Volume 18, Issue 46        Atari Online News, Etc.       December 9, 2016   
                                                                           
                                                                              
                  Published and Copyright (c) 1999 - 2016
                            All Rights Reserved

                          Atari Online News, Etc.
                           A-ONE Online Magazine
                Dana P. Jacobson, Publisher/Managing Editor
                      Joseph Mirando, Managing Editor
                       Rob Mahlert, Associate Editor


                       Atari Online News, Etc. Staff

                        Dana P. Jacobson  --  Editor
                   Joe Mirando  --  "People Are Talking"
                Michael Burkley  --  "Unabashed Atariophile"
                   Albert Dayes  --  "CC: Classic Chips"
                         Rob Mahlert  --  Web site
                Thomas J. Andrews  --  "Keeper of the Flame"


                           With Contributions by:

                                Fred Horvat



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                                  =~=~=~=



A-ONE #1846                                                 12/09/16

   ~ Chrome To Issue Warning ~ People Are Talking!     ~ Firebee News Update!
   ~ AtariCrypt Collection!  ~ Fan Castlevania Killed? ~ Twitter Has Accident!
   ~ DDoS Targets Warcraft!  ~ Nintendo's Bug Bounty!  ~ Facebook Struggle?
   ~ RetroEngine Sigma Mini! ~                         ~ TurboGrafx Trademark!

                  -* The FireBee: The Modern Atari *-
              -* EU Vows To Combat Online Hate Speech *-
           -* Obama's Got A New Cybersecurity Plan, So?  *-



                                  =~=~=~=



->From the Editor's Keyboard              "Saying it like it is!"
  """"""""""""""""""""""""""



While there's little visible in my area to show that winter is here,
a step outside will deinitely prove that we're in the midst of the
chilly seaon!  Arctic cold is rapidly approaching, dropping temps
to the lowest they've been this year!  I'm not looking forward to
this weekend in that regard!

The holiday season is in full gear.  The Salvation Army bell-ringers
are out in full force; holiday music is blasting away on every mall
Muzak machine; decorations abound in stoers and neighborhoods; and
letters are headed in earnest to the North Pole!  Here at home, we
are looking ahead to a very quiet holiday season this year; our
main focus is on our construction project - razing our current house
in order to re-build and add on.  Packing and storage is definitely
not one of most favorite pasttimes!

As mentioned a few weeks ago, we're winding down our work here at
A-ONE.  It's highly doubtful that we'll see an issue in 2017; I'll
likely put together our last issue within the next couple of weeks.
I have to say that I appreciate everyone's support over the years,
especially you, our long-time and faithful readers.  Without your
kindness over the years, we would not have stood the test of time
and patience.  So, thank you!

Until next time...



                                  =~=~=~=



                 The FireBee: Modern Atari Clone


The FireBee is a new Atari-compatible computer. Ataris and
Atari-Clones are special computers with their own hard & software.
They aren't PC's, Mac's nor Amiga compatible.

A FireBee is similar to an Atari Falcon and works very much like
that. It will run most of the Atari compatible software that
would run on a Falcon. Different to older Ataris and their clones,
the FireBee is a modern computer that supports almost everything
you'd expect from a today's machine, like USB ports, Ethernet,
DVI-I monitor connector, SD-card reader and more.

This brand-new Atari compatible is not cheap, but much like the
current Amiga computers, if you're worried about the price, you're
probably not the intended audience. Note that even though the
order page says "pre-order", I think that's a typo - you can order
them directly from the Swiss company that makes them, too.

I love that people and companies are passionate enough to keep
developing, building, and selling machines like this - it's a
vital effort to keep platforms alive well into the future.



                       FireBee New Update

     Full-length Report About The Level Shifter Problem


What follows is the detailled background report about the killjoy
of this summer...

It all began with the fact that most of the finished boards
wouldn't even start, after they had arrived at Medusa. The few
that did consumed so much power that they caused the generously
sized power supplies to fail. We don't want to bore you now with
the details of how we located the problem and debugged the
hardware, but instead skip to the description of the actual
problem. After many tests it appeared (and was later confirmed)
that the issue was with the level shifters of the FireBee. These
6 level shifters per board (positions U25 and U31 to U35) are
small chips that convert the power and create all the special
voltages that are needed by the various different ICs, e.g. 3.3
Volt, 1.45 Volt, 1.8 Volt etc. These are directional 8-path
voltage converters from Texas Instruments. It is a "standard"
model: 74LVC(8T)245. It's needed because back in the Atari days,
5V were the standard voltage in computers, but the more modern
FireBee electronics use 3.3V (or, as mentioned, even lower
voltages). The casing we use is an "QFN" (Quad Flatpack No
leads, 4-side casing without legs) with an exposed pad, i.e. a
metal surface on the lower side. This was supposed to be used as
a "Thermal Pad", in order to improve the cooling of the ICs
through the circuit board.

These so-called "Thermal Pads" therefore have to be soldered onto
the board completely flat in order to properly dissipate the heat
generated when converting the voltage. The schematics of this IC
(also called "level converter") from Texas Instrument does not
show any electric connection of the lower surface of the "exposed
thermal pad" with any other structure on, or inside, the chip.
The specification only states that the thermal pad "must" be
soldered on. For this reason, the FireBee was designed to use the
3.3V part for the cooling. An unconventional and really pretty
innovative idea that would help save resources and space on the
curcuit board. The prototypes also confirmed that this worked
fine. The "conservative" approach would have been to solder the
"thermal pads" of these six voltage converters on GND.

What happened with the second batch is that the resistance of the
level converters started to change during operation. When new,
the resistance between the "exposed thermal pad" and GND is
infinite. When the parts were soldered off and brand-new ones
were bought by MCS and used for verification, resistance was a
few KiloOhm while running at 25C. When the temperature rose to a
100C, the level fell to a few hundred Ohm. Sometimes the
bus-drivers heated up to over a 110C... kind of a vicious
circle, really: directly after switching on the computer, the
board started to change. The warmer it got, the lower the
resistance was, and the more power would flow, and it would heat
up even more.

So without any external influence, the behavior of the computers
changed under load. You can probably imagine what that meant for
the first few weeks of debugging the hardware. A system with
almost 1000 parts on an 8-level multilayer board, which had been
proven to work fine, and on which nothing had been changed, but
still suddenly started to do what it wanted and behave
differently every few seconds. In retrospect, that was a great
episode from the E-tech horror shop... but in July, without any
idea what the problem was, not funny at all!

The final assumption on our side is that TI changed the "diebond
material" (glue in the chip) in their IC production, which is
used to connect the IC-structure with the thermal pad internally.
Some of these glues can become conductive when heated.
Unfortunately, we could only get a brief statement from TI about
the thermal pad supposedly still "not being connected
internally".

The problem clearly lies with TI. The company has changed the
physical properties of the ICs somehow, and at some point in
time, but not documented these changes anywhere. Until today,
and despite intensive searches for PCNs (Product Change Notes)
on various channels, we were unable to find any information
about it. So the current chip is, officially, exactly the same
as in the previous batches - but it is objectively not true. We
were also unable to find out when exactly the changes occurred -
with which new chip series, or in which production period.

A hardware developer who joined the discussion during the
analysis and offered his help, put it this way: "MCS has worked
to the best of their knowledge and should IMHO not be the ones
paying up for the costs". All of this also explains why the
assembly company is also not to be blamed for this whole misery.
Despite our announcement to fix the problem free of charge,
costs of almost 3000 Euro have been amassed. The reason being
that the assembly company now has to remove the six bus-drivers,
glue some isolating but heat-dissipating Kapton tape on the
lower surface of the thermal pads, and then has to solder them
back on - all of this for a 3-digit number of boards. And all of
this despite the fact that they also did nothing wrong and
caused no production problems at all. Anyone who is familiar
with motherboard production knows that this custom fixing
process, for such a large number of boards, and at that price,
is absolutely amazing! Our assembly company also has been very
forthcoming and supportive during the search for the cause of
the problems, and when communicating with the vendors and
manufacturers. A great service, and an exemplary collaboration!

We hope that this explains why we are asking you for donations.
We, as a project, don't want that one single person who already
had invested a lot of their spare time to make the FireBees
available at the production cost of the hardware, now has to
pay up for all the costs. On the other hand, we also don't want
to raise the price of the boards, since you pre-ordered them at
a specific price. And the assembly company has no fault in any
of this, as described before. Finally, any attempt to try to
get money from a large semiconductor manufacturer due to
problems caused by their faulty documentation - even though the
first batch and the prototypes behaved completely differently -
is obviously futile. So, for all these reasons, we would again
ask you kindly to show solidarity and to foot up the bill
together.

Thanks also again for all the trust you have put in Medusa, and
the support you gave us during the delivery delays and problem
analysis!

Donations please as described either by PayPal to

mcs (at) kingx (dot) com

or by wire transfer to:

MCS Aschwanden
Buchhaldenstr.16
8610 Uster
Switzerland
Bank account Nr.: 202-805498.40F
IBAN: CH22 0020 2202 8054 9840 F
BIC: UBSWCHZH80A
"reason for payment": FB series 2 donation 



    AtariCrypt Collection Volume One - Merry XMAS! Folks


Greeting Atarians, my great Colleague Steve Gregory a.k.a.
Ataricrypt has joined forces with me to bring you the Atari ST
Scene a very special gift this 2016 xmas :).

I present to you "AtariCrypt Collection Volume One"

In this "FREE" digital magazine with will find over 70 pages of
amazing content personally selected from the AtariCrypt Archive
by Steve himself, where I come in as the Suit Taylor to dress it
up.

The Magazine covers some of the best Atari ST games as well as
some great interviews thrown in for your enjoyment, and with
AtariCrypt and Greyfox massive fans of the Atari ST Demoscene,
well we just had to include an entire section dedicated to the
Demoscene of the present, so please do check that out too. :)

You may direct view the press release and download link here:
https://ataricrypt.blogspot.com/2016/12/ataricrypt-magazine.html

So I hope you all will enjoy the labour of our love and that
your nostalgic juices and love for the Atari ST will go wild
this Xmas.

Merry Xmas everyone

the ST Army of Two

Steve Gregory (Ataricrypt) & Darren Doyle (Greyfox)



                                  =~=~=~=



->In This Week's Gaming Section  - DDoS Attacks Target Warcraft, Overwatch Again!
  """""""""""""""""""""""""""""    Nintendo Targets 3DS Vulnerabilities in New Bug Bounty
                                   Konami Kills Fan Castlevania Unreal Based Remaster!
                                   And much more!


        
                                  =~=~=~=



->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News   -  The Latest Gaming News!
  """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""



       DDoS Attacks Target Warcraft, Overwatch Again


Blizzards servers have been affected by DDoS-caused outages
multiple times over recent months.

Miscreants have struck Blizzard servers again with multiple
waves of DDoS attacks over the last 12 hours. Warcraft and
Overwatch, two massively popular games, have been facing
latency, login and disconnection issues even while Blizzard has
been working on fixing the problem.

The company first acknowledged the problem in a tweet Sunday
evening.

Since then, Blizzard claimed to have regained control over
matters at its end, only to announce twice the DDoS attacks had
restarted. Its last update, at 11:42 p.m. EST Sunday, came three
hours after the last wave of DDoS attacks.

On Twitter, a group calling itself Phantom Squad claimed
responsibility for the attack.

Blizzard also provided a link to a support page on its website
that may help some users troubleshoot their connection problems.

As always, social media was abuzz with users venting their
frustration at the gaming servers being affected. This is at
least the fifth such instance in the last few months.



    Nintendo Targets 3DS Vulnerabilities in New Bug Bounty


Nintendo has announced its now supporting a bug bounty program
for researchers to find flaws in its 3DS family of handheld game
consoles. Researchers could make up to $20,000 for discovering
vulnerabilities for the 3DS that could be used for pirating
games, enabling cheats, or distributing inappropriate content
to children.

Nintendos 3DS is the latest incarnation in a series of handheld
consoles from the manufacture over the years. The 3DS consoles
have internet connectivity, which is intended to help gamers
shop for new games, connect with other friends using the 3DS,
and surf online with a built-in browser.

And where theres internet connectivity theres an attack vector,
right? Though the internet connection may seem like a no-brainer
target for the bug bounty, most of what Nintendo is focusing on
is actually hardware-based. Specifically, theyre targeting
system vulnerabilities in the ARM9 and ARM11 chipsets, which ship
with various versions of the 3DS since the consoles initial
release in 2011. These vulnerabilities are generally exploited
via software loaded directly to the console by SD card.

These are vulnerabilities Nintendo is especially interested in,
according to its new bug bounty page:

        System vulnerabilities regarding the Nintendo 3DS family
        of systems
            Privilege escalation on ARM11 userland
            ARM11 kernel takeover
            ARM9 userland takeover
            ARM9 kernel takeover
        Vulnerabilities regarding Nintendo-published applications
        for the Nintendo 3DS family of systems
            ARM11 userland takeover
        Hardware vulnerabilities regarding the Nintendo 3DS family
        of systems
            Low-cost cloning
            Security key detection via information leaks

Like Apple, Nintendo takes a walled garden approach to the
software you are allowed to run on its hardware. If Nintendo users
want to run software that Nintendo hasnt specifically approved,
they have to get creative. On iPhones, breaking out of the walled
garden is called jailbreaking; on Nintendos, its known as
modding, using security holes to modify the 3DSs core software to
remove the restrictions that limit the device to approved software
only.

Thats why vulnerabilities in the ARM9 and ARM11 chipsets are like
gold dust to modders: security holes in the CPU itself can often
be exploited to bypass the security checks inside the Nintendo
operating system itself.

Mods that bypass Nintendos checks can be used for editing a
games save files (in a word, cheating) and dumping unlawful
copies of game software (in a word, piracy), but they can also be
used for running software not written by Nintendo, such as
open-source games and system emulators. In other cases, modders
are simply working to fix what they see as bugs or gaps in a
specific games functionality  in effect, providing their own
patches.

Of course, if security researchers heed the call of the bug
bounty, then at least some of the holes they find will allow
Nintendo to close holes currently used for 3DS modding.

On the other hand, exploitable security holes are a
cybercriminals dream, too, so the sooner theyre found by the
Good Guys, the better.



      Konami Kills Fan Castlevania Unreal Based Remaster


It is not all that often that we write something negative about
Konami. I prefer to make jabs at them for ignoring fans and
letting TONS of great intellectual properties just sit and rot.
Well, this article is different, almost in between poking the
sleeping giant and pointing out a ray of hope for fans. This is
going to be confusing to say the least. For now, the fan
remaster of Castlevania using the Unreal engine is dead thanks
to a cease and desist from Konami. That is not where the story
ends though. There is a faint light at the end of this tunnel.

We wrote up the fan based remaster of Castlevania using the
Unreal engine back in October. At the time it seemed like the
amazing remake was going full steam ahead and was, well, making
Konami look boring. At least the official releases in the
Castlevania line. This may be what spurred Konami into action
against the fan remake. Cant have fans showing up the
intellectual property owner now can we?

Originally released about 30 years ago, Castlevania has been a
staple on every console that it has appeared. This game
singlehandedly helped make Konami a household name (I really
liked Castlevania II: Simons Quest on the Nintendo
Entertainment System).

What is unique about this C&D is that Konami is letting Dejawolf
keep the files up. For now, that is. They are not requiring the
files be removed, like Nintendo has done in their C&D requests.
Just work has to cease immediately. Not too hard to abide by.

What is the glimmer of hope in this story? Well, a member of
Konami UK is working on helping Dejawolf to get an official
license to use the Castlevania properties. How cool would it be
to see Konami open the doors to fans, that can afford it, to
license classic IPs? Could we see a fan remake of Bonks
Adventure? Could Adventure Island be far behind if that was to
happen?

I know from personal experience that Konami is open to licensing
their IPs out but they will do no work other than verification
of quality and such in relation. This could become an officially
licensed game.



          Konami Files New Trademark for TurboGrafx


Konami filed a trademark for TurboGrafx with the United States
Patent and Trademark Office. The trademark covers a broad group
of classifications pertaining to video games and video gaming
consoles.

The filing, discovered by NeoGAF user Rsti, was filed December 1.
The application has merely been filed at this point, however. The
filing is currently "awaiting examination" by the USPTO.

For those unaware, TurboGrafx-16 was a console created by NEC and
Hudson Soft in the late '80s, sold in Japan under the name PC
Engine.

While the TurboGrafx-16 failed to excite consumers outside of
Japan, it was notable for being the first home console to have a
CD-ROM add-on. Additionally, the TurboExpress was a
fully-portable version of the home console, and one of the
coolest handhelds ever created.

The trademark filing is broad in scope, so it's hard to nail down
what exactly Konami might have planned for the trademark. As
Rsti notes in the original NeoGAF post, Konami controls the IP
of Hudson Soft, creators of such titles as Bomberman, Bonk's
Adventure, and the Adventure Island series, so there's that.
Which is nice.

Whatever Konami has in store for the TurboGrafx trademark, it
can't possibly be as heartbreaking as the Metal Gear Solid 3
pachinko machine.



                                  =~=~=~=



->A-ONE Gaming Online       -       Online Users Growl & Purr!
  """""""""""""""""""
 


 IndieGoGo  RetroEngine Sigma Mini Console and Media Player


Remember the success of the Ouya? It was a Kickstarter success
story that people like me are still bringing up. It was that big
of a deal. At least the Kickstarter side of things was a big deal,
after launch not so much. RetroEngine Sigma is looking to do
something similar but not as ambitious as the Ouya did. Think
more classic focused with a smattering of video consumption on
the side and you have a good idea of what the RetroEngine Sigma
is about.

First of all, the RetroEngine Sigma is nothing more than an
emulation machine with Kodi installed. Both of these are often
mistaken as illegal options  they are not themselves illegal
though what you do with them may be so keep that in mind. The
Kickstarter is already funded by a few times over and this
campaign still has a good month to go. I am not here to sway
anyone to not invest in this if this is what you are wanting for
your media center (I admit the case is very nostalgic and cool
to me).

The RetroEngine Sigma is allegedly capable of playing everything
from the Atari 2600 to the Sega Genesis/32X and Sony Playstation
(the first one, the PSOne). You will have to supply the games that
you wish to play on these emulators (and surely the BIOS files of
some like the PSOne as well). While there are legally free ROMs
available, there are no legally available BIOS files (to do it
legally you will have to go through quite the process).

The RetroEngine Sigma is housed in a case that greatly resembles
the Sega Genesis. I so wish there was options to get cases in the
style of the Super Nintendo, Playstation One console, or the Neo
Geo. Those are iconic systems too. Oh well, cant have
everything. Each unit is equipped with HDMI out, two USB ports
and a Micro USB port for adding more USB ports. You can go
wireless with a USB Bluetooth dongle too.

They have not stopped there. If you so desire you can run the
RetroEngine Sigma as a full blown desktop. While the device will
apparently feature a quad core CPU, that does not mean it is going
to be a satisfying experience as a computer so be warned there if
that is your main buying point.

I almost forgot to mention this bad boy supports 4K video.



                                  =~=~=~=



                           A-ONE's Headline News
                   The Latest in Computer Technology News
                       Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson



 Obama's Got A New Cybersecurity Plan, But What's The Point?


There's been a lot of hot air blown across headlines this week
about the big cybersecurity plan proposed by the White House's
Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity (PDF).

The plan for a commission to create long-term recommendations on
beefing up America's cybersecurity was first hatched in April.
It's a roadmap that should've been plotted many years ago, and
is now being re-gifted to the next administration. Which may or
may not use it for toilet paper.

The report, which identified six key issues for improving the
cybersecurity of the US as a whole, is meaningless without the
buy-in of the next administration. "The Commission considers
this report a direct memo to the next President," it states. "It
is critical that the next President and his Administration and
Congress begin immediately to tackle each one of the issues
raised."

Seeing the report put in motion by the next administration and
Congress would be a good thing, if it happens in some form or
another. That's because the report nails it when identifying
problems, like securing Internet of Things (IoT) products ASAP.
The report finally policy-izes fixing things people like me have
been raising the alarm about for years. Namely, that the tech
industry rushes things to market before securing them, that
organizations no longer have control over people, devices, and
data, and that attackers are cashing in on our security fatigue.

Sounds good, right? It also includes a generous amount of
attention to consumer rights, even suggesting a security
"nutritional label" to help citizens assess the risks of
products before they buy. Instead of telling us how many
calories are in bran flakes, they want us to look at tech
products and see "a rating system of understandable, impartial,
third-party assessment that consumers will intuitively trust
and understand."

There is a fair amount of hate in the report for the traditional
username/password system everything runs on for login security.
This translated into the Commission's hardcore fanboying of the
FIDO Alliance, whose emphasis is on getting rid of the
traditional password model in favor of multifactor, biometrics,
and items like YubiKey.

I'll even give the report bonus points for mentioning the Mirai
attack in its intro -- the concerns presented are up to date.
Most reports and the cyber plans of would-be presidents are
basically, "internet is dangerous because Target got hacked in
2013." I'm not joking.

However, most of the news this week omitted the fact that the
100-page report, based on nine months of study, has a few spots
of rot under its shine.

The Commission behind the report was comprised of 12 members that
included corporate interests like the President and CEO of
MasterCard, the corporate VP from Microsoft Research, the Chief
Security Officer of Uber (Joe Sullivan, formerly Facebook
counsel), and former NSA head General Keith Alexander. Some of
you may remember Alexander as the NSA's "collect it all" guy, and
who was forced to admit that the number of terrorist plots foiled
by blanket surveillance were wildly and inaccurately overstated.

While I agree with the report's call to have the private sector
and government collaborate on a cyber roadmap, and for that map
to espouse citizens' rights, if their idea of private sector
means Uber, there's a problem. You know, the same Uber that just
decided to track its iOS users even when the app is turned off,
bypassing the iPhone's consumer-protecting anti-tracking
settings.

The Commission's twelve "subject matter experts" didn't come
from the sprawling cybersecurity industry itself, who are out
there in the trenches, over which this policy will govern.
Instead, the Commission tapped NIST, DHS, DoJ, DoD and GSA - to
ensure the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree, we must
suppose. I mean, yay NIST. But seriously: where was the actual
public sector when these guys were in the pillow fort writing
fanfic about making passwords go away?

Some sections seem a little less on the level in terms of
fighting the good fight for us little people.

There's quite a bit about protecting companies from being
responsible for anything if they cooperate with the government on
information sharing. Because I guess CISA just wasn't enough.
Action item 1.2.3 is about public-private sharing of "risk
management practices" (like the actions of an organization's
security team, etc) under the banner of security. This would
explicitly protect companies from FOIA, discovery in litigation,
use in regulatory enforcement, use as evidence, etc... Hey, maybe
that's one of the recommendations we can thank Uber for.

Another curious section talks about working with the
international community on "harmonizing" standards and policies,
all in an envelope of securing the digital economy. A sagacious
person implementing this might explore how it plays out with
repressive regimes who could do a lot of damage under the guise
of "incident response." Like when China and Russia made moves in
2012 to pass an international treaty that would allow UN member
states to cut off and potentially intercept communications under
vague wordings for cases that, "appear dangerous to the security
of the State [...] or to public order or decency."

Ultimately, the report's results are a range of recommendations
as action items that direct the next president to create
initiatives, carve out budgets, make Executive Orders, and
collaborate extensively with the public sector. It states that
within the first 180 days of the next administration, "the
President should appoint an Ambassador for Cybersecurity to lead
U.S. engagement with the international community on
cybersecurity strategies, standards, and practices."

The report urgently expresses the need for funds to get federal
organizations like the old hacked-to-the-gills OPM up to speed
with security. "The next President should formally announce his
intention to increase investment in modernizing federal IT," the
Commission wrote. Based on a calamitous shortage of
cyber-workers, the report urges the next President to "initiate
a national cybersecurity workforce program to train 100,000 new
cybersecurity practitioners by 2020."

President Obama has made it crystal clear that it's up to the
next administration to implement this. The new guys would be
handling all of its extensive recommendations for collaboration
with private sector (joint public-private action). The report
has its problems, yet this is likely its biggest one.

But for now, all our qualms with the report are conundrums for a
quieter moment. We are on the precipice of chaos. Hucksters are
selling mainly cyber solutions but also fear and uncertainty,
the attackers crowd the space as they jockey to sell stolen
creds for a few bucks, privacy violations heave consumers into
apathy, and companies play the blame game now harder than ever.
It's a perfect storm for the selfish to advance their own
interests over everyone who doesn't get a seat at the table.

I guess that's why the positive parts of this advisory report
feel like a bitter punch. It feels slow, and it feels late. Now
more than ever it feels like we're being set up for more apathy,
or worse, exploitation. It mostly feels like we should keep
working on covering our own cyber-asses.

But if it makes the incoming administration think about
cybersecurity a tiny bit, or as more than a tool to advance
careers and screw those they disike, then I guess that little
bit was worth it.



      EU Threatens New Laws to Combat Online Hate Speech


European lawmakers on Sunday accused Google, Facebook, Twitter,
and Microsoft of dragging their feet when it comes to combating
online hate speech, and threatened to pass new laws if the
companies don't make good on their promise to remove hateful
comments within 24 hours.

A report from the EU Justice Commission found that the four
companies only review 40 percent of hate speech reports within
24 hours, Reuters reports. Six months ago, they agreed to a
voluntary code of conduct to take action in Europe within 24
hours, and EU Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova said that shorter
response times are possible.

"After 48 hours the figure is more than 80 percent. This shows
that the target can realistically be achieved, but this will need
much stronger efforts by the IT companies," she told Reuters. She
did not set a deadline for improvements, but the Justice
Commission is considering new laws that would force quicker
action.

Facebook, which has also been criticized in the US in recent weeks
for failing to remove fake news stories and links to hoaxes, has
long pledged to corral hate speech in Europe. The company launched
a "broad campaign" to encourage more civil discourse online in
Germany in 2015, and announced in January that it would spend more
than $1 million to fight online extremism.

But advocacy groups have criticized those efforts. In France, two
organizations announced plans in May to sue Facebook, Twitter,
and Google for failing to remove racist, homophobic, and other
hateful posts from their platforms. A law passed in 2004 requires
websites in France to remove content that is "manifestly illicit"
in a timely manner if they know about it. Twitter removed just
4 percent of the offending posts during the groups' monitoring,
while Google-owned YouTube and Facebook did only slightly better.

The Justice Commission's report found similar results in some
countries, though they vary widely, Reuters reports. The removal
rate of racist posts in Germany and France was above 50 percent,
but just 11 percent in Austria and 4 percent in Italy.

None of the four companies immediatley responded to requests for
comment on the Commission's report.



      Chrome Update Warns Users of Risky Retail Websites


Sketchy retail sites have made their way into Googles crosshairs.
The latest update on its way for Google Chrome will clearly mark
retail sites using out of date security protocols as being a risk
to users.

The change, which will first appear in the Chrome 56 beta, will
brand any website that collects passwords or credit card
information while using unencrypted HTTP protocols will be
labeled with as not secure directly in the address bar.

Google signaled in a blog post that the warning represented a new
approach to insecure sites, which the company had previously not
outed as many sites underwent the process of converting to HTTPS,
which adds an additional layer of security to standard web
protocol.

The threat of this public shaming in browser has been looming
for some time. Google proposed a marker that would indicate when
a website was non-secure back in 2014 and has experimented with
various forms of the idea ever since.

Current versions of Chrome show a padlock when a website is
using HTTPS and a blank white page icon when it uses standard
HTTP. Sites that use HTTPS but have errors on the page display a
yellow caution icon atop the padlock and sites with broken or
expired HTTPS are hit with a red X atop the lock symbol.

The more direct indicator of a sites security measures should
help browsers make decisions when it comes to what sites to
trust. Luckily, according to Googles recent transparency report,
more sites than ever are using HTTPS.

If Googles slow evolution on these types of warnings is any
indication, future iterations of the search giants browser may
call even more attention to sites that havent properly secured
their service.

The new version of Chrome, complete with the not secure warning
in the address bar, is available to download in its beta form for
Windows, OSX and Android usersthough Google warns the beta is
designed for developers and early adopters, and can sometimes
break down completely." The public version of the update is
expected in January 2017.



           Twitter 'Accidentally' Killed @ Usernames


Oops: Twitter on Thursday "accidentally" removed the @ identifier
from the start of iOS users' tweet responses.

Citing an "experiment around replies," the company gave folks a
glimpse into a micro-blogging world where usernames don't count
toward character limits.

The change was quickly rolled back, amidst negative fan feedback.

"Hated it," Michelle Jones wrote in response to the Twitter
Support notice.

"How dumb are you that this experiment even left the whiteboard,"
Sam Sabri added.

"Removing the Twitter handle makes it so much harder to identify
people and properly follow a conversation," Angel Dominguez said.

Luckily for all the haters out there, Twitter said it is listening
and taking stock of "helpful feedback."

The social network in May tipped changes to its username system,
suggesting ditching the ".@" convention, used by many to ensure
tweets directed at or citing people show up in the timelines of
all followers.

But the feature was notably absent from a September revamp, in
which Twitter loosened its restrictions, allowing photos, videos,
GIFs, polls, and Quote Tweets to no longer count toward the
140-character limit.

"One of the biggest priorities for this year is to refine our
product and make it simpler," company head Jack Dorsey said in
May. "We're focused on making Twitter a whole lot easier and
faster." It remains unclear, however, whether this week's gaffe
signals an upcoming adjustment to the system, or another internal
trial that will end up on the cutting room floor.

Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Folks often forget that the popular social media site was
conceived nearly a decade ago as an SMS-Web hybrid platform: The
seemingly arbitrary 140-character limit corresponds to the
160-character SMS ceiling (saving an additional 20-character
buffer for usernames).



                Facebooks Plan to Keep Zuckerberg
                in Control Was Flawed, Lawsuit Says


Facebook Inc.s move to change its capital structure was tainted
by secret text messages and meddling from financial advisers that
pointed to a process rife with conflicts of interest, according
to investor lawsuits filed in Delaware.

Late last summer, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg asked the board
to approve a plan to create a new class of nonvoting shares that
would allow him to maintain control of the company he co-founded.
The board formed a three-person special committee tasked with
assessing the capital plan.

Morgan Stanley, which advised Facebook, appeared to pull the
strings behind the scenes by convincing the boards advisers to
water down parts of the plan that would have been unfavorable to
Mr. Zuckerberg, according to court documents filed by the
plaintiffs.

Meanwhile, longtime Facebook director Marc Andreessen, who served
on the special committee, was privately coaching Mr. Zuckerberg by
text message on how to win over the other two directors, according
to court documents. In one instance, Mr. Andreessen texted
Mr. Zuckerberg during a March meeting of the special committee
with progress reports. NOW WERE COOKING WITH GAS,
Mr. Andreessen wrote.

The capital plan was approved by the eight-member board in April.

The lawsuits allege a web of entangled interests at Facebook and
the covert dealings that allowed Mr. Zuckerberg to cement his
control over the company. The board showed stunning disloyalty
to shareholders in approving a plan that would diminish
shareholders say, investors said in court documents, which were
first reported by Bloomberg.

The suits were filed in the spring, and later bundled into one by
the Delaware Chancery Court. The documents were unsealed
recently.

It is clear that the process surrounding the reclassification
was rife with actual, acted-upon conflicts of interest, according
to the investor lawsuit, which said virtually every aspect of the
process was tainted.

Representatives for Mr. Andreessen and Morgan Stanley declined to
comment. Facebook is confident that the special committee engaged
in a thorough and fair process to negotiate a proposal in the best
interests of Facebook and its shareholders, a Facebook
spokeswoman said. Mr. Zuckerberg declined to comment through a
spokeswoman.

In August 2015, Mr. Zuckerberg told the board of his plans to give
away 99% of his wealth to the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative LLC, a
for-profit entity he created with his wife to donate to nonprofits
and make private investments toward causes such as curing disease
and education. He proposed a plan to overhaul Facebooks capital
structure so he could keep his majority voting rights, according
to court filings.

The special committee Facebooks board formed to study its options
was made up of the three board members deemed by directors to have
the fewest potential conflicts of interest: Mr. Andreessen, a
well-known venture capitalist; Susan Desmond-Hellmann, chief
executive of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; and Erskine
Bowles, a former White House official and president emeritus of
the University of North Carolina.

Initially, the committee considered hiring Morgan Stanley as its
adviser but opted not to because Mr. Bowles is a director on the
banks board, according to court documents. The committee ended up
hiring Evercore Group LLC as its banker and Wachtell, Lipton,
Rosen & Katz as its legal counsel. Morgan Stanley switched to
providing advice to Mr. Zuckerbergs senior advisers, the lawsuit
says.

Yet Morgan Stanley still was able to influence the committees
discussions in a way that favored Mr. Zuckerberg, according to
the lawsuit. The bank urged Evercore and Wachtell to use as a
blueprint a similar creation of nonvoting shares by Google parent
Alphabet Inc. in 2014, according to the lawsuit.

Evercore removed portions of its presentation to the committee
that would have facilitated robust Committee negotiations with
Zuckerberg at the urging of Wachtell and Morgan Stanley,
according a plaintiffs brief. Evercore scrapped its conclusion
that investors would place a higher value on voting shares over
nonvoting shares after a call with Morgan Stanley and Wachtell
in which Morgan Stanley pushed back, court documents say.

Wachtell Lipton declined to comment. Evercore didnt respond to a
request for comment.

According to court documents, Morgan Stanley Managing Director
Michael Grimes said the bank landed in the right spot with the
company and was happy to have volunteered advice to
Mr. Zuckerberg. [T]he more we add value we could decide token
fee a la goog [sic] but we wait to consider later, the bank
wrote, referring to its advising of Google, according to the
lawsuit.

Morgan Stanley ultimately was paid $2 million for advice, a
proxy filing shows. Evercore was paid $2.5 million, according to
the proxy filing. It wasnt clear what Wachtell was paid.

Throughout the special committees deliberations, Mr. Andreessen
kept in touch with Mr. Zuckerberg, assuring him that the
negotiations were all intended to protect the company and you
personally, according to text messages included in the court
documents.

In later text messages, Mr. Andreessen conveyed that the biggest
issue was Mr. Zuckerbergs desire to be able to go into
government service for two years without losing control of
Facebook.

Erskine is just massively uncomfortable with you getting to low
economic ownership and then going off on leave with no
involvement by the board and retaining control, Mr. Andreessen
wrote. Im going to try to drag it over the line one more time.

The government service provision was approved and laid out in
Facebooks proxy earlier this year.

Ms. Desmond-Hellmann, chair of the committee, and Mr. Bowles
didnt reply to requests for comment.

On April 14, the committee agreed to approve the plan. The cats
in the bag and the bags in the river, Mr. Andreessen wrote.
Does that mean the cats dead? Mr. Zuckerberg asked. Mission
accomplished, Mr. Andreessen replied with a smiley-face
emoticon.

Each director on the special committee was paid $20,000 for his
or her work. The boards compensation committee, which also
includes Mr. Andreessen, approved the payment, according to a
proxy filing.

The capital plan was approved by shareholders in June. The
outcome was no surprise, as Mr. Zuckerberg held majority voting
power.



                                =~=~=~=




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