01.17.14

Still in Pursuit of Linux (and GNU) Phones Without Microsoft Tax and Surveillance

Posted in GNU/Linux, Google, Patents at 10:26 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Summary: Society needs to welcome a new breed of telephony that strictly resists surveillance and also antagonises patent bureaucracy

SINCE the middle of 2007 we have warned that South Korean giant LG was paying Microsoft for Linux or at least legitimising the claim/blackmail. This affected LG’s Linux-powered phones at the time (probably because of FAT) and later this extended to WebOS (after LG acquisition) and to Android [1] (very surveillance-friendly, courtesy of Google).

Right now the Android market is dominated by the other South Korean giant, called Samsung, which also controls Tizen these days. Tizen is covered in the news this week [2] and also named as an alternative to Android [3]. Tizen assembled inside it many Linux-based consortia for phones after they had sort of collapsed onto one another (LiPS, LiMo, Moblin, MeeGo, etc.), so this is truly a cause for concern. Samsung — like LG — plays by Microsoft’s rules (of extortion) on patents.

Jolla’s Sailfish OS [4], Mozilla’s Firefox OS, and Ubuntu’s mobile OS (whatever they choose to call it this time and whenever they choose to release it after massive changes in expected time of arrival [5,6], vapourware [7], and an attempt to lure in developers based on the vapourware [8]) are some of the existing hopes we have left. There is also the KDE-led Plasma-oriented effort, among other smaller initiatives that use Linux and sometimes GNU (nobody would use Windows because it’s technically inferior and is in bed with the NSA).

Many other entities can easily start their own companies that develop mobile phones based on Linux and Free software [9]. It just requires capital. The folks behind anonymous E-mail services are not the only ones who now promote their phone based on claim of NSA resistance (today it’s revealed that the NSA hoards SMS messages by the billions). There’s also Aral Balkan’s effort (recently-released video above). The main barrier here is lack of patents, but they should snub those patents and perhaps join OIN.

We really need alternative to Android as Replicant is not enough at this stage. It also mimics a deficient effort, merely trying to amend it with limited resources. █

Related/contextual items from the news:

1. LG G Flex headed to Sprint for $300 on January 31; preorder yours today

2. What’s Up With Tizen?

   Tizen is designed to be a low-cost, highly configurable OS that will make portable devices available to a wider range of consumers. Its developers hope to create an alternative mobile ecosystem to break the stranglehold of the big phone companies. Tizen’s promise is to let carriers maintain a competitive edge by producing devices tailored to a particular user base.

3. Open-source competition for Android, iOS

   The open source offering called Tizen, based on the Linux operating system, is expected to be installed on telephones sold from the end of March, NTT Docomo spokesman Jun Otori told AFP.

4. Jolla Review: Some Rough Edges, But This Linux Smartphone Shows Promise

   Jolla was formed in late 2011 from a number of former Nokia Engineers who had been working on a number of Linux-based operating systems and handsets (including the Nokia N9). Just over two years later, their first handset (the self-titled Jolla) shipped with their Sailfish OS. I’ve been using the Jolla handset since mid-December, and it’s time to look at the handset in some more detail.

5. Ubuntu phones likely push to 2015, says Ubuntu community manager

6. Rarin’ to buy an Ubuntu phone? Maybe not until 2015, Canonical man says

   Commercial smartphones running the mobile version of the Ubuntu Linux distro probably won’t be available through carriers until 2015 at the earliest, a Canonical spokesman has revealed.

7. Meizu MX3 running Ubuntu caught on video

   Although we expected to see the Meizu MX3 running Ubuntu during this year’s CES, that hasn’t happened. Instead, we’ve learned that Canonical is working with multiple vendors to launch Ubuntu smartphones later in the year.

8. Canonical Engages Ubuntu Community for App Development

   The Ubuntu Linux team hopes to expand the open source operating system’s application stack by drawing on community contributions of smartphone and tablet apps.

9. How to build your own phone company with WebRTC and Node.js

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New Linux Releases and Proprietary Graphics Drivers

Posted in Kernel at 9:39 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Summary: Linux 3.12.8, 3.13 Release Candidate 8, and new NVIDIA/AMD drivers

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For Real Security, Use CentOS — Never RHEL — and Run Neither on Amazon’s Servers

Posted in GNU/Linux, Red Hat, Security at 9:27 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Summary: Never run Red Hat’s “Enterprise Linux”, which cannot be trusted because of NSA involvement; Amazon, which pays Microsoft for RHEL and works with the CIA, should never be used for hosting

SEVERAL years ago CentOS almost died; now it’s being embraced by Red Hat and one pundit from tech tabloid ZDNet is moving to CentOS Linux on the desktop [1,2].

CentOS is still in the news [3], with the CentOS project leader (Karanbir Singh) giving an interview to the Linux Foundation [4]. We trust CentOS, whereas trusting Red Hat is hard. RHEL is binary and based on news from half a decade ago, the NSA is said to be involved in the building process, as well as SUSE’s, whereas CentOS is built from source (publicly visible). Microsoft and the NSA do the same thing with Windows and it’s now confirmed that Windows has NSA backdoors.

Earlier this month vulnerabilities in RHEL’s openssl and RHEL’s gnupg [5,6], contributed even less to trust. RHEL is so standard in the industry that it would probably be simpler than other distributions to exploit; the NSA may as well have off-the-shelf exploits for all major RHEL releases, which are deployed in many countries’ servers (even so-called ‘rogue’ countries). Based on the NSA leaks, Fedora — not RHEL — is being used by the NSA itself to run its spying operations (e.g. collecting radio signals from afar). Fedora is not truly binary-compatible and its source code makes secrets hard to keep.

Lastly, mind the latest of Red Hat’s Fog Computing hype [7,8], including the CIA’s partner Amazon that’s lumped onto Red Hat [9,10] as part of a conference [11,12]. Avoid Amazon at all costs. It’s a malicious trap for many reasons. Amazon also pays Microsoft for RHEL after a patent deal with Microsoft, as we pointed out years ago. Suffice to say, Microsoft's servers are as bad as Amazon's for privacy.

RHEL and its derivatives continue to be deployed in many large networks of systems [13], so it’s clear why the NSA would drool over the possibility of back doors in RHEL. Watch out for that. Given the way NSA infiltrated standards bodies and other institutions, it’s not impossible that there are even moles at Red Hat or Fedora. There used to be some at Microsoft (we know about those who got caught).

Red Hat’s CEO is now telling his story in a Red Hat site [14] and one needs to remember who he used to work for (close to Boeing, which is primarily an army company), not just the country he is based on (hence the rules that apply to him, especially when he wishes to appeal to government contractors, DoD/Pentagon etc. which are the most lucrative contracts).

It should be noted that my Web sites are mostly running CentOS and the same goes for the host of Techrights, who focuses on security. With CentOS you can get the source code and redistribute; with Red Hat’s RHEL you can’t (it’s sold as binary).

There is definitely a good reason to trust CentOS security more than RHEL security. As for Oracle (“Unbreakable”), well… just read Ellison’s public statements in support of the NSA (never mind the company’s roots and the CIA). That tells a lot.

The bottom line is, blind faith in binary distributions is a bad thing. Blind faith in NSA partners (Red Hat collaborates with the NSA not just in SELinux) is even worse. █

Related/contextual items from the news:

1. Taking the long view: Why I’m moving to CentOS Linux on the desktop

2. Is CentOS ready for the Linux desktop?

   CentOS is a very interesting and different choice for a desktop distribution. I haven’t heard of many people using it that way. Whenever somebody brings it up it’s usually within the context of running a server.

3. Fedora and CentOS Updates, Linux for Security, and Top Seven

4. CentOS Project Leader Karanbir Singh Opens Up on Red Hat Deal

   In the 10 years since the CentOS project was launched there has been no board of directors, or legal team, or commercial backing. The developers who labored to build the community-led version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) worked largely unpaid (though some took a few consulting gigs on the side.) They had a few hundred dollars in their bank account to pay for event t-shirts and that was it. And the project’s direction was decided based on the developers’ immediate needs, not a grand vision of future technology.

5. Red Hat: 2014:0015-01: openssl: Important Advisory

6. Red Hat: 2014:0016-01: gnupg: Moderate Advisory

7. Red Hat Invests in Open Source IaaS, Cloud Talent

8. Red Hat Academy Expands Training, Includes OpenStack Coursework

9. Red Hat Launches Test Drives on AWS

   At its annual Partner conference in Scottsdale, Arizona this week Red Hat (RHT) announced new Test Drives on Amazon Web Services (AWS) with three Red Hat partners – CITYTECH, Shadow-Soft, and Vizuri. Through the AWS Test Drive program, users can quickly and easily explore and deploy ready-made solutions built on Red Hat technologies.

10. Why Red Hat Needs OpenStack … And AWS

    OpenStack, the cloud’s community darling, desperately needs leadership, and Red Hat seems the ideal leader. But OpenStack isn’t the only needy party here. As good as Red Hat’s growth has been over the last decade, it pales in comparison to that of VMware, a later entrant that has grown much faster than Red Hat. And the open source leader still trails well behind Microsoft.

11. Google, Amazon Clouds Invade Red Hat Partner Conference

    Google Cloud Platform and Amazon Web Services executives are set to address Red Hat Partner Conference attendees on Jan. 13 in Arizona. No doubt, the keynotes will seek to ensure Linux resellers understand how to move customer workloads into the Google and AWS public clouds, respectively.

12. 7 Surprises At Red Hat Partner Conference 2014

13. How to deploy OSSEC across a large network of systems from RPMs

14. Teens and their first job: How to get on the path to a happy career

    I grew up in the 1980s in Columbus, Georgia. You needed a car to get around, so I did not work until I could drive. Within months of getting my driver’s license, I got my first job as a part-time computer programmer for a stockbroker.

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Apple Exploits Children

Posted in Antitrust, Apple at 8:26 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Summary: Apple’s attitude towards children continues to be one that resembles drug dealers’

NOT ONLY under-aged children in China are being exploited for Apple profit.

According to a new post [1] and photograph from Will Hill, children are forced to sign an “agreement to use [Apple] laptop for school.” This comes at an interesting time because the FTC has just ruled that Apple will “pay at least $32.5 million in refunds to parents who didn’t authorize hefty purchases racked up by their children on their iPhones and iPads.”

What about laptops? How can Apple and its facilitators at schools get away with forcing children to become Apple customers? Apple is a company without ethics (in many areas), so this is morally wrong. Apple hopes to raise a generation of Apple ‘addicts’ using the help of state schools. Apple is not an alternative to Microsoft (Apple is trying to dodge antitrust actions in nefarious ways right now), it’s just another Microsoft. The alternative to both (the oligarchy) is freedom-respecting software, or BYOD (Bring Your Own Device). █

Related/contextual items from the news:

1. Troubling User Agreement for Grade School

   Today, my daughter had to sign an agreement to use a laptop for school. They are going to replace most of the paper flow and text books with Apple laptops, so she was unable to refuse.

2. FTC says Apple will pay at least $32.5 million over in-app purchases

   The federal government on Wednesday said Apple has agreed to pay at least $32.5 million in refunds to parents who didn’t authorize hefty purchases racked up by their children on their iPhones and iPads.

   The Federal Trade Commission’s settlement with Apple is the first punishment handed to a major tech company over the handling of children’s apps. It comes amid growing concern that as children clamor to use mobile devices, companies are doing little to protect their privacy or provide parents with the tools to supervise online behavior.

3. Apple Settles FTC In-App Purchasing Complaint

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Kill Lists Watch: End of This Week

Posted in Action at 8:01 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Summary: News from the past couple of days about the practice of spying on people and then killing some of them

• Washington State Bill Proposes Criminalizing Help to NSA, Turning Off Resources to Yakima Facility

  The state-level campaign to turn off power to the NSA got a big boost January 15, 2014, as Washington became the first state with a physical NSA location to consider a Fourth Amendment protection act designed to make life extremely difficult for the massive spy agency.

• Turn off the NSA’s power campaign underway

  A campaign which aims to turn off the electricity to the NSA so that it can’t store data on citizens is in full swing.
  The campaign has started in Washington and appears to be part of a partisan effort to rein in the country’s Men in Black.

  Washington became the first state with a physical NSA location to consider the Fourth Amendment Protection Act, designed to make life extremely difficult for the massive spy agency.

  The Bill, which has the catchy title HB2272, has been designed by Republican David Taylor and Democrat Luis Moscoso. It was introduced to the house in the dead of night and is based on model language drafted by the OffNow coalition.

• NSA infiltrated more than 100,000 offline computers using covert devices, says leaks

• New Evidence That the NSA Isn’t Forthcoming With Congress

  Throughout the NSA leak scandal, the surveillance agency’s defenders have insisted its actions are legitimate in part because they’re overseen by all three branches of government. The characterization has always been extremely misleading. For example, the secret FISA court system is often incapable of verifying the truth of what they’re told by the NSA, and so many members of Congress were ignorant of how the Patriot Act has been interpreted prior to the last reauthorization that, had the ignorant voted the other way, it would’ve changed the outcome.

• NSA hacking tools will find their way to criminals eventually

• Obama: Speech on perceived NSA abuses a turning point

• Obama to reveal curbs on NSA spy programmes

  President Barack Obama is to announce changes to US electronic spy programmes after revelations made by ex-intelligence contractor Edward Snowden.

  He aims to restore public confidence in the intelligence community.

  Mr Obama is expected to create a public advocate at the secretive court that approves intelligence collection.

  His proposals come hours after UK media reports that the US has collected and stored almost 200 million text messages per day across the globe.

• NSA states Dishfire does exist and lawfully collects data

• NSA collects millions of text messages globally – Guardian

  The U.S. National Security Agency has been gathering nearly 200 million text messages a day from around the world, gathering data on people’s travel plans, contacts and credit card transactions, Guardian newspaper reported on Thursday.

• Revealed: UK and US spied on text messages of Brits

  A slide from a presentation, seen by The Guardian and Channel 4 News, shows how Dishfire gave spies access to a trove of information. For example, by intercepting the welcome messages phone users receive when they arrive in a new country, the NSA tracked the movements of more than 1.5 million people every day. The agency spied on phone users’ contacts by hoovering up five million missed call alerts per day, as well as business cards sent by text message.

• Report: NSA ‘collected 200m texts per day’

  The US National Security Agency (NSA) has collected and stored almost 200 million text messages a day from around the world, UK media report.

• The NSA Lied About Collecting Hundreds of Millions of Texts a Day, and Everything Else

  During a speech at a hacker convention five months ago, NSA Director Gen. Keith Alexander showed a PowerPoint slide that listed eight things his agency “does NOT collect.” In the months since, every single claim has been proven a lie.

• NSA Whistleblower: NSA Is a Corrupt, Broken Institution

  NSA has come under intense scrutiny because of Edward Snowdens disclosures about their spying on all Americans. But there are more problems at NSA than their violation of the fourth amendment protections of the constitution.

• OBAMA AND THE N.S.A.: WHY HE CAN’T BE TRUSTED

• NSA defenders’ shameless “national security” bait and switch

  Mounting evidence shows surveillance has had no impact on preventing terrorism. Is the public paying attention?

• Obama Panel to Address Online Companies’ NSA Concerns

  President Barack Obama tomorrow will create a panel to examine how data-collection efforts like the National Security Agency’s spy programs affect Internet companies and privacy rights, said two people familiar with White House deliberations.

• Spying plunges U.S.-German ties lower than Iraq war: Merkel ally

• NSA: six out of 10 Americans want reform of data collection, says poll

• US set to announce NSA reforms

  Former NSA employee Edward Snowden’s leaks to the public have sparked months of controversy and could lead to reforms.

• Phone Companies to Win in Obama Plan to Leave Records at NSA

  President Barack Obama’s plan to keep phone data with the National Security Agency for now is a victory for telecommunications companies, which resisted the idea of holding the records themselves over concerns about lawsuits, lost business and unwanted responsibility.

• NSA reform measures quietly included in $1.1tn spending bill

• Huawei dismisses NSA backdoor claims as profits soar

  It’s been a mixed week for Chinese telecoms giant Huawei after the firm announced impressive financials but was forced again to deny allegations of security weaknesses in its products.

  The device and telecoms kit maker announced its unaudited financials on Wednesday, claiming sales revenue for 2013 will reach between 238 billion and 240 billion yuan (£24bn). This will be a year-on-year jump of around 8 per cent, or 11.6 per cent when measured in US dollars.

• Anti-NSA Blackphone: Encrypted smartphone designed to liberate users from total surveillance

• NSA Metadata Collection: Fourth Amendment Violation

  This issue is headed to the Court of Appeals. From there, it will likely go the Supreme Court. The high court checked and balanced President George W. Bush when he overstepped his legal authority by establishing military commissions that violated due process, and attempted to deny constitutional habeas corpus to Guantanamo detainees. It remains to be seen whether the court will likewise refuse to cower before President Barack Obama’s claim of unfettered executive authority to conduct dragnet surveillance. If the court allows the NSA to continue its metadata collection, we will reside in what can only be characterized as a police state.

• NSA Whistlebower– William Binney: Corruption in NSA, Lies About Snowden, Threats to Democracy

• Security Expert Bruce Schneier Says to Foil NSA Spies, Encrypt Everything

  In the world of cybersecurity, Bruce Schneier is an unusually accessible voice for those of us who feel we don’t quite understand what’s going on. The author of 12 books, and a prolific blogger and speaker, Schneier helped the Guardian go through the top-secret documents from the U.S. National Security Agency leaked by Edward Snowden last year.

• Privacy advocates fear ‘largely cosmetic’ NSA reform package

• Latest Revelations on NSA Likely to Change Little in US Cyber Spying

  U.S. officials are reacting cautiously to revelations published in The New York Times that the National Security Agency has found a way to spy on computers even when they are not connected to the Internet. Report says software was implanted into 100,000 computers worldwide.

• Obama set to respond to Snowden about NSA reforms in highly anticipated speech

• Two whistleblowers share concerns of NSA overreach at WCU event

  As President Obama prepares to announce Friday what action he will take with the future of the National Security Agency, two whistleblowers visited West Chester University with recommendations on how to roll back government surveillance.

  The two former NSA employees, William Binney and Thomas Drake, sat down with a WCU class Tuesday to discuss the current state of privacy in the country and their struggle for freedom.

• The NSA’s Biggest Supporter Is Worried About Drone Privacy Issues

• This Is Where Drone Operators Kill People by Remote Control

• Texas named a drone ‘site’

  With Alpine and the area off limits to drone testing, Texas still was one of the six states selected for “drone test sites,” the Federal Aviation Administration has announced.

• UC doesn’t want you to fear the dawn of drones

• Violence becoming the new norm in America

  The United States carried on two ten-year wars in Iraq and Afghanistan where we killed an estimated 250,000 civilians. We killed many more Muslim fighters by the tens of thousands. We destroyed their country with our bombs. Because those third world countries lack birth records, identification and death certificates–the numbers could be much higher.

  In most large city in America, such as Denver, newscasters relate killings every night of the week. Chicago, Houston, Detroit and Los Angeles suffer gang killings nightly.

  One in four children suffers bullying by a teen thug in high schools across America every day during school terms. In other words, our children cannot attend school without fear of being beat up, harassed, called names and demeaned by meaner, bigger students who have no other purpose in life but to manifest their thuggery.

  What bothers me: we promote horrific violence via our continuous wars promoted by bankers and the military industrial complex that profit at the cost of human lives. We promote TV violence such as “Criminal Minds” and “NCIS” where lots of people commit diabolical mayhem. We support social media arcade games for kids like “Doom” and worse. Our movies feature horrific violence that pours into our kids minds and emotions. It’s like the 60s movie “Clockwork Orange” seems normal. You can watch television “Cops” where violence becomes normal. Our drones in the Middle East kill any number of humans without identity.

• Secret amendment in Congress keeps CIA in charge of deadly drone strikes

  President Barack Obama said last May that control of the United States’ weaponized drone program would shift away from the Central Intelligence Agency and into the hands of the Pentagon, but a new report suggests Congress could keep that from happening.

• US policymakers seek to block transfer of drone campaign CIA to Pentagon

• How the CIA Shaped the Modern Middle East

  The authoritarian regimes, bloody revolutions and tense diplomatic relations in the Middle East dominate the news today. Much of this turmoil was presaged by the activities and experiences of three covert CIA officers in the 1940s and 1950s, says Hugh Wilford, professor of history at California State University, Long Beach. In “America’s Great Game: The CIA’s Secret Arabists and the Shaping of the Modern Middle East,” Wilford chronicles American adventures in the Middle East after World War II. He recently spoke to U.S. News about romanticized spy games, staged coups and the consequences of it all. Excerpts:

• DOES BEZOS’ CIA LINK, COMPROMISE WASHINGTON POST?

  A “progressive” columnist whose own organization is pursuing a “fresh approach” in contrast to “a far-right Republican Party that is a wholly owned subsidiary of corporate America,” is petitioning the Washington Post to publicize its owners’ financial investments each time it reports on the CIA.

• The Special Ops Surge: America’s Secret War in 134 Countries

• Secret Law Alert: Congress Tries to Hide Its Drone Policy

• UK not to reject from drones in military operations

• Jeremiah Wright slams President Obama at MLK event; says he has a ‘kill list’

  The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, speaking at a Martin Luther King Jr. birthday celebration in Chicago Wednesday, took several swipes at President Barack Obama, at one point saying that while King would have said, “I have a dream,” the president would have to say “I have a drone.”

  According to a story in The Chicago Sun Times, Wright, Obama’s former pastor, spoke at the breakfast hosted by the Chicago Teachers Union and called on those there to reject the “three-headed demon” of “racism, militarism and capitalism” — the foundations of Western society.

  Wright went on to slam the president by saying that each week Obama presides at a meeting to decide where drones will be launched.

• McCain blasts budget panel for meddling in U.S. drone policy

• Lawmakers seek to stymie plan to shift control of drone campaign from CIA to Pentagon

• There’s a Secret Provision in Congress’ Spending Bill

  Congress’ $1.1 trillion spending bill contains a secret provision torpedoing President Obama’s plans to pass the drone program from the CIA to the Pentagon. In a classified annex, the bill specifically prohibits any funds being used to facilitate such a transfer, the Washington Post reports. Obama wants to shift the CIA from its paramilitary footing back to an intelligence one, and perhaps bring greater transparency to the drone program. But lawmakers don’t trust the military with the keys.

• Congress balks at moving drone oversight from CIA to Pentagon

  Congress has moved to block President Barack Obama’s plan to shift control of the U.S. drone campaign from the CIA to the Defense Department, inserting a secret provision in the massive government spending bill introduced this week that would preserve the spy agency’s role in lethal counterterrorism operations, U.S. officials said.

• Congress Restricts Drones Program Shift

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Happy GNU Year: Richard Stallman on Naming GNU

Posted in Deception, FUD, GNU/Linux, TechBytes Video at 3:16 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

FUD is not uniform (so-called ‘GNU Assembly’)

Direct download as Ogg

Summary: Dr. Richard Stallman, the Free Software Foundation’s founder, explains naming conventions for Linux/GNU (which most people just call “Linux”)

Made entirely using Free/libre software, heavily compressed for performance on the Web at quality’s expense

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