If you’ve heard the furore over the MegaUpload website being taken down, but haven’t heard of the beast, then quite simply it was a place where you could drop files, and allow people to download them from your account.

According to the FBI, this allowed users to openly share illegal copyrighted material, and completely closed the site, confiscated it’s URLs, and arrested it’s owners.

This had the effect of all users of the site losing all of the data they had stored there ~ legitimate or not.

Personally I think this is a dangerous step, and is already producing a range of responses from other Digital Locker websites.

Filesonic has removed all access to be able to share files, whilst uploaded.to has completely blocked all access from the USA, annexing all it’s users ~ this is the bit I’m worried about.

This also prompted the biggest hack attack in history from the notorious hacker group Anonymous to be directed against the USAs’ Department of Justice and other sites.

If the USA continues this course of action, the very nature of the Internet is threatened, as they try to set themselves up as the Internet Police. Do we really want an Internet governed by people who themselves have a strange moral compass?

For instance (although not related to this topic exactly) how can it be morally correct to complain loudly over the showing of a female nipple at the Superbowl XXXVIII (the infamous ‘Wardrobe Malfunction by Janet Jackson), whilst having the globes largest legal Pornography industry?

Back on topic…

The blocking of the USA is the interesting part ~ the very nature of the Internet, and it’s greatest strength, is the ability to share things, and this is the very crux of the problems with MegaUpload; What should be available to share, and who should be responsible for checking. Blocking the USA has set a dangerous precedent in breaking that fundamental strength.

Also if I publish an article (such as this one) in the UK which contravenes some law in the USA, can I be held responsible in that country? Should I be forced to remove the offending post? Should I be arrested and taken to an American jail?

Apparently the FBI think so.

You must bear in mind that MegaUpload was a Hong Kong based company, and it’s top guy is German (Kim Dotcom ~ formally Schmitz, read the article, he’s a colourful character!), living  in New Zealand. Spot the complete lack of USA in those countries.

Add to this the recent Internet protests over the proposed new laws in America ~ the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) ~ and you’ve got a perfect storm brewing.

Maybe the USA should simply be disconnected from the Internet if it has such a problem with it!
Just imagine Apple, Mircosoft and Intel all offline, permanently!
A boy can dream 

The next biggest site to offer these services ~ Rapidshare ~ has yet to do something (at time of writing), but is being watched keenly by those in the know, their response will be seen as another precedent…

I’m going to watch these event with a keen interest as they are shaping the Internet for the future.
This is a dark time online…

Filed under : General  |  Be the first to comment! »
7 views

=============== ===============

Now its no secret that I hate post.
The thought of getting something nasty through the post disturbs me immensely.
It’s mainly due to the fact I seldom get anything good through the ‘snail mail’, just the usual junk, bank stuff, and demands for money (bills).
Only within the week of my birthday do I get interested – for obvious reasons…
Yep – I hate the mail.

So I get a letter from BT.

Reading said letter gives me advanced notification of our telephone line rental being increased by 50p per month.

Now some of you reading this might recall a few articles I posted about the proposed ‘Broadband Tax.‘
For those uninitiated, it was a government tax of 50p per month added to fixed phone lines, and paid to BT, ostensibly to pay for getting broadband to the masses. ← For this read “grossly unfair”

This proposal was dropped by the government.

Now is it coincidence that BT have raised the line rental by the exact same amount?
Personally the cynical side of me thinks not – have BT simply decided that this is a good idea and done it anyway, or is something more sinister going on – that the proposal was not dropped by the government at all…

Sadly the masses won’t even blink at this raise, and BT’s profits will once again exceed the GDP of some countries.

All hail capitalism

Filed under : General  |  Be the first to comment! »
11 views

=============== ===============

It’s difficult to say this; I’d even go so far as to say that it brings physical tears to my lovely blue peepers – BUT.

It seems that the corporate behemoth that is BT, has paired up with another telecommunication monster, to go head to head with the Con-Dem coalition over the ludicrous ’Digital Economy Act’. BT and TalkTalk challenge Digital Economy Act

They say (quite rightly IMHO ) that the bill was rushed through parliament in the pre-election ‘Wash-up period’, the time just before parliament was dissolved. It was not properly debated, and the implications for enacting this, not properly understood.

Some of you might say “So What!” – and I can see why this would be a valid attitude to have.
But this bill, which is now LAW by the way, places quite a few restrictions on the way that networks are policed and carry data.

Here’s a scenario for you:
Person A (PA) has a wireless network.

It’s quite poorly protected with inadequate security – being a ‘regular’ user of IT, he/she neither knows nor cares about this.
Dodgy Neighbour B (DNB) comes along and realises that the network is in secure and connects – something Person A has no knowledge of.
DNB proceeds to download all sorts of illegal movies, music, games etc. from PA’s network.

Here’s the rub, PA gets into all sorts of legal trouble for something he/she knew nothing about! Up to the point of being cut off from the Internet AND persued through the courts for copyright infringement – potentially costing many £££s in fines.
DNB sits back and enjoys his illegal stuff with a beer…

Expand that to the ‘public’ free wireless networks on trains, in cafés etc. and you can plainly see that these vital business access points will disappear over night with the fear of being abused.

Lets hope that BT and TalkTalk get somewhere and this nasty little law gets revoked as soon as possible; BEFORE the true damage is done and all these regular users of the net end up prosecuted for nothing!
Just another example of our “knee jerk” reactionary government, doing something akin to hitting a walnut with a JCB.

Filed under : General  |  Be the first to comment! »
6 views

=============== ===============

Unless you live in a cave without power and WiFi, you’ll be aware that the current chancellor – one George Osborne MP – has delivered an ‘Emergency’ budget statement.

Amongst some interesting measures, several will effect the UK SME market in some unsettling ways.

Upping the CGT (Capital Gains Tax) will have an impact for those who will hit the threshold, and those who have to fill out the tax returns; A rate change half way through the year makes for some interesting calculations

Upping the VAT rate from 17.5% to 20% will hit consumers mainly, and might actually fuel a buying frenzy, if people try to get things in before the rate hike. It’s also going to effect those with automated invoicing and accounting packages which will need to be updated.

There are a few other points, but this is a blog about Rochester & Associates Ltd not finance!

It seems from my vaunted viewpoint, that this budget will damage an already fragile marketplace.
We have found over the past year or so, businesses have been increasingly nervous about the future.

There is one huge positive in my eyes though – remember this: Broadband Tax and Unfair Broadband Tax?
Well, you’ll be glad to know that this ridiculous idea has gone the way of the dodo – kaput – ceased to exist.
GOOD!

---

Chain Telecom are getting annoying at the moment – out of the blue, they decided to start charging for our 0845 number. Something that has cost neither us, nor our customers anything (other than the local call cost).
Despite being a ‘Communications’ company, and us being a long term client, they seem unable to communicate – threatening to cut our lines if the £14 bill isn’t paid.

All we want is clarification – something they seem unable to provide…

If suddenly our telephone number has issues, you’ll know why…

Filed under : General  |  Be the first to comment! »
4 views

=============== ===============

Firstly I must apologise for not posting here for a while – we’ve gained a couple of large projects requiring most of my time. More stress = more requirement for sleep!
For once I’ve actually been getting some
(ooh er missus!)

Thought I’d share a quick rant with you!

“Microsoft is providing the Browser Choice update to comply with a legal settlement with the European Commission. Microsoft is required to inform customers who currently use Internet Explorer as their default browser that there are other web browser choices available.”

That’s the opening shot from the Microsoft website detailing what and why this stupid thing is (read it here)

It goes that the European Commission, those for who it’s important that bananas have a certain straightness, decided that Europeans needed to have enforced choice of how they viewed the Internet.
We were no longer allowed to simply use the installed version of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, but we had to be offered a choice of which browser to use. Apparently, installing an Internet browser within your own operating system is anti competitive and was an example of Microsoft abusing it’s dominant market position.

I have two points to say…

• Firstly – surely those people who would like to choose their browser HAVE ALREADY DONE SO.
  Downloading Chrome or Firefox wasn’t that difficult for those people who wanted/needed to change was it?
• Secondly – why enforce the choice?
  Surely MOST people don’t actually want to change at all. I NEVER hear clients complaining that their Internet browser is poor quality!

Within my own experience counting the number of clients who have called to ask what this ‘Browser Choice’ thing is, there really was no point to this stupid offering.

I have even experienced some clients accidentally changing browsers when they NEED Internet explorer for some specific business critical software to run.
Admittedly simple to fix but the client has wasted time changing to a different browser, calling us then getting it reset back to where they wanted it in the first place.

Just another pointless waste of European funds – paying idiot bureaucrats €€€€s to make our lives just that little bit more inconvenient.

PLEASE LEAVE THE COMPUTER DECISIONS TO THOSE WHO KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING!!!

#Note#
If you would like a quick quiz on some of the stupid rules that the European Commission have passed try this from the BBC

Filed under : Hell  |  1 Comment »
14 views

=============== ===============