ips

Republic Wireless set to expand unlimited Wi-Fi-calling beta

It may have sounded too good to be true but Republic Wireless is pushing ahead to make its big idea, offering unlimited voice, text, and data to mobile subscribers for just $19 per month, a reality. The company said today that it will expand the beta of its service, called Wi-Fi Waves, to intrepid users who have already signed on. … Read more

MPAA's former tech policy chief turns SOPA foe

A senior executive that Hollywood hired last year to be its chief technology policy officer has undergone a remarkable about-face: he now opposes the Stop Online Piracy Act.

Paul Brigner, who was until last month a senior vice president at the Motion Picture Association of America, has emerged as SOPA's latest critic. "I firmly believe that we should not be legislating technological mandates to protect copyright -- including SOPA and Protect IP," he says.

In a statement posted on CNET.com, Brigner says that his time at the MPAA -- which, more than any other advocacy group, … Read more

To succeed, ultrabooks need displays like the iPad, MacBook

For ultrabooks to succeed, the display needs to approach an iPad's quality or least match that of a MacBook--which uses higher-end displays.

A lower quality display can be a deal breaker for consumers in the age of the iPad, which boasts a high-quality, high-resolution in-plane switching (IPS) display.

IPS and high-quality TN displays offer viewing angles and contrast typically better than those used on most ultrabooks today.

This shortcoming has become apparent in more than a few reviews of the Dell XPS 13 ultrabook, which in almost every other respect is generally considered an excellent design. (Another review here … Read more

MPAA chief: SOPA and Protect IP back from the grave?

The Motion Picture Association of America believes there's still hope for the controversy-plagued Stop Online Piracy Act.

In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter that was published online today, MPAA chief Christopher Dodd said he was "confident" that President Obama was using his "good relationships in both communities" -- that is, Silicon Valley and Hollywood -- to advance SOPA.

When asked whether there are negotiations going on now, Dodd replied: "I'm confident that's the case, but I'm not going to go into more detail because obviously if I do, it becomes … Read more

White House calls for new law targeting 'offshore' Web sites

Only weeks after protests over two digital copyright bills demonstrated the political muscle of Internet users, the White House is publicly endorsing new copyright legislation that also would target suspected pirate Web sites.

After the unprecedented outcry against the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act -- designed to target offshore copyright-infringing Web sites -- supporters of the bills on Capitol Hill backed down and moved on to other topics.

But the White House today reignited the congressional debate by throwing its weight behind legislation targeting offshore Web sites. "We believe that new legislative and non-legislative tools … Read more

Anti-SOPA Internet Society under fire for hiring MPAA executive

The Internet Society is hardly a fan of the Stop Online Piracy Act or the Protect IP Act. The venerable non-profit, which acts as the umbrella organization for the Internet's key standards bodies, bluntly warns that the pair of copyright laws would end the "viability of the Internet."

Which is why ISOC's decision this month to hire a senior executive from the Motion Picture Association of America -- a lawyer who has championed the wildly controversial legislation that would blacklist Web sites that supposedly violate copyright -- is raising eyebrows.

ISOC announced last week that it had hired Paul Brigner, … Read more

Facebook shores up defenses, taps IBM for patents

In an effort to better protect itself from litigious competitors, Facebook has acquired a large collection of patents from IBM.

Citing an anonymous source, Bloomberg reported today that the two companies struck a deal that will give the social-networking giant 750 of IBM's patents, which cover "software and networking" technologies.

An IBM spokesperson declined to comment on or confirm the report. A Facebook spokesman confirmed the deal, but would not comment on the volume or specifics of the patent collection.

The deal comes at a time when Facebook is under fire from Web giant Yahoo, which last … Read more

Ten worst Internet laws of 2012?

The latest list of the 10 worst proposed Internet laws is out, and topping it are efforts by state legislators to derail disruptive business models such as Airbnb.com and Uber.com.

NetChoice, a Washington, D.C., coalition that includes Facebook, eBay, VeriSign, and Yahoo as members, today plans to release its updated "iAWFUL" list of misguided, nutty, or simply counterproductive laws. On NetChoice's worst-of-the-worst list:

• Uber.com, an online and mobile-device service for finding a car service, has been curbed by city taxi commissions who cite "hack" laws to preserve their monopolies.

• Airbnb.com, … Read more

Secusmart offers encrypted calls for Android, BlackBerry

HANOVER, Germany--Wish you had one of those spy-movie scramblers the president uses to to keep snoopers from tapping into his calls?

At the CeBIT show here, Secusmart debuted a microSD card with a built-in processor that lets people do just that with ordinary smartphones. It plugs into phones with a microSD slot--yes, that means no iPhones--then encrypts voice and SMS communications.

The technology uses VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) to actually place the calls, which means it needs 3G or Wi-Fi connections, said Hans-Christoph Quelle, a managing director at the German company. With that connection, it provides real-time, full-duplex communications--in … Read more