In 2012, “Apple paid $6B in federal corporate income taxes: 1/40th of all corporate income taxes collected by the US” bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-0…
— Daniel Eran Dilger (@DanielEran) May 3, 2013
Apple tweet of the day
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Category Archives: tech
Is your smartphone secure?
Probably not, if you have an Android phone.
According to malware researchers at F-Secure Labs, the number of active mobile threat families and variants initially spiked in the winter quarter, with Android’s share jumping from 49 out of 74 known threats to 96 out of 100, with the balance being related to Nokia’s essentially mothballed Symbian platform.
That was enough to rouse a tweet from the rarely used account of Apple’s head of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller, who linked to the report with the brief admonition “be safe out there.”
However, F-Secure’s new report for the latest quarter shows Android now accounts for 136 out of 149 known threats, or 91.3 percent of all malware activity (up from 79 percent in 2012).
The other threats remained related to Symbian, with zero discovered for Blackberry, Microsoft’s Windows Mobile/Phone or Apple’s iOS. The research noted that mobile threats are overwhelmingly motivated by profits, with 76.5 percent designed specifically to con users out of money, rather than seeking to just cause damage.
(via Apple Insider)
Related articles
- Mobile Threat Report Q1 2013 – Android becomes more and more like Windows (safeandsavvy.f-secure.com)
- Android malware continues to rise (net-security.org)
An emotional Bill Gates describes his last meeting with Steve Jobs
(video requires Flash)
How popular is Netflix?
On a normal weeknight, Netflix accounts for almost a third of all Internet traffic entering North American homes. That’s more than YouTube, Hulu, Amazon.com, HBO Go, iTunes, and BitTorrent combined. Traffic to Netflix usually peaks at around 10 p.m. in each time zone, at which point a chart of Internet consumption looks like a python that swallowed a cow. By midnight Pacific time, streaming volume falls off dramatically.
– Ashlee Vance writing in BloombergBusinessweek.
Past time to amend the DMCA
The Digital Millenium Copyright Act, enacted on October 12, 1998, made it a crime to bypass digital rights management (DRM) applied to copyrighted works, among other things. Thus, as an example, if you purchased a commercial DVD, it would be a crime to rip the disc as you can an audio CD. Recently, as a result of a decision by the Library of Congress, the DMCA made it illegal to unlock a cellphone to move it to another carrier, even after the full term of the contract with the original carrier expired. Ridiculous.
Many have argued that when a customer purchases a product the customer should be entitled to service it, copy it, and manage it, even if doing so would break DRM. And now, finally, this might well change:
New legislation sponsored by Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Thomas Massie (R-KY), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), and Jared Polis (D-CO) takes a broader approach to the issue. In addition to explicitly legalizing cell phone unlocking, the Unlocking Technology Act of 2013 also modifies the DMCA to make clear that unlocking copy-protected content is only illegal if it’s done in order to “facilitate the infringement of a copyright.” If a circumvention technology is “primarily designed or produced for the purpose of facilitating noninfringing uses,” that would not be a violation of copyright.
For example, Lofgren’s bill would likely make it legal for consumers to rip DVDs for personal use in much the same way they’ve long ripped CDs. It would remove legal impediments to making versions of copyrighted works that are accessible to blind users. And it would ensure that car owners have the freedom to service their vehicles without running afoul of copyright law.
More info, and a way to take action, here.
Related articles
- New Bipartisan Bill Proposes Real Fixes to Bad Copyright Law (eff.org)
- Bill would guarantee ability to unlock smartphones, tablets (latimes.com)
- Latest cellphone unlocking bill proposes significant digital copyright reform (theverge.com)
- New Bill Legalizing Cellphone Unlocking Introduced in House (mashable.com)
Apple quote of the day
Apple took a major step forward by issuing debt and announcing it will return $100 billion to shareholders over the next three years. This is a vastly more shareholder-friendly capital allocation policy then where Apple stood a few months ago. We have added to our Apple position. Now we just wait for the release of Apple’s next blockbuster product.
– David Einhorn, CEO of Greenlight Capital, who last month pressured Apple to free more of its cash hoard for investors.
Disclosure: I am long Apple.
Related articles
- Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital Waiting for Next Apple Blockbuster (allthingsd.com)
- Einhorn Boosts Apple Stake, Praises Capital-Return Plan (bloomberg.com)
Apple breaks into Fortune 500 top 10
For the first time, Apple is now one of the top 10 companies in the annual Fortune 500 listing. Apple is number 6. Last year, Apple was number 17.
Google Glass gets the SNL treatment
Are you a victim of Microshafting?
Tech quote of the day
In five years I don’t think there’ll be a reason to have a tablet anymore. Maybe a big screen in your workspace, but not a tablet as such. Tablets themselves are not a good business model.
– Blackberry CEO Thorsten Heins, whistling pass the mobile platform graveyard.
Is the US recording all domestic digital communications
Logo of the FBI Counterterrorism Division (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Based on the remarks made by a former FBI counterterrorism agent, it appears so…
Over the past couple days, cable news tabloid shows such as CNN’s Out Front with Erin Burnett have been excitingly focused on the possible involvement in the Boston Marathon attack of Katherine Russell, the 24-year-old American widow of the deceased suspect, Tamerlan Tsarnaev. As part of their relentless stream of leaks uncritically disseminated by our Adversarial Press Corps, anonymous government officials are claiming that they are now focused on telephone calls between Russell and Tsarnaev that took place both before and after the attack to determine if she had prior knowledge of the plot or participated in any way.
On Wednesday night, Burnett interviewed Tim Clemente, a former FBI counterterrorism agent, about whether the FBI would be able to discover the contents of past telephone conversations between the two. He quite clearly insisted that they could:
BURNETT: Tim, is there any way, obviously, there is a voice mail they can try to get the phone companies to give that up at this point. It’s not a voice mail. It’s just a conversation. There’s no way they actually can find out what happened, right, unless she tells them?
CLEMENTE: “No, there is a way. We certainly have ways in national security investigations to find out exactly what was said in that conversation. It’s not necessarily something that the FBI is going to want to present in court, but it may help lead the investigation and/or lead to questioning of her. We certainly can find that out.
BURNETT: “So they can actually get that? People are saying, look, that is incredible.
CLEMENTE: “No, welcome to America. All of that stuff is being captured as we speak whether we know it or like it or not.“
Related articles
- GREENWALD: Are All Telephone Calls Recorded And Accessible To The US Government? (businessinsider.com)
Apple is number one in the US smartphone market
A new study from comScore shows that, during the first quarter, Apple is the number one manufacturer in the US, with a 39% share. Samsung is second, with a 27% share.
Related articles
- Apple’s U.S. Smartphone Usage Share Approaches 40% (macrumors.com)
- Comscore: Apple continues to gain share in US market (electronista.com)
- Apple Leads Samsung in U.S. Smartphones (allthingsd.com)
Who has your back?
Who has your back when it comes to protecting your private data from an increasingly prying government? It is not easy to tell which companies seriously protect your privacy when the government comes calling with or more likely without a warrant.
But now the EFF has prepared a report detailing the privacy protection policies (or lack of policies) among the largest data gathering companies. The bottom line: Trust Twitter to protect your privacy, but don’t expect Apple and Verizon to do the same.
When you use the Internet, you entrust your conversations, thoughts, experiences, locations, photos, and more to companies like Google, AT&T and Facebook. But what do these companies do when the government demands your private information? Do they stand with you? Do they let you know what’s going on?
In this annual report, the Electronic Frontier Foundation examined the policies of major Internet companies — including ISPs, email providers, cloud storage providers, location-based services, blogging platforms, and social networking sites — to assess whether they publicly commit to standing with users when the government seeks access to user data. The purpose of this report is to incentivize companies to be transparent about how data flows to the government and encourage them to take a stand for user privacy whenever it is possible to do so.
Related articles
- EFF Surveys Major Tech Companies’ Privacy and Transparency Policies (eff.org)
- ISPs ‘In Conspiracy Of Silence With Government On Snooper’s Charter’ (techweekeurope.co.uk)
Samsung ≠ cool
Check out this video from the launch of Galaxy S4 in India:
An embarrassing display in the land of Bollywood. One of the comments on YouTube suggests that the singer is the reincarnation of Steve Jobs bent on sabotaging Samsung.
(via All Things D)
Should Apple acquire Intel?
Perhaps in a fantasy, according to Jean-Louis Gassée. If they did, one benefit would be that Apple could completely drop Samsung as a component provider.