Clegg rejects 'web snoop' bill plan

25 April 2013 Last updated at 07:01 ET

Home Office plans to store details of Britons' online activity will not happen while the Liberal Democrats are in government, Nick Clegg has said.

The deputy prime minister told his weekly LBC radio phone-in that "what people have dubbed the snooper's charter" was "not going to happen".

There had been reports a redrafted bill, with concessions to win over Lib Dems, might be in the Queen's Speech.

But Downing Street said discussions continued about "the next steps".

The prime minister's official spokesman said the reality was that technological change had not gone away and, while it was a sensitive issue, action was needed "to respond to those changes".

Mr Clegg said he would be willing to accept changes to take account of new technology - such as ensuring each mobile device had its own unique IP address.

But, he said: "What people have dubbed the snooper's charter - I have to be clear with you, that's not going to happen.

"In other words the idea that the government will pass a law which means there will be a record kept of every website you visit, who you communicate with on social media sites, that's not going to happen.

"It's certainly not going to happen with Liberal Democrats in government."

"We all committed ourselves at the beginning of this coalition to learn the lessons from the past, when Labour overdid it, trying to constantly keep tabs on everyone. We have a commitment in this Coalition Agreement to end the storage of internet information unless there is a very good reason to do so."

He said he did not believe that people backed the idea of a "treasure trove of data which you can then dip into if you need to", and said there were doubts whether it was even technically feasible.

Lib Dem president Tim Farron tweeted that his party had "killed the Snooper Charter" and was "standing up for civil liberties & freedom of speech".

There was no immediate response from the Home Office.

The draft Communications Data Bill was sent "back to the drawing board" in December after scathing criticism from a joint committee of MPs and peers.

The plans in the draft bill included:

• Internet service providers having to store for a year all details of online communication in the UK - such as the time, duration, originator and recipient of a communication and the location of the device from which it was made.
• They would also be having to store for the first time all Britons' web browsing history and details of messages sent on social media, webmail, voice calls over the internet and gaming, in addition to emails and phone calls
• Police not having to seek permission to access details of these communications, if investigating a crime
• Police having to get a warrant from the home secretary to be able to see the actual content of any messages
• Four bodies having access to data: the police, the Serious and Organised Crime Agency, the intelligence agencies and HM Revenue and Customs

The MPs and peers added that the draft bill paid "insufficient attention to the duty to respect the right to privacy" and went "much further than it need or should for the purpose of providing necessary and justifiable official access to communications data".

Home Secretary Theresa May insisted the proposed changes were vital for countering paedophiles, extremists and fraudsters.

The home secretary wants the bill in place next year. She said the measures would help modernise crime-fighting laws, to combat criminals' use of internet-based phone calls and things like instant messaging and social media sites like Facebook.

The draft Communications Data Bill was the latest in a long-running series of attempts by the Home Office to change the law to allow greater monitoring - or access to - online activity in the UK.

The plan initially suggested when Labour was in government was for a giant database to store the details of all mobile phone calls and internet traffic, such as who called who, or who emailed who when, but not the content of the phone calls or emails.

Privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch welcomed Mr Clegg's announcement.

Deputy director Emma Carr said: "Last year Skype gave British police more data than any other government, including the USA. To say that the police can't get data from the internet without this bill is simply wrong.

"Where security or child safety is at risk, companies already comply with police requests and there was a real risk this bill would make the situation worse by driving dangerous people underground into encrypted services.

"Recording the websites we look at and who we email would not have made us safer... it would have made Britain a less attractive place to start a company and put British companies in the position of being paid by the government to spy on their customers."

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3G takes off in North Korea

26 April 2013 Last updated at 05:54 ET

Almost two million North Koreans now use the country's only 3G network, reports a blog dedicated to technology news in North Korea.

The figure has been confirmed by 3G provider Koryolink, a partnership between Egyptian telecoms firm Orascom and the North Korean government.

The service can only be used to make voice calls, and all international calls are banned.

At the start of 2012 Koryolink claimed to have one million 3G subscribers.

In January 2013 the government began allowing visitors to the country to bring in their mobile phones for the first time.

Unlike residents, they would now be able to use the 3G network for mobile internet access as well, by purchasing local SIM cards, the country said at the time.

However last month a China-based tour operator called Koryo Tours, which specialises in tourist visits to North Korea, posted a note on its website saying that 3G was no longer available for visitors.

North Koreans only have access to a very limited, state-run set of internet pages.

When Google Chair Eric Schmidt visited the country at the start of the year he urged the government to allow citizens access to the wider internet and said it would be "easy" for the 3G network to include data access.

"As the world becomes increasingly connected, the North Korean decision to be virtually isolated is very much going to affect their physical world and their economic growth," he wrote in a blog post.

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Judge slashes Google royalty claim

26 April 2013 Last updated at 07:16 ET

Google's claim that Microsoft owes it billions in patent payments has been rebuffed by a US judge.

In 2012, Google subsidiary Motorola sued Microsoft claiming it was owed royalties for technologies used in the Xbox console.

It sought damages of about $4bn (£2.6bn) a year but Microsoft said it would pay about $1m (£647,000).

US Judge James Robart has ruled that Microsoft should pay about $1.8m a year.

"This decision is good for consumers because it ensures patented technology committed to standards remains affordable for everyone," said David Howard, Microsoft's deputy general counsel, in a statement.

In its legal arguments, Microsoft said the patents were so essential to the computer industry as a whole that they should not pay much for them.

Motorola and parent company Google have yet to comment on Judge Robart's ruling.

The dispute was over wireless and video technologies used in the games console. The row over the technologies led Google to seek a ban on Microsoft selling its console and some other products while the dispute was unresolved.

A sales ban was briefly imposed in Germany but was soon overturned on appeal.

The row over royalties is just one part of several different patent wrangles between Google/Motorola and Microsoft.

Until January 2013 the companies were also rowing about video compression software used in the Xbox. However, this wrangle ended after Google withdrew its patent claims.

The remaining patent battle between the two is over whether Motorola has charged too much for use of its patents. This legal dispute is set to be settled in a Seattle court in the summer.

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Warning over bug in Viber chat app

26 April 2013 Last updated at 08:04 ET

Security firms are warning about a security bug in the popular Viber app for Android phones.

The flaw in the net phone application lets attackers bypass screen locks and take control of a smartphone.

The app has been downloaded more than 50 million times from Google's Play store according to statistics from the search giant.

Viber said it was aware of the flaw and was preparing to release a fix that would close the loophole.

The flaw was discovered by Vietnamese security firm Bkav and works in different ways depending on which Android phone a victim is using. In a blog post, Bkav said the attack revolved around sending several messages to a victim via Viber.

The free Viber app works like Skype and lets Android phone users send messages and talk for free. Bkav discovered that sending pop-up messages and using some other parts of the Viber app let them circumvent the lock screens that many people use to secure their phones.

"The way Viber handles to pop-up its messages on smartphones' lock screen is unusual, resulting in its failure to control programming logic, causing the flaw to appear," said Nguyen Minh Duc, head of Bkav's security division. He advised people not to let anyone else use their phone until the bug was fixed.

Continue reading the main story

You cannot expect all developers to be experts in security. We have to make tools that make it easier for them"

End Quote Martin Borrett

Viber said it was aware of the flaw and, via its support forum, gave people advice about how to avoid falling victim. It said it was working on a fix and hoped to resolve the issue soon.

The discovery of the bug is the latest in a series of security flaws that have struck apps in Google's Android store. Many cyber thieves are aiming their efforts at the phones in a bid to steal saleable information or generate revenue by getting handsets to call or send messages to premium rate numbers.

Despite this, Martin Borrett, director of IBM's European Institute for Advanced Security, said phone apps were getting more secure faster than other sectors at the same point in their development.

IBM was "optimistic" about the improving security of mobile apps because tools were emerging that made it straightforward to scan code for the bugs and loopholes that cyber thieves seek, he said.

"You cannot expect all developers to be experts in security," he said. "We have to make tools that make it easier for them.

"I think people are more switched on to the issues and are better placed to address them and have the knowledge and tools to counter these threats," he told the BBC.

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Man admits US Facebook death threats

26 April 2013 Last updated at 08:46 ET

A British man has admitted threatening to kill 200 people in the US in posts he made under a false name on Facebook.

Reece Elliott, 24, of Foss Way, South Shields, made the threat in February on a memorial page to a Tennessee girl who was killed in a car crash.

About 3,000 pupils in the Warren County area missed school the next day because of the posts.

Elliot pleaded guilty at Newcastle Crown Court and was remanded in custody to be sentenced in June.

Judge James Goss QC said a prison sentence was "inevitable".

'200 people minimum'

The court heard how using a false name, he wrote on the RIP Caitlin Talley page: "My father has three guns. I'm planning on killing him first and putting him in a dumpster.

"Then I'm taking the motor and I'm going in fast. I'm gonna kill hopefully at least 200 before I kill myself.

"So you want to tell the deputy, I'm on my way. I'm killing 200 people minimum at school. I will be on CNN."

Elliott referred to himself as a "part-time troll" and said he wanted to post "offensive" comments to see what kind of reaction he could "provoke".

The term 'troll' is used on the internet to describe someone who deliberately posts contentious and inflammatory remarks online in order to provoke others.

These remarks can be on internet forums, chat rooms or in comments on blogs.

Elliott admitted one count of making a threat to kill and eight counts of sending grossly offensive messages.

He denied four other counts of making threats to kill, which the prosecution accepted.

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Software album reprises synthesisers

26 April 2013 Last updated at 09:40 ET

A group of software developers is launching an album of electronica music tracks made entirely from software re-creations of classic synthesisers.

They hope to raise money for maths workshops for children at Bletchley Park, and programming lessons at the National Museum of Computing.

The software mimics the sound produced by synthesisers such as the Minimoog.

The Minimoog has been used by hundreds of musicians including Rick Wakeman, Coldplay and Janet Jackson.

It was first released in 1970, replacing earlier versions designed by Dr Robert Moog, known as a pioneer of electronic synthesisers who made his first model at the age of 14. He died in 2008.

Price tag

While vintage hardware such as the Minimoog, Yamaha CS-80 and Oberheim SEM can cost hundreds of pounds, developer and amateur musician Jason Gorman says his suite of nine digital synthesisers costs just 400 euros (£337).

"Some of the album tracks use 12 or 13 virtual synthesisers. To buy one each of those I would have had to remortgage the house," he told the BBC.

"Software synthesisers have been around for a while, but it's only in the last five years that computers have become so powerful that it's possible to have a dozen running at the same time on a laptop.

"Anyone with a laptop and a bit of know-how can now make an album and distribute it around the world."

Mr Gorman says the software works by "recreating the circuitry" of classic synthesisers, while plug-ins exist to give the music that magnetic tape sound.

"Software synthesisers are good enough now that I can't tell the difference. Recreations of the amps and the effects are accurate enough," he said.

Hardware appeal

However, some of the big recording studios report that traditional hardware is still in demand among musicians despite the high cost of maintaining it.

"It's like buying a vintage car," electronics engineer Richard Barrie, who owns a broken 1970s mixing desk used by Mike Oldfield to make Tubular Bells, told the BBC last year.

"Modern cars are great but when a vintage car is working well, it's such a lot of fun."

Mr Gorman, Chris Whitworth, Brian Hogan, Lance Walton, Yuri O'Donnell and Peter Camfield produced music for the Music by Programmers compilation. They are all software developers and amateur musicians.

All the money raised by the album will go towards funding maths and programming workshops for young people.

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Delays dog UK launch of Samsung S4

26 April 2013 Last updated at 10:11 ET

Many Britons keen to get their hands on Samsung's S4 phone look likely to be disappointed.

Samsung has said that "unprecedented" demand for the handset has meant stocks were running low in the UK.

UK operators have been sending messages to many people who pre-ordered the S4, warning that the handset would reach them after the official launch date.

Some messages say people may have to wait up to a week to get hold of the new phone.

Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S4 in mid-March and planned the worldwide launch for 27 April. Interest in the phone is high because of some of the novel technologies, such as the ability to control it with a glance, that are built in.

However, many people who pre-ordered the phone so it would arrive on launch day may now get their handset later.

"There's been unprecedented demand for the Galaxy S4 in the UK," Samsung told BBC Radio 4's You and Yours. Many people contacted the programme to report that they had received messages from operators and others retailers warning about the shortage of S4s in the UK. Some were given a delivery date of 3 May, almost a week later than originally planned.

'Stock constraints'

In its statement, the electronics company said it was "working hard to ensure that pre-orders and sales across all channels are fulfilled as soon as possible".

UK operator 3 told the BBC that Samsung was "experiencing stock constraints" and said it regretted the frustration this would cause customers. The UK's other major operators also said they were having stock problems but were looking to prioritise customers who pre-ordered over those that walk into shops to buy the gadget.

Similar delays were being reported in the US with operator Sprint delaying the opening of its online S4 store by a week to cope with demand.

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Data-sharing 'good for patients'

26 April 2013 Last updated at 11:22 ET

The NHS must share patient data more effectively to ensure that people undergoing treatment receive the optimum care, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has said.

He was responding to the publication of the Caldicott review, an analysis of how the NHS in England treats data.

It calls for the NHS to share information more effectively, but also for patient confidentiality to be respected,

Doctors' leaders welcomed the report.

'Opt-out'

Mr Hunt said: "Most NHS users would be astonished that information doesn't flow around the system.

"In many hospitals the IT systems aren't even linked within a hospital, let alone between hospitals and other parts of the health economy."

Continue reading the main story

Confidentiality is the cornerstone of the doctor/patient partnership and we must do all we can to safeguard it"

End Quote Dr Tony Calland, BMA

The Caldicott Review cited a "culture of anxiety" in the health and social care sector about sharing data, meaning health professionals do not pass on information that could improve someone's care.

But it said sharing appropriately should be "the rule, not the exception".

However the review also suggests there should be better monitoring and control of who has access to records, and that what people see should be limited to what is necessary for them to provide good care.

And while the NHS uses patient data to plan care at local and national levels, Mr Hunt said patients could opt out of their GP records being shared with the Health and Social Care Information Centre, which collates statistics for the NHS.

Controls

The review says patients should be able to see any records held on them, the review adds, whether that is in hospitals or the community.

Dame Fiona said she had heard "great frustration" from patients who had experienced problems accessing their own records.

The report applies to the NHS in England, but she said many of its recommendations would apply to the whole of the UK.

Dr Tony Calland, head of the BMA's ethics committee, said: "Confidentiality is the cornerstone of the doctor/patient partnership and we must do all we can to safeguard it."

He said that when patient data was used for research there had to be "strict controls" which were "scrupulously adhered to and regularly audited by an independent body".

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Arrest made after huge web attack

26 April 2013 Last updated at 11:39 ET

Spanish police have arrested a Dutchman suspected of being behind one of the biggest ever web attacks.

The 35 year-old-man was detained in Barcelona following a request from the Dutch public prosecutor.

The attack bombarded the websites of anti-junk mail outfit Spamhaus with huge amounts of data in an attempt to knock them offline.

It also slowed data flows over closely linked networks and led to a massive police investigation.

The man arrested is believed to be Sven Kamphuis, the owner and manager of Dutch hosting firm Cyberbunker that has been implicated in the attack.

"Spamhaus is delighted at the news that an individual has been arrested and is grateful to the Dutch police for the resources they have made available and the way they have worked with us," said a Spamhaus spokesman.

He added: "Spamhaus remains concerned about the way network resources are being exploited as they were in this incident due to the failure of network providers to implement best practice in security."

Spamhaus servers were hit with a huge amount of data via an attack technique known as a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack. This attempts to overwhelm a web server by sending it many more requests for data than it can handle.

A typical DDoS attack employs about 50 gigabits of data every second (gbps). At its peak the attack on Spamhaus hit 300 gbps.

Cyberbunker is thought to have kicked off the attack in late March after Spamhaus blocked some servers hosted by the Dutch firm. Cyberbunker bills itself as a firm that will host anything but child pornography and terrorism material.

Non-profit Spamhaus maintains what are known as "block lists" which many organisations use to spot sources of spam and other junk mail to stop them clogging mail servers and inboxes with unwanted messages.

Mr Kamphuis took exception to Spamhaus's action saying in messages sent to the press that it had no right to decide "what goes and does not go on the internet".

In a statement, the Dutch public prosecutor said the Dutchman, who it only identifies as "SK", was "suspected of unprecedented heavy attacks" on Spamhaus. The house where SK was stayed was searched at the time of his arrest and Spanish police confiscated computers, phones and hard drives.

It said it expected SK to be transferred to the Netherlands very soon. A spokesman for the Dutch police said they were co-operating with British and American authorities on the investigation into the attack.

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Two sentenced over 'Bulger images'

26 April 2013 Last updated at 12:58 ET

Two men who published photographs on Twitter and Facebook said to show the killers of James Bulger have received suspended jail sentences.

Neil Harkins, of East Yorkshire, and Dean Liddle, of Sunderland, received nine-month sentences, suspended for 15 months, for being in contempt of court.

Jon Venables and Robert Thompson were convicted of murdering two-year-old James in Merseyside in February 1993.

There is a global ban on publishing anything revealing their identities.

Venables and Thompson were jailed for life following the murder, but were released in 2001 and given new identities.

A High Court injunction prohibits the publication of any images or information claiming to identify or locate the pair- even if it is not actually them. The order also covers material published on the internet.

'Very serious consequence'

The sentencing at London's High Court followed action by Attorney General Dominic Grieve against Liddle, 28, and Harkins, 35, who admitted to posting pictures on Twitter and Facebook respectively in February - two days after the 20th anniversary of the murder.

Continue reading the main story

Today's proceedings for contempt represent the latest in a series of cases brought by the attorney general, the government law officer with the responsibility of policing contempt, to enforce the law in the internet age.

The public are being educated, through a series of cases, that the law of contempt - which has to be strictly adhered to by traditional publishers such as newspapers and broadcasters - also applies equally to those who blog, tweet or use Facebook.

Last year, a number of people who named the woman raped by footballer Ched Evans were prosecuted and fined.

Ignorance of the fact that naming a rape victim was a crime was no defence. Conversations that once would have only taken place in the street or the pub have moved online. The spoken word has become the published word.

In short, we are all publishers now. Anything tapped into a PC or phone can rapidly go viral and cause real damage to the administration of justice.

The internet may have seemed, at its birth, like a new unregulated frontier beyond the reach of the law. It isn't, and anyone posting material in relation to matters concerning the justice system should be aware that between mind and keyboard lies the law of contempt.

The court heard Liddle, and Harkins, who is from Bridlington, had published images that purported to depict Venables and Thompson as adults.

The judges, Sir John Thomas, president of the Queen's Bench Division, and Mr Justice Tugendhat, acknowledged that both men removed the offending pictures quickly and had apologised.

Sir John said: "In the view of the court, their [Harkins' and Liddle's] conduct has to be judged on the basis that they knew what they were doing was wrong, and it was no excuse that others were doing it.

"Vigilantism has no place in a civilised country and it is for the purpose of deterring such conduct that we must have particular regard."

He added: "The social media can reach many people - as this case shows - and therefore the conduct of anyone publishing such information, whether it be on social media or elsewhere on the internet, has that very serious consequence."

Mr Grieve said it was in the public interest to enforce the injunction banning the killers' identification as it mitigated the "very real risk of serious physical harm or death" to any person who might be identified, whether correctly or incorrectly, as Venables or Thompson.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's PM programme, Mr Grieve stressed it was essential that such injunctions were respected online.

"You are as bound in social media by the law as anybody else in mainstream publishing," he said.

"That principle is very well established already, but I think it's important to get that message home and today has helped me in doing that."

'Opinionated Dad'

Earlier, Melanie Cumberland, counsel for the attorney general, told the court Harkins' post on Facebook had come to light after a concerned member of the public alerted the police.

After being contacted by the treasury solicitor's office, he had immediately taken it down and apologized by email, she said.

Harkins had also written a letter of apology explaining that, as a parent, he had been upset by the killing of James Bulger. But his post was shared by 24,000 people, the court heard.

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

Attorney General Dominic Grieve: "Breaking the court injunction is a serious matter"

Liddle, a graphic designer, who had posted on Twitter using the name "Opinionated Dad", had some 915 followers.

His post was up for about an hour in the early hours of the morning, before being removed, Ms Cumberland told the court. His tweet was seen by someone at the attorney general's office who subsequently wrote to him.

Liddle later said in a letter that he said he had not realised how serious the situation was, the court heard.

Ms Cumberland said the anniversary of James's death had led to photos and information being posted online by numerous individuals and shared hundreds, if not thousands, of times.

The attorney general was currently considering whether to prosecute other individuals, she added.

It is the first time the attorney general has issued contempt proceedings over the use of social media, although people have been fined for breaking the law on Twitter or Facebook in several high-profile cases.

Venables and Thompson were 10 years old when they abducted two-year-old James in Bootle, Merseyside before torturing and killing him.

Venables was jailed for two years in July 2010 after admitting downloading and distributing indecent images of children. He has been refused parole.‪

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