Michigan Law Prohibits Employers from Breaking into Online Accounts

You'd think that it would be self-evident that employers have no right to go through your private email, login to your Facebook page, or snoop through your various social media accounts.  Not in the United Surveillance States of America.  A new law in Michigan prohibits this practice, which has been raising eyebrows for what seems like a few years now.  From MLive:

Gov. Rick Snyder signed legislation into law Friday that would prohibit employers from their asking workers for logins to their social media and internet accounts. 

The bill, introduced by state Rep. Aric Nesbitt, R-Lawton, bars companies and schools from asking employees and students for their usernames and passwords. 

“Cyber security is important to the reinvention of Michigan, and protecting the private internet accounts of residents is a part of that,” Snyder said in a press release. “Potential employees and students should be judged on their skills and abilities, not private online activity.”

Senate Likely to Pass Warrantless Wiretapping, Without Debate, Again

From the EFF:

Today is an incredibly important vote for the future of your digital privacy, but some in Congress are hoping you won’t find out.  Finally, after weeks of delay, the Senate will start debate on the dangerous FISA Amendments Act at 10 am Eastern and vote on its re-authorization by the end of the day. The FISA Amendments Act is the broad domestic spying bill passed in 2008 in the wake of the warrantless wiretapping scandal. It expires at the end of the year and some in Congress wanted to re-authorize it without a minute of debate.

Senate Still Wants Warrantless Wiretapping

From the Electronic Frontier Foundation:

The Senate is about to vote on an extension of the controversial FISA Amendments Act—the unconstitutional law that allows the NSA to warrantless spy on Americans speaking to people abroad. Yet you wouldn't know it by watching CSPAN because the Senate isn't debating it.
When Congress passed the FISA Amendments Act in 2008, despite deep privacy concerns by Americans across the political spectrum, they included an expiration date of December 31, 2012 to ensure that the law would get a thorough review. Yet Senate leaders have so far refused to schedule any time on the Senate floor for debate or consideration of vital privacy-protecting amendments. Worse, they won't even tell the American public when they're going to vote on it. It's possible they may vote on this bill—with no privacy protective changes—without any debate at all, and we won't know until it is happening. 

Contact your Senators today to tell them how important this is.
The FISA Amendments Act continues to be controversial; key portions of it were challenged in a case before the U.S. Supreme Court this term. In brief, the law allows the government to get secret FISA court orders—orders that do not require probable cause like regular warrants—for any emails or phone calls going to and from overseas. 

Instagram Stakes Claim to All Your Photos

From CNET:

Instagram said today that it has the perpetual right to sell users' photographs without payment or notification, a dramatic policy shift that quickly sparked a public outcry. 

Under the new policy, Facebook claims the perpetual right to license all public Instagram photos to companies or any other organization, including for advertising purposes, which would effectively transform the Web site into the world's largest stock photo agency. 

The new intellectual property policy, which takes effect on January 16, comes three months after Facebook completed its acquisition of the popular photo-sharing site. Unless Instagram users delete their accounts before the January deadline, they cannot opt out.

Australian ISP Rejects Role as "Internet Police"

From Torrent Freak:

A leading Australian Internet service provider has pulled out of negotiations to create a warning notice scheme aimed at reducing online piracy. iiNet, the ISP that was sued by Hollywood after refusing to help chase down alleged infringers, said that it can’t make any progress with righthsolders if they don’t make their content freely available at a reasonable price. The ISP adds that holding extra data on customers’ habits is inappropriate and not their responsibility . . .  

“It’s not iiNet’s job to play online police. The High Court spoke loud and clear in their verdict when they ruled categorically that ISPs have no obligation to protect the rights of third parties, and we’re not prepared to harass our customers when the industry has no clear obligation to do so,” Dalby states.

Google Maps App Available for Iphone and Ipad

From Wired:

Google Maps is in Apple’s App Store, available for both the iPhone and iPad, bringing hope to those who have been having trouble getting around since the Apple mapocalypse.

Google’s app, which arrived late Wednesday night, improves on the Google-powered maps app that Apple shipped included in iOS before version 6 — when Apple ditched Google to go out on its own. The most important new feature, of course, is turn-by-turn voice-guided navigation.

Unlike Apple’s maps app, Google’s navigation feature isn’t integrated with Siri. But it’s also much less likely to direct you into the Pacific Ocean.

Free Speech Online is a Human Right

From the EFF:

while the spread of the Internet has created an environment in which—in theory—anyone can be a writer, a photographer, a filmmaker, or a pundit, the reality is such that nearly half of the world's citizens access a fractured, fragmented Internet, and the threat of persecution for speaking out causes even more to censor their online speech. And the threats are increasing: Governments are ratcheting up Internet censorship, member countries of a UN body arefighting for more control of global networks, and reports of covert online surveillance abound. The Internet is great for the promotion of human rights, but human rights on the Internet are not always protected. 

In a landmark 2011 report, UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression Frank LaRue called attention to the role of the Internet in enabling individuals the world over to exercise their rights to freedom of opinion, expression, and assembly. NGOs and governments alike have heeded LaRue's call in promoting these rights, but their fight continues as powerful forces seek to enact more control over our online actions. 

Today, on International Human Rights Day, EFF would like to take the opportunity to remind our readers that the right to free expression must be guaranteed whether we're shouting from the rooftops or from our Facebook walls.

Bitcoin Exchange to Operate as Bank

From Ars Technica:

Bitcoin Central, a Bitcoin exchange that is popular in the eurozone, says it has secured approval from regulators to operate as a bank under French law. The announcement could be another sign of the cryptocurrency's growing legitimacy.
The news was announced in a Thursday post on the Bitcoin forums. A representative for Paymium, the French company that runs Bitcoin Central, said the firm had partnered with the French payment processor Aqoba and the French bank Credit Mutuel to create a Bitcoin-based payment service. Users will be able to deposit funds in either euros or bitcoins, and to easily convert between the two.

House Votes Against UN Regulation of Internet

From The Hill:

The House on Wednesday unanimously passed a Senate resolution introduced by Sens. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) that calls on the U.S. government to oppose United Nations control of the Internet.

The 397-0 vote is meant to send a signal to countries meeting at a U.N. conference on telecommunications this week. Participants are meeting to update an international telecom treaty, but critics warn that many countries’ proposals could allow U.N. regulation of the Internet . . .

Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) said both the White House and lawmakers were united against U.N. control of the Internet.  "I think that we are all very, very proud that there is not only bipartisan, but bicameral support underlying this resolution, and there is complete support across the Executive Branch of our government," she said. "In other words, the United States of America is totally unified on this issue of an open structure, a multi-stakeholder approach that has guided the Internet over the last two decades."

Now to make sure we keep control of the internet out of the hands of the House and Senate.

Breaking Into the App Store

From The Register:

Apple's App Store and the Google Play store each claim to offer over 700,000 apps to choose from, but only a tiny fraction of them bring in significant revenue for their developers, according to research from analyst firm Canalys.

In fact, the company says, of the $120m in total revenue generated from paid app downloads and in-app purchases in the US during the first 20 days of November 2012, fully half was split between just 25 developers. . . .

Given the huge volume of apps available in both major app stores, developers who don't already have a strong brand presence will find it increasingly difficult to crack the market, the company says, citing discoverability as a particular problem.

Read the rest.