Government

The American armed forces have launched their own video-sharing site. TroopTube is designed to allow military personnel and their loved ones to exchange messages without the drawbacks of mainstream sites such as YouTube. The move follows a decision ... last year to block overseas military sites from accessing a dozen of the leading online video sites. That wasn't down to content concerns; rather military bosses felt streaming video was too much of a burden on the network links between the US and foreign bases. It was rumoured that at one stage the bandwidth was so clogged that it affected the ... (view more)

Radio-frequency-identification (RFID) is an automatic identification method, relying on storing and remotely retrieving data using devices called RFID tags or transponders. (Source: wikipedia.org ) Researchers at RSA Laboratories and the University ... of Washington recently released a report which studies the privacy and security vulnerabilities of the RFID tags embedded in the state of Washington's Enhanced Driver's License and Electronic U.S. Passport Cards. Electronic Product Code and RFID Electronic Product Code, or "EPC tags," are industry-standard RFID devices created as the ... (view more)

The latest Orwellian request from the Pentagon reportedly involves seeking contractors to provide a "Multi-Robot Pursuit System" that will let packs of robots "search for and detect a non-cooperative human." (Source: newscientist.com and dodsbir.net ... ) Questions arise as to where that type of technology could end up. Last year, iRobot struck a deal with Taser International to mount stun guns on its military robots. How long will it be before we see packs of rogue droids hunting down pesky demonstrators with paralyzing and deadly weapons while making wrong decisions? Steve Wright of Leeds ... (view more)

An official report says two IRS computer systems have serious security weaknesses. It also warns information about taxpayers is at risk of falling into the wrong hands. The report, by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, a federal ... agency which monitors IRS performance, details problems with a new billion dollar system which will eventually manage the data for all taxpayers. The Customer Account Data Engine (CADE) already handles 28 million tax returns, around a fifth of the total. The report also covers the Account Management Services (AMS) system, which provides quicker ... (view more)

According to recent reports from Britain, the UK government is considering a plan that would see up to twelve billion pounds spent on the monitoring and storing of citizen emails, phone calls, and browsing habits. The expansive tracking strategy, if ... implemented, would include everyone in Britain. Currently, the government has spent about a billion pounds financing similar projects; clearly, the infusion of twelve times that amount will drastically change the state's powers to probe the citizen population. The government's plan will use Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and home and mobile ... (view more)

U.S. residents living in a state bordering Canada or Mexico may reportedly be given a remotely readable driver's license designed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to identify U.S. citizens as they approach the nation's borders as a way ... to save time and simplify border crossings. The DHS was created after the attacks of 9/11/01 . Residents may want to think twice before signing up for the department's new program. The licenses come equipped with radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags that are readable through wallets, pockets or purses from as far away as 30 feet. Tiny ... (view more)

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has reportedly decided that the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol reserves the right to seize -- for an indefinite amount of time and without probable cause -- documents and electronic media or copies ... thereof for further review, as well as make copies of, and "analyze the information transported by any individual attempting to enter, re-enter, depart, pass through, or reside in the United States." The documents and electronic media may be detained for further review, either on-site at the place of detention or at an off-site location. Translated, ... (view more)

The British government is considering treating video games in the same way it treats movies by imposing legally-binding age limits. At the moment, video games are covered by a voluntary industry code. The current administration says they could come ... under the authority of the British Board of Film Classification, which rates movies. At the moment the BBFC only acts over video games which are so violent or sexual that they are banned from sale to anyone under 18, affecting 3-4% of games. It appears the government is particularly concerned about games which, while having milder content, could ... (view more)

It appears increasingly likely that Comcast will face a formal rebuke from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over its 'throttling' policy in which Internet access was deliberately slowed for those using peer-to-peer download services. The ... FCC won't announce any decision until its monthly meeting on Friday, but Reuters reports five of the nine commissioners have already agreed to uphold a complaint of throttling. (Source: guardian.co.uk ) That won't come as a major surprise, since FCC chairman Kevin Martin had already announced he considered Comcast's actions wrong and that he'd be ... (view more)

European mobile phone users should see the cost associated with 'texting' other countries on their continent drop by around two-thirds if regulators have their way. The European Commission is to crack down on network carriers which charge 'rip-off' ... prices when sending a text message (also known as an SMS) to somebody in another country. According to the European official in charge of telecoms, Viviane Reading, texts from one country to another cost more than 10 times as much as those sent domestically. She says the fees carriers impose are around 32 times the actual costs they incur in ... (view more)