindset, I disagree strongly with somebody who argues that the internet is about linking and that not to acknowledge sources is OK. Of course, links are essential, but date and place (blog or author's name) is also important for people to check the info; after all, that is why we instaured referencing vs

Google's liability in Italy

2010-03-16T16:34:00.004Z

A few other articles on the three Google's executives declared responsible in Italy because of a YouTube video.Columnist Claims Italy's Google Verdict Makes Sense, TechDirt, 9 March 2010 (with M. Masnick obviously disagreeing)and a speech by Lessign at the Italian Parliament, probably scheduled long ago and thus a coincidence with the verdict, "Lessig Gives A Well-Timed Speech To The Italian

The power of images and data

2010-03-16T13:34:00.009Z

Three articles, all connected around several themes.The first one is about Chatroulette's site which works on the basis of logging in for random chats with people all over the world (well, at least that is what they tell you). The principle may seem great but exhibitionists and voyeurs populate the site so much that whoever uses it is sure to encounter some unpleasant images or chat on a regular

The power of words

2010-03-16T12:42:00.005Z

After the Robin Hood airport closed (Doncaster, Sheffield) due to heavy snowfall, Mr. Chamber wrote a twitter post that was meant as a joke to friends and ended to be taken seriously by police officers. I quote the terms as they are essential: "Robin Hood airport is closed. You've got a week and a bit to get your shit together, otherwise I'm blowing the airport sky high!".He may be charged under

Fraud, spam and co

2010-03-16T10:11:00.007Z

An old article I retrieved today from my pile. The author, Charles Arthur, wonder whether convicting spammers in the US will put an end to spam. A rather pessimist response, understandably. What interested me was the fact that spam can be linked to fraud and criminal organisations with data collected beeing sold back or with botnet spamming created and then offered to eastern European criminal

Climate change and hacking: does the end justify the means?

2010-03-16T08:59:00.005Z

Over the debate on climate change data flaws, what struck me is that nobody questioned the hack of e-mails as if it was normal for e-mails, held on universities computers, to be accessed without authorisation. Certainly, I understand the importance of getting data right, especially for such a major issue as climate change, but does it justify the means? The hack is investigated by police officers

Legality of extradition

2010-03-16T08:40:00.002Z

The High Court, on 14 January 2010, appears to consider the Home Secretary's assessment as being unfair and misguided. The new report from the psychiatrist Professor J. Turk highlighted "exceptionally high risk of self-harm and even suicide" and should have given more pre-eminent weight than the HS did.The decision is not yet published on BAIILI, but the one of 31 July 2009, before that new

Google, China and Co: where do we draw the line between the acceptable and the not-so-acceptable?

2010-03-15T15:41:00.020Z

A long silence, partly because I was busy scrolling down the shelves at Cambridge (UK) library for books before my fellowship at CRASSH ended. I still have a few books to read, but today I am trying to go through the amassed cuts of newspapers' articles.So let us review the story about Google rethinking its policy in China. Much ink has been spilled over the issue.First, Google made its

Murdoch's NY Post Continues To Source Articles From Bloggers With No Credit | Techdirt

2010-03-09T10:50:00.001Z

Murdoch's NY Post Continues To Source Articles From Bloggers With No Credit Techdirt 5 March 2010I like the irony of this info. Championing IP rights but not even having the decency to acknowledge authorship. It made me think of a book I am currently reading about openness, secrecy and authorship. The author looks at those issues from the Greek and Roman times to nowadays and tries to understand

Did Google Ignore A Takedown On The Italian Video? | Techdirt

2010-03-09T10:36:00.003Z

Did Google Ignore A Takedown On The Italian Video? Techdirt 8 March 2010Apart from the issue of establishing the facts, the question is can Google be criminally liable? It may sound harsh, but the context of criminal liability has evolved over the past ten years. The biggest sources of privacy violations are within the corporate world with the databases corporations collect, hold and misuse, or

Online personality and offline identity

2010-03-09T10:24:00.002Z

Techdirt Daily Email for Tuesday, 09 March 2010 - Outlook Web Access Lightand "Turns Out That People Are Actually Pretty Honest About Themselves Online" TechDirt 19 February 2010Not many studies appear on the theme; I suppose that the methodology to research online is not the easiest to practice. BUt it seems that people behave offline and online in pretty similar ways. It certainly corresponds

Controlling content

2010-02-08T14:21:00.004Z

Traditional issue of the internet, but within the US, instead of between the US and the rest of the world. Question: censorship of content. Do you allow it? on which basis? why not total freedom? Is the question about articulating the global/local? Is law about moral values? if we accept local countries/regions can censor/ban, filter, should we regulate how they do it?(TechDirt, 8 February 2010)

Piracy

2010-02-05T12:23:00.002Z

"Lord Lucas Keeps Wanting To Chip Away At Digital Economy Bill: Exempt Search Engines" (TechDirt, 28 January 2010)."Insult To Injury: Mandelson Wants Those Wrongly Kicked Off The Internet To Pay To Appeal" (TechDirt, 28 January 2010)seriously, first time I ever heard that one, but it is so crazy it just highlights the financial issue behing the fight against piracy by big companies "Seriously:

Surveillance

2010-02-05T12:17:00.002Z

Apparently, "Obama Quietly Issues Ruling Saying It's Legal For The FBI To Break The Law On Accessing Phone Records" (TechDirt, 22 January 2010)and I find this even more astonishing: the harm exists, it is to each individual. "Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Over Warrantless Wiretapping, Appeal Planned" (TechDirt, 22 January 2010)It is as astonishing as Bill Gates stating it's business and if Google does

Anonymity on the web

2010-02-05T12:06:00.003Z

A very simple explanation, common sense, but as true as for anonymity by post mail: can't certify identities without using existing means of identification..."You Can't Get Rid Of Anonymity Online, Even If You Wanted To" (TechDirt, 4 February 2010) refering to the blog of Bruno Schneier http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2010/02/anonymity_and_t_3.htmlA change compared to the UK court position

2010-01-22T17:10:00.000Z

"Supreme Court Says No Cameras In The Courtroom" (TechDirt 14 January 2010)

2010-01-22T17:09:00.001Z

this sounds mad. I'll have to investigate what French reviews report "French Court Forcing Google To Remove Word 'Scam' From Google Suggest" (TechDirt, 14 January 2010)

Copyrights bill in the UK

2010-01-22T17:06:00.002Z

Sorry but don't have time right now to analyse:"Lord Lucas Proposes That Copyright Holders Detail Actual Damages From Infringement Under Mandelson Bill" (TechDirt, 7 january 2010)"UK Ministers 'Concede' Some Ridiculous Points in Digital Economy Bill In Attempt To Get Other Ridiculous Measures" (TechDirt, 13 January 2010)reinforcement what I said earlier "If Banning The Internet For Sex Offenders

Use of social networking

2010-01-22T17:04:00.002Z

The tweet was silly, but the reaction to it is no better. Everything is out of proportion on both sides. Maybe we should set a course for both on how to use Twitter and social networking?"UK Man Arrested And Banned From Airport For Twitter Joke About Blowing Up An Airport" (TechDirt, 19 January 2010)

Censorship: Google/China and others

2010-01-22T15:59:00.004Z

Obviously, the headlines for the past 10 days are aboug Google's declaration and movement of withdrawal from China, but as pointed out, well, if Google withdraws from China, why not other countries like India, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Russia...?"Google Considers Leaving China If China Will Not Allow Uncensored Search" (TechDirt, 13 January 2010)"Will Google Pull Out Of India, Australia And Other

New report in France to reflect on digital economy

2010-01-22T15:53:00.003Z

Well, I have just scrolled through the report and the least we can say is that the committee did not really engage with the issues at a deep level. The report is disappointing:- for a summary in English, "France's Latest Plan: Tax Google, Microsoft And Yahoo To Fund Record Labels" (TechDirt, 7 january 2010)-for an equally sanguine account, in French, "Mission Zelnik : les principales propositions

Privacy, piracy, copyrights and censorship

2010-01-22T15:52:00.007Z

The theme of the week seems to turn around protecting privacy."Hacking Surpassing Human Error For Data Breaches?" (TechDirt, 19 January 2010). For the author, the answer is actually positive: hacking is a major threat, more that insiders leaking data.In the fight against piracy, will privacy be waived? "Swedish ISP Refuses To Give Up Info; Says IPRED Violates EU Privacy Rules" (TechDirt, 18

View of the blog via Wordle

2010-01-07T12:28:00.004Z

I use Wordle (http://www.wordle.net/create) to copy text from the blog (minus my name and the main sources TechDirt, ZDnet.co.uk as it is irrelevant to what I wanted) in order to get an idea of which words were recurring in the last two months. The results are insteresting if we put aside the words UK and French/France.Have a look for yourself.

telegraph and newspapers

2010-01-06T12:16:00.001Z

The telegraph was feared, like today the internet is. But the threat only comes from refusing to embrace the new technology."How The Telegraph Was Supposed To Kill The Newspaper Business" (TechDirt, 22 December 2009)

Impartiality of judges

2010-01-06T12:11:00.002Z

I found it a bit extreme to forbid the use of facebook. It is even hypocrite when one knows that judges and practitionners know each other quite well in real life, especially in the US and the UK where solicitors and barristers later become judges. The essential matter should be to ensure that facebook is not used to communicate on the case involving all sides."Florida Says Judges Can't Even Be

Surveillance

2010-01-06T12:01:00.002Z

"New Zealand Decides To Spy On An Awful Lot Of Your Online Activity" (TechDirt, 5 January 2010)"How China's Attempts To Censor The Internet Are Failing " (TechDirt, 4 January 2010)"Russian ISP Blocking Political Opposition Websites" (TechDirt, 18 December 2009)with the interesting view of the WWW creator, Tim Berners-Lee Web inventor: " 'Snooping' authorities threaten Internet " (Euractiv, 3

Digitalisation of books - comparing France and the UK

2010-01-06T11:25:00.005Z

Already yesterday I thought of writing a post about it, while I was discovering the poverty, I would nearly say the misery if the word had been appropriate, of digitilased books in the UK accessible free of charge. I wanted an old book from 1824 printed in London about criminal libel; so one can guess that copyrights should not be an issue. Well, where do I find it online? Certainly not on the

Good wishes, piracy and censorhip: happy new year!

2010-01-06T10:58:00.009Z

I cannot believe it is already the new year and ... that I have not written for the past month. I only took two weeks of holidays, but being busy elsewhere did not give time to sit down in front of the computer with an actual internet connection.So here I am, wishing you a happy new year, with the best for 2010 and maybe less snow that here in Suffolk and Essex we receive!Back to business: 2010

Surveillance

2009-12-08T13:29:00.000Z

"Rather Than Blaming Twitter, NY Police Using It To Track Gang Activity" (TechDirt, 01 December 2009)

Virtual worlds and theft

2009-12-08T13:18:00.003Z

Apparently, somebody has been arrested for theft for hacking into accounts, use avatars and steal the virtual possessions. "Real-world arrest for man who stole RuneScape virtual characters" (Times, 30 November 2009)For disapproval, "If You Gain Unauthorized Access To A Character In A Virtual World, Is It Theft?" (TechDirt, 01 December 2009)Contra: "Is virtual boom our industrial revolution?" (

Two controversial decisions

2009-12-08T13:10:00.003Z

How on earth is it possible? That is my first immediate reaction. Compliance with rith to privacy dictates that private people cannot obtain access to what police forces can obtain... "Police right to hand over seized hardware, says judge" (ZDnet.co.uk, 17 November 2009)And for encryption issues, "UK Man Jailed For Refusing To Decrypt His Files" (TechDirt, 02 December 2009)

Towards an international protection for privacy

2009-12-08T13:06:00.004Z

The CNIL (French quango to protect freedom of information and liberties) website reports of a conference to elaborate/create international standards that would overcome the patchy protection offered by national legislations to internet users. The article is in English, and is also available in French"Privacy Policy: a first step towards international standards" (CNIL, 10 November 2009)

Different issues on fraud and malware and a few arrests/suspicions

2009-12-08T12:37:00.004Z

Well, I would have thought they were an obvious target? "Online bank fraud targeting corporate accounts" (ZDnet.co.uk, 04 November 2009)"Facebook denies mass hijack was down to flaw" (ZDnet.co.uk, 11 November 2009) but a few weeks later, decides to change its approach to security as company policy! "Facebook forms safety advisory board" (07 December 2009)I think here Google is over optimistic.

Surveillance

2009-12-08T12:28:00.004Z

"US gov't agencies sued over Facebook surveillance" (ZDnet.co.uk, 02 December 2009) Different watchdogs decided to ask the US federal government for their guidelines in how they use social networks to monitor citizens' behaviours.A similar policy would not be amiss in the UK given the new UK cybersecurity Centre and the complete inadequacy of the RIPA to protect citizens' privacy from

Nasa Hacker....

2009-12-08T12:24:00.003Z

FYI, "MPs urge Nasa hacker clemency" (ZDnet.co.uk, 12 November 2009)because "Home secretary considers Nasa hacker plea" (ZDnet.co.uk, 11 November 2009)"McKinnon case puts IT ethics in the dock" (ZDnet.co.uk, 05 October 2009)

The end of the road...

2009-12-08T12:09:00.001Z

"'Godfather of Spam' sentenced to four years" (ZDnet.co.uk, 25 November 2009) and £ 150,000 to forfeit, if Alan Ralsky has them....

Smartphones and malwares

2009-12-08T12:04:00.002Z

Not a surprise that smartphones start to be the target of viruses and other malwares. They are powerful computers when one think of their size."iPhone worm could be used to create botnets" (ZDnet.co.uk, 23 November 2009)"Un nouveau virus s'attaque à l'iPhone" (JDN. 24 November 2009)which in turn, means good jobs for technicians and ex-hackers/malware writers "Rickroll virus author hired by iPhone

The new UK piracy Bill and the anti-piracy lobby

2009-12-08T11:45:00.006Z

The new Bill works on the model of the three strikes law, with obviously no intervention of an independent body. Anybody can request the ISP to file a notice and it is the ISP that makes the decision. What about a fair trial in the UK?Moreover, the list of 'offenders' can be requested by anybody victim of copyrights infringement. But in the past, did we not need a search warrant? i.e. a judge

Origins of copyrights -

2009-12-07T16:00:00.003Z

I am just in the middle of writing an article on criminal law and virtual worlds and I am reviewing quite a bit of materials to understand the offences of theft, larceny and the related offences. That meant reviewing the concept of property. Two interesting bits came up:first, Blackstone's understanding of property was that of physical property (one author calls it physicalisation of property,

Failure to act as crime?

2009-11-26T17:39:00.004Z

Wonder why indeed it is considered as a crime. Criminal law rarely accepts omissions or failure to act as constituing the offence. Plus which offence?Label Exec Arrested For Not Using Twitter To Disperse Crowd At Mall To See Singer (TechDirt, 23 november 2009)

Facebook again: bad and good uses

2009-11-18T17:37:00.000Z

Yes, Bad People Use Facebook Too (TechDirt, 17 november 2009)

Identity, prosecution and Facebook

2009-11-18T17:27:00.002Z

A strange story, the type that always makes me think of the novel The Count of Monte-Christo.Emprisonment for a theft he has not committed, a man managed to be freed and charges dropped after his lawyer tracked down a message he sent at the precise time when the robbery happened.Obviously, the alibi has been corroborated by witnesses; hopefully also, when one thinks of the ease it is on facebook

Hadopi 2; the piracy matter in France

2009-11-18T17:14:00.006Z

As already pointed out, France enacted its legislation after the first censorship by the Constitutional council. Except that the law went back to the Council a second time (22 October 2009)... and Parliament was censored for not having explained in details what the procedure will be (incompetence negative). Hence, a third version of the statute: a future Hadopi 3.Frankly, given the short comings

Due process and Twitter

2009-11-12T15:04:00.002Z

Due process....Twitter Banning Satirical 'Fake' Versions Of Politicians? (TechDirt, 28 October 2009)

MySpace and the extent of school discipline

2009-11-12T15:03:00.004Z

if the facts are accurate, I found it particularly scary. School discipline like for any discipline can only be applied for what happen within the institution. This is a clear breach of the disciplinary powers and an abuse of process.Teens Sue School After Being Disciplined For MySpace Photos (TechDirt, 2 November 2009)

Forensics tools

2009-11-12T14:58:00.002Z

Until it withdrew it, Microsoft allowed its COFFEE auditing tools to be shared, allowing whoever uses it to access Windows. It also provided it to law enforcement agencies.According to comments, the tools are not very good and 'bad guys' use better tools. For the UK, that relates to section 3A of the revised CMA 1990.Microsoft's COFEE Computer Forensic Tools Leaked (techDirt, 9 November 2009)

China and censorship

2009-11-12T14:55:00.003Z

Quite a funny one and not about political censorship, but about a Governmental Chinese report on copyrights whose access has been blocked... by the software GOogle used to avoid malwares.That's Rich: China Accuses Google Of Censorship (TechDirt, 28 October 2009)

Virtual worlds and money makers

2009-11-12T14:34:00.003Z

well, anybody ready this blog would have guessed that the title of the post attracted me. It's about scams in virtual worlds to get people to sign/buy things they don't really need. It's a technique which builds up on what virtual worlds are made for, earning money, although the technique is in itself quite inadmissible and should be distinguished to the features offered to participants such as

Another kind of fish?

2009-11-12T14:29:00.002Z

Well, of course, lawyers are people and can be as silly as others. Although I wonder to which extend they can fall into the trap given that their training should also make them smart(er) .... or shouldn't?Advance Fee Scams Are Based On Greed, So Their New Favorite Target? Lawyers! (Tech Dirt, 22 October 2009)

Twitter issues

2009-11-11T17:46:00.002Z

A judge banned the use of Twitter in the courtroom; it is a form of broadcast in the sense that put all together the threads form a good picture of what happened; on the other hand, one does not need to be journalist to tweet.Judge Says No Twittering From The Courtroom (TechDirt, 10 November 2009)THis is rather silly and a complete misunderstanding of what Twitter as a company does. Levi

Three strikes law in the UK?

2009-11-11T16:54:00.003Z

France having enacted its legislation after the Constitutional Council's disapproval of the original draft, the UK is thinking of adopting the same law despite the EU's opposition.Will Three Strikes Ever Really Get Implemented In The UK? (TechDirt, 30 October 2009)As Expected, Mandelson To Introduce Plan To Kick File Sharers Off The Internet (TechDirt, 28 October 2009)UK Law Enforcement Tells UK

Three Economic Nobel Laureates In A Row Recognizing Power Of Infinite Goods | Techdirt

2009-10-27T18:24:00.000Z

Three Economic Nobel Laureates In A Row Recognizing Power Of Infinite Goods | Techdirt: "Three Economic Nobel Laureates In A Row Recognizing Power Of Infinite Goods"

Sued Over Twitter Message? Can You Defame Someone In 140 Characters Or Less? | Techdirt

2009-10-27T14:53:00.000Z

Sued Over Twitter Message? Can You Defame Someone In 140 Characters Or Less? | Techdirtapart from the issue of the audience, there is the issue of the message contents: 140 characters means strong language to be used in order to accept defamation. Here, there seems to be confusion between criticism and defamation...

Burglary outcomes

2009-10-26T17:37:00.001Z

How silly can some be? to burglar and then bosts on line by contacting the victims?! Home Burglar Returns To Taunt Couple Via Facebook? (TechDirt, 17 August 2009)

ISP & co Liability

2009-10-26T17:35:00.001Z

Google Not Liable For 'Defamatory' Search Result Snippets In The UK (TechDirt, 17 July 2009)

Fraud and Russia

2009-10-26T17:33:00.000Z

Self-explanatory. Soca: Russian cyber gang bribed police (ZDnet.co.uk, 22 October 2009)

Virtual property or no property?

2009-10-26T17:30:00.002Z

with obviously its repercussion on criminal law which is based on the notion of having property rights... Why Virtual Property Doesn't Make Sense (TechDirt, 17 August 2009)Linden Lab Sued Over Copied Virtual Goods (TechDirt, 18 September 2009)

sex offenders and the use of social networking

2009-10-26T17:29:00.002Z

Illinois Says Sex Offenders Can't Use Social Networks (TechDirt, 13 august 2009)

2009-10-26T17:21:00.002Z

Well, I would not put it that way, but the point is valid in legal terms. ID theft is theft only to the extent that the information has been accessed, but it is not to be confused with the use of the information, i.e. mainly fraud.Is It ID Theft Or Was The Bank Robbed? (TechDirt, 19 August 2009)Is It Identity Theft Or A Bank Robbery, Part II: Couple Sues Bank Over Money Taken (TechDirt, 11

Funny side of sentencing

2009-10-26T17:15:00.002Z

I found it really funny: a spammer realising that the fine cannot be paid by his insurance!Spammer Discovers His Insurance Policy Doesn't Cover $6 Million Spam Fines (TechDirt, 3 August 2009)

Use of Twitter in courts

2009-10-26T17:13:00.003Z

Again, the issue about adapting or not juries to the 21st century, i.e. in a world where writing is predominant and oral transmission of information does not represent anymore 95% of the transmission of informationMichigan Supreme Court Issues New Stop Twittering Rule For Juries (TechDirt, 17 July 2009)

Google blocking account

2009-10-26T15:41:00.002Z

Quite an extreme measure for misplaced 'post', even if ordered by a court. I am unsure we would have acted identically had post mail been used. I don't see a court order for a citizen not to receive his mail until further notice. Is it because of the ease with which one can block e-mail accounts that we resort to such extreme measures?Google deactivates Gmail account after bank error (ZDnet.co.uk