Judge Dismisses Microsoft Windows Genuine Advantage Suit

A judge dismissed a lawsuit that was filed against Microsoft over its much-criticized Windows Genuine Advantage program in 2006.

The judge in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington on Thursday dismissed the case with prejudice, leaving each party to pay its own lawyer fees. In a statement, Microsoft said it was pleased the case was “resolved successfully.” It did not say whether it agreed to any kind of settlement arrangement.

The suit essentially characterized WGA as spyware, charging Microsoft with failing to describe the tool’s functions before downloading it onto the plaintiffs' computers. WGA was designed to determine whether a user’s version of Windows was pirated. It sent regular information back to Microsoft about user’s hardware and software and warned users of piracy violations.

“Contrary to the express statements Microsoft made in the inadequate disclosures that were provided, the software collected and communicated private identifying information from consumer’s computers and sent that information back to Microsoft on a daily basis,” the complaint read.

In January, the plaintiffs failed to have the suit certified as a class action, a blow to their case.

Shortly after the suit was filed, amid a storm of criticism, Microsoft released a new version of WGA with a reduced schedule of reporting user information back to the software giant. Months later it changed WGA again so as to not cut off users of Windows XP who had uncertain licenses. Those users were being labeled as having illegitimate software and were periodically asked to reinstall or buy a new version, even though in many cases the software was legitimate.

WGA caused other problems as well. Once, after a worker accidentally loaded software onto the live system, Windows XP and Vista users were told via the WGA system that they had pirated copies of their software. The problem lasted more than a day before it was fully corrected.

Source:

http://www.itnews.com/windows/14114/judge-dismisses-microsoft-windows-genuine-advantage-suit

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Apple Offers 'Find Out How' Tutorials as Podcasts

For some time, Apple has given the Designated Family Tech Support Personnel among us a small reprieve with its "Find out how" selection of tutorial videos. While they don't really tackle inevitable questions like "was deleting ~/Library/Keychains a bad idea?," they serve as succinct primers for The Way of the Mac and Apple's various apps and services. Now, if your tech-blossoming family and friends prefer to gobble their media in a subscription format, Apple has finally created iTunes Store podcast channels for its "Find out how" series.

Organized by application, service, or topic, the nine "Find out how" podcasts that Apple has published so far cover MobileMe, iWork '09, iWeb '09, and of course, Mac Basics (search for "Apple find out how" to see them all). There are around ten to 20 episodes in each of these podcasts, though for some series it seems that not all episodes have made the transition from Apple's site to their podcast counterpart. While the iMovie podcast has a few more episodes than Apple's website, the Mac Basics podcast is short around ten or so episodes.

It's nice to see Apple making these useful tutorials available in more ways, and hopefully future videos will continue to keep the attention of aspiring i-everything users. They may not make a dramatic dent in the number of family tech support hours that some of us clock, but every little bit certainly helps.

Source:

http://www.itnews.com/mac/14049/apple-offers-find-out-how-tutorials-podcasts

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Facebook's Photo uploader Gets an Overhaul Too

Hot on the heels of a visual face-lift, Facebook on Friday announced that the prototype version of its photo uploader, which was introduced in mid-November of last year, will soon be rolling out to all users.

Unlike the existing version of Facebook's photo uploader, the new uploader requires the installation of a browser plug-in. This inconvenience is rewarded with the option to leave Facebook entirely, while the photos continue to upload in the background. Previously, users would have had to leave that window or page running while the uploader did its magic.

Facebook also said the new uploader supports a few extra photo formats, though it did not specify which ones. The company has, for some time now, had unofficial support for a handful of alternate formats, including raw images. However, on its official spec sheet the company says only .jpg, .gif, .bmp, and .png files will work.

Facebook currently gets 2.5 billion photo uploads per month. To put that in perspective, the company hit the 10 billion mark in October of 2008, a whole three years after first introducing the photo-sharing feature in 2005. In other words, any small change that makes it easier for people to get their photos onto the social network could end up having a big effect on how fast Facebook's photo collection will continue to grow.

If you can't wait for Facebook to activate the uploader on your account, you can do it yourself. Just head over to Facebook's prototype page, and turn it on.

Source:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-27076_3-20000051-248.html?tag=newsEditorsPicksArea.0

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Apple Extends iTunes Web Previews to Apps

Just a few months after introducing its browser-based iTunes Preview pages for music, Apple has expanded the feature to include items from the App Store.

Now, when a user clicks an iTunes link for an iPhone or iPod Touch app, they're taken to a page with a similar layout to what they'd see when browsing the iTunes Store in Apple's iTunes software. But instead, it's in their browser. This allows users who don't have iTunes installed to see more information about an app without having the software installed. That said, preview pages attempt to launch iTunes each time you load them.

As mentioned in previous coverage, there are a few shortcomings to these preview pages compared to the sales pages in iTunes proper. These include only being able to see a handful of user reviews and other purchases by customers. Users are also unable to make a purchase, add the app to a wish list, and share it on Twitter or Facebook.

Despite these limitations, the iTunes Preview program is a strong hint that Apple is on its way towards taking its iTunes Store business outside of conventional software and onto the Web. Though Apple has not yet extended the preview program out to all its content, including movies, TV shows, podcasts, and audiobooks.

Source:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-27076_3-20000041-248.html?tag=newsEditorsPicksArea.0

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Facebook Comes Out Swinging at Critics of Settlement Offer In Beacon Lawsuit

Facebook has come out swinging at those opposing a settlement offer it made last year in a privacy lawsuit involving the social networking company's controversial Beacon behavioral tracking service .

Under the offer made last September, Facebook said it would pay $9.5 million to set up a privacy foundation to fund projects promoting the cause of online privacy in return for the lawsuit against it to be dropped. It also said that it would formally drop the Beacon service.

But in complaints filed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California last week, opponents of the settlement called it meaningless. In documents filed with the court they argued that all Facebook was doing was paying itself to fund a privacy foundation over which it would exercise undue control.

In response, a Facebook spokesman said yesterday the objections were false and called the settlement "fair" and in the interest of the members of the class-action suit.

The dispute stems from a lawsuit filed in August 2008 against Facebook. It alleged that Facebook and Beacon affiliates such as Blockbuster and Overstock.com had violated several federal privacy laws, including the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and the Video Privacy Protection Act, when they shared data about Facebook users with each other. As part of its settlement offer, Facebook said it would shut down Beacon.

However, in a complaint filed last week in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, of Washington D.C, and some Facebook users asked the court to reject the offer.

In their complaint, the groups said that the proposed settlement did nothing to compensate victims whose privacy may have been compromised by Beacon. Other than formally disbanding a program that Facebook had voluntarily already discontinued, the settlement offered little else the groups complained.

"At the heart of the proposed settlement is the foundation that Facebook will pay itself to establish," one of the complaints noted. The settlement also "improperly" gives Facebook a direct role in drafting the mission and bylaws of the proposed foundation and in appointing board members.

In fact, one of the three initial directors of the foundation is a Facebook employee and chief lobbyist, the complaint noted. "In exchange for what amounts to worthless "relief," all class members will release all Beacon-related claims against Facebook and the Beacon merchant partners," the compliant said.

In e-mailed comments, Facebook spokesman Barry Schnitt blasted such objections. "The suggestion that Facebook would pay itself is absurd, misunderstands how foundations work, and totally disregards the bylaws of this foundation and the enforcement powers of the court," Schnitt said.

The bylaws of the proposed foundation make it clear that its purpose is to fund and sponsor programs to educate users, regulators and enterprises on online privacy issues, Schnitt said. He added that the foundation will be an independent entity run by three well known and respected privacy advocates.

Source:

http://www.itnews.com/social-media/13874/facebook-comes-out-swinging-critics-settlement-offer-beacon-lawsuit

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BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) Best Practices: Six Tips

BlackBerry Messenger, Research In Motion's (RIM) mobile IM application that uses unique "PIN" codes associated with every BlackBerry to connect RIM smartphone users, isn't new. But due to the BlackBerry platform's rising popularity, BBM--which you can think of as a mobile version of AIM or Google Talk that only works with BlackBerrys -- is suddenly getting a lot of attention. And not all of it is positive. In fact, Web-security-software-maker McAfee recently posted a warning about BBM spam and hoaxes on its TrustedSource blog.

To me, BBM is a valuable tool that I use every day for immediate contact with important colleagues, associates and family members. But the app can subject BlackBerry users to unnecessary risk if used improperly or without a certain degree of caution.

Here are half a dozen BBM best practices to help ensure that you get the most of your BBM experience while avoiding any potential trouble.

Add New Contacts Sparingly

This is the most important point in my post, so I'll say it again: Add new contacts sparingly.

I know I'll catch some flak from some of you loyal BlackBerry users out there who seem to be playing a game in which the goal is to gain as many BBM contacts as quickly as possible. But the value in BBM, for me at least, is that it's not just another IM service--I have BeeJive for that.

BBM users add new contacts in a few ways: 1) You can share your unique PIN with others and have them invite you, or vice-versa; 2) you can add new contacts by sharing e-mail addresses associated with your BlackBerry smartphone; and 3) you can "scan" other BBM users' unique PIN-barcodes with your BlackBerry's camera--assuming you're using the latest BBM version (5.0).

I only connect with colleagues, family and friends who I want to be able to communicate with instantly, at any time. And when I connect with someone on BBM, I mostly expect him or her to respond to my message as quickly as possible. And I know most of them expect the same in return.

So, to the point: Do NOT share your BlackBerry PIN or barcode with just anyone; Do NOT post your PIN or barcode on your public Twitter account or any other social network; Do NOT include your BlackBerry PIN or barcode in your fixed e-mail signature.

Are you getting the idea here? Good. Furthermore, you don't have to accept all BBM invites you receive. (More on that coming up in the BlackBerry Groups section.) Don't worry about hurt feelings or bruised egos. Your BlackBerry will thank you.

On that note: There's really no right or wrong way to use BBM. But there are smart and effective methods of employing the service. Adding tons of contacts defeats the purpose of BBM for me and diminishes the app's overall value.

Backup BBM Contacts Regularly

As with any computer or handheld, it's a very good idea to backup your BBM--and your entire BlackBerry--regularly. If your smartphone is associated with a BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES),

Source:

http://www.itnews.com/smartphones/13801/blackberry-messenger-bbm-best-practices-six-tips

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Google Nexus One Users Report T-Mobile Service Outage

T-Mobile customers who use the Google Nexus One smartphones are reporting widespread data outages on their devices.

The outages are being reported at multiple online sites, including Twitter, where T-Mobile staff are directing affected customers to the carrier's message boards.

Google Nexus One vs. Motorola Droid: Breaking down the basics

According to ZDNet writer Matthew Miller, T-Mobile is sending users messages on their devices telling them that they need to sign up for data plans, despite the fact that they are already T-Mobile data subscribers. Miller says that he personally has "the unlimited Android web plan" and that it "worked just fine until this morning." A Gizmodo reader reported encountering the same problem when he tried to use his Nexus One to surf the web this morning.

Neither HTC nor Google has publicly commented on the reported outage or have given any indication of how they plan to fix it.

The data outage for the Nexus One comes just months after T-Mobile Sidekick users were plagued with a massive outage that initially was thought to have wiped out significant portions of their personal data.

The Google Nexus One first came to T-Mobile earlier this year as the first official phone released by Google. Designed by handset manufacturer HTC, the Nexus One is due to be released on the Verizon network sometime over the next few weeks.

Source:

http://www.itnews.com/smartphones/13678/google-nexus-one-users-report-t-mobile-service-outage

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