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Hackers Figure Out How to Wirelessly Control Pacemakers

by Darren Murph, posted Aug 12th 2008 at 12:01PM

Defcon already delivered by exposing California's FasTrak toll system for the security hole that it is, but that's not nearly all that's emerging from the Las Vegas exploitation conference. For starters, a plethora of medical device security researchers have purportedly figured out a way to wirelessly control pacemakers, theoretically allowing those with the proper equipment to "induce the test mode, drain the device battery and turn off therapies." Of course, it's not (quite) as simple as just buzzing a remote and putting someone six feet under, but it's a threat worth paying attention to.

In related news, a trio of MIT students who were scheduled to give a speech on how to hack CharlieCards to get free rides on Boston's T subway were stifled by a temporary restraining order that the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority snagged just before the expo. Don't lie, you're intrigued -- hit up the links below for all the nitty-gritty.

Update: MIT published the Defcon presentation in a PDF.

Read - Pacemaker hack
Read - Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority sues MIT hackers
Read - Restraining order on said hackers

Verizon Wireless In Billion-Dollar Lawsuit

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Jan 31st 2008 at 10:05AM

Verizon the Target of Billion Dollar Lawsuit
Verizon is about to become the target of the largest class action suit ever certified in arbitration. The suit covers the over 70 million former Verizon Wireless subscribers and could have a pay out as high as $1 billion. Yes. A billion. Claimants in the suit are allowed to dispute the $175 early termination fee that Verizon has since started prorating.

Termination fees are meant to cover liquidation damages, which result from a breach of contract. The problem is liquidation damages are hard to quantify, leaving the absurdly high early termination fees vulnerable to litigation.

Just think, with that $175, you'll now be able to pay the early termination fee on the AT&T service you're not so happy with.

From BetaNews


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SeeqPod Music Search Engine Sued By Warner Music Group

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Jan 28th 2008 at 2:44PM

Warner Bros. Records Sues Music Search Engine
We're wondering when media companies are gonna get tired of suing everyone is sight. Warner Music Group (a division of our parent company Time Warner), has zeroed in on SeeqPod, a search engine that links to music and videos found across the Internet. The reasoning behind the legal action is that some of the links link to music and videos that are in violation of copyright law.

Warner Music Group may have a tough road to hoe, however. Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, search engines (like SeeqPod) are allowed to have links to material that happens to be illegal as long as it isn't hand chosen and is the result of a search.

That said, Warner Music Group does have a team of highly-paid powerful lawyers and SeeqPod has a small collection of twentysomethings in a dorm room somewhere. SeeqPod might be a bit outmatched.

From DailyTech

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Apple Finally Shuts down 'Think Secret' Rumor Site

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Dec 20th 2007 at 12:31PM

Think SecretYou might remember back in 2005 when Apple sued the Apple rumor site Think Secret. The suit had one specific goal in mind: to find out the sources leaking information from Apple after Think Secret had managed to score the lowdown on a little piece of hardware called the Mac Mini.

Apple and Think Secret have settled, out of court, and as part of that agreement Nick Ciarelli, publisher of Think Secret, has shut down his site. According to a statement posted at Think Secret, the two parties reached "an agreement that results in a positive solution for both sides. As part of the confidential settlement, no sources were revealed and Think Secret will no longer be published." Nick is then quoted later on, "I'm pleased to have reached this amicable settlement."

We hope he's telling the truth and wish him luck.

From Engadget

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Target Sued Over Site's Visually-Impaired Accessibility

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Oct 15th 2007 at 11:22AM

Target.com
A new ruling requires that Target.com and other sites allow for keyboard navigation and use alternate tags for images in order to make the sites accessible for the visually-impaired. These requirements sound simple enough, but may prove difficult for all of those dynamic, Flash-enabled pages that are popular among e-commerce sites. That means this ruling could cost site providers like Target, Wal-Mart, and Best Buy a lot of development money while web agencies rejoice.

US District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel, of the Court for the Northern District of California, ruled that the case of the "National Federation of the Blind vs Target" is eligible for class-action status, meaning that the suit against Target can go forward in court and make the company liable for the site's accessibility issues. Patel ruled that "the inaccessibility of Target.com impeded full and equal enjoyment of goods and services offered in Target stores."

Target has attempted to have the case thrown numerous times, but but has failed.

From Tech Crunch

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Prince Sues Three Sites Over Piracy of His Music

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Sep 14th 2007 at 11:26AM

Prince Sues eBay, YouTube, and Pirate Bay
Prince (The Artist Formerly Known as The Artist Formerly Known as Prince), is taking on three sites that he says are primarily responsible for the online piracy of his music. Prince and a company called Web Sheriff are working closely together to get the offending material pulled from both YouTube and eBay. The third site named in the suit is Torrent peer-to-peer file sharing network / repository Pirate Bay.

Web Sheriff announced that it had successfully removed 2,000 YouTube videos and had 300 auctions pulled from eBay. The statement went on to say "Prince strongly believes artists as the creators and owners of their music need to reclaim their art."

We think that perhaps Prince should reclaim his dignity and stop suing outlets where his fans get together to share music, memorabilia, and experiences. Look Prince, baby, you don't want to do this. Have you looked at Metallica recently? That band's crusade against piracy did nothing for its members' careers.

From BetaNews

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Blogger Sued for Negative Book Reviews

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Aug 22nd 2007 at 9:11AM

Blogger Sued for Negative Book ReviewsLibel suits are notoriously tough to argue, and even more so when the target of the suit is a critic. The dictionary defines 'libel' as:

A written or oral statement about another which is malicious and false and will do harm to that person or his/her reputation, by tending to bring the target into ridicule, hatred, scorn or contempt of others.

Professional reviewers don't normally get targeted for libel, since tearing apart other people and their work tends to be part of the job requirement. But, that's not stopping author Stuart Pivar, who is suing the Seed Media Group and Paul Z. Myers for a pair of negative blog posts about Mr. Pivar's books 'Lifecode: The Theory of Biological Self Organization' and 'Lifecode: From Egg to Embryo by Self-Organization.'

Myers's review of 'Lifecode: The Theory of Biological Self Organization' was a whole-heartedly negative affair. The only positive things Myers -- a PHD holding University of Minnesota professor -- had to say about the book was that the binding was of high quality and the scientifically inaccurate illustrations were very pretty. When Pivar's 'Lifecode: From Egg to Embryo by Self-Organization' landed on Myers's desk, things turned downright vicious. Myers had the following to say:

"The doodles in this book bear absolutely no relationship to anything that goes on in real organisms, but after staring at them for a while, I realized what this book is actually about. This book is a description of the development and evolution of balloon animals. It's that bad. This is a book suitable only for use at clown colleges, and even there, I suspect the clowns would tell us that it is impractical, nonsensical, and has no utility in their craft."

Ouch!

The question is, whether this actually constitutes libel. As a reviewer and a qualified critic of the science behind the book, did Myers intentionally and maliciously set out to make Pivar look like a fool? Can Pivar come up with the evidence to show that Myers's assertions about the science behind 'LifeCode' are false? There are many dimensions to the case, not the least of which is a question of journalistic integrity and freedom of speech. Imagine if Microsoft could sue us for our lukewarm review of Windows Live Hot Mail. Trust us, we'll be keeping an eye on this one.

From Boing Boing

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