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U.K. signs anti-counterfeiting treaty as digital activists protest

The U.K. and 21 other European Union member states have signed the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, better known as ACTA.

The countries signed the treaty, which aims to harmonize copyright enforcement across much of the world, in Tokyo today. However, the signatures of the EU member states and the EU itself will count for nothing unless the European Parliament gives its approval to ACTA in June, and digital activists have urged citizens to lobby their members of the European Parliament against voting yes.

Poland, which was one of the signatories, saw thousands demonstrate in the streets yesterday, protesting against the … Read more

SOPA-proponent Dodd under attack by Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales

Christopher Dodd, chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America and former U.S. Senator, made a few comments recently that have made him extremely unpopular in the Web world.

According to VentureBeat, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales called for the MPAA to fire Dodd, saying that Dodd's statements undermine the MPAA and make the organization seem corrupt.

During last week's major online protest against SOPA and PIPA--the two antipiracy bills pending in the Senate and Congress--Dodd told Fox News, "Those who count on quote 'Hollywood' for support need to understand that this industry is watching … Read more

Wikipedia shows traffic uptick during SOPA protest

Although Wikipedia completely blacked out its English language Web site yesterday in protest of potential U.S. antipiracy legislation, traffic on the Web encyclopedia was higher than usual, according to research and analysis company Zscaler.

"If you want a quick way of increasing traffic to your website--change or take down portions of your website in protest," Zscaler wrote on its blog yesterday. "At least that is what we have gleaned from today's (1/18) Wikipedia protest against SOPA."

Graphs on the Zscaler blog show that unique Wikipedia visits during the blackout were higher than surrounding … Read more

Mozilla reaches 40 million people in anti-SOPA campaign

During yesterday's Web protest against antipiracy legislation, Firefox blacked out its start page and redirected users to Mozilla's anti-SOPA and PIPA action page. It also posted 9 million messages about the two pending bills on Facebook, Twitter, and in its Firefox + You newsletter.

As a result, more than 40 million people were reached, announced Mozilla News today.

"All these steps were aimed at informing and mobilizing millions of people on the poorly drafted anti-piracy legislation--SOPA and PIPA--pending in Congress," Alex Fowler wrote in The Mozilla Blog.

According to Fowler, around 30 million people in the U.… Read more

HotSpot Shield strengthens VPN with anti-malware wall

HotSpot Shield maker AnchorFree has built an extra wall of protection into its popular virtual private network software, available today. The update adds a malware site guard to the VPN client without requiring you to download a new version of the program because the changes have all been made on the server, not on your computer.

With the anti-malware site guard in place, HotSpot Shield will throw up a warning like the one you see in the screenshot above. Available on Windows (download), Mac (download), and iOS (download), the new anti-malware site protection is based off a database of more … Read more

Millions sign Google's anti-SOPA petition

Google's homepage today shows a thick black censorship stamp across its colorful logo.

And, if clicked on, it leads users to a "End Piracy, Not Liberty" petition that asks people to sign-on to protest the two anti-piracy laws to be voted on by Senate and Congress.

"Millions of Americans oppose SOPA and PIPA because these bills would censor the Internet and slow economic growth in the U.S.," the petition reads. "Sign this petition urging Congress to vote NO on PIPA and SOPA before it is too late."

Over the course of the … Read more

Anti-loss device for the careless

Many a harried person (this writer included) has left a wallet in a taxi, bus, or even restaurant, so imagine if you got an alert each time you've been careless.

For that purpose, Singapore-based company Innova Technology has developed "anti-Loss" (aL), which is basically a Bluetooth smart card. Due to its thin and small form factor (similar to two credit cards stacked together), you can place aL in your wallet, bag, passport cover, or anywhere you fancy.

aL pairs with your smartphone via Bluetooth and is activated via an app. Using this app, you can set an alarm to go off each time aL is separated from your phone (the distance is set by the user).

Via the app, you can also triangulate the last known location of aL (and thus your wallet) via GPS. However, it is currently unable to track movements (e.g., if your wallet is stolen). … Read more

Hackers release credit card, other data from Stratfor breach

Hackers released more data obtained from a breach of Stratfor, including e-mail addresses and credit card numbers, the geopolitical intelligence firm confirmed to CNET today.

In a post on Pastebin by someone using the "AntiSec" moniker, there are links to downloads of data on different sites, some of which were removed by midday today. The data dump follows the release of a list of Stratfor (Strategic Forecasting) clients on December 25 and a warning from hackers that they had more sensitive data to release, including unencrypted credit card data.

"It's time to dump the full 75,… Read more

Anonymous targets military-gear site in latest holiday hack

In what its calling another round of "LulzXmas festivities," an Anonymous-affiliated hacktivst group today is claiming yet another breach and posting of customer information.

On Christmas Day the target was security think tank Strategic Forecasting, or Stratfor. This time it was SpecialForces.com, a Web site that sells military gear.

"Continuing the week long celebration of wreaking utter havoc on global financial systems, militaries, and governments, we are announcing our next target: the online piggie supply store SpecialForces.com," the group wrote in a Pastebin posting today.

The hackers said they breached the SpecialForces.com site … Read more

Report details extent of Anonymous hack on Stratfor

Now that the Yuletide fog has cleared, details are emerging about the extent of an Anonymous hack on security think tank Strategic Forecasting that was first reported Christmas Day and appears to have affected some 50,000 individuals.

Austin, Texas-based Strategic Forecasting, or Stratfor, disclosed over the weekend that its Web site, which remains down, was hacked and information about its corporate subscribers--who include the likes of the U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, and Miami Police Department--was disclosed. AntiSec, an Anonymous-affiliated hacktivist group, quickly claimed responsibility and promised "mayhem" with plans to release even more documents.… Read more