Latest news

Symantec leads India to possibly malicious server.

Indian authorities are investigating the server, which Symantec found to be actively communicating with computers infected with Duqu, a mysterious and complex piece of malicious software that experts warn appears to be written with infrastructure targets in mind (power plants etc.)

It became public when Symantec reported it on October 18. A research lab had contacted the security firm over a mysterious computer virus that appeared to be similar to Stuxnet, and which has since been described as a possible successor to Stuxnet.

The Stuxnet malware is widely believed to have wreaked havoc on Iran's nuclear facilities by messing with industrial control systems made by Siemens.

Now the Duqu malware is gaining considerable attention from governments and investigators in the private sector. The Indian server, located in Mumbai, might provide crucial information on the virus. If not enough to give a hint of its origin, it might give a hint of its intent.

Web Werks, which hosted the virtual private server, has made an image and provided it to the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) to analyse.

Pressure put on European Commission.

The Council of Ministers has called for the principles of Net Neutrality - that all traffic on networks be treated equally - to be made into law. The council is pressuring the European Commission to start making moves in that legislative direction.

The Council of the European Union consists of ministers from all 27 member states of the EU. The agenda of the Council determines what minister attends from each state, so anything to do with agricultural policy would dictate that a member states' minister for agriculture attend, for example. The Council acts as a legislative body alongside the European Parliament.

The European Parliament has also heavily backed the concept of Net Neutrality in the past.

The European Commission ordered a study to be carried out by the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (Berec) into abuses of network neutrality, which turned up examples such as ISP's blocking VoIP services, or giving automatic prioritization to its own services.

"EU member states have today called an open internet a priority for national parliaments. Net neutrality has fast become a key cause of our times," Monique Goyens, director general of the European Consumers' Organisation (BEUC), said.

YouTube support finally official on Xbox 360.

Microsoft announced today that more TV entertainment-focused apps are available from Xbox Live, including the long-awaiting support for YouTube content on the Xbox 360 console, something that has been available on the PS3 for years.

Xbox is currently undergoing a makeover with Microsoft working to bring TV and other entertainment content from around the world to Xbox Live. The goal is to morph the Xbox 360 console into a general entertainment hub, and not just have it seen as a video games console.

YouTube is now available through Xbox Live in 24 countries.

Along with the announcement of YouTube support, Microsoft also announced new U.S. content from Verizon FiOS, iHeartRadio, MSNBC.com and TMZ. In Canada, Rogers on Demand content is not available, while in the UK, Xbox Live has gotten content from blinkbox, MSN Video and MUZU.tv

More content will be added by Microsoft this month, and into the new year. More details can be found here.

Trade panel delays final ruling, again.

HTC said on Tuesday that the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has postponed its final ruling in HTC's lawsuit against Apple. The ITC had scheduled a ruling for December 6, but now is expected to deliver it on Monday, December 19 instead.

The Taiwanese phone maker said there was no reason given for the extra delay in the case. HTC has failed to have injunctions put on Apple products that it claims infringe patents it holds, while it also defends itself from the same allegations.

The case has been seen as a wider dispute between Google and Apple, as some patents in question acquired by HTC from Google. Apple has long stated that Android phones simply copy the iPhone.

It has brought several manufacturers of Android-based devices to court around the world, with the highest profile cases involving Samsung Galaxy-branded tablets and smartphones.

Google has made a welcome announcement today, extending their free calls within the U.S. and Canada Google Voice promotion for another year.

Just weeks before it was set to end, the company has now extended the free calls until the end of 2012.

Notes Group Product Manager Vincent Paquet:

As the holiday season approaches, we're happy to announce that we've extended free domestic calls within the US and Canada for 2012. This is our way of helping you connect with friends and family across the country. And you can still call the rest of the world from Gmail at our insanely low rates.

Samaritans inspired by U.S. measures.

The charity group says it wants to provide more help to people with suicidal tendencies through Facebook. In March, it partnered with Facebook to setup a system under which the social network is notified by users about messages that cause concern. Facebook would then pass on the details to the Samaritans, who attempt to contact the user by e-mail.

In the United States, Facebook has improved this system, putting potentially suicidal users in direct contact with support workers. Users who feel suicidal can talk to a trained crisis representative through Facebook's PM system, which might feel like a more familiar environment to talk for vulnerable people.

"This is the next stage," Nicola Peckett, head of Samaritans communications, told the BBC.

"We would love to be able to do live chat on Facebook. It is a goal for us. It's just that we don't have the technology or the resources to do it yet."

Lifeline has revealed that it currently deals with about 50 people each day who it became aware of through Facebook.

Microsoft wants original shows on Xbox Live.

Bloomberg has cited sources with knowledge of Microsoft's plans in reporting that the Redmond-based software giant is head-hunting for a television executive to help with development of original content for Xbox Live.

The move is part of Microsoft's wider efforts to turn the Xbox platform into one of general entertainment, not just associated with gaming. According to Bloomberg's sources, Microsoft hired Tom Schneider of Stratis LLC to conduct the search, and that former NBC executives, Marc Graboff and Jeff Gaspin, were approached.

Microsoft is in the middle of rolling out TV services through Xbox Live with content from partners including Time Warner Inc., HBO, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and Sony Corp's Crackle.

Original programming is seen as a way to differentiate the Xbox Live TV services from similar services offered by competitors, including Apple Inc. and Google.

Earlier this week, the popular comedian Louis CK decided to release his latest film, DRM-free, and for just $5.

"Live at the Beacon Theater," when purchased, could be streamed twice or downloaded and played whenever and wherever you wanted.

The comedian left an initial statement that he understood making the film DRM-free and selling it himself would leave it open for easier piracy, but pleaded for people to buy the movie and not "torrent it."

It appears the experiment has been quite successful, with CK noting today that in just 3 days, the film has already brought in $500,000 in sales.

Here is the full post, taken from his statement here (it is wordy but worth a read for sure):

People of Earth (minus the ones who don't give a shit about this): it's been amazing to conduct this experiment with you. The experiment was: if I put out a brand new standup special at a drastically low price ($5) and make it as easy as possible to buy, download and enjoy, free of any restrictions, will everyone just go and steal it? Will they pay for it? And how much money can be made by an individual in this manner?

Skype announces update to Android app.

Skype 2.6 for Android has been announced, bringing the ability to send photos, videos or files to friends and family from your Android device over Wi-Fi or 3G.

The update also brings optimization for Android devices that are powered by NVIDIA's Tegra 2 chipset, improving battery life and video quality. These improvements will be seen with Android devices such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, Motorola XOOM and Acer Iconia Tab.

More Android devices have also been "whitelisted" for video support by Skype's Engineering Team. Latest additions to the list include the HTC Amaze 4G and Motorola DROID RAZR.

"We're excited about these new enhancements, adding even more value to the things you can already do on Skype for Android like video calling, sending and receiving instant messages for free or making phone calls to mobiles and landlines worldwide at great Skype rates." Skype's announcement reads.

"We've brought this out just in time for the upcoming holiday season, so you can share your special moments with your loved ones."

More Info: Skype 2.6 for Android

iTunes launches in 16 new countries.

Apple announced that it has launched an official iTunes store for Brazil. The service includes content from local artists including Ivete Sangalo, Marisa Monte and the digital debut of Roberto Carlos' catalog.

Brazilians also have access to over 20 million songs, and over 1,000 movies to rent or purchase in HD from all major movie studios.

Apple is also bringing the iTunes Store to 15 additional Latin American countries including Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela.

All music on iTunes comes in iTunes Plus, Apple's DRM-free format with high-quality 256 kbps AAC encoding, while iTunes in the Cloud lets you download your previously purchased iTunes music to all your iOS devices at no additional cost, and new music purchases can be downloaded automatically to all your devices.

More than 300,000 conned customers entitled to a cut.

Innovative Marketing, responsible for rogue software such as Winfixer, Drive Cleaner, and XP Antivirus, agreed to surrender $8 million to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC). More than 300,000 people had been duped into buying the rogue anti-virus and system cleaning applications from the company.

Most customers can expect to get about $20 back from the FTC, but the amount paid out really depends on the level of financial loss in each individual case.

Users duped into installing scareware (or who have it dropped to their system by malware) often use their credit card to pay to remove non-existent threats, or to fix fictitious problems with their computers. The groups responsible for the software have been targeted around the world by Microsoft and law enforcement agencies.

The FTC is now warning that its refund programme might be targeted by rogue elements, who will use it as part of phishing scams. It has reminded the public that it never requires customers to pay money or provide any information before redress checks can be cashed.

Sony won't face more financial hurt from its decision to cut OtherOS through a system update.

A Judge in Northern California has dismissed the remaining charges in a class-action lawsuit against Sony over the removal of the OtherOS functionality from the PS3 console. The Japanese firm cut the OtherOS feature through a system update, citing security concerns.

The lawsuit sought to include all PS3 owners who purchased the console between the launch day, and March 27 of last year. However, most of the initial charges it made against Sony were dropped quickly by the judge.

The lawsuit argued that Sony breached its sale contact by disabling OtherOS.

The judge had allowed the plaintiffs to argue that Sony broke the law by effectively forcing users to choose to install the firmware update and lose OtherOS, or decline the update and lose access to the PlayStation Network, but the judge's decision shows the plaintiffs failed to argue this point successfully.

"The flaw in plaintiffs' analogy is that they are claiming rights not only with respect to the features of the PS3 product, but also to have ongoing access to an Internet service offered by Sony, the PSN," the judge wrote.

Two men charged on fraud offences.

Students on government loan schemes were the target of a phishing scam that duped them into handing over account details to a maliciously crafted website. Phishing refers to the practice of tricking users into handing over personal details or money to a rogue entity.

Last week, the Metropolitan Police arrested six people in connection with the scam. Of the six, two men have now been charged with the crime.

Damola Olatunji, 26, of Hamsterley Avenue, Manchester, and Amos Mwangi, 25, of Rochdale Way, Deptford, London, have been charged with conspiracy to defraud. Some of the students had between £1,000 and £5,000 stolen from them as part of the scam.

Both men have been remanded in custody until February 17, 2012. A total of five others have been bailed until March pending further investigation into their link to the scam.

BT will invest £2.4 billion across the UK.

As part of its broadband strategy, BT said it would upgrade 34 exchange areas in Scotland, bringing broadband to 277,000 homes and businesses. The investment will go to parts of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow, providing speeds of up to 300 Mbps.

"It marks a major investment in infrastructure, which will give the country a tremendous boost," BT Scotland Director Brendan Dick said. "Next-generation broadband is essential for our nation's economic growth, so it's brilliant to be ending 2011 on such a high note."

UK communication regulator, Ofcom, recently said that the average connection speed across the UK is around 6.8 Mbps, and now BT's new network will be available for up to 685,000 users across the region.

Website tracks your BitTorrent activity.

Youhavedownloaded.com is a website setup to show what files have been downloaded using BitTorrent trackers by a specific IP address. The site claims to have almost 53 million "users" in its database, from 113,200 tracked torrents containing almost 2 million files.

When you visit the website, it will check you IP address automatically and present you with files it knows you downloaded. If it doesn't have your IP address in its database, then it will simply say, "Hi. We have no records on you."

If you have a friends' IP address, you can check to see if it knows any of their downloads. It even offers a widget for your website, blog or Facebook page that you can use to annoy your friends.

You can search any IP address, torrent hash or filename for results, or you can snoop on randomly-presented IP addresses that are in the database.

This won't go down too well for heavy torrent users who would rather keep their activities private, but it does raise questions about how easy it is to track this kind of information across BitTorrent trackers and other sources.