Top Items:
Robert Poe / Wired News:
The Ultimate Net Monitoring Tool — The equipment that technician Mark Klein learned was installed in the National Security Agency's "secret room" inside AT&T's San Francisco switching office isn't some sinister Big Brother box designed solely to help governments eavesdrop on citizens' internet communications.
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Wired News:
AT&T Whistle-Blower's Evidence — Former AT&T technician Mark Klein is the key witness in the Electronic Frontier Foundation's class-action lawsuit against the company, which alleges that AT&T illegally cooperated in an illegal National Security Agency domestic-surveillance program.
J Mark Lytle / Digital World Tokyo:
Hands-on with Sony's UX50 handheld PC — Sony took the wraps off its Vaio UX50 ultracompact PC at a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday and our colleague Martyn Williams was blessed with the chance to try out the ever-so-cool looking device. Read on for his verdict.
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Brian Krebs / Security Fix:
Blue Security Kicked While It's Down — Hours after anti-spam company Blue Security pulled the plug on its spam-fighting Blue Frog software and service, the spammers whose attack caused the company to wave the white flag have escalated their assault, knocking Blue Security's farewell message and thousands more Web sites offline.
Discussion:
Alice Hill's Real Tech News, Digital Inspiration, Matt Cutts, SiliconBeat and GigaLaw.com Daily News
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Ryan Singel / Wired News:
Under Attack, Spam Fighter Folds — A startup whose aggressive antispam measures drew a blistering counterattack from spammers two weeks ago that brought down the company's servers along with a wide swath of the internet is shuttering its program targeting junk e-mailers.
Ina Fried / CNET News.com:
Microsoft to spell out Vista's needs — After months of providing only basic guidance about the kind of PC hardware needed to run Windows Vista, Microsoft is ready to get a bit more specific. — On Thursday, the company is expected to give details of two marketing programs that computer makers …
Discussion:
Neowin.net
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Jeremy Pelofsky / Reuters:
Silicon Valley backs US wireless broadband plan — WASHINGTON, May 16 (Reuters) - Three Silicon Valley venture capital firms are backing a project to grab a slice of valuable U.S. wireless airwaves to offer nationwide high-speed Internet service, according to a recent regulatory filing.
Discussion:
Techdirt, IP Democracy, dailywireless.org, Engadget Mobile, Wi-Fi Networking News and Werblog
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Kathleen Craig / Wired News:
Second Life Land Deal Goes Sour — In what might be a first-of-its-kind lawsuit, a Pennsylvania lawyer is suing the publisher of the rapidly growing online world Second Life, alleging the company unfairly confiscated tens of thousands of dollars worth of his virtual land and other property.
sonyericsson.com:
Elegant Z550 clamshell delivers quality 1.3 Megapixel camera and crisp colour screen — London, UK - 18 May 2006 - Mobile phoners looking for quality, style and good looks will love Sony Ericsson's Z550, announced today. Finished in a combination of premium brushed metal and high gloss material …
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Bloomberg:
Google in Brazil May Face Criminal Probe Over Orkut (Update1) — May 17 (Bloomberg) — Google Inc., the owner of Brazil's most-used online community site, may face a criminal probe for distribution of child pornography and racist materials by its users, lawyers for the attorney general said.
Elinor Mills / CNET News.com:
Yahoo: Our ads are better — Yahoo's new ad system is designed to let marketers target prospective consumers not only by the search terms the people use, but also by their demographics, location and what they do on other areas of the Yahoo network, executives said.
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Declan McCullagh / CNET News.com:
Hardware firms oppose Net neutrality laws — The political debate in Washington over the concept known as Net neutrality just became a lot more complicated. — Some of the largest hardware makers in the world, including 3M, Cisco, Corning and Qualcomm, sent a letter to Congress …
Discussion:
Techdirt
Michael Graves / the Infrablog:
Introducing the VeriSign Personal Identity Provider (PIP) — You're invited to visit and try out a beta version of an identity service we've provided. It's called the VeriSign Personal Identity Provider ("PIP" for short), and you can find it at http://pip.verisignlabs.com.
Times of London:
Holding the watchdog blogs to account — Bloggers wield increasing power against established institutions, but not all are practising what they preach — This week, the 40 millionth blog will come to life, giving voice to another person we never knew existed.
Discussion:
unmediated
Om Malik / GigaOM:
Cablevision's Machiavellian Move — Free SkypeOut might be putting the heat on Vonage and others, but the flat rate international long distance plan introduced by Cablevision is truly a move befitting Machiavelli. — The company introduced a $20 a month plan which allows subscribers …
Tracy Staedter / Discovery News:
Brainy Scarecrow Shoos Away Birds — May 16, 2006— A computerized scarecrow could be the next defense against predatory birds at fish farms. — The Intelligent Scarecrow, designed by computer science and engineering students at the University of South Florida in Tampa, uses a computer …
BBC:
Satellite radio in recordings row — US satellite radio firm XM is being sued by record labels over a gadget that lets listeners record songs. — The recording industry said XM's Inno device, which stores music and divides it into tracks, infringes copyright.
Michael Geist:
Canadian Privacy Community Speaks Out on Copyright Reform — On the heels of the recent emergence of the CMCC, Canada's privacy community is today speaking out on its concerns with the prospect of copyright reform that provides legal protections for digital rights management but fails to account for the impact on personal privacy.
