The Internet - The first Worldwide Tool of Unification ("The End of History")

" ... Now I give you something that few think about: What do you think the Internet is all about, historically? Citizens of all the countries on Earth can talk to one another without electronic borders. The young people of those nations can all see each other, talk to each other, and express opinions. No matter what the country does to suppress it, they're doing it anyway. They are putting together a network of consciousness, of oneness, a multicultural consciousness. It's here to stay. It's part of the new energy. The young people know it and are leading the way.... "

" ... I gave you a prophecy more than 10 years ago. I told you there would come a day when everyone could talk to everyone and, therefore, there could be no conspiracy. For conspiracy depends on separation and secrecy - something hiding in the dark that only a few know about. Seen the news lately? What is happening? Could it be that there is a new paradigm happening that seems to go against history?... " Read More …. "The End of History"- Nov 20, 2010 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll)

"Recalibration of Free Choice"– Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth, 4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical) 8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“…5 - Integrity That May Surprise…

Have you seen innovation and invention in the past decade that required thinking out of the box of an old reality? Indeed, you have. I can't tell you what's coming, because you haven't thought of it yet! But the potentials of it are looming large. Let me give you an example, Let us say that 20 years ago, you predicted that there would be something called the Internet on a device you don't really have yet using technology that you can't imagine. You will have full libraries, buildings filled with books, in your hand - a worldwide encyclopedia of everything knowable, with the ability to look it up instantly! Not only that, but that look-up service isn't going to cost a penny! You can call friends and see them on a video screen, and it won't cost a penny! No matter how long you use this service and to what depth you use it, the service itself will be free.

Now, anyone listening to you back then would perhaps have said, "Even if we can believe the technological part, which we think is impossible, everything costs something. There has to be a charge for it! Otherwise, how would they stay in business?" The answer is this: With new invention comes new paradigms of business. You don't know what you don't know, so don't decide in advance what you think is coming based on an old energy world. ..."
(Subjects: Who/What is Kryon ?, Egypt Uprising, Iran/Persia Uprising, Peace in Middle East without Israel actively involved, Muhammad, "Conceptual" Youth Revolution, "Conceptual" Managed Business, Internet, Social Media, News Media, Google, Bankers, Global Unity,..... etc.)


German anti-hate speech group counters Facebook trolls

German anti-hate speech group counters Facebook trolls
Logo No Hate Speech Movement

Bundestag passes law to fine social media companies for not deleting hate speech

Honouring computing’s 1843 visionary, Lady Ada Lovelace. (Design of doodle by Kevin Laughlin)

Saturday, December 17, 2016

Satnav maker TomTom joins forces with Microsoft in location services

DutchNews, December 16, 2016

Amsterdam-based navigation software producer TomTom and Microsoft are to join forces to bring enterprise-grade location-based services to Microsoft’s Azure platform, based on TomTom’s maps, traffic and navigation software. 

TomTom plans to integrate its services into Azure to make it easier and more flexible for developers to build and manage enterprise, mobile, web and ‘internet of things’ applications that are location-aware, TomTom said in a statement.

‘Location is fast becoming a critical component of a broad range of applications and services. Teaming up with Microsoft will bring our technology to a much broader developer community on a platform they are already familiar with,’ said Harold Goddijn, TomTom’s CEO. 

‘The move strengthens our position. Potentially we can reach a much broader public,” Goddijn told the Financieele Dagblad. He added it will take some time for the partnership to have a clear impact on the the company’s revenues. 

Location based services from TomTom are essential in the development of self-driving cars. These services include the most up-to-date maps, real-time traffic information and traffic-avoiding navigation.

Dutch police start using facial recognition techniques, database has 800,000 photos

DutchNews, December 16, 2016

Dutch police have started using facial recognition technology to identify suspects, broadcaster NOS said on Friday. 

The technology will be used to identify people whose photograph is included in the police database of 800,000 faces, the broadcaster said. 

The database is made up of photographs of people who have been jailed for at least a year or who are suspected of committing a crime carrying a sentence of at least a year. 

The photos of people who are innocent are supposed to be removed from the system but it is unclear how quickly that happens, NOS said. 

The system will be used to compare photographs of suspects taken by security cameras and bodycams with the database. 

Refugees

A second database, containing the photographs of refugees, people scheduled for deportation and people who have requested visas can only be accessed with the permission of the public prosecution department, NOS said.

‘This means it includes photographs of innocent people,’ said Daphne van der Kroft of internet privacy group Bits of Freedom. 

Information law professor Nico van Eijk told the broadcaster he is concerned about ‘feature creep’ – measures introduced for one purpose which are then used for another.

For example, cameras to recognise car number plates were introduced in an effort to spot suspects. But now talks are underway to keep the number plate information for four weeks, he said. 

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Samsung prevails over Apple in $399 mn patent appeal

Yahoo – AFP, Rob Lever, December 6, 2016

Samsung is the world's largest producer of smartphones (AFP Photo/
DON EMMERT)

Washington (AFP) - The US Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned a $399 million patent infringement penalty imposed on Samsung for copying Apple's iPhone design, in a case watched for its implications for technology innovation.

The justices ruled 8-0 that Samsung should not be required to forfeit the entire profits from its smartphones for infringement on design components, sending the case back to a lower court.

While the ruling was short on specifics, analysts said it was likely to curb litigation from patent holders expecting to reap big profits from infringement on a component.

The 11-page ruling found that the $399 million penalty -- one element of a major patent infringement case -- was inappropriate because it represented "Samsung's entire profit from the sale of its infringing smartphones" for copying the iPhone's "rectangular front face with rounded edges and a grid of colorful icons on a black screen."

But the court stopped short of delving into details of how the lower court should determine the penalty.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in the opinion that "doing so would require us to set out a test for identifying the relevant article of manufacture... and to parse the record to apply that test in this case."

The court sent the case back to the appellate court in Washington to resolve the details.

The case is one element of the $548 million penalty -- knocked down from an original $1 billion jury award -- Samsung was ordered to pay for copying iPhone patents.

No clarity

Observers had been watching to see how the court -- which had not taken up a design patent case in more than a century -- would tip the balance between technological innovation and protecting intellectual property.

Dennis Crouch, a University of Missouri law professor and co-director of the Center for Intellectual Property and Entrepreneurship, said the ruling may leave both sides disappointed because it sets no real precedent.

"Although the case offers hope for Samsung and others adjudged of infringing design patents, it offers no clarity as to the rule of law," Crouch said in a blog post.

Crouch said the court allowed for damages to be applied at the component level but also indicated that the product as a whole is "an article of manufacture," leaving the matter open to interpretation.

"Thus, it will be up to courts to figure out which level (of damages) applies in particular cases," he wrote.

Samsung won the backing of major Silicon Valley and other IT sector giants, including Google, Facebook, Dell and Hewlett-Packard, claiming a strict ruling on design infringement could lead to a surge in litigation.

Apple was supported by big names in fashion and manufacturing. Design professionals, researchers and academics who said they had no financial interest in the case filed an amicus brief arguing on the basis of "fundamental principles of visual design," citing precedents like Coca-Cola's iconic soda bottle.

'Sigh of relief'

Florian Mueller, an intellectual property analyst who writes a closely followed patent blog, wrote that "large parts of the (US and global) tech industry will breathe a sigh of relief now" even if the case is not settled.

Ed Black, president of the Computer & Communications Industry Association, which represents major tech firms, welcomed the ruling.

"This was a pivotal court case for the technology industry and it is encouraging to see the law interpreted and applied in a way that makes sense in a modern era and protects both inventors and innovation," Black said.

The lower court's interpretation of design patents, Black said, "would have had a chilling effect on investment and the development of products -- especially in the tech sector."

Brian Love, a law professor who follows technology at the University of Santa Clara, said it was noteworthy that the top court declined to provide detailed guidance on how to resolve the damage award.

"The district court may well end up allowing the entire amount to stand, but it seems more likely that the award will be substantially reduced," Love said.

Still, Love said it may dissuade companies from launching new lawsuits on design patents

"Interest in design patents spiked following Apple's first jury verdict in 2012," he said.

"Companies suddenly saw design patent rights as a potential gold mine. Now, it seems likely that assertion of design patents will return to being a rare occurrence."

Related Article:


Amazon testing cashier-free retail store

Yahoo – AFP, December 6, 2016

Amazon has been rumored to be looking at creating brick-and-mortar outlets but so
far has only announced a handful of bookselling outlets (AFP Photo/JOHN 
MACDOUGALL)

San Francisco (AFP) - Amazon has unveiled a new kind of retail store, with no cashiers.

Customers at the concept store in Amazon's hometown of Seattle, Washington, can fill their shopping carts and walk out -- with the costs automatically tallied up and billed to their accounts with the US online giant.

Amazon Go, which is being tested with Amazon employees and will open to the public next year, is a "checkout-free shopping experience made possible by the same types of technologies used in self-driving cars: computer vision, sensor fusion and deep learning," its webpage said.

"Our Just Walk Out technology automatically detects when products are taken from or returned to the shelves and keeps track of them in a virtual cart. When you're done shopping, you can just leave the store. Shortly after, we'll charge your Amazon account and send you a receipt."

The 1,800-square-foot (170-square-meter) store is selling a variety of food products, including bread, cheeses and ready-to-eat meals, as well as Amazon Meal Kits, which contain ingredients for home-cooked dishes.

It was not immediately clear whether Amazon will expand this model with more physical stores or offer the technology to other retailers.

Wal-Mart is offering free shipping with no minimum on all online orders 
to compete with Amazon's "Prime Day." Fred Katayama reports.

The online giant has been rumored to be looking at creating brick-and-mortar stores but so far has only announced a handful of outlets selling books.

The Wall Street Journal cited people close to the matter as saying that Amazon Go was one of several store formats the retail giant is considering.

Two prototype drive-through locations in Seattle without in-store shopping options are set to open in the coming weeks, the Journal reported.

Depending on the success of the test locations, Amazon could reportedly open more than 2,000 brick-and-mortar grocery stores under its brand.

If it does push forward with selling fresh food in stores, Amazon could put a lot of pressure on traditional grocers and superstores like Wal-Mart.

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Dutch hacker found guilty of 2013 cyber attack but won’t be jailed

DutchNews, November 14, 2016

Photo: Depositphotos
The Dutchman accused of launching a massive cyber attack on a spam blacklist publisher in 2013 has been sentenced to 240 days in jail, 185 suspended, in absentia.

Sven Olaf Kamphuis failed to attend his trial in Dordrecht and has repeatedly denied any involvement. Even if he had been in court, he would not be sent to jail because he already spent 55 days on remand after his extradition from Spain in 2013, broadcaster NOS reported

Kamphuis was accused of being behind a massive distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack on a company named Spamhaus in 2013. 

Spamhaus publishes spam blacklists and accused Dutch web-hosting service Cyberbunker of carrying out the attack after it was blocked as a rogue host. Kamphuis was said to be a spokesman for Cyberbunker at the time. 

Kamphuis told the AD via Skype earlier this month the charges against him are ‘nonsense, even if I support them’. A British teenager was in 2015 sentenced to 240 days community service for his role in the attack. 

Kamphuis was arrested in Spain in 2013 and extradited to the Netherlands where he spent two months in jail on remand. He is now thought to be abroad, possibly in Barcelona or Berlin.

Sunday, November 13, 2016

A Hijab-Wearing Emoji Might Finally Happen Thanks to One Muslim Teen

Yahoo – Elle, Kristina Rodulfo, September 16, 2016


As the enthusiasm over new emojis featuring women of all skin tones playing sports and portraying a wide range of professions shows, representation matters. Rayouf Alhumedhi knows this. That's why, frustrated by emoji options that didn't look like her, she created a formal proposal for hijab-wearing emojis to Unicode Consortium, which sets the standards for symbols on keyboards.

"In the age of digitalization, pictures prove to be a crucial element in communication," the proposal says. "Roughly 550 million Muslim women on this earth pride themselves on wearing the hijab. With this enormous number of people, not a single space on the keyboard is reserved for them."

Alhumedi, a Saudi Arabia–born teen now attending high school in Germany, first emailed Apple and got no response. Then she emailed Unicode Consortium (the same group responsible for welcoming those new emojis for women) and caught the attention of reporter Jennifer 8. Lee, who, after suggesting Alhumedi include more history on the hijab and research, co-authored the proposal.


"We need to be represented with the amount of diversity, the amount of difference in this world," she told The New York Times. Alhumedi also hosted a Reddit discussion on Tuesday to answer questions. "I would like to be represented and acknowledged," she in response to inquiries that the hijab was "oppressive." "It might seem baffling, but when I wear the head scarf I actually feel liberated because I'm in control of what I want to cover. The head scarf allows for people to see past a woman's beauty and see her for her knowledge."

She is flying to the Bay Area in California to present a final proposal to Unicode's technical committee in November. The proposal has since focused on just the female design, and if it's approved it would be accepted into Unicode 10 and adopted by fall 2017. Check out the full proposal here:


Thursday, November 10, 2016

No strings attached: Rotterdam trials wireless electric car charging

DutchNews, November 8, 2016

Rotterdam is working towards green transport with no strings attached – the municipality has begun a trial to recharge electric cars wirelessly, reports the AD on Tuesday. 

Three city companies are beginning a trial after two years of preparatory work, using specially converted vehicles.

‘This could be an ideal way to recharge batteries, especially at taxi ranks and bus stops,’ Hans Boot, of Engie Services Nederland told the AD.

The charging system works using an induction plate and coil, which transmits electricity to a car battery sitting above the plate, and is activated with a smartphone or tablet app. Boot said he expects that in future cars would even be able to be recharged on roads equipped with the technology. 

Rotterdam is determined to reduce its carbon emissions, and this trial is part of the effort. Pex Langenberg, head of sustainability, said: ‘We already have a lot of charging points but perhaps in future, we can install some of these plates to make charging as easy as possible. Compare it with an electric toothbrush. You put it down, and it charges up.’ 

At the end of September, Rotterdam celebrated opening its 2000th charging point, and it is aiming to have 3,600 by the end of 2018. 

Subsidies

But on Sunday evening, organisations including the motoring organisation ANWB, environmental group Natuur & Milieu, technical universities and electric car industry firms, warned that electric car use could splutter to a standstill when subsidies are withdrawn. In October, environment minister Henk Kamp said he was not convinced about the effectiveness of subsidies for buying electric cars in a letter to MPs.

Friday, November 4, 2016

Viral Hit Sensation "Pen-Pinapple-Apple-Pen" Sets Guinness World Record

Jakarta Globe, November 03, 2016

A still from "Pen-Apple-Pineapple-Pen" Music Video by Pikotaro. (Photo
courtesy of Youtube)

Jakarta. Viral music video “Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen” by Japanese comedian Pikotaro has made it to Guinness World Records as the shortest song ever to hit the Billboard Hot 100.

The original music video, which features the 45-second hit sensation, was first released at the end of August earlier this year, and has been viewed more than 75 million times on Youtube. Piko Taro is the alter-ego of the Japanese comedian and DJ Daimaou Kosaka. In the video he dresses in animal-print shirt and trousers, which has now become his trademark, and happily dances to the catchy tunes of his song.

“PPAP” became a viral hit soon after Justin Bieber shared the video with his 89 million Twitter followers, saying it was “his favorite video on the internet.”

The previous record for shortest song to make it to the Billboard Hot 100 was held by US group the Womenfolk, with their 62 second single “Little Boxes.”

Following the success of “PPAP,” Piko-Taro released a longer version this past week. The 2 minutes and 41 seconds video has been viewed more than 11 million times.

Pikotaro is a pseudonym for Kazuhito Kosaka, who also goes by Daimaou Kosaka. He is the first Japanese musician to hit the Billboard chart since 1990. The Daily Mail reported that Piko-Taro announced a contract-signing with record labels such as Sony, CNR Music and Times Records for a worldwide distribution of “PPAP.”



Friday, October 28, 2016

US charges dozens in India-based call center fraud racket

Yahoo – AFP, Paul Handley, October 27, 2016

US Justice Department arrested 20 people in connection with Indian call centers
that cheated American of hundreds of millions of dollars (AFP Photo/Ali al-Saadi)

Washington (AFP) - US justice authorities announced action Thursday to shut down a group of Indian call centers that had cheated victims in the United States of hundreds of millions of dollars.

The Justice Department said tens of thousands of victims, most of them from South Asia, were extorted by callers pretending to be US tax or immigration officials threatening them with arrest and deportation if they did not remit money to the government.

But the victims were then directed to people working with the call centers in the United States to collect the "fines" through prepaid debit cards or wire transfers, and the money was quickly laundered out of the country, according to the Justice Department.

The agency said it had arrested 20 people and unveiled charges against five call centers and 32 individuals in India in the Ahmedabad-based operation.

The US attorney in the southern district of Texas set charges against a total of 56 people and five Indian companies for conspiracy to commit identity theft, false personation of an officer of the United States, wire fraud and money laundering.

The department will seek the extradition of those in India charged in the case.

"These individuals demanded immediate payments from the people they called to avoid deportation, to avoid arrest or to cover supposedly unpaid income taxes," said Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell.

"In the process, these criminals took hundreds of millions of dollars from this scam alone. The victims include people all over the United States... and targeted primarily immigrants and the elderly."

The call center racket made use of informal money transfer businesses known as hawalas to move the money. Many of those businesses did not know the money being transferred was part of an extortion scheme, according to the Justice Department.

Caldwell said the five call centers and individuals targeted were apart from the arrests early this month of some 70 people by Indian authorities also involved in call center scams.

"We want to commend the Indians for having done that because we think it's important that they come in, in addition to our enforcement efforts," said Caldwell.

The indictment names the call centers involved as HGlobal, Call Mantra, Worldwide Solution, Zoriion Communications and Sharma BPO Services.

Caldwell said the call centers worked together on the scam but did not identify any one individual or group leading the scheme.

She said it was unlikely any of the victims, most of them cheated between 2012 and 2015, would get their money back.

"Often once the money's paid, its gone," she said.

Caldwell warned that the arrests do not mean the end to such scams.

"These people are persistent. If you get phone calls, and I do expect these people are resilient and will not give up, my advice to you is just hang up," she said.

Sunday, October 23, 2016

AT&T agrees to buy Time Warner in over $80 bn deal: banking source

Yahoo – AFP, October 22, 2016

Telecom giant AT&T has struck a deal to buy entertainment company Time
Warner for more than $80 billion, to add in-house content to its distribution
services (AFP Photo/Saul Loeb, Stan Honda)

New York (AFP) - Telecom giant AT&T has struck a deal to buy entertainment company Time Warner for more than $80 billion, to add in-house content to its distribution services, a banking source familiar with the negotiations said Saturday.

An official announcement is expected before Monday's trading session on Wall Street.

AT&T is the second-largest US wireless carrier and third-largest cable TV provider in the United States, while Time Warner controls a valuable stable of entertainment content suppliers, including Warner Bros. film and TV studios, the HBO television production group, cable news giant CNN, and the TNT and TBS cable channels.

A union of the two media titans -- together worth more than $300 billion in market value -- is certain to face tough scrutiny from antitrust regulators because of potential ripple effects across media platforms.

A deal could price Time Warner at more than $105-110 per share, or more than $80 billion, the source said.

Analysts believe the transaction also could prompt other big deals involving large media companies.

The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Apple had approached Time Warner about a possible deal a few months ago, but the talks failed to make progress. Apple is continuing to monitor the negotiations, the newspaper said.

The deal comes amid challenges facing media companies from the decline of conventional cable television as consumers increasingly turn to streaming on mobile technology.

AT&T had $147 billion in revenues in 2015 while Time Warner reported $28 billion.

AT&T has pursued an aggressive expansion, paying almost $50 billion to buy satellite television provider DirectTV in 2015.

Time Warner shares soared 7.8 percent Friday following reports of the talks. They were up another 4.9 percent in afterhours trading on fresh reports suggesting the two sides were even closer to a deal.

AT&T dropped 3.0 percent during regular-hours trading Friday, and fell another 0.7 percent in after-hours trade.

Related Articles:



"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) SoulsMidpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) (Text version)

“…6 - The News

Number six. I'll be brief. Watch for your news to change. It has to. When the media realizes that Human Beings are changing their watching habits, they're going to start changing what they produce for you to watch. Eventually, there's going to be something called "The Good News Channel," and it will be very attractive indeed. For it will be real and offset the drama of what is today's attraction. This is what families at night, sitting around the table, will wish to watch. They'll have something where the whole picture of a situation is shown and not just the dramatic parts. You will hear about what's happening on the planet that no one is telling you now, and when that occurs [we have no clock, dear one], it's going to compete strongly with the drama. I keep telling you this. Human nature itself is starting to be in color instead of black and white. Watch for it. And that was number six ….”


"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration LecturesGod / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) (Text version)

“…  Government

Let us speak of government. We're not speaking of your government, but of any government - the way it works, how it survives, how it has survived, the way it campaigns, and how it elects leaders. It's going to change.

Years ago, I told you, "When everybody can talk to everybody, there can be no secrets." Up to this point on this planet, government has counted on one thing - that the people can't easily talk to each other on a global scale. They have to get their information through government or official channels. Even mass media isn't always free enough, for it reports that which the government reports. Even a free society tends to bias itself according to the bias of the times. However, when you can have Human Beings talking to each other all at once, all over the planet without government control, it all changes, for there is open revelation of truth.

Democracy itself will change and you're going to see it soon. The hold-outs, the few countries I have mentioned in the past, are doomed unless they recalibrate. They're doomed to be the same as they have been and won't be able to exist as they are now with everyone changing around them.

I mentioned North Korea in the past. Give it time. Right now, the young man is under the control of his father's advisors. But when they're gone, you will see something different, should he survive. Don't judge him yet, for he is being controlled.

In government, if you're entire voting base has the ability to talk to itself without restriction and comes up with opinions by itself without restriction, it behooves a politician to be aware and listen to them. This will change what politicians will do. It will change the way things work in government. Don't be surprised when some day a whole nation can vote all at once in a very unusual way. Gone will be the old systems where you used to count on horseback riders to report in from faraway places. Some of you know what I am talking about. Government will change. The systems around you, both dark and light, will change. You're going to start seeing something else, too, so let's change the subject and turn the page. ”

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

On the trail of South Korea's high-tech peeping Toms

Yahoo – AFP, Jung Ha-Won, October 18, 2016

A member of Seoul's 'hidden camera-hunting' squad moves a hand-held detector
around the toilet seat of a women's bathroom stall in search of a 'secret camera'
(AFP Photo/Jung Yeon-Je)

Walking into an empty women's bathroom stall, Park Kwang-Mi waves a hand-held detector around the toilet seat, paper roll holder, doorknob and even the ventilation grill on the ceiling.

"It's my job to make sure there's no camera to film women while they relieve themselves," the 49-year-old said after similarly inspecting dozens of public toilet stalls at a museum in Seoul.

"It's weird that there are people who want to see something like that ... but this is necessary to help women feel safe," she told AFP.

A member of Seoul city's all-female "hidden camera-hunting" squad, Park is at the forefront of a battle against "molka", or "secret camera" porn.

South Korea takes pride in its tech prowess, from ultra-fast broadband to cutting-edge smartphones. Around 90 percent of its 50 million people possess smartphones -- the highest rate in the world.

But it's a culture that has also given rise to an army of tech-savvy peeping Toms in a still male-dominated country with a poor record on women's rights.

Many use special smartphone apps to film up women's skirts as they ride subway escalators or sit at desks, and spy cameras to gather footage from changing rooms and toilet stalls.

The images are then often shared to numerous molka speciality sites on the Internet.

Such practises have become so rampant that all manufacturers of smartphones sold in South Korea are required to ensure the cameras on their devices make a loud shutter sound when taking photos.

Many of South Korea's tech-savvy peeping Toms use spy cameras to
gather footage from changing rooms and toilet stalls (AFP Photo/Jung Yeon-Je)


'Molka' crimes

Molka crimes are daily news, and perpetrators cover a broad social range.

A pastor at a Seoul mega-church with 100,000 members was caught filming up a woman's skirt on an escalator. His smartphone was packed with similar images of other women.

A 31-year-old obstetrician was jailed for secretly filming female patients and nurses in a changing room and sharing some of the images on the Internet.

And the head coach of South Korea's national swimming team resigned last month after two male swimmers were found to have installed a hidden camera in the locker room of their women teammates.

According to police data, the number of molka crimes jumped more than six-fold from about 1,110 in 2010 to more than 6,600 in 2014.

While some offenders use smartphones, others employ spy-style gadgets, including ballpoint pens, glasses or wrist watches equipped with micro lenses, said Hyun Heung-Ho, a detective attached to Seoul police's metro squad.

The squad was established in 1987 to fight subway crime like pickpockets, but now its main focus is on tackling various kinds of sexual harassment, including molka crimes.

"It's tough because the technology they use advances so fast, like special apps to mute camera sound or to show something else on the display while the camera is rolling," Hyun told AFP.

The majority of men nabbed by the squad are in their 20s or 30s -- and include many college-educated, white-collar workers.

"They generally cry and beg to be let off, saying they were 'simply curious'," Hyun said.

High-tech gadgets

Convicted offenders face a fine of up to 10 million won ($9,100) or a maximum jail term of five years.

To help with their crackdown, police have offered cash rewards to those reporting molka crimes and the Seoul city council has hired dozens of women like Park to scour bathrooms and other spaces for hidden cameras.

Office worker Lee Hae-Kyung said she, like many of her friends, tried to avoid toilets in public spaces like subway stations.

"If I urgently need to use a public toilet, I always inspect the doorknob or the flush handle," the 38-year-old told AFP.

"It's scary because many molka are apparently filmed by normal people like office workers ... so who knows? An ordinary-looking guy standing next to you in the subway may be filming up your skirt," she said.

Whenever a man stands behind Lee on an escalator, she slightly turns her body to face him or look him in the eye -- a move detective Hyun says can act as a strong deterrent.

The main focus of Seoul's 'hidden camera-hunting' squad nowdays is on tackling
various kinds of sexual harassment, including 'molka' crimes (AFP Photo/Jung Yeon-Je)

Gender inequality

According to Lee Na-Young, a sociology professor at Hanyang University in Seoul, the only real solution is a societal one.

Lee said "upskirt videos" had been avidly consumed in South Korea and Japan for decades.

"Both are deeply conservative nations where open discussion of sex is quite taboo, people feel sexually oppressed and women are relentlessly objectified and discriminated against," she said.

South Korea -- Asia's fourth-largest economy -- has long been ranked bottom for women's rights among OECD member nations.

Average pay for South Korean women is 63.3 percent that of men -- the lowest in the OECD -- and women account for 11 percent of managerial positions and 2.1 percent of corporate boards -- far lower than the OECD average of 31 percent and 19 percent.

In this environment, some men view women as nothing more than sexual objects, Lee said, describing the molka trend as a "wrong marriage between fast-evolving technology and slow-evolving patriarchal culture."

"The molka problem won't be solved unless we deal with this bigger social problem through education at home and at school," she said.

Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Driving licences on your mobile phone ‘in next few years’

DutchNews, October 3, 2016

Photo: rijbewijs.nl
Driving licences could be available as a phone app in the next few years under plans proposed by the vehicle licensing service. 

Bas van den Berg, head of the driving licences unit at the RVW agency, said the technology for mobile licences was in development. ‘You’ll download an app from the store and the details of your driving licence will be stored in a secure manner,’ he said. 

The proposal came on the day when paper driving licences officially expired. The Telegraaf reported that around 300,000 old-style licenses had not been handed in, even though drivers risk a €90 fine if they rely on an invalid document. 

Van den Berg explained that the app would exist in two forms: one for the licence holder and one to allow the police to read the details securely. 

He added that security was a paramount issue: ‘There are no 100 per cent guarantees against hacking, but the technology has evolved to the point where people’s details can be stored securely.’

Saturday, October 1, 2016

How did Dutch phone calls end up in the hands of an Australian software firm?

DutchNews, September 30, 2016

Private telephone conversations between thousands of Dutch nationals have ended up in the hands of an Australian software company, the Volkskrant said on Friday. 

The conversations were recorded in 2010 and 2011 and the only explanation, telecom experts told the paper, is that they were recorded by British spy service GCHQ. The information was then probably handed over to the Australian company Appen with the aim of improving software for converting speech into text, the paper said. 

The Volkskrant was contacted by a Dutch national who worked for Appen in Britain in 2011. As part of her job, she was required to describe thousands of audio fragments featuring ordinary Dutch people on the phone. 

Many of the calls were between taxi drivers in The Hague but in one call she heard her ex-boyfriend’s voice. He used Vodafone and had not given permission for the company to share his conversations with anyone. 

The Volkskrant says it has email and other evidence to back up the woman’s claim. 

Appen is a technology company that develops software for converting speech into text. 

Vodafone told the Volkskrant it did not ‘collaborate’ with Appen. Appen said in a statement if it does collect data, it does so with the permission of ‘participants’. The company said it does not collaborate with ‘telecom companies’, but declined to answer the question whether this also applies to law enforcement agencies. 

Monday, September 26, 2016

Could e-residency offer a way around Brexit?

Could Estonia's e-residency program offer a way out of Britain's Brexit bind? Kaspar Korjus, director of the country's program thinks that digital nomadism could be the way forward for Britons and British companies.

Deutsche Welle, 25 Sep 2016


Since the referendum result in the UK and the impending Brexit, there’s been a rush of Britons trying to obtain residency within other EU countries so as to remain part of the EU. But the strict criteria often prevents many of them qualifying for an easy route. Now though, the Republic of Estonia might offer a way out of that bind. It has been offering e-residency permits for a couple of years as part of a wider program of e-government. This summer the country saw a jump in the number of Britons applying so they, or their companies, could continue trading as EU entities. DW talked to Kaspar Korjus, Estonia's e-residency program director.

Deutsche Welle: What exactly is e-residency?

Kaspar Korjus: E-residency in the larger context is the new nation state; we are building a whole new digital nation for global citizens. That means that every person on this planet can become an e-resident of this nation. By becoming an e-resident each person gets a digital identity, contained in a smart ID card. Once you get a smart ID card you can log in to the nation state services, you can digitally sign everything and you can be part of this new community.

Estonia has 13,000 e-residents currently
and hopes for 10 million by 2025
Why did Estonia decide to adopt this method? It's not just e-residency, but the whole thing is part of a wider program E-government.

Yes, so E-government has been in Estonia for the last 15 or so years. All Estonians have been voting on line, declaring taxes, getting e-prescriptions, signing all contracts, establishing companies; everything is done using that digital identity. Now we've just opened the borders to everyone else, so that everyone can be part of this.

The reasons are twofold: firstly, it's purely economic, so that Estonia can be bigger. Estonia has a population of just 1.3 million and the internal market compared to Germany for example is so small that we just need more customers outside of Estonia. Secondly, it doesn't add too much cost for us to open these things.

There are billions of people today all around the world who lack access to financial services or lack access to proper business services. For us to open these gates to them, it just doesn't cost us much extra. We already have the legal system, we already have the infrastructure and we already have the services, so we can just offer the same services to them also.

How many e-residents do you have at the moment?

KK: We have over 13,000 e-residents today, and we are still in a beta phase. To become an e-resident each person needs to pay 100 euros and apply online at e-resident.gov.ee and then have one face-to-face meeting at the Estonian embassy. This takes approximately two months and then a person could become an e-resident and access all the services.

Did you see the numbers shoot up after the referendum in Britain because of the threat of Brexit?

That's true, a few days after the Brexit referendum we had a ten times increase in applications from the UK. They were mainly from the start-up and entrepreneurship world. Many start-uppers were afraid of what Brexit could bring, whether they'd still be able to work with EU companies, whether they'd still be able to have employees from the EU. E-residency in that sense allows them and helps them to still run EU-based companies whilst living in the UK.

Britons can live in the UK and work
with companies in the EU via Estonian
e-residency and services
Because essentially it gives them EU membership?

It gives them an EU company, an EU bank account and EU regulations. So you don't need to apply to each separate EU country for a set of regulations as you would have the Estonian EU entity. Through that entity, you can sell all your services and regulations apply there. That means that none of the Brexit people need to move from the UK to Europe to deal with EU businesses, because they can stay living in the UK and deal with the EU through their e-residency and business in Estonia.

What do you expect from E-residents? Will there be any kind of tax burden?

E-residents usually pay taxes in the countries where they are living and creating value. E-residency does not mean tax residency. It means that e-residents can just use the platform and the business environment to facilitate their businesses.

So is that how you make sure that this doesn't become a kind of tax haven type scheme or a "letter box" company?

Yes, it is exactly the opposite. This is the opposite of something like Panama where people might have gone to try and hide their taxes and hide their companies; because e-residency is a transparent business. Each shareholder and manager is available as information to the public. We are also sharing the tax revenues with local countries and other governments. As everything is digital and so all the transactions leave digital footprints there is no way to hide, or protect any wealth you might have. That's why e-residents who join are those kinds of people who want to share transparency and show they can be trusted.

What do e-residents receive in return?

If a person is outside of the EU, from an emerging market, the main benefit is access to financial services, access to bank accounts, to online payment providers and access to crowd-funding sites etc. Most of the people today can't offer this kind of online business. The second thing is that through Estonia, people and companies have access to the EU business environment. Estonia makes all that very easy and convenient because it is all done digitally. So establishing a company takes just 10 minutes; you can open bank accounts online, everything can be signed digitally, all the contracts and taxes so it is pretty much cost free. The third reason why people apply is the freedom which an e-residency provides. Even if your country offers all the services and is pretty cost effective, people in today's world travel a lot. Sometimes those people's own countries might still require them to be physically present to sign something or declare something, but now people travel all around the world, digital nomadism is everywhere and e-residency helps run your business without having one fixed place of abode.

The more people and countries connected, the higher the value of the network

Have other countries enquired about whether or not they could offer a similar kind of program?

Yes we are actually helping many other governments to adopt this. We don't see this as a competition but rather a partnership because the more governments which offer this kind of services, the more players will be on the network and then the more value it brings to the network. We know that Lithuania is about to adopt it, we are helping Singapore, Japan and the Netherlands. Once a country starts serving its own citizens digitally as Estonia has been doing for the last 15-17 years then there is really no reason why you can't start serving other citizens too who want to take part in your business environment.

Kaspar Korjus is director of Estonia's e-residency program. If you are interested in applying for e-residency, you can go online to e-resident.gov.ee