UK Govt Databases Slammed as Illegal

The report entitled Database State was prompted by the catastrophic incompetence of a number government departments which lost huge amounts of data, including the entire child benefit database in October 2007.

Of the 46 databases investigated, only six were found to conform to current human rights and data protection laws. Nearly twice as many are described as: "Almost certainly illegal under human rights or data protection law and should be scrapped or substantially redesigned." The remaining 29 databases all have significant problems.

Major cock-ups were found in the NHS summary care record, the national childhood obesity database, the national pupil database, and the automatic number-plate recognition system.

The report estimates that £16 billion a year is being spent on IT projects, of which only a third end up being of any use.

Source: Inquirer

ISOHunt in Pivotal Lawsuit - Could Make Google / Other Search Engines Illegal

The owner of the ISOHunt search engine website (used specifically to find Bittorents submitted by users) is fighting the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) in court against claims that his site pirates music. The company’s president, Gary Fung, wants Canada’s Supreme Court to rule on the legality of search engines being used to identify material which may ultimately be used illegally to determine if they, too, are culpable.

Fung has reported receiving numerous legal threats from the CRIA, the Canadian equivalent of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In response, he is fighting back in court, launching a lawsuit of his own.

The ruling could have very significant implications. Google, for example, can be used today to find pornography very easily — as can Yahoo, MSN, etc. In most states, viewing pornography below a certain age (typically 18) is illegal, yet it is very easy to bypass those kinds of security features on websites linked directly from Google searches. So is Google culpable for presenting material which may be used illegally? That’s essentially the very question Fung wants addressed.

Fung believes that using ISOHunt in a similar way to find Bittorrent sites (which may or may not carry materials that could be used illegally, and which may or may not ultimately result in illegal materials use) is no different. And his argument is that a search engine capable of finding potentially illegal material does not a crime make. In this way, he is forcing the issue to be resolved by the highest court in Canada.

Fung’s argument is very straight-forward — that his website never touches any of the files exchanged via Bittorrent applications, which are peer-to-peer and must be setup or launched externally to his page’s search results. And while his site is used to find the files, his participation in the experience ends there. A similar comparison could be drawn from asking some guy down the street where to buy drugs. That person might know, might even tell you, but until you actually go and buy drugs there no crime has been committed because having information is not illegal.

Fung is currently engaged in lawsuits with the Motion Picture Association of America, with court proceedings there lasting over a year.

Source: TGDaily

Google to Serve Targeted Personalised Ads

Google has entered the sometimes controversial arena of behaviour-based advertising. It has launched a system that will serve up ads to web users based on their previous online activities. The search giant is offering users the chance to see and edit their profiles and it will also offer them the choice to opt out of the service. But privacy campaigners are outraged by the move, with Privacy International calling for a parliamentary enquiry. The trial service launches on YouTube and Google from 11 March but advertisers will not be able to display advertisements until April. Initially a handful of advertisers will be invited to take part. The system uses a cookie - a small piece of text that lives inside a web browser - to track users as they visit different websites that show ads through its AdSense program. Users will be assigned to categories based on the content of the pages they visit.

“If a user is a keen traveller and visits lots of travel sites, Google could show them more travel-related ads,” the search giant said in a statement. “We believe that ads are a valuable source of information that can connect people to products, services and ideas that interest them. By making ads more relevant and improving the connection between advertisers and our users, we can create more value,” it said. But Simon Davies, head of Privacy International, has his doubts. “Google might well hype their targeting system as a boon to pet owners, but the reality is that the service will track just about everything you do and everything you’re interested in, no matter how personal or sensitive. Some privacy campaigners believe Google should have offered its advertising service on an opt-in rather than an opt-out basis. “The cookie doesn’t show up any personally identifiable information so that is why we think opt-out is the right way to go,” said a Google spokesman. Information on YouTube , such as the videos people have been watching, will “be factored into” the system, said the spokesman.

Source: BBC

100 Oldest .com Domains

Below list of domains ever first registered, the first some 24 years ago at the birth of the internet. List also shows current ranking:

Ranking / Registered / Current Ranking
001 symbolics.com 03/15/85 288052
002 bbn.com 04/24/85 210628
003 think.com 05/24/85 n/a
004 mcc.com 07/11/85 423261
005 dec.com 09/30/85 n/a
006 northrop.com 11/07/85 n/a
007 xerox.com 01/09/86 9561
008 sri.com 01/17/86 100494
009 hp.com 03/03/86 191
010 bellcore.com 03/05/86 n/a
011 ibm.com 03/19/86 411
012 sun.com 03/19/86 484
013 intel.com 03/25/86 1018
014 ti.com 03/25/86 11757
015 att.com 04/25/86 336
016 gmr.com 05/08/86 n/a
017 tek.com 05/08/86 71044
018 fmc.com 07/10/86 688877
019 ub.com 07/10/86 n/a
020 bell-atl.com 08/05/86 n/a
021 ge.com 08/05/86 11629
022 grebyn.com 08/05/86 n/a
023 isc.com 08/05/86 n/a
024 nsc.com 08/05/86 n/a
025 stargate.com 08/05/86 183064
026 boeing.com 09/02/86 15882
027 itcorp.com 09/18/86 n/a
028 siemens.com 09/29/86 4802
029 pyramid.com 10/18/86 804133
030 alphacdc.com 10/27/86 n/a
031 bdm.com 10/27/86 503674
032 fluke.com 10/27/86 113826
033 inmet.com 10/27/86 n/a
034 kesmai.com 10/27/86 n/a
035 mentor.com 10/27/86 86074
036 nec.com 10/27/86 38938
037 ray.com 10/27/86 n/a
038 rosemount.com 10/27/86 n/a
039 vortex.com 10/27/86 502710
040 alcoa.com 11/05/86 104909
041 gte.com 11/05/86 n/a
042 adobe.com 11/17/86 56
043 amd.com 11/17/86 2001
044 das.com 11/17/86 n/a
045 data-io.com 11/17/86 n/a
046 octopus.com 11/17/86 775704
047 portal.com 11/17/86 n/a
048 teltone.com 11/17/86 n/a
049 3com.com 12/11/86 33649
050 amdahl.com 12/11/86 n/a
051 ccur.com 12/11/86 n/a
052 ci.com 12/11/86 196502
053 convergent.com 12/11/86 n/a
054 dg.com 12/11/86 n/a
055 peregrine.com 12/11/86 n/a
056 quad.com 12/11/86 n/a
057 sq.com 12/11/86 n/a
058 tandy.com 12/11/86 n/a
059 tti.com 12/11/86 n/a
060 unisys.com 12/11/86 23969
061 cgi.com 01/19/87 102209
062 cts.com 01/19/87 n/a
063 spdcc.com 01/19/87 n/a
064 apple.com 02/19/87 66
065 nma.com 03/04/87 n/a
066 prime.com 03/04/87 n/a
067 philips.com 04/04/87 2810
068 datacube.com 04/23/87 n/a
069 kai.com 04/23/87 n/a
070 tic.com 04/23/87 n/a
071 vine.com 04/23/87 n/a
072 ncr.com 04/30/87 46207
073 cisco.com 05/14/87 1329
074 rdl.com 05/14/87 n/a
075 slb.com 05/20/87 11557
076 parcplace.com 05/27/87 n/a
077 utc.com 05/27/87 135686
078 ide.com 06/26/87 n/a
079 trw.com 07/09/87 224218
080 unipress.com 07/13/87 n/a
081 dupont.com 07/27/87 24676
082 lockheed.com 07/27/87 n/a
083 rosetta.com 07/28/87 266032
084 toad.com 08/18/87 n/a
085 quick.com 08/31/87 n/a
086 allied.com 09/03/87 111176
087 dsc.com 09/03/87 351550
088 sco.com 09/03/87 76724
089 gene.com 09/22/87 108440
090 kccs.com 09/22/87 n/a
091 spectra.com 09/22/87 776373
092 wlk.com 09/22/87 n/a
093 mentat.com 09/30/87 n/a
094 wyse.com 10/14/87 313648
095 cfg.com 11/02/87 n/a
096 marble.com 11/09/87 113962
097 cayman.com 11/16/87 n/a
098 entity.com 11/16/87 n/a
099 ksr.com 11/24/87 n/a
100 nynexst.com 11/30/87 n/a