government

The Egyptian government of President Hosni Mubarak forced Vodafone to send out prescripted, propagandistic text messages during the country's recent unrest, the carrier said today in a statement on its Web site.

A text message by someone identified as "Vodafone" was sent to an Associated Press reporter in Egypt on Sunday appealing to the country's "honest and loyal men to confront the traitors and criminals and protect our people and honor," according to an AP report.

But Vodafone said the Egyptian government can use its emergency powers under the country's Telecommunications Act to … Read more

Everyone's favorite government agency, the Internal Revenue Service, has launched its own mobile application.

Released last week to iPhone and Android users, the free IRS2Go provides a few tidbits of information that could make April 15 a bit less stressful.

Those of us fortunate enough to qualify for a refund can find out exactly when Uncle Sam will be sending out that check. Entering your Social Security number (which the IRS says is masked and encrypted), filing status, and expected refund amount delivers the due date for your payment.

People who file their federal taxes electronically can check their … Read more

Google is for the first time launching Chrome, Google Earth, and Picasa for users in Iran, according to the company's official blog.

The U.S. government recently lifted some of the restrictions prohibiting software downloads to Iran. Now, the search giant is looking to get its downloadable products into the hands of Iranian citizens while at the same time blocking access to the Iranian government.

"We're committed to full compliance with U.S. export controls and sanctions programs and, as a condition of our export licenses from the Treasury Department, we will continue to block IP addresses … Read more

An e-mail sent to an unknown number of government employees and contractors two days before Christmas appeared to be a holiday greeting from the White House but instead hid malware that stole data.

The innocent-looking holiday e-greeting prompted recipients to click to view the card, but when the file was opened, malware known as "Zeus" was downloaded to the computer, according to reports. Zeus is known as a banking Trojan horse designed to steal passwords and online credentials, mostly for financial fraud.

The Department of Homeland Security is "aware of and monitoring the situation," spokeswoman Amy … Read more

Republicans are planning to use the Internet as a sledgehammer to clobber the secretive way in which Congress has traditionally done business.

Through a set of almost-radical changes that most Americans would probably view as common sense, the incoming GOP majority is set to approve rules saying that legislation must be posted online three days before a vote and that committee amendments will also be publicly posted.

Politicians' formal votes in committees will also be disclosed, and audio and video recordings will be permanently posted "in a manner that is easily accessible to the public," according to the … Read more

A majority of American voters wants the FCC to keep its hands off the Internet.

At least, that was the finding of new survey results released this week by polling firm Rasmussen Reports.

Among the 1,000 "likely U.S. voters" questioned, only 21 percent said they'd be in favor of the Federal Communication Commission regulating the Internet. A majority 54 percent said they're opposed to government control of the Net, while 25 percent were left undecided.

Rasumussen conducted its survey on December 26, just a few days after the FCC unveiled new regulations that would … Read more

After record solar-plant approval in 2010, the California Energy Commission believes its "big push" in solar-thermal projects is over.

This past year represented a "sea change" as regulators ended a 20-year dry spell and fast-tracked solar-thermal plant approval, spokesman Adam Gottlieb told Reuters yesterday, helping drive the state's and nation's broader renewable-energy goals.

But because so many developers were rushing to meet a December 31 deadline for federal incentives, CEC staff are expecting a slower year in 2011. In hindsight, the rush was overdone, given that Congress has now extended that deadline for federal … Read more

New York City, the nation's largest city and its true media capital, is telling citizens that "piracy doesn't work" as part of a new publicly funded antipiracy ad campaign.

The message to New Yorkers is that downloading music and movies without paying for them "kills jobs" in the city. The ads will appear at bus shelters, movie theaters, on the Web and on the video screens found in taxicabs, according to Katherine Oliver, commissioner of media and entertainment for the city of New York.

The costs of running the campaign are minimal because the … Read more

Links from Monday's episode of Loaded:

Best Buy scraps its restocking fee policy

Google TV may not be ready for its closeup when the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show kicks off next month

The Privacy Bill of Rights aims to regulate companies' data collection practices

The U.K. government wants to make all pornography opt-in only

Google's PowerMeter can now track your home energy use via your home broadband if you have a PowerCost Monitor

TellMyGeo is the app version of "I've fallen and I can't get up!"

And don't miss tonight's lunar eclipse … Read more