Microsoft U-turn in Xbox games row

19 June 2013 Last updated at 17:43 ET By Dave Lee Technology reporter, BBC News

Microsoft has made a dramatic U-turn over its decision to impose restrictions on pre-owned titles on its new Xbox One console.

The company had said it would restrict the free trade of pre-owned games, and that an internet connection was required to play all titles.

But following gamers' anger, Microsoft said it would drop the policies.

Microsoft interactive president Don Mattrick said the company had "heard loud and clear" from its customers.

"You told us how much you loved the flexibility you have today with games delivered on disc," Mr Mattrick said in a statement posted online.

"The ability to lend, share, and resell these games at your discretion is of incredible importance to you. Also important to you is the freedom to play offline, for any length of time, anywhere in the world."

The statement, which was for some time inaccessible due to heavy traffic, went on to backtrack fully on the controversial aspects of their DRM - digital rights management - plans:

• "An internet connection will not be required to play offline Xbox One games - after a one-time system set-up with a new Xbox One, you can play any disc based game without ever connecting online again. There is no 24-hour connection requirement and you can take your Xbox One anywhere you want and play your games, just like on Xbox 360.
• "Trade-in, lend, resell, gift, and rent disc based games just like you do today - there will be no limitations to using and sharing games, it will work just as it does today on Xbox 360."

Trade-off

The rules apply to games bought as physical discs only, and do not affect games downloaded via the online Xbox store.

"While we believe that the majority of people will play games online and access the cloud for both games and entertainment, we will give consumers the choice of both physical and digital content," Mr Mattrick said.

"We have listened and we have heard loud and clear from your feedback that you want the best of both worlds."

However, there will be something of a trade-off for gamers.

Microsoft had planned to allow customers to "trade" downloaded games online in exchange for money off new titles. The change of stance means that gamers will no longer be able to do this - something gamers may regret in the future, one analyst suggested.

"It could be a case of 'you asked for too much, and you got what you asked for'," said Brian Blau from Gartner.

"But I think it's a good thing if Microsoft are listening to their potential customers and responding to them. The fact they have this technology means they can always bring it back at a future point in time."

Questions over the handling of pre-owned games was an unexpected talking point at last week's E3 conference - the largest games industry event in the calendar.

Sony took the opportunity during its press conference to make a direct attack on Microsoft's policy.

"PS4 will not impose any new restrictions on your use of PS4 game discs," said Jack Tretton, boss of Sony Computer Entertainment America, drawing cheers from some attendees.

For Microsoft, it means a second high-profile U-turn in short succession. Last month, it told Windows 8 users that it would be bringing back the iconic "Start" button to its operating system, having previously dropped it from its redesign.

Follow Dave Lee on Twitter @DaveLee

23.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

Paid-for online news 'makes gains'

19 June 2013 Last updated at 19:13 ET By Leo Kelion Technology reporter

Consumers are becoming more willing to pay for online news, although most still choose not to, a study suggests.

The percentage of UK-based web users who read paid-for content had more than doubled to 9% during the past 10 months, it said.

Gains were also seen in the US, France and Germany, although Denmark bucked the trend.

Those aged 25 to 34 appeared most prepared to pay, and men were more willing than women, the study suggests.

The research will be of particular interest to newspapers, including the Sun, Daily Telegraph, Bild and Washington Post, which are all constructing paywalls this year.

Valued analysis

The researchers said that in the US, ownership of a tablet or smartphone appeared to encourage payments - particularly if the devices were made by Apple.

However, they cautioned that the effect was less pronounced in the UK - possibly because so many news apps in the country were offered for free - and that some types of publication found it easier than others.

"The data indicate, on average, 10% of people have paid for news in some digital form - about one-third higher than last year," said Prof Robert Picard, director of research at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, which carried out the study.

"Public-affairs magazines are finding it easier to get the public to pay than newspapers, especially on tablets, because digital payments for magazines are becoming the norm and they offer news analysis and commentary in ways general news sources do not."

Yahoo's influence

More than 11,000 people across nine countries took part in the online poll on which the study was based. The BBC, Google and the media regulator Ofcom were among its sponsors.

Respondents were most likely to say that the internet had become their most important source of news in Spain, Italy, Japan and urban Brazil.

But TV still had the upper hand in Germany, France, Denmark, the UK and US.

However, that picture changed among the young - in all the countries except France the under-35s said that they favoured online news sources, while the over-45s strongly preferred television.

The survey also indicated that newer brands had sometimes leapfrogged older ones.

In the US and Japan, Yahoo was identified as the most popular online news source, leaving the most popular offline providers - Fox News and Tokyo-based broadcaster NHK - lagging behind.

Despite the wide range of options, the study found most participants only used a small number of sources, suggesting that brands did still play an important role.

News chiefs may be concerned, however, at the number who said they did not really notice which sites they were using and just looked at news that interested them - at least 30% of respondents from Germany, Spain, Italy, France, urban Brazil and Japan agreed with this statement.

"One key factor in reducing brand recognition appears to be social media," added the report's editor, Nic Newman.

"Heavy social media users in the UK are more likely to agree that they don't notice which sites they are using."

Posts and tweets

The study confirms the growing importance of Facebook, Twitter and other social media services, noting that more than a third of respondents classed them as their main source of news in Italy, Spain and urban Brazil.

Their influence was particularly pronounced among the young. For the under-35s social media was now the most common way a news story was discovered online, the data suggested, while for other ages it remained search.

But just because more people are using social media, it does not mean they are likely to believe what they read on it.

In the UK, sites from newspapers and broadcasters were judged to be either "very" or "quite" trustworthy by most respondents. By contrast, only a fraction said the same for Twitter and Facebook.

Even so, Mr Newman warned the older players not to become complacent.

"A strong name and long heritage is no longer enough," he said.

"Our data show that there still is a yearning - in an ocean of content - for trusted news across a range of subject areas, but newer brands like Yahoo and the Huffington Post are also proving they can fill that role alongside a raft of specialist providers, blogs, and social media too."

As for being willing to comment about stories on a social network, the study's authors believed that cultural factors seemed to be the biggest factor.

So, it was the Latin countries - Brazil, Spain and Italy - where users were most likely to share their thoughts.

But they were much less likely to post comments in Japan or the northern European countries - Germany, France, the UK and Denmark.

23.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

Kim Dotcom decries 'data massacre'

20 June 2013 Last updated at 05:56 ET

A huge amount of Megaupload data has been deleted by a European hosting firm, founder Kim Dotcom has revealed.

He called it the "largest data massacre in the history of the internet," saying that millions of users' personal files had been lost.

US authorities shut down Megaupload last year, accusing Mr Dotcom of helping people share movies and music illegally.

Dutch firm LeaseWeb said that it needed to "reprovision the servers".

It said that it had maintained the 630 servers at its own expense since Megaupload was shut down in January 2012, following raids led by the US authorities.

"After a year of nobody showing any interest in the servers and the data we considered our options... we commenced the re-provisioning of the servers in February 2013, it said in a blog post.

In tears

But on Twitter, Mr Dotcom said that his lawyers "had repeatedly asked LeaseWeb not to delete Megaupload servers while court proceedings are pending in the US".

He said that he was never warned about the deletion, adding that the loss of the files had reduced him to tears.

This is disputed by LeaseWeb who claim that it did inform him.

The deleted servers represent only a small fraction of those leased by Megaupload, to provide storage space for users.

In North America alone, the firm leased 1,100 servers from Carpathia Hosting while Cogent Communications Group also provided servers.

Legal battle

Mr Dotcom said he still had the support of these two companies.

US internet rights group are demanding that the Megaupload files be preserved so that users can regain access to personal material such as photos and videos.

Mr Dotcom is currently free on bail in New Zealand where he is fighting extradition to the US to face charges of copyright fraud.

The long-running legal battle has been hit by multiple delays. The raid on the entrepreneur's home, during which computers, hard drives and documents were seized, was deemed illegal by a New Zealand court in June last year.

Mr Dotcom has denied the charges, saying he could not be held responsible for what was stored on Megaupload which simply offered a storage service to users.

23.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

France and Spain investigate Google

20 June 2013 Last updated at 13:02 ET

Spain has launched proceedings against Google over five suspected serious data breaches.

Meanwhile France has given the search giant three months to rethink its privacy rules.

Since last year Google has been combining data from all its sites to better target adverts, a decision which the EU has said needs a rethink.

The search giant said that its privacy practices respect European laws.

"We have engaged fully with the authorities involved through this process, and we'll continue to do so going forward," it said in a statement.

Google's new data policy allows the search giant to track users across all its platforms, including Gmail, Google+ and YouTube.

Combining 60 separate privacy policies was done to "simplify privacy", it said at the time.

But in October 2012 the EU warned Google that its data protection laws did not comply with a directive and gave the company four months to change them.

That deadline passed with no action, prompting individual countries to pursue their own cases.

The Spanish Data Protection Agency said that it had found evidence of five serious privacy law breaches.

These are:

• Disproportionate use of private data
• Diverting private data for other users
• Storing private data for excessive or undetermined periods
• Failure to handle private data in a legitimate way
• Obstructing users in the exercise of their rights

Each of these is punishable with fines of up to 300,000 euros (£256,000).

The French National Commission on Computing and Freedom (CNIL) wants Google to specify what it is using personal data for, and how long it is held.

It also wants Google to let users opt out of having their data centralised in a single location.

Google faces a French fine of up to 300,000 euros - small fry compared with Google's first quarter revenues of $14bn.

Britain, German, Italy and the Netherlands all have ongoing investigations into Google's privacy policy.

23.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

Facebook adds videos to Instagram

20 June 2013 Last updated at 13:53 ET

Users of Facebook's photo-sharing app, Instagram, will now be able to take videos as well as still photographs, the social network has announced.

In a press conference, Instagram's chief executive Kevin Systrom said the app would allow them to make clips lasting between three and 15 seconds.

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

Users will also be able to add the distinctive filters that epitomise Instagram photographs.

The app will vie with Twitter's Vine, which also lets users share video.

The Instagram update will allow iPhone and Android users to record and stitch together their clips to form a "collage", which can then have one of 13 customisable filters applied to them.

These can make the clips black-and-white, add a blur-effect or otherwise alter the footage.

In addition, iPhone users are offered a "cinema" facility, which stabilises the clips to counteract camera shake.

"Fifteen seconds of video [is] the right balance between not-too-short that constrains your creativity and not-too-long where you end up having to wait a lot of time for something to download," said Mr Systrom.

The time limit is more than double that offered by Vine's six-second clip service.

Other differences include the fact that Instagram's videos do not loop, and that its users can choose their thumbnail images.

Vine is expected to announce new features of its own over the coming days after its co-founders uploaded aseries of clips teasing an update.

Continue reading the main story

It was always part of the plan - that's what Facebook says about the video feature in Instagram.

The social network insists that Kevin Systrom, Instagram's founder and very much still in charge of the photo-sharing app, had thought from the start that video would be a good idea.

Nothing to do, then, with rival Twitter's successful launch of its own video-sharing app Vine.

It is hard though to believe that Mark Zuckerberg didn't give Mr Systrom the odd nudge during one of their regular chats and ask: "How's that moving picture widget coming along?"

Because Facebook is now focused almost entirely on its mobile platform, and Instagram is right at the centre of that - even if many of its users may not realise it is owned by the social network.

Far from melting away, as many predicted, user numbers have climbed rapidly since last April's takeover. Now it hopes video will grow the audience further.

One big question remains unanswered - just how Facebook will start making money from the app.

With plenty of brands already interested, there's talk of providing a high-end glossy magazine environment for advertisers. There's also a great deal of caution about doing anything to alienate users.

Because the key is to keep the audience growing and engaged - if Instagramming goes out of fashion, there'll be nothing to sell to the advertisers.

Rivalling YouTube

Facebook acquired Instagram last year for more than $700m (£450m).

Mr Systrom said the service was currently used by 130 million people a month and that 16 billion photos had been shared on it.

In May, market analysts at comScore said Facebook was now also the second biggest US online video site, beaten only by YouTube.

"Mobile and video are going to be key to Facebook going forward," said Ovum analyst Eden Zoller.

"Launching video for Instagram is a logical next step. The only surprising thing is that it didn't do it sooner."

But, she added, Facebook would be under close scrutiny.

"It has had some launches recently, like Facebook Home, that have been done with great fanfare but don't seem to have made a huge impact. Whatever it does with video, it will have to do well."

Brian Blau, an analyst at tech consultants Gartner, noted that Instagram was not the first to offer video filters, but predicted the facility would prove popular.

"The question will be: Are filters enough?" he added.

"I don't necessarily think so. There are other elements to post-production, such as adding titles or improving lighting, that may be more useful."

Service	Platform	Clip length	Description
Vine	iOS and Android	Six seconds	Bought out by Twitter last year, Vine's main selling point is its close integration with the micro-blogging site, as well as an innovative tap-and-hold recording interface.
Flickr	iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Blackberry, mobile web	90 seconds	Flickr did short video before it was cool - but having dropped the functionality from its recently revamped mobile apps. It does not seem to be a priority for the Yahoo-owned photography site.
Tout	iOS and Android	15 seconds	Tout offers access to a stream of recently uploaded clips, but its strategy focuses on promoting "channels" - content posted by users working for or otherwise associated with specific brands. Wrestling promoter WWE, the Wall Street Journal, the BBC and shoe firm Zappos are all involved.
Instagram	iOS and Android	15 seconds	The photo app soared to popularity thanks to its good-looking filters. Now, and under the ownership of Facebook, Instagram is looking to apply the same filtering ideas to video.

23.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

BBC class calculator wins award

20 June 2013 Last updated at 15:00 ET

The BBC's Great British Class Calculator has won a data journalism award.

The Global Editor's Network Data Journalism Awards recognise outstanding work and editorial excellence in the field of data journalism.

Continue reading the main story

• Which one of seven classes will you fit into?

The calculator allows you to find out which one of seven social classes you most closely match.

It is based on data from BBC Lab UK's Great British Class Survey, the largest ever study of class in the UK.

The calculator was produced by the BBC News Visual Journalism team in collaboration with BBC Knowledge and Learning. It won the "data-driven applications" category.

"The Visual Journalism team is absolutely delighted to win this award. We are proud of our family of calculators which put the user right at the heart of the story," said Amanda Farnsworth, editor of the BBC News Visual Journalism team.

"The class calculator was personal, shareable and also fun. They say the British have always been obsessed with class, perhaps the class calculator proves that's still true!"

The data from the Great British Class survey was analysed by Professors Mike Savage and Fiona Devine and their teams at the London School of Economics and the Universities of York and Manchester.

They identified a new model of class with seven social classes, ranging from the Elite at the top to a 'Precariat' at the bottom.

23.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

Samsung unveils two-system tablet

20 June 2013 Last updated at 15:28 ET

Samsung has unveiled a tablet that can switch between the Windows 8 and Android operating systems.

The Ativ Q has a 13.3in (33.8cm) screen that sits over a keyboard that can be folded out for typing or set to act as a stand. In addition it has a stylus.

It comes just over a fortnight after Asus unveiled its own laptop-tablet hybrid which also runs both Microsoft and Google's systems.

One analyst said he expected this to be a trend that other firms would follow.

"It's a very cost-effective way for manufacturers to offer extra value to consumers at a time when it's very hard to differentiate benefits from one device to another," said Chris Green, principal technology analyst at Davies Murphy Group.

"You can tap into the industry-standard Windows productivity solutions - from Office to third-party programs - as well as all the mobile apps of Google's system. It's the logical next step."

The Ativ Q runs off Intel's new Haswell chip and Samsung said it offered up to nine hours of battery life. It added that the device's screen had been designed to be bright enough to be used outside on a sunny day.

The launch was announced at a press conference in London.

Android camera

Samsung also showed off another touchscreen computer, the Ativ Tab 3 which it described as the world's thinnest tablet to run the full Windows 8 system, as well as new PCs.

Among the other announcements was the Galaxy NX - a camera which allows its lenses to be changed, runs off the Android system and supports 4G data transfers.

It marks the firm's latest attempt to sell a device which offers higher quality images than the typical smartphone, but also allows pictures and video to be edited with apps and uploaded to the internet.

It adds to a product line that also includes a handset featuring a 10x optical zoom.

"The Galaxy NX camera looks impressive and is more likely to appeal to serious photographers than its S4 Zoom, which is quite a bulky smartphone because of the lens on the back," said Graeme Neill, deputy editor at Mobile Today.

"Samsung's main difference from its rival Apple is the sheer volume of products it brings to market.

"It is really determined to be making a smartphone, tablet, camera and laptop for everybody, from those who want high-end devices to consumers on a budget."

The announcements come at a time when the South Korean firm's stock has come under pressure.

Samsung Electronics shares have fallen by nearly 14% since 4 June after a number of banks cut their profit forecasts for the company.

They said they were worried its flagship Android device, the Galaxy S4, was not selling as well as they had previously predicted and raised concerns about rising competition from Chinese smart device makers.

23.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

Pirate bay founder jailed for hack

21 June 2013 Last updated at 05:10 ET

Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, co-founder of the Pirate Bay, has been sentenced to two years in a Swedish prison for hacking into a bank's computers.

A Swedish court found Warg guilty of the hack attacks and associated charges of fraud.

The attacks were carried out against the Nordea banking group and services firm Logica.

Personal data about thousands of Swedes was stolen in the attacks and was subsequently published online.

Warg's accomplice in the attacks, Mathias Gustafsson, was given a suspended sentence and told to seek psychiatric counselling.

Throughout the trial, Warg and his accomplice did not deny that computers they owned were used in the attacks. However, they claimed that other people used these machines remotely to break into the computer systems. The pair declined to name who these other people were.

Despite their claims, forensic experts who testified in the trial said data found on the computers used in the attacks showed that Warg and Gustafsson were the perpetrators.

So far, lawyers for the two men have not said whether they plan to appeal against their sentences.

Warg is currently serving a 12-month jail sentence after being convicted in 2009 of internet piracy for being part of the team that ran the Pirate Bay. The website provides file-sharing links that let people get hold of pirated music, movies and games.

The sentence does not mark the end of Warg's legal problems. In early June, a Swedish court agreed that he could be extradited to Denmark to face questioning there about a separate hacking incident.

23.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

Google given 35 days to delete data

21 June 2013 Last updated at 10:04 ET

Google has been given 35 days to delete any remaining data it "mistakenly collected" while taking pictures for its Street View service, or face criminal proceedings.

But the UK Information Commissioner's Office did not impose a fine.

Its investigation into Google reopened last year after further revelations about the data taken from wi-fi networks.

During that inquiry, additional discs containing private data were found.

Google had previously pledged to destroy all data it had collected, but admitted last year that it had "accidentally" retained the additional discs.

The ICO has told the search giant it must inform it if any further discs of information are discovered.

'Serious lack of oversight'

"Today's enforcement notice strengthens the action already taken by our office, placing a legal requirement on Google to delete the remaining payload data identified last year within the next 35 days and immediately inform the ICO if any further discs are found," said Stephen Eckersley, the office's head of enforcement.

Continue reading the main story

What did Google do wrong?

Google Street View, which launched in 2007, has been one of the search company's most ambitious projects to date.

Using specially-adapted cars, it created panoramic images of more than five million miles of the world's roads.

But it was during that process, in 2010, when one unnamed Google engineer wrote a piece of software that would pull data from the unsecured wi-fi networks the car encountered as it drove through towns and cities.

The data included personal emails and other sensitive information.

Google has said it did not plan to collect this data, and that the engineer was acting independently. However, it later transpired that at least one senior manager at the company was aware the collection was taking place.

To date, various regulators around the world have for the most part agreed with this assertion, concluding that the "mistakenly" gathered data was a result of sloppy management at a low level, rather than misguided direction from the top.

"Failure to abide by the notice will be considered as contempt of court, which is a criminal offence."

However, unlike authorities in the US, the ICO said it would not be issuing a fine.

"The detriment caused to individuals by this breach fails to meet the level required to issue a monetary penalty," it said.

It concluded that the collection of the data in 2010 was due to "procedural failings and a serious lack of management oversight", but agreed with Google's assertion that the company did not order the actions at a corporate level.

In a statement on Friday, Google said: "We work hard to get privacy right at Google.

"But in this case we didn't, which is why we quickly tightened up our systems to address the issue. The project leaders never wanted this data, and didn't use it or even look at it.

"We co-operated fully with the ICO throughout its investigation, and having received its order this morning we are proceeding with our plan to delete the data."

'Impeded and delayed'

Inquiries into Google's data gathering began in 2010 when it emerged an engineer had written software code to gather information from unsecured wi-fi networks.

Cars taking pictures for the company's massively popular Street View service were used to capture the information.

The company was fined by $25,000 (£15,700) by the US Federal Communications Commission in April last year.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

Is our privacy somehow less worthy of protection?"

End Quote Nick Pickles Big Brother Watch

The FCC levelled heavy criticism at the company, saying it had "deliberately impeded and delayed" the investigation for months.

Its investigation found that data had been discovered in 30 countries, and included "complete email messages, email headings, instant messages and their content, logging-in credentials, medical listings and legal infractions, information in relation to online dating and visits to pornographic sites".

'Setting a precedent'

The engineer told the FCC that at least two other Google employees, one a senior manager, knew about the data gathering.

Nick Pickles, director of the privacy campaigners Big Brother Watch, criticised the ICO decision.

"People will rightly look at the UK's approach to this issue and ask why, given regulators in the US and Germany have fined Google for exactly the same infringement, it is being allowed to escape with a slap on the wrist in Britain.

"Is our privacy somehow less worthy of protection?"

23.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

Premier League starts piracy swoop

21 June 2013 Last updated at 13:41 ET By Dave Lee Technology reporter, BBC News

The Premier League is to request a court order forcing internet service providers to block a popular football streaming website before the next season.

The League wants ISPs to cut off access to FirstRow1.eu, which operates from Sweden.

The BBC understands none of the ISPs plan to challenge the court order.

If successful, the action will be the first sport-related site block in the UK.

The Premier League's move follows a precedent set by the BPI music industry body, which has been successful in having several piracy websites blocked in the UK, most notably the Pirate Bay.

In those cases, ISPs have stood firm and insisted they would only take action if ordered to do so by the courts.

The UK's major ISPs each received a letter from the Premier League outlining a possible court order, and were given a deadline of Friday to signal any intent to challenge the action.

When approached by the BBC, none of the ISPs would comment specifically on the Premier League's planned action, but all reiterated that blocking of sites would not be done voluntarily.

'Conflicts of interest'

The situation raises additional issues for BT, as from next season it will be a major distributor of Premier League football through its new sports TV channels.

BT has paid £246m for rights to show Premier League football, while Sky paid £760m for its portion of the coverage.

Sky's ISP operation has historically been seen as taking a more sympathetic stance with copyright holders requesting the blocking of sites, whereas BT has in the past taken such battles to court on behalf of the ISP industry as a whole.

Jim Killock, of the Open Rights Group, said he worried that conflicted interests might lead to the blocking process becoming less transparent.

"All of the major ISPs now have differing degrees of conflicts of interest," he told the BBC.

"Sky, BT, Virgin and TalkTalk all supply televisions services now, so we have to expect that there will be more reluctance to be as transparent as they have been in the past."

Mr Killock also expressed concern that as the process for granting court orders gets quicker, it may lead to sites being wrongly blocked out.

"It's possible that very legitimate services will at some point be attacked by one of these orders.

"Our main concern here is that these orders should be considered slowly, and they should be subject to much more public review."

FirstRow1.eu did not respond to the BBC's request for comment.

23.52 | 0 komentar | Read More