FCC Rings Up Info Request On IPhone

The FCC Friday sent letters to Google, Apple and AT&Tseeking more information on the applications approved for the iPhone.
The FCC's Wireless Bureau sent the letters after press reports that Apple had not approved a Google Voice application for its iPhone. It also comes as the FCC is considering proceedings on wireless open access and handset exclusivity and the Justice Department is said to be looking at the same issue.
The letters, from Acting Wireless Bureau Chief James Schlicting, seeks info on what applications from outside parties have been rejected and whether AT&T and Apple consulted before Google's application was declined, among other things. The FCC set a deadline of Aug. 21 for answers.
"The Federal Communications Commission has a mission to foster a competitive wireless marketplace, protect and empower consumers, and promote innovation and investment" said Genachowski. "Recent news reports raise questions about practices in the mobile marketplace. The Wireless Bureau's inquiry letters to these companies about their practices reflect the Commission's proactive approach to getting the facts and data necessary to make the best policy decisions on behalf of the American people."
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Skype could be cut off for good over dispute

Skype might have to shut down because of a dispute over the core technology used to make the internet telephone system work.

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EBay, which paid $2.6 billion (£1.6 billion) for the voice-over-the-internet system in 2005, is facing a court battle with the original founders of the company who retained the rights to the technology at the heart of the system.
EBay admitted in a regulatory filing that it might have to close down the company. It said it was trying to develop alternative software but if that did not work, or if eBay lost the right to the original software: "Skype would be severely and adversely affected and the continued operation of Skype's business as currently conducted would likely not be possible."
The dispute also threatens eBay's plan to spin off Skype, scheduled for next year.Earlier this year, Skype filed a claim in London against Swedish company Joltid, which is controlled by Skype co-founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis. Skype is seeking resolution on a dispute over a software licensing agreement between the parties that Joltid was seeking to terminate.
"In particular, Joltid has alleged that Skype should not possess, use or modify certain software source code and that, by doing so, and by disclosing such code in certain US patent cases pursuant to orders from US courts, Skype has breached the license agreement," eBay said in the filing. Joltid brought a counterclaim, reiterating that it held the rights to the peer-to-peer technology and that Skype was in violation of the original agreement.
A court hearing has been set for June 2010 in London.
In its regulatory filing confirming the parent company's recent quarterly profits, eBay acknowledged that the new software it was working on had no guarantee of success.
"Although Skype is confident of its legal position... Skype has begun to develop alternative software to that licensed through Joltid. However, such software development may not be successful, may result in loss of functionality or customers even if successful, and will in any event be expensive," eBay said.
EBay announced in April that it would spin off Skype through an IPO, saying the timing would depend on market conditions. Executives acknowledged that the unit, while fast-growing, did not mesh well with eBay's core marketplaces division.
Mr Zennstrom and Mr Friis, backed by a number of private equity houses, have been in talks with eBay over the possibility of buying the company back but the negotiations have stalled.
Skype, which started in 2002, allows users to make calls from their computers to landlines, mobile phones and other computers. At its heart is key peer-to-peer technology created by its founders who also created the file-sharing software Kazaa.
The service has continued to grow rapidly. The unit’s revenue increased 25 per cent during the second quarter from the previous year to $170 million, according to eBay's results earlier this month. It added 37.3 million users, bringing its total number of registered users to 480.5 million, making it the most widely-used international calling system in the world.
The legal battle over the licensing of the software will need to be resolved before eBay's board, led by chief executive John Donahoe, can move forward with flotation plans for Skype.
Yesterday eBay declined to comment beyond the regulatory filing. A spokeswoman said: "Our plans to separate Skype have not changed."
A spokesman for Joltid said: "Skype has breached its licence and infringed Joltid's intellectual property. As a result its licence has been terminated. Joltid is enforcing its rights in the courts. Like any member of the creative industries, Joltid will defend its innovations with determination. It is certain of the validity of its position and looks forward to the resolution of the issue."

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Radical Islamic leader Mohammed Yusuf shot dead by Nigerian security forces

Nigerian security forces claimed victory today over a radical Islamic sect blamed for some of the worst violence to hit the West African country for years after police shot dead its leader.

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Mohammed Yusuf, leader of the so-called Nigerian Taleban, was killed after he was captured on Thursday night at the end of a four-day manhunt. His bullet-ridden body was shown to journalists by police shortly after his death.
Human rights campaigners immediately alleged that he had been executed and warned of revenge attacks. Police said today that he died in a shoot-out.
Dora Akunyili, the Nigerian information minister, welcomed his death. She told reporters that his death was “positive” for the country.
She said that the Nigerian Government “does not condone extrajudicial killings” but added: “What is important is that he [Yusuf] has been taken out of the way, to stop him using people to cause mayhem.”
The militant group led by Yusuf, a militant cleric who professes admiration for Osama Bin Laden, has been blamed for days of violent unrest in which hundreds of people died in clashes between his followers and security forces in the north of the country.
“This group operates under a charismatic leader. They will no more have any inspiration,” said a spokesman for the National Police. “The leader who they thought was invincible and immortal has now been proved otherwise.”
He added that there were still pockets of violence in the largely Muslim north, but otherwise “life is back to normal”. The Government was concerned that the violence would degenerate into Muslim-Christian killings that periodically hit Africa’s most populous nation, but have not taken place for several years. New York-based Human Rights Watch called for an investigation.
“The Nigerian authorities must act immediately to investigate and hold to account all those responsible for this unlawful killing and any others associated with the recent violence in northern Nigeria,” said Corinne Dufka, the group’s senior West Africa researcher.
Witnesses said that calm prevailed today in most of city of Maiduguri, the base of the cleric and his followers, mainly consisting of unemployed university students.
However, it was unclear whether Yusuf’s death would end the violence or inspire revenge attacks by the group, also known as the Boko Haram sect, which seeks the imposition of strict Sharia in the country.
Sheikh Yusuf had encouraged his followers to rid themselves of all material wealth while he was chauffeured around in a Mercedes all-terrain vehicle and amassed dozens of vehicles at his compound.Nigerian troops shelled the compound on Wednesday but the 39-year-old leader escaped with about 300 followers, some of them armed.
Officials said that Yusuf was found on Thursday in a goat pen at his in-laws’ home in the northern town of Kernawa.
Officials imposed partial Sharia in much of the north but Boko Haram members were increasingly angry that full Islamic law had not been implemented, especially the law’s demand for a social welfare system helping poor people. The militants attacked police stations, churches, prisons and government buildings in a wave of violence that began last Sunday in Borno state and quickly spread to three other northern states.
President Umaru Yar’Adua, a Muslim, said that security agents had been ordered to attack when the movement started gathering fighters from nearby states at its sprawling Maiduguri compound in preparation for “the holy war”.

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Hacker loses extradition appeal

British hacker Gary McKinnon has lost his latest High Court bid to avoid extradition to the United States.

Special Report

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The US wants to try the 43-year-old, from Wood Green, north London, for what it calls the biggest military computer hack of all time, in 2001 and 2002.
Mr McKinnon admits hacking, but denies it was malicious or that he caused damage costing $800,000 (£487,000).
Whether or not he can appeal to the UK Supreme Court will be decided at a later date, Lord Justice Burnton said.
He said it was a matter which should be dealt with "as expeditiously as possible".
'Lawful and proportionate'
Glasgow-born Mr McKinnon had challenged refusals by the home secretary and the director of public prosecutions (DPP) to try him in the UK.
The home secretary insists he has no power to demand the trial take place in the UK.
The DPP refused to order a UK trial, saying the bulk of the evidence was located in the US and Mr McKinnon's actions were directed against the US military infrastructure.
He had also asked the court to rule on whether his Asperger's Syndrome meant he could not be extradited to the US. His lawyers argued extradition was "unnecessary, avoidable and disproportionate" and had not taken place in other cases.
But, in a 41-page ruling, the judges said extradition was "a lawful and proportionate response to his offending".
Home Secretary Alan Johnson said: "Mr McKinnon is accused of serious crimes and the US has a lawful right to seek his extradition, as we do when we wish to prosecute people who break our laws. "The court judgement has also made absolutely clear that the DPP's decision not to prosecute in the UK was the right one. "My predecessor has already sought and received clear assurances from the US that Mr McKinnon's health and welfare needs would be met, should he be extradited. "It is open to Mr McKinnon to seek to appeal to the House of Lords."
UFO search; Mr McKinnon faces up to 70 years in prison if convicted in the US of what prosecutors have called "the biggest military computer hack of all time".
He has always insisted he was looking for classified documents on UFOs which he believed the US authorities had suppressed. Speaking outside the High Court, his mother, Janis Sharp, said her son - who did not attend court - had been "naive enough to admit to computer misuse without having a lawyer and without one being present".
"We are heartbroken. If the law says it's fair to destroy someone's life in this way then it's a bad law." She said she feared for his health. "He's very ill, he's got really bad chest pains, it's affected him emotionally, mentally, every way, he's terrified," she said.
Ms Sharp appealed directly to US President Obama to intervene in the case. "Stand by us and make this world a better place, a more compassionate place," she said.
"Obama wouldn't have this. He doesn't want the first guy extradited for computer misuse to be a guy with Asperger's, a UFO guy. He wouldn't want this.
"I'm just praying, please hear us, Obama, because I know you would do the right thing," she added. In a statement, his lawyer Karen Todner, asked: "What does it take to make this government sit up and listen to the clear public view that Gary McKinnon should not be extradited?
"The extradition treaty with America was brought in to facilitate the extradition of terrorists and it must be clear to anyone following this case that Gary McKinnon is no terrorist.
"Why aren't they stopping the extradition of a man who is clearly vulnerable and who on the accepted evidence suffers from Asperger's?
"Gary is clearly someone who is not equipped to deal with the American penal system and there is clear evidence that he will suffer a severe mental breakdown if extradited."
Mr McKinnon accessed 97 government computers belonging to organisations including the US Navy and Nasa.
In February the Crown Prosecution Service refused to bring charges against Mr McKinnon in the UK. The decision followed a ruling last October by then Home Secretary Jacqui Smith to allow his extradition. Mr McKinnon has already appealed unsuccessfully to the House of Lords and the European Court of Human Rights and his latest judicial reviews in the High Court are likely to be his last chance.
His lawyers say the authorities have not given proper consideration to his Asperger's Syndrome, which could have "disastrous consequences," including suicide, if he was to be extradited.
They argued he was "eccentric" rather than malicious and should be tried on lesser charges in the UK to protect his mental health.

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In-camera briefing on buying French submarines demanded

ISLAMABAD: The opposition party, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) in the Upper House on Thursday demanded an in-camera briefing to the senators on the government plan to buy submarines from France instead of Germany.
Senator Jamal Leghari of the former ruling PML-Q while speaking on a point of order strongly opposed to government plan to buy submarines from France instead of Germany at a costly price.
He informed that Pakistan Navy had sent a summary to the President recommending buying submarines from Germany, but he regretted that the President rejected the summary and decided to purchase these from France.
He said that there would be one billion rupees loss to the national exchequer to go into agreement with France for purchasing the marines instead of Germany. He said that Germany has a latest technology and also a cheapest offer against the French old technology, which would also be costly. Therefore, he added that there was not need to undertake new agreement with France.
Pakistan had agreed to buy three Type 214 German submarines under deal worth more than $1 billion (773.7 million euros) that the two countries were expected to sign last year.
Leghari demanded an in-camera briefing of the Navel Chief to the Senate on buying the submarines saying that the House should betaken into confidence before going into any agreement with the French government.
Another senator of the PML-Q, Tariq Azeem also backed the demand saying that it was an important issue and the house should be taken on board in the in-camera briefing.
The presiding officer Tahir Hussain Mashadi, however, referred the matter to the Defence Committee of the House for further discussion, because of the absence of the minister concerned as well as Leader of the House at that time.