Archive for internet
June 21, 2006 at · Filed under internet
to those of you who didn't hear. MySpace was sued by a 14 year old and her mom for $30M. claiming that MySpace failed to protect teens from sexual predators.
"Solis contacted the girl through her MySpace Web site in April, telling her that he was a high school senior who played on the football team, according to the lawsuit.
In May, after a series of e-mails and phone calls, he picked her up at school, took her out to eat and to a movie, then drove her to an apartment complex parking lot in South Austin, where he sexually assaulted her, police said. He was arrested May 19.
The lawsuit includes news reports of other assault cases in which girls were contacted through MySpace. They include a 22-year-old Wisconsin man charged with six counts of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and a 27-year-old Connecticut man accused of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl." — read more here.
i believe the responisibilty in this case lies with the parents. if you let your kid surf the web, use IM, chat, webcam, use social networking, etc. without monitoring his use you are an irresponislbe parent.
everytime there is a new technology that enables people to communicate on the internet, there are these cases who make the headlines, and there are calls to restrict use of these technologies. it was the case with bulletin boards, chat rooms, IRC, mailing lists, IM and now social networking. as virtual worlds (e.g. second life, habbo hotel) will get to critical mass it will happen there as well.
the answer in my opinion is not to legislate and regulate, but rather to educate. and this is the role of the parents. they should talks with their kids about the danger of speaking with strangers online, and try to give them tips on how to identify suspicious users. and whenever they have a doubt to come and talk. and whatever relationship you have with your kid (and how much you trust him), from time to time ask him to take a look at the IM buddy list, MySpace buddies, etc.
needless to say i think this lawsuit is without real merit and greedy.
MySpace can enhance its age verificiation, provide monitoring tools to parents and more, but it should not be told to do it by the courts or the legislator.
June 16, 2006 at · Filed under internet, technology
disclosure: i just bought my sister a new iPod…
it's not surprising, but probably will not be accepted well by Apple's hard core users, who are probably also tree-huggers, dolphin saving, tofu eating, save the planet, fight the corporate type people.
i think i'll stop buying iPods, but i doubt any of the other MP3 players are manufactures by $25 an hour with medical benefits employees.
Apple Investigates Allegations Of Poor Work Conditions in China
Associated Press
June 16, 2006 7:20 a.m.
SHANGHAI, China — Apple Computer Inc. is investigating claims of poor working conditions at a Chinese iPod factory, the company said Friday, vowing not to tolerate any labor violations.
The Cupertino, Calif.-based company was responding to a report by a British newspaper, the Mail on Sunday, that alleged workers at an unnamed iPod factory were paid as little as £27 (US$50) a month to work 15-hour shifts making the music players.
"Apple is committed to ensuring that working conditions in our supply chain are safe, workers are treated with respect and dignity, and manufacturing processes are environmentally responsible," Apple said in a written statement from spokesman Steve Dowling.
"We are currently investigating the allegations regarding working conditions in the iPod manufacturing plant in China. We do not tolerate any violations of our supplier code of conduct," it said.
Apple's iconic iPod players are made abroad, mainly in China. The company has sold more than 50 million of the devices since its debut in 2001.
Apple adopted a code of conduct for its suppliers last November, saying it was modeled after the Electronic Industry Code of Conduct and other labor standards. It bans child labor and sets a maximum of 60-hour work weeks, including overtime. The provisions also require suppliers to comply with applicable laws on minimum wages and to keep worker dormitories clean and safe.
Copyright © 2006 Associated Press
June 15, 2006 at · Filed under internet
an interesting piece the guardian about griefers.
Griefer is the term for a player in an online computer game who deliberately sets out to discomfort other players. A Griefer is a kind of troll.
i must confess that i too was abused.
it was about a year ago (maybe more). and i was playing Final Fantasy Online. i invested several weeks in building up my avatar. i was building up my skills, weapons, armors and treasure. it was then that i met up with a group of fellow adventurers. we chatted for a while, when one of them suggested that we go out for a short hunting trip.
i was excited about the opportunity to go on this hunt, as i was a newbie to this world. on our first encounter with a few monsters i was literally placed in the front of the group. before i realized it my character was dead, beaten to death by the monsters and i suspect my hunting "friends". the group then jumped on the loot, all my belonging that i gathered over the past several weeks were divided among my "friends".
i learned several lessons:
- if i want to be able to play in these MMORPGs i must invest *much* more time in building my character
- get to know your partners before you trust them with your virtual life
- i'll have to wait till i either retire/be unemployed before i can get serious about playing in these worlds..
my experience was relatively harmless (beside my hurt emotions), but for people who invest much more time in their characters, or in cases like second-life, where virtual assets are starting to have real dollar value the harm could be much greater.
letting the community police itself is probably the best way to handle the griefers. it seems to have worked well for Xbox Live and some other online services. not only it gives players a sense of ownership, but it also saves real dollars for the company offering the game.
June 12, 2006 at · Filed under internet
several countries in europe are looking into regulation that will require apple to open up its DRM , so the songs bought on iTunes can play on any device (right now they only play on iPods).
i think it is ridiculous and that governments should stay away from regulating this space.
people are right to be upset with apple and their iTunes service. the apple DRM is terrible to consumers. it is very hard to move iTunes songs from PC to PC. it only supports iPods. you can't share the files with your friends. you can't resell the content.
but the way to deal with it is different.
if people are upset with Apple's conduct, then they should stop using iTunes (i did) to express their discontent.
btw, if you're really care about this issue there are demonstrations at Apple stores tomorrow.
June 8, 2006 at · Filed under internet, mobile
despite my carrier's (t-mobile) weak/non-existent/pathetic marketing of ringback tones (they call it Caller Tunes?) i have subscribed to the service and started using it.
the default ringback was terrible. some hip-hop tune by some unknown group with very questionable quality. this was a smart move by t-mobile, because i immediately went online to replace it.
a few observations:
- the pricing is too high, but unlike ringtones which i can download any MP3 i want without paying, for this service to work i must buy the ringback from the carrier
- the interface to change ringback tones is terrible on a consistent basis across their web, wap and ivr. the ivr is the worst, and is impossible to navigate. the wap is ok, but you can't preview the ringback.. the web is ok, but could be greatly improved
- the feature of customizing the ringback based on caller-id, time of day, holidays and more is extensive, but probably will not be used by most users unless they improve the user interface
- the selection of ringbacks is very limited
i think they should be a bit less greedy and offer an option for users to upload their own MP3 files. i would be willing to pay a higher subscription fee if they let me upload my own content (there is probably no chance they will adopt this idea..). they can actually make more money this way, since one the problems of ringback tones is that people forget to change them, so charging a higher subscription fee and letting the user upload may actually increase their revenues (still there is no chance they are going to do it..)
June 6, 2006 at · Filed under internet, politics
i wrote about it in the past, and it is becoming worst.
it seems like every day there is a new failed company suing a successful company for infringing on its patents (a failed company is actually a good case, in many cases the company filing the lawsuit never tried to build a real business but rather started by buying a patent and hiring lawyers on success fee).
the latest case in the news is Net2Phone suing Skype. since Skype got acquired by eBay it has been sues by at least 3 companies, all looking to stick their hands into eBay's deep pockets.
it is getting to the point where it is out of control, and is starting to hurt businesses. the whole patent system should be changed, it is old, corrupt and misguided, and now it is being abused. it has become Plan B for many companies, and i hear it from start-ups more and more "well we're building a real IP portfolio, so even if we don't make it as a business we can always sue anyone that goes into that space". and this is the good ones, the bad ones are lawyers with an entrepreneurial spirit who want to go into the business of buying patents and than suing companies.
there are 2 approaches: focused and big, spread and small.
Focused and Big - this is the case of NTP vs. RIM. go after a big company with deep pockets and threaten to put it out of business. it takes years, but the reward could be huge (ask RIM..).
Spread and Small - this is the case of Accacia vs. the rest of the world. go after hundreds thousands of companies. ask them for a small license fee (e.g. $5000), otherwise you will sue. for most companies it makes more sense to pay than to pay legal fees. so they pay. pure extortion business.
obviously i have a problem with both tactics, and i hope sooner rather than later the laws will be changed, but since i have zero faith in this (or the next) congress i am not optimistic on this one. it going to get much uglier before it gets better.
June 6, 2006 at · Filed under internet
the klonies are officially out!
starting today you can create your own klonie for skype (http://skype.klonies.com).
we (at comverse) have been working on klonies for over a year, so it's great to finally see them live on the internet. this is just the first step. we have lots of plans for where to take klonies from here.
i believe avatars are going to become extremely popular on the web, as well as on the mobile. hopefully klonies will lead the charge in terms of content, innovation and eventually audience. i am pretty limited in terms of what i can share publicly with regard to the roadmap of klonies, so i'll try to focus more on the social and commercial aspects of the avatar trend in general.
May 3, 2006 at · Filed under internet
several candian artists joined forces to create the "Canadian Music Creators Coalition".
it includes artists such as Barenaked Ladies, Avril Lavigne, Sarah McLachlan, Chantal Kreviazuk, Sum 41, Stars, Raine Maida (Our Lady Peace), Dave Bidini (Rheostatics), Billy Talent, John K. Samson (Weakerthans), Broken Social Scene, Sloan, Andrew Cash and Bob Wiseman (Co-founder Blue Rodeo).
they have 3 guiding principles:
1. Suing Our Fans is Destructive and Hypocritical
2. Digital Locks are Risky and Counterproductive
3. Cultural Policy Should Support Actual Canadian Artists
i think all 3 prinicples are great. and i hope leading american artists will come together and start a similar movement in the US.
from principles #1 & #2 it is clear that according to their principles users will be able to download and share music freely. the question is what is their suggested business model? (it can't be #3..). since more and more users are coming online, and within a couple of years every user with a mobile phone (i.e. everyone) will be able to download and share files. so they are basically giving up the opportunity to make money from selling their music to users (over a $13B industry). this also destroys the ringtone market ($5B industry)
i am all for it. i just don't understand from where do they think they will make money (beside doing tours, appearing in commercials, and launching their own fragnance/fashion brand)
April 26, 2006 at · Filed under internet
about 5 seconds were enough for me to decide that i hate the new Yahoo! Mail.
yahoo! today released the beta of their new yahoo! mail service to all US subsribers. the new interface is an outlook copycat (preview pane, folder management). it works pretty fast, too. but there is one MAJOR issue as far as i am concerned. the advertising.
they have a vertical ad bar on the right, and 3 ad buttons on the bottom left. at least on my laptop this takes too much of the screen real-estate, and the dynamic ad on the right is driving me crazy.
you can still use the previous version of yahoo! mail, but sooner or later this is going to be out of beta, i am seriously considering phasing out of yahoo! mail. i have been using gmail for a while too, but i don’t like the fact that they took this religous stand with regard to folders (they want to make users use tags and search rather than folders). i like filing my stuff into folders, especially with the amount of emails i get.
April 24, 2006 at · Filed under internet, politics
i just finished reading the Sunday Times and its feature article Google’s China Problem (and China’s Google Problem).
it is an interesting piece which explains how the Chinese government is censoring the Internet. They basically have a Great Firewall that is enforced on all sites outside China. So anytime a user in China is accessing the Internet beyond the Chinese border it goes through the Firewall (which uses a blacklist as well as a keyword base censorship).
For sites that are ran within China, with local servers the government is making the site operators to sign up for a vague self-censorship policy, that leaves a lot of room for the people running the site to interpert what they should and should not censor. the penalties for not enforcing the policy can be harsh, and arbitrary.
it sounds a bit liberal. using a vague policy. but it is the other way around. by leaving it vague and letting the companies police themselves, the government is instilling fear. you never know whether you crossed the line, so you’re always in panic and you will probably take an even more extreme position, censoring even stuff that would have been ok with the government.
this is a big challenge for the foreign companies. and the major portals have taken different stands on the issue. it seems Yahoo! is the worst. complying readily with the censorship, and giving users’ information to the government (which in the past year lead to 2 arrests of journalists/bloggers).
Microsoft is taking the same approach as Yahoo!, but to date has not been involved in providing users information (i assume they were not asked..).
Google has launch google.cn, which is a censored version of google.com, but is not offering gmail, gtalk and blogger, in order to not be in a position where they may be required to give away users information, or participate in active users censorship. whenever they censor search results they inform the user that the search results have been edited to comply with chinese laws.
the latest news are regarding Skype (which has partnered with Tom.com to offer skype in china). and a weekend report by the Financial Times suggests that Skype is censoring the text messages sent on their system.
in my opinion Google took the most honorable approach. it avoided getting into the business of offering services, which may put them in a position that they will be required to cooperate with the government in issues that may lead to arrests, and it provides a disclaimer, which is in my opinion is very important, since it basically tells the user “the government does not want you to see this stuff”.
the US Congress actually called Yahoo, Microsoft, Google and Cisco to testify in Washington about their Chinese policies. i watched some of the hearing at the time (a couple of months ago), and typical to these type of hearing the congressmen where more interested in sounding smart and getting quoted in the papers, than in the real issue. so they resort to superficial arguments that means nothing.
i am still reading the “clash of civilzations” (i am taking my time with it), and it talks about the rise of Asia and China specifically, and about issues such as modernization, democratization and westernization (too much “zation” for a sentence..). it is my belief that the Internet will have a profound effect on China, and that the next generation of the growing middle class and the leadership will be very different thanks to the Internet.
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