Apple Forgets To Lock Their "Doors"

I first heard about the iPhone's unlocking capabilities in August when news spread of of 17 year old George Hotz's and "the hack." Although not an iPhone owner myself, I found this topic an interesting one and just two short months after its unlocking capabilitie were released to the public, today the method appears to have become even simpler.

Slate.com's Tim Wu chronicles the "legal, ethical and fun" aspects in The iPhone Freedom Fighters:

Apple is not happy with its customers. Disobedient iPhone owners are unlocking their iPhones (modifying them to work with carriers other than AT&T) and installing "unauthorized" third-party apps. Last week the company struck back with a software update that acts much like a virus. It wrecks the operation of third-party applications and can turn unlocked iPhones into "bricks." Is Apple on the right side of this fight? Is it really wrong or illegal to unlock your iPhone? Well, I figured, there's only one way to find out.

Unlocking works, is doable, and improves the iPhone. But while unlocking can be fun, it's still a vaguely scary process, a little like installing your own car brakes. My project began at the giant Apple Store on New York's Fifth Avenue. I needed to buy the iPhone and figure out how to unlock it, and I had imagined that Apple's sales staff might be ambivalent or even helpful—"You really shouldn't, but …." I know that there's even discontent inside Apple headquarters, that some of the company's own employees have unlocked their phones and are complaining about Apple's Empire Strikes Back mentality.

My hopes were high as I approached a typically chipper Apple salesman, clad in
black with spiked hair. "I'm purchasing an iPhone," I began, "but I'm a T-Mobile
customer, and so I was just wondering, I read that you can unlock the phone—"

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First And Hopefully The Last

Jammie Thomas, a 32 year old Minnesota woman was the first, and hopefully the last, to fight illegal file-sharing charges in court.

At a rate of $9,250 per song, according to BBC News Thomas was ordered by the jury to pay for offering to share 24 specific songs online at a grand total of...$222,000.

The University of Massachusetts Amherst's Office of Information Technologies Copyright Infringment as the unlawful use of any material protected under copyright law, violating one or more of the copyright owner’s exclusive rights. OIT also warns, downloading and sharing files which contain copyrighted material is against the law. A single unauthorized download or upload of copyrighted material can put you at serious risk for criminal consequences such as fines and imprisonment. The responsibility to restrict sharing and monitor the legality of your downloads lies solely with you.

In order to avoid Thomas' current situation-copyright violation, OIT recommends the following:

• Download all music, movie and other types of files from authorized sites.
  
• Turn off file sharing in your peer-to-peer application.
  
• Keep your computer password protected and never share your OIT account information with anyone.
  
• Do not connect personal wireless routers to the campus network.

To read the full BBC News story, click here.

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Dot-Asia

A project that is eight years in the making is proposed to wrap up by March 2008 and introduce a new twist for online users and big firms seeking domain names. According to a report in today's online BBC News:

Governments and companies can now register interest in specific domain names, such as http://www.yournamehere.asia. Companies will be able to register domains for which they own a trademark and governments will get a chance to earmark those on a reserved list. The general public will get a chance to snap up their own .asia domain when the landrush starts in February 2008.

--To read the full story, click here.

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Converge!

Patrick Stiegman, Executive Editor of ESPN.com spoke at the University of Massachusetts Amherst Journalism lecture series Monday evening addressing the topic of convergence in the media.

As we all begin to converge, popular and highly trafficked sites like Stiegman's ESPN.com is already ten steps ahead of their competition. Their latest venture reaches out to bloggers anywhere interested in putting their "sports cents" in from athletic legal struggles to the teams of cricket. But with all things there are rules. The following is not specific to ESPN.com's new blogging forum, but touches upon the overall terms of use according to the Walt Disney Internet Group.

You are and shall remain solely responsible for the User-Generated Content submitted and/or posted under your user name or otherwise by you in any Public Forum and for the consequences of submitting and posting same. You acknowledge that the use of User-Generated Content posted in any Public Forum is at your own risk. For example, we are not responsible for, and we do not endorse, the opinions, advice or recommendations posted or sent by users in any Public Forum and we specifically disclaim any and all liability in connection therewith.

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The North Shore Spirit Is Laid To Rest

Thanks to Facebook.com I recently caught wind of a petition, in both paper and online form established to save Fraser Field. Located in Lynn, Massachusetts, Fraser Field is currently home to the minor-league baseball team the North Shore Spirit of the independent Can-Am League for the 2007 season.

"Please find a way to bring the North Shore Spirit back to Lynn next year. We're all big Spirit fans. A lot of us kids have spent almost every summer for the last five years at Spirit games. We'll miss going to the games with all our friends and seeing the new friends we made at the Fraser Field. The Spirit is the best part of living in Lynn and the city is taking it away from us. It'll be so sad for the kids that won't have anything to do. We love the Spirit! The city and Mayor Chip Clancy HAVE to find a way to bring the North Shore Spirit back to Fraser Field next season."

I would not have thought twice about submitting my name on the online petition forum powered by iPetitions.com and supporting this local cause headed by young Lynn resident, Victoria, had it not been for University of Massachusetts Professor Ethan Katsh's words of wisdom: "Do you really know what you are signing up for?" It made me curious enough to take the time before clicking the "I agree" box and find out what signing my name actually entailed.

Unfortunately on September 20, 2007, Victoria's 400 plus signatures were not enough to "Save Our Spirit." Team owner, Nick Lopardo posted a letter to fans on their official website announcing that the team would no longer be playing baseball in 2008.

"We have enjoyed many successes both on and off the playing field, none of which would have been possible without your support, for which we are forever grateful. The success of a ball club is not measured in just wins and losses or in strictly business terms, but rather on the faces of our fans, young and old alike. We look out on our field and see children running the bases with our mascot ‘Slugger’ and fathers and sons enjoying a game of catch on our outfield. You can’t put a price on that kind of joy. These are opportunities to teach good lessons of life, family, and community. The North Shore Spirit fan friendly experience has left us knowing all the good that can be accomplished in minor league baseball. We will take that with us. Once again we thank you for your support of North Shore Spirit Professional Baseball and for “Catching the Spirit” here at historic Fraser Field."

Victoria who grew up on Spirit games plans to continue her campaign in order to get the team back on the mound for next season. This morning, Victoria reported 508 signatures both off and online and is eager for more. Check out Victoria's online blog and do your part-after reading what you are signing up for of course and support this good cause.

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YouTube In The Classroom?!

Here's a dream come true for Web addicts: college credit for watching YouTube.

Pitzer College, part of the Claremont Colleges consortium, this fall began offering what may be the first course about the video-sharing site. About 35 students meet in a classroom but work mostly online, where they view content from the San Bruno-based site and post their comments.

Class lessons also are posted and students are encouraged to post videos. One class member, for instance, posted a 1-minute, 36-second video of himself juggling.

Alexandra Juhasz, a media studies professor at the liberal arts college, said she was "underwhelmed" by the content on YouTube but set up the course, "Learning from YouTube," to explore the role of the popular site.

Students control most of the class content and YouTube watchers from around the world are encouraged to comment, Juhasz said.

She hopes the course will raise serious issues about YouTube, such as the role of "corporate-sponsored democratic media expression."

YouTube is "a phenomenon that should be studied," student Darren Grose said. "You can learn a lot about American culture and just Internet culture in general."

YouTube class: www.youtube .com/group/learningfromyoutube

Source: AP
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MySpace.com: 200 Million And Counting

MySpace.com's online community rose to 106 million users during the Fall of 2006 and has been on the incline ever since, but not without a few bumps along the way.

With more and more "tweens" and aspiring muscisians worldwide accessing MySpace daily-an estimated 200 million in recent weeks, the amount of legal work for its creator and everyone's friend, Tom is on the rise as well.

PCWorld.com reported that in 2005, a North Carolina's State Bureau of Investigation arrested a police officer for the alleged rape of a 14-year-old girl he lured using MySpace.

In 2006, MySpace took measures to avoid future scrutiny for incidents of this kind by hiring a technical company.

Through this innovative technology, we're pleased that we've successfully identified and deleted these registered sex offenders and hope that other social networking sites follow our lead.

Upon reaching this stage in online life when extreme legal action must be taken in order to protect ourselves and importantly our children, alarms should ring loud and clear in households worldwide.

Southwest News Herald's online columnist Ray Hanania pins the tail on the donkey in his August 27, 2007 column, Big Problem on MySpace.com is not pedophiles

The real problem is not the pedophiles and con artists trying to steal your money. The real problem is us, the regular people, who let this happen by running away from the problem – and then sitting back at home and allowing ourselves to be entertained by shows like "To Catch a Predator." We need to take back the system. We, as a society, need to impose the correct morality and the right principles and restore common sense to our lives, instead of always only reacting after-the-fact. Because responding after-the-fact results in an over-reaction. Take back the Internet. But more importantly, take control of your children. Your child, whether an adolescent or a high school or college student should be on the Internet using MySpace and FaceBook., but they should be doing it the right way. And, the right way is with parental supervision. Know what your child is doing. Get involved. Understand the Internet. And the best way to understand the Internet is to get involved and use it. If you have a child and you have not checked these web sites to see if your child is already there posting obscene photographs, then yes, we can blame the pedophiles and the con artists. But really, the bulk of the blame belongs on you.

A simple click and "Signing Up!" for MySpace will take users inside a big bad world of people, people they do not even know or will probably never know and access to their personal information and inappropriate activites. Despite cautionary warnings, users continue to keep their front doors wide open. Exposing themselves to hundreds of millions of strangers and countless risks each day.

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