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* Posts by LegalAlien

38 publicly visible posts • joined 4 Feb 2011

If Apple's environmental rhetoric is meaningful, Macs and iPads should converge

LegalAlien

Suggestion

I've been pondering how Apple could close the gap, and allow iPads to be better productivity devices... and I think an iPad/iOS App, that is effectively a virtual machine instance of one's main MacOS environment (perhaps synced with iCloud) would be a really neat solution... the device is then an iPad for consumption, and contains your full fat MacOS environment for when you have keyboard/mouse/trackpad pluged in, and need to do real productivity tasks, like moving files around / document management etc... it could perhaps be a slimmed down version of the MacOS environment (for example, if they want to protect their walled garden/App store, although I think that model is probably on borrowed time for anti-trust/competition law reasons)... anyway, that would allow me to go away for a couple of days and only take the iPad!

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EU tells UK: Cut the BS, sign here, and you can have access to Galileo sat's secure service

LegalAlien
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Re: Were we not told...

... and NATO is still in place

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Here's what Lynch, Hussain and HPE are saying about Autonomy pre-buyout due diligence

LegalAlien

Looks like very poor DD

... the key thing when buying a SaaS business and conducting DD, is to look at the *quality* of the revenue, the recurring nature, the amounts which are not recurring. I think this seems to be (but obviously I have not read the mountains of legalese) a case of insufficiently thorough DD... the seller in a deal is expected to be 'coy'... the buyer therefore hires massive teams of expensive accountants and lawyers to look into this. Looks to me like HP were keen to announce to a fixed deadline, so took some expensive shortcuts. Caveat emptor and all that.

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Yer a solicitor, 'arry! Indian uni takes cues from 'Potterverse' to teach students law

LegalAlien

Not as crazy as it sounds...

I studied law at Durham, when some of the Harry Potter were being filmed... but anyway there's plenty of scope for creative legal thinking in the Potterverse... do users of magic owe a special duty of care to people around them? If a dangerous substance/item/troll escapes and causes carnage, who is responsible? Is there a product defect with a wand that causes havoc? Is the manufacturer of the wand liable, or the retailer in Diagon Alley? The nice thing about studying law is that when you learn about defining legal cases, it's often because some very strange things have happened to people, who have gone to court to argue about who's at fault! ... or whether you can kill a cabin boy if you need to eat him to survive when marooned at sea (is "necessity" a defence to murder? Answer: no, but you may get a pardon)

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London tipped to lead European data market. Yes, despite Brexit!

LegalAlien

The report...

... https://equinix.box.com/shared/static/8z38w0gjkbsajgzkaq3qoelalop5hr6x.pdf does not really have the Brexit/data protection/adequancy decision angle that the author claims. It is purely about bandwidth and global/regional interconnect volume forecasting, and it's not clear the report has actually taken Brexit into account (it's not mentioned once).

Whether the UK gets an adequacy decision is certainly an open item. The Commission has taken the UK to task for years on its surveillance activities and other data protection/privacy shortcomings, and that pressure is only going to be greater if/when UK no longer a full EU member. Just like the UK taking banking jobs and automative jobs from the UK post-Brexit, it does not take a wild imagination to assume that EU countries/businesses will be looking to use GDPR (non) compliance as a means to exert competitive pressure against the UK post-brexit (if brexit goes ahead, which for full transparency, I hope it does not)

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There's security – then there's barbed wire-laced pains in the arse

LegalAlien

Pick any 2...

I thought the rule of thumb was:

Security

Ease of Use

Scale/cost

Pick any 2...

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MPs sceptical of plan for IT to save the day after UK quits customs union

LegalAlien
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Exactly...

Also, leaving EU does not = leaving customers union (ask Turkey); it does not equal leaving EEA (Norway); as you say, we had a margin of error like result, which has given some charlatans the perceived authority to lurch off into extremely damaging territory all in the name of 'the will of the people'.

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UK.gov: Snoop laws not 'significant' obstacle to EU data protection talks

LegalAlien

The "ICO's reputation" ... as the (deliberately) worst funded and most toothless data protection regulator in all 28 EU member states? Ah, yes, invaluable to the EU... they will really miss the unfair competition from UK on this... And yes, the EU has been sparring with USA over massive NatSec over-reach/mass surveillance... pretty sure this will no go well for the UK, but then again Brexiteers live in their own fantasy land.

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The ultimate full English breakfast – have your SAY

LegalAlien

Regency Cafe

In Pimlico, best full English breakfasts ever. Also cool that the mega violent Layer Cake film scene was filmed there.

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LegalAlien
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Re: Hash browns... or fried potatoes

Agree with fried bread... but in addition to potatoes!

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LegalAlien

Hash browns... or fried potatoes

All the above, but need some potato carbs please. That is all.

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Openreach asks UK what it thinks about 10 million 'full fibre' connections

LegalAlien

Get on with it....

Consultation response (even though I'm NFI'd as I'm not an ISP): get on with it. Make it faster and more widely available than all other European countries (or at least as fast!). If there's $1Bn for the DUP, and $100Bn for a bloody train, there should be several billions ($10Bn?) of public money for making the UK's connectivity network brilliant/future proof/fast.

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Dishwasher has directory traversal bug

LegalAlien

Not a run of the mill dishwasher

http://www.miele-pro.com/us/prof/products/14071_16161.htm

Not a scientist, but can sort of see this device is supposed to be shared

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Spies do spying, part 97: Shock horror as CIA turn phones, TVs, computers into surveillance bugs

LegalAlien
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Re: While it was nice to see no mention of Linux here...

Except for the detailed document showing the linux kernel hacked in the Samsung F8000 tv set, and used as 'FalseOff' to enable camera and microphone while appearing to be off...

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Brexit would pinch UK tech spend but the EU wouldn't care – survey

LegalAlien
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Re: Leave the Conman Market before its too late!

This is called beggar thy neighbour: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beggar_thy_neighbour

It won't work. Do you think the EU would not take counter-measures to deal with that? Like it or not, there is no rose-tinted past anymore to run back to you - we live ina globalised world now, and the best / only credible option is multilateralism: being part of a 500m population / developed world trading block is the most rational course. It's also, on the whole, what the younger generation wants: freedom to travel, work, consume, communicate etc accross borders, and they (we, I'm 33) are the ones who will have to live with the decision in the long-run.

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Europe's new privacy safeguards are finally approved, must invade EU nations by 2018

LegalAlien
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Re: EU über alles

So a more-democratic-than-private-businesses body (including the EU parliament) issues laws that protect individual people and this is somehow a flaw of the EU? Idiot.

Oh, and even if Brexit happens, guess what, just like Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland, the UK will have to comply with this Regulation anyway as a condition to any trade agreement. This is a good news day, son.

Edited: I see you have a 30 year career in the MOD, so you probably think that Her Majesty (or rather her government) will look after your personal data... which has been precisely proven... NEVER

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She's coming... the Chief Data Officer

LegalAlien

Data Protection Officers

This is partly due to the requirement which the new Data Protection Regulation will introduce (which requirement already exists in some countries e.g. Germany) that organisation must appoint a "Data Protection Officer", that could be done by in-house Legal, or indeed within the CIO remit, but given the legal/privacy nature of the duties, the CIO may not be the best person/team to manage this function. Also, because the Regulation is going to introduce competition-law levels of fines for data protection breaches (e.g. 3% of annual revenues) there is a serious incentive to manage these risks, up to C-level.

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Europe is spaffing €20bn on handouts for tech

LegalAlien
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Re: Clarification

Well said. I for one welcome the end of rip-off EU cross-border mobile bills. And yes, your comment about content blocking drives is also well said. I welcome an end to that. As a Dutchman, living in the UK since 1990, not being able to (legally) view Dutch international football matches is very annoying (and I'd even be willing to pay, although I shouldn't have to). So, I get geo-blocked by Dutch TV channel NOS on their website, and have to use a Korean sopcast or similar, combined with a Dutch (out of sync radio broadcast). I can see services like iPlayer might get more viewers from abroad than the Dutch equivalent the other way around, but there has to be a sensible commercially attractive way to deal with that rather than just blanket blocking based on country, especially when we're supposed to have a single market.

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So. Are Europeans just a whining bunch of data protection hypocrites?

LegalAlien
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Re: I spy with my little eye...

Big John... YES, US citizens (and every other nationaility in the world) enjoy exactly the same rights as EU citizens, when in Europe, or when affected by a European company or an EU Member State in relation to privacy and data protection rights... Do you now understand why Europeans are not very pleased that the USA does not do the same?

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Folk shun UK.gov's 'expensive' subsidised satellite broadband

LegalAlien

I have satellite internet... and I hadn't heard, but then I've already paid the setup costs, and the monthly fees are very steep

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UK gets the Ashley Madison fear: Data privacy moans on the up

LegalAlien
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Problem is...

...that successive governments, both red and blue, have deliberatley under-funded the ICO. The new DP Regulation, which harmonises the law accross the 28 EU Member States, may change that, because the UK ICO will have to be just as strict/uniform in its application of the law as, say, the Germans....

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WIN a 6TB Western Digital Black hard drive with El Reg

LegalAlien

Dad, I prefer to see mum without the x-ray-vision app!

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In EU-US data sharing we trust – but can we have that in writing, say MEPs

LegalAlien
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Re: An obese deceased odiferous rodent.

This is data protection legalese, but it means the data given to the USA will not be processed beyond the stated purpose, being "prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of crime".... My biggest concern is that the US will say that collecting everyone's data about everything is to do with "prevention" of crime (i.e. they have to collect lots of innocent people's data to look through to see if there's anything criminal-related, i.e. this might give a fig-leaf to the already massive data harvesting being done by the USA.... Also, the definition of "criminal" is not the same on both sides of the atlantic (or indeed in the 28 EU member states).

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Wikiland turns to Shapps and says ‘those emails you wanted, we deleted them, sorry’

LegalAlien

Data Protection Act? Not FOIA

A personal data "subject access request" is made under the Data Protection Act 1998, I think you've wrongly stated the Freedom of Information Act, which applies to getting (non personal data) from public authorities....

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GCHQ: We can't track crims any more thanks to Snowden

LegalAlien
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Re: How to eliminate drug lords

Oh well, we'll just have to let Bolivian criminals be the... err problem of f*ing Bolivia then! What sort of stupid comment is that?

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Scrapping the Human Rights Act: What about privacy and freedom of expression?

LegalAlien
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No, to leave the ECHR, the UK would have to leave the Council of Europe (nothing to do with the EU). The CoE has 47 member countries, including Russia and Georgia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Member_states_of_the_Council_of_Europe

It would be an unprecedented departure by UK from human rights agreements, agreed between a large number of countries over decades.

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Has Europe cut the UK adrift on data protection?

LegalAlien
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Re: Quite true

There's no such thing as a 'human rights directive'...

European Convention on Human Rights (shortened to ECHR). The ECHR is a Council of Europe treaty, including all EU countries, but also Russia, Turkey etc. (41 countries are signatories, as well as the EU itself additionally).

The European Court of Human Rights (which is in Strasbourg), rules on breaches of this treaty, which is why you have cases like "R v Russia" and "Z v United Kingdom". Churchill was a fan.

The Human Rights Act [of [UK] Parliament], gives effect to this treaty in the UK.

Withdrawing from the ECHR would be a bit like the USA withdrawing from its Constitution. Crazy.

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Guardian teams up with New York Times for future Snowden GCHQ coverage

LegalAlien
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Stop

Re: Danger already present

Not really. Snowden is referring to journalists' treatment of the material. Greenwald is referring to (and rebutting) an allegation abouttthe government (namely that he is subject to a an agreement with the government that restricts his ability to report). Simple really.

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GCHQ wants to enlarge 'experienced' specialists' packages

LegalAlien
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I noticed that bit...

... What exactly does GCHQ do for the "economic wellbeing" of the UK? Does it actively steal IP and commercial secrets from foreign governments/companies? If so, how does it (lawfully) pass that on to domestic companies? (with difficulty!).

Does it protect private companies from foreign espionage?

Curious 's all

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Vint Cerf: 'The internet is not a human right'

LegalAlien
Stop

ECHR

.... European Convention on Human Rights:

"Article 10 – Freedom of expression

1. Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers. This article shall not prevent States from requiring the licensing of broadcasting, television or cinema enterprises.

2. The exercise of these freedoms, since it carries with it duties and responsibilities, may be subject to such formalities, conditions, restrictions or penalties as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society, in the interests of national security, territorial integrity or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, for the protection of the reputation or rights of others, for preventing the disclosure of information received in confidence, or for maintaining the authority and impartiality of the judiciary."

The relevant bit is: "freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers."

So, in a sense, the internet is nowadays an extremely important method by which people can exercise their human right to expresseion (a.k.a. freedom of speech).

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Microsoft de-cloaks Windows 8 push-button lifesaver

LegalAlien
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Err...

Presumably as a competent admin you would not allow end users (in a corporate environment) to install applications or - heaven forbid - refresh/reset by, for example, changing their permissions?

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2016: Death of the wallet as NFC tap-cash arrives at last

LegalAlien
Pint

Pubs!

related topic....

I have three (debit/credit) cards with wireless PayWave system but no pubs accept them and instead I have to wait for ages for pin to be entered and payment to be authorised.

Why don't pubs accept these quick payment methods!! GGrr

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Facebook says it's winning against Justin Bieber smut onslaught

LegalAlien
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Coffee/keyboard

Ha ha ha ha!

Hilarious, new keyboard needed - or a cloth

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Assange takes extradition fight to Supreme Court

LegalAlien
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FAIL

Fail

"As a soldier you do what you are ordered to do." - ??

That defence didn't work so well for the Nazis post-WW2, did it? (lookup Nuremberg: " "defense of superior orders" is not a defense for war crimes"). Also hasn't worked for a number of genocidal maniacs since then...

Dumbfuck

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Data Protection Directive revamp: UK looking sidelined?

LegalAlien
Meh

Why the scepticism Amberhawk?

1. European institutions are the only ones ACTIVELY doing anything consumer/human-friendly about data protection (cf. the UK ICO).

2. One of the biggest costs to businesses (big and small) is complying with the various different European Member States' differing implementations of the 95/46 Directive (clue: UK citizens get very few rights as "data subjects"; countries like Germany get constitutional-level protection).

I'd say a European "Regulation" would be very welcome. By the way, to all readers, a "Regulation" is European law that must be transposed into national (in our case UK) law as-is, whereas a "Directive" allows Members States freedom to determine how to implement said Directive.

Anyone ever wonder WHY the UK's ICO has no budget or teeth?

is the iOne of th

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UK biz: Fax us and explain what this cloud thing is

LegalAlien
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That is simply not true...

... I worked in the largest law firm in the world (as a solicitor), in the Netherlands, Poland, France and the UK and I worked as in-house lawyer for Airbus and now I'm the head lawyer of a software company. In all these places (certainly in the last 6 or 7 years) signed/scanned PDFs have been perfectly sufficient to create the desired legal relationship. Indeed that is far more common that faxes.

If a party was to say (in an English court at least): "Sorry Judge, I don't consider myself bound by the contract because it was a PDF" [not a fax], he would be laughed out of Court (by the Judge) and he would lose and he would be ordered to pay his opponents legal costs. Of course, if there was a digital forgery, that could be raised, but then the emphasis would be on the party seeking to allege that a signature had been forged (email chains are good against this).

Incidentally, I now sign documents by inserting a JPG of my signature into a word document and printing to PDF which preserves the quality of the text and avoids having to use a printer at all, and I've noticed more and more people doing this.

0 Even in the 'conservative' law firm, contracts and documents which were suposed to be binding

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RIM is now worth less than its assets

LegalAlien
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Megaphone

look over in that direction, no "there"

vs

my apple

your apple

his apple

her apple

their apple

= "...bad management can keep their jobs"

FFS

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ISPs and Vaizey set to bump heads over default porn filter

LegalAlien
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Megaphone

and in Europe...

..."Freedom of expression applies not only to information which is favourably received, but also to that which shocks, offends and disturbs" (European Court of Human Rights, Handyside v UK judgment 1976)

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