Instagram grapples with drug adverts

7 November 2013 Last updated at 08:13 ET

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#BBCTrending looks at how drugs are offered on Instagram

Instagram has blocked searches for certain terms associated with the suspected illegal sale of drugs via its service.

The photo-themed social network took the measure after being asked to respond to an investigation by #BBCtrending - a new social media series.

The journalists had uncovered many pictures and videos of narcotics posted alongside text advertising their sale.

Instagram is owned by Facebook.

The firm has a policy of acting on posts reported as being inappropriate, but it believes it would be impractical and invasive to search for such material.

"Instagram has a clear set of rules about what is and isn't allowed on the site," a spokeswoman told the BBC.

"We encourage people who come across illegal or inappropriate content to report it to us using the built-in reporting tools next to every photo, video or comment, so we can take action.

"People can't buy things on Instagram, we are simply a place where people share photos and videos."

Among Instagram's "report photo/video" choices is the option to identify suspected drug use.

The BBC understands Facebook's staff aim to review posts flagged to either of its social networks within 48 hours. They also have the option of blocking terms classed as "bad hashtags" - ones that promote banned activities - if they are mentioned in the press or in user reports.

The only content Facebook does actively search for is images of child abuse.

Hidden identities

Most of the drugs-related activity appears to be taking place in the US.

"Just getting a few packs ready for tomorrow morning... Place your order today, it gets shipped out at 8AM tomorrow," read one post placed beneath an image of bags of marijuana.

Another picture showed a variety of pills, adding: "$2 a pop for xans, $10 a pop for roxys."

This refers to Xanax, a psychoactive anxiety treatment, and Roxicodone, an opiate used to treat pain.

Both require prescriptions in the US and the UK, but are sometimes bought on the black market.

Crystals of MDMA and other amphetamine-related substances were among other drugs advertised via photos and videos.

In many cases the buyer and seller arranged to finalise their deals using WhatsApp or Kik - instant messaging apps in which they could keep messages private. Like Instagram, accounts can be set up on these services without revealing either party's true identity.

Class-A drugs

Instagram is not the only social network on which drugs are advertised.

The BBC has also seen instances of the practice in comments below some videos on Google's YouTube service.

But while it is relatively common for the person who uploaded a drug-themed photo or video on Instagram to be the one advertising the sale of the substance, on YouTube the person posting the ad tends to do so below videos belonging to others.

Like Facebook, Google relies on users reporting a problem before taking action.

"We take user safety seriously and have guidelines that prohibit any content encouraging dangerous, illegal activities," said a spokeswoman for YouTube.

"This includes content promoting the sale of drugs. YouTube's review teams respond to videos flagged for our attention around the clock, removing millions of videos each year that violate our policies."

One drugs abuse researcher - who has advised the UN, World Health Organization and the UK government - said he was concerned by what he had seen.

"I'm not particularly sophisticated on the internet, and it took me 10 seconds to see posts selling class-A drugs on Instagram," said Prof Neil McKeganey, founder of the Centre for Drug Misuse Research, in Glasgow.

"Here is a public space being used to trade some of the most dangerous substances that we know are being abused.

"I absolutely feel there is a responsibility to take proactive action.

"It seems to me far too serious for those who own the companies that provide the public space through which this is occurring to simply say it's up to contributors to bring this to their attention."

UK-based drugs treatment charity Addaction said it too wanted social media companies to act "swiftly and vigilantly", adding that it believed the companies could make a positive difference if they did.

"Social media is a great way of reaching out to millions and millions of people," said spokesman Elliot Elam.

"That's why we'd like to see providers of these sites work with organisations like ours, so they can find ways to engage with any users who may be struggling with drug or alcohol problems."

Google and Facebook are not the only companies that rely on user reports to indentify potential drugs deals.

Yahoo's blogging service Tumblr confirmed it had the same policy.

"For legal reasons, we do not proactively monitor the site," said a spokeswoman.

"We respond to reports of activity that is illegal or against our policies pursuant to those policies and relevant law."

Although the BBC found photos of illegal drugs on Tumblr, searches for the terms that brought up associated adverts on Instagram did not appear to do so on Yahoo's service.

Gun sales

This is not the first time Instagram's self-policing policies have been called into question.

In August the Fusion.net blog suggested that the illegal psychedelics 2C-I and 2CB were also being advertised via the app.

Vice Magazine also highlighted that marijuana and several kinds of prescription pills were promoted on the service.

However it suggested that banning related hashtags would not solve the problem, saying "users would get more creative and choose other labels".

More recently US senator Edward Markey wrote to the service's chief executive, Kevin Systrom, asking him to look into reports that unregulated gun sales were being conducted through the app.

"Other companies that enable online sales have enacted commonsense protocols," he wrote.

"I encourage Instagram to take similar steps and adopt safe business practices that curb the marketing and sale of guns."

#BBCtrending is a hand-picked selection of stories trending on social media around the world. Have you seen an interesting trend? Tweet us.

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Vodafone fails on 3G mobile coverage

7 November 2013 Last updated at 07:55 ET

Mobile firm Vodafone has been rapped by regulator Ofcom for failure to meet its coverage obligations.

When 3G mobile spectrum licences were awarded in 2000, they included an obligation to roll services out to 80% of the population. In 2010 this was increased to 90%.

EE, Three and O2 are deemed to have successfully met this obligation.

But Vodafone falls short by 1.4%. It has promised to rectify this by the end of 2013.

It will involve rolling out 3G to more mobile masts than it had originally intended.

"Ofcom is fully aware of our plans to ensure compliance by the end of this year," the firm said in a statement.

"Our network investment stands at more than £900m this year alone and we remain on track to deliver indoor coverage across 2G, 3G and 4G to 98% of the population by 2015, two years ahead of the regulator's deadline," it added.

Ofcom will monitor its progress and reassess its 3G coverage in January 2014.

Improved services

Mobile coverage is a huge bugbear for consumers and one that Ofcom is determined to prioritise.

Recently it produced a report suggesting that mobile coverage on Britain's roads was poor. Next year it will report on the mobile coverage on the country's railways.

Matthew Howett, an analyst with research firm Ovum thinks that it will be little hardship for Vodafone to comply.

"I don't see it being very much of an issue for them to catch up and quite probably it will happen before the end of the year,"

Customers can take heart from the current 4G rollouts, he said.

"4G coverage will be better and much more likely to be complied with given the spectrum at 800MHz travels further distances and penetrates buildings well."

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Tesla shares hit by third car fire

7 November 2013 Last updated at 20:43 ET

Electric carmaker Tesla's Model S has suffered its third fire in five weeks.

In the latest incident, which took place on Wednesday in the US state of Tennessee, a fire broke out in a car after it hit debris on the road.

Tesla said the fire did not start spontaneously but was the result of the accident. The previous two fires have also been related to accidents.

The firm's shares fell more than 7% on Thursday, after a 14% fall on Wednesday triggered by weak earnings.

The company reported that it made a net loss of $38m in the July-to-September period.

In the latest incident, the front of a Tesla vehicle burst into flames after it ran over a tow bar near the town of Smyrna, Tennessee.

Analysts said that while the fires had been the result of accidents, investors had been worried about any potential impact on the firm.

"For a company with a stock price based as much or more on image than financials, those recurring headlines are highly damaging," said Karl Brauer, a senior analyst with Kelley Blue Book.

Adam Jonas, an analyst with Morgan Stanley, added that the risk of a formal investigation by US safety regulators "could raise near-term concerns to a higher level in terms of cost, image and production disruption".

Tesla's shares fell 7.5% to close at $139.7 on Thursday.

Other incidents

In October, a Model S caught fire after the driver ran over what Tesla said was "an extremely large object" near Seattle, Washington state.

After the fire, officials at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration had said they found no evidence to indicate that it resulted from defects or violations of US safety standards.

The second incident took place in Mexico later in the month. According to reports a car caught fire after it drove through a roundabout, crashed through a concrete wall and hit a tree.

Tesla said it is investigating the latest incident in Tennessee to find out what had caused the fire.

"Our team is on its way to Tennessee to learn more about what happened in the accident," Tesla spokeswoman Elizabeth Jarvis-Shean said in a statement.

"We will provide more information when we're able to do so."

The firm's chief executive, Elon Musk, has previously said that electric cars are safer than conventional cars.

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'Anonymous' hacks Singapore PM site

8 November 2013 Last updated at 03:50 ET

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's official website has been hacked by people claiming to be members of the hacking group Anonymous.

The attack comes a day after Mr Lee said he would track down the group.

He made the comments after a person claiming to be part of the group posted an online video in which he threatened to hack government websites.

Singapore's internet and phone regulator said part of the website had been "compromised" late on Thursday.

"The PMO main website is still working, and we are working to restore the page that has been compromised," the Infocomm Development Authority said in a statement.

The hackers had posted an image of a Guy Fawkes mask - the symbol of the Anonymous group - on the PM's website with the words: "It's great to be Singaporean today."

Media rules

Under new rules, unveiled by the Media Development Authority earlier this year, sites "that report regularly on issues relating to Singapore and have significant reach among readers" require individual licences.

The video, which was posted last month, had protested against the government's new rules for news websites.

Earlier this week, Mr Lee said his government would "spare no effort to try and track down the culprits".

"If we can find him, we will bring him to justice and he will be dealt with severely. You may think you're anonymous but we will make that extra effort to find out who you are," he added.

Earlier this month, a hacker - dubbed The Messiah and claiming to be a part of Anonymous - hacked the website of Singapore's main paper, The Straits Times.

He had left a message saying the paper's report on the video was misleading.

According to reports, The Messiah also claimed responsibility for hacking the website of the Ang Mo Kio Town Council last week, the municipal branch of the prime minister's district.

Hackers linked to Anonymous have defaced dozens of websites belonging to Australian businesses and Philippine government agencies during the past week.

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Bookshops lash out at Amazon offer

8 November 2013 Last updated at 08:09 ET By Dave Lee Technology reporter, BBC News

Bookshop owners have hit back at an initiative by Amazon to sell its Kindle e-book reader in independent shops.

The Amazon Source programme, launching first in the US, would let bookshops sell the devices and receive a small cut of e-book sales thereafter.

But reaction has been hostile - one US bookseller described it as "inviting hungry foxes into the henhouse".

Amazon said bookshops "should be striving to offer customers what they want".

Announcing the initiative earlier this week the company said: "With Amazon Source, customers don't have to choose between e-books and their favourite neighbourhood bookstore - they can have both."

However, it appeared bookshop owners were not convinced. New York-based publisher Melville House gathered opinions, and posted the frosty responses on its website.

"Hmmm, let's see," wrote Carole Horne from Harvard Book Store in Massachusetts.

"We sell Kindles for essentially no profit, the new Kindle customer is in our store where they can browse and discover books, the new Kindle customer can then check the price on Amazon and order the e-book.

"We make a little on their e-book purchases, but then lose them as a customer completely after two years. Doesn't sound like such a great partnership to me."

Staff at Skylight Books in California said it was "a Trojan Horse-style attempt to gain access to our customers".

Anger

Amazon has not yet announced whether it has plans to extend the scheme to the UK.

However, retailer Waterstones began selling the Kindle device in its stores earlier this year, despite managing director James Daunt previously describing Amazon as a "ruthless, money-making devil".

Mr Daunt admitted that readers were migrating to digital platforms, but that it was beyond the company's capabilities to develop and manufacture its own device.

But whether independent bookshops will welcome the same logic is as yet unclear.

Continue reading the main story

You've got to draw a line in the sand somewhere - they are destroying the high street"

End Quote Patrick Neale President, Bookseller Association

The resentment stateside was welcomed by Patrick Neale, president of the Booksellers Association and co-owner of Jaffe & Neale bookshop and cafe in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire.

"I was really pleased to see that American independent bookshops were saying no thanks," he told the BBC.

"We've stopped and thought about it because we're business people. But you've got to draw a line in the sand somewhere - they are destroying the high street.

"To do anything in collaboration would be wrong to our customers - it would be a very confusing message."

He added that a more favourable e-book deal for bookshops would be directly with publishers, with various discussions of that nature currently taking place.

Mr Neale's view was shared by Fran Crumpton, company manager at the Book Partnership, a group that helps independent bookshops set up online operations.

She too believed most bookshops would be opposed to the deal.

"Why should they be selling Amazon's products? That will then stop people using their bookshops - and we are losing so many. That's what many bookshops are thinking."

Follow Dave Lee on Twitter @DaveLeeBBC

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'Lover Spy' hacker FBI 'most wanted'

8 November 2013 Last updated at 08:22 ET

A man who allegedly created malware purporting to catch out cheating lovers has made it on to the FBI's "most wanted" list of cybercriminals.

The FBI says Carlos Enrique Perez-Melara ran a website offering customers a way to "catch a cheating lover" by sending spyware masquerading as a greeting card.

Opening the card downloaded the malware on to the recipient's computer and recorded keystrokes and messages.

The "Lover Spy" program cost $89 (£55).

Mr Perez-Melara was indicted in July 2005 but has avoided capture ever since, only now making it on to the FBI's most wanted list.

He ran the operation from his San Diego home in 2003, the FBI says, while he was in the US on a student travel visa.

The charges against Mr Perez-Melara, 33, included making, sending and advertising an interception device, and unlawfully intercepting electronic communications.

The indictment said Lover Spy was designed "with stealth in mind, claiming that it would be impossible to detect by 99.9% of users".

But Mr Perez-Melara has avoided the authorities ever since and his last known location was San Salvador, the FBI said.

The agency appears to have added the hacker to its list partly out of frustration at his elusiveness.

"These are sophisticated folks who know how to hide themselves on the internet,'' said John Brown, who oversees the FBI's cyber-division.

The agency has offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.

According to the 2005 indictment, Mr Perez-Melara sold the malware to 1,000 customers, who then used it to infect the computers of about 2,000 victims.

Victims took the bait about half the time, the government said.

People who bought the spyware were charged with illegally intercepting electronic communications.

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Major Bitcoin theft from website

8 November 2013 Last updated at 11:22 ET

A man who ran an online "wallet service" for storing Bitcoins has claimed hackers stole virtual currency from his site worth more than one million Australian dollars.

The Australian man said 4,100 Bitcoins (US$1.04m, £650,000) were taken in two separate attacks.

He said he would not report the theft to police as Bitcoin transactions are virtually impossible to trace.

This has led some users to speculate whether it was an "inside job".

In a radio interview with ABC News the man, who only used his online name TradeFortress, denied being involved.

The Bitcoin virtual currency is increasingly used to pay for things online.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the theft occurred on 26 October but users were only alerted this week via a message he posted on the wallet service's website.

"I know this doesn't mean much, but I'm sorry, and saying that I'm very sad that this has happened is an understatement.

"Please don't store Bitcoins on an internet-connected device, regardless if it is your own or a service's."

Bitcoin is the most well known of a handful of virtual currencies. The currencies are developed through a computer process called "mining" and can be traded on exchanges or privately between users.

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Warcraft world gets fifth expansion

11 November 2013 Last updated at 06:54 ET

Blizzard has announced the fifth expansion for its flagship World of Warcraft (WoW) online game.

Called the Warlords of Draenor it adds a new world to the game, lets players build settlements and instantly boost a character to high level.

The announcement comes as WoW player numbers hit a five-year low and Blizzard starts to group players on a smaller number of servers.

Blizzard has also unveiled plans for a new game called Heroes of the Storm.

Small audience

Details about Warlords of Draenor were unveiled at the annual Blizzcon gaming convention. The expansion involves a time-travelling storyline that will see players re-enact some of the events from the series of Warcraft strategy games that predated WoW.

The expansion is set on the world of Draenor and gives players a series of new zones, dungeons and instances to play on. Warlords lets characters play at level 100, introduces player settlements called garrisons and updates the look of some of the game's different races.

Blizzard said buyers of Warlords would be able to boost one character to level 90 so they could instantly go adventuring in the world of the expansion. No release date for Warlords has yet been given.

The news comes soon after Blizzard revealed that subscriber numbers for WoW had dropped to about 7.7 million. The last time they were this low was in 2007 and they are significantly down on the 2010 high of 12 million.

To manage this decline, Blizzard has introduced a system that lets people play across servers to ensure the game's economy, Player-versus-Player areas and arena battle systems have enough people participating to keep them functioning.

Writing on the Rock Paper Shotgun game news site, Nathan Grayson described Warlords of Draenor as a "decent expansion" but said the decision to re-visit Warcraft's past was "puzzling".

"This is maintenance, in a sense," he wrote. "Something to keep existing players interested and happy. And who knows? Maybe the focus that a smaller audience allows will be good for WoW in the long run."

Blizzcon also saw the announcement of a new game called Heroes of the Storm. This is an arena-based hero brawling game that lets people take control of key characters from almost every game Blizzard makes including Starcraft and Diablo. The heroes are united in teams and fight rivals for dominance on one of a series of different maps.

A beta test of Heroes is currently under way and Blizzard said the finished game would be released "soonish".

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Smartphone camera reveals PIN

11 November 2013 Last updated at 08:19 ET

The PIN for a smartphone can be revealed by its camera and microphone, researchers have warned.

Using a programme called PIN Skimmer a team from the University of Cambridge found that codes entered on a number-only soft keypad could be identified.

The software watches your face via the camera and listens to clicks through the microphone as you type.

The tests were carried out on the Google Nexus-S and the Galaxy S3 smartphones.

"We demonstrated that the camera, usually used for conferencing or face recognition, can be used maliciously," say the report's authors Prof Ross Anderson and Laurent Simon.

According to the research, the microphone is used to detect "touch-events" as a user enters their PIN. In effect, it can "hear" the clicks that the phone makes as a user presses the virtual number keys.

The camera then estimates the orientation of the phone as the user is doing this and "correlates it to the position of the digit tapped by the user".

"We watch how your face appears to move as you jiggle your phone by typing," said Ross Anderson, professor of security engineering at Cambridge University.

"It did surprise us how well it worked," he told the BBC.

When trying to work out four-digit PINs the programme was successful more than 50% of the time after five attempts. With eight-digit PINs the success rate was 60% after 10 attempts.

Many smartphone users have a pincode to lock their phone but they are increasingly used to access other types of applications on a smartphone, including banking apps.

This raises the question of which resources should remain accessible on a phone when someone is entering a sensitive PIN, say the report's authors.

Randomise keys

"For instance when a call comes in, the user needs to hear the ring tone while unlocking his phone; otherwise he may assume the caller has hung up."

One suggestion to prevent a PIN being identified is to use a longer number but the researchers warn this affects "memorability and usability".

"Randomising" the position of numbers on the keypad is also suggested but the researchers believe this would "cripple usability on phones".

Getting rid of passwords altogether and using fingerprints or face recognition are offered as more drastic solutions.

"If you're developing payment apps, you'd better be aware that these risks exist," warns Prof Anderson.

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Microwave signals turned into power

11 November 2013 Last updated at 10:18 ET

An electrical current capable of charging a mobile phone has been created from microwave signals.

A team from Duke University said the technology they had used had been as efficient as using solar panels.

The device they created used metamaterials, which capture various forms of wave energy and convert them for other applications.

In the future, satellite, sound or wi-fi signals could be "harvested", according to the US researchers.

"We're showing... these materials can be useful for consumer applications," said engineering student Alexander Katko.

Using fibreglass and copper conductors on a circuit board, the researchers converted microwaves into 7.3 volts of electricity. A USB charger, which is often used to recharge mobile phone batteries and cameras, provides about five volts.

"We were aiming for the highest energy efficiency we could achieve," said team member Allen Hawkes.

"We had been getting energy efficiency around 6-10%, but with this design we were able to dramatically improve energy conversion to 37%, which is comparable to what is achieved in solar cells."

Metamaterials are artificial materials that display properties not usually found in nature.

In future, the two students and their colleague Steven Cummer hope that the technology can be built in to mobile phones. This would allow the handsets to recharge wirelessly when not being used.

They also believe that it could help users living in remote areas without access to the power grid. They would be able to "harvest" the energy from signals generated by mobile phone towers.

"Our work demonstrates a simple and inexpensive approach to electromagnetic power harvesting," said Mr Cummer.

"The beauty of the design is that the basic building blocks are self-contained and additive. One can simply assemble more blocks to increase the scavenged power."

The full report will be published in the journal Applied Physics Letters in December.

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