Tag Archives: Technology

Nasdaq rejects pot startup MassRoots

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“MassRoots, a social networking platform for cannabis users, said Tuesday that Nasdaq has rejected its request to trade shares on the exchange.  The Denver-based startup had hoped to become the first cannabis company to be listed on Nasdaq.  Nasdaq determined that listing the company could have been seen as aiding the distribution of an illegal substance, MassRoots said.  Isaac Dietrich, a co-founder of MassRoots, said the decision sets a ‘dangerous precedent’ that will prevent other legal marijuana companies from getting listed on national stock exchanges.”

http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/24/smallbusiness/massroots-nasdaq/

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Brazil’s latest WhatsApp ban pushes users to other encrypted messaging apps

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“Even during the short time that Brazil’s ban on the Facebook-owned app was in effect, people still found other ways to access the type of encrypted messaging features that triggered the block in the first place.   Several rival apps that offer encrypted messaging services reported a surge in Brazilian sign-ups, which highlights how the growing ubiquity of private messaging apps makes it hard to stop people from using them.  U.S. legislation introduced by senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Richard Burr (R-N.C.) last month would require companies to help to unscramble encrypted communications for the government if passed.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2016/05/03/brazils-latest-whatsapp-ban-is-pushing-users-to-other-encrypted-messaging-apps/

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Homeland Security to subpoena Techdirt over an article comment

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“This week, Techdirt’s Tim Cushing published a story about the Hancock County, IN Sheriff’s Department officers who stole $240,000 under color of asset forfeiture.  Digger, a Techdirt commenter, remarked, ‘The only ‘bonus’ these criminals [the Sheriff’s Department officers] are likely to see could be a bullet to their apparently empty skulls.’  This prompted the Department of Homeland Security to contact Techdirt and ask whom they should send a subpoena to in order to get at the identity of Digger. Masnick is worried that the subpoena, when and if it arrives, could come with a gag order, so he’s publishing now.”

http://boingboing.net/2016/05/06/homeland-security-want-to-subp.html

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Saudi Arabia may go broke before the US oil industry buckles

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“Bank of America says OPEC is now ‘effectively dissolved’. The cartel might as well shut down its offices in Vienna to save money.  OPEC now faces a permanent headwind. Each rise in price will be capped by a surge in US output. The only constraint is the scale of US reserves that can be extracted at mid-cost, and these may be bigger than originally supposed, not to mention the parallel possibilities in Argentina and Australia, or the possibility for ‘clean fracking’ in China as plasma pulse technology cuts water needs. Saudi Arabia is effectively beached. It relies on oil for 90pc of its budget revenues. There is no other industry to speak of, a full fifty years after the oil bonanza began.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/oilprices/11768136/Saudi-Arabia-may-go-broke-before-the-US-oil-industry-buckles.html

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White House seeks to enlist Silicon Valley to ‘disrupt radicalization’

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“The White House will attempt to enlist Silicon Valley’s major technology firms in its efforts to combat terrorism on Friday when a delegation of the most senior intelligence officials fly to California to meet with executives from companies including Facebook, Twitter, Apple, Microsoft, YouTube and others.  According to people familiar with the meeting, it will take place at 11am PST in a government building in San Jose, just south of where many of the firms are headquartered.  Other tech participants include LinkedIn and Dropbox, two of the people said. None of the individuals who briefed the Guardian were authorised to speak about the meeting on the record.”

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jan/07/white-house-social-media-terrorism-meeting-facebook-apple-youtube-

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5 Years and $7 Later, Homeland Security Returns Seized Hip-Hop Website

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“In place of its usual feed of videos, song links and industry gossip, the site displayed a seizure notice from the federal government, a result of a raid of dozens of websites suspected of trafficking in counterfeit goods and pirated content.  The site stayed that way for nearly five years. But a few weeks ago, after lobbying the government for its return and paying a $7 fee, Kevin Hofman — a rank-and-file record label employee who ran OnSmash, first as a hobby and later as a full-time job — finally got it back, with little explanation and without ever being formally charged with any wrongdoing.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/02/business/media/5-years-and-7-later-us-returns-a-seized-hip-hop-site.html

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Americans: ‘Online Surveillance Is O.K. For Most’

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“A majority of Americans say they support warrantless government surveillance of the Internet communications of U.S. citizens, according to a new [AP] poll.  It’s at least somewhat important for the government to sacrifice freedoms to ensure safety, most say in the survey. Majorities both of Republicans (67 percent) and Democrats (55 percent) favor government surveillance of Americans’ Internet activities to watch for suspicious activity that might be connected to terrorism. Independents are more divided, with 40 percent in favor and 35 percent opposed. Only a third of Americans under 30, but nearly two-thirds 30 and older, support warrantless surveillance.”

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_AP_POLL_CIVIL_LIBERTIES_THINGS_TO_KNOW?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-12-31-03-37-50#

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With Every Call for Encryption Restrictions, Officials Make Its Own Case

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“When Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, and President Barack Obama and UK Prime Minister David Cameron declare war on communications privacy, they fail to understand that they are the menace against which the people around them have been armoring their messages to one another.  If American tech giants are legally barred from serving their customers, software developed by companies and independent developers around the world, intentionally designed to thwart U.S. policymakers, will easily fill the gap.”

https://reason.com/archives/2015/12/29/with-every-call-for-encryption-restricti

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UK Police to Receive Hidden Browser History from Internet Providers

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“The measure will force internet providers to retain all ‘web browsing information’ which will help police to ‘hunt down and identify the most serious cyberbullies and trolls,’ Theresa May of Britain’s home security said.  The Investigatory Powers Bill will give internet providers a pseudo-police role allowing them to ‘override encryption if needed.’  The new regulation will persuade all cell phone and web companies to retain records of every citizen for at least a year, providing a data pool which police and security services can access.  However many citizens are concerned over such a library of personal data, which has historically been ripe for abuse by authorities and hackers.”

http://www.copblock.org/150699/police-to-pursue-online-trolls-and-receive-hidden-browser-history-from-internet-providers/

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NSA Helped British Spies Find Security Holes In Juniper Firewalls

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“A top-secret document dated February 2011 reveals that British spy agency GCHQ, with the knowledge and apparent cooperation of the NSA, acquired the capability to covertly exploit security vulnerabilities in 13 different models of firewalls made by Juniper Networks, a leading provider of networking and Internet security gear.  The six-page document, titled ‘Assessment of Intelligence Opportunity – Juniper,’ raises questions about whether the intelligence agencies were responsible for or culpable in the creation of security holes disclosed by Juniper last week.”

https://theintercept.com/2015/12/23/juniper-firewalls-successfully-targeted-by-nsa-and-gchq/

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