It's not as bad as it looks

Keep in mind that these overseas operators are being charged with a) bribing at least one bank officer to illegally process payments and cover up their activities, b) used three other individuals to illegally process payments through their own bank accounts and lie to banking officials about the nature of their cash flow.

Yes, it's absolutely stupid that the US has a screwed-up perspective on online gambling, and yes it was absolutely stupid how those laws were put into effect. It should be turned around. Whether or not you think these laws are right or wrong, it is absolutely clear that bribing bank officials and lying to bank officials is not only illegal, but wrong.

Aside from that, a small change in domain names and moving your registrations to entities outside of the United States will fix this issue.

Painting a target on their backs

I'm sure Sen. Ron Wyden will be very interested in hearing the Feds explain shutting down 84,000 sites.

What's to rage about?

Why should Open Source developers and users be upset over a tiny man in his white tower throwing hissy fits? Yes it is sad that one of my favorite open source games, OpenTTD, cannot be developed for iPad/iPod Touch and given away for free in the App Store because App Store policies are not compatible with the GNU Public License. Sadly, this is the fate of consumers who purchase into a platform which shackles them to the whims of a megalomaniac.

Don't own a PS3, and never will now

I don't own a PS3, or a PS2, I'll admit to owning an old PSOne but it was given as a used gift and honestly I never bothered to hook it up. Sony is going overboard here and it's completely turned me off from wanting to even use any of their products. The CD rootkit issue was bad enough a few years ago, but IMO they've gone too far now in trying to defend their security.

Where's the BOFH?

I smell his greasy palms in the middle of this whole thing. :D

It'll get overturned on the federal level

Four federal courts in the last six months have ruled that you need a search warrant in order to access GPS, cell phone and e-mail information. This will get appealed to a federal level and be overturned very quickly.

How cruel, Simon!

I know the economy is tight, but axing your staff at Christmas is nothing short of sheer horror!

Can I borrow "Santa Elf"? There's a data center in Denver that could use a little of that Christmas cheer after us telecommuters found out we're being cut back to 18 hours a week because we overhired and don't want to lay off too many staff just in case our work production comes back.

I don't see carbon trading as the solution

If your goal is to reduce carbon output, then simply make the demand for it. Trading in carbon "credits" only allows a company to continue the same level of pollution as before, except now it's government-sanctioned. We're not doing any service to our environmental stewardship with this. The only way to reduce carbon emissions is to demand that companies do so under penalty of law, with further heavier punishments for continued violation of pollution standards. And I would argue that such punishments include shutting down companies that repeatedly violate the law. Yes, it is heavy-handed from on-high, but this is the price you pay for not using your own common sense and needing the government to put you in a nanny state.

Good for Amazon

IIRC, didn't Amazon terminate affiliate agreements for all affiliates located in North Carolina?

Not that this is a big deal. If you're doing significant enough business as an affiliate, just register as a corporation in Delaware instead. They like your business taxes, and it still lets you make your sales to North Carolina residents without them having to incur taxes.

Incredibly easy to do at any store

The first key to pulling this off is realizing that most store staff rarely, if ever, care to know who their customers and vendors are, and cannot identify who may be trying to compromise their systems. I work as a freelance merchandiser and auditor for several different companies. Often times I work for these separate companies at the same store within days of each other. The store staff rarely, if ever, recognize me, even though I live three miles from the store and shop there a few times a week.

The second key is to look like you know what you're doing. When I was working for a company that needed to advertise a big event but didn't have the budget to do so, I once went to every newspaper box and news stand in three towns slipping an advertisement into the daily newspaper. This would have cost thousands of dollars to do if they had paid the newspaper. Instead I spent $20 in quarters to access the news boxes, and nothing to go into stores and news stands to insert the advertisements in the early morning hours, just moments after the newspaper carriers delivered them. If anybody asked me what I'm doing, I told them that the newspaper forgot to include a huge advertisement for a client and I had to go back behind them and fix them. Nobody ever questioned me, nobody ever asked me for ID, nobody ever called the newspaper to verify it.

The third thing is to actually appear to be who you are. When I am a merchandiser, I always wear a nice short-sleeve button-down shirt, a tie, and clip-on name badge etc. I look like I'm representing the client, I go to the front desk and I sign into the vendor log (and often get a peek at what other vendors are coming in and out of the store, at what hours, and how often). When I was impersonating the newspaper carrier, I dressed and acted the part - warm clothing that was slightly worn so I looked like I didn't care if I got news ink on them, slightly rotten attitude because I'm up so early in the morning working, etc.

So I could see these scammers easily working this over. All they would have to do is look like a hardware tech, show up at the store, sign into the vendor log and get to work. If anybody questioned them, they just explain that they're from XYZ company and are here to do upgrades on equipment, convince staff it will only take a few minutes, and then get right to work. Name badges, company cards, even a faked letter of authorization in case some real hard-ass manager questioned anything. I'm sure in nearly every case, few people if any questioned what was going on. Because one assumed the role and demonstrated they knew what they were doing, store staff blindly trusted them. And, in truth, most likely the store staff was either too busy working to notice, or too busy goofing off to care.

I can't disagree with his parenting skills

I know it's off-topic, but blame El Reg, they started it. I don't necessarily agree with his opinion on music piracy, but he is right that the music industry failed to capitalize on the catalogs that they had and because of their inactivity, they allowed the thieves to get the jump on them. You can't unring a bell, we'll never go back to the old days where you were paying $20+ just to get one decent song.

Anyhow, back to the off-topic. I think Gene Simmons is a great father. He's not a friend to his children, he is their parent. He's taught them right from wrong, he's lead by example on how a person should act as a decent human being. He holds strong and controversial opinions, but he does so in a manner that not only shows respect for his beliefs, but also respect for those with whom he disagrees. Unlike many of his peers, and the children of his peers, the Simmons family is probably one of the more stable and wholesome families you could find anywhere.

Great step

Now if only we can get this implemented in the United States. I let all my calls go to voicemail first now because of a high incident of these calls, with direct dialbacks often resulting in receiving a message that my call cannot be placed to the machine that placed it to me.

Disappointed

They should have saved the robot for a bonus round of Beancounter Pinball.

I feel the pain, but...

Google is making a point that AT&T and Verizon made long ago -- that these particular phone calls are going to a calling zone in a rural area where the local telephone commission has determined can charge outrageous connection fees. This happens nowhere else in the United States except to this one small exchange, and it is done on purpose as means for generating revenue for a rural area that has no other means of revenue creation.

In the modern day an age of telephone and communication services, this type of behavior borders on true piracy, IMO, and it should not be tolerated. A reasonable fee, with small fluctuations in prices depending on the area, is acceptable. Outrageous connection fees are not, though.

BUT -- the courts have already ruled that all telephone companies cannot shut out this one exchange because of this shameful behavior because it robs consumers of freedom of choice, and they cannot pass on the increased connection fees to consumers who want to use the services set up in this one exchange. They have the option of increasing EVERYBODY's fees to offset this, or they can choose to eat the costs, but they don't have the option to NOT connect calls.

Google may not want to admit it, but their service becomes a telephony service the second it moves from the Internet to the public telephone network. Vonage and other VoIP providers have all failed to make the argument that they are not a telephone service. Although all Google's service does is connect one user's phone to another phone line, it does so by crossing over to the public telephone network, and thus falls under a telephone product. Just because Google Voice is free should not matter -- it is Google's choice to make it free. if AT&T wanted to do so, they could make their telephony products free as well, and they would still be responsible for the connection fees.

Until the law changes that outlaws the abhorrent behavior of this one rogue exchange, Google should not be evil and should follow the law. Google should not be evil and it should work with the rest of the telephony providers affected by this to rally public support to end this.

Silly time zones

As if the sun, the earth, or the universe actually care what a few LEDs on a readout state. I personally would be very happy if the whole world just stayed on GMT, screwing with time zones from one location to another and then trying to adjust for "more sunlight" during one section or another is just silly. If you want more activities to be done in natural light, then actually adjust your activities to do just that.

Does this honestly matter in 1st world countries which have large chunks of society and industry that run 24/7? Does it really matter to the average citizen in New York, London or Tokyo if it is daytime or night time for any particular task that doesn't actually rely on the sun being available? This is why we created electricity and reliable power grids.

Shouldn't it link to WikiNews instead?

One would think that Google News would instead link to stories from Wikinews, the news reporting site, rather than Wikipedia, the encyclopedic site.

Hopefully he comes out on top.

I agree with earlier comments, once Apple sells you the software, it's yours to do with as you wish - you can use the disc for a frisbee, or you can install it on a non-Apple PC. Granted you may not get tech support if you desire to not install it on an Apple computer, and there is no guarantee that any other software will properly operate with it (as if there ever has been, almost all software is sold "AS IS" with no guarantee of even functioning for its intended purposes), but if you're willing to do that then it shouldn't be any of Apple's business what you do.

And if this guy is buying the software then modifying it so it can run on the hardware that he wants, so what? Toyota can't use you for modifying your Prius with after-market modifications or fudging with the vehicle's software and turning around and re-selling it, software companies shouldn't either.

re: Who cares?

@Ken H: Sure, who cares now, but what happens if more states adopt it?

Minnesota is within their rights to block sites

While the law that Minnesota is using to try to block access to gambling sites may be flawed, there is nothing preventing them from establishing a new law to meet their goals. Online gambling IS illegal in the United States, and in Minnesota gambling is regulated and restricted by the government to ensure that all operations are operating fairly and within the limits of the law - something that cannot be assured with a gambling operation outside of the state's borders.

Establishing a new law requiring all ISPs which provide service within the state to block access to gambling sites via a state-provided list is quite legal. Since the federal government already bans online gambling, there can be no complaints about Constitutional violations. There MIGHT be cause to complain if an operator of such a site is within the state's borders and is being blocked from accessing their business if that business is legally operating outside of the United States, but I would assume that to be a very rare exception.

Whether or not such a move benefits in-state casino operations are important, but are secondary to the federal law that is already established.

Trademarks Etc

The US government cannot copyright works that it creates because they are done on behalf of the public. However, it can trademark phrases, artwork and other associated things with government departments to protect both the government and the public from any confusion as to whether or not a private entity is a representative of the government agency.

That is neither here nor there with regards to Goldman Sachs. They are a private company who has received an investment from the government. That doesn't make them a governmental or quasi-governmental agency or department.

With regards to Goldman Sachs' claims, sadly I think Mr. Morgan has made a mistake by filing a lawsuit in court. He should have waited out the harassment until Sachs took him to WIPO. Under WIPO policy he wouldn't have to pay anything to the arbitration panel to defend himself, and he would most likely have a solid claim. By taking it to court, you end up leaving the decision in the hands of a judge - or worse, a jury - who will more likely be ignorant of the policies regarding domain names and is likely to side with the larger corporation.

Here's another opinion on Ecofont

The editors and readers of LifeHacker reviewed this last month. Here's a link if you want to read it for yourself:

http://lifehacker.com/5108188/ecofont-saves-your-ink

Good show!

You knock off the boss two weeks before Chrstmas... who takes over the department? Well you know HR isn't going to want to deal with this NOW... so it looks like the BOFH and PFY are once again temporary head of the department.

And going into the holiday season... the company Christmas and New Year's Eve party... I can't wait to see which hepdesk drone gets to be the first to chug a whole liter of eraser fluid on a dare from the PFY. This year's party HAS to be the best ever.

I predict that a financials database will go down three hours before the end of payday, and a swift rescue by Simon will find a huge Christmas bonus for them and less for the beancounters. Rightfully so.

And then... time to hire a new boss. I'm sure they're already charging up the cattle prods and making their lists, checking it twice.

2009 could be the most bastardly of the bastard operator from hell, yet!

You don't get it, do you?

@richard: "also good to see people agreeing with my thoughts about being charitable, why the fuck should they? the government of the richest country in the world should look after it's people, along with the richest state in the US! it's not the job of 'techie' companies."

This is not the American way. The American way is that we pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps, not look to government for a hand out. The American way is that when our own rich and well-off see the poor and downtrodden, they don't demand that the government sweep them off the street or make the problem go away, they reach into their own pockets to find solutions.

By and large, while the gap between rich and poor may be widening, there is still a long-held spirit by both sides that we're all in this together.

Corporate philanthropy is a product of the late 1800s, the backlash to the Industrial Revolution, that corporations have a duty to its employees and the communities they work and reside in to not merely be another cog in the machine to be chewed up and spit out. When you invest in your employees, when you invest in the communities that you reside in, you build a healthy relationship that is mutually beneficial.

I'll provide you with one example of such a situation: Eli Lilly & Co. is based in Indianapolis, IN. Very early on it invested in charitable activities in Indianapolis, in the early 1900s it started to donate its medicines to national and international emergencies. Today it invests heavily in academic programs within the public school systems in and around Central Indiana, as well as many public cultural events. They are also very generous with grants for college students in many fields. The result is that it has a very favorable relationship with the Indianapolis city government, many of the residents who benefited from this charity go on to become employees of the company.

I think it is fair to ask what is Apple, Inc. providing to the people of Cupertino as well the rest of the world besides encouraging them to become drunk on the power of mass consumerism. As far as pirates go, even pirates of the old high seas shared the wealth amongst themselves and frequently welcomed those who were considered societal outcasts, using the elite talents of these individuals to help their causes.

And this is what you pay a TV tax for?

Well when they say "You can't buy entertainment like THIS!"... apparently you can! LOL

Doesn't fly with this Kentuckian

I'm pretty confident that this will either be overturned at a higher court level, or just simply ignored by any registrar not located in the United States. I agree with the majority that domain names, by and large, cannot be subject to such seizure efforts unless the company leasing the domain is also located in the same state. One well-put argument with WIPO should get this reversed if it goes all the way to the Kentucky Supreme Court and the defendants fail. Okay, 139 well-put arguments.

If Kentucky wants to stop its residents from accessing internet gambling operations, then it should be on the state of Kentucky to enforce that on its own citizens, rather than attempting to demand that out-of-state (and out-of-country) entities be knowledgeable of the laws of an area where it isn't located. Have the state demand that all ISPs that operate in Kentucky filter out such sites, have the state maintain a regular list of domain names and IP addresses that connect to such sites, and any attempts to access such sites by Kentucky residents should be reported to Kentucky authorities.

Which, of course, will eventually fail because maintaining a staff to watch all of these sites, keep up the access lists, distribute them to the ISPs etc. are going to be extremely expensive and in a state that is still dealing with issues such as delivering clean water to all its citizens and the degradation of quality of life due to strip mining for coal is not going to be able to justify such activities.

Another Laugh Out Loud Moment!

BRILLIANT! The BOFH always gets a chuckle out of me, but it's been awhile since I've laughed so loud that it woke my wife up in the middle of the night. Thank, Simon!

It's sad, but it's not the end of the world

No ISP is required to carry Usenet, and indeed, I'm surprised that most of them do still carry it since it's really not much more than a muddy backroad on the Internet, it doesn't make them money, and between the porn and the warez, it is entirely more trouble than it is worth.

At least they're not banning anybody's right to access Usenet newsgroups, they're simply declining to directly particpate in it and provide it to their customers. You're still free to find another Usenet server to play on.

Always love these stories

No different than when rural farms are now put on the defensive because decades old operations are now offending all the new people who have moved in and put up houses expecting to live the country lifestyle, but not willing to put up with the downsides of country lifestyle... like animal manure.

OpenOffice already creates PDF

I've been very happy with the OpenOffice for creating PDF documents. Quick and easy, and, indeed, it is WYSIWOG. I'm also using Foxit Reader as my PDF reader of choice.

I'm disappointed

How could Simon just let the old boss walk away? Surely an accidental bump down the stairway or an unexplained 72-hour stay in the tape safe could have been arranged?