Google is lobbying the FCC to open up “white spaces” – the space between channels on broadcast TV – calling them “the building blocks for Wi-Fi 2.0” or, more evocatively, “Wi-Fi on steroids.”

White spaces are spaces used to separate private TV channels; they are the static we (or our parents) used to see between stations when tuning on UHF TVs. Largely unused after television switches to digital next February, they will offer “the possibility of affordable, ubiquitous, high-speed Internet connections to all Americans, anywhere, at any time.” (more…)

In 2008, five states incorporated digital download taxes into law. This makes seventeen states including the District of Columbia, not to mention four additional states presently considering iTax measures. It appears the days of tax-free digital downloading are numbered.

A potential barrier to iTax legislation is the current semantics of some state laws. When they were written, the Internet had not yet been invented, and lawmakers may have unintentionally immunized digital downloads by only permitting the taxation of tangible goods. (more…)

It was the Privacy Nightmare that Ruined Christmas. Now it’s The PR Nightmare on Facebook Street.

Facebook’s ill-fated Beacon experiment has haunted the world’s fastest growing social networking site the ad service’s conception, having been vehemently criticized since its debut last November. Now it’s being taken to court.

Facebook’s Beacon-caused PR woes continued Tuesday, as a new class-action lawsuit was filed against them. The suit also names Blockbuster, Fandango, Overstock, Hotwire, STA Travel, Zappos and Gamefly as defendants.

The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, alleges that Facebook invaded users’ privacy, gathering and broadcasting their information without consent. (more…)

In what is perhaps the largest coordinated example of cyberwarfare in history, many Georgian web sites were blocked while the country was being simultaneously invaded by Russia’s air and ground forces last weekend.

“We are witnessing in this crisis the birth of true, operational cyber warfare,” said Eli Jellenc, manager of All-Source Intelligence at iDefense.

Russian hackers took over the site of the Georgian parliament, replacing it with images of Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili next to similar images of Adolf Hitler. Saakahvili’s own site was shut down – it had to be moved to servers in Atlanta, Georgia (US). (more…)

It appears that a prudent safeguard to the Web 2.0 environment is to not put all of your eggs in one basket. On Monday, August 11, Google users across the United States, Canada, and India were unable to access their online e-mails and documents for about two hours. Upon logging into Gmail, users received a 502 error. Todd Jackson, Gmail Product Manager, attributed the problem to a temporary outage in their contacts system. As of 6 p.m. ET on Monday, the issue has been resolved, according to Gmail’s official blog. (more…)

In the wake of Microsoft and NBC’s partnership to provide free streaming multi-media content via Silverlight for the Beijing Olympics, anti-trust criticisms have mounted against Microsoft, reminiscent of legal actions brought during the 1990s. The International Herald Tribune, also known as the global edition of the New York Times, highlighted concerns in an August 11 article.

The issue is whether Silverlight standards should compete with other proprietary systems, or should complement them. Brian Goldfarb, a Microsoft executive, has stated that only Microsoft will produce the development software of Silverlight’s content. He has also implied that PlayReady, the digital-rights management technology of Silverlight, will only be accessible on Microsoft servers. Critics argue that these decisions are an abuse of monopoly power, stifling competition and innovation. (more…)

On August 5 VUDU and the Adult Video Network announced a partnership to bring High-Definition adult-entertainment to a dedicated AVN channel on the VUDU network.

This latest step in TV set-top box entertainment further develops the trend in immediate access to full-resolution, full-length movies and television episodes to rent or to buy. It’s TiVo from the Internet, but more so. (more…)

Who says Microsoft Vista sucks? If you’re looking online, it seems like it’s everybody. A Google search brings up entire blogs and Web sites solely dedicated to exposing fair use rights infringements, CPU-hogging mandatory security programs, and lack of application and hardware support. Specialized Web sites and blogs have the most vehement criticisms:

Responding to actual Microsoft documentation, Peter Guttman of University of Auckland has published an exhaustive article stating that the Vista Content Protection specification, which raises the bar on Digital Rights Management, “could very well constitute the longest suicide note in history.” Bruce Schneier condenses many of the details , concluding that the OS makes a computer less reliable and less secure. This slows down processing, and media pirates, the intended target for this software, crack the security in days. BlimpTV’s “Vista Sucks ” video says it simply: “No One Does Bloatware Like Microsoft!” (more…)

Several weeks ago we wrote about the leaked DNS exploit that had fallen into hackers’ hands. Tuesday August 5th at the Black Hat 2008 security conference in Las Vegas, the exploit’s discoverer, Dan Kaminsky, explained that it is much worse than initially thought.

In fact, it seems that the DNS exploit can be used to attack almost anything on the web.

“The entire scope of the attack is even yet to be fully realized. This affects every single person on the Internet,” said OpenDNS CEO David Ulevitch. Kaminsky estimates that only 42% (120,000,000) of worldwide internet users are currently protected from the exploit. 85% of Fortune 500 companies have patched their systems, though. (more…)

Kevin Cronin, chief investment officer for Putnam Investments, finds upside in four tech stocks in an economy he believes is currently suffering from inflation and deteriorating economic growth. “The tech sector and the utility sector have been two of the more defensive sectors over the course of the last year and we do find some attractive names there,” Cronin told Erin Burnett and Mark Haines on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street.

The four stocks Cronin believes have promise are Microsoft [MSFT], Adobe [ADBE], Apple [AAPL], and EMC Corp. [EMC]. EMC Corp., based out of Hopkinton, Massachusetts, specializes in information infrastructure technology and solutions. “We debate whether Apple is a consumer company or a tech company, but we like Apple as well,” Cronin said. Cronin recognized that the current deterioration of economic growth is not only an American issue, but a global issue as well. (more…)