SCENARIOS-What happens next in Google standoff with China? | Reuters

SCENARIOS-What happens next in Google standoff with China? | Reuters: "(For full coverage, click on [ID:nSGE60C01H])

By Chris Buckley

BEIJING, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Google Inc jolted
investors and China this week by threatening to quit the
Communist Party-run"

A new approach to China

Comment from Google

A new approach to China: "Like many other well-known organizations, we face cyber attacks of varying degrees on a regular basis. In mid-December, we detected a highly sophisticated and targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure originating from China that resulted in the theft of intellectual property from Google. However, it soon became clear that what at first appeared to be solely a security incident--albeit a significant one--was something quite different.

First, this attack was not just on Google. As part of our investigation we have discovered that at least twenty other large companies from a wide range of businesses--including the Internet, finance, technology, media and chemical sectors--have been similarly targeted. We are currently in the process of notifying those companies, and we are also working with the relevant U.S. authorities.

Second, we have evidence to suggest that a primary goal of the attackers was accessing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists. Based on our investigation to date we believe their attack did not achieve that objective. Only two Gmail accounts appear to have been accessed, and that activity was limited to account information (such as the date the account was created) and subject line, rather than the content of emails themselves.

Third, as part of this investigation but independent of the attack on Google, we have discovered that the accounts of dozens of U.S.-, China- and Europe-based Gmail users who are advocates of human rights in China appear to have been routinely accessed by third parties. These accounts have not been accessed through any security breach at Google, but most likely via phishing scams or malware placed on the users' computers.

We have already used information gained from this attack to make infrastructure and architectural improvements that enhance security for Google and for our users. In terms of individual users, we would advise people to deploy reputable anti-virus and anti-spyware programs on their computers, to install patches for their operating systems and to update their web browsers. Always be cautious when clicking on links appearing in instant messages and emails, or when asked to share personal information like passwords online. You can read more here about our cyber-security recommendations. People wanting to learn more about these kinds of attacks can read this Report to Congress (PDF) by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission (see p. 163-), as well as a related analysis (PDF) prepared for the Commission, Nart Villeneuve's blog and this presentation on the GhostNet spying incident.

We have taken the unusual step of sharing information about these attacks with a broad audience not just because of the security and human rights implications of what we have unearthed, but also because this information goes to the heart of a much bigger global debate about freedom of speech. In the last two decades, China's economic reform programs and its citizens' entrepreneurial flair have lifted hundreds of millions of Chinese people out of poverty. Indeed, this great nation is at the heart of much economic progress and development in the world today.

We launched Google.cn in January 2006 in the belief that the benefits of increased access to information for people in China and a more open Internet outweighed our discomfort in agreeing to censor some results. At the time we made clear that 'we will carefully monitor conditions in China, including new laws and other restrictions on our services. If we determine that we are unable to achieve the objectives outlined we will not hesitate to reconsider our approach to China.'

These attacks and the surveillance they have uncovered--combined with the attempts over the past year to further limit free speech on the web--have led us to conclude that we should review the feasibility of our business operations in China. We have decided we are no longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn, and so over the next few weeks we will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which we could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all. We recognize that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China.

The decision to review our business operations in China has been incredibly hard, and we know that it will have potentially far-reaching consequences. We want to make clear that this move was driven by our executives in the United States, without the knowledge or involvement of our employees in China who have worked incredibly hard to make Google.cn the success it is today. We are committed to working responsibly to resolve the very difficult issues raised.

Update: Added a link to another referenced report in paragraph 5.

Posted by David Drummond, SVP, Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer

"

Amcom bags $20m NT govt deal

Telecommunications provider Amcom has scored a $20 million contract to provide telecommunications services to the Northern Territory Government over a five-year period.

The agreement would see Amcom extending its existing fibre networks in both Darwin and Alice Springs to provide data services to government agencies and schools, according to the company. It said its estimated capital expenditure would be 'in the order of $10 million' and that it expected to complete the project by September.

'This is a beachhead contract of significant value and provides us with expanded infrastructure and scale to capture further organic opportunities in Darwin and Alice Springs,' Amcom CEO Clive Stein said in a statement.

The contract would also see the provider establish an office in Darwin and would also allow the company to provide new services to business customers, the company said.

Diamond Communications — a subsidiary of Ausdrill — had been appointed as lead contractor for the project.

Optus buys spectrum to increase wireless capacity

Optus buys spectrum to up capacity: "
Australia's second-largest telco Optus has agreed to buy additional spectrum licences for 10MHz of paired spectrum in the 2100MHz band from Qualcomm subsidiary 3G Investments.

In a statement issued today, Optus managing director of products and delivery Andrew Buay said the telco would use the additional 3G spectrum to 'support retail and wholesale customer demand' for Optus' range of data services. The deal is subject to approval by the Foreign Investment Review Board and the national competition regulator.

Buay said there was an "explosive growth" in demand for mobile data services — in the 12 months to September 2009, the number of Optus 3G services increased 43 per cent from 2.16 million to 3.08 million, including Optus mobile broadband customers, whose numbers jumped more than 240 per cent to 688,000.

The purchase exhausted all available 2100MHz spectrum on the secondary trading market that supported the expansion of mobile broadband services, said Buay.

Hence, he said, it was important that the Federal Government finalise a number of decisions about spectrum:

• The allocation of spectrum freed up by the switch to digital TV
• The allocation of 2.5GHz spectrum for mobile services
• Greater certainty regarding the cost and timing of the renewal of expiring 3G spectrum licences

Google to enlist NSA to help it ward off cyberattacks

Washington Post: Google to enlist NSA to help it ward off cyberattacks
The world's largest Internet search company and the world's most powerful electronic surveillance organization are teaming up in the name of cybersecurity.

Google Partners With The NSA To Fight Cyberattacks

Google Partners With The NSA To Fight Cyberattacks
http://politics.theatlantic.com/2010/02/google_partners_with_the_nsa_to_fight_cyberattacks.php

Google and the NSA: Necessary Allies

Google and the NSA: Necessary Allies

Google Asks NSA to Help Secure Its Network

Google Asks NSA to Help Secure Its Network: "Google's call to the NSA to investigate its recent breach and help secure its network is raising concerns."

Business Spectator - NBN at the heart of our digital economy - Blog - Paul Budde

Business Spectator - NBN at the heart of our digital economy - Blog - Paul Budde

Electric Cars, The Insanity Escalates

Electric Cars, The Insanity Escalates: "John Petersen

On January 28th the DOE announced the closing of a $1.4 billion ATVM loan to Nissan North America for the purpose of retooling a factory in Smyrna, Tennessee to produce the Leaf, a zero emission electric car that will be released later this year.
Nissan will use the loan proceeds to create 'up to 1,300 American jobs' at a cost of about $1.3 million each and the 200,000 Leafs it hopes to produce and sell each year will 'conserve up to 65.4 million gallons' of gas, a whopping 327 gallons per car per year. Secretary Chu said, 'This is an investment in our clean energy future. It will bring the United States closer to reducing our dependence on foreign oil and help lower carbon pollution.' I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
With due respect to Nissan and its PR team, no electric car can honestly claim zero emissions because unless they're sold in a bundle with a wind turbine or solar panel, the best any electric car can do is take distributed CO2 emissions from the roads and centralize them in a coal or gas fired power plant. Even under the most optimistic of renewable energy scenarios, American EVs will be plugging into a lump of coal for decades. I'm the first to point out that the Leaf will be responsible for a little less than half the CO2 a comparably sized car with an internal combustion engine would produce, but calling the Leaf 'zero emission' has all the intellectual integrity of a no-peeing section in the public swimming pool.

As things presently stand, I have to wonder whether the inmates aren't running the asylum.