Beginning in 2015, all new cars in the United States will likely need to be fitted with data-recording “black boxes” very similar to the devices currently used in aircraft. The U.S. Senate has already passed a bill that will make the devices a requirement, and the House is expected to approve the bill as well. Section 31406 of Senate Bill 1813 states that mandatory event data recorders must in installed in all cars starting in 2015, and it outlines civil penalties that will be levied against violators, Infowars.com reports. While the primary function of the black box devices would be to record and transmit data that could be used to assist a driver and passengers in the event of an accident, the bill has legislation built in that would give the government access to the data with a court order, and it also gives authorities the ability to access the data as part of an investigation. According to the report, these caveats could potentially lead to Big Brother-like scenarios where citizens are monitored or even actively tracked without their knowledge or consent.

[Via Infowars.com]

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WikiLeaks announced that its founder and leader Julian Assange is planning to run for a seat on the Australian Senate, the Associated Press reported on Saturday. Despite being under house arrest in England and facing sex crime allegations in Sweden, the group said it is possible for Assange to run. “We have discovered that it is possible for Julian Assange to run for the Australian Senate while detained. Julian has decided to run,” WikiLeaks announced on Twitter. The group also announced that it would be supporting a candidate who will run against Prime Minister Julia Gillard for her seat of Lalor. “The name of the Lalor candidate and the state Julian will run for will be announced at the appropriate time,” the group said. Assange has criticized Gillard for her lack of support as he faced the threat of extradition to the United States over WikiLeaks’s release of classified U.S. documents. While Australian police have said that WikiLeaks and Assange have not broken any Australian laws, Gillard condemned the action, calling it “grossly irresponsible.”

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Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom is currently trying to work out a deal with the Department of Justice to allow users to download their personal files that were stored on Megaupload’s servers prior to the service’s closure. “Megaupload’s legal team is working hard to reunite our users with their data,” Dotcom said to TorrentFreak. “We are negotiating with the Department of Justice to allow all Mega users to retrieve their data.” Dotcom, the company’s founder, who was charged with racketeering, copyright infringement and money laundering, claims that many high-ranking U.S. government officials were among the users of the popular file sharing website. “Guess what – we found a large number of Mega accounts from U.S. Government officials including the Department of Justice and the U.S. Senate,” he said. “I hope we will soon have permission to give them and the rest of our users access to their files.”

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Senator Al Franken, chairman of the Senate subcommittee on privacy, technology and law, sent a letter to Carrier IQ on Thursday asking the company to address a number of concerns that have arisen after security expert Trevor Eckhart revealed the software might allow wireless carriers to spy on customers. “I am very concerned by recent reports that your company’s software — preinstalled on smartphones used by millions of Americans — is logging and may be transmitting extraordinarily sensitive information from consumers’ phones,” Senator Franken wrote in his letter. Read on for more.

Franken noted that Carrier IQ has been accused of be keeping track of when users turn their phones on and off, what numbers users dial, message contents and more. He said he understands that carriers need to collect data to run diagnostics but that “it appears Carrier IQ’s software captures a broad swath of extremely sensitive information from users that would appear to have nothing to do with diagnostics.”

Sprint admitted to The Verge on Thursday that it, and other carriers, “use the data to understand device performance so [it] can figure out when issues are occurring,” and that it doesn’t sell the data and can not look at messages, personal photos or other private information. These sentiments mirror earlier comments the carrier gave to BGR several months ago. Sprint’s full statement follows below.

Carrier IQ provides information that allows Sprint, and other carriers that use it, to analyze our network performance and identify where we should be improving service. We also use the data to understand device performance so we can figure out when issues are occurring. We collect enough information to understand the customer experience with devices on our network and how to address any connection problems, but we do not and cannot look at the contents of messages, photos, videos, etc., using this tool. The information collected is not sold and we don’t provide a direct feed of this data to anyone outside of Sprint.

Sprint is well known for our serious commitment to respecting and protecting the privacy and security of each customer’s personally identifiable information and other customer data. A key element of this involves communicating with our customers about our information privacy practices. The Sprint privacy policy makes it clear we collect information that includes how a device is functioning and how it is being used. Carrier IQ is an integral part of the Sprint service. Sprint uses Carrier IQ to help maintain our network performance.

Senator Franken asked that Carrier IQ answer 11 questions related to its practices by December 14th.

[Via Gizmodo]

Read [Al Franken - PDF] Read [The Verge]

The United States Senate on Thursday voted 52-46 in opposition of a Republican bill that sought to block the Federal Communication Commission’s net neutrality rules. Here’s one small example of how a society without net neutrality might work: Say you’re an avid fan of Netflix or Hulu but, since you’re using those services instead of your cable company’s on-demand movie rental platform, your cable company decides to block all access to Netflix and Hulu. Under the FCC’s net neutrality rules, that move by your cable company would be illegal. Instead, cable companies must allow access to all legal content crossing their networks. However, cable and internet companies fear that net neutrality is giving the government too much control over their networks. Verizon moved to appeal the net neutrality rules in January when it said it was “deeply concerned by the FCC’s assertion of broad authority for sweeping new regulation of broadband networks and the internet itself.” The FCC has since filed a motion to toss Verizon’s suit. The rules are set to go into effect on November 20th, Reuters said.

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Expedia, Nextag and Yelp are in Washington, D.C. to participate in a Senate judiciary antitrust subcommittee hearing about whether or not Google has acted anti-competitively in the market. Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman is one of the executives who has been asked to provide testimony during the hearing and he has posted his written testimony on Yelp’s website. “Google is no longer in the business of sending people to the best sources of information on the web,” Stoppelman said. “It now hopes to be a destination site itself for one vertical market after another, including news, shopping, travel and now, local business reviews. It would be one thing if these efforts were conducted on a level playing field, but the reality is they are not.” Read on for more.

Stoppleman explained that Google once agreed to license Yelp’s content, but never did, and still uses Yelp’s results to “prop up its own, less effective product.” Google said it would “cease the practice only if [Yelp] agreed to be removed from Google’s web search index, thereby preventing Yelp from appearing anywhere in Google search results,” Stoppleman’s testimony explained. “Allowing a search engine with monopoly market share to exploit and extend its dominance hampers entrepreneurial activity,” Stoppleman concluded. “They prefer to send consumers to the most profitable sites on the Web: their own,” he added on Wednesday.

Nextag CEO Jeff Ketz’ opinion is similar to Jeremy Stoppelman’s. Katz explained that Google, which he says views Nextag as a threat, only allows his company to purchase and bid on ads that are lower down on the results page than the more prominent top results. “Google is the dominant digital advertising resource in the world, and Nextag is restricted from marketing itself to shoppers about the services we can provide,” he told The Wall Street Journal. “Google rigs its results,” Katz argued on Wednesday. “[It] doesn’t play fair,” he said, according to CNET.

A Google spokesperson explained that Nextag can’t purchase the more prominent ads because it points buyers to other sellers and does not actually sell the products itself. The Federal Trade Commission announced in late July that it would review Google’s business practices and one watchdog group, Fairsearch.org, has accused the search engine of anti-competitive practices.

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Senator Herb Kohl, the chairman of the Senate’s antitrust subcommittee is recommending that federal regulators deny AT&T’s $39 billion planned acquisition of T-Mobile. ”I have concluded that this acquisition, if permitted to proceed, would likely cause substantial harm to competition and consumers, would be contrary to antitrust law and not in the public interest, and therefore should be blocked by your agencies,” Kohl said on Wednesday. Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, chairwoman of the House Energy and Commerce Communications and Technology Subcommittee, Congressman John Conyers, and Congressman Edward Markey also recently wrote a letter to the Justice Department and the FCC expressing concern that the acquisition would hurt competition in the U.S. wireless market. “We believe that AT&T’s acquisition of T-Mobile would be a troubling backward step in federal public policy–a retrenchment from nearly two decades of promoting competition and open markets to acceptance of a duopoly in the wireless marketplace,” the letter said. “Such industry consolidation could reduce competition and increase consumer costs at a time our country can least afford it.” Sprint and its CEO Dan Hesse have also been very involved in trying to stop the merger. While Hesse has argued the deal will “stifle innovation” in the U.S. Wireless market, AT&T’s CEO Randall Stephenson has argued the opposite and has said it will result in “net job growth.” In June AT&T’s General Counsel Wayne Watts said that the deal, which has been backed by other big tech hitters such as Microsoft, was on schedule for a March 2012 approval.

Read [9to5 Mac] Read [NationalJournal]

Google’s chairman and former CEO Eric Schmidt has agreed to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee’s antitrust subcommittee, Reuters reported on Monday. On June 24th, Google announced that the Federal Trade Commission would be reviewing its business practices. The search giant said it was “still unclear” as to what the FTC’s concerns were but that it would cooperate fully with the investigation. Watchdog groups such as Fairsearch.org have repeatedly accused Google of eangaging in anti-competitive behavior. “I look forward to discussing a number of important issues relating to Google and Internet search competition,” Senator Mike Lee, the lead Republican on the Judiciary Committee’s anti-trust subcommittee said.

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The small group of hackers known as Lulz Security, or simply “LulzSec,” would never disband without one final round of fun. BGR reported on Monday that the group’s reign of terror was coming to an end after 50 lul-filled days. During that period of time, LulzSec released data stolen in a series of online breaches with targets ranging from Sony to the U.S. Government. In its coup de grâce, LulzSec released a stash of stolen data from a variety of targets, including AT&T, Disney and the U.S. Navy. But data obtained through online breaches wasn’t the only thing LulzSec stuffed into the file; a directory named “BootableUSB” also contained a variety of malware including trojans and worms. While “LulzSec” is no more and its notorious Twitter account now sits dormant, members of the well-known hacktivism group “Anonymous Operations” have confirmed that LulzSec is gone in name only — the six LulzSec members have been absorbed by Anonymous, according to the group’s official Twitter feed.

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The now infamous hacking team LulzSec recently announced that it was swabbing the decks of its “Lulz Boat” and closing up shop — for now. The group made its name after attacking a number of high visability targets recently, including Sony, the CIA’s website, and the U.S. Senate. It’s unclear if the group’s decision was made after its leader and chat logs were exposed, but the group makes a convincing argument that a 50-day hack-fest was planned the entire time. In its final press release, LulzSec said “Our planned 50 day cruise has expired, and we must now sail into the distance, leaving behind – we hope – inspiration, fear, denial, happiness, approval, disapproval, mockery, embarrassment, thoughtfulness, jealousy, hate, even love.” The letter, at times a bit awkward and out of character for the group, called on hackers to continue the fight against poor security in support of freedom of information. LulzSec — short for “Lulz Security” — confirmed it had a crew of six members and thanks its supporters, but we have a feeling we’ll hear more from the group in the future. Read on for the full release.

1. . /$$                 /$$            /$$$$$$
2. .| $$                | $$           /$$__  $$
3. .| $$       /$$   /$$| $$ /$$$$$$$$| $$  \__/  /$$$$$$   /$$$$$$$
4. .| $$      | $$  | $$| $$|____ /$$/|  $$$$$$  /$$__  $$ /$$_____/
5. .| $$      | $$  | $$| $$   /$$$$/  \____  $$| $$$$$$$$| $$
6. .| $$      | $$  | $$| $$  /$$__/   /$$  \ $$| $$_____/| $$
7. .| $$$$$$$$|  $$$$$$/| $$ /$$$$$$$$|  $$$$$$/|  $$$$$$$|  $$$$$$.$
8. .|________/ \______/ |__/|________/ \______/  \_______/ \_______/
9. //Laughing at your security since 2011!
10. .–    .-”"-.
11. .   ) (     )
12. .  (   )   (
13. .     /     )
14. .    (_    _)                     0_,-.__
15. .      (_  )_                     |_.-._/
16. .       (    )                    |lulz..\
17. .        (__)                     |__–_/
18. .     |”   “\                   |
19. .     | [Lulz] \                  |      /b/
20. .     |         \  ,,,—===?A`\  |  ,==y’
21. .   ___,,,,,—==”"\        |M] \ | ;|\ |>
22. .           _   _   \   ___,|H,,—==”"”"bno,
23. .    o  O  (_) (_)   \ /          _     AWAW/
24. .                     /         _(+)_  dMM/
25. .      \@_,,,,,,—==”   \      \\|//  MW/
26. .–”””                         ===  d/
27. .                                    //   SET SAIL FOR FAIL!
28. .                                    ,’_________________________
29. .   \    \    \     \               ,/~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
30. .                         _____    ,’  ~~~   .-”"-.~~~~~~  .-”"-.
31. .      .-”"-.           ///==—   /`-._ ..-’      -.__..-’
32. .            `-.__..-’ =====\\\\\\ V/  .—\.
33. .                     ~~~~~~~~~~~~, _’,–/_.\  .-”"-.
34. .                            .-”"-.___` —  \|         -.__..-
35. Friends around the globe,
36. We are Lulz Security, and this is our final release, as today marks something meaningful to us. 50 days ago, we set sail with our humble ship on an uneasy and brutal ocean: the Internet. The hate machine, the love machine, the machine powered by many machines. We are all part of it, helping it grow, and helping it grow on us.
37. For the past 50 days we’ve been disrupting and exposing corporations, governments, often the general population itself, and quite possibly everything in between, just because we could. All to selflessly entertain others – vanity, fame, recognition, all of these things are shadowed by our desire for that which we all love. The raw, uninterrupted, chaotic thrill of entertainment and anarchy. It’s what we all crave, even the seemingly lifeless politicians and emotionless, middle-aged self-titled failures. You are not failures. You have not blown away. You can get what you want and you are worth having it, believe in yourself.
38. While we are responsible for everything that The Lulz Boat is, we are not tied to this identity permanently. Behind this jolly visage of rainbows and top hats, we are people. People with a preference for music, a preference for food; we have varying taste in clothes and television, we are just like you. Even Hitler and Osama Bin Laden had these unique variations and style, and isn’t that interesting to know? The mediocre painter turned supervillain liked cats more than we did.
39. Again, behind the mask, behind the insanity and mayhem, we truly believe in the AntiSec movement. We believe in it so strongly that we brought it back, much to the dismay of those looking for more anarchic lulz. We hope, wish, even beg, that the movement manifests itself into a revolution that can continue on without us. The support we’ve gathered for it in such a short space of time is truly overwhelming, and not to mention humbling. Please don’t stop. Together, united, we can stomp down our common oppressors and imbue ourselves with the power and freedom we deserve.
40. So with those last thoughts, it’s time to say bon voyage. Our planned 50 day cruise has expired, and we must now sail into the distance, leaving behind – we hope – inspiration, fear, denial, happiness, approval, disapproval, mockery, embarrassment, thoughtfulness, jealousy, hate, even love. If anything, we hope we had a microscopic impact on someone, somewhere. Anywhere.
41. Thank you for sailing with us. The breeze is fresh and the sun is setting, so now we head for the horizon.
42. Let it flow…
43. Lulz Security – our crew of six wishes you a happy 2011, and a shout-out to all of our battlefleet members and supporters across the globe
44. ——————————————————————————————————
45. Our mayhem: http://lulzsecurity.com/releases/
46. Our chaos: http://thepiratebay.org/user/LulzSec/
47. Our final release: http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/6495523/50_Days_of_Lulz

Please make mirrors of material on the website, because we’re not renewing the hosting. Goodbye. <3

Apple and Google are in Washington, D.C., testifying before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law. Both companies have already testified in regards to collecting location data from users, but there are more questions to be answered. Senator Charles Schumer asked Apple and Google why the firms were allowing developers to publish applications that alert drivers of DUI checkpoints. “Apple and Google shouldn’t be in the business of selling apps that help drunk drivers evade the police, and they shouldn’t be selling apps that they themselves admit are terrible,” Schumer said.  The iTunes App Store is home to “DUI Dodger,” a $2.99 application that allows users to submit and view DUI checkpoints in their area. The developer’s iTunes page says: “The idea is that information is power, and people will be less inclined to drink and drive if they know that there is a checkpoint in their area, that they are drunk, and that driving drunk carries major consequences.” The Android Market has similar applications including “Checkpoint Wingman,” a $1.99 app with a feature set that’s similar to DUI Dodger. “We do have a set of content policies regarding our Android Marketplace and although we have to evaluate each app separately, apps that share information about sobriety checkpoints are not a violation of our policies, director of public policy at Google, Alan Davidson, said. “We definitely have a policy that… [we] will not allow apps that will encourage illegal activity” Bud Tribble, Apple’s vice president of software technology, said. Apple and Google will review the applications and have been asked to follow-up with Schumer’s office within one month to explain whether or not the applications will be pulled.

Read [TGDaily] Read [PCMag]

A United States Senate subcommittee on Friday announced that it will hold a hearing next month to review AT&T’s proposed acquisition of T-Mobile USA. The $39 billion deal, which has been strongly and publicly opposed by Sprint, would see AT&T once again become the nation’s top carrier by subscriber count. It would also give AT&T control of T-Mobile’s AWS spectrum for use with the carrier’s upcoming LTE network rollout. A Senate Judiciary antitrust subcommittee headed by Wisconsin Democrat Herb Kohl will convene on May 11th to review the proposed merger in a hearing.

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The Washington Post is reporting that eight Republican U.S. senators are trying to block the sale of telecommunications equipment from Chinese manufacturer Huawei to U.S. wireless provider Sprint Nextel. The group, led by Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona, is asking the Obama administration to investigate if the country’s national security will be compromised by the equipment. In a statement, the group said, “A Chinese company with such a leading role in Iran’s economy and close relationship with the IRGC should not be able to do business in the U.S.” Pretty interesting language out of a group that heralds the wonders of the “free market.” The senators also note that Huawei sells equipment to the Chinese Military, Afghanistan, and Iraq. “At worst, Huawei’s becoming a major supplier of Sprint Nextel could present a case of a company, acting at the direction of and funded by the Chinese military, taking a critical place in the supply chain of the U.S. military, law enforcement and private sector,” said the eight senators. You get the idea… what do you think? Is Huawei equipment in the U.S. a national security risk or is this just more political gamesmanship?

Thanks, Q!

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Last year, the Mexican government passed a law mandating all pre-paid, anonymous mobile phone users submit their personal information to their wireless provider(s) and have their cellular line linked with their name and personal information. The law is aimed at curbing what Mexican officials are calling “mobile extortion.” Ransom demands from organized crime and drug cartel kidnappings are often made via anonymous, pre-paid cellular phones, and it is the preferred method of communication for “common criminals” in Mexico. The majority of Mexico’s estimated 84 million mobile phones are pre-paid, and with the weekend deadline for compliance looming, over 30 million pre-paid users have failed to submit their information in accordance with the new law. Mexican telcom companies were denied a request to extend the deadline for compliance by the country’s senate. The anonymous lines that are not in compliance by this weekend are supposed to be shut off by the wireless service provider the line is associate with. Critics of the law say that criminals will simply register the phones with fake or other people’s credentials, and that denying the Mexican people access to cellular phones is a violation of people’s constitutional rights under Mexican law. Telcom company America Movîl is predicting losses of around $10 million a day if the 30 million unregistered lines are indeed shut down. What do you think? For the greater good, or a violation of the rights and privacy of the Mexican people?

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The House of Representatives defeated the digital TV delay bill with a 258-168 vote that failed to secure the two thirds needed for passage. The vote closely followed party lines with 155 Republicans voting against the bill and 22 Republicans voting for it. Amongst House Democrats, 236 voted for the bill and a mere 13 voted against it. The defeat signaled a win for House republicans who have opposed the delay, claiming the four month delay would further confuse consumers, cause an unnecessary delay for companies and public safety agencies waiting for the spectrum to be released and burden TV companies with the additional cost of broadcasting both analog and digital signals during the four month delay. The defeat is a setback for the Obama administration and congressional democrats who believe that the current resources to assist people in the digital TV transition are in a state of disarray and are concerned that the public, particularly poor, rural and low-income Americans, will not be adequately prepared when the analog air waves are turned off on February 17th. The Obama administration and congressional democrats still claim to be exploring all options to secure another vote on this issue.

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