CDT Launches ITU Resource Center for Advocates

In Dubai this December, the world's governments will decide whether the International Telecommunication Union – a UN agency – should expand its authority to cover Internet policy and technical standards, a move that could pose grave risks to the exercise of human rights online.

But that path is not a given. Today CDT is announcing the launch of its ITU Resource Center aimed at providing a set of key resources for advocates, activists, and anyone interested in learning about and taking action on the ITU's upcoming conference. These resources were developed by CDT's international team in partnership with several of our civil society peers.

Open Internet advocates around the world can play a key role in the debate leading up to the conference by urging their governments to support proposals that will protect the open Internet. However, many of the issues at stake are technically complex, and the ITU process itself is non-transparent and difficult for individuals to follow and participate in.

The goal of the ITU Resource Center is to help open Internet advocates learn about the process, the proposals on the table, and ways that they can make their voices heard. The Resource Center includes all of CDT's analyses of treaty proposals and the ITU process; a toolkit with key messages, an ITU timeline, and other resources for advocates; and an ever-growing list of op-eds and expert commentary on the ITU.

Materials developed by CDT are under a Creative Commons license. We encourage advocates to reuse, remix, and distribute (non-commercially) these materials in their work on the issue.

We also encourage our readers to spread the word about our new resources on social media. We'll be tweeting about it @CenDemTech using the #OpenITU hashtag.

View the original article here

CDT Launches ITU Resource Center for Advocates

In Dubai this December, the world's governments will decide whether the International Telecommunication Union – a UN agency – should expand its authority to cover Internet policy and technical standards, a move that could pose grave risks to the exercise of human rights online.

But that path is not a given. Today CDT is announcing the launch of its ITU Resource Center aimed at providing a set of key resources for advocates, activists, and anyone interested in learning about and taking action on the ITU's upcoming conference. These resources were developed by CDT's international team in partnership with several of our civil society peers.

Open Internet advocates around the world can play a key role in the debate leading up to the conference by urging their governments to support proposals that will protect the open Internet. However, many of the issues at stake are technically complex, and the ITU process itself is non-transparent and difficult for individuals to follow and participate in.

The goal of the ITU Resource Center is to help open Internet advocates learn about the process, the proposals on the table, and ways that they can make their voices heard. The Resource Center includes all of CDT's analyses of treaty proposals and the ITU process; a toolkit with key messages, an ITU timeline, and other resources for advocates; and an ever-growing list of op-eds and expert commentary on the ITU.

Materials developed by CDT are under a Creative Commons license. We encourage advocates to reuse, remix, and distribute (non-commercially) these materials in their work on the issue.

We also encourage our readers to spread the word about our new resources on social media. We'll be tweeting about it @CenDemTech using the #OpenITU hashtag.

View the original article here

HTC launches Dr Dre Sensation XL phone

Mobile phone manufacturer HTC has launched a new flagship mobile phone that includes hip-hop producer Dr Dre’s ‘Beats Audio’ technology.

The Sensation XL model, which also features a 4.7” screen, has been specifically optimized for its audio performance in a bid to capitalize on the increasing number of users who play music through their mobile phones.

Google, which is launching its own new mobile phone next week, has integrated music services with its voice recognition technology as it tries to appeal to a similar audience. Users can says “Listen to…” and the phone will search for the relevant artist or track.

The Sensation XL is the second to be released since a new partnership between HTC and Beats announced in August. The HTC Sensation XE also integrated the technology.

“Great audio is no longer an experience that consumers are willing to sacrifice when purchasing a phone,” said Jimmy Iovine, Chairman of Beats by Dr Dre. “The digital revolution has been great for everything but music,” he added, referring to the quality of the sound typically recorded and played through mobile phones.

Unusually for a mobile phone, the HTC Sensation XL also includes improved headphones, along with an 8MP camera, as featured on the new iPhone 4S.

View the original article here

HTC launches first Windows Phone 'Mango' devices

Microsoft’s latest update to its mobile phone operating system, Windows Phone, has launched on two new devices made by HTC. Radar and Titan will both feature the new operating system, codenamed ‘Mango’, and are likely to be the first phones that will see Microsoft able to compete with Google’s Android operating system and Apple’s iPhone.

Unveiled at a series of “consumer meet-ups” in London, Paris, Madrid and Berlin, the Titan will offer a 4.7 inch display, in a 9.9mm aluminium case, while the more mass-market Radar offers a more compact size and a 3.8” screen.

HTC is emphasising the improved cameras on both devices, and their ability to record HD (720p) videos.

The new version of Windows Phone is available as a free update to all current users of the platforms, as well as on the new devices. It adds improved functionality, including better integration with social networks such as Twitter and Facebook and enhanced access to Microsoft Office, as well as better gaming options and the ability to handle multiple email inboxes. It also includes enhanced local search options, called Local Scout, faster web browsing and better multi-tasking.

Microsoft launched Windows Phone almost a year ago, to a mixed critical reception. An HTC source said that the new devices were the first that will allow manufacturers to claim the platform now offers real competition to rivals from Google and Apple.

Both devices will be available from October 2011 globally, beginning in Europe and Asia.

Update: This article originally carried a star rating, which was added by mistake. It has now been removed.

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FBI launches $1 billion face recognition project

FBI launches $1 billion face recognition project - tech - 07 September 2012 - New Scientist@import "/css/gridmain.css"; @import "/css/article.css";@import "/css/comlist.css";@import "/data/images/ns/haas/haas.css";/* specific to this article view */#maincol {border-top:solid #A7A7A7 1px; padding-top:15px;}/* Basic commenting CSS*/.combx {margin:10px 0 0 0;padding:10px 20px 10px 10px;}#compnl {border-top:solid #A7A7A7 1px;}/* comment styles for article page only *//* form styles */#comform {margin:20px 50px 20px 10px;}#comform label{width: 90px;text-align: right;}#comform div.userhelp {margin:0 0 2px 115px;}#comform input.textinput, #comform textarea {width:300px;}#comform div.floatclear, #comformlogin div.floatclear {margin-bottom:10px;}#comform input#comcancel{margin:0 10px 0 0;}#comform input#compreview{margin:0 10px 0 0;}#comform textarea {height:95px;}#comformlogin {margin:20px 100px 20px 100px;}#comformlogin label{width: 120px;}#comformlogin input.textinput {width:150px;}#snv_tech a {background: url('/img/bg/snv_tech.jpg') no-repeat; color:#fff;}/* article social media */#sharebtns {width:440px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:20px; padding:15px 0 15px 10px; background:#F2F2F2;}#sharebtns div.floatleft {margin-right:10px;}#sharebtns .stumble {margin-top:1px;}.grpTools img {margin-right:8px; margin-top:9px;}#fblike {margin-top:41px;} Tech    Log in

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FBI launches $1 billion face recognition project07 September 2012 bySara ReardonMagazine issue 2880. Subscribe and saveFor similar stories, visit theCrime and ForensicsTopic Guide

The Next Generation Identification programme will include a nationwide database of criminal faces and other biometrics

"FACE recognition is 'now'," declared Alessandro Acquisti of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh in a testimony before the US Senate in July.

It certainly seems that way. As part of an update to the national fingerprint database, the FBI has begun rolling out facial recognition to identify criminals.

It will form part of the bureau's long-awaited, $1 billion Next Generation Identification (NGI) programme, which will also add biometrics such as iris scans, DNA analysis and voice identification to the toolkit. A handful of states began uploading their photos as part of a pilot programme this February and it is expected to be rolled out nationwide by 2014. In addition to scanning mugshots for a match, FBI officials have indicated that they are keen to track a suspect by picking out their face in a crowd.

Another application would be the reverse: images of a person of interest from security cameras or public photos uploaded onto the internet could be compared against a national repository of images held by the FBI. An algorithm would perform an automatic search and return a list of potential hits for an officer to sort through and use as possible leads for an investigation.

Ideally, such technological advancements will allow law enforcement to identify criminals more accurately and lead to quicker arrests. But privacy advocates are worried by the broad scope of the FBI's plans. They are concerned that people with no criminal record who are caught on camera alongside a person of interest could end up in a federal database, or be subject to unwarranted surveillance.

The FBI's Jerome Pender told the Senate in July that the searchable photo database used in the pilot studies only includes mugshots of known criminals. But it's unclear from the NGI's privacy statement whether that will remain the case once the entire system is up and running or if civilian photos might be added, says attorney Jennifer Lynch of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The FBI was unable to answer New Scientist's questions before the magazine went to press.

The FBI hasn't shared details of the algorithms it is using, but its technology could be very accurate if applied to photographs taken in controlled situations such as passport photos or police shots.

Tests in 2010 showed that the best algorithms can pick someone out in a pool of 1.6 million mugshots 92 per cent of the time. It's possible to match a mugshot to a photo of a person who isn't looking at the camera too. Algorithms such as one developed by Marios Savvides's lab at Carnegie Mellon can analyse features of a front and side view set of mugshots, create a 3D model of the face, rotate it as much as 70 degrees to match the angle of the face in the photo, and then match the new 2D image with a fairly high degree of accuracy. The most difficult faces to match are those in low light. Merging photos from visible and infrared spectra can sharpen these images, but infrared cameras are still very expensive.

Of course, it is easier to match up posed images and the FBI has already partnered with issuers of state drivers' licences for photo comparison. Jay Stanley of the American Civil Liberties Union urges caution: "Once you start plugging this into the FBI database, it becomes tantamount to a national photographic database."

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Private Prisons And War On DrugsFri Aug 31 03:16:47 BST 2012 by ullrich fischer

Given that current technologies are already aiding in the incarceration of more Americans than residents of any other country in the world, even including China, this technology will just add to the problem. As long as the clearly failed war on drugs continues and as long as there are for-profit prisons, there will be more people guilty of non-violent "crimes" ground up by the criminal "justice" system to the detriment of all Americans in terms of lost productivity and the tax burden increase as more tax money is shoveled into the profits of the prison "industry". It seems pretty clear that the only reason the war on drugs continues is the corrupting influence of drug gang and prison profit money. Every single person who has studied the effects of the war on drugs with even the remotest whiff of scientific rigor has concluded that the cons far outweigh the pros. The analogy with prohibition of alcohol alone is pretty overwhelming evidence that the current war on drugs is counterproductive.

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Mugshots are just the start (Image: Timothy Fadek/Corbis)

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