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Telecom immunity for domestic spying dies on House floor
The House of Representatives just took a long weekend break without voting on the Spy bill sent down from the Senate. As such, our beloved carriers' hopes for immunity from those pesky US privacy laws have disintegrated. At least for the time being -- the fight between the baddies and goodies (however you define that) isn't over by a long shot.
Spy bill passes Senate with carrier immunity
Tape up those mitts and put on your thinking caps kids, it's time for an intellectual rumble. Today's subject: the Senate's overwhelming reauthorization of Gee Dubs domestic spying powers with a new measure giving phone companies retroactive immunity from lawsuits. Good thing too (for them) since our AT&T, VZW, and Sprint collaborators have racked up about 40 lawsuits accusing them of violating USitizen's privacy rights. The bill now goes to the House. If they reject it or fail to pass the measure this week, then the temporary surveillance powers activated after 11 September, 2001 will expire on the House floor. So what's it going to be, live free or die or give up some civil liberties in good faith to your government? Your state representatives would like to know. P.S. For those following the election: McCain voted for telco immunity, Obama against, and Clinton didn't vote at all even though she was in the area for Tuesday's primaries. Voter Roll-call (a "Yea" is a vote to strike the immunity provision)
UK man racks up monster bill, Vodafone says don't use your phone as a modem
Wait, what? We'd suspected that carriers always secretly hated subscribers tethering their phones to their computers, but it's another matter entirely for one of the world's largest to just come right out and say it. A British man discovered that the data speeds on his Vodafone mobile were faster and more reliable than those offered by his ISP, so he cabled it up to his PC and proceeded to blow through "20 or 30" TV show downloads and a handful of albums. Next thing he knows, Voda's cutting him off and slapping him with a £27,322 (about $54,000) bill -- a bill he has no capability to pay, and a bill he'd never expected on account of a £7.50 (about $15) data plan that he thought was unlimited, but was actually designed for mobile use with 125MB of data allowance per month. Though it says that the charges are totally legit, Vodafone is considering going easy on the guy, but here's the kicker: the carrier's advice is to "never use a mobile as a modem." What's next, should we "never use a mobile as a mobile" for fear that we might go over our monthly minute allowance?[Via textually.org]
Senators intro wireless consumer protection bill, industry complains
A continuation of earlier sessions on the subject, Senators Amy Klobuchar and Jay Rockefeller have introduced legislation this month that could throw a rather hefty monkey wrench at the contracts and early termination fees wireless subscribers have come to know and love loathe. Known as the "Cellphone Consumer Empowerment Act of 2007," the proposed bill takes swings at virtually every aspect of carriers' billing practices, limiting what fees can be listed on statements, capping contract termination charges, and giving the FCC more direct control over handset locking practices. Naturally, the CTIA and its members are less than thrilled with the proposed law, arguing that it'll lead to higher bills (quite the opposite effect the legislation's sponsors had in mind) and that consumer complaints levied against carriers on the already decline without government intervention anyway. Grab some popcorn and have a seat, folks; this won't all get resolved for a hot minute or two.
Schwarzenegger signs ban on teen cell phone use while driving
Arnold Schwarzenegger isn't as much fun as a Governor as he was in The Terminator... just ask California's teen drivers. The former action movie star has signed a new bill -- which we told you about in August -- into law, making it illegal for anyone aged 16 or 17 to use a mobile phone, pager, laptop, or handheld computer while driving a vehicle. Effective July 1, 2008 (the same day that California's ban on non-hands-free mobile-use while driving takes effect), the state will begin to fine offenders $20 for their first incident, and $50 for each recurrent violation. The law is targeting teen drivers due to the wealth of statistics that demonstrate young motorists are more likely to end up in car accidents which result in death. According to reports, 13.6-percent of all fatal accidents are caused by teenagers, and studies show that car crashes are the leading cause of death for people between the ages of 16-19. "The simple fact is that teenage drivers are more easily distracted," said Schwarzenegger in a statement, adding, "We want to eliminate any extra distractions so they can focus on paying attention to the road and being good drivers." He then paused and remarked, "We just don't want to say 'Hasta la vista, baby' to young drivers anymore."
AT&T to subscribers: less detail, we promise
So it seems that AT&T has recognized the error of its ways in sending out entire trees' worth of paper for its monthly bills, firing off text messages today to subscribers that read as follows: "We are simplifying your paper bill, removing itemized detail. To view all detail go to att.com/mywireless. Still need full paper bill? Call 611." So yeah, if you actually need 400 pages of gibberish to recall everyone you sent a text to last month, go ahead and dial 'em up. Otherwise, take solace in the fact that your postal carrier won't have to lug that bad boy around anymore.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Bill seeks to legalize video game betting
A new bill to be proposed by Florida Rep. Robert Wexler (D) would seek to exempt "games of skill" from the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). While the obvious goal is to protect poker from the UIGEA, the bill would presumably allow for the establishment of online betting networks for most video games. While casinos in Second Life (featuring games of chance, like slots, roulette, etc.) would remain illegal, theoretically, a company could establish a site that took round by round bets on Halo 3 matches, inviting leet slayers to put they monies where they mouths at.Of course, the UIGEA was established in part to quell the enormous debt that online poker players have amassed, so don't expect this bill to float on by Congress. Still, just imagine the hustler-like subculture that would grow from out of the basements of red-eyed gaming junkies if the bill did pass. Sorta terrifying. Sorta tempting.[Thanks, dark54555]
Texas Legislature bans speed cameras, requires warning signs for red light snappers
Ah, Texas. Home to internet hunting, overhead bananas, and WiFi'ed rest stops, the Lonestar State will set yet another precedent by passing a bill onto the governor that would ban speeding cameras and require warning signs to be posted around red-light cameras. Yes, the same state that wanted transponders in every single car registered in the state is now just one signature away from giving heavy-footed drivers something to cheer about. Both measures "were adopted in the state House by unanimous votes," and along with the speed camera ban comes legislation that will put an end to the ticketing programs run by the cities of Rhome and Marble Falls while prohibiting any other cities from enacting such practices in the future. Of course, it should be noted that the bills wouldn't go into effect until September 1st of this year, so you should probably still utilize your cruise control whilst traveling over this long weekend.[Via Autoblog]
Nintendo Wii takes Engadget Awards
Nintendo Wii Fanboy is related, in an odd sort of second-cousin once-removed kind of way, to the hyper-popular Engadget, which like totally everyone reads all the time forever. As such, their annual Engadget awards are nothing to sneeze at, and so we look with great pride (we helped, after all) at their selections for 2k6. Let's take a glance at the honors: Reader's Choice: Most Innovative Peripheral Reader's Choice: Game Console of the Year Editor's Choice: Game Console of the Year Reader's Choice: Gadget of the Year (!!!) Editor's Choice: Gadget of the Year (!!!) Yeah, that's right. That means the Wii pretty much wins at life. It's quite a series of awards, but which console will take home 2007? It may come down to one showdown: Halo 3 vs. Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Which will suck up more of the average gamer's free time? Bring it, Chiefy.
Genetic discrimination ban edges closer to reality
By a fairly wide 420-3 margin, the House of Representatives gave a nearly unanimous thumbs-up to the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, which would "prohibit employers from using genetic information or test results when making employment and health benefits decisions" if it gets a similar nod of approval from the Senate. Fortunately for supporters, the Senate has been known to look fondly upon similar legislation in the past, and if the bill becomes law, health insurers couldn't use "genetic information to set premiums," nor could they require customers to submit genetic tests. Essentially, this could ensure that any future human mutation hacks you inflict on yourself, or more frightening, any robotic humanoid whose genes would find it out, will be safe from scrutiny come interview time. It's about time to order up that oh-so-keen intelligent carpet, right, hiring managers?[Via Wired]
Digital FAIR USE bill introduced to amend DMCA
Ah, the day we've all been waiting for has finally arrived -- well, sort of. Yeah, it is still a bill, but it's a refreshing start on a long overdue amendment. While content guardians (we're looking your way, MPAA / RIAA) have done their fair share of beating around the issue and insisting that DRM-laced content was the only way to go, consumers haven't exactly been thrilled about such limitations since day one. In yet another glorious case of red and blue coming together for the good of mankind, Rich Boucher (D-Va.) and John Dolittle (R-Calif.) introduced a breath of fresh air they call FAIR USE, or Freedom and Innovation Revitalizing U.S. Entrepreneurship. The idea, of course, is to simply "make it easier for digital media consumers to use the content they buy" by amending the Digital Millennium Copyright Act; according to the duo, the DMCA simply "goes too far by dramatically tilting the copyright balance toward complete copyright protection at the expense of the public's right to fair use." Boucher further substantiates his case for the most down-to-earth politician of all time by suggesting that if the DMCA remains unadulterated, "individuals will be less willing to purchase digital media" due to the unacceptable restrictions that come along with it. We'd ask for an amen, but we don't want to set off any minor earthquakes.[Thanks, Kevin M.]
Woman pwns Rogers Wireless in court over fraudulent charges
Note to carriers: don't falsely bill customers -- who just happen to be lawyers -- for $14,000 in charges they never racked up. That's the lesson Canada's Rogers Wireless learned the hard way this week, getting slapped with a $2,000 fine (pennies by Rogers' standards, we know, but a nice little bonus in the customer's pocket) for turning off customer (and lawyer) Susan Drummond's son's phone after she refused to pay 14 grand in long distance calls she hadn't placed (we're pretty sure those are Canadian dollars, but it's still some serious dinero). But wait, the story doesn't end there: it turns out the original incident had taken place in 2005 after Ms. Drummond's phone was stolen out of her house while she was away. Ted Rogers -- as in, "Rogers Wireless" Ted Rogers -- personally got involved after he caught wind of the situation, turning the phone back on, wiping out the bill, and hooking up the Drummonds with a cool $5,000. Ms. Drummond decided to ignore the goodwill gesture, though, and take Rogers to court anyway for breach of contract, where she won. Paying attention here, AT&T?[Thanks, Brian]
Indiana game bill put on ice
The Indiana State Senate has elected to stall legislation that would have made the sale of M- and AO-rated games to minors unlawful and punishable by up a $1,000 fine. Despite being approved by a Senate committee earlier this week, the bill has been deemed unconstitutional in its current state and will be passed along to a study committee for further evaluation -- and, as co-sponsor Sen. David Ford (R) hopes, revised to pass under the First Amendment. "Eventually we're going to have to deal with it," warned Sen. Vi Simpson (D), the bill's other co-sponsor.[Via GamePolitics]
New York takes a second look at banning spinners
We know what you're thinking holmes: oh no they di'n't! Well, unfortunately, yes they did. Senator John Sabini is a source of the reintroduction of a bill (S.B. 1640) that would ban "spinners," with fines of $750 for the third and subsequent violations. Like a lot of other cases where the Government gets involved in issues which potentially breach the line between public and private life, a lobby group has already taken up the case of defending New Yorker's rights to spin to their heart's content: the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA for short) has already laid out a list of problems with the bill. SEMA argues that S.B. 1640 ignores the fact that custom wheels aren't prohibited under Federal law, that manufacturers are already required to notify the Government of safety problems within five days, and the fact that spinners are shown to have no detrimental effect on safety. As our Autoblog colleagues point out, the possibility that spinners could be distracting isn't a reasonable justification for the bill either: hubcap ads and even rims with integrated LEDs will remain legal if the bill becomes law. SEMA is calling for all spinner aficionados to get in touch with Senator Sabini and members of the New York Senate Transportation Committee, where the bill was recently referred.[Via Autoblog]
Cingular charges retiree $31,000 for calls he didn't make
While carriers all seem to be hiking up monthly rates every chance they get, it's unlikely that your incessant texting will rack up a $31,000 bill. Unfortunately for Oliver DeSofi, he had to deal with just that, as the 77-year old retiree opened his Cingular bill as he always has and found that his bill was about a brand new vehicle or two above the average. The bills contained phone calls from DeSofi's cellphone number from Nicaragua "at a rate of about 166 calls per day for 35 days, and sometimes four per minute, mostly to New Mexico numbers." The poor sap even got his lawyer to contact Cingular stating that the calls were "impossible" and that the $31,000 bill was bsolutely fraud, but Cingy wouldn't budge. The carrier still insisted that DeSofi set up a payment plan to start hacking away at the ridiculous charges until a newspaper inquiry finally forced the company to "give him the benefit of the doubt" due to how unusual it seemed compared to month's past. Although it doesn't surprise us a bit, Oliver is kicking Cingular/AT&T to the curb, and will probably watch all future bills like a hawk to ensure no similar mishaps start creeping on him.
Jack Thompson and Utah AG have spat
Earlier this week, Utah's Jack Thompson-authored video game bill was pulled by Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff because he believed the bill would be found unconstitutional. This, of course, sent Thompson into a whirling tizzy and caused him to do the typical press release pimp-slap against Shurtleff.Thompson writes, "This is a constitutional bill. I ought to know. I drafted one nearly identical to it for Louisiana, and we got it passed unanimously... The federal judge declared it unconstitutional because, he said, 'there is no evidence that these games are harmful. The Attorney General has provided me no evidence.' And the judge was right, because the Louisiana AG took what we call 'a dive.' ... because he wanted the law to fail."Thompson is in Utah today giving a speech at the ultra-conservative Eagle Forum in Salt Lake City -- so we're sure some lovely barbs will be thrown at Shurtleff. AG Shurtleff probably wasn't too keen on having Utah suffer the same fate as Illinois, which was forced to pay back the gaming industry the half-million they spent fighting a similar bill that was deemed unconstitutional. Next stop on the Thompson anti-game express: Massachusetts. All aboard!
Senators pushing for more limitations on internet / satellite radio recording
It seems that satellite radio just can't catch a break, as the RIAA and its indirect constituents apparently have a perpetual target set on crippling services associated with recording content. Yet again satellite radio (along with internet radio) is under fire, and this time a number of senators are pushing "rules embedded in a copyright bill, called the Platform Equality and Remedies for Rights Holders in Music Act," which could "restrict listeners' ability to record and play back individual songs." Furthermore, the act calls for streams to be laced with "reasonably available copy-protection" so that timeshifting material becomes next to impossible (and illegal, too), and that portable recording devices such as the much-debated XM Inno and Sirius S50 would no longer allow "automatic recording." The reasoning stems from a belief that satellite / internet radio should still be a "passive experience," presumably forcing us to look backwards rather than forward in radio technologies, and proponents of the agenda somehow insinuate that enforcing these rules will curb "music theft." Unsurprisingly, the RIAA "applauded the effort and urged Congress to make passing the legislation a top priority this year," while most everyone else on the planet (including spokespersons for XM and the Home Recording Rights Coalition) is balking at what would potentially make satellite / internet radio less accessible to desiring consumers. While we've no idea how quickly action will be taken on these newly surfaced guidelines, we can all rest assured that our representatives will devote every waking hour to this here issue until it's finalized and implemented, at least if the RIAA has anything to do with it.
EA's "spyware" targeted by CA lawmaker
California Assemblywoman Lori Saldana could soon introduce a bill into state legislature that would halt companies like EA from including spyware technologies in their games. Battlefield 2142 has come under scrutiny for requiring players to install software that collects personal data from users' PCs and transfers it to foreign servers for advertising purposes. Consumers aren't warned of the adware application until opening the game box.Beth Givens of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse calls EA's methods "particularly vile," prompting Saldana to consider legislation. "A parental notice telling them private information might be at risk is important to have," Saldana told a local news station.[Via GamePolitics]
Proposed legislation: ESRB must complete every game
Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) has proposed a bill that would require the ESRB to play games in their entirety before providing a rating. This, like so much other legislation, establishes how little the government knows about games, making us concerned when it tries to legislate gaming.The punch-line, as you've guessed, is that there's not enough time for the ESRB to play every game. That's like asking a chef to make every possible meal before rating a restaurant. And how do you decide when an MMO, or even a repetitive game like Tetris, is complete?Under the current rating system, publishers provide the ESRB with video of the gameplay and detailed information about a game's content. The ESRB may also play the game, but the group relies most on publishers' full disclosure. If the publisher lies about the game, that company faces fines and the possibility that the ESRB won't rate its future releases. (Most major chains won't stock unrated titles.)Legislation like this, where our representatives don't understand the subject of their bills, makes us uncomfortable. We hope that logic will end this proposal, but logic seems to evaporate the closer we get to Congressional elections.[Via: Digg]
US house Reps approve net neutrality bill, reveal semblance of sanity
We aren't out of the woods yet, but a U.S. House of Representatives panel has approved the net neutrality bill, a controversial proposal that would prohibit broadband providers from restricting access and impairing the speed of their competitors' content. Many feel this bill is crucial for market competitiveness and preserving the democratic nature of the internet. But instead of inciting a debate here at TUAW about a bill that is already setting media outlets everywhere ablaze, I'll just point you to a few resources to learn more about the issues, such as the Network neutrality Wikipedia entry, a Wired article and Macworld's report of the recent bill approval.
