All posts tagged legal and policy
In another followup to a post about the absence of professional ethics in startups and blogging, Casey Johnson at Ars Technica has written a great piece about Marius Milner, the Google engineer who “collected personal data from WiFi networks, including e-mail addresses and passwords, with the company’s Street View cars between May 2007 and May 2010.” According to the FCC, Milner’s actions were legal. But, of course, lots of immoral things are legal.
What’s interesting here is that parts of what Milner did clearly violated the ethical standards that were developing among the “wardriving” community he was a part of. Wardrivers drive around with wi-fi tools and computers trying to find open wi-fi networks that can be used to connect to the internet. The location of open networks that wardrivers find are then shared so that people can use them.
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Posted by Jim Caccamo on May 11, 2012
https://rewiringvirtue.com/2012/05/11/ignoring-professional-ethics-another-case/
Hillicon Valley reported that Verizon is developing a text to 911 feature. Very cool. Could be useful in situations where placing a voice call is impractical or dangerous. Additionally, the article notes that:
It could be of particular use to deaf and hard of hearing consumers, who have been shown to be rapid adopters of smartphones for their text-messaging capabilities.
Great point. It should roll out “during the early part of next year in select areas using its existing mobile network.”
Posted by Jim Caccamo on May 9, 2012
https://rewiringvirtue.com/2012/05/09/911-texting/
Early pioneers of cyberspace reveled in the anonymity and potential. The feeling of “wild west” style lawlessness was a bit of a rush—all that space and no one to answer to. That was then…
but this is now. If you are under any impression that things are still like that, check out some of the stories circulating lately on the FBI’s desire for a “wiretap ready” web. Back in February, FBI general counsel Valerie Caproni complained that criminals no longer used the technologies that law enforcement could legally intercept. As a result, it is easy for criminals to “go dark” and avoid the kind of surveillance in the analog world that is routinely used to catch criminals before the act.
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Posted by Jim Caccamo on May 8, 2012
https://rewiringvirtue.com/2012/05/08/its-a-problem-with-law-not-technology/
One argument I frequently hear from students in class in support of expanded surveillance is that spying is ok, because if you aren’t doing anything wrong, you don’t need to worry. Nothing bad will happen to you. Tell that to the folks who run the music site Dajaz1.com. Their domain was seized by the federal government on the complaint of the RIAA. Problem was, they didn’t do anything wrong.
Apparently, however, the RIAA and music labels’ evidence against Dajaz1, a music blog, never came. Or, if it did, it was not enough to build a case and the authorities returned the site nearly 13 months later without explanation or apology.
They didn’t have any illegal files on their servers. And they were put out of business.
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Posted by Jim Caccamo on May 7, 2012
https://rewiringvirtue.com/2012/05/07/but-they-did-nothing-wrong-or-who-really-owns-the-courts/
Andrew Feinberg at Hillicon Valley reported that the media watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has asked the Commerce committees in the House and Senate to hold hearings on whether or not the broadcast licenses for Fox should be revoked. As it turns out, there is a “character clause” in the FCC’s public spectrum licensing agreement that requires that license holders (persons, conglomorates, or corporations) must be citizens of good character. Essentially, if you are going to get to broadcast on the public airwaves, you have to be the kind of person who can reasonably be trusted to serve the public interest.
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Posted by Jim Caccamo on May 2, 2012
https://rewiringvirtue.com/2012/05/02/yes-but-its-never-gonna-happen/
Well, there you go. According to the New York Post, it looks like Hulu is going to be switching over to a new revenue system. The site, owned by News Corp., Disney, Comcast and Providence, has used an ad and subscription supported model that enabled people to watch cable and network shows without subscribing to cable. The problem is, people are leaving cable. So, Hulu is going change to an “authentication model” that will require you to enter your cable subscriber number before you watch. No cable, no Hulu.
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Posted by Jim Caccamo on April 30, 2012
https://rewiringvirtue.com/2012/04/30/creative-industries/
Rewiring Virtue 