Episode 0035, 02/11/2008
Title: Conspiracies, Weddings, and Pirates
Description: Undersea Cable Outages, Microsoft + Yahoo, Pirate Bay in Court, and More
Welcome to Course Technology's Coursecast of the week, Episode 35, recorded February 5th, 2008.
This is Ken Baldauf bringing you this week's technology news and information. This CourseCast is brought to you by Course Technology. Check out www.course.com for innovative textbooks and creative electronic learning solutions.
Story 1 - An Undersea Conspiracy?
Last week, I reported on two undersea telecommunication cables that were cut, disrupting Internet communications around the world, especially in Egypt, India, and the Middle East. A few days after that incident, another cable was cut in the Persian Gulf off the coast of Dubai, and shortly after that, yet another cable was cut. The original explanation, which had to do with a snagged boat anchor, has been debunked, leaving authorities stumped. A number of conspiracy theories have arisen proposing international plots aiming to cut off the Middle East from the rest of the world. The telecom companies have been quick to dismiss these speculations and are working to solve the mystery and bring Internet service back to full capacity. Personally, I think it has something to do with disgruntled lobsters. But all kidding aside, assuming the damage was caused by some natural phenomenon, the incident still serves to show how fragile and vulnerable the Internet backbone is, if someone were to want to intentionally sever it. The MIT Technology Review has an excellent article that dives more deeply into this topic.
Source: A third underwater cable is cut in Middle East (ComputerWorld), Ruptures call safety of Internet cables into question (International Herald Tribune), Cable Damage Conspiracy Theories Downplayed (Headline Watch), Cut Undersea Cables Raise Questions of Safety (NYTimes), Analyzing the Internet Collapse (TechReview)
Story 2 - Microsoft and Yahoo Still the Talk of the Town
The big news from last week continues to be the headline news of this week. Microsoft's bid of $44.6 billion for Yahoo! has shaken up the entire tech industry. Google is working hard to put a stop to the take over, claiming that a Microsoft/Yahoo! combination would be bad for the Internet and give Microsoft monopoly power. Funny, but this is the exact same accusations that Microsoft made of the Google/Double-Click merger a couple months back. Google has offered to assist Yahoo! in turning its back on Microsoft. House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers is holding hearings on the deal checking for issues of antitrust. The EU's competition commissioner is planning an investigation into the acquisition as well. Privacy advocates are protesting the merger as being a threat to Internet privacy - as they protested against Google and Double-Click. But since Google was able to gain permission to acquire online advertising giant Double-Click, many feel that Microsoft will get the thumbs up to take over Yahoo. But first, Yahoo's Board of Directors has to approve of the deal, and they have indicated that coming to a decision may take a long, long time.
Source: Congress, EU Will Probe Microsoft-Yahoo Bid (TopTechNews), Google Offers To Help Yahoo Fight Microsoft (TopTech News), Privacy advocates sound alarms over Microsoft's bid to buy Yahoo (ComputerWorld)
Story 3 - Pirate Bay Walks the Plank
After many months of investigation, Swedish authorities have finally compiled enough evidence to file formal charges against the head operators of The Pirate Bay. Pirate Bay is a popular BitTorrent tracking site used to download movies and music, usually in breach of copyright laws. While the four Swedes that run the site face hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines, it is uncertain whether the Swedish government will be able to put a stop to the file sharing. Pirate Bay, it turns out, is a clandestine, double-blind operation that runs on dozens of servers distributed around the globe out of reach of the Swedish authorities. While its leaders are in Sweden, the Pirate Bay servers are not.
Sources: Sweden Charges Operators of Pirate Bay (Top Tech News),Pirate Bay Says It Can't Be Sunk, Servers Scattered Worldwide (Wired)
New Briefs
That's it for this week's CourseCast. Links to this week's stories and many more news and information resources are provided at the CourseCast Web site at www.course.com/coursecasts. E-mail us with your suggestions for the show at course.coursecasts@cengage.com. Until next time, have a great week and be sure to take advantage of the Power -- of Technology!