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The difference between Apple and Google at the Senate hearings
Earlier today, the US Senate judiciary subcommittee held a hearing on privacy, technology and the law. You can view a video of the opening statement by Senator Al Franken from today's hearings here. The purpose of this hearing was to aid lawmakers in understanding if current privacy laws around tech (which are quite old) are still valid or need updating. But what did Bud Tribble, an MD, PhD engineer and Apple's Vice President of Software Technology have to say versus Google's representative, Alan Davidson, who happens to be a lobbyist? Let's look at Apple's statements and answers to key questions, then cross-check with Google's answers. Apple First, the big question is whether or not Apple is "tracking you." In opening statements, Tribble pointed out (also in his written testimony) that Apple is "deeply committed" to protecting consumers' privacy, and Apple does not share personally identifying information with third-party vendors without explicit consumer agreement. As stated in a release on April 27, 2011, the company does not track you and never has had any plans to track your whereabouts. Instead, the location database is designed to provide a crowdsourced database of local Wi-Fi hotspots and cellular towers in order to provide a quicker method for locating an iPhone on a map faster than GPS would alone. This information is not used by Apple itself, but can be accessed by applications that happen to use Location Services. These services can be turned off, and last week, Apple fixed a bug which stored these on the computer you use to sync in an unencrypted way and which contained all locations. Tribble also mentioned that in the "next major version of iOS this data will be encrypted."
Senate committee hearing on mobile privacy now underway, watch live
You might want to put on a pot of coffee for this one, but the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on mobile privacy and locating tracking is now underway, and you can watch it live at your choice of the links below. The hearing is broadly titled "Protecting Mobile Privacy: Your Smartphones, Tablets, Cell Phones and Your Privacy" and, as the early going has already shown, it will be covering issues far beyond the recent privacy issues surrounding Apple and Google, although representatives from both companies will be on hand to answer the Senators' questions. Update: You can read Google's full testimony to the committee on its Public Policy Blog. Its main argument is that location-based services provide "tremendous value to consumers," but that they can't work without the trust of users, which is why it has made location sharing on Android devices "strictly opt-in." You can also read Apple's testimony here (PDF). In it, the company's Vice President of Software Technology, Bud Tribble, flatly reasserts that "Apple does not track users' locations -- Apple has never done so and has no plans to ever do so." He also insists that the location data Apple has collected is actually the location of cellphone towers and WiFi hotspots, not the users' location, and that it is being used for a crowd-sourced database as it has previously stated. As an independent expert also testifying pointed out, however, that data could still be used to pin down a location or trace a person's movements to as close as a few hundred feet or so -- assuming they aren't in a rural area with few WiFi hotspots and cellphone towers.
Apple's Bud Tribble will testify before Senate committee, says Franken
In the ongoing commotion around location, privacy and what your iPhone knows about what you did last summer, the witness list for upcoming Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearings on mobile privacy has been announced. Senator Al Franken's (D-MN) office told The Loop that Apple's VP of software technology, Guy L. "Bud" Tribble, will be there, along with regulators, privacy advocates and Google's VP of public policy. Franken invited the companies to send representatives to his hearing a couple of weeks ago, as the location issues were making news. Tribble has been on the hot seat before when it comes to Congressional oversight of digital privacy; he appeared at a similar hearing last summer, alongside Facebook's CTO and Google's lead privacy engineer. He's also one of the longest-serving Apple and NeXT veterans, and is credited with identifying the legendary Reality Distortion Field power of Steve Jobs. Perhaps he should borrow the field generator for his testimony. The hearings will begin on May 10 at 10 am Eastern time. If you're watching on C-SPAN, keep an eye on the senators as Tribble enters the room... the ones that recoil and run away are almost certainly Klingons.
Microsoft asks state lawmakers to make domestic companies pay for foreign firms' software piracy
Microsoft's pirated software police have been going after companies abroad for years, but getting those far-away folks into US courtrooms isn't easy. What is easy, however, is suing the folks in your own back yard -- which is why Microsoft is lobbying to get laws passed in several states that'll put US businesses on the hook for the pirating ways of their foreign suppliers. For example, if a manufacturer uses pirated software in the "manufacture, distribution, marketing, or sales" of products sold in Washington, Microsoft could sue the vendor of those products and get an injunction to stop the goods from being sold. So Washington widget retailers would be liable for the piracy of their foreign widget manufacturers, even if the illicit act was merely creating the sales invoice on a counterfeit copy of Word. The Washington state Senate and House have already approved different versions of the bill, and the legislature is in the process of merging the two together for final approval. Louisiana passed a similar law last year, and analogous bills have been proposed in Oregon and several other states as well. Numerous companies -- including Dell, IBM, Intel, and HP -- oppose the laws, as they see them giving Microsoft the power to not only drag them into court, but also futz with their supply chains. (There's bound to be some counterfeit software being used in Shenzhen, right?) As Microsoft's latest anti-piracy scheme unfolds, there should be plenty more legislative action to come. Evidently the crew in Redmond doesn't see piracy as a problem to be fixed by lowering prices.
Senator Harry Reid calls for DUI checkpoint app removal: RIM's game, Google isn't, Apple's undecided
There's a lot of folks out there drinking and driving, and Congress sees DUI checkpoint location apps as enablers of all that cruising and boozing. Senate Majority leader Harry Reid and his fellow Democrats have decided to use their powers of political persuasion to address the issue and ask Google, Apple, and RIM to pull such apps from their respective stores. The letter didn't name names, but Reid and co. want offending software yanked or "altered to remove the DUI checkpoint functionality" to prevent checkpoint circumvention. Of course, the creators of one such app, PhantomAlert, claim it provides such information to deter drunk driving by letting users know the risk of getting caught (yeah, right). RIM agreed to comply with the congressional request while Google said no thanks, but mum's the word out of Cupertino -- time will tell if Apple gets on the banning bandwagon too.
Macs coming back to Capitol Hill Senate offices
For years, members of Congress who wanted to use Macs in their offices were discouraged from doing so. That's all changing, and Thomas Burr of the Salt Lake Tribune now reports that incoming freshman senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) will have his big screen iMac in his new office. His staff will be using Macs as well. In previous years, senators' Macs were virtually eliminated by the office of the Senate Sergeant at Arms (where the chief administrative and IT management functions reside for the legislative chamber). Despite the official "we don't support the Mac" stance, there were some holdouts. The late Senator Edward Kennedy had both desktop Macs and laptops, as did Senator Tim Johnson of South Dakota. Now the rules have changed, and Macs and iPads are making inroads where Apple products once feared to tread. By the way, Senator Orrin Hatch's office runs on Windows, but according to the Trib, the senior senator from Utah is using an iPad.
Senate approves Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act, ensures a future for noise pollution
If you've been lucky enough to occupy the driver's seat of a hybrid or electric vehicle you've surely enjoyed the bliss that comes from smoothly and silently pulling away from a stoplight. You've also, surely, run over at least a couple of pedestrians while doing it. (We hit at least eight of the poor souls during our latest Volt test drive.) Sadly, here comes John Kerry and the rest of the US Senate to ruin our Carmageddon-esque fun. The Senate has unanimously approved the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act, which requires: ...minimum level of sound emitted from a motor vehicle that is necessary to provide blind and other pedestrians with the information needed to reasonably detect a nearby electric or hybrid vehicle operating at or below the cross-over speed How much sound? Well, they haven't figured that out yet, nor have they figured out up to what speed it must be required, nor what sort of noise is required, but by golly there will be noise. Those answers will in theory be found through the course of a study that will take no more than 48 months to complete, leaving us wonder if current noisemaker options on the Volt, Leaf, and Prius will meet the need. Regardless, if you want a quiet car you'd better start your financing.
Federal Wi-Net bill proposes a femtocell and WiFi hotspot in every federal building
Here's one way to fix the spectrum crunch: set up wireless base stations and WiFi hotspots in every single one of the 9,000 buildings currently owned and operated by the US General Services Administration. That idea, along with the proposal that such installations be made mandatory in all future federal structures, was put before the US Senate this Friday. It's argued that installing femtocells at those locations would improve reception indoors, lighten network loads in busy areas, and expand accessibility for more rural locales. Ubiquitous WiFi routers, on the other hand, hardly require any justification beyond "common sense," but you should be aware that the Federal Wi-Net bill also asks for a $15 million budget for the performance of retrofitting and future installs. Full PR after the break.
Track election night on your iPad with the ABC News app
Growing up, election night in my house was always how I imagined the Super Bowl to be for most people. We huddled around the TV and excitedly watched the incoming results with hope and trepidation. But of course election night just isn't a silly game, and the final "score" literally affects hundreds of millions of people, sometimes for decades. As someone who hasn't owned a TV in four years, I was pleased to see that ABC News has updated their app to provide a fully interactive electorate map. The map shows you the normal color-coded blue and red states for the Senate and how their political makeup stands now. It also shows you the color-coded districts for the House. But what's coolest about this map is its interactivity. First, you can tap the "results" tab and, starting at 7 PM Tuesday night, an empty House and Senate map will start filling with colors based on who's won in that state or district. But the interactivity goes further. ABC has built in a "What If?" game that lets you play out different scenarios of the final outcomes for the House and Senate races if certain candidates win. For Senate races, for example, simply tap a state and a pop-up will appear with all the candidates running. Tap the name of the person you think will win, and the electorate map will change colors for that state. The bar chart for the total number of seats needed for a majority will also change based on your predictions. ABC News for iPad is a free download.
House passes Cellphone Contraband Act of 2010, prisoners go back to writing letters
Oh, we know all about doin' time. We watched both Oz and The Wire in their entirety, and have seen Let's Go To Prison, like, eight times. For instance, we know that you only do two days in the joint: the day you go in, and the day you go out. And we know that tattoo guns are readily available (if you have access to an old walkman or Playstation).We also know that cellphones are contraband, and rightfully so: you wouldn't want an inmate ordering a hit on someone, or running their record label from in "the stir." That's why we stand with the CTIA in support of S.1749, or The Cell Phone Contraband Act of 2010. Approved in April by the Senate, and passed by the house yesterday, this amendment to title 18 of the United States Code prohibits "possession or use of cellphones and similar wireless devices by Federal prisoners." And once it's signed into law by the President, we're sure that the no-goodniks will stop sneaking handsets in and we can forget all that silly talk of prison cellphone jamming once and for all.
Senator Chuck Schumer writes open letter to Steve Jobs, world is officially doomed
Look, we get it. There's a problem with the iPhone's antenna. But was the open letter to Jobs calling for a "clearly written explanation of the cause of the reception problem" and a "public commitment to remedy it free-of-charge" really necessary? What, you don't have better things to do? The full press release (and the Senator's letter) is after the break.
Brazilian senator hopes to ban sale of 'offensive' games
[Rondonia Digital] Though Brazil is no stranger to banning video games, a recently proposed bill from Senator Valdir Raupp certainly seems pretty drastic. Raupp's bill, which was recently passed by the Education Commission of the Senate, and will now go to vote in the Committee on Constitution and Justice, seeks to "curb the manufacture, distribution, importation, distribution, trading and custody, storage [of] the video games that affect the customs [and] traditions of the people, their worship, creeds, religions and symbols." According to Brazilian news site UOL, if the bill passes, folks caught violating the law could be subject to one to three years imprisonment. That's quite a bit of jail time to serve for just importing a copy of Grand Theft Auto IV, dont'cha think? [Via GamePolitics]
'Safe Prisons Communication Act' passes Senate, inmates won't be able to hear you soon
Inmates certainly are industrious folk, relying on pigeons and helicopters and surely the odd baked good or body cavity to smuggle cell phones into prisons. Soon it'll be all for naught, with the Senate unanimously passing the Safe Prisons Communications Act of 2009, allowing prisons to use cellphone jammers. Now the Act will be run over to the House, where we presume it'll flow through with equal expediency. Mind you, cellphone jammer usage outside of jails will continue to be decidedly illegal, meaning activating one could result in your going to jail. Now that would be tragic. [Via textually.org]
US Senate intros bill to keep people from falling off the "digital cliff"
With less than 5-percent of US homes failing to make it under the analog shutoff limbo stick (and still a month to go), there's no reason that come June 12th a whole lot of stations won't be conducting their own shutoff festivities. Just to make sure that there won't be a pack of digital lemmings headed for a step function-like cliff, the US Senate has introduced the DTV Cliff Effect Assistance Act, which allocates $125 million through 2012 to help pay for digital repeaters and translators to fill in those areas that will go uncovered after the switch occurs. This is government money, so you know there's a few strings attached -- in this case, the new bits of infrastructure will also have to serve up wireless communications and broadband traffic where possible. Let's see -- more people with DTV and broadband wireless coverage? Add a tick in the "yes" column for us, please!
Veto override for Utah game bill still possible, improbable
Utah-based newspaper Deseret News recently ran a piece about the extraordinary measures Utah state legislators would need to take to resuscitate HB 353, which enforces strict penalties on retailers who sell M-rated games to minors, following Gov. Jon Huntsman's somewhat unexpected veto. The paper claims "legislative sources" are reporting neither the Utah House nor Senate have the votes to reach the two-thirds majority to override the veto -- though this may end up being the smaller of two hurdles supporters of the bill will need to clear.The larger obstacle standing in the way of HB 353's sponsors is cold, hard cash. Earlier this year, the legislature canceled an "interim study day," effectively saving the state $25,000. In order to call a legislative override session, the state would essentially spend the funds they saved due to the cancellation. Hopefully, they have the good sense to just let the thing die -- on the off chance that they should manage to pass the bill once more, they'll almost certainly be paying more than $25,000 to the ESA for legal fee reimbursement.[Via GamePolitics]
Utah senate passes gaming retail restriction bill
After breezing through the Utah House of Representatives with an overwhelming vote of 70 for and two against, HB 353, a piece of legislation authored by Jack Thompson and legislator Mike Morley which enforces strict penalties on retailers who sell M-rated games (and R-rated movies) to "buyers subject to an age restriction or recommendation," found a similar reception in the state senate -- it was approved with a vote of 25 for and four against earlier today.We now have three consecutive events to eagerly anticipate -- first, the bill must be approved by Utah governor Jon Huntsman before it's officially adopted. Second, the new policy will go into effect on January 1, 2010. Finally, we wait to hear how the ESA will spend the humongous legal fee reimbursement check that the taxpayers of Utah will indirectly cut when the bill is likely found unconstitutional. Perhaps some sort of tropical outing for their employees? We hear the beaches of Costa Rica are simply breathtaking.
Penny Arcade creators honored by Washington State senate
Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik, founders of Penny Arcade, are legendary folk heroes to much of the gaming community. For ten years, they've served as unparalleled industry commentators, strong vocabulary enthusiasts, and proponents of citrus-assaulting robots. However, these virtues recently took a backseat to their more charitable contributions to society when Penny Arcade was discussed on the floor of the Washington State senate, where legislators adopted a resolution honoring the two men for their philanthropic exploits.Senate Resoultion 8640 ennumerates the achievements of Holkins and Krahulik, such as their successful webcomic reaching its 10th anniversary, the launching of the Penny Arcade Expo, and the $4.5 million raised for improving the lives of hospitalized kids with Child's Play. While we're sure they would have preferred a law being passed in their name which mandates the death penalty for people who drop out of online games when they start losing, it's still a pretty cool gesture.[Via NeoGAF]
Senate okays digital TV transition delay to June 12th
We knew it was bound to happen, and sure enough, it's happening. For the millions of Americans still waiting for their $40 voucher before buying one of those newfangled DTV converter boxes, the US Senate has just given its stamp of approval on providing them a four month reprieve as it attempts to get its act together. Oddly, there's no mention of Congress looking for new sources of funding, though we are told that consumers holding expired coupons can now request new ones. We suspect more details will flow out on all of this soon, but for now, you can bank on the digital TV transition -- originally scheduled to go down on February 17th -- now occurring on June 12th. Until it changes again, of course.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Rockefeller details DTV Delay Act: No guarantees this is the only one, stations can go all-digital before June
Now that Senator Jay Rockefeller's bill seems likely to pass, we're able to find out more about it, and what compromises were made. Besides heaping blame upon the outgoing administration for this mess (and rightfully so, but since most of the people on Capitol Hill today have been there for several years -- albeit in different positions -- we figure there's plenty to go around), a statement notes this should be the last delay "barring emergencies" but don't expect any guarantees just yet. As it stands, while we still wait for that additional funding to come through for the converter coupon program the bill will allow the NTIA to re-issue coupons to households with expired, unused ones, while letting broadcasters shut off analog before the new June 12 deadline and public safety organizations use the now-vacated spectrum once it's available. Is 115 days enough/too much to straighten things out, or just the new administration delaying what seems like an inevitable PR disaster? Expect more details once it comes to a vote next week.
Digital TV transition postponement all but certain
We're actually having a hard time believing this ourselves, but word on the street has it that the Senate is "on the verge of passing a bill that would delay until June the date when TV stations must broadcast in all-digital format." Without Congressional action, all TV stations will switch off their analog signals on February 17th -- a date that has been blasted out to the general populace for years now. The issue is that millions of Americans are currently on a waiting list for one of those $40 vouchers, and evidently it'll take a few more months to get additional funding and clear the backlog. It's expected that the new switchover date will soon become June 12th, and you can find all the fine print just down there in the read link.[Via TVWeek, thanks Vanbrothers]
