jatiN mahindrA doT coM

Another Piece of Chinese Google Attack Puzzle Falls into Place

Update: The Financial Times is reporting that the writer of the code used in the infamous attacks on Google and other companies has allegedly been identified. The publication’s Joseph Menn writes: A freelance security consultant in his 30s wrote the part of the program that used a previously unknown security hole in the Internet Explorer web browser to break into computers and insert the...

China Won’t Stand in the Way of Google’s Android Business

Since the widely publicized turbulence between Google and the Chinese government erupted, there has been a lot of speculation about whether or not Google would continue to do business in China in any capacity whatsoever. The company stopped censoring search results in its Chinese search engine, and threatened to pull out of China before it would again do so. Talks between Google and China are expected...

White House Releases iPhone App, Mobile Site on the Way

The White House has announced the release of the official White House iPhone app, as well as a plan to launch a mobile version of WhiteHouse.gov. With the app, iPhone and iPod touch users can access content from WhiteHouse.gov. Content that is accessible includes live video streaming of events such as the President’s upcoming State of the Union address scheduled for next Wednesday. Also accessible...

66% of Government Agencies Use Social Networking

A recent study came out this week from the Human Capital Institute and Saba about government organizations’ use of social networking and collaboration tools. The study looked at the effectiveness of social networking in conducting government work, how agency type affects the use, and perception of social networking, and the future expectations and barriers for its use. "This study looks...

Google Talks Open Internet Goals, Files FCC Submission

Google filed a submission on its own and one jointly with Verizon to the FCC for its proposed rulemaking docket. Google says its goal is "to keep the Internet awesome for everybody." "There’s a lot of awesome stuff on the Internet: Cats talking LOLspeak. Iranian dissidents tweeting. Live traffic updates. Science experiments," says Rick Whitt, Washington Telecom and Media Counsel...

China Responds to Google Situation

Update:  Chinese government officials have responded to Google’s proposed actions. As reported by Bloomberg: "The Chinese government administers the Internet according to law and we have explicit stipulations over what content can be spread on the Internet," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said at a regular briefing in Beijing today. Chinese law prohibits hacking and other...

Controversial Gambling Domain Seizure Ruling Expected This Month

Back in 2008, Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear announced that he wanted to shut down 141 Internet gambling sites in the state in an effort to stop unregulated online gaming. He filed a civil suit against the domain names and asked the court to force the sites to block access to Kentucky users or give up control of their domain names. "Unlicensed, unregulated, illegal Internet gambling poses a...

Google Shares Proposal for White Spaces Database

Last night, Google announced that it filed a submission to the FCC, asking it to designate Google as one of potentially several administrators of a "white spaces" geolocation database. Back in November of 2008, the FCC approved the use of these White Spaces, or unused airwaves between broadcast TV channels, for public wireless broadband service. On Google’s Public Policy Blog, Richard...

FTC Guidelines Raise Big Blogging Questions

Update 3: The new FTC Guidelines went into effect this week. A recent WebProNews interview with Wendy Piersall, Founder of the Woo! Jr. Network, looks at some interesting points about them that you may not have considered – some "gray areas" if you will.

Google Provides an Update on the AdMob Acquisition

Google has issued a statement regarding the company’s pending acquisition of AdMob. Google’s intent to acquire the company was announced back in early November. The deal was for $750 million in stock. Since then, the Federal Trade Commission has vowed to closely scrutinize the deal. Google had this to say today: As we said when we announced the deal, we don’t see any regulatory issues...

FTC Sues Intel, Intel Says “Misguided”

The Federal Trade Commission has sued Intel, saying it has "abused its market dominance" according to the LA Times. Richard A. Feinstein, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition is quoted as saying: "Intel has engaged in a deliberate campaign to hamstring competitive threats to its monopoly. It’s been running roughshod over the principles of fair play and the laws protecting...

Talks Surface of a Newspaper Industry Bailout

“You gotta be freakin’ kidding me!” That was my reaction to a Reuters article that I came across. I am still a little taken aback, as they say, about the even the threat of the US government looking into ways to bailout the struggling newspaper / old school media industry. Right now it’s more talk than anything else but if someone said it in a public forum then you know there...

Minds of the Media Gather to Discuss Future of News

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is hosting a 2-day workshop on "Journalism and the Internet Age" today and tomorrow. Featured at the event are a number of high profile media executives and gurus. The cast ranges from News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch to Huffington Post co-founder Arianna Huffington. The event appears to be designed to present all possible angles regarding the state of the...

Iraq Comes to YouTube

Google has announced that the Iraqi government has launched a dedicated YouTube channel. It can be found at youtube.com/iraqigov. The Iraqi government joins the Pope, the Royal Family, Queen Rania, and the presidents of the United States, France, South Korea, and Estonia in having YouTube channels to communicate with the public. Here’s a YouTube message from Iraq’s Prime Minister Nuri...

Big Retailers Took $792 Million for Sharing Credit Card Numbers

A U.S. Senate report has revealed that retailers (a number of which you may already know and trust), have accepted as much as $792 million to share customers’ credit-card information with direct marketing companies. Could your card number have been one that was shared? Would you have known? The companies engaging in such practices have been getting away with it because of terms buried in fine...