PayPal Has To Pay $25 Million For Being Sketchy As Hell

<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/AVvXsEjn8Ivd8qqRAIX3-x7wjob5dtarZ8WPBdbJBeuCGjntTPTWaIK0iFBtBFNf1tB0bzqlR6NiShxi-6UNq6rNpvEjz4U5oteuCovPr_3fdRn14eD6TSbiSyr2XA4vHwr2VvjKIJWsGe7tEcA/s1600/PayPal-Has-to-Pay-25-Million-for-Being-Sketchy-as-Hell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn8Ivd8qqRAIX3-x7wjob5dtarZ8WPBdbJBeuCGjntTPTWaIK0iFBtBFNf1tB0bzqlR6NiShxi-6UNq6rNpvEjz4U5oteuCovPr_3fdRn14eD6TSbiSyr2XA4vHwr2VvjKIJWsGe7tEcA/s1600/PayPal-Has-to-Pay-25-Million-for-Being-Sketchy-as-Hell.jpg" /></a></div> <br /> <br /> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> After the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau<a href="http://www.consumerfinance.gov/newsroom/cfpb-takes-action-against-paypal-for-illegally-signing-up-consumers-for-unwanted-online-credit/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #4296b5; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"> filed a complaint</a> against PayPal today, the company quickly agreed to refund $15 million to customers it ripped off over the past few years.</div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> PayPal will also pay an extra $10 million in fines to the CFPB, so the total settlement is $25 million. The CFPB accused PayPal of <a href="https://www.aboutpaypal.org/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #4296b5; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">all sorts of schemes</a>, so many that it kinda sounds like PayPal is run by my Grandpa Hirtz in his 1980s casino-boat drinking days rather than business professionals.</div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> The almost impressively illegal scams that PayPal's now paying for include:</div> <ul style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 20px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <li style="border: 0px; color: #222222; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style: disc inside; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Advertising deferred-interest promotions, but then flat-out giving customers the wrong information when they asked about them, or just never answering the customer service line</li> <li style="border: 0px; color: #222222; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style: disc inside; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Charging customers with the interest they were unable to defer due to receiving the wrong information and/or never being able to speak to a representative about the deferred-interest promotion</li> <li style="border: 0px; color: #222222; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style: disc inside; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Automatically signing people up for credit accounts without asking permission</li> <li style="border: 0px; color: #222222; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style: disc inside; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Setting these credit accounts as the default for purchasing, which led to people getting hit with late fees and interest fees on accounts they didn't know existed</li> <li style="border: 0px; color: #222222; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style: disc inside; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Lying about $5 and $10 credit promotions and then never fulfilling them (total Grandpa move)</li> <li style="border: 0px; color: #222222; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style: disc inside; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Not bothering to remove late fees even after people paid them</li> <li style="border: 0px; color: #222222; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style: disc inside; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Taking weeks to process payments</li> <li style="border: 0px; color: #222222; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style: disc inside; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Not bothering resolving customer disputes</li> </ul> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> It's telling that the company ponied up the money within a day of the complaint. </div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> [<a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-19/paypal-will-pay-25-million-to-resolve-cfpb-bill-me-later-claims" rel="nofollow" style="color: #4296b5; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Bloomberg</a> via <a href="http://www.consumerfinance.gov/newsroom/cfpb-takes-action-against-paypal-for-illegally-signing-up-consumers-for-unwanted-online-credit/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #4296b5; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">CFPB</a>]</div> </div>

PayPal Has To Pay $25 Million For Being Sketchy As Hell

After the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau  filed a complaint  against PayPal today, the company quickly agreed to refund $15 mill...

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Micromax Turns ‘Desi’ In A Revolutionary Way

<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/AVvXsEg8hqDyMN6n_gISWHhciPkLJ5SuUS17Lv9duB7-c4aMK_UzsMyZ5tSVtHxUvhgqEJEdbXA9Dpuln5WkA9nMkwMso3iUp5q6YuRQcjb3q4IVZkukV9DQKhxeO5F0Qhd8OUlSfb1dQUge9fY/s1600/Micromax-turns-desi-in-a-revolutionary-way.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="481" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8hqDyMN6n_gISWHhciPkLJ5SuUS17Lv9duB7-c4aMK_UzsMyZ5tSVtHxUvhgqEJEdbXA9Dpuln5WkA9nMkwMso3iUp5q6YuRQcjb3q4IVZkukV9DQKhxeO5F0Qhd8OUlSfb1dQUge9fY/s640/Micromax-turns-desi-in-a-revolutionary-way.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;">Micromax would offer translation and transliteration with 10, 000 apps in local languages for the first time in India to attract more customers. It would use a patented Swipe Technology from MoFirst Solutions to do the translation works in 10 languages, including Hindi to English and vice-versa.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;">The leading homegrown handset maker Micromax would also provide access to App Bazaar with such apps.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;">Moreover, the App Bazaar has some of the most accepted apps such as Skype and Clean Master and several others in 10 local languages, including Tamil and Marathi, which cover 800 million people in India.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;">The handset maker would provide service in association with Mo-First's Android-based regional language operating system Firstouch.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;">"We're confident that about 80 to 100 million new users will come on board the smartphone market in India. Which is why for us, getting the language piece right is very critical," Micromax's chief marketing officer Shubhajit Sen told the Economic Times, confirming the tie-up.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;">India's No. 2 handset maker Micromax wanted to establish itself in the country's crowded market as its market share is declining compared to Chinese smartphones in recent months.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;">Micromax's Canvas Unite 3, which was launched this month priced Rs 6,999, has Firstouch's local language suite, targeting millions of people using smartphones who aren't comfortable with English.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;">"The Unite 3 is a very strategic model for us where we're going a step ahead with translation and transliteration. We're going to work with them across all our phones for the language support, going forward," Sen told the financial daily.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;">Micromax has established linkages with Microsoft, Gameloft, EA Games, Disney, Zapak and Sony Music to increase the number of apps.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;">Micromax will begin a 360-degree advertising campaign in this month to promote the device. The device is available on ecommerce websites Snapdeal and Flipkart between Rs 6,700 and Rs 7,100.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;">The home-bred handset maker had a 15.3 per cent share of the smartphone market at the end of March, as per Counterpoint Research, a sharp decline from 19.5 per cent in the previous quarter.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;">MoFirst, which abandoned its own move to sell smartphones, is now working with an approach of making smartphone vendors partners rather than competing with them, in such a competitive market.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;">Chinese smartphone makers such as Xiaomi, Huawei, ZTE, Gionee and the latest Meizu are offering highend devices at very competitive prices, adding to the competition from local vendors such as Lava, Intex and Karbonn.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;">(Image: Indiatimes)</span></div>

Micromax Turns ‘Desi’ In A Revolutionary Way

Micromax would offer translation and transliteration with 10, 000 apps in local languages for the first time in India to attract more cu...

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All The Reasons Experts Are So Pissed About Facebook's Internet.Org

<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/AVvXsEioscFPsDhNi2UCGAHpoUyvrFkjzL_83xzaxI7gH3HIRqVBXta0CUVbXGxu7w6Irjka4Dp8M3GNQbSvhUYzqnM32jO80TfSWI7oqMJsZQSNNbnSZUpJ4JBpLD0uCbh-LDENbKWS0ogN6-E/s1600/All-the-Reasons-Experts-Are-So-Pissed-About-Facebooks-Internet-org.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioscFPsDhNi2UCGAHpoUyvrFkjzL_83xzaxI7gH3HIRqVBXta0CUVbXGxu7w6Irjka4Dp8M3GNQbSvhUYzqnM32jO80TfSWI7oqMJsZQSNNbnSZUpJ4JBpLD0uCbh-LDENbKWS0ogN6-E/s1600/All-the-Reasons-Experts-Are-So-Pissed-About-Facebooks-Internet-org.jpg" /></a></div> <br /> <br /> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> The idea sounds flat-out utopian: Free internet! For everyone! Starting in the least-connected countries! Of course, there's a catch: Facebook's Internet.org<inset id="1613847448"></inset> is helping people get online, but their online experience is then controlled by Facebook.</div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Debate over how much Facebook's marquee corporate responsibility crusade is tempered by plans to become a global on-ramp for all communication has been brewing for a while, but now a group of net neutrality advocates, privacy experts, media non-profits, and telecom companies <a href="https://www.facebook.com/notes/accessnoworg/open-letter-to-mark-zuckerberg-regarding-internetorg-net-neutrality-privacy-and-/935857379791271" rel="nofollow" style="color: #4296b5; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">are calling out some specific reasons</a> why Internet.org could be a disastrous money grab in an open letter. Here are some of the most troubling aspects of Facebook's would-be global charity initiative.</div> <h4 style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 16.2016220092773px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.3em; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Instead of giving people access to the internet, it gives them access to Facebook's version of the internet</h4> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Facebook touts Internet.org as an empowering salvo for people starved for the benefits that come along with digital connection. But it's a salvo with big limits. (Wired's Josh Levy called it <a href="http://www.wired.com/2015/05/opinion-internet-org-facebooknet/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #4296b5; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">"Facebooknet"</a> rather than the actual internet.)</div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Mark Zuckerberg readily admits that it'd be way too expensive<inset id="1698527201"></inset> to actually give everyone free internet, and what the initiative does in reality is <a href="https://www.facebook.com/notes/accessnoworg/open-letter-to-mark-zuckerberg-regarding-internetorg-net-neutrality-privacy-and-/935857379791271" rel="nofollow" style="color: #4296b5; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">give people access to Facebook and select partners</a>.</div> <blockquote style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; quotes: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> <div style="border: 0px; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It is our belief that Facebook is improperly defining net neutrality in public statements and building a walled garden in which the world's poorest people will only be able to access a limited set of insecure websites and services.</em></div> </blockquote> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> People who rely on Internet.org for the internet will see a narrow, Facebook-controlled slice of the internet. Supporters, including Zuckerberg, argue that some free internet access is better than none. But there's legitimate concern that allowing a major US multinational corporation to train people to use its tailored version of the internet will engender a kind of digital neocolonialism that will hurt domestic innovation<inset id="1693317946"></inset> and do more to lock people into using Facebook and its affiliate services<inset id="1693317946"></inset> than anything else.</div> <h4 style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 16.2016220092773px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.3em; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> The name is misleading</h4> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> "Internet.org" makes it sound like an initiative that helps deliver the internet to people who don't have access rather than a service that helps<a href="https://www.facebook.com/notes/accessnoworg/open-letter-to-mark-zuckerberg-regarding-internetorg-net-neutrality-privacy-and-/935857379791271" rel="nofollow" style="color: #4296b5; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"> deliver Facebook and its approved partners</a> to people who don't have access.<em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></em></div> <blockquote style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; quotes: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> <div style="border: 0px; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2FInternet.org%2F&h=AAQFwmbMD&s=1" rel="nofollow" style="color: #4296b5; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Internet.org</em></a><em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> has been misleadingly marketed as providing access to the full Internet, when in fact it only provides access to a limited number of Internet-connected services that are approved by Facebook and local ISPs. In its present conception, </em></div> <div style="border: 0px; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2FInternet.org%2F&h=JAQEVVJLB&s=1" rel="nofollow" style="color: #4296b5; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Internet.org</em></a><em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> thereby violates the principles of net neutrality, threatening freedom of expression, equality of opportunity, security, privacy and innovation.</em></div> </blockquote> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Facebook really should've just called the initiative Facebook.org. Of course, it'd still enrage people who care about net neutrality and people who don't want the global poor to have their internet experience filtered through a single company, but at least it'd be accurate.</div> <h4 style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 16.2016220092773px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.3em; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> It could make Facebook play de facto government censor</h4> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> If Facebook is the only affordable option people have to log on, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/notes/accessnoworg/open-letter-to-mark-zuckerberg-regarding-internetorg-net-neutrality-privacy-and-/935857379791271" rel="nofollow" style="color: #4296b5; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">it could become</a> a default "centralized hub" <a href="https://www.facebook.com/notes/accessnoworg/open-letter-to-mark-zuckerberg-regarding-internetorg-net-neutrality-privacy-and-/935857379791271" rel="nofollow" style="color: #4296b5; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">for information</a>, which means it would be the only door to information governments would need to lock to keep people in the dark.</div> <blockquote style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; quotes: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> <div style="border: 0px; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Facebook appears to be putting itself in a position whereby governments could apply pressure to block certain content, or even, if users must log in for access, block individual users. Facebook would find itself mediating the real surveillance and censorship threats to politically active users in restrictive environments.</div> </blockquote> <h4 style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 16.2016220092773px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.3em; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> It's a security mess</h4> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Internet.org <a href="https://www.facebook.com/notes/accessnoworg/open-letter-to-mark-zuckerberg-regarding-internetorg-net-neutrality-privacy-and-/935857379791271" rel="nofollow" style="color: #4296b5; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">doesn't use encryption</a>. No HTTPS encryption, no TLS (Transport Layer Security), no SSL (Secure Socket Layer). None of its participating services can use these security measures, either.</div> <h4 style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 16.2016220092773px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.3em; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Oh and it's a privacy mess too </h4> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Not only does Internet.org's lax security make it easier for thieves and snoops to spy on users, but Internet.org requires that its partners allow for data tracking<inset id="1701996549"></inset>.</div> <blockquote style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; quotes: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> <div style="border: 0px; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Facebook's privacy policy does not provide adequate protections for new Internet users, some of whom may not understand how their data will be used, or may not be able to properly give consent for certain practices. Given the lack of statements to the contrary, it is likely <a href="https://www.facebook.com/notes/accessnoworg/open-letter-to-mark-zuckerberg-regarding-internetorg-net-neutrality-privacy-and-/935857379791271#" rel="nofollow" style="color: #4296b5; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"></a><a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2FInternet.org%2F&h=sAQE92FNP&s=1" rel="nofollow" style="color: #4296b5; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Internet.org</a> collects user data via apps and services.</div> </blockquote> <hr style="background-color: white; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-top-style: solid; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; height: 1px; line-height: 25px; margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px;" /> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Helping people gain access to information is a noble goal, but Internet.org is set up like a pioneer program to hook a new subset of users into Facebook fandom.</div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> No matter how many times Mark Zuckerberg stares into a camera and insists this is an altruistic cause, this initiative will remain dubious unless it can be more neatly cleaved from Facebook's efforts to groom new users and capture new markets.</div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Image via AccessNow.org</em></div> </div>

All The Reasons Experts Are So Pissed About Facebook's Internet.Org

The idea sounds flat-out utopian: Free internet! For everyone! Starting in the least-connected countries! Of course, there's a cat...

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This Is How BlackBerry Plans To Make Money On Smartphones Again

<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/AVvXsEjNC6HlF9FfdXtee-fn1RJvsgWXLZcwMAmC4gRPhCFmpoxlWKJEAfFXoLmySmcT2F-VZ3bTgOOYdWED4zz5pJAwRlzmsuiTJDvociLnDvwGRLkM_vzH3XDgvRIkuZWVyeMafNHeK79DF3E/s1600/ap656495181693.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNC6HlF9FfdXtee-fn1RJvsgWXLZcwMAmC4gRPhCFmpoxlWKJEAfFXoLmySmcT2F-VZ3bTgOOYdWED4zz5pJAwRlzmsuiTJDvociLnDvwGRLkM_vzH3XDgvRIkuZWVyeMafNHeK79DF3E/s640/ap656495181693.png" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;">AP</span><br /> <div class="caption" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <b><span style="color: purple;">Blackberry CEO John Chen.</span></b></div> <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;">You may have written off BlackBerry's smartphone business, but its CEO John Chen hasn't.</span><br /> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> BlackBerry's global smartphone market share has dwindled dangerously close to 0%, and the company only sold 1.6 million phones in the last quarter it reported. Compare that to the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-iphone-sales-q2-2015-4" style="color: #4296b5; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px; text-decoration: none;">61.2 million iPhones Apple sold last quarter.</a></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> In an interview with Business Insider, Chen said he'll make BlackBerry's smartphone business profitable again. Under Chen, who took over as CEO about 18 months ago, BlackBerry has refocused its business toward enterprise and governments instead of normal consumers. You can still go into your carrier's store and buy a BlackBerry phone, but most are being sold to large organizations.</div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> If things are so bleak, then why does BlackBerry continue to make smartphones at all?</div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Chen says BlackBerry phones are the entry point for customers into the company's security business. BlackBerry can still provide a secure backbone for other devices like iPhones and Android phones, but Chen says you get the most security with a BlackBerry phone. There are a lot of important customers that still need that level of security.</div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> "I can only make iPhone so much more secure, but I can't make it as secure as a BlackBerry device," Chen said. "If you look at the US Army, they're still rolling out all BlackBerry. If I tell them there are no more phones, I lose that account. The question is how do you make phones profitable at the volume those people represent?"</div> <img alt="BlackBerry Passport in white" border="0" data-link="undefined" data-mce-caption="" data-mce-source="BlackBerry" src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/555a16079d8e441e018b4579-1800-900/passport_desk.jpg" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br /> <div class="source" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> BlackBerry</div> <div class="caption" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> The BlackBerry Passport.</div> <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;">In other words, there are a lot of specialized customers like the military, governments, and certain big companies that need the security BlackBerry promises with its phones. But that market is only a tiny sliver of the consumer market. Chen seems to think there's an opportunity to make the phone business profitable, but he's not saying exactly how he'll pull it off other than pointing to BlackBerry's advantage in security and building on top of that with unique designs like the funky-looking BlackBerry Passport.</span><br /> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> "It's a combination of everything," Chen said. "First of all you really do have to have a focus on design. At the end of the day, a big part of this is about the product."</div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Realistically, that's going to be tough. Plenty of hardware manufacturers like HTC and Motorola have made great phones that simply don't sell at the same volume as iPhones or Samsung phones. Chen seems to think coupling nice phones with a promise of security is a big piece of the puzzle. But he's not saying what the other pieces are.</div> </div>

This Is How BlackBerry Plans To Make Money On Smartphones Again

AP Blackberry CEO John Chen. You may have written off BlackBerry's smartphone business, but its CEO John Chen hasn't. Black...

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What Is An IP Address And What Can It Reveal About You?

<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/AVvXsEjg3fIpoMgw7FNmUVEUeunw1U5ISSqo8S4g2CqurE7r50POHY-tKeE1w9uoVq3pe-jJvK8uB_LH1SXemUCh0egnriA-QdI-7-katFrksO01DSiDZbtmcoRIsa3NXXeJvsSw0fCDyOkEBVI/s1600/Hiding-IP-address-is-a-crime-for-persons-under-Computer-Fraud-and-Abuse-Act-CFAA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg3fIpoMgw7FNmUVEUeunw1U5ISSqo8S4g2CqurE7r50POHY-tKeE1w9uoVq3pe-jJvK8uB_LH1SXemUCh0egnriA-QdI-7-katFrksO01DSiDZbtmcoRIsa3NXXeJvsSw0fCDyOkEBVI/s1600/Hiding-IP-address-is-a-crime-for-persons-under-Computer-Fraud-and-Abuse-Act-CFAA.jpg" /></a></div> <br /> <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;">The nomenclature of the web is vast. But even though words become commonplace, people often don't know what they really mean.</span><br /> <div class="p1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">But they should.</span></div> <div class="p1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">An IP address, for instance, is a ubiquitous part of the online experience, but few know what it is. And, even scarier, many don't know the kind of information IP addresses can reveal.</span></div> <h2 class="p1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 21.6021614074707px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px 0px 7px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 21.6021614074707px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What is an IP address?</span></h2> <div class="p1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">At its core, an IP address is an online unique identifier. Every computer has its own IP address, and it is through this naming system that computers can connect with each other and share data.</span></div> <div class="p1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A standard IP address (using what's known as the IPv4 protocol) contains four individual numbers separated by a decimal. For example, Business Insider's IP address as of now is 64.27.101.155.</span></div> <div class="p1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">While every computer is given its own IP address, the outside world rarely has access to it. Routers, instead, connect to individual computers, and it's the routers that then connect to the rest of the internet using their own individual IP address. Think of routers as the bridge between the network within your house (or business, library, coffee shop, etc.) and the outside world network (that is, the internet).</span></div> <div class="p1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">When you send an email or visit a website, the IP address being shared is that of your local router - provided by your Internet Service Provider (ISP) - and not the individual address assigned to your computer. All the same, whether someone knows the address of your computer or your network, these numbers are able to tell a bit about who you are and what kind of sites you surf.</span></div> <h2 class="p1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 21.6021614074707px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px 0px 7px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 21.6021614074707px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What sort of personal information is shared with an IP address?</span></h2> <div class="p1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">This most personal kind of information that can be shared in IP address itself is geolocation. But the good news is, because you are connected to a network and it's the network's IP address being shared, your precise location is not shared.</span></div> <div class="p1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">For instance, you may send an email from your home, and someone may be able to know the city from which it was sent, but it's highly unlikely they'll be able to access any other granular information about you.</span></div> <div class="p1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Instead they'll probably see the information of your ISP. While this may give geolocation data about the general area of your router, it will not give a street address.</span></div> <h2 class="p1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 21.6021614074707px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px 0px 7px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 21.6021614074707px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">But there's a catch...</span></h2> <div class="p1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Alone, the IP address can't share much more about you than a generalized location of where you might be at a certain time.</span></div> <div class="p1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The trouble is, onlookers can in some cases look at the online activity associated with a particular IP address. Then, they can stitch together a lot of information about the people or even a single person who's accessing the internet from that address.</span></div> <div class="p1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Canadian Privacy Commissioner's Office (OPC) set out to see <a href="https://www.priv.gc.ca/information/research-recherche/2013/ip_201305_e.asp" rel="nofollow" style="color: #4296b5; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px; text-decoration: none;">what sort of information</a> it could dig up using the IP address of its own network. From there the researchers used a search engine to find details about the people who had used the internet via that network.</span></div> <div class="p1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Here are some of the sites and services the <a href="http://www.ipchicken.com/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #4296b5; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px; text-decoration: none;">people using the OPC IP address visited</a>:</span></div> <ul style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 20px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <li style="border: 0px; color: #222222; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style: disc inside; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Legal advice related to insurance law and personal injury litigation</li> <li style="border: 0px; color: #222222; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style: disc inside; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A specific religious group</li> <li style="border: 0px; color: #222222; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style: disc inside; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Fitness</li> <li style="border: 0px; color: #222222; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style: disc inside; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Online photo sharing</li> <li style="border: 0px; color: #222222; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style: disc inside; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The revision history of a Wikipedia entry</li> </ul> <div class="p1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The OPC also did a second experiment where it looked up the IP address of a person that had edited a Wikipedia entry (these IP addresses are public), then entered that IP address into a search engine. It got all kinds of information back, such as all the other entries that person had edited, and the fact that the person had visited an online message board related to sexual preferences.</span></div> <div class="p1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The report explained that using these tactics it was not hard to get a "glimpse into the kind of portrait that authorities could be able to paint of individuals without needing to obtain prior judicial authorization."</span></div> <div class="p1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In other words, an employer can figure out a lot about the people who are using the internet from work. Or, in theory, your ISP could figure out a lot about the activities of its subscribers. Or, an online advertising network could associate a particular IP address with a lot of online activity over time and use that to target advertising.</span></div> <h2 class="p1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 21.6021614074707px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px 0px 7px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 21.6021614074707px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What is the worst case scenario?</span></h2> <div class="p1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">With the help of the authorities, it is possible to discover more than just hearsay information. For instance, the OPC cites a case in the US where the authorities, knowing only the IP address, contacted the ISP and were able to find the identity of a person sending harassing emails.</span></div> <div class="p1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">They did this by receiving the exact locations where the emails were sent from the ISP. Many of these places were hotels, and the FBI was able to find one common name on all of the hotels' guest lists. Then, the FBI got a warrant to investigate that person's email account.</span></div> <div class="p1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">This does require a certain set of knowhow. While it's relatively easy to find out an IP address (you can look up your own by going to websites like <a href="http://www.ipchicken.com/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #4296b5; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px; text-decoration: none;">IP Chicken</a>), finding real actionable information from it takes some finesse.</span></div> <br /> <h3 style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 18.901891708374px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.3em; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </h3> <br /> <div class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 25px; margin: 15px 0px; orphans: auto; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;"> <span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">But once you have that finesse, with a little bit of imagination, some creepy details may be discovered.</span></div> </div>

What Is An IP Address And What Can It Reveal About You?

The nomenclature of the web is vast. But even though words become commonplace, people often don't know what they really mean. But ...

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YotaPhone 2, The Dual Screen E-Ink Wonder, Is Blowing Up On IndieGoGo

<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/AVvXsEhe43awWQ9N_AnWjXzhc4MYlAoNhZ4fmPa6zVpijmYEZB7XZSvuj0oyI01BebNe12j-wkhQxmkotz1oH3jUW9gPYTrU2MlKmvYs19f0YzWOKfXvTzUA5xdkz3HScSWhg2L0T2E5RtRM_ec/s1600/YotaPhone-2-the-Dual-Screen-E-Ink-Wonder-Is-Blowing-Up-On-IndieGoGo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe43awWQ9N_AnWjXzhc4MYlAoNhZ4fmPa6zVpijmYEZB7XZSvuj0oyI01BebNe12j-wkhQxmkotz1oH3jUW9gPYTrU2MlKmvYs19f0YzWOKfXvTzUA5xdkz3HScSWhg2L0T2E5RtRM_ec/s640/YotaPhone-2-the-Dual-Screen-E-Ink-Wonder-Is-Blowing-Up-On-IndieGoGo.png" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;">The general consensus about YotaPhone, the wacky Russian smartphone with a dual LED and E-Ink screen, was simple: I'm not sure how useful it is</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;">. Now the company is funding aNorth American run</span><inset id="1529771443" style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;"> for the phone on IndieGoGo, and damn, people sure are excited about it.</inset><br /> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> The second generation YotaPhone has only been available in certain European countries<inset id="1476271765"> since December, but this morning company <a href="https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/yotaphone-2-world-s-first-dual-screen-smartphone#/story" rel="nofollow" style="color: #4296b5; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">launched an IndieGoGo campaign</a> to bring the phone to the US and Canada-explaining that "the North America smartphone market is one of the most challenging to enter."</inset></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> The goal? To raise $50,000 and have the phone in backers' hands by the end of the summer before a public launch. Only three hours into the campaign, the company has already raised $60,000 in flex funding-and it's safe to say that number will rise quickly over the next two days, since the company is offering a $75 discount to anyone who backs in the first 48 hours.</div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <img alt="YotaPhone 2, the Dual Screen E-Ink Wonder, Is Blowing Up On IndieGoGo" data-asset-url="/photo/47347393.cms" data-chomp-id="1259249361999474836" data-format="gif" height="357" src="http://www.gizmodo.in/photo/47347393.cms" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="636" /></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> If you missed out on the flurry of YotaPhone chatter, here are the basics. It looks like a fairly standard smartphone with a 5-inch AMOLED screen running Android Lollipop-all business in the front, you might say. It's a party in the back, though, with an E-Ink screen that's touch-sensitive and always on, letting you read, respond to messages, and check apps without turning the energy-hog LED screen on. The battery savings are huge: You could read for five days on a single charge, the company says.</div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <img alt="YotaPhone 2, the Dual Screen E-Ink Wonder, Is Blowing Up On IndieGoGo" data-asset-url="/photo/47347394.cms" data-chomp-id="1259249362249300884" data-format="jpg" height="357" src="http://www.gizmodo.in/photo/47347394.cms" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="636" /></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <img alt="YotaPhone 2, the Dual Screen E-Ink Wonder, Is Blowing Up On IndieGoGo" data-asset-url="/photo/47347395.cms" data-chomp-id="1259249362286738836" data-format="png" height="350" src="http://www.gizmodo.in/photo/47347395.cms" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="636" /></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> It's a strange idea, at first glance. And indeed, it may enter the annals of tech history as a one-off anomaly. On the other hand, increasing the battery life of a phone by <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">days </em>without giving up a conventional screen is a pretty smart idea. We'll have to wait and see. For now, it seems the demand is certainly there.</div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> The <a href="https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/yotaphone-2-world-s-first-dual-screen-smartphone#/story" rel="nofollow" style="color: #4296b5; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">IndieGoGo campaign is here</a>-right now, you can grab one of the unlocked phones for $575, while the phones will cost $600 when they officially launch in North America in August.</div> </div>

YotaPhone 2, The Dual Screen E-Ink Wonder, Is Blowing Up On IndieGoGo

The general consensus about YotaPhone, the wacky Russian smartphone with a dual LED and E-Ink screen, was simple: I'm not sure how u...

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Coup D'eTorrent: Scammers Hijack A Major File-Sharing Site

<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/AVvXsEisFor2mb4IkLmRKHqkTRPTVSKYJtqjRccQruWfyiJdYnHByoHEx76xJt2gp-rW8_eBrNuzHTuOfCUpeztJhRYnIXoDIgPIKdssTQRcD9VrOEPvQhJG2wp2t9_OkbXyCr-plBrT3adpgYU/s1600/Coup-deTorrent-Scammers-Hijack-a-Major-File-Sharing-Site.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisFor2mb4IkLmRKHqkTRPTVSKYJtqjRccQruWfyiJdYnHByoHEx76xJt2gp-rW8_eBrNuzHTuOfCUpeztJhRYnIXoDIgPIKdssTQRcD9VrOEPvQhJG2wp2t9_OkbXyCr-plBrT3adpgYU/s1600/Coup-deTorrent-Scammers-Hijack-a-Major-File-Sharing-Site.jpg" /></a></div> <br /> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> RIP, EZTZ: One of the largest TV pirating rings <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/eztv-shuts-down-after-hostile-takeover-150518/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #4296b5; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">is dead</a>. Torrent sites like Kickass and Pirate Bay have also added a warning to EZTV's files reading: <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">THIS DOMAIN HAS BEEN TAKEN OVER BY SCAMMERS. STAY AWAY.</em></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> After EZTV had its IP address suspended, it was <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/eztv-shuts-down-after-hostile-takeover-150518/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #4296b5; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">purchased by scammers</a>. NovaKing was <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/eztv-shuts-down-after-hostile-takeover-150518/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #4296b5; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">told he needed a court order</a> to get control of his domain, which may be tricky to do considering the less-than-legal nature of EZTV's file-sharing.</div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> These still-unknown scammers were able to lock EZTV ringleader "NovaKing" out of his accounts and are continuing to run the non-profit pirating ring as though no fishy <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">coup d' etorrent</em> had gone down.</div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Since EZTV had such a sterling reputation in the torrenting community, there's plenty of suspicion that this hostile takeover is a way to distribute malware, or a precursor to a good ol' fashioned <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20070705/172813.shtml" rel="nofollow" style="color: #4296b5; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">MPAA honeydick situation</a>. Even if it's neither of those things, it's smartest to avoid downloading from a group that has been publicly hijacked for unknown purposes.</div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> [<a href="http://www.engadget.com/2015/05/19/eztv-pirate-site-scammed/?utm_source=Feed_Classic_Full&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget&?ncid=rss_full" rel="nofollow" style="color: #4296b5; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Engadget</a> via <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/eztv-shuts-down-after-hostile-takeover-150518/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #4296b5; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Torrent Freak</a>]</div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Image via Pirate Bay</em></div> </div>

Coup D'eTorrent: Scammers Hijack A Major File-Sharing Site

RIP, EZTZ: One of the largest TV pirating rings  is dead . Torrent sites like Kickass and Pirate Bay have also added a warning to EZTV...

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Oppo Neo 5s Spotted Could Launch Soon

<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/AVvXsEjbCW_dVlK2RGmXA2ekM_20wh11f465qQes5-OKYo8S5yYeTooCN5mE9nOscsZK_WtyMg4Q20VfML-zou9QbGJo6MGPZ-BuyE94s06AHPlmVCE-_zd3iUWICgTjZ_tQUqDGBsvAiqGoNXI/s1600/Oppo-Neo-5s-spotted-could-launch-soon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbCW_dVlK2RGmXA2ekM_20wh11f465qQes5-OKYo8S5yYeTooCN5mE9nOscsZK_WtyMg4Q20VfML-zou9QbGJo6MGPZ-BuyE94s06AHPlmVCE-_zd3iUWICgTjZ_tQUqDGBsvAiqGoNXI/s1600/Oppo-Neo-5s-spotted-could-launch-soon.jpg" /></a></div> <br /> <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;">Oppo has been ever active in the mobile industry with its range of smartphones catering to the high end and midrange market segments respectively. The company has now inadvertently revealed the imminent arrival of a new midranger known as the Neo 5s.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;">The handset is revealed to be packing a 4.5-inch display with a resolution of 480x854, which tells us that it won't be a beast in terms of internal hardware. There's the Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor running by default, combined by 1GB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage and 4G LTE connectivity.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;">In the camera department, the Neo 5s comes with an 8MP primary sensor and a 5MP front facing camera for video calls and selfies.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;">Since the handset was revealed by the company's official site, it's almost a given that the smartphone will go official eventually. The device is said to be sporting a paltry 2,000 mAh battery and running Android 4.4.2 out of the box, which is mildly disappointing for a new handset.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;">It is said that the handset will be unveiled in white and black color variants during the time of launch. With a weight of 135 grams and thickness of just 8mm, Oppo has ensured that the Neo 5s will not be uncomfortable to hold.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;">We consider this to be a silent launch of the smartphone as it's been listed in detail on the company website. So expect Oppo to give away availability related details over the coming days. We expect the handset to be priced under Rs. 7,000 considering the hardware on offer.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;">[</span><a href="http://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/news/oppo-neo-5s-with-4g-support-snapdragon-410-soc-listed-on-company-site-693554" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #4296b5; cursor: pointer; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px; outline: none 0px; text-decoration: none;">NDTV Gadgets</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;">]</span></div>

Oppo Neo 5s Spotted Could Launch Soon

Oppo has been ever active in the mobile industry with its range of smartphones catering to the high end and midrange market segments res...

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Sony Could Unveil New Smartphones In India On May 26

<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/AVvXsEiDm9w5SpTHtOaNDnPumpN3QCmQ1I2nfD4iBf_TfVEYgxNHB2XrI9sqDWhWIMbCN_9BEL4H6ukHgrwXp6dc05wkuny5L8YxsTR18dtlkxzHOZmD4wav-cYidPSu2DF_ad8vXaOSGmN3Hbo/s1600/Sony-could-unveil-new-smartphones-in-India-on-May-26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDm9w5SpTHtOaNDnPumpN3QCmQ1I2nfD4iBf_TfVEYgxNHB2XrI9sqDWhWIMbCN_9BEL4H6ukHgrwXp6dc05wkuny5L8YxsTR18dtlkxzHOZmD4wav-cYidPSu2DF_ad8vXaOSGmN3Hbo/s1600/Sony-could-unveil-new-smartphones-in-India-on-May-26.jpg" /></a></div> <br /> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;"><b><span style="color: blue;">Sony India</span></b><span style="color: #333333;"> has started sending out invites to an event scheduled for the 26th of May, with the arrival of the Xperia Z4 rumored to be on the agenda. The company has merely mentioned that the event will take place in New Delhi, with the words "Block Your Date" surrounded by water, which is a clear hint at a water resistant device.</span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;">Considering that the Xperia Z4 is also water resistant, it is a fair assumption to make that Sony is talking about the newly released flagship here. However, the company could just as likely be talking about a new midrange phone for the highly competitive Indian market.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;">One theory floating around is that Sony will unveil the Xperia M4 Aqua, which was announced a couple of months ago and hasn't seen an official launch in many markets. India could be one of Sony's key targets given the sort of competition there is in the region. However, Sony has always failed to make an impact with its smartphones due to the exorbitant pricing, so we hope the company makes those changes this year.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;">Sadly, we will have to wait another week to find out what Sony has in store for the Indian markets. If it is indeed the Xperia M4 Aqua, we can expect the pricing to be under Rs. 15,000.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;">In the case of the Xperia Z4 however, anything over Rs. 35,000 will make it an instant failure. But it is possible that Sony will limit the Xperia Z4 to Japan for the time being and focus on midrange offerings for markets elsewhere.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; line-height: 25px;">Specifications of the Xperia M4 Aqua:</span><br /> <ul style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 25px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 20px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <li style="border: 0px; color: #222222; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style: disc inside; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">5-inch 720p display</li> <li style="border: 0px; color: #222222; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style: disc inside; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">7.3mm thickness</li> <li style="border: 0px; color: #222222; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style: disc inside; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">136 grams</li> <li style="border: 0px; color: #222222; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style: disc inside; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">13MP rear camera</li> <li style="border: 0px; color: #222222; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style: disc inside; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">5MP front camera</li> <li style="border: 0px; color: #222222; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style: disc inside; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">8/16GB storage (expandable)</li> <li style="border: 0px; color: #222222; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style: disc inside; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">2GB RAM</li> <li style="border: 0px; color: #222222; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style: disc inside; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Octa core Snapdragon 615 processor</li> <li style="border: 0px; color: #222222; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style: disc inside; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Android 5.0 Lollipop</li> <li style="border: 0px; color: #222222; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style: disc inside; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">2,400 mAh battery</li> <li style="border: 0px; color: #222222; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style: disc inside; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Water/dust resistant</li> <li style="border: 0px; color: #222222; font-size: 13.501350402832px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style: disc inside; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">4G LTE connectivity</li> </ul> </div>

Sony Could Unveil New Smartphones In India On May 26

Sony India has started sending out invites to an event scheduled for the 26th of May, with the arrival of the Xperia Z4 rumored to be o...

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