The Little Hacker's Room

Our scheduled reporter for Thursday and Friday is still a flu patient, and so we do need someone to cover Thursday's iSCO v. Novell/i trial. If you can, please email me and I'll give you instructions. Trust me, you'll have fun. And the rest of us will be so grateful. Thanks!P b Update:/b I'm just learning that the two reporters scheduled for today couldn't go after all. Medical issues. So hit the Paypal button, y'all. We'll order a daily transcript so I can at least tell you about what happened. It'll take a while to get it, so stay tuned, but no need to refresh every ten minutes or anything.

The SCO case has long since dropped off the radar for most. It is worth noting, though, that the Novell slander of title trial is now underway in Utah. Groklaw has a href=http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20100309181439569detailed coverage/a of the testimony thus far. spanWhy did Novell slander SCO's title? Because of Linux. Linux started as a hobbyist tool. It's open source; 'nobody can be completely sure where the code comes from'. Starting around 2000, IBM inserted into Linux stuff that belonged to SCO. SCO sued, and started their licensing program (SCOsource). Novell stated that SCO doesn't have the copyrights and can't sue IBM./span

bDebian/b has updated a href=http://lwn.net/Articles/378069/tdiary/a (cross-site scripting). p bFedora/b has updated bsamba/b (a href=http://lwn.net/Articles/378070/F11/a: filesystem access privilege escalation). p bMandriva/b has updated a href=http://lwn.net/Articles/378068/php/a (two safe_mode bypass vulnerabilities).

The Mozilla Foundation has a href=http://mpl.mozilla.org/launched a process to update the Mozilla Public License/a. The project is described this way: p div class=BigQuote We've been using version 1.1 of the Mozilla Public License for about a decade now. Its spirit has served us well, helping to communicate some of the values that underpin our large and growing community. However, some of its wording may be showing its age. Keeping both those things in mind, we're launching this process to update the license, hoping to modernize and simplify it while still keeping the things that have made the license and the Mozilla project such a success. /div p While the update process is inspired by the GPLv3 update, the objectives are far less ambitious: Mozilla would like to smooth various rough edges without making major changes to the license. They hope to have the process complete - after releasing three drafts for comments - by November of this year.

Jonathan Schwartz a href=http://jonathanischwartz.wordpress.com/2010/03/09/good-artists-copy-great-artists-steal/writes about patent attacks/a, and Apple's attack on Android in particular. spanHaving watched this movie play out many times, suing a competitor typically makes them more relevant, not less. Developers I know aren’t getting less interested in Google’s Android platform, they’re getting more interested - Apple’s actions are enhancing that interest./span He also says that Microsoft tried to shake down Sun with patent claims on OpenOffice.org.

Swedish MEP Christian Engstrouml;m a href=http://christianengstrom.wordpress.com/2010/03/10/epic-win-for-transparency-on-acta/reports/a that the European Parliament has passed a href=http://christianengstrom.wordpress.com/2010/03/09/common-eu-parliament-resolution-on-acta-tabled/a resolution/a coming out against the secretive ACTA copyright treaty negotiations and demanding transparency in the process. The vote was rather definitive: 633 for, 13 against. spanAt last, the elected representatives in the parliament have sent a strong message. We have shown that we do not accept secrecy. We have shown that we are prepared to stand up for a free internet open to everybody./span

img src=http://lwn.net/images/2010/morevna-ivan-sm.png border=0 hspace=3 align=right width=125 height=88 alt=[Ivan design] pKonstatin Dmitriev's a href=http://morevnaproject.org/Morevna Project/a is to 2-D animation what the Blender Foundation's a href=http://www.blender.org/features-gallery/blender-open-projects/Open movie projects/a have been for 3-D. The goal is to produce a production-quality, full-length animated feature, using only open source software, and license the source content and final product under free, re-use-friendly terms. Along the way, the work provides stress-testing, feedback, and development help to the open source software used, while raising awareness of the quality of the code. Subscribers can click below for a look at the project from this week's edition.

The European Parliament today overwhelming approved a resolution on ACTA calling for transparency and raising concerns about substantive elements in the treaty such as the prospect of three strikes and personal border searches.nbsp; The a href="http://votewatch.eu/cx_vote_details.php?id_act=456amp;lang=en"final vote/a was 633 in favour, 13 against, and 16 abstentions.nbsp; The a href="http://www.erikjosefsson.eu/sites/default/files/UNOFFICIAL_CONSOLIDATED_VERSION_OF_ACTA_COMMON_RESOLUTION.pdf"final approved text/a raises further issues:br / ul lithe European Parliament quot;deplores the calculated choice of the parties not to negotiate through well-established international bodies, such as WIPO and WTO, which have established frameworks for public information and consultationquot;/li liIt says quot;further ACTA negotiations should include a larger number of developing and emerging countries, with a view to reaching a possible multilateral level of negotiationquot;/li liprovides that quot;any agreement must include the stipulation that the closing-off of an individualrsquo;s Internet access shall be subject to prior examination by a courtquot;/li liwarns that quot;ACTA provisions, notably measures aimed at strengthening powers for cross-border inspection and seizure of goods, should not affect global access to legitimate, affordable and safe medicinal products ndash; including innovative and generic products ndash; on the pretext of combating counterfeitingquot;/li /ul As for next steps, the European Parliament clearly wants action as the resolution also states that it quot;stresses that, unless Parliament is immediately and fully informed at all stages of the negotiations, it reserves its right to take suitable action, including bringing a case before the Court of Justice in order to safeguard its prerogatives.quot;nbsp;nbsp; This marks a major step toward ACTA transparency, highlighting the near-unanimous discomfort with the process and substance of ACTA to date. br /img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MichaelGeistsBlog/~4/Lz-wWu_GQVY" height="1" width="1"/

a href=http://www.texaslinuxfest.org/Texas Linux Fest/a has announced the initial list of speakers and presentations for its inaugural event. Keynote speakers include Joe Zonker Brockmeier and Randal L. Schwartz, with additional presentations by Linux, free software, and open source experts such as Jon maddog Hall, Amber Graner, Bradley Kuhn, and Max Spevack. The event will take place on Saturday, April 10th, in Austin Texas. Registration is available a href=http://register.texaslinuxfest.org/online/a. The complete list of talks is a href=http://texaslinuxfest.org/talks/ available/a as well.

With the increasing shift from analog to digital, some elections officials are unsurprisingly chomping at the bit to move toward Internet-based voting.nbsp; My weekly technology law column (a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/sciencetech/technology/lawbytes/article/776382--geist-hackers-viruses-threaten-online-voting-validity"Toronto Star version/a, a href="http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/4849/159/" homepage version/a) notes that last year, Elections Canada officials mused about the possibility of online voting trials, noting the potential benefits of increasing voter participation, particularly among younger demographics.br / br / More recently, the province of Alberta opened the door to incorporating new technologies into their voting processes as part of an electoral reform package.nbsp; New trials would require the approval of a legislative committee, but the province#39;s Chief Electoral Officer acknowledged that online voting may be coming, noting quot;online voting is something that#39;s on the forefront of people#39;s minds. . . people say, #39;I can do my banking online, but I can#39;t do my voting online#39;.quot;br / br / The enthusiasm for Internet voting is understandable. At first blush, there is a certain allure associated with the convenience of Internet voting, given the prospect of increased turnout, reduced costs, and quicker reporting of results.nbsp; Moreover, since other security sensitive activities such as banking and health care have gravitated online, supporters argue that elections can#39;t be far behind. Yet before rushing into Internet voting trials, the dangers should not be overlooked.br / br /br /Democracy depends upon a fair, accurate, and transparent electoral process with outcomes that can be independently verified.nbsp; Conventional voting accomplishes many of these goals ndash; private polling stations enable citizens to cast their votes anonymously, election day scrutineers offer independent oversight, and paper-based ballots provide a verifiable outcome that can be re-counted if necessary.br / br / While technology may someday allow us to replicate these essential features online, many of them are currently absent from Internet voting, which is subject to any number of possible disruptions.nbsp; These include denial of service attacks that shut down the election process, counterfeit websites, phishing attacks, hacks into the election system, or the insertion of computer viruses that tamper with election results.br / br / These concerns are based on real-world experience.nbsp; The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the organization that administers the domain name system, ran an online board of director election in 2000.nbsp; The experience was fraught with technical difficulties, leading a reviewer to conclude quot;the technical weakness in the registration system made it virtually impossible to assess the integrity of the voters#39; list, the security of the PINs, and secrecy of vote.quot; br / br / More recently, the Netherlands used Internet voting as part of its 2006 parliamentary elections.nbsp; The online option was an alternative for Dutch citizens working or living abroad.nbsp; Nearly 20,000 valid Internet votes were received at a cost of approximately 90 euros per Internet voter.nbsp; Two years later, the country implemented a ban on Internet voting. br / br / The Canadian experience is limited primarily to municipal elections.nbsp; Several Ontario municipalities have offered Internet-based voting, enabling local residents to vote without leaving their homes.nbsp; Residents were required to pre-register for Internet voting and were provided with detailed instructions on the technical requirements to quot;vote anywhere.quot; br / br / Caution on Internet voting appears prudent, since experts have identified a long and costly list of necessary precautions, including random spot checks and post-vote verification programs to preserve anonymity.nbsp; Given the security risks, opening the door to provincial or federal Internet voting seems premature.nbsp; In the zeal to increase voter turnout, the reliance on Internet voting could inadvertently place the validity of the election process at risk. br /img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MichaelGeistsBlog/~4/Uub-M8Blp70" height="1" width="1"/

InternetNZ has just a href="http://www.internetnz.net.nz/media/media-releases-2010/michael-geist-to-keynote-publicacta-internetnz"announced/a that I will be the keynote speaker at PublicACTA, an ACTA conference scheduled just prior to the next round of ACTA negotiations in Wellington, NZ. br /img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MichaelGeistsBlog/~4/KdcmWfX18v4" height="1" width="1"/

The Department of Foreign Affairs has a href="http://news.mccarthy.ca/en/news_template_full.asp?pub_code=4896amp;news_code=1261"launched/a a a href="http://www.international.gc.ca/controls-controles/about-a_propos/expor/Wassenaar_crypto.aspx?lang=eng"public consultation/a on encryption controls. Comments are due by April 30, 2010. br /img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MichaelGeistsBlog/~4/zEObEc2tm5o" height="1" width="1"/

Google, Yahoo, Facebook and Ebay, along with the UK#39;s largest internet service providers, are a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/134abc12-2be5-11df-8033-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1"arguing/a that changes to the UK Digital Economy bill poses a theat to free speech.br / br /img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MichaelGeistsBlog/~4/Wk2o1gszSsU" height="1" width="1"/

I know we are all riveted on Utah today, but take a moment, please, because this is important. Jonathan Schwartz, formerly CEO of Sun, has a personal blog, a href=http://jonathanischwartz.wordpress.com/What I Couldn't Say .../a, where he has begun to tell us what he couldn't tell us before about events during his tenure there. He has a interesting tale to tell about Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer asking Sun to pay patent royalties to Microsoft on ... OpenOffice.

Almost exactly one year ago, LWN a href=http://lwn.net/Articles/322777/examined the problem of 4K-sector drives/a and the reasons for their existence. In short, going to 4KB physical sectors allows drive manufacturers to increase storage density, always welcome in that competitive market. Recently, there have been a number of reports that Linux is not ready to work with these drives; kernel developer Tejun Heo even a href=http://lwn.net/Articles/377897/posted an extensive, worth-reading summary/a stating that span4 KiB logical sector support is broken in both the kernel and partitioners./span As the subsequent discussion revealed, though, the truth of the matter is that we're not quite that badly prepared; click below (subscribers only) for details.

Would it surprise you to find out that it turns out that apparently one of the jurors might be related to one of SCO's prior corporate officers? At any rate they have the same last name, and Salt Lake City is a big place, so perhaps not. Novell noticed the similarity in names, according to our reporter today, MSS2, only after jury selection was over. P MSS2 has just sent me his first report of day 2 of the jury trial in iSCO v. Novell/i, with more to come. Today was opening arguments by both sides. And we have lots more goodies for you from two eyewitnesses, MSS2 and Tilendor. We begin with SCO's opening argument by Stuart Singer. All I can say after reading it is maybe you needed to be there. Or SCO must be a slow learner or Mr. Singer never reads Groklaw, or ... well, see what you think.

The a href=http://groups.fsf.org/wiki/LibrePlanet2010LibrePlanet/a conference, being held March 19-21 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, will be featuring a day-long a href=http://groups.fsf.org/wiki/WomenscaucusWomen's Caucus/a on Sunday March 21st. That track will be focusing on finding concrete ways to increase women's participation in free software, including a panel on recruiting and retaining women, a presentation on mentoring, and a workshop on how non-coders can take up critical roles in free software projects. In addition, LibrePlanet has keynotes from FSF founder Richard Stallman and EFF founder John Gilmore. More information can be found on the web sites or in the a href=http://groups.fsf.org/wiki/LibrePlanet2010/Scheduleschedule/a.

Bruce Byfield a href=http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/osrc/article.php/12068_3869411_1/GNOME-and-KDE-Seven-Attractions-in-Each.htmtakes a look/a at innovations in GNOME and KDE. spanOf course, GNOME and KDE have long had features that Windows lacked, such as multiple desktops and finer controls for customizing the user experience. However, in the last few years, both major free desktops have added features that show not only an interest in usability, but, at times, an effort to anticipate what users might actually want. The focus is by no means consistent, yet scattered here and there are features that can make any user glad that they're using a open source desktop./span

The H a href=http://www.h-online.com/open/features/Happenings-FOSS-at-CeBIT-2010-948946.htmlcovers/a the CeBIT Open Source Forum. spanThe CeBIT Open Source Forum, a prominent feature in the Open Source area of Hall 2, featured several lectures, demonstrations and keynote speeches on several topics, from Open Source in data centres and security, to web browsers, mobility and multimedia. The H attended several of the Open Source Forum sessions, including the introduction of the latest 6.3 release of the popular Knoppix Live Linux distribution by Knoppix creator Klaus Knopper./span

Simon Phipps, Chief Open Source Officer at Sun, a href=http://webmink.com/2010/03/08/sundown/reminisces/a about some achievements during his tenure. spanGot some of the most important software in the computer industry released under Free licenses that guarantee software freedom for people who rely on them, regardless of who owns the copyrights. Unix, Java, key elements of Linux, the SPARC chip and much more have been liberated./span