Monday, January 23, 2006

Why US doesn't trust Iran on nukes. Iran has threatened a full-scale enrichment program - if it is 'referred' to the UN. [Christian Science Monitor | Top Stories] 10:27:20 PM    comment []

Loompanics folds. The legendary purveyor of hard to find, controversial, unusual books, whose catalogues I have been getting for years, is folding. Loompanics offerings have included books about identity change and dropping off the map, anarchsim, anti-corporate issues, the politics of privacy, self-defense, survivalism and self-sufficiency, lockpicking and other illegal activities, confidence scams, outlaw history, and getting revenge. Great for those seeking practical advice or just daydreaming (I won't tell you which category I fit into...). They are offering all their stock at 50% off if you want a last chance. [thanks to the null device via walker] [Follow Me Here...] 10:26:35 PM    comment []

Wes points at Freedom to Tinker: Analog Hole Bill Would Impose a Secret Law. 10:26:09 PM    comment []

Search and privacy: Danny Sullivan update, and GoogleAnon.  Search Engine Watch co-editor Danny Sullivan, who's been providing excellent coverage and analysis of the DoJ subpoenas on search engines, tells Boing Boing, I've posted two new items today, one a flowchart of just how hard it is to secure privacy (Link), while the other is a look at how searches can be private but not necessarily personally identifiable (Link). Overall, the big plus in all of this is that hopefully it will spark a big rethink and some action on privacy overall. And Boing Boing reader M.A.K says, Instead of using an entire Firefox extension, the GoogleAnon bookmarklet will reset your Google GUID to all zeros, effectivly rendering you anonymous. Link Previously: Xeni on NPR "Talk of The Nation": Search Engines and Privacy Rights HOWTO anonymize your search history DoJ search requests: Google said no; Yahoo, AOL, MSN yes DoJ demands user search records from Google [Boing Boing] 10:26:00 PM    comment []

Four from BNA News: MISSOURI TARGETS CELL PHONE DATA COMPANIES Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon is on the case of the cell-phone data burglars. Nixon filed a request in Cole County Circuit Court late Friday for a temporary restraining order against Data Find Solutions Inc. and 1st Source Information Specialists. The companies, Nixon said, are thought to operate Web sites such as www.locatecell.com that promote the sale of personal phone records. NEW YAHOO DECISION RAISES OLD QUESTIONS My weekly Law Bytes column examines the recent 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Yahoo decision involving the long-running battle over Internet jurisdiction. I argue that the majority and dissent present two competing views of the Internet and that that the courts remains as conflicted as ever as they seek to reconcile the challenges of law, borders and the Internet. Toronto Star version Freely available version PRE-LOADED IPODS TREAD LEGAL GRAY ZONE A tiny Massachusetts company named TVMyPod is selling iPods that come with movies and TV programs already loaded on them, a practice that raises questions of legality as it addresses consumer demand for convenience and portability. [Washington Post] LEVEL OF FILE SHARING UNCHANGED DESPITE LAWSUITS The level of file-sharing has remained the same for two years despite 20,000 legal cases in 17 countries. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industries (IFPI) said it was "containing" the problem and more people were connecting to broadband. 11:22:35 AM    comment []

In Iran, Power Written in Stone [Washington Post: Top News] 8:07:53 AM    comment []

Iranian Threatens Full Production of Nuclear Fuel [New York Times: International News] 8:07:08 AM    comment []

Business-card converts to set of lockpicks. Cory Doctorow: An enterprising hacker commissioned a business-card that converts to a set of lockpicks from a person who makes die-cut sheet-metal cards. Link (Thanks, Colin!) [Boing Boing] 8:06:39 AM    comment []

Comments are Worth the Trouble. PressThink: Transparency at the Post. When Jim Brady decides to shut down the comments at post.blog to prevent even bigger problems we’re going backwards in our ability to have a conversation with the Washington Post. That isn’t good. If the press decides to close itself off because the costs of participating in the new openness are judged to be too high, that is a loss for everyone. Jay Rosen's Q&A with Brady, executive editor of the Washington Post's online news operation, is a fascinating look into how one Big Media organization dealt with the inevitable trouble when it opened up its blog to comments. I'd like to know if the Post required commenters to provide a valid email address as a bare-bones registration system, which would have been a deterrent to the most flagrant trolling (it's easier to ban someone in such a circumstance). If the Post allowed anonymous comments, then it was asking for trouble. I've asked about this and will let you know what I find out. But comments are definitely worth having, even when they cause problems. Listening and responding are as important in tomorrow's journalism as speaking. If we forget that, even bigger trouble lies ahead. [Dan Gillmor's blog] 8:06:33 AM    comment []