* Posts by JohnG

1639 publicly visible posts • joined 27 May 2007

Web meltdown: BT feels heat from angry punters

JohnG

"So they're now awaiting an engineer visit. Should be fixed by next Friday."

However, the engineer will not show up but they will subsequently be told that they will be charged if the engineer is to return and that there is no availability of an engineering appointment for another couple of weeks.

Torrent is a word, and you can't ban words, rules French court

JohnG

"...a trio of French artists – Kendji Girac, Shy’m, and Christophe Willem. SNEP wanted to use Article L336-2 of France's intellectual property law to force Google and Microsoft to delete searches that included both “torrent” and any of the artists' names."

If Google and/or Microsoft were feeling vindictive, they might choose to simply fail to return results of searches for the names of the three artists concerned, just to be on the safe side. After all, that would encompass the request of the SNEP.

414,949 D-Link cameras, IoT devices can be hijacked over the net

JohnG

Re: Your wifi cam is not directly accessible from the internet

"These devices (and I have some myself) are behind firewalls -- so they are not that easy to access unless you are already on the wifi where the device is running."

And the punter follows the manufacturer's instructions so that he or she can view their baby/pet/nanny from work and bob's your uncle, their webcam is exposed to the Internet.

Facebook ‘glitch’ that deleted the Philando Castile shooting vid: It was the police – sources

JohnG

Re: Guns don't kill people....

"In the UK they prefer Brazilian Plumbers."

In the UK, one Brazilian electrician was shot dead by police in 2005. The annual toll of people shot by police in the USA is quite different:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/police-shootings/

Bomb-disposal robot violently disposes of Dallas cop-killer gunman

JohnG

Re: AC @YetAnotherLocksmith ... It makes sense, but...

"He claimed to have a bomb."

So, we are afraid he will detonate a bomb, so we will send in a robot with a bomb and detonate it (to kill him), thereby risking the detonation of the bomb we are afraid of. This makes no sense whatsoever.

Telia engineer error to blame for massive net outage

JohnG

No change management at Telia?

Do Telia not operate some kind of change management or is their change management system inadequate (e.g. checking the results of the change)?

Do they really let individuals make it up as they go along, rather than stick to changes that have already been discussed?

Why you should Vote Remain: Bananas, bathwater and babies

JohnG

The EU and the Cold War

"Before the Cold War ended I was regularly scared about the four-minute warning, and my parents' generation were tangled up in WWII, foreigners were frightening, different was bad."

The EU had nothing to do with the end of the last Cold War, just as they have little to do with the new Cold War that is now in the making.

The end of the Cold War came with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact, as they were unable to match the defence spending of the USA.

Mikhail Gorbachev said of the EU "The most puzzling development in politics during the last decade is the apparent determination of Western European leaders to re-create the Soviet Union in Western Europe."

JohnG

" my a la carte EU feast ..." won't happen

" my a la carte EU feast ..."

There is no prospect that the EU will reform itself to correspond with any of the ideas to which you aspire.

Anyone you ask will agree that regularly moving the European Parliament between Brussels and Strasbourg is silly and a huge waste of effort and money - but the same people also say that it cannot be changed "because it is in a treaty". If the EU cannot change something on which almost all EU politicians agree, what chance is there to address any of the more difficult issues?

For example, recent moves to make lobbying (of the European commission by multinational corporations) more transparent, along the lines of US rules, have been quashed. The EC's position is that there is no hard evidence of the sort of corruption that brought about the transparency rules on lobbying in the USA (as if the Santer Commission never existed). All the while, the majority of EU citizens are unaware of lobbying or of the associated transparency issues.

Euro Patent Office prez's brake line cut – aka how to tell you're not popular

JohnG

Here is the PROTOCOL ON PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES OF THE EUROPEAN PATENT ORGANISATION

http://www.epo.org/law-practice/legal-texts/html/epc/1973/e/ma5.html

JohnG

"It is worth explaining that EPO has been granted sovereignty status by the European Comission, hence no local laws apply"

This is the norm for international public organisations of this type. Typically, the Director General will have full diplomatic immunity, other staff members enjoy some immunities (notably, from local tax/fiscal law) and even contractors may have certain immunities when working at/for one of these organisations. Staff members and their family members are given special identity cards (Sonderausweiss in Germany) which can be shown to police, immigration or customs officials and the like.

Premises will normally have a status like that of a foreign embassy i.e. inaccessible to local national authorities, police, etc. without permission from the ruling council or DG and each organisation will have their own legal system. Of course, this means that staff and contractors are subject to the law of the institution, whilst on the premises. However, as the institutions need to be able to sue their contractors after they have left, their contracts are typically under local national law, unlike those of staff members.

Microsoft and Facebook, swimming in the sea,
N-E-T-W-O-R-K-I-N-G

JohnG

Re: Meanwhile

"but there's only so much space in landing stations"

"GCHQs tapping bays are full to capacity?"

Luckily, the US end is in northern Virginia, which should keep this sort of thing fairly simple.

Are EU having a laugh? Europe passes hopeless cyber-commerce rules

JohnG

Re: looks good to me

"At the moment the catch is always that the vendor won't deliver to anywhere other than the cardholder's address, nor to anywhere outside of Blighty."

This varies, depending on the vendor. Some UK vendors will send an invoice to the cardholder's address and the goods elsewhere. Some vendors will take orders and deliver to addresses outside the UK, although they usually want the card and delivery addresses to match.

JohnG

Re: creating a website that will attempt to list all those rates

"It's be best for the EU to refrain from passing on any new legislation, or even proposals, until the day of the referendum in the UK ;)"

They have delayed the announcement of proposals for a European Army until the day after the Brexit referendum. Apparently, those involved in discussions of this topic have not been allowed to take any electronic devices or storage media in the meetings. Nothing like a bit of open democracy, eh?

JohnG

Re: They aren't entirely mad.

"So how come all the cheap crap in the shops managed to get here all the way from China and still be cheaper than all the other tat?"

China Post.

The Windows Phone story: From hope to dusty abandonware

JohnG

Pocket PC

Microsoft had cornered the market in the early 2000s with Pocket PC running on MDA/XDA devices. Then they somehow managed to lose the plot, allowing Apple and others to takeover.

BlackEnergy malware activity spiked in runup to Ukraine power grid takedown

JohnG

Re: MBR?

"This suggests that the Ukraine is using Windows boxes to control their infrastructure."

...also, don't have adequate antivirus, configuration control, security and they don't believe in backups.

JohnG

Re: Power cuts caused by destruction of two pylons

Where are the affected remotely operated breakers? In a country with such an archaic electrical supply infrastructure, it seems unlikely that any of it would be modern enough to be hacked.

Coincidentally, they had limited coal supplies and problems with their nuclear power stations.

UK govt admits it pulled 10-year file-sharing jail sentence out of its arse

JohnG

Maximum sentence for theft: 7 years

Offence: Theft - General

Legislation: S1 Theft Act 1968

Mode of Trial: Either way

Statutory Limitations & Maximum Penalty: 7 years

http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/s_to_u/sentencing_manual/theft_general/

FBI's Tor pedo torpedoes torpedoed by United States judge

JohnG

Re: Yet more evidence

"Root problem is that judges and courts have geographically-based jurisdiction, and of course the Internet isn't geographically-based."

Those in the FBI who are in the habit of writing trojans which they subsequently install on suspects' systems probably ought to understand the Internet and the laws pertaining to obtaining evidence, warrants, etc,

Kent Police handed domestic abuse victim's data to alleged abuser – a Kent cop

JohnG

"Not to mention what the law society should be doing to the solicitor."

Standard practise for the Law Society is to close ranks and state categorically that their member is an upstanding individual who has done nothing wrong.

Google's 'fair use' mass slurping of books can continue – US Supremes snub writers' pleas

JohnG

Project Gutenberg

Long before Google existed, Project Gutenberg started digitizing books in 1971 and has been making them freely available to everyone in long-lasting open formats. They deserve the title of "humanity's last library".

https://www.gutenberg.org/

So you’d sod off to China to escape the EU, Google? Really?

JohnG

Re: So you’d sod off to China to escape the EU, Google? Really?

In the EU, companies falling foul of the law can be fined and their directors/managers might suffer some impact to their finances and/or career progression. In China, some businessmen have been executed for breaking the law.

Putin's Russia outlaws ECHR judgments after mass surveillance case

JohnG

Re: If Russia's surveillance is incompatible,

"If Russia's surveillance is incompatible,

...why is the UK's going to be OK?"

Quite.

The UK government will probably take the stance that matters of national security interests are excluded, quoting The War Against Terror. I imagine the Russians will do something similar.

JohnG

Re: This could get rather interesting ..

"as Russia has placed itself in a position to derive benefits from its EC membership without having to meet any of the commensurate obligations."

EC : Russia is not a member of the European Commission

CoE : Russia is a member of the Council of Europe, although their voting rights have been suspended.

European Patent Office heads rapidly toward full meltdown

JohnG

"Wait... the EPO is its own f-cking country?? WTF?"

This is the case for most intra-governmental organisations. To avoid undue interference from the country (or countries) where they have offices, they are treated rather like embassies. Authorities from the local country (police, tax/customs officials, etc.) are not allowed on the territory of the organisation, unless with permission from the director general or governing council. The director general usually has full diplomatic immunity, while other staff members typically have partial immunity (which includes immunity from local taxation and privacy in their financial affairs).

You may recall that Dominique Strauss-Kahn (at the time, head of the IMF) tried to claim diplomatic immunity when he was arrested in NY (the police chose to ignore it).

Hacks rebel after bosses secretly install motion sensors under desks

JohnG

Re: Moral police

"... some customers don't quite have such a liberal view either. This is why some companies have extra clauses in their contracts that allow them to boot you if you behave in such a manner that you bring the company into disrepute."

Yes, but the employer cannot just make up rules on the fly and/or apply them retroactively.

UK energy minister rejects 'waste of money' smart meters claim

JohnG

Re: Purpose

"The government will be able to switch off your power before they raid your home..."

Thus providing the targets with some warning of the imminent arrival of the men in black (or blue). Time enough to destroy or flush any incriminating evidence, break out weaponry, etc.

Catalan town hall seriously downsizes monarch

JohnG

Re: Inventive?

"...I suspect, like most monarchies, that presenting the reigning monarch in a less-then-respectable light can result in penalties..."

In places like Thailand or Saudi Arabia maybe but unlikely in any of the European monarchies. Way back in 1977 (during the Queen's Jubilee), the Sex Pistols released the single "God Save The Queen", with some fairly controversial artwork - nothing happened.

Net neutrality: How to spot an arts graduate in a tech debate

JohnG

"It is possible to have network infrastructure that has more bandwidth than the consumers can use."

Yes - but on average, consumers aren't prepared to pay for an Internet which has more bandwidth than they use.

Facebook profiles? They're not 'personal data' Mr Putin

JohnG

Re: Putin's problem

"Protectionist measures only make sense if you can offer local alternatives, and Russia is not set up for that."

That's not correct - sites like VK and Odnoklassniki are probably more popular in Russia (and some other parts of the former Soviet Union) than the likes of Facebook.

JohnG

Re: Hmm...

"Does that particular law really mean that any personal data of Russian nationals needs to be stored exclusively on servers located in Russia?"

Russian citizens and residents. There are quite a few exceptions - things like data needed for travel security (PNR) and medical data for treatment in foreign hospitals, etc.

"That's neither feasible nor enforceable."

Sites ignoring the legislation may end up with access blocked for users located in Russia. Technical means can probably be used to get around such blocked access, just as is the cases for sites blocked in the UK e.g. Pirate Bay.

Idiot thieves walk free after stolen iPad uploads pics of them with loot

JohnG

Re: The punishment

"We regularly see reports of X caused £1000's damage, but gets ordered to compensate the victim a couple of hundred at a fiver a week.*

*citation needed"

The bastard who organised a group of children (12 - 13 year olds) to empty my house of cash and electronics was 17 years old, had a long criminal record and was on probation. None of my property was returned. He was sentenced to 200 hours community service and ordered to pay me £100 in compensation - which took him a year to achieve in irregular payments of £5 or £10 (without interest). The insurance company deducted the £100 from their payout.

Yes, UK. REST OF EUROPE has better mobe services than you

JohnG

Re: Prices?

"While the quality of service is important, it's hard to come to any sensible conclusions without knowing what everyone actually pays. If UK customers pay half as much as German ones, having a slightly lower quality service wouldn't actually be bad (although sadly I suspect reality is closer to the opposite)."

Quite. Unlike the UK, prices and deals in Germany don't encourage mobile use to replace landlines and many of my German colleagues were not using mobile data at all.

Yorkshire cops fail to grasp principle behind BT Fon Wi-Fi network

JohnG

Re: I have to defend the police here...

"The police response was correct, whether you like it or not."

I disagree - I think the letter was a waste of time and money.

"They are not going to immediately send round an armed rapid response team on a tip-off of piggy backing."

Who suggested that? You're exaggerating.

" They had a tip-off and the letter to residents was an appropriate response in the face of possible criminal activity going on in their neighbourhood."

If the police didn't see the point in gathering any facts or pursuing an investigation, they should have simply recorded the incident and left it at that. They didn't have enough information to warrant sending out their network security letter and it appears, they didn't have anyone suitably qualified or experienced to offer such advice.

Microsoft's anti-malware crusade knackers '4 MILLION' No-IP users

JohnG

Re: Good thing...

DynDns no longer offer a free service though.

Brit bank Barclays rolls out speech recognition for telephone banking

JohnG

I had to use one of these voice recognition systems when i lived in Germany. I soon found out that my German language skills were inadequate and spent ages trying to get the system to understand a few simple words.

USA opposes 'Schengen cloud' Eurocentric routing plan

JohnG

Re: I can understand the potential foreign trade implications...

"And the Schengen cloud comes with pitfalls too. "We're a European company and for security we have used "Europe-only" data services."

Similar could be said of China but plenty of western companies have been prepared to sweep aside any moral considerations in order to comply with China's rather draconian approach to Internet services.

JohnG

Re: For a start....

Although, the Schengen Treaty takes its name from Schengen - a town in the well known centre of communism, Luxembourg.

Not being a signatory to the Schengen Treaty, the UK would presumably be excluded from a "Schengen walled garden" - for some reason, it appears our fellow EU citizens don't trust us.

How AGILE DIPLOMACY will spike PUTIN'S GUNS

JohnG

Re: Where's BoFH

Right Sector did a lot of the fighting in Maidan and they want a very different government. They hate the EU (although not as much as they hate Russians) and have indicated something along the lines of "this is a good start but now we need to clean out the rest of the government". As they and their mates in Svoboda now control the Security and Defense Council, they will soon have more modern weaponry with which to achieve this goal.

Two in five Brits cough up for CryptoLocker ransomware's demands

JohnG

Re: Changing passwords

"Most corporate security bods don't though. They do have rules for...."

....what the user base and management will agree to. In the end, senior management want to be able to tick the box about security but they don't want to spend serious time or money on it.

If you do impose something really strict, the users will just write everything down and stick it to the back of their phone, near their monitor and/or put it in a file on their desktop named "passwords.txt".

I don't know why anyone would be surprised by the survey results - if everyone cared about preventative measures, STDs would be largely eradicated.

UK spies on MILLIONS of Yahoo! webcams, ogles sex vids - report

JohnG

"undesirable nudity"?

"...between three and 11 per cent of the obtained Yahoo! webcam pics contained "undesirable nudity"."

I take it that this means about 7% of the Yahoo! webcam pics were of naked fat people. By implication, some of the Yahoo! webcam pics most have contained "desirable nudity" but they haven't given a percentage.

JohnG

Re: Translation:

"I'd like to see the legislation that says it's fine to collect pictures of naked adults, and probably naked kids too."

Typical get out clauses are "in the interests of national security", "exemption in service of the Crown" or "prosecution not in the public interest".

EU hunts down online cross-border lawbook bureaucra-snaggles

JohnG

Re: this docu is important

The EC often does this - write some document pontificating about the benefits of open whatever and then supporting legislation that does the opposite. When satellite TV was switching from analogue to digital, the EC released a document which rambled on about how multiple sound channels could be used to have EU wide channels with sound tracks in different languages, such that all EU citizens could watch the same rubbish/propaganda/content. However, they have supported media companies in maintaining national segregation of TV markets and even made it a crime for someone to crack TV encryption for channels which they cannot buy a subscription.

Snowden journo boyf grill under anti-terror law was legal, says UK court

JohnG

Re: Not quite the same

"Are you now telling me that it is illegal for some information (regardless of type) to be carried in the UK? That somebody can be arrested for carrying some files around?"

This has been the situation for a very long time:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5/1-2/28

Para 1 (1) c

Another U.S. state set to repeal rubber duck ban

JohnG

Re: I am pleased

Well, it is good to know that the US justice system has successfully addressed all more serious forms of crime and that they now have ample resources with which to deal with rubber duck racers.

As rubber duck racing has not yet been outlawed in the UK, perhaps we could hold proxy rubber duck races for our American cousins and stream live video for them? (This bit should help anyone worrying about the lack of IT angle).

Does the ban only cover rubber ducks? Could other suitably labelled items be raced - perhaps a variant of Pooh sticks? http://www.pooh-sticks.com

Snowden leak: GCHQ DDoSed Anonymous & LulzSec's chatrooms

JohnG

Re: DDOS

"This is specifically illegal under the Police And Justice Act 2006 so GCHQ broke the law."

If the police or CPS started any investigation or proceedings against anyone at GCHQ, I suspect they would be told that it would be against the interests of national security to proceed.

"What next, legalised assassination to prevent crime ?"

Armed forces around the world kill and injure people all the time and it is all perfectly legal (well, not always).

Bill Gates to pull a Steve Jobs and SAVE MICROSOFT – report

JohnG

Re: Seriously

Apple would have continued into bankruptcy if Microsoft had not chosen to bail them out. I bet Jobs was happy to have some advice from Gates then, along with cash from his company.

Five UK banks sign up to hook up customers' ACCOUNTS to their MOBILE DEVICES

JohnG

Re: Age realated Dislike Disorder here too.

"I fear that this is the thin of the wedge with regard to the demise of cash altogether."

Whilst the banks, HMRC and others with some self interest keep predicting the demise of cash, it hasn't happened and it won't happen. If the government of the day decides to stop printing notes and minting coins, people will simply use other currencies for cash transactions - they might even invent their own currencies or swap commodities.

My cash works when my phone is lost, stolen, has a flat battery or is otherwise incapacitated.

When I buy stuff for cash, HMRC, the banks and "their selected marketing partners" have no idea what I have bought.

Bank payment systems have to be paid for, which is why some traders offer a discount for cash.

Connecting Gmail to Google+ is SENSELESS, says Digg founder

JohnG

Re: Google is doing a Microsoft...

"Google really doesn't want you to delete your profile, so if you do, you will be punished by losing pretty much everything beyond basic functionality on both Gmail and Youtube. All your comments, lists, history, likes/dislikes and anything else you have or do besides mail and watching videos, disappear permanently."

The thing is, Google may care if all my comments, lists, etc. are all lost when I delete my Google+ profile but I don't. I only care about Gmail and Drive, as I use these for relatively serious things and Google+ is just a toy to me.

Judge orders Yelp.com to unmask anonymous critics who tore into biz

JohnG

Re: No right of anonymity

"And if the complaint is legitimate AND there is a threat of retaliation?"

Then you have the choice to be prepared to backup your comments if sued or not make a comment.