iPhone update might address multitasking complaint

Topping the wish list for many iPhone and iPad users is a broader ability to run more than one program at a time—and on April 8, Apple Inc. will unveil updates to the software that powers both devices, reports the Associated Press. Will the update address these concerns? Although Apple has provided no details, iPhone owners and computer programmers who write applications for the popular smart phone are hoping the company will address their gripes about limits to such multitasking. The matter might escalate as people with iPads, which have larger screens, try to use them in place of more powerful computers. The iPhone already allows for some multitasking, but that’s largely limited to Apple’s own programs; Apple has yet to give users ways to seamlessly switch among all the software “apps” available from outside software companies, the way phones from rivals Palm Inc. and Google Inc. already do. That’s unacceptable to many users and software developers, and full multitasking remains high on many people’s wish lists. Because Apple’s new iPad runs the same software as the iPhone, changes would apply to that larger gadget as well. Some people have held off buying one because of its inability to run more than one program at a time…

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Stanford researchers launch new web site to monitor app security

With the launch of Apple’s iPad, developers are scrambling to create new applications. But are they safe? That’s the question a new web site hopes to help answer, reports the Associated Press. Internet security experts at Stanford University launched a site April 2 that reviews how well certain web and mobile applications protect users’ privacy. Dozens of the more that 200 apps listed on WhatApp have already been reviewed by a team of lawyers, computer scientists, and privacy and security experts from Stanford and other institutions. Shoppers and developers can add their opinions and request reviews. Stanford Law fellow M. Ryan Calo says the site provides a way to monitor what’s being done with collected information, while driving the app market toward better practices…

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Student loan company: Data on 3.3M people stolen

A company that guarantees federal student loans said March 26 that personal data on about 3.3 million people nationwide have been stolen from its headquarters in Minnesota, reports the Associated Press. Educational Credit Management Corp. (ECMC) said the data included names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and dates of birth of borrowers, but no financial or bank account information. The data were on “portable media” that were stolen sometime last weekend, ECMC said in a statement. Company spokesman Paul Kelash wouldn’t specify what was taken but said there were no indications of any misuse of the data. The St. Paul-based nonprofit said it discovered the theft March 21 and immediately contacted law-enforcement officials, making the theft public when it received permission from authorities. ECMC said it has arranged with credit protection agency Experian to provide affected borrowers with free credit monitoring and protection services. Borrowers will be receiving letters from ECMC soon on how to sign up, gain access to fraud resolution representatives, and receive identity theft insurance coverage. ECMC is a contractor for the U.S. Department of Education to provide collection and document management services. It guarantees student loans through the Federal Family Education Loan program and provides support services for student loans that are in default or bankruptcy…

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Competition missing from broadband plan, some say

The sweeping national broadband plan that federal regulators delivered to Congress last week doesn’t go far enough to satisfy some experts, who warn that the United States would still trail other industrialized nations in prices and speed, reports the Associated Press. That’s because the proposal fails to bring adequate competition to a duopoly broadband market now controlled by giant phone and cable TV companies, critics say. According to the New America Foundation, a 100-megabit broadband connection costs as little $16 per month in Sweden and $24 per month in Korea, while service that is only half that fast costs $145 per month in the U.S. “What I want is big bandwidth for cheap prices,” said Sascha Meinrath, director of the New America Foundation’s Open Technology Initiative. “But the plan punts on competition.” Many public-interest groups are disappointed that the plan does not recommend “open access” rules that would require the big phone and cable TV companies to lease their networks to rivals so they can offer services at their own prices. Because it is so expensive to extend lines to every home and business, they say, such obligations might be the only way to drive competition in many markets…

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Viacom-YouTube secrets to be exposed in lawsuit

A legal tussle pitting media conglomerate Viacom Inc. against online video leader YouTube is about to get dirtier as a federal judge prepares to release documents that will expose their secrets, which could prove pivotal in this 3-year-old copyright dispute that has important implications for the internet, reports the Associated Press. The information expected to be unsealed March 18 could provide insights into the early strategies of YouTube co-founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen and how they responded to copyright complaints that quickly accumulated a few months after the web site’s 2005 debut. Viacom contends that YouTube’s employees realized copyright-protected video was being illegally posted on the web site, but routinely looked the other way because they knew the professionally produced material would help attract a bigger audience. YouTube’s lawyers have argued there was no way to know whether copyright-protected video was coming from pirates or from movie and TV studios looking to use the web site as a promotional tool. If a studio issued a notice of a copyright violation, YouTube says it promptly removed the specified clip as required under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The 1998 federal law generally protects service providers such as YouTube from copyright claims as long as they promptly remove infringing material when notified about a violation. The outcome could hinge on whether Viacom can prove YouTube knew about the copyright abuses without formal notice from Viacom…

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Connecticut might waive student loans for ‘green’ job workers

Paul Goulet hopes Connecticut will help him get from under nearly $8,000 he’s borrowed for college after losing his job in a paper manufacturing plant. Goulet, 55, is a student in environmental studies at Goodwin College, aiming to find work in wastewater treatment. State legislation that would waive thousands of dollars in loans would benefit him and other students who earn degrees or certificates in green technology and other jobs, reports the Associated Press. Loan forgiveness programs aren’t new—states use them to entice medical professionals to rural areas, steer teachers to certain subject areas, and attract farmers to local agriculture. But Connecticut’s proposal could break new ground. Trying to boost its work force in high-growth green technology, the state would annually forgive as much as $2,500 of federal and state education loans for up to four years, or 5 percent of loans, whichever is less. The legislation comes as the White House is emphasizing the importance of green works and job creation. President Barack Obama announced in January $2.3 billion in tax credits, to be paid for from last year’s $787 billion stimulus package, that he said would create 17,000 green jobs…

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No .xxx yet: Internet agency delays porn decision

Porn Web sites can’t park themselves at a “.xxx” address quite yet. A global internet oversight agency has deferred a decision for at least 70 days on whether to create the “.xxx” domain name as an online red-light district, the Associated Press reports. The board of ICANN–the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers–has given its chief executive and chief lawyer two weeks to recommend options for the agency to handle the controversial issue. ICANN, which was meeting in Kenya, oversees the allocation of Internet addresses globally. The proposal to create the “.xxx” domain was first made in 2000. It has been rejected three times so far…

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Report finds online censorship more sophisticated

The Associated Press reports that Repressive regimes have stepped up efforts to censor the internet and jail dissidents, Reporters Without Borders said in a March 11 study. China, Iran and Tunisia, which are on the group’s “Enemies of the Internet” list, got more sophisticated at censorship and overcoming dissidents’ attempts to communicate online, said Reporters Without Borders’ Washington director, Clothilde Le Coz. Meanwhile, Turkey and Russia found themselves on the group’s “Under Surveillance” list of nations in danger of making the main enemies list. Although Zimbabwe and Yemen dropped from the surveillance list, that was primarily because the internet isn’t used much in either country, rather than because of changes by the governments, Le Coz said. Reporters Without Borders issued the third annual report ahead of the March 12 World Day Against Cyber Censorship, an awareness campaign organized by the Paris-based media advocacy group…

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Google adds bike lane with latest mapping feature

In a move that could prove useful for many college students, Google Inc. is adding bicycling maps and directions to its free Google Maps service, reports the Associated Press. The new bicycling directions, available as of March 10, supplement the guidance already provided to motorists and pedestrians. The biking directions initially will be available only for the United States. Google spent the past six months tweaking its mapping service so it could recommend routes that would steer bicyclists away from big hills and heavily congested streets. The feature can be used to pinpoint bicycling trails in more than 150 cities. Bike directions already have been available on some smaller web sites, but Google is the first major internet mapping service provider to add the option…

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Google opens web store for business applications

Google Inc. will sell the online services of other business software makers in an effort to fill its own product gaps and persuade more organizations to rely on applications piped over the internet, reports the Associated Press. The online store marks another step in Google’s crusade to convert the world to “cloud computing,” the idea of running applications in web browsers instead of installing them on individual hard drives. More than 50 software makers have agreed to sell their web-based software through Google, which will keep 20 percent of the sales. The prices are expected to range from $50 annually to several hundred dollars annually per user. Intuit Inc., a maker of business accounting software, and Concur Technologies Inc., a maker of expense reimbursement software, are among the best-known vendors peddling their wares in Google’s store.

All the applications sold in Google’s store can be melded with Google’s own cloud-computing services, said Vic Gundotra, the company’s vice president of engineering. About 25 million people working for more than 2 million businesses, government agencies, and schools use Google’s online applications, according to the company…

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