Spain lifts file-sharing site blocks

18 July 2014 Last updated at 16:09

A Spanish court has ordered blocks on six file-sharing sites to be lifted.

All six sites were blocked in May after being accused of infringing copyright by the Spanish anti-piracy federation.

The block meant mobile operators and internet service providers (ISPs) in Spain were told to stop letting customers get at the sites.

Now a court in Zaragoza has said there were "insufficient grounds" for maintaining the blocks and has called for them to be lifted.

The decision should mean that mobile companies and ISPs will lift the blocks in the next few days.

The court was considering the blocks after those running some of the accused sites appealed.

The sites blocked were SpanishTracker, PCTorrent.com, NewPCT.com, PCTestrenos.com, Descargaya.es and TumejorTV.com.

Traffic to sites fell sharply after they were cut off but some of them set up alternative domains and proxies to help regular users get around the block.

Spain has been a vigorous pursuer of pirates and has passed tough anti-piracy laws and jailed operators of file-sharing sites.

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China's Huawei sees sales jump 19%

21 July 2014 Last updated at 06:31

Chinese telecom equipment maker Huawei has reported a 19% jump in sales to 135.8bn yuan ($21.9bn; £12.8bn) for the first six months of the year.

It said it expects to make an operating profit margin of 18.3% for the period.

Huawei has traditionally concentrated on making telecoms network equipment, but has benefited by diversifying into fast-growing sectors such as smartphone manufacturing.

It is now one of the world's largest smartphone makers.

Cathy Meng, the firm's chief financial officer, said the firm "achieved quality and sustainable growth in our consumer business thanks to the increase of brand awareness and smart devices sales worldwide".

According to research firm IDC, Huawei shipped 13.7 million smartphones in the first three months of this year - making it the third-biggest smartphone vendor in the world.

Huawei did not give a breakdown of its latest sales numbers.

Continued growth

Huawei has also been looking to tap into the market for wearable technology and introduced its hybrid Talkband smart device earlier this year.

Furthermore, China's investment in fourth-generation mobile network technology has led to a steady stream of revenue for the firm.

"Driven by increasing investments in LTE networks worldwide, Huawei has further solidified its leadership position in mobile broadband," Ms Meng said in the statement.

The firm's growth comes despite it coming under scrutiny in key markets in recent years.

In 2012, US politicians claimed that the company posed a security threat because of its alleged links to China's government and military.

The concerns over its association with the Chinese authorities have been driven in part, by the fact that the company's founder, Ren Zhengfei, was a former member of the People's Liberation Army.

However, Huawei has repeatedly denied those claims and has stressed that it is 100%-owned by its employees and founder.

Earlier this year, a report in the New York Times alleged that the US National Security Agency (NSA) had infiltrated Huawei's servers.

In response, China has demanded a clear explanation from the US government.

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Social media 'aid doctor complaints'

21 July 2014 Last updated at 00:39

A rise in complaints against doctors reflects the role of social media and negative press coverage of the medical profession, according to a report commissioned by the General Medical Council.

Complaints by the public against doctors doubled between 2007 and 2012.

A research team from Plymouth University was asked to investigate the increase.

The GMC said there was no evidence of falling standards in the profession.

The report does not point to any specific cause for the rise in complaints made by the general public.

They went up from 5,168 complaints in 2007 to 10,347 five years later.

Continue reading the main story

We have no evidence that the rise in complaints against doctors reflects falling standards"

End Quote Niall Dickson GMC chief executive

Instead, it identified a number of trends that it says have made the public more prone to making complaints about their doctors.

The report said patients are now better informed about their health, have higher expectations of doctors and tend to treat them with less deference than they used to.

It said social media also had a role to play in the rise in complaints because it encouraged people to discuss their experiences of the medical profession in public forums and allowed information to be more easily accessed and shared.

Negative press coverage could be "chipping away" at the medical profession's reputation, the report said, resulting in more people making "me too" complaints to the GMC.

'Changes in society'

But while media coverage of high-profile medical cases may have influenced the rise in complaints, it suggested this also gave rise to more complaints that were not relevant to the GMC, which regulates doctors in the UK.

Dr Julian Archer, lead author of the report from Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry, said the report had produced "some fascinating findings".

He said: "They show that the forces behind a rise in complaints against doctors are hugely complex and reflect a combination of increased public awareness, media influence, the role of social media technology and wider changes in society."

Dr Archer added: "The report also indicated that there is much to do to improve the wider complaint handling system, so that complaints made by the general public about their doctors are directed to the appropriate authorities."

Niall Dickson, chief executive of the GMC, said the research showed that patients were more willing to complain and found it easier to do so.

But he said: "We have no evidence that the rise in complaints against doctors reflects falling standards."

He agreed that the complaints system itself could be improved.

"The challenge for the GMC and other organisations is to make sure that anyone who has a concern or complaint can find their way to the right organisation to deal with it. For the vast majority of patients and relatives, that will mean local resolution.

"The large number of complaints we receive that are not for us suggests that the current system is not working as well as it should."

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Apple criticised over in-app cash

18 July 2014 Last updated at 11:22 By Dave Lee Technology reporter, BBC News

Apple has been criticised by the European Commission for not offering any "concrete and immediate" plans to stop users being misled by "free" apps.

Many popular apps are free to download, but are designed to tempt users to pay for in-game enhancements - often allowing for quicker progression.

The Commission is now forcing Apple and Google, the biggest vendors of apps, to make the "true cost" of games clear.

But it singled out Apple for not making a commitment to change.

"Regrettably, no concrete and immediate solutions have been made by Apple to date to address the concerns linked in particular to payment authorisation," the Commission said in a statement.

"Apple has proposed to address those concerns. However, no firm commitment and no timing have been provided for the implementation of such possible future changes.

Continue reading the main story

Our own findings show that 95% of consumers never pay anything for free-to-play games"

End Quote Tiga UK games industry trade association

"CPC [consumer protection co-operation] authorities will continue to engage with Apple to ensure that it provides specific details of changes required and put its practices into line with the common position."

The Commission said national authorities had the option to take legal action against companies that were deemed not to be complying with Europe's guidance on free apps.

'Strengthen protections'

In a statement, Apple said it was doing "more than others" to protect parents.

"These controls go far beyond the features of others in the industry," an Apple spokesman said.

"But we are always working to strengthen the protections we have in place, and we're adding great new features with iOS 8, such as Ask to Buy, giving parents even more control over what their kids can buy on the App Store."

Google is said to have decided on a number of changes due to come into force by September.

Europe's rules on apps

In December last year, the European Commission asked app vendors to take steps to ensure:

• Games advertised as "free" should not mislead consumers about the true costs involved;
• Games should not contain direct exhortation to children to buy items in a game or to persuade an adult to buy items for them;
• Consumers should be adequately informed about the payment arrangements for purchases and should not be debited through default settings without consumers' explicit consent;
• Traders should provide an email address so that consumers can contact them in case of queries or complaints.

The Commission said: "These include not using the word "free" at all when games contain in-app purchases, developing targeted guidelines for its app developers to prevent direct exhortation to children as defined under EU law, and time-framed measures to help monitor apparent breaches of EU consumer laws.

"It has also adapted its default settings, so that payments are authorised prior to every in-app purchase, unless the consumer actively chooses to modify these settings."

As the app market has boomed, in-app purchases have been a point of controversy between consumers and technology companies.

Huge bills

Unlike the traditional business model for games - where a title will be purchased outright - the so-called freemium model has proved particularly lucrative for games makers.

However, there has been criticism that it is too easy for players, particularly children, to find themselves with huge bills as a result.

In some cases, in-app purchases cost well over £100.

Google, Apple and Amazon have all faced legal action relating to claims they mislead customers.

Last year, Apple agreed to refund parents $32.5m (£19.9m) as part of an agreement with the US Federal Trade Commission.

Apple will soon update its iOS mobile operating system to include more safeguards for parents to prevent accidental purchases within apps.

European Commission vice-president Neelie Kroes said: "The Commission is very supportive of innovation in the app sector.

"In-app purchases are a legitimate business model, but it's essential for app-makers to understand and respect EU law while they develop these new business models."

Tiga, the trade association for games developers in the UK, welcomed the guidance but stressed free-to-play's role as an important revenue stream for businesses.

"Our own findings show that 95% of consumers never pay anything for free-to-play games.

"So given this is a model which generally delivers fantastic value for consumers, this co-ordinated approach will help protect that value, and ensure a bright long-term future for the free-to-play sector."

Follow Dave Lee on Twitter @DaveLeeBBC

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Kenya defence Twitter account hacked

21 July 2014 Last updated at 16:09

The Twitter accounts of the Kenyan defence forces and its spokesman have been hacked by activists protesting about corruption.

"All of you who have stolen money #Kenya, we are coming after you," reads one post.

The hacked posts were signed as being from activist group Anonymous.

Kenyan military spokesman Major Emmanuel Chirchir often uses Twitter to give updates of the war against Somalia's al-Shabab militant group.

The hackers criticised the government of President Uhuru Kenyatta, saying it only protected the interests of the elite and was not doing enough to tackle poachers and drugs traffickers.

Col Willy Wesonga said no internal military systems had been infiltrated, reports the AP news agency.

He said military technicians were trying to find out who was behind the attack.

The BBC's Frenny Jowi in Nairobi says the insecurity around the defence ministry's Twitter feed is embarrassing for a government that has been criticised for its response to a number of security challenges recently.

Last year, a group called Anonymous Africa hacked into the account of Zimbabwe's defence ministry, and targeted the website of South Africa's governing African National Congress.

Anonymous, a loosely-knit group, has been involved in a number of high-profile online protests and attacks in recent years.

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MH17: Facebook scams exploit crash

21 July 2014 Last updated at 15:19 By Kevin Rawlinson BBC News

Scammers are using the MH17 disaster in east Ukraine to spread objectionable links, online security experts have warned.

A link to a pornographic website disguised as a video of the Malaysia Airlines crash was posted on a Facebook page dedicated to one victim.

Many tweets have been posted that appeared to report the disaster, but actually included spam links.

One expert said the firms should take more responsibility for removing them.

The chief intelligence officer of anti-spam body Spamhaus, Richard Cox, said that it was common for spammers to exploit anything being discussed by a lot of people online.

"It is a fairly rapid and predictable response by the individuals behind it. They are all to make money. There is no compassion involved," he said.

Mr Cox added that the perpetrators might be using software that could detect what was being posted regularly and repost using the same hashtags.

A Facebook community page dedicated to Liam Sweeney, one of the 298 people victims, uses his name and picture.

Its sole post is a link entitled: "Video Camera Caught the moment plane MH17 Crash over Ukraine".

However, the link takes users to a pornographic website. Moreover, anyone who clicks on it is then asked to call a phone number in order to verify that they are aged 18 or older.

"Whoever it is now has your caller ID and you could get a lot of nuisance calls," said Mr Cox.

Continue reading the main story

It is a fairly rapid and predictable response by the individuals behind it. They are all to make money. There is no compassion involved."

End Quote Richard Cox Spam expert

"This is all based on a somewhat tasteless video that probably doesn't exist and is presented in a completely tasteless way."

He added that Facebook should have deleted the site. Facebook did not respond to a request for comment.

Twitter abuse

On Friday 18 July, security firm TrendMicro reported that it had detected tweets pretending to be about MH17, but which also bore spam links.

Rik Ferguson, the firm's vice president of security research, said that its research suggested that the pages were most likely being used to gather clicks to generate advertising revenue.

He said the tactic could also be used to force pages higher up search engine rankings.

"It looks like a lot of people are retweeting what they are doing," he said.

Twitter's rules state: "User abuse and technical abuse are not tolerated on Twitter.com, and may result in permanent suspension.

"Any accounts engaging in the activities specified below may be subject to permanent suspension: If you post multiple unrelated updates to a topic using #, trending or popular topic, or promoted trend."

TrendMicro said that many previous disasters had been exploited in a similar way and that it expected to see further exploitation of the MH17 crash.

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UK anti-piracy action set to begin

19 July 2014 Last updated at 00:29

People in the UK who persistently pirate music and movies will soon start getting emails warning them that their actions are illegal.

The warnings are part of a larger scheme that aims to educate people about copyright and legal ways to enjoy digital content.

Starting next year, up to four warnings annually will be sent to households suspected of copyright infringement.

But if people ignore the warnings, no further action will be taken.

The warning system is the result of four years' wrangling between internet service providers (ISPs) and industry bodies representing music and movie-makers.

The original enforcement regime was outlined in the Digital Economy Act 2010 and called for persistent pirates to have their net access cut off after a series of warnings.

'Difficult to protect'

In addition, rights holders wanted warning letters to mention the potential penalties people would face for copyright infringement and access to a database of known illegal file-sharers.

The years of talks brokered by the government have led to the creation of the Voluntary Copyright Alert Programme (Vcap) that uses warnings via email or post.

The UK's biggest ISPs - BT, TalkTalk, Virgin and Sky - have signed up to Vcap. Many smaller ISPs are expected to join later.

In addition, the UK government has pledged to contribute £3.5m to an education campaign that will promote legal ways to listen to music and watch movies.

Introducing the three-year educational scheme, Business Secretary Vince Cable said the initiative was all about supporting the UK's creative industries.

"It's a difficult industry to pin down and it's also difficult to protect," he said. "But unless you protect it then it's an industry that cannot function."

'Persuading the persuadable'

Government estimates suggest the UK's creative industries contribute £71bn to the UK economy and support about 1.68 million jobs.

Geoff Taylor, chief executive of the BPI, said it had been a "long road" to produce the Vcap agreement. He said that though it lacked punitive action it could still help bring about change in people's habits.

"It's about persuading the persuadable, such as parents who do not know what is going on with their net connection," he said.

"Vcap is not about denying access to the internet. It's about changing attitudes and raising awareness so people can make the right choice," he said.

As well as taking part in Vcap, the BPI and other rights holders were working on other fronts to tackle persistent pirates, file-sharing sites and to suppress the economy that supported them, said Mr Taylor.

These initiatives included issuing notices to Google about links to pirated content, action in the courts to shut down websites that offer links to infringing content, and working with advertisers to limit the funds that flow to file-sharing sites.

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Technical problems plague BBC sites

21 July 2014 Last updated at 12:39

The BBC's flagship iPlayer service has been hit by technical problems that started over the weekend.

The catch-up service has been only intermittently available as a result.

Faults have also meant only a simplified version of the BBC's homepage can be shown, while online video and audio clips have also been disrupted.

The problems have been designated a "major incident" and work is being done to stabilise related databases.

"We are working hard to try and fix it," said a BBC spokesman.

He added that the corporation was still investigating the root cause of the problems.

Internal investigation

The corporation put out statements via Twitter apologising several times for the inconvenience the problems were causing.

The apology did not mollify many people who strongly criticised the BBC about the length of the disruption.

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

BBC director general Tony Hall: "99.9% of the time the iPlayer works very well"

The problems for the iPlayer and many other sites started on the morning of 19 July when engineers noticed that there was a "severe load" on the servers underlying the video-on-demand system.

In addition, reports reached the BBC that viewers were getting slow response times for some services or were seeing errors saying a programme or clip was not available.

Soon after the BBC noticed, messages were also received from network engineers at internet service providers (ISPs) including Virgin Media, which were also logging problems with the iPlayer and other BBC video traffic.

Later in the day, the service became unavailable via the web and through smartphone apps.

Internal logs of the incident and how it was handled showed that database administrators, network engineers and system analysts were all called on to see if they could diagnose the problem and fix it.

Work continued throughout the weekend to try to stabilise the servers and database supporting the iPlayer and many other BBC services.

The final fixes for the problems were expected to be applied on 21 July when the vast majority of people should be able reach the web-based video services as normal.

The BBC said it would issue a statement when it knew more about the cause of the glitches.

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Gamers compete for $5m cash prize

21 July 2014 Last updated at 15:12

Gamers are competing for a share of a $10.9m (£6.3m) prize pot, in the world's most lucrative gaming contest.

The International pits the best players of a game called Dota2, created by developer Valve, against each other.

Chinese teams NewBee and Vici Gaming are set to fight it out for the title.

The winning team of five players gets $5m, the runners-up $1.4m, with $4.5m distributed among the other 19 teams taking part in the tournament, which began on 18 July in Seattle.

Valve donated $1.6m of the prize money, but the rest was raised by some of the millions of people who regularly play the game.

Dota2 is as a multiplayer online battle arena game for the PC.

Each player assumes the role of one of 107 different heroes and must work together to defend their own and destroy their rival's "ancient" - an artefact sitting in a fortress sited in one corner of the game map.

Video streams of the matches have been shared online, and Valve even ran a "newcomer" series to educate people new to the game.

In addition, some bars, pubs and gaming centres around the world are holding parties for people keen to seen the finals in a crowd.

The final is also set to be shown on one of the ESPN channels.

"Valve have put an awful lot of thought into packing digital sports up as actual things for people to actually follow and watch and enjoy," wrote Alice O'Connor in a blogpost on the Rock, Paper Shotgun website.

Michael O'Dell, manager of the UK's Team Dignitas, said: "This year has certainly been the banner year for eSports, with massive tournaments in Dota, League of Legends and CS:GO (Counter-Strike: Global Offensive). And there are more to come. The scene is very vibrant right now."

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EE apologises over 'spam' texts

21 July 2014 Last updated at 16:54

EE has apologised after it "bombarded" customers with texts over the weekend.

One user complained of receiving more than 90 marketing messages from Orange, one of EE's brands, in a four-day period.

The text messages were reminders that the customers were eligible to add to their plans numbers that they can call for free.

EE said it was the result of a technical error that it was still working to fix.

Customers complained on social media and on the firm's own website.

"What is going on here? Both my wife and myself have been bombarded with texts about adding a new magic number for several days now and I'm getting mighty sick of it," wrote one customer on EE's website on Saturday.

"Orange have now texted me 40 times in three days telling me I can add a magic number. Yeh, that's not annoying at all," wrote Laura Brannan on Twitter.

And another Twitter user Siobhan Ring wrote: "If I get one more text from @orange saying I can add a new magic number I may scream!! Receiving around 50 a day!"

'Having an issue'

The messages read: "Hi from Orange. Congratulations: you can now add another Magic Number." It included a link customers could follow to do so.

In response to the complaints on the website, a member of EE's community team named as Miles wrote on Sunday that the firm was "having an issue" with the text message service.

He wrote: "This reminder should only be sent once, but some customers are getting multiple reminders.

"If you've received any of these duplicate messages, please accept our apologies for any inconvenience. Remember: you're not charged to receive magic number reminders."

He added that he expected to be able to give customers an update on Monday, but none has been issued so far.

An EE spokesman confirmed the details of Miles' post, but could not give any information on the number of people affected.

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