19/07/2013
Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, others urge for greater U.S. gov't transparency
Summary: A coalition of technology firms, including those implicated in the PRISM spying scandal, have signed a letter to the Obama administration urging for greater transparency.
Close to two-dozen technology firms, including AOL, Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo, have signed a letter to the U.S. government urging greater transparency in the wake of the National Security Agency's PRISM spying scandal.
The National Security Agency's "PRISM" program is able to collect, in realtime, intelligence not limited to social networks and email accounts. But the seven tech companies accused of opening 'back doors' to the spy agency could well be proven innocent.
Since former NSA contractor turned whistleblower Edward Snowden leaked a number of documents that detailed how the U.S. government and its foreign allies were spying on their citizens, many technology companies have tried to distance themselves from claims of collusion and cooperation.
The letter [PDF], which can also be read below, calls on the Obama administration to allow companies to disclose exactly how many government requests for customer and subscriber data that Internet providers, telcos and Web-based companies are handed.
Google first began this trend in early 2010, and others followed suit. Microsoft became the latest firm to join the trend earlier this year after pressure from privacy groups.
But companies are not allowed to disclose the full amount of National Security Letter "gagging orders" handed down by federal authorities. Instead, they are only permitted to report the number range.
The letter also calls for the government to allow these technology firms, and others, to detail how many requests made under Section 215 of the Patriot Act — which demands all "tangible things" including business records and private user data — as well as under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), and other related statutes that currently prevent these companies from publishing these figures themselves.
The group also calls for Congress to pass laws that force the U.S. government to report these figures accurately without having to first seek permission from the FISA court.
Also, the companies have launched a group petition on the White House's "We The People" platform.
The coalition includes other technology firms but also civil liberties and privacy groups — such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), among others.
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04:32 Publié dans Microsoft | Tags : office 2010, office 2013, windows 8, microsoft | Lien permanent | Commentaires (0)
21/06/2013
One Indie's Troubles With Microsoft
The common, popular narrative is that companies like Microsoft are eeeeevil. All they want is money! Or something like that. Maybe it's not so clear-cut?
I want to tell you that Skulls of the Shogun is excellent. Read…
This quote in the image above comes from a piece on Rock Paper, Shotgun on Skulls of the Shogun. (Edit: the quote comes from Borut Pfeiffer, who works for Plush Apocalypse Productions—a studio that collaborated with 17-BIT on Skulls of the Shogun). The article describes the trials and disappointments that came with developing a game exclusive to Microsoft products. Instead of having that exclusivity result in more exposure and sales, the move resulted in complications and an empty bank account.
They came across as though they were institutionally incompetent. I think they’re not really set up to be a decent publisher. I do feel slightly bad saying that, because there were people there who worked hard on our behalf, but at the same time there are systemic problems with the way that division is setup and run.
Of course, the developers knew they were taking a gamble that involved releasing a game on a bunch of new products—it's probably not fair to put all of the blame on Microsoft. Still, it's kind of impressive how incompetent Microsoft sounds, at least when it comes to doing well by indies. You can read specifics here; it's well worth a read.
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04:36 Publié dans Microsoft | Tags : office 2010, microsoft office 2010, office 2013, windows 8, windows 7 | Lien permanent | Commentaires (0)
27/05/2013
Microsoft Files Dispute Against Owner Of Xboxone.com And Xboxone.net
Microsoft has filed a complaint against the current owner of the websites Xboxone.com and Xboxone.net, just days after the company revealed its new next-gen console, the Xbox One. The company revealed the console, which had previously been called the Xbox 720 or Durango, on Tuesday, May 21. Microsoft announced that the console would be available by the end of 2013.
Microsoft filed the complaint with the National Arbitration Forum (NAF) on May 23, and its case number (1501205) is currently listed as pending in the forum’s domain dispute database. Both website domains are registered to London resident Krasimir Hristov Ivanov, who bought the domains on December 29, 2011, according to domain registration search engine WhoIs.
A Microsoft representative told IGN, “Microsoft’s domain name portfolio is a part of its ongoing business strategy, but beyond that we have no comment.”
Microsoft has filed domain disputes in the past, and the cases generally end in Microsoft’s favor. In 2003, a Canadian high school student named Mike Rowe registered the name MikeRoweSoft.com for his part-time web design business. Microsoft considered the domain to be trademark infringement, due to its phonetic resemblance to the trademarked company name, and demanded that Rowe give up the domain. Rowe asked to be compensated for giving up the domain, and Microsoft gave him the $10 he spent to register the domain. Rowe then asked for $10,000 because he was “mad” at the original offer, and Microsoft responded with a 25-page cease and desist order.
The company accused the high school senior of cybersquatting, a practice in which someone uses a domain name in an attempt to profit from someone else’s trademark. The cybersquatter will then offer to sell the domain to the company that owns the trademark for a large price. Mike Rowe and Microsfoft eventually settled out of court, and Microsoft gained control of the domain. The company also paid Rowe’s expenses, and gave him and his family an all-expenses paid trip the Microsoft Research Tech Vest at the company’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington. The company also gave Rowe training for Microsoft certification.
In this particular case, neither Xboxone.com or Xboxone.net are being used for anything, which may help Microsoft prove cybersquatting, even despite the timing of the websites’ registration.
Do you think Microsoft will win its against against the owner of Xboxone.com and Xboxone.net?
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03:42 Publié dans Microsoft | Tags : office 2010, microsoft office 2010, office home and student 2010, office home and business 2010 | Lien permanent | Commentaires (0)