France says Skype could face prosecution for failure to register as a telecom

 

French regulators have said Skype could face prosecution for failing to register as an “electronic communications operator” with France’s telecom regulator. The agency, known by its French acronym ARCEP, wrote in an English-language statement on Tuesday that “failure to comply with this obligation does, however, constitute a criminal offense.”

Being an operator that provides telecom services to the public “also implies compliance with certain obligations, which include the routing of emergency calls and implementing the means required to perform legally ordered [wiretap] interceptions," according to ARCEP.

 

Major glitch in Bitcoin network sparks sell-off; price temporarily falls 23%

Major glitch in Bitcoin network sparks sell-off; price temporarily falls 23%

A technical glitch in the core Bitcoin software forced developers to call for a temporary halt to Bitcoin transactions, sparking a sharp sell-off. The currency's value briefly fell 23 percent to $37 before regaining much of its value later in the evening.

The core of the Bitcoin network is a shared transaction register known as the blockchain. Approximately every 10 minutes, a new block is created containing a record of all Bitcoin transactions that occurred since the previous block. Nodes in the network, known as miners, race to "discover" this next block by solving a cryptographic puzzle. The winner of this race announces the new block to the other nodes. The other nodes verify that it complies with all the rules of the Bitcoin protocol and then accepts it as the next official entry in the block chain, starting the race anew.

It's essential for all miners to enforce exactly the same rules about what counts as a valid block. If a client announces a block that half the network accepts and the other half rejects, the result could be a fork in the network. Different nodes could disagree about which transactions have occurred, potentially producing chaos.

Somali Pirates Convicted for Attack of the USS Ashland $vrng only logical reason so far for delay on Vring decision RT @abubnic

Somali Pirates Convicted for Attack of the USS Ashland $vrng only logical reason so far for delay on Vring decision RT @abubnic

Google to settle Wi-Fi data collection U.S case for $7M: Report

Google to settle Wi-Fi data collection U.S case for $7M: Report

Google will reportedly settle its case with U.S. authorities this week, after the company collected data from unsecured Wi-Fi networks with its Street View cars.

First reported by AllThingsD, the search giant will settle for around $7 million, which will be distributed among the attorneys general representing who more than 30 U.S. states. The agreement could be signed off on as soon as early this week, following a probe by state attorneys general in 2010.

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Google "surprised" by new Street View probe; denies data cover-up

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In 2010, Google admitted that it had collected fragments of personal and sensitive data from home wireless broadband networks in the U.S. and Europe while its Street View cars were on the road. It was part of wider efforts to determine the location of Wi-Fi networks to help build up a list of assisted location services for mobile users.

Sell Google, buy Apple? $AAPL $GOOG

Sell Google, buy Apple? $AAPL $GOOG

From a P/E perspective, GOOG is the 10th most expensive in the S&P 100 at 24.6x

At 3.8x P/Book, it's the 31st most expensive

With a PEG ratio of 1.20, it's trading at a premium of its growth rate, whereas Apple's PEG ratio is just 0.55x (the 5th lowest in the entire S&P 500)

Over the past 5 years, GOOG has been compounding retained earnings at only 6.74%, whereas Apple has been nearly double that at 11.88%

GOOG's return on Assets has been declining at -6.47%/yr compounded rate, whereas Apple has been increasing by 11.7%/yr

For the record, by Dec. 5 last year Balter had changed his "hold" on Apple to a "buy" and then a "strong buy." The stock, however, continued to fall, from $570 to below $420.

The Missed Airbnb Investment, Now Worth $250 Million

The Missed Airbnb Investment, Now Worth $250 Million

 Investor rush out leaving behind a half-finished smoothie on the table

Google working on talking shoes

Google working on talking shoes

Google has a talking shoe — and it has an attitude.

The shoe is still in prototype, and Google has provided no estimate as to when it will reach store shelves.

Shoe Prototype