U.S. tech companies call for more controls on surveillance

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLN0uQgcP1vmBU-h3esSxDPEGmSlwepJnge6pkEuMjyBaIyfRZ0oP0EgejzS9mgAargH7uteRAstgSpQ7XFO7ajn66X5O62tIW6dPyMoaLEVOA0o-VS-XJpXpEpsChE4TdlPU8klPft1w/s1600/.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="U.S. tech companies call for more controls on surveillance ll http://technology-professionales.blogspot.com/2013/12/us-tech-companies-call-for-more.html" border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLN0uQgcP1vmBU-h3esSxDPEGmSlwepJnge6pkEuMjyBaIyfRZ0oP0EgejzS9mgAargH7uteRAstgSpQ7XFO7ajn66X5O62tIW6dPyMoaLEVOA0o-VS-XJpXpEpsChE4TdlPU8klPft1w/s1600/.jpg" title="http://technology-professionales.blogspot.com/" width="400" /></a></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="font-size: large;">Eight major U.S. net corporations, as well as Apple, Google and Facebook, created a joint appeal Monday for tighter controls on however governments collect personal information, augmentative the furor over on-line police work.<br /><br />In Associate in Nursing missive to U.S. President Barack Obama and Congress, the businesses aforesaid recent revelations showed the balance had tipped too so much in favor of the state in several countries and faraway from the individual.<br /><br />In June, former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden exposed prime secret government police work programs that faucet into communications on cables linking <a href="http://technology-professionales.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">technology</a> companies' numerous information centers overseas.<br /> </span><br /> <div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size: large;"><script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script> <!-- Large Rectangle --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" data-ad-client="ca-pub-5578827319843122" data-ad-slot="2647099294" style="display: inline-block; height: 280px; width: 336px;"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script></span></div> <span style="font-size: large;"><br /><br />After Snowden's revelation, several of the large web corporations warned that yankee businesses could lose revenue abroad as distrustful customers switched to native alternatives.<br /><br />"We perceive that governments have a obligation to shield their voters," aforesaid the letter from the eight corporations that additionally enclosed Microsoft corporation, Twitter, LinkedIn corporation, Yahoo opposition and AOL opposition.<br /><br />"But this summer's revelations highlighted the pressing got to reform government police work practices worldwide.<br /><br />"The balance in several countries has tipped too so much in favor of the state and faraway from the rights of the individual - rights that ar enshrined in our Constitution. This undermines the freedoms we have a tendency to all hold dear. it is time for a amendment."<br /><br />Several of the eight corporations, that have a combined market capitalisation of nearly $1.4 trillion, have responded by advertising their call to spice up coding and security on their sites.<br /><br />TRUST in danger<br /><br />The companies have elaborate their 'Reform Government Surveillance' campaign on a web site, job on the U.S. government to require the lead by limiting what proportion user data a government will collect.<br /><br />"People will not use technology they do not trust," Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith aforesaid on the web site. "Governments have place this trust in danger, and governments got to facilitate restore it."<br /><br />The campaign additionally calls on governments to limit police work to specific, noted users and to not collect information in bulk, and asks that corporations have the proper to publish the amount and nature of state demands for user data.<br /><br />"The security of users' information is vital, that is why we've invested with such a lot in coding and fight for transparency around government requests for data," Google Chief government Larry Page aforesaid on the web site.<br /><br />"This is undermined by the apparent wholesale assortment of information, secretly and while not freelance oversight, by several governments round the world. it is time for reform and that we urge the U.S. government to guide the means."<br /><br />Obama last week aforesaid he supposed to propose NSA reforms to reassure Americans that their privacy wasn't being profaned by the agency.<br /><br />British-based campaign cluster massive Brother Watch welcome the move by the web teams and aforesaid police work laws in kingdom, the U.S. and plenty of alternative countries were not appropriate the web age.<br /><br />"This statement of principles, by a number of the world's biggest corporations, could be a watershed moment and one that can't go unnoticed in any country that regards itself as a democracy," it said.</span></div> </div>

U.S. tech companies call for more controls on surveillance

Eight major U.S. net corporations, as well as Apple, Google and Facebook, created a joint appeal Monday for tighter controls on however governments collect personal information, augmentative the furo…

Read more »

Apple buys startup Topsy; gets rich Twitter data .

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxMKzxrU_xGQA7TXS3GgHJr9sBf57iOmugjbC3WmCfHgWkHkoyqGU9Mg6bN78YWweSlU7rw61Z2PHTc0dR3QC53byRsIvpkodfMCBo9ME0pa5bhxLMbHj9vPuf_Mixg2uI7KsG0qaBmXM/s1600/.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Apple buys startup Topsy; gets rich Twitter data . ll http://technology-professionales.blogspot.com/2013/12/apple-buys-startup-topsy-gets-rich.html" border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxMKzxrU_xGQA7TXS3GgHJr9sBf57iOmugjbC3WmCfHgWkHkoyqGU9Mg6bN78YWweSlU7rw61Z2PHTc0dR3QC53byRsIvpkodfMCBo9ME0pa5bhxLMbHj9vPuf_Mixg2uI7KsG0qaBmXM/s1600/.jpg" title="Apple buys startup Topsy; gets rich Twitter data . " width="400" /></a></div> <span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />Apple Iraqi National Congress has nonheritable social media search and analytics startup Topsy, Associate in Nursing uncommon purchase for a hardware-focused company that has created few forays into social networking.<br /><br />Apple confirmed the acquisition however wouldn't say why it bought the corporate, that makes a speciality of analyzing Twitter knowledge and providing insights into current sentiment on a spread of topics.<br /><br />The Wall Street Journal, that rumored the news earlier, cited folks acquainted with the deal as language Apple paid over $200 million.<br /><br />"Apple buys smaller technology firms from time to time, and that we typically don't discuss our purpose or plans," voice Kristin Huguet aforementioned.<br /><br />Topsy failed to reply to requests for comment.<br /><br />The iPad and iPhone maker typically will what it calls "bolt-on" acquisitions, little deals to accumulate technology that then gets integrated into existing or future product. several of its acquisitions in recent years are angular  toward rising hardware.<br /><br />This year, it paid a rumored $350 million for Israeli 3D chip developer PrimeSense Ltd, perceived as an endeavor to include gesture technology into its devices. And in 2008, it paid a rumored $280 million for a semiconductor designer that eventually yielded the present line of processors that power the iPhone and iPad.</span></span><br /> <div style="text-align: center;"> <br /> <span style="font-size: large;"><script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script> <!-- Large Rectangle --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" data-ad-client="ca-pub-5578827319843122" data-ad-slot="2647099294" style="display: inline-block; height: 280px; width: 336px;"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script></span></div> <br /> <span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><br />Apple's main effort in social media has turned around Ping, a music-centered social sharing network that was at one purpose integrated into its iTunes app. The service, that lets users post music tracks they liked  to a news feed, did not catch on and was finish off.<br /><br />But the Golden State gismo maker has been more and more creating it easier for folks to share photos, videos and news through its devices and on to social networks like Facebook and Twitter.<br /><br />It conjointly operates iTunes Radio, an internet streaming music service that competes with Pandora and will like Topsy's knowledge on shopper sentiment.<br /><br />Apple closed zero.9 p.c lower on Mon and was holding steady in late commercialism.<br /><br />WHY?<br /><br />Speculation on Apple's motives ran the gamut on Mon, however some business consultants thought it possible that the corporate - that regularly tries to boost its iPhones, iPads and Macintosh computers within the face of ever-strengthening competition from the likes of Samsung physical science - is trying to give a boost to customer-facing code.<br /><br />"From Associate in Nursing usage perspective, they'll use it for the app store and iTunes," aforementioned Gartner analyst geographical region Milanesi, WHO superimposed that Topsy may well be used, as an example, to raised serve app recommendations to users.<br /><br />"With apps, it's extremely troublesome to search out sensible recommendations," she said. "It's abundant more durable to ascertain what folks use and why."<br /><br />Apple conjointly bought app-search tool Chomp last year, with the target of sprucing up its on-line apps store, still one in all the biggest within the mobile business together with Google Inc's Play for golem devices.<br /><br />San Francisco-based Topsy is one Twitter's partners, enjoying direct access to the electronic communication service's billions of tweets over many years - and has indexed all them to form them without delay and chop-chop search-able.<br /><br />The startup has received funding from BlueRun Ventures, Ignition Partners, the Founders Fund and Scott balustrade.<br /><br />See More <br /><br /><a href="http://technology-professionales.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Here</a></span></span></div>

Apple buys startup Topsy; gets rich Twitter data .

Apple Iraqi National Congress has nonheritable social media search and analytics startup Topsy, Associate in Nursing uncommon purchase for a hardware-focused company that has created few forays into …

Read more »

Microsoft blocks censorship of Skype in China: advocacy group .

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs1s94hwEs_Srm-vUYTv1amgbkejLKcNJ1RCcW1LswuVXnvBpcHROymWqkrXafX8p_XmxzXG-aMTlxqJsyw-5kEM4bwTw0ZAJa3jCfkTgnEAwq5ku9W50z4auXM_FUsxAsEkXdmj7XCBg/s1600/.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="http://technology-professionales.blogspot.com/2013/12/microsoft-blocks-censorship-of-skype-in.html" border="0" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs1s94hwEs_Srm-vUYTv1amgbkejLKcNJ1RCcW1LswuVXnvBpcHROymWqkrXafX8p_XmxzXG-aMTlxqJsyw-5kEM4bwTw0ZAJa3jCfkTgnEAwq5ku9W50z4auXM_FUsxAsEkXdmj7XCBg/s1600/.jpg" title="Microsoft blocks censorship of Skype in China: advocacy group ." width="400" /></a></div> <br /> <span style="font-size: large;">Microsoft corporation. has created it more durable to watch calls and chats over its Skype public-service corporation in China, a freedom of expression support cluster aforesaid, because the Chinese government steps up censorship of the web.<br /><br />Skype aforesaid on weekday it had concluded associate eight-year joint-venture with urban center-based TOM cluster - fifty one % closely-held by Hong Kong rich person Li Ka-Shing - and located a brand new partner in China.<br /><br />"After careful analysis of the new Skype, we tend to believe that Microsoft have upraised all censorship restrictions on their China product," the support cluster, GreatFire, aforesaid on Wednesday.<br /><br />"All user calls, chats and login info area unit encrypted and being communicated on to Microsoft via HTTPS. this can be an entire about-face for Microsoft from the TOM-Skype era, once all info was processed by TOM and hold on by TOM on servers situated in China with fully no privacy controls in situ."<br /><br />A Microsoft representative in China declined to comment and a publicity official at Skype's Asia-Pacific regional workplace couldn't at once be reached.<br /></span><br /> <div style="text-align: center;"> <br /> <span style="font-size: large;"><script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script> <!-- Large Rectangle --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" data-ad-client="ca-pub-5578827319843122" data-ad-slot="2647099294" style="display: inline-block; height: 280px; width: 336px;"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script></span></div> <br /> <span style="font-size: large;"><br />Skype's new partner in China is Guangming Founder (GMF), a joint-venture of Beijing-based newspaper Guangming Daily and therefore the Founder cluster, a Peking technology conglomerate established by Peiping University, in step with the new GMF-Skype web site.<br /><br />The Skype-TOM partnership has return underneath criticism from rights teams for permitting censorship and police investigation. Studies have shown the TOM-Skype service was subject to blacklisted keyword checks that would trigger observance of its users.<br /><br />NEW CENSORSHIP MEASURES<br /><br />Foreign web corporations should tread a careful path in China to take advantage of bountiful business opportunities while not compromising a carefully-nurtured image as champions of open societies and free speech.<br /><br />In 2010, Google conducted a partial pull-out from China on the premise of censorship and once it suffered a significant hacking episode that the corporate aforesaid emanated from China.<br /><br />Google's search market share in China fell to one.7 % last month from twelve % in August 2010, though its Chinese business has benefited from robust demand for its mechanical man software package.<br /><br />Websites like those of Facebook Iraqi National Congress., YouTube - that is closely-held by Google - and Twitter Iraqi National Congress. area unit all blocked in China by what's called the "Great Firewall".<br /><br />The ruling Communist Party sees censorship as key to maintaining its grip on power, recognizing that social media offers a platform for voters to air grievances and criticism of the govt, a possible trigger for social unrest.<br /><br />The government disclosed new measures in September threatening jail for spreading "rumors" on-line. The measures largely target domestic web services like Sina Corp's Sina Weibo, China's preferred microblogging service.<br /><br />Outside China, Skype's security and privacy protection are underneath the spotlight following revelations, disclosed by Edward Snowden in his leaks of U.S. National Security Agency documents, that the web communication service was a part of the NSA's PRISM program to watch communications through a number of America's biggest web corporations.<br /><br />See More About Tech News <br />Here <br /><span style="font-size: x-large;"><a href="http://technology-professionales.blogspot.com/search/label/Technology" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Latest Technology News </span></a></span><br /><br /></span></div>

Microsoft blocks censorship of Skype in China: advocacy group .

Microsoft corporation. has created it more durable to watch calls and chats over its Skype public-service corporation in China, a freedom of expression support cluster aforesaid, because the Chinese …

Read more »