PC & IT 02 (Nov 08 - Mar 10)

[iam802]

Seems like there is some virus going around.

My Gmail has been alerting me of emails with the subject : "Postcard from a Family Member"

Have been receiving them constantly for the past 1 week or so.

[winston]

Two busted over piracy website

The Customs and Excise Department has cracked a ring running what is known as a ''topsite'' – a limited-access website using high-speed servers for international piracy.

More than 3,400 pirated items, including movies, TV dramas, music and computer software, were seized.

Two men, aged 23 and 35, were arrested during the operation.

STAFF REPORTER, The Standard HK

[winston]

It's Good to Know: Online Advertising

Industry watchers predict that overall online ad spending will increase by about 3 percent for the next two years, for a total of about $29.1 billion in 2010. The growth is being driven by search engine advertising (especially pay-per-click), which is expected to jump 13 percent by 2010.

Also growing rapidly is "Web 2.0" advertising (on video and social networks), though it represents only a small portion of the market because advertisers are still grappling with the formats. It is expected to increase by 20 percent - to $1.4 billion - by 2010.

(Source: ClickZ)

[winston]

It's Fun to Know: What's Big on the Internet

After years in the top spot, viewing pornography is no longer the most popular Internet activity. According to industry tracker Hitwise, visiting social media sites (like Facebook, YouTube, and MySpace) is now number one.

(Source: Search Engine Watch)

[winston]

It's Good to Know: What Not to Google

As you may expect, searching for pirated software, music, and movies through Google and other search engines is risky business. The top links are often controlled by hackers who offer up computer viruses and other dangerous programs in disguise.

What you may not expect is that more innocuous searches can get you in trouble, too. Here, according to anti-virus company McAfee, are some of the search subjects that have been found to lead to the most "malicious" links.

Word unscramblers
Lyrics
MySpace
Free music downloads
Free music
Game cheats
Printable fill-in puzzles
Free ringtones
Solitaire

Bottom line: Don't click on links you're not sure of. Searchers beware!

[winston]

No backdown on porn filter plan

China will not back away from a new rule requiring that internet filtering software be shipped with all personal computers sold in the country, despite heavy criticism of the plan, state media said.

The China Daily report came after US officials raised concerns to the mainland government last week.

Computer makers have been told all PCs sold from July 1 must be shipped with the Chinese-made anti-pornography software, a move that trade and rights groups say is a bid by Beijing to further tighten internet controls.

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_deta ... 90624&fc=4

[iam802]

Nice ....soon there will also be many freely distributed uninstall program for Green Dam or even better...let Green Dam think it is doing its job...but in actual fact, it isn't doing anything (or filtering)

[millionairemind]

Interesting article in this week's Economist on Green Dam.
http://www.economist.com/world/asia/dis ... d=13917484

The government stresses Green Dam’s role in protecting young people from “unhealthy” and “poisonous” pornographic and violent content. But the Michigan experts found that it is also scans text for “politically sensitive” phrases.
Whether to do with Tibet, Taiwan, or Falun Gong, a spiritual sect, there are plenty of these, leading to sites deemed “harmful” by China. In a year of harder economic times and sensitive political anniversaries, the authorities are especially edgy. The thin and cautious reporting in the press of events in Iran suggests they are also nervous about access to news of political protest elsewhere.

Google has long struggled to reconcile its corporate credo (“Don’t be evil”) with the onerous demands of China’s internet regulators. It has promised to renew its efforts to keep in line with Chinese standards. But the company also has fair cause to wonder why it has been singled out. Its main Chinese competitor, Baidu, is just as good at finding smut.

[iam802]

PC makers to miss China’s deadline

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/298aa04a-6508 ... ftcamp=rss

Beijing’s order that all new PCs should include internet filtering software is about to be put to the test, with personal computer makers set to miss a deadline on Wednesday for supplying all new machines with the program.

As a practical matter, it would be several weeks before most new machines available to Chinese purchasers could carry the software, even if China pushes ahead with the order in spite of international consternation, say retail and PC industry experts.

That delay could serve to defuse the issue and provide more time for a face-saving compromise to be found, some observers say. The Chinese authorities “are kind of embarrassed about this, finding a graceful way out of it would be very welcome”, said Rob Enderle, a US PC industry analyst.

Sales staff at several electronics retailers in Beijing visited in recent days said PCs with the software, called Green Dam/Youth Escort, would not be available for another two months.

In May, the ministry of industry and information technology ordered PC makers to pre-install or bundle Green Dam/Youth Escort on all PCs sold in China from July 1.

The order triggered an outcry among the industry and free speech advocates as testing showed the tool, characterised as a parental control program by Beijing, had censorship functions and could make computers vulnerable to spy attacks.

PC makers, wary of opposing the Chinese government, have been dodging questions over whether they plan to comply with the order.

Acer has been the only one to say that it sees no choice but to do so.

Industry associations, such as the Information Technology Industry Council, which heads the lobbying effort against Green Dam, have argued that PC makers cannot comply by July 1.

Retailers echoed that argument on Monday.

“If you buy a PC tomorrow or next week, it will not have Green Dam,” said a young man surnamed Wang selling Hewlett-Packard computers at BuyNow, an electronics retailer in eastern Beijing.

Staff selling Lenovo, Dell, Sony, Toshiba, Acer, Asustek and Founder computers at a branch of Suning, a big electronics retailer in northern Beijing, all said Green Dam-equipped PCs would not be available for about another two months.

An information technology ministry spokesman declined to comment on whether the government would penalise PC makers who failed to comply with the July 1 deadline.

Some retail staff said they did not expect the government to enforce its order strictly.

“You tell me, is China’s enforcement power strong [enough]? They can’t even enforce some laws properly, so forget about some piece of software,” said a clerk at BuyNow in Shanghai in a telephone interview.

[millionairemind]

China in internet filtering climbdown

By Kathrin Hille in Beijing and Joseph Menn in San Francisco

Published: June 30 2009 17:14 | Last updated: June 30 2009 19:36

China has agreed to delay implementation of its policy to have all new computers in the country equipped with a controversial internet filtering software, averting the threat that PC makers not complying by Wednesday would face fines.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c6317230-658e ... abdc0.html