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Tag: U.S. Government

  • Cloud Storage Gets a Boost From the U.S. Government

    For all the bad press that cloud storage has gotten in the wake of the recent celebrity nude photo hacking scandal, business is still booming. The consumer market for cloud storage hit record levels last year and is expected to grow further throughout the decade. Companies selling cloud storage for enterprise customers are expected to see even more growth, much of it coming from governments that need secure ways to store massive amounts of data.

    Market research firm IDC this week released a new report showing that cloud services spending by the U.S. government is on the rise. The report shows that federal spending on cloud infrastructure is already 5% of the government’s total IT expenditures.

    According to IDC’s data the U.S. government is set to spend over $3 billion on cloud services during 2014. Though the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) predicts that cloud spending will hold steady or decrease slightly next year the IDC report foresees an increase to as much as $3.4 billion in cloud spending in 2015.

    “Clearly cloud growth is ramping up in the U.S. Federal Government,” said Shawn McCarthy, a research director for IDC. “Spending went higher than originally predicted this fiscal year and we expect that the growth will continue into FY2015, even though the Office of Budget Management has indicated that it will cut back slightly on cloud spending. The main reason we believe that growth will continue is that cloud is proving to be a cheaper solution in some cases for government agencies. For that reason alone, some will make the switch, although that kind of commitment should not be made without a detailed return on investment analysis.”

    IDC believes this increase in cloud spending is thanks to the work of the Federal CIO Council and the OMB. For five years now those agencies have been steering other government agencies toward cloud solutions for their IT systems.

    Currently the U.S. government is spending more on software as a service (SaaS) solutions than on infrastructure as a service (IaaS). IDC predicts that IaaS could see more government spending over the long term.

  • Retirement Planning “Toolkit” Outlines Optimal Strategies

    Baby Boomers are beginning to retire, and that means huge shifts coming to the American economy. The exodus of older workers from the labor market could ease employment troubles for younger workers looking to break into their field, but the millions of workers set to retire over the next decades could also mean big costs for companies and the U.S. as pension systems pay out and the government picks up the slack for those who haven’t retired responsibly.

    Seeing the coming wave of retirees, the U.S. government has released a retirement “toolkit” meant to help prospective retirees cover their expenses after they cease working. The U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Social Security Administration, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services threw together the document to help aging workers wade through the convoluted rules and regulations surrounding their retirement funds.

    The main portion of the document is aimed at those over 50. The toolkit provides a timeline showing when certain retirement events can take place without incurring penalties.

    The timeline shows that at age 50 workers can begin making “catch-up” contributions to their pension plans. Six months before age 60 employees can begin to withdraw funds from their individual plans without penalties. Age 62 is the earliest age at which workers can draw on their Social Security benefits, though drawing that early will cause monthly benefits to be significantly reduced. Medicare and Medicare Part D are available for workers and retirees starting at age 65. Age 70 is, more or less, the deadline for being retired. At that age most retirement savings plans require at least minimum withdrawals or else charge penalty fees.

    For workers who can’t even think of retiring yet, the toolkit still has a few suggestions. The document warns workers not to touch their personal retirement savings plans until at least six months before they turn 60, lest they pay tax penalties and lose interest. It also advises that waiting until after full retirement age (66 for those born between 1943 and 1954, 67 for those born between 1955 and 1959) to pull Social Security benefits can increase monthly benefits by around eight percent for every year waited.

    Image via the U.S. Department of Labor

  • Edward Snowden Offered a Job at Russian Social Network VK

    Today, we got news that NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden had been granted temporary asylum in Russia. That meant that he could leave the airport that he’d been holed up in since whole thing began (which he did, promptly). He’ll be able to live in Russia for a year, and will have to have his asylum request renewed after that – if he chooses to stay in Russia.

    So, what now?

    Well, if he finds himself in need of work (once he comes out of hiding, which could be a while), one Russian tech giant is willing to offer him a job.

    VK (VKontakte) founder and CEO Pavel Durov has offered Snowden a job at his social network – as a security specialist. VK is the second most popular social network in Europe (behind Facebook), and the most popular in Russia. Here’s what Durov had to say in a public post on VK this morning:

    Here’s what it looks like once it’s beeb put through Google Translate and cleaned up:

    Today Edward Snowden – a man who denounced the crimes of U.S. intelligence against citizens of the world – has received temporary asylum in Russia. At such moments, you feel proud of our country and regret the U.S. policy – a country committed to the principles on which it was once built. I invite Edward to St. Petersburg and will be happy if he decides to fill up a stellar team of programmers at VKontakte. In the end, there is no more popular European Internet company than VK. I think Edward might be interested in protecting the personal data of millions of our users.

    So, you know, at least Snowden has that option.

    [VK via GigaOm]

  • Hello, NSA App Lets You Get on a Government Watch List the Fun Way

    The U.S. government is watching your online activity. They’re looking at your social media posts, your emails, and plenty of other types of online communications. We’ve always known that – to some extent. Now we really know that.

    But even before we all learned about PRISM and the extent of the participation from the tech community, we knew that the Department of Homeland Security routinely scanned social media sites like Facebook and Twitter in a search for certain trigger words that could tip them to an impending terrorist plot. And we know which words they look for as well. There are hundreds of them, ranging from topics like disasters and emergencies, to border violence – from infrastructure security buzzwords to general terrorism terms.

    Well, if you find yourself wanting to catch the attention of the U.S. government in the snarkiest way possible, a new app is here to help. From the folks at Vice, I present to you “Hello, NSA.”

    Hello, NSA is a phrase generator that uses many of those DHS buzzwords to construct some suspiciously unsuspicious (or unsuspiciously suspicious?) posts for your Twitter and Facebook accounts.

    “Let’s play a word game! Use our handy phrase generator to come up with pearls of keyword-loaded Twitter wit and perhaps earn you a new follower in Washington. Tweet it out, email it to a friend, share it around, you know the drill – and remember that the NSA and other government agencies might be reading along. And don’t forget to say hello.”

    Here’s are some gems that just may land you on some sort of watch list:

    I guess you don’t have to get this creative. Just tweet out “Anthrax bomb cops, H1N1 Metro Kidnap Marijuana” and that should probably do the trick

    Check out Hello, NSA here.

    [via Motherboard]

  • Yahoo Joins Others, Reports Data Request Numbers

    Like Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, and more, Yahoo is the latest tech company to release a transparency report in light of the recent allegations that they were involved in the NSA’s secret surveillance & data-mining initiative, PRISM.

    Yahoo reports between 12,000 and 13,000 individual requests in the past 6 months – those figures include national security requests as well as requests from law enforcement for Yahoo to aid in kidnappings, homicides, and other types of investigations.

    Here’s the short statement of “commitment to users’ privacy” that Marissa Mayer and General Counsel Ron Bell just issued:

    We’ve worked hard over the years to earn our users’ trust and we fight hard to preserve it.

    To that end, we are disclosing the total number of requests for user data that law enforcement agencies in the U.S. made to us between December 1, 2012 and May 31, 2013. During that time period, we received between 12,000 and 13,000 requests, inclusive of criminal, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), and other requests. The most common of these requests concerned fraud, homicides, kidnappings, and other criminal investigations.

    Like all companies, Yahoo! cannot lawfully break out FISA request numbers at this time because those numbers are classified; however, we strongly urge the federal government to reconsider its stance on this issue.

    Democracy demands accountability. Recognizing the important role that Yahoo! can play in ensuring accountability, we will issue later this summer our first global law enforcement transparency report, which will cover the first half of the year. We will refresh this report with current statistics twice a year.

    As always, we will continually evaluate whether further actions can be taken to protect the privacy of our users and our ability to defend it. We appreciate – and do not take for granted—the trust you place in us.

    Like Facebook and Apple, Yahoo is simply letting us know the total number of governmental requests for user data it received – not the specific amount of national security-related requests. Those FISA requests are still classified. Of course, Yahoo joins Facebook and other is demanding that the federal government allows tech companies to reports specific figures on national security requests.

    Last week we learned that back in 2008, Yahoo fought the good fight but failed against PRISM. Redacted FISA documents reveal that Yahoo challenged the surveillance program, calling it a violation of users Fourth Amendment rights.

  • Apple Also Reveals How Often the Government Asks for User Data

    Apple has joined Facebook and Microsoft in revealing non-specific figures on governmental requests for user data following the PRISM leaks that have forced many tech companies to defend themselves against claims of playing fast and loose with user data.

    Apple’s statement, called a “Commitment to Customer Privacy,” once again denies any knowledgable participation in the NSA’s secret surveillance program and also shoots us the raw numbers for government requests:

    In the six-month period beginning December 1st, 2012 and ending on May 31st, 2013 Apple says that they received between 4,000 and 5,000 requests from U.S. law enforcement to access user data. This affected somewhere between 9,000 and 10,000 individual accounts. This includes both national security-related requests, as well as other types of law enforcement queries.

    For instance…

    “The most common form of request comes from police investigating robberies and other crimes, searching for missing children, trying to locate a patient with Alzheimer’s disease, or hoping to prevent a suicide,” says Apple.

    Inside the statement, Apple also revealed that they simply cannot decrypt data sent via iMessage or FaceTime:

    Apple has always placed a priority on protecting our customers’ personal data, and we don’t collect or maintain a mountain of personal details about our customers in the first place. There are certain categories of information which we do not provide to law enforcement or any other group because we choose not to retain it.

    For example, conversations which take place over iMessage and FaceTime are protected by end-to-end encryption so no one but the sender and receiver can see or read them. Apple cannot decrypt that data. Similarly, we do not store data related to customers’ location, Map searches or Siri requests in any identifiable form.

    We already knew that federal agencies were having a problem with Apple’s messaging products. Back in April a leaked document from the bowels of the DEA revealed just how hard of a time they were having in decrypting Apple’s iMessage data.

    Facebook also demanded the U.S. government to allow them more freedom in disclosing national security-related data requests, and they also got their wish. Facebook reported between 9,000 and 10,000 specific requests in the past 6 months. Microsoft also revealed their numbers – between 6,000 and 7,000 requests in the same period.

  • Facebook Get Its Transparency Wish, Reports on National Security-Related Data Requests

    On the heels of the leaked documents detailing the National Security Agency’s secret internet surveillance initiative, PRISM, companies like Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Apple were quick to deny any voluntary involvement in providing troves of user data to the U.S. government.

    Facebook and Google, most notably, went on the offensive – demanding the U.S. government that they be allowed more freedom to disclose the frequency and nature of the thousands of national security-related data requests that they receive every year.

    Less than a week ago, Facebook General Counsel Ted Ullyot had this to say in a statement:

    “We would welcome the opportunity to provide a transparency report that allows us to share with those who use Facebook around the world a complete picture of the government requests we receive, and how we respond. We urge the United States government to help make that possible by allowing companies to include information about the size and scope of national security requests we receive, and look forward to publishing a report that includes that information.”

    And now it appears that Facebook is getting their wish – sort of.

    Facebook has announced that, as a result of their discussions with federal agencies, they can now include aggregate numbers of national security-related requests in a transparency report (this includes National Security Letters and FISA). Aggregate – not specific. It’s the same deal that Google got when they began to publish info on National Security Letters back in March.

    So, here it is. Facebook’s first NSL/FISA request transparency report:

    For the six months ending December 31, 2012, the total number of user-data requests Facebook received from any and all government entities in the U.S. (including local, state, and federal, and including criminal and national security-related requests) – was between 9,000 and 10,000. These requests run the gamut – from things like a local sheriff trying to find a missing child, to a federal marshal tracking a fugitive, to a police department investigating an assault, to a national security official investigating a terrorist threat. The total number of Facebook user accounts for which data was requested pursuant to the entirety of those 9-10 thousand requests was between 18,000 and 19,000 accounts.

    That means that less than 0.002% of all monthly active Facebook users have had their accounts targeted by the government. As Facebook is happy to point out, this is a very, very small fraction.

    “We hope this helps put into perspective the numbers involved, and lays to rest some of the hyperbolic and false assertions in some recent press accounts about the frequency and scope of the data requests that we receive,” says Facebook General Counsel Ted Ullyot.

    Facebook didn’t say whether or not this transparency report will be a regular thing – possibly every 6 months (that’s the period of time they just revealed). But you can expect Facebook to at least continue to report the unspecific numbers on national security-related requests – which it’s hard to argue is anything other than a plus.

  • CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell Retires After 33 Years at the Agency

    After 33 years of service and 3 years at his current title, CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell has decided to step down. The retirement will be official on August 9th.

    Morell says that it is now time for him to spend more time with his family.

    “I am passionate about two things in this world – the Agency and my family. And while I have given everything I have to the Central Intelligence Agency and its vital mission for a third of a century, it is now time for me to give everything I have to my family,” said Morell.

    In his time at the CIA, Morell served as the Presidential Briefer, Associate Deputy Director, Director for Intelligence, Deputy Director, and Acting Director.

    “I will miss many things about this Agency and about the job that I have been blessed with for the last three years. But most of all, I will miss the people – the talented and dedicated officers on the senior leadership team, my colleagues on the Deputies Committee with whom I have spent countless hours in the Situation Room, and, most of all, the CIA workforce – the heroes of this place, the people at the pointy end of the spear, the patriots who do the work of keeping the country safe every day.”

    Morell has been appointed to the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board – a kind of retired intelligence officers’ club that helps advise the White House on important security matters.

    “As much as I would selfishly like to keep Michael right where he is for as long as possible, he has decided to retire to spend more time with his family and to pursue other professional opportunities. In many respects, Michael has come to personify the strengths and qualities of this great organization, and it is difficult for me to imagine CIA without Michael’s exceptionally sharp mind, tremendous energy, and absolute dedication to mission. But I am comforted by the fact that Michael will be able to spend more time with his wonderful family,” said CIA Director John Brennan.

    The CIA announced that Avril Haines will be replacing Morell as Deputy Director. She formerly served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Legal Adviser to the National Security Council. She will be the first woman to hold the position.

  • Facebook, Like Google, Urges Transparency for National Security Data Requests

    Like Google, Facebook was quick to deny any involvement in the so-called “PRISM” program, which leaks indicated involved high-profile tech companies providing the National Security Agency a “backdoor” to all of their user data. And like Google, Facebook is now calling for more freedom to publish national security data requests they receive from the U.S. government.

    In a statement from Facebook General Counsel Ted Ullyot, the company urges the United States government to “allow companies to include information about the size and scope of national security requests.”

    Facebook says if such allowances were granted, they’d be happy to publish a transparency report.

    Here’s Ullyot’s full statement:

    As Mark said last week, we strongly encourage all governments to be much more transparent about all programs aimed at keeping the public safe. In the past, we have questioned the value of releasing a transparency report that, because of exactly these types of government restrictions on disclosure, is necessarily incomplete and therefore potentially misleading to users. We would welcome the opportunity to provide a transparency report that allows us to share with those who use Facebook around the world a complete picture of the government requests we receive, and how we respond. We urge the United States government to help make that possible by allowing companies to include information about the size and scope of national security requests we receive, and look forward to publishing a report that includes that information.

    As for what Mark said last week – the Facebook CEO was quick to deny any involvement in PRISM and called for all governments to be more transparent:

    I want to respond personally to the outrageous press reports about PRISM:

    Facebook is not and has never been part of any program to give the US or any other government direct access to our servers. We have never received a blanket request or court order from any government agency asking for information or metadata in bulk, like the one Verizon reportedly received. And if we did, we would fight it aggressively. We hadn’t even heard of PRISM before yesterday.

    When governments ask Facebook for data, we review each request carefully to make sure they always follow the correct processes and all applicable laws, and then only provide the information if is required by law. We will continue fighting aggressively to keep your information safe and secure.

    We strongly encourage all governments to be much more transparent about all programs aimed at keeping the public safe. It’s the only way to protect everyone’s civil liberties and create the safe and free society we all want over the long term.

    Yesterday, Google made public a letter they sent to Attorney General Eric Holder asking the U.S. government to let Google publish the aggregate numbers of national security requests (including FISA disclosures) in their Transparency Report.

    What we have here is both companies going on the offensive. It’s not enough to simply defend against allegations of playing fast and loose with user data – both Google and Facebook are demanding that the U.S. government let them tell users more about data requests.

  • Edward Snowden on Twitter Is Not Who You Think He Is

    It has been revealed that one Edward Snowden, a former technical assistant for the CIA, is the source of the leaked documents detailing the National Security Agency’s massive surveillance initiative that involves major tech companies like Google, Facebook, Yahoo, are Microsoft (although they deny involvement).

    Edward Snowden – he’s your whistleblower.

    @EdwardSnowden on Twitter – he’s not your whistleblower.

    In fact, he’s just an estate agent, horse racing enthusiast, and lover of family, friends, and football.

    The Twitter confusion has been interesting to watch:

    The Guardian’s Glenn Greenwald, the man responsible for bringing the leaks to our attention and profiling the whistleblower, has tweeted about the Twitter mix-up:

    Twitter’s Edward Snowden seems to be taking it in stride, which is good:

    Sure, it’s all funny to you I’m sure. Just wait until you’re the subject of a Twitter mistaken identity.

    Here’s the real whistleblower:

  • YouTube Now Offers Live Streaming Capabilities to Members of Congress

    YouTube has just announced that members of the U.S. Congress will now be able to live stream video, as well as access enhanced features on their YouTube channels.

    “Video plays a powerful role in bringing us closer together, especially when it connects people in real time. By transcending borders, empowering citizens, and increasing transparency, it’s one of the many ways technology allows democracy to thrive. Starting this week, all members of the U.S. Congress will have the opportunity to access enhanced features on their YouTube channels, including the ability to live stream video,” says Robert Kyncl, Vice President, Global Head of Content Partnerships for YouTube.

    Google also made public the letters sent to both the House and the Senate from the Committee on House Administration and the committee on Rules and Administration, respectively. In these letters, the committees outline that YouTube is making live streaming an option, and that it will be free.

    The House letter makes a point to liken YouTube livestreaming to Skype or ooVoo, and the Senate letter assures Senators that YouTube fully complies with Senate Internet Regulations, as they have already been doing so under a previous agreement.

    Google isn’t forthcoming with the exact nature of the other “enhanced features,” but the live streaming part is a huge deal. Members of Congress can choose to broadcast speeches, meetings, or any other aspect of their daily routines. If done right, it’s a good way for Congresspeople to connect with the American people and for the American people to get a window into the Congressional daily grind, you know, if they so chose.

  • Mitch McConnell Celebrates Gun Control Defeat with Flippant Facebook ‘Meme’

    As you’ve probably heard by now, gun control legislation that would ban certain types of military-style assault rifles, limit magazine sizes, and enact more far-reaching background checks for buyers failed in the Senate on Wednesday. We already knew what was going to happen with most of the proposals, but the latter one concerning expanded background checks was up in the air until yesterday.

    Although polls show a substantial (90% according to some) support for this measure among Americans, the Senate was unable to pass it through.

    President Obama called it a “pretty shameful day for Washington.” You know all of that. Ok.

    Well, it appears that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is basking in his victory with Facebook memes.

    Here’s what was posted to the official Mitch McConnell Facebook page in the aftermath of the vote. It shows Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) asking for some “gun control,” being denied by McConnell, and in the end hanging his head in defeat.

    “We love the memes you send us! Keep them coming!” reads the post. So it looks like a supporter created the 5-panel graphic and Team McConnell decided to share it with their 32,000+ followers.

    “Shame on you! You have sold out on the children of Newtown,” says one commenter.

    “Shame on every senator who voted against background checks–supported by 90% of Americans. Do you represent us or the NRA?” says another.

    The post is generating a lot of buzz with over 3,000 shares and over 5.600 comments. Team McConnell has a history of using the Facebook page to generate support with memes (just take a look at their past activity), but it seems they may have stepped in it here by posting such a flippant gloat over an issue which many Americans would consider of grave importance.

  • Zuckerberg: U.S. Immigration Policy ‘Unfit for Today’s World’

    Zuckerberg: U.S. Immigration Policy ‘Unfit for Today’s World’

    Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has pulled the cover off his immigration reform group, outlining its position and naming its advocates in a Washington Post op-ed.

    He starts off with an anecdote about a young, undocumented student that he teaches in an after-school class on entrepreneurship. The kid’s family is from Mexico, but he’s live in America basically his whole life. Zuckerberg recalls how the student relating his worries about being able to go to college, given his situation.

    “These students are smart and hardworking, and they should be part of our future,” says Zuckerberg.

    And with that, Zuckerberg announced FWD.us.

    “I am proud to announce FWD.us, a new organization founded by leaders of our nation’s technology community to focus on these issues and advocate a bipartisan policy agenda to build the knowledge economy the United States needs to ensure more jobs, innovation and investment.”

    And here some of those tech leaders that have joined Zuckerberg on the project:

    Reid Hoffman, Eric Schmidt, Marissa Mayer, Drew Houston, Ron Conway, Chamath Palihapitiya, Joe Green, Jim Breyer, Matt Cohler, John Doerr, Paul Graham, Mary Meeker, Max Levchin, Aditya Agarwal and Ruchi Sanghvi.

    “Today’s students should have the same opportunities – but our current system blocks them. We have a strange immigration policy for a nation of immigrants. And it’s a policy unfit for today’s world,” says Zuckerberg.

    Zuckerberg gives a basic outline of FWD.us’ agenda. He says that comprehensive immigration reform starts with effective border security and also allows a “path to citizenship” that lets America benefit from its best and brightest. He also calls for higher standards in schools and “investment in breakthrough discoveries in scientific research and assurance that the benefits of the inventions belong to the public and not just to the few.”

    Not too specific on the goals thus far, but the message is clear: we have to start keeping the talent here, instead of letting it slip away to other countries.

    Zuckerberg says that the group will “work with members of Congress from both parties, the administration and state and local officials. We will use online and offline advocacy tools to build support for policy changes, and we will strongly support those willing to take the tough stands necessary to promote these policies in Washington.”

    You can visit FWD.us, today, and connect via Facebook (surpirse, surprise). FWD.us’ landing page asks visitors to “join the tech community in passing immigration reform.”

  • Google Fights to Keep User Info Private Against National Security Letters

    Since 9/11 and the implementation of the Patriot Act, the FBI’s use of National Security Letters to obtain info has skyrocketed.

    National Security Letters (NSL) are a form of a demand letter that are used by the U.S. Government (mostly the FBI) to extract information from an organization in the name of national security. The kind of info requested in NSLs includes stuff like transactions, phone numbers, and email addresses.

    And it shouldn’t surprise you that a company like Google finds itself at the receiving end of many of these letters.

    But according to a report, Google is fighting back against them in court.

    Last week, Google filed papers in the case In Re Google Inc. Petition to set aside Legal Process. Although most of the documents are sealed, Bloomberg reports that Google is in fact challenging Section 2709 of Titles 18, which deals with National Security Letters. Section 2079 gives the FBI the ability to issue NSLs that force services like Google to give up user info that “relevant to an investigation” into national security issues.

    The law also allows NSLs to come complete with gag orders, barring the recipients from even discussing them with their users.

    The case is in front of US District Judge Susan Illston, who just a couple of weeks ago ruled NSLs unconstitutional.

    Last month, Google began to include National Security Letter requests (demands?) in its Transparency Report, which also discloses users data requests made by governments using search warrants and subpoenas, as well as content removal requests. The NSL info is vague – Google reported somewhere between 0 and 999 NSLs affecting between 1000 and 1999 users last year. This info is vague because of the laws concerning NSLs and their inherent secrecy.

    Google said that they worked with the FBI to lossen this secrecy ever so slightly to allow for their inclusion in the Transparency Report.

    “You’ll notice that we’re reporting numerical ranges rather than exact numbers. This is to address concerns raised by the FBI, Justice Department and other agencies that releasing exact numbers might reveal information about investigations,” said Google.

    But it appears that Google is now actually fighting the NSLs in court.

    “The people who are in the best position to challenge the practice are people like Google,” said EFF attorney Matt Zimmerman. “So far no one has really stood up for their users.”

    Google has declined to comment.

  • U.S. Government Says the World Won’t End Dec 21, Which Means the World Is Definitely Ending Dec 21

    The world didn’t end on May 21st. The world once again failed to stop existing on October 21st. The world is also not going to end on December 21st.

    But don’t bother telling that to your weird cousin in his doomsday shelter, he won’t believe you anyway.

    Especially after you tell him that the latest reassurance is coming from the mouth of the gasp U.S. Government!?

    Yes, the government of the United States or at least someone with access to their USA.gov web portal has dedicated an entire blog post to making sure you know that we’re all going to be here to drink a little too much on Christmas Eve.

    “False rumors about the end of the world in 2012 have been commonplace on the Internet for some time. Many of these rumors involve the Mayan calendar ending in 2012 (it won’t), a comet causing catastrophic effects (definitely not), a hidden planet sneaking up and colliding with us (no and no), and many others,” they say.

    “The world will not end on December 21, 2012, or any day in 2012.”

    IN 2012? What do you know, USAgov?

    The U.S. government is relying on NASA’s previous debunking for their proof that the world will keep turning in a little over two weeks time. NASA says that “the world will not end in 2012. Our planet has been getting along just fine for more than 4 billion years, and credible scientists worldwide know of no threat associated with 2012.”

    If you want to watch a bunch of NASA scientists tear apart each bogus doomsday prophecy one by one, check out this recent Google Hangout:

  • BlackBerry Ditched by U.S. National Transportation Safety Board

    The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is looking to replace all of its BlackBerry devices with iPhone 5’s. The agency posted a notice to the Federal Business Opportunities website seeking firms that can handle the the transfer of the agency’s devices.

    The NTSB stated that the switch away from BlackBerry was due to the devices “failing both at inopportune times and at an unacceptable rate.” From the agency’s justification document:

    The NTSB requires effective, reliable and stable communication capabilities to carry-out its primary investigative mission and to ensure employee safety in remote locations

    The agency is contracted with Verizon Wireless to provide it with wireless service, and it currently deploys some iPads to employees. It’s decision to use the iPhone 5 instead of Android devices came partly because of that the iPad use:

    The iPhone 5 has been determined to be the only device that meets the dual requirement of availability from the existing wireless vendor and is currently supportable by existing staff resources. The NTSB also anticipates the benefit of synching of the iPad devices and the iPhone devices, allowing users to seamlessly transition between the use of multiple platforms while retaining the same applications and capabilities.

    Research in Motion (RIM) has been losing large enterprise clients at a disturbing rate this fall. In September, Yahoo announced it would be giving free high-end smartphones – but not BlackBerrys – to its employees. Government contracter Booz Allen announced last month that it’s 25,000 employees will be transferred to Android or iPhone devices, and the U.S. Department of Defense is looking to hire a contractor to manage hundreds of thousands of Android and Apple devices.

    RIM is currently hanging its hopes of revitalizing its business on the January 30 launch of its new BlackBerry 10 platform. Analysts, however, are not convinced the new OS and devices will be enough to bring the company back to the dominance it enjoyed five years ago.

    (Via AllThingsD)

  • Megaupload Accuses U.S. Of Attempting To Rewrite International Law

    As usual, the Megaupload case is one of the most intriguing legal battles of our time. The result of which could have long lasting impacts on not just copyright law, but International criminal proceedings and extradition laws. Before it gets to that point, the Megaupload legal team wants the case thrown out.

    The reason behind the legal team’s request is simple – it’s illegal for the U.S. to bring criminal charges against a foreign company. Megaupload is based in Hong Kong and therefore has immunity from anything the U.S. throws at them, or so they thought. In a filing on Friday, the U.S. government said that federal rules on foreign companies shouldn’t be “interpreted so narrowly” reports TorrentFreak.

    The U.S. acknowledges that Megaupload is a foreign company, but claim that the company could still be held liable under U.S. law if they do business in the country. It’s true that Megaupload did plenty of business in the U.S. and one of their major server centers at Carpathia was based in the U.S. Does that qualify Megaupload for criminal proceedings under U.S. law?

    Megaupload’s legal team doesn’t think so and they are now accusing the government of rewriting the law. Here’s the key argument from Megaupload’s rebuttal:

    The Government bears the burden of proving that it has validly served Megaupload within the letter of the Rule, see United States v. Porter, and effectively concedes it cannot carry it. So the Government instead urges this Court to rewrite the Rule. It specifically puts forth three alternative arguments that no federal court has ever accepted, as far as we are aware, and for which it cites not a single relevant precedent.

    In essence, Megaupload is saying that the U.S. government is doing anything and everything they can to indict Megaupload itself. Unfortunately for the U.S., it’s looking more and more like they’re going to lose this one. They shouldn’t be too concerned though as they could still extradite Kim Dotcom. Extraditing a person, especially to the U.S., is much easier than bringing criminal charges against a foreign company.

    While Dotcom’s extradition trial was postponed until next year, it’s safe to say that we can expect a ruling on the Megaupload company proper this year. I wouldn’t be surprised if the court threw it out within the next few months. It would be a major win for Dotcom, but it wouldn’t be the end of the fascinating Megaupload saga.

    Mega Rebutt

  • Judge Declares Megaupload Searches Illegal

    New Zealand’s High Court has declared that the warrants used to justify the January 19th raid on Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom’s were illegat. The court also ruled that it was illegal for copies of Dotcom’s hard drive to be removed from New Zealand to the U.S.

    In the judgment, which is embedded below, Justice Helen Winkelmann ruled that the search warrants were far too broad to be valid. New Zealand law does not permit the issuing of general search warrants. Warrants must be specific in regards to both the nature of the suspected criminal offenses and the articles to be seized. The lack of specificity regarding the offenses and the items to be seized, along with the failure to stipulate that Dotcom was being accused of crimes under American law are symptomatic of “the lack of precision infecting the entirety of the warrants.” As such, “[t]hese were general warrants both in form and reality,” making them illegal under New Zealand law.

    Justice Winkelmann also ruled that the transfer of copies of Dotcom’s seized hard drives to the FBI was illegal. New Zealand law requires authorities to retain all items seized until they receive written direction from the Attorney-General regarding what to do with them. Justice Winkelmann ruled that the files on the seized hard drives “are part of the relevant hard drive,” meaning that “the release of cloned hard drives to the FBI for shipping to the United States was contrary” to New Zealand law.

    Justice Winkelmann concluded by ordering that cloned copies of the hard drives be returned to Dotcom and his co-defendants “forthwith.”

    All in all, this looks like a pretty big victory for Dotcom and the others arrested during the January raid. Meanwhile, U.S. authorities continue to resist returning Megaupload users’ data to them, while making it as difficult as possible for Dotcom’s U.S.-based attorneys to mount a defense.

    You can check out Justice Winkelmann’s ruling for yourself below:

    Dotcom Vag

  • U.S. Doesn’t Want Megaupload Users Getting Their Data Back

    The MPAA shocked everybody last week when they said they would be fine with Megaupload users getting access to their legitimate files. They wouldn’t help those people get back their data, but they wouldn’t be opposed to them getting it back either. Too bad the United States doesn’t want them getting back any data whatsoever.

    CNET got their hands on documents that U.S. filed in regards to the Megaupload case. The documents deal with the case of Kyle Goodwin, the poster boy for legitimate Megaupload users who were harmed by the takedown in January. The U.S. says that giving Goodwin his files back would set a bad precedent.

    Why would a man getting back his legitimate content set a bad precedent? The U.S. believes that granting Goodwin his request would allow anybody to petition the courts whenever a search warrant adversely affects them. The U.S. is essentially saying that Goodwin’s data was collateral damage and that he has no right to petition for its return.

    The U.S. has another far more ridiculous reason for not returning Goodwin his data as well. They feel that giving Goodwin his data back would allow Megaupload to retrieve data that they need to formulate a defense. The MPAA, in their statement, also said that any solution that would get legitimate users their data back would need to prevent Megaupload from getting any data from it.

    The U.S. isn’t completely devoid of sympathy for the man who lost all of his recorded videos of high sporting events that was the core of his business. The government suggests that Goodwin just sue Megaupload and Carpathia for restitution instead.

    It’s absolutely mind blowing that the U.S. would suggest that Goodwin sue these two companies when the fault of his losing data falls squarely on the backs of the U.S. for illegally seizing Megaupload’s servers. The U.S. court in the case may soon throw out the case due to the numerous flaws in the government’s argument against the file sharing company. If that happens, Goodwin may have a chance at suing the U.S. government for destroying his data in an illegal seizure.

    The Megaupload saga just keeps on getting more interesting. We’ll keep you updated on any developments in the case. I feel like we’re almost at the end where the court will either upheld the government’s accusations or drop the case over what has been a bumbled attack on a foreign company outside of U.S. jurisdiction.

  • U.S. Department of the Interior Chooses Google Apps

    U.S. Department of the Interior Chooses Google Apps

    The U.S. Department of the Interior announced yesterday that it has awarded a contract to Onix Networking for department-wide cloud email and collaboration services using Google Apps for Government. The contract is part of the Department of the Interior’s “IT Transformation” initiative, which was announced last year and seeks to reduce costs by cutting waste and increasing the efficiency of the department’s IT operations.

    “This award is a great example of how our IT Transformation initiative is already delivering value to the Department,” said Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. “Implementing a Department-wide, cloud-based email system that helps modernize the ways we do business while cutting costs is good government, plain and simple. We will continue to identify efficiencies to save time and taxpayer dollars using advances in technology to provide better service for less.”

    Google Apps for Government is a version of Google Apps cloud services with an added layer of security that governments require. The U.S. Department of the Interior is only the latest in a series of government organizations switching to the platform since its launch two years ago. Most recently, the State of Colorado and the City of Edmonton adopted the platform.

    The U.S. Department of the Interior admits to currently having seven different email systems operating within the department. This new agreement would consolidate those disparate systems into one Google cloud email service. If Onix Networking is able to prove it can meet the department’s standards, over 90,000 mailboxes could be migrated before the end of this year. The total value of the contract is $34,872,728 over seven years.

    In addition to email services, Department of the Interior employees will gain the use of Google services that integrate with Gmail, including video and audio chat. In addition, Google Calendar and Google Docs (presumably now Drive) contain features that enable many collaboration and organization options.

    “We look forward to providing state-of-the-art communication and collaboration tools, desktop video, document sharing and new messaging technologies to help Interior employees work more effectively with each other and with external partners,” said Andrew Jackson, Interior Deputy Assistant Secretary for Technology, Information, and Business Services. “Not only do we get the features we want in a desired security environment, but our workforce will get the cutting edge technology that many of them use in their personal lives.”

    What do you think? Are you surprised that the Department of the Interior is running seven different email systems? Can any amount of technology streamline bureaucracy to the point of efficiency? Leave a comment below and let me know.

  • MegaUpload Server Host Demands Payment

    The MegaUpload Saga just got far more interesting. We reported back when this all first started that the only reason the U.S. could go after MegaUpload was because some of their servers were hosted in the U.S. out of Carpathia Hosting in Virginia. The data was going to be erased, but the Pirate Party and the EFF both want the government to let legitimate users access to their data first. Kim Dotcom, now out on bail, understandably wants access to the servers for his defense.

    So here we are today with Ars Technica reporting that Carpathia spent $9,000 a day in keeping the servers up and running in a facility. MegaUpload could totally pay for the expenses if the company’s accounts weren’t completely frozen. Carpathia, tired of renting out a facility to house these servers, took it upon themselves to move the servers to one of their own facilities at their own expense.

    Carpathia, after footing the bill for so long, wants the U.S. government to start paying them back for keeping these servers online. A reasonable request since multiple parties don’t want the information gone just yet. The aforementioned parties want it for defense and consumer reasons and the MPAA wants the data so they can start suing MegaUpload and its partners. The government isn’t having any of it though. They say that legitimate users are out of luck. As for the MPAA, they haven’t filed any kind of lawsuit yet so there’s no reason to retain the information for them.

    What about Carpathia’s valid complaint about them losing money over all of this? The government says they should just wipe the servers and lease them to new customers. The government doesn’t need the data anymore and they couldn’t care less about any other parties using it. In fact, the prosecution would be pleased as punch if Dotcom wasn’t allowed access to the data that could help him win his trial.

    But wait, there was that one story that said Dotcom’s money and possessions may have been seized with the wrong warrant. If this is true, he could get all his money back which would lead to him being able to get the servers back. No so, says the U.S. government, obviously seeing the opportunity Dotcom has here. They claim the servers can’t be let out of their jurisdiction because their contents could be used for illegal activities if let back out in the wild. If that wasn’t bad enough, they also pulled the old child porn card claiming that sources detailed the existence of child porn on the servers which would make the servers contraband.

    So there you have it, folks. Things just got a whole lot more interesting in the MegaUpload Saga. The judge in the case could still rule that the government does indeed owe Carpathia money, but the government is going to fight that tooth and nail. Carpathia still has the option to delete the info off the server, but they also damn Dotcom to a weak defense if they do so. Not to mention pissing off the thousands of legitimate users who demand their data be returned to them.

    We’ll keep you updated on any developments over the coming months. Remember, Kim Dotcom’s extradition hearing begins in August. That’s when things should get really interesting if they weren’t interesting enough for you already.