Plans for new 'people-powered' net

23 January 2014 Last updated at 08:29 ET

An ambitious project has been launched that the developers hope could one day replace the current internet.

Bitcloud aims to harness the same methods used to mine Bitcoins, to provide services currently controlled by internet service providers (ISPs) and corporations.

Individuals would perform tasks such as storing, routing and providing bandwidth, in return for payment.

The founders are searching for developers for the project.

"We will start by decentralising the current internet, and then we can create a new internet to replace it," they said.

Just as Bitcoin miners provide computing power and are rewarded for solving complex mathematical equations with the virtual currency, so individual net users would be rewarded based on how much bandwidth they contribute to the Bitcloud network.

"Adding the profit motive to the equation gives this project a chance to succeed where many others have failed in the past," reads the group's white paper.

A currency known as Cloudcoins is proposed to underpin the network.

"If you're interested in privacy, security, ending internet censorship, decentralising the internet and creating a new mesh network to replace the internet, then you should join or support this project," the group said.

'Much to do'

Among examples of new services, the proposal describes how YouTube could become WeTube.

"WeTube can act as a replacement for YouTube, Netflix, Hulu, Soundcloud, Spotify and other audio video streaming services," it said.

Artists would be paid with a percentage of advertising revenues, it said.

Critics may question how such a model can be sustained but the success of Bitcoin suggests that such decentralised networks can work.

Online retailer Overstock began accepting Bitcoin payments earlier this month and recently Google revealed it was looking at ways to integrate Bitcoins into its payment systems.

But the team behind Bitcloud, whose names have not been released, acknowledged they were only at the beginning of the project.

"There are still many key decisions that need to be made in the Bitcloud protocol. We have a basic idea of how everything will work, but we need assistance from programmers and thinkers from around the world who want to help," they said.

"The idea is an interesting thought-experiment at least," Boing Boing co-founder Cory Doctorow blogged on the site.

"Using market forces to allocate resources on the internet is an old one and I remain sceptical that this produces optimal outcomes," he added.

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Samsung 'infringed' fast type patent

22 January 2014 Last updated at 06:55 ET

A US judge has ruled that Samsung infringed Apple's patent-protected word recommendation technology.

The invention describes a way for touchscreen devices to suggest completed words after a user has part-typed them to speed up text input.

Experts say the ruling could have implications for other Android devices that offer the facility.

The judgement comes ahead of a trial in which both firms plan to claim the other copied several of their features.

Judge Lucy Koh - who presided over a previous dispute between the two companies in 2012 - also denied Samsung the opportunity to claim Apple had infringed one of its synchronisation technologies on the basis that the South Korean firm was not the first to register the idea.

This means that when the case comes to court on March 31, Apple is set to allege five cases of patent infringement - one of which has already been secured - and Samsung will claim four cases.

News of the decision was first reported by patent consultant Florian Mueller, who has published the summary judgement in full.

Rejected argument

Apple's auto-complete patent was first filed in January 2007, days before Steve Jobs unveiled the firm's first iPhone.

It noted that the size of existing mobile phones made typing difficult and suggested offering the auto-complete function via a graphical user interface as a solution.

Samsung later claimed that the patent applied only to handsets and tablets that included physical keyboards.

However, Judge Koh rejected this argument, noting that Apple's invention had specifically described the feature being accessed via a touchscreen virtual keyboard.

"We are disappointed by the court's decision, and look forward to the jury trial, when the jury is expected to consider the claims related to the remaining summary judgment requests that were denied," said a spokesman for Samsung, referring to the fact the judge had rejected Apple's request that other claims be dismissed.

The iPhone-maker has not commented on the decision.

'Not earth-shattering'

Apple contends that several Samsung products infringe its technology, including the Galaxy Nexus handset and early versions of the Galaxy Note phablet.

The ruling means it can now seek to have these blocked from sale.

But one expert said the judgement could also have wider ramifications.

"This judgement has the potential to affect any mobile company that uses auto-complete functionality," said Vicki Salmon, a member of the UK's Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys.

"That could include more recent Samsung devices, but it will depend whether the same methodology is being used."

Another patent lawyer added that the ruling was not as "earth-shattering" as it might first seem.

"This doesn't completely preclude there being other versions of auto-complete," said Andrew Alton from Urquhart-Dykes & Lord.

"For example, they could still use the keyboard rather than part of the screen to enter instructions. However, this would probably be less elegant."

The ruling may affect the negotiating stance taken by the firms at mediation talks.

Apple's chief executive Tim Cook is due to meet his counterpart at Samsung Electronics, Oh-Hyun Kwon, by February 19 to discuss "settlement opportunities".

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'Fastest ever' broadband passes test

22 January 2014 Last updated at 08:48 ET By Dave Lee Technology reporter, BBC News

The "fastest ever" broadband speeds have been achieved in a test in London, raising hopes of more efficient data transfer via existing infrastructure.

Alcatel-Lucent and BT said speeds of 1.4 terabits per second were achieved during their joint test - enough to send 44 uncompressed HD films a second.

The test was conducted on a 410km (255-mile) link between the BT Tower in central London and Ipswich.

However, it may be many years before consumers notice any effect.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

The trade-off is the more you squeeze into a fibre line, the more potential there is for interference and for error"

End Quote Oliver Johnson Point Topic

But the breakthrough is being seen as highly important for internet service providers (ISPs), as it means a greater amount of information can be sent through existing broadband infrastructure, reducing the need for costly upgrades.

"BT and Alcatel-Lucent are making more from what they've got," explained Oliver Johnson, chief executive of broadband analyst firm Point Topic.

"It allows them to increase their capacity without having to spend much more money."

Alcatel-Lucent told the BBC that the demand for higher bandwidth grew by around 35% every year, making the need for more efficient ways to transfer data a massively pressing issue for ISPs, particularly with the growing popularity of data-heavy online services, such as film-streaming website Netflix.

Continue reading the main story

How much?!

The speed achieved by the researchers topped out at 1.4 terabits per second. But what does that figure mean?

Data transfer is measured in bits, not to be confused with bytes. One byte is equivalent to eight bits.

The 1.4 terabits per second transfer is a huge amount. Enough, BT said, to send 44 uncompressed HD movies each second.

To give that context, according to UK communications regulator Ofcom, the current fastest package - based on average speed for received by customers - is Virgin Media's 120 megabits per second.

There are 1,024 megabits in just one gigabit and 1,024 gigabits in one terabit.

Elsewhere, the likes of Google are installing superfast infrastructure in select places. The company says their typical speed is around 1000 megabits per second.

There are faster methods of transmitting data - such as the use of complex laser technology - but this is the first test to achieve such high speeds in "real world" conditions, outside testing labs.

Rush-hour traffic

The high speeds were achieved using existing fibre cable technology that has already been installed in much of the UK and other parts of the world.

Kevin Drury, optical marketing leader at Alcatel-Lucent, likened the development to reducing space between lanes on a busy motorway, enabling more lanes of traffic to flow through the same area.

He said flexibility meant some could be adapted to specific needs - like opening an extra lane during the morning rush hour.

In internet terms, this would mean, for example, streaming video would get a large, wide lane, while accessing standard web pages would need only a small part of the fibre's capacity.

However, pushing more data through fibre cables presents a challenge.

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The test will be welcome news for Reed Hastings, chief executive of streaming service Netflix, interviewed by the BBC earlier this month

"The trade-off is, the more you squeeze into a fibre line, the more potential there is for interference and for error," explained Mr Johnson.

"What has got better is the fact they are able to pack these channels closer together and into the same space."

Alcatel-Lucent and BT said their test demonstrated "stable, error-free operation".

Follow Dave Lee on Twitter @DaveLeeBBC

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Shape-shifting tech 'defeats hacks'

22 January 2014 Last updated at 10:28 ET By Leo Kelion Technology reporter

A technology that constantly changes websites' code to defeat hackers has been unveiled by a US start-up.

Shape Security says its product works with the HTML, JavaScript and CSS languages, transforming a site's code into a "moving target" to prevent cybercriminals from carrying out scripted attacks.

The Silicon Valley firm has several high-profile backers including Google.

But one expert said hackers might still be able to work round the defence.

However, Ron Austin - a senior lecturer on computer security at Birmingham City University - said that it would probably take them longer than previously.

Shape says the "look and feel" of the sites that use its tech remains unchanged to legitimate visitors.

It adds that several companies have already trialled its product, including Citigroup bank and the ticket seller StubHub.

Morphing code

Shape describes its product as a being a "botwall" - a reference to it being a barrier against automated software tools known as bots that recognise and exploit vulnerabilities in a site's code.

These can be used for malicious purposes, such as carrying out DDoS (distributed denial of service) attacks - forcing a website server to crash by flooding it with traffic - or to hijack a site, allowing the hacker to modify its contents, steal private details and spread malware.

Many products try to prevent such breaches by identifying bots by their signatures - the name they use when registering themselves - and the internet and email addresses they send data to.

Hackers have tried to counter detection by using a technique called "real-time polymorphism" - making their bots rewrite their own code every time they infect a new machine to make them harder to recognise.

Shape says its product reverses this advantage.

"The website looks and feels exactly the same to legitimate users, but the underlying site code is different on every page view," wrote the firm's founder, Sumit Agarwal, on its blog.

"Ultimately, the ShapeShifter aims to stop non-human visitors from executing large-scale automated attacks. This may help break the economics of breaches like the one Target experienced in late 2013, by eliminating the monetisation path.

"Without automated scripts, many of today's attacks cease to be economically viable."

'Additional tool'

Shape had raised $26m (£15.7m) from investors ahead of its product's launch.

Backers include:

• Google Ventures, the search firm's venture capital fund
• Google chairman Eric Schmidt's personal investment company TomorrowVentures
• Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, an early investor in Amazon and Facebook
• Enrique Salem, the former chief executive of security firm Symantec

One security expert from the University of Oxford's Internet Institute said the innovation sounded promising.

"It's an interesting additional tool for making it harder for attackers to break into systems, and one that can't be trivially circumvented by attackers changing their behaviour," Dr Ian Brown told the BBC.

But Ron Austin added that given enough time, a dedicated hacker should still be able to achieve their goal.

"The caveat to this approach would be looking for parts of the polymorphic code within the software that does not change," he explained.

"This would then give the attacker a point of reference into the system and possibly allow a new attack to be created. This is difficult and would take time as the attacker would have to monitor the software."

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Computer 'experts' to train teachers

22 January 2014 Last updated at 10:44 ET

A network of 400 "master" computer science teachers is being recruited to deliver a new computer science curriculum in schools across England.

These specialist teachers will train teachers in other schools and provide resources for teachers to use in class.

Funded by government, the scheme is run by the British Computer Society.

The new computer science curriculum, which replaces the current information and communications technology (ICT) curriculum, starts this September.

Opening the Bett learning technology show in London, Education Secretary Michael Gove said: "This new curriculum will be... much shorter and less prescriptive than the old ICT curriculum and it will allow schools to innovate and be much, much more ambitious.

"ICT used to focus purely and narrowly on computer literacy, teaching pupils over and over again how to word-process, how to work a spreadsheet, how to use programs which are already - were already, I should say - creaking into obsolescence.

"Now our new curriculum teaches children computer science, information technology and digital literacy. It will teach them how to code, how to create their own programs, not just how to work the computer but how a computer works, how to make it work for you."

From as young as five, pupils in England would learn to code and program, he said, and from age 11, children would be taught at least two programming languages.

He went on: "These are precisely the sorts of skills which jobs of the future, and for that matter the jobs of the present, demand and from now on these changes will ensure that every child gets a solid grounding in these essential skills."

Computer science GCSEs will also count as a science in the English Baccalaureate for secondary school league tables, alongside physics, chemistry, biology and pupils taking double science.

It will be included as one of the science options that count towards this measure.

The English Baccalaureate (EBacc) requires pupils to get good GCSE grades in English, maths, sciences, history or geography and a language.

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Church issues Twitter 'commandments'

22 January 2014 Last updated at 12:17 ET By Joe Miller BBC News

A Church of England diocese has issued a list of social media rules to its staff and clergy, urging them to consider God when tweeting the masses.

The guidelines range from practical security advice to more faith-based instructions, including a warning that updates are "transient yet permanent".

The list has been widely shared online, dubbed the "Twitter commandments".

Bath and Wells diocese said it compiled the nine rules to help "spread the word of God in the most effective way".

The guidelines aim to help parish staff "navigate through the social media landscape".

'A bit dull'

Continue reading the main story

• Don't rush in
• Remember tweets are transient yet permanent
• Be a good ambassador for the Church
• Don't hide behind anonymity
• Be aware of public/private life boundaries
• Maintain a professional distance
• Stay within the law
• Respect confidentiality
• Be mindful of your own security

The first rule - "don't rush in" - urges ecclesiastical tweeters to consider the following questions:

• Is this my story to share?
• Would I want my mum to read this?
• Would I want God to read this?
• Would I want this on the front page of a newspaper?

Subsequent rules advise on drawing boundaries between public duties and private life, being an ambassador for the Church and maintaining a professional distance.

After feedback to the original rules suggested they were "worthy but a bit on the dull side", some light-hearted advice from a local social media expert was added.

Online community

A spokesman for Bath and Wells diocese told the BBC that publishing the resource was what "any good organisation" would do.

"The Church of England is in every community in the UK, so it seems right that we should be in online communities too," he said.

"We're not the first diocese to provide guidelines, but our clergy increasingly use social media.

"A vicar might engage in conversation online in the same way that they do in the street, post office or pub."

Other religious bodies offer faith-driven advice for their representatives communicating online.

The Methodist Church in Britain urges its clergy to "let Galatians 5:22-26", which urges the spirit of "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control", guide their behaviour when sharing the "good news of Jesus Christ in the world" on social media.

But the popularity of these new guidelines took Somerset's Anglican clergy by surprise.

"The irony of these guidelines becoming part of a Twitter storm has not been wasted on us," a staff member said.

"We're just pleased that so many people have found it interesting."

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Icahn urges eBay to spin off PayPal

22 January 2014 Last updated at 20:57 ET

Activist investor Carl Icahn has called on e-commerce giant eBay to spin off its payments business, PayPal.

Mr Icahn made the proposal as he disclosed he had acquired a 0.8% stake in the firm. He has also nominated two of his employees to join eBay's board.

The firm said it routinely reviews its strategy and has explored "in depth" a spin-off or separation of PayPal .

But it added that it does not believe that breaking up the firm is the best way to "maximize shareholder value".

"PayPal is able to leverage the company's technology capabilities, commerce platforms and relationships with retailers, brands and large merchants worldwide," eBay said in a statement.

"Payment is part of commerce, and as part of eBay, PayPal drives commerce innovation in payments at a global scale, creating value for consumers, merchants and shareholders."

The firm's shares rose as much as 12% in after hours trading after Mr Icahn's proposal.

'No brainer'

Continue reading the main story

For commerce and payments, you need to remove as much friction from those two systems as possible"

End Quote Colin Gillis BGC Partners

The Silicon Valley firm had acquired PayPal in 2002 for $1.5bn (£905m).

The division has been a key driver of eBay growth as an increasing number of consumer turn to online shopping - prompting increased use of online payment services.

According to its latest results, revenues at its PayPal division rose to $1.84bn in the October-to-December quarter, a 19% jump from a year earlier.

That accounted for nearly 40% of the firm's total revenue.

Mr Icahn was quoted as saying by the Financial Times and Bloomberg news agency that spinning-off the division was a "no brainer" and that such a move would boost its value.

However, some analysts said that it was unlikely eBay would consider the proposal.

"I expect it to be a battle," said Colin Gillis, an analyst with BGC Partners.

"One of the reasons for that is because for commerce and payments, you need to remove as much friction from those two systems as possible. If you separate it out, you put more friction between them."

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Chrome aids eavesdropping attack

23 January 2014 Last updated at 06:25 ET

Any computer running the Chrome browser can be subverted to eavesdrop on conversations happening around it, claims a developer.

Israeli coder Tal Ater found the bug while working on his own speech recognition software.

Despite Google finding a way to fix the bug in October 2013 the update has yet to be rolled out to Chrome, he said.

Google said there was no immediate threat to users from the speech recognition system.

Listening in

"Even while not using your computer - conversations, meetings and phone calls next to your computer may be recorded and compromised," wrote Mr Ater in a blogpost explaining what he had found.

The bug emerges when malicious sites try to subvert the way Chrome handles speech recognition, he said.

Typically, people must manually grant permission to each site that wants to access a computer's microphone to listen in. Once permission has been granted Chrome lets people know a site is listening via a blinking red dot on the tab for that site.

In a video accompanying the blogpost, Mr Ater showed how a malicious attacker could use specially crafted code to exploit these permissions to launch a "pop-under" window that starts the speech recognition system.

"The malicious site you visited can continue listening in on you long after you have left it," said Mr Ater. "As long as Chrome is still running nothing said next to your computer is private."

Google was told about the bug in September last year, said Mr Ater and soon after found a way to fix it. However, this has yet to be included in updates for Chrome.

Mr Ater asked why Chrome remains vulnerable and was told that Google was still waiting for the World Wide Web consortium (W3C), which defines how the web develops, to make a decision about what to do.

"The security of our users is a top priority, and this feature was designed with security and privacy in mind," said a Google spokesperson. "We've re-investigated and still believe there is no immediate threat, since a user must first enable speech recognition for each site that requests it."

"The feature is in compliance with the current W3C specification, and we continue to work on improvements," he added told tech news site The Register.

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US spying illegal, panel advises

23 January 2014 Last updated at 07:22 ET

The bulk collection of phone call data by US intelligence agencies is illegal and has had only "minimal" benefits in preventing terrorism, an independent US privacy watchdog has ruled.

The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board advised by a 3-2 majority that the programme should end.

In a major speech last week, President Barack Obama said he was ordering curbs on the use of such mass data.

But he said the US must continue collecting data to prevent attacks.

The report from the PCLOB is the latest of several reviews of the National Security Agency's (NSA) mass surveillance programme, the details of which caused widespread anger after they were leaked by Edward Snowden.

Continue reading the main story

Analysis

Of all the Snowden revelations, the first - the collection of bulk phone call records - remains the most controversial politically within the US.

The debate centres both on its legality and its effectiveness. President Obama and supporters have claimed it is legal under existing laws and that it has helped in stopping terrorist attacks.

But critics are sceptical of both of these propositions and this latest report will provide them with more ammunition, with questions over what benefits it provides as well as whether it should continue.

President Obama has said he wants to move the holding of the phone records away from NSA, but the signs are that it may prove extremely hard to find someone able to take on such a controversial role. Despite the president's announcements of reform, his headaches over this specific programme do not look to be over.

Washington has argued it is lawful to collect information on phone calls - known as metadata - under a section of the George W Bush-era Patriot Act which gives the FBI the power to demand from businesses information deemed relevant to their investigations.

Sharp divisions

But the New York Times, one of several media organisations to have seen the PCLOB report, says three of the five panel members concluded that the NSA spying programme "lacks a viable legal foundation" under the Patriot Act.

It "represents an unsustainable attempt to shoehorn a pre-existing surveillance programme into the text of a statute with which it is not compatible", they said.

The programme also raised constitutional concerns, including "serious threats to privacy and civil liberties as a policy matter, and has shown only limited value".

"As a result, the board recommends that the government end the programme," said the report.

However two panel members - both lawyers from the Bush administration - strongly dissented, saying the issue of legality should be left to the courts to decide.

One, Rachel Brand, also argued that declaring the process illegal could affect the morale of intelligence agencies and make them overly cautious.

But all members agreed that data should be deleted sooner, and access to it tightened.

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A summary of US spying allegations brought about by Edward Snowden's leak of classified documents

The New York Times says the report also contains the first written acknowledgement that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) - the secret body which gives permission for mass surveillance - had only ruled on the legality of the programme in August 2013, though it been granting permission for intelligence agencies to demand records from phone companies since 2006.

The independent bipartisan panel is charged with analysing the government's anti-terror measures and balancing them against protection of civil liberties. It briefed Mr Obama on its key findings before his speech last week.

New limits on data

The panel's advisory report is the latest of several reviews of the legality and constitutionality of the NSA surveillance programme.

Continue reading the main story

How intelligence is gathered

• Accessing internet company data
• Tapping fibre optic cables
• Eavesdropping on phones
• Targeted spying

In December, a federal judge ruled the programme was "likely unconstitutional" as it violated the right to protection from unreasonable searches. However a week later another federal judge ruled the opposite, saying it was a "counter-punch" against al-Qaeda.

Also in December another White House panel, the Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technology, recommended significant curbs on surveillance and more transparency at the FISC.

President Obama acted on some of those recommendations in his much-anticipated speech last week, in which he acknowledged "the potential for abuse", and said he was ending the system "as it currently exists".

But he defended the work of US intelligence and said bulk data collection would continue as it had prevented terror attacks.

He said he had asked the attorney general and the intelligence community to draw up plans for metadata to be held by a third party, with the NSA requiring legal permission to access them. He said he had also limited the chain of calls the NSA could track.

Mr Obama said the US would stop monitoring the personal communications of foreign allies and create a panel of independent privacy advocates to sit on the FISC.

Civil liberties groups have said the changes do not go far enough in protecting the privacy of individuals.

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Strong backing for retina TV system

23 January 2014 Last updated at 09:34 ET

A headset projecting images on to the retina has hit its financial target, just hours into a fundraising drive.

Avegant sought $250,000 (£150,000) for the Glyph headset, and has already secured pledges of $425,000 (£256,000).

The Glyph has no screen but instead bounces pictures into the eyes of users using two million tiny mirrors in a narrow reflective band.

The headset is designed for films, TV and video games, but with its screen flipped can be used to listen to audio.

In a video accompanying the launch on Kickstarter, Avegant chief executive Ed Tang said cash was needed to finish design work on the headset, and to establish how to cut production costs so it was cheap enough for the mass market.

Those pledging more than $499 (£300) were promised their own fully functioning prototype.

Pixellation 'reduced'

Avegant claimed that by reflecting light off the band of mirrors, the retina produced an image much sharper than was possible using screens made up of individual pixels.

This also reduced the amount of pixellation seen with many other headset viewing devices, it said.

In addition, said Avegant, reflecting light meant it was possible to update images far more quickly than by refreshing a screen.

This could help with the motion sickness some people report with VR headsets, which often have a perceptible delay when a scene is updated.

The Glyph's big rival is likely to be the Oculus Rift headset, which also enjoyed strong backing on Kickstarter.

That headset uses two small screens to produce an immersive visual display suitable for showing films, TV and video games.

Gartner analyst Paul O'Donovan, said despite Avegant's claims it was unlikely the Glyph headset would be used while people were out and about.

"I just can't see people feeling comfortable wearing something so immersive in a public place, even on a plane," he said. "that limits this product to game players, some specialist scientific uses and perhaps as a novelty device to watch movies in bed without disturbing your partner."

"I think the bigger competition must come from a really big 65in 4K TV with a good surround sound system," he said "That's potentially more immersive and considerably more practical for everyday use, although not at all portable."

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