CyberTelecom News
Federal Internet Law and Policy
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Feds Finally Realize That AT&T Has Been Enabling Scammers To Abuse IP
Fraud... Financed By Taxpayers, Techdirt
We first wrote about IP Relay fraud all the way back in 2004, when it
was pointed out that a huge percentage of calls using this system were
fraudulent, and the telcos were doing nothing to stop it, because they
were profiting at the taxpayer's expense. If you're unfamiliar with
the system, IP Relay has a good intention: to help hearing impaired
people communicate -- allowing them to send text-based messages to
phone numbers, which are then read by operators. In order to fund this
service, the FCC pays telcos an astounding
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120323/02570318219/feds-finally-realize-that-att-has-been-enabling-scammers-to-abuse-ip-fraud-financed-taxpayers.shtml
AMENDMENT OF PART 15 OF THE COMMISSION'S RULES REGARDING UNLICENSED
PERSONAL COMMUNICATIONS SERVICE DEVICES IN THE 1920-1930 MHZ BAND.
Modified Part 15 of the Commission's rules. (Dkt No. 10-97 ), FCC
Action by: the Commission. Adopted: 03/22/2012 by R&O. (FCC No. 12-33). OET
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-12-33A1.pdf
Ten Million DNS Resolvers on the Internet, ICANN
Resolvers are servers on the Internet which use the Domain Name System
(DNS) protocol [TXT, 120 KB] to retrieve information from
authoritative servers and return answers to end-user applications.
They're often found in enterprise and ISP networks, and there are a
number of public resolver services provided by people like Google and
OpenDNS. It's also possible to configure your own computer to be a
resolver, or to deploy your own in your own network using free
software like ISC BIND9 and NLNet Labs' unbound.
http://blog.icann.org/2012/03/ten-million-dns-resolvers-on-the-internet/
ICANN and the Red Cross: An Exceptional Exception, CircleID
ICANN's policy on the special protection of the Red Cross and the
International Olympic Committee (IOC) names has triggered a very
lively discussion including contributions by Konstantinos Komatis,
Milton Muller, Wolfgang Kleinwächter, and myself (with Avri Doria's
reply).
http://www.circleid.com/posts/icann_and_the_red_cross_an_exceptional_exception/
AT&T Statement on T-Mobile Closing Seven Call Centers, AT&T
Yesterday, T-Mobile made the sad announcement that it would be closing
seven call centers, laying off thousands of workers, and that more
layoff announcements may follow. Normally, we'd not comment on
something like this. But I feel this is an exception for one big
reason– only a few months ago AT&T promised to preserve these very
same call centers and jobs if our merger was approved. We also
predicted that if the merger failed, T-Mobile would be forced into
major layoffs.
http://attpublicpolicy.com/wireless/att-statement-on-t-mobile-closing-seven-call-centers/
The newspaper industry must change, or become yesterday's news, CW
Mobile technology and the Internet are transforming news. Whether
newspapers are involved is up to them, writes columnist Mike Elgan.
http://rss.computerworld.com/~r/computerworld/news/feed/~3/uConbmcDph8/The_newspaper_industry_must_change_or_become_yesterday_s_news
Rob Frieden, The Mixed Blessing of a Deregulatory Endpoint for the
Public Switched Telephone Network, SSRN
Receiving authority to dismantle the wireline public switched
telephone network ("PSTN") will deliver a mixture of financial
benefits and costs to incumbent carriers. Even if these carriers
continue to provide basic telephone services via wireless facilities,
they will benefit from substantial relaxation of common carriage
duties, no longer having to serve as the carrier of last resort and
having the opportunity to decide whether and where to provide service.
On the other hand, incumbent carriers may have underestimated the
substantial financial and marketplace advantages they also will likely
lose in the deregulatory process.
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2014116
After Massacre, Army Tried to Delete Accused Shooter From the Internet, Wired
The military waited six days before releasing the name of U.S. Army
Staff Sgt. Robert Bales. One of the reasons: to try and erase the
sergeant from the internet.
http://feeds.wired.com/~r/wired/politics/~3/EOCi8WE6xDQ/
Another key ISOC-DC Event: Internet Privacy Developments, DC ISOC
Join us for a discussion of these and other developments with a panel
of top privacy experts:
http://www.isoc-dc.org/2012/03/another-key-isoc-dc-event-internet-privacy-developments/
Facebook to employers: Legal trouble if you ask for job-seeker passwords, Globe
Social giant's chief privacy officer cautions on privacy, concerns
over discrimination
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheGlobeAndMail-Technology/~3/47hRipW_quM/
Senator Wants To Make It Illegal For Employers To Ask For Your
Facebook Password, Forbes
In their efforts to vet applicants, some companies and government
agencies are going beyond merely glancing at a person's social
networking profiles and instead asking to log in as the user to have a
look around.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/03/22/senator-wants-to-make-it-illegal-for-employers-to-ask-for-your-facebook-password/
Employers Demanding Facebook Passwords Aren't Making Any Friends, Forbes
Should employers be able to access your Facebook page as a condition
of employment?
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamespoulos/2012/03/22/employers-demanding-facebook-passwords-arent-making-any-friends/
Facebook: Ask employees for passwords, get sued, CNN
Facebook has weighed in on a practice by some businesses asking
employees or job applicants for their passwords to the popular
social-media site.
http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/cnn_tech/~3/7gVZAjZROa8/index.html
Most (97%) 2011 cyberattacks were avoidable, Verizon says, CW
Despite rising concern that cyberattacks are becoming increasingly
sophisticated, hackers used relatively simple methods in more than 95%
of data breaches in 2011, according to a report compiled by Verizon.
http://rss.computerworld.com/~r/computerworld/news/feed/~3/ACqn7vTD8BA/Most_97_2011_cyberattacks_were_avoidable_Verizon_says
Federal Departments and Agencies focus Cybersecurity Activity on three
Administration Priorities, White House
As I was flying back from a cybersecurity conference in San Francisco
several weeks ago, I reflected on the wide range of technology and
talent we have working to build up our cyber security – and the
challenge of knowing which will be most effective when dealing with
advanced adversaries, especially in a limited budget environment.
Federal Departments and Agencies need to focus their cybersecurity
activity on a few of the most effective controls. This is why my
office, in coordination with many other Federal cybersecurity experts
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/03/23/federal-departments-and-agencies-focus-cybersecurity-activity-three-administration-p
GPS ruling is "hard" on the FBI—and that's a feature, not a bug, Ars Technica
National Public Radio reports that the FBI is still complaining about
January's Supreme Court ruling that installing a GPS tracking device
on a suspect's car without the owner's knowledge requires a warrant
under the Fourth Amendment. The FBI said last month that it was forced
to turn 3000 GPS devices off when the Supreme Court handed down its
decision.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/03/gps-ruling-is-hard-on-the-fbiand-thats-a-feature-not-a-bug.ars?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss
DOJ Signs New Rules To Let Intelligence Officials Access, Store And
Search More Info About US Citizens, Techdirt
Remember earlier this week when the NSA's boss Keith Alexander tried
to shoot down reports that it was storing and datamining all sorts of
communications info about Americans (despite a mandate that says the
NSA can't spy on Americans?). Yeah. So then there's this news:
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120322/16372918216/doj-signs-new-rules-to-let-intelligence-officials-access-store-search-more-info-about-us-citizens.shtml
FBI Turns Back On 2,750 Of The 3,000 GPS Devices It Turned Off For
Lack Of A Warrant, Techdirt
In January, we wrote about the Supreme Court's somewhat surprising
ruling on GPS monitoring by law enforcement, in which it suggested
(but didn't fully say) that putting a GPS device on a car might need a
warrant -- a pretty easy process that the FBI just didn't want to go
through. Following this, we noted a report saying that the FBI
scrambled to turn off 3,000 such devices that had been placed without
a warrant
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120323/03114118220/fbi-turns-back-2750-3000-gps-devices-it-turned-off-lack-warrant.shtml
Mary Leary, The Missed Opportunity of United States v. Jones -
Commercial Erosion of Fourth Amendment Protection in a Post - Google
Earth World, SSRN
Today, those concerns have come to bear, but not in the way Amsterdam
or the Court predicted, and the Court has failed to respond .
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2025485
ISPs commit to new cybersecurity measures, CW
A group of U.S. Internet service providers, including the four
largest, have committed to taking new steps to combat three major
cybersecurity threats, based on recommendations from a U.S. Federal
Communications Commission advisory committee.
http://rss.computerworld.com/~r/computerworld/news/feed/~3/XPmnt_uyezs/ISPs_commit_to_new_cybersecurity_measures
FCC Announces Voluntary CyberSecurity Program - Urges ISPs to Follow
Comcast's Lead on Botnets DNS Security, DSLReports
Last month FCC boss Julius Genachowski gave a speech in which he urged
ISPs to beef up their security practices, citing Comcast and
CenturyLink as two companies that did things right in regards to
handling botnets and other menaces. Yesterday Genachowski took things
one step further by announcing a new voluntary Cybersecurity program
that urges ISPs to shore up security measures versus botnets, attacks
on the Domain Name System (DNS), and Internet route hijacking.
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/FCC-Announces-Voluntary-CyberSecurity-Program-118952
Comcast Applauds Work of the FCC's CSRIC on Online Security and Safety, Comcast
The online security and safety of our customers is a priority. For
Comcast's Xfinity Internet customers, Constant Guard™ provides the
tools to prevent, detect, respond to and manage security threats. To
be effective in this fight, we need cooperation across the entire
Internet ecosystem. That's why Comcast is an active participant on the
advisory committee created by the FCC — the Communications Security,
Reliability, and Interoperability Council, known as CSRIC — bringing
together industry participants to share ideas,
http://blog.comcast.com/2012/03/comcast-applauds-work-of-the-fccs-csric-on-online-security-and-safety.html
Cybersecurity and the FCC's CSRIC Recommendations, AT&T
Today, the FCC's Communications Security, Reliability and
Interoperability Council (CSRIC) issued their recommendations to the
FCC on several issues related to cybersecurity including: DNSSEC
implementation practices for ISPs; secure Border Gateway Protocol
(BGP) deployment; and botnet remediation. As we noted a few weeks
ago, keeping the Internet safe for consumers to browse, transact
business and communicate is an important objective not only for AT&T
but any other business that operates online.
http://attpublicpolicy.com/cybersecurity/cybersecurity-and-the-fccs-csric-recommendations/
FCC Releases New U.S. Anti-Bot Code, CircleID
The Online Trust Alliance (OTA) joined a unanimous vote at the Federal
Communications Commission's (FCC) Communications Security, Reliability
and Interoperability Council (CSRIC) meeting today, approving the
voluntary U.S. Anti-Bot Code of Conduct for Internet Service Providers
(ISPs), also known as the ABCs for ISPs. As a member of the CSRIC
appointed by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, the OTA has been working
with the FCC and leading ISPs to develop this voluntary Code.
http://www.circleid.com/posts/20120223_fcc_releases_new_us_anti_bot_code/
FACT SHEET: FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE UNANIMOUSLY APPROVES
RECOMMENDATIONS TO COMBAT THREE MAJOR CYBERSECURITY THREATS: BOTNET
ATTACKS, DOMAIN NAME FRAUD AND IP ROUTE HIJACKING. News Release
OCHJG PSHSB, FCC
Fact Sheet
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-313159A1.pdf
AT&T Tied to Nigerian Scam, WSJ
A Justice Department lawsuit alleges AT&T improperly sought FCC
reimbursement for hearing-impaired services it provided to scammers
from Nigeria
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304636404577297454154404874.html?mod=rss_Technology
AT&T collected millions from taxpayers in fraudulent charges, US says,
Ars Technica
AT&T improperly received millions of dollars from a government
reimbursement fund by ignoring fraudulent use of the IP Relay call
system provided free of charge to hearing- and speech-impaired US
residents, the US government alleged this week.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/03/att-collected-millions-from-taxpayers-in-fraudulent-charges-us-says.ars?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss
Cramming Is Back, Media Law Prof
The New York Times' The Haggler takes up the cause of an angry
consumer who found charges for unwanted services on her cellphone
bill. Why, after so many years, and so many complaints, is cramming
still such a problem?
http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/media_law_prof_blog/2012/03/cramming-is-back.html
Texting woman splashes into Lake Michigan, CNET
A woman is so engrossed in sending texts that she falls off a pier and
into the chilly waters of the great lake.
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/cnet/tcoc/~3/8Piilfw7F3w/
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