Chinese Hacked American Power Grid

The organization whose software is responsible for remote administration and monitoring of large sections of the American energy industry recently warned its clients about hacker attacks.

According to Telvent Canada, digital fingerprints left by the hackers point to China and one of its hacking groups known for numerous cyber-espionage campaigns against the US companies. The intruders somehow managed to bypass the corporate firewall and security systems and break into the system.

Internet Use May be Qualified as Mental Illness

The researchers are investigating whether the so-called “Internet-use” disorder exists and whether it should appear in the worldwide psychiatric manual. The study suggested that children who are addicted to using electronic devices around the clock can be diagnosed by the psychiatrist as having a serious mental illness.

According to Professor of Psychology Mike Kyrios, the children addicted to gaming have an obvious problem with Internet use. However, the technology itself also poses a potential problem. The researchers claim that addiction to video games and Internet has the same characteristics as other addictions: people suffer emotional shutdown and lack of concentration when addicted to the Internet. Moreover, they show withdrawal symptoms when the gadgets they use to access the web are removed. Apparently, this will have a devastating impact for children and families, because it is often noticed that both social interaction and food can be neglected in favor of the Internet.

The decision to include “Internet use” disorder into the list of mental illnesses was taken by the Australian Psychological Society, which has a submission to the international manual (the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). The manual in question will be revised next May, and the new edition may include “Internet use” disorder as an illness recommended for further investigation.

.uk Domain Offered to Public

During the consultation that started today, Nominet, known as a top level domain vanguard in the United Kingdom, recommends the short .uk domain be offered for businesses. According to the local media reports, the non-commercial outfit thinks that top level .uk domain would be both good for business and security.

However, the industry experts have a different opinion, warning that it may all seem good until Nominet pays to a 3rd party auditor for cleaning the books and suspending domains it supervises without notification. Such move will inevitably threaten the business of the companies that would choose Nominet domains.

“Six-Strikes” Regime Ready to Be Enforced

The graduated response system was postponed a few times for various reasons, but now ISPs throughout the country (including AT&T, Comcast, TWC and Verizon), along with the outfit responsible with tracking down infringers, are ready to enforce a “six-strikes” system of notifications and punishments.

CCI (the Center for Copyright Information) will be supervising the entire process under the aegis of the entertainment industry. Aside from the largest Internet service providers in the world, there will also be a company named MarkMonitor, which was chosen to track down alleged pirates.

Google Wants to Privatize the Internet

Consumer Watchdog claimed that the authorities should keep track of what international corporations like Google and Amazon are doing online, as well as to reject their applications to purchase new top level domains in bulk.

The watchdog outfit has recently written an open letter to ICANN and other relevant authorities. In the letter, John M Simpson, the Consumer Watchdog privacy project director, explained that there were plans by such giants as Google and Amazon to purchase enormous amounts of new top level domains. According to

Parents Abandon Children to the Internet

Despite the fact that parents admit they are worried about the influence the Internet may have on their kids, the recent report issued by McAfee says that a lot of 5-year-olds already own or use Internet enabled electronic devices.

The study in question surveyed two thousand parents of kids between 5 and 15 years old. 60% of the respondents regularly let their children go to the Internet without their supervision. The results of the survey reveal that 25% of kids aged 5 have been left alone at the computer with Internet access, as well as 40% of

Google Removed Video in Brazil to Save Its CEO

Apparently, if you want a video to be removed from YouTube, just get Google executives locked up and it will be. After Google refused to take down a video derogatory to a local mayor, the court simply locked up one of its Brazil executives.

After all, the Brazilian department of Google had to obey a court order and delete a video against a mayor candidate from YouTube. In the meantime, Fabio Coelho, local Google director-general, claimed that he was very disappointed to be refused to openly

US ISP Voluntarily Enforced Graduated Response System

Despite the fact that Mediacom, one of the largest ISPs in the country, isn’t to be a part of the “six-strikes” regime, it decided to punish its subscribers by permanently cutting their broadband connection in case they are alleged of unauthorized file-sharing.

Normally, copyright owners have to send DMCA takedown notices to broadband service providers to force them take action or ignore. However, Mediacom decided to apply its own policies, which include the permanent disconnection from the web after a third accusation.

Portugal Court Ruled File-Sharing Legitimate

When it comes to file-sharing issues in courts, the community is always ready for the worst. However, the Portugal case makes an exception. Last year, ACAPOR (one of the local advocacy groups) has sent the IP addresses of two thousand alleged copyright infringers to the Attorney General. The outfit hoped that they the pirates would be prosecuted, but the result surprised everyone…

Surprisingly enough, a Portuguese prosecutor decided not to follow on the people behind the IP addresses. Instead, a statement was made that it was absolutely legal to share file on non-commercial basis. In addition, IP addresses can’t be enough to launch a lawsuit against the suspected pirates.

Prime Minister of New Zealand Apologized to MegaUpload Founder

New Zealand’s prime minister John Key has provided MegaUpload founder, Kim Dotcom, with an official apology. This was about SWAT squads, encouraged by the entertainment industry, raiding Dotcom’s house. The prime minister admitted that Kim had been illegally spied on by the local government.

The prime minister announced that New Zealand had failed to provide the appropriate protection to its citizen Kim Dotcom. Earlier, John Key has delivered a report looking into the illegal interception of communications of MegaUpload employees.