A young programmer named Aaron Swartz has been indicted by federal prosecutors for allegedly downloading more than 4 million academic documents from the MIT library last year by hacking into its computer system. But why prosecute him for a crime which appears to have no victims? Read More »
Tech
The turmoil created by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation has pulled back the curtain on the cosy relationship between politicians, police and the media. But those who are angriest seem reduced to stunts — hacking websites and throwing pies. Is this really the best we can do? Read More »
After being celebrated as the future of money, the “peer-to-peer crypto currency” known as Bitcoin has taken some serious hits recently, including being derided as a scam and targeted by senators. Now a user says he has lost $500,000 in Bitcoins in a massive theft. Read More »
Google announced this week plans to shut down its Translate API “due to the substantial economic burden caused by extensive abuse.” The news raises a question: When dealing with the costly threats of hackers and spam abuse, when should a web company cut its losses? Read More »
T-Mobile confirmed today that its network was indeed hacked, but said it doesn’t believes any of its customer data is at risk and the penetration is not nearly as deep as the purported hackers alleged. The anonymous group claimed to have databases, confidential and financial… Read More »
In 1964, Justice Potter Stewart, who was having difficulty explaining what exactly he meant by “hard-core” pornography, famously said, “I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced…but I know it when I see it.” When… Read More »
In Beijing, Internet access will soon be in high demand: Half a million people are expected to visit the city of 17 million for the Olympics, and most of them will want web-based access to personal and corporate sites. This may well be… Read More »
