Tag Archive for: urge

Privacy groups urge investigation of ‘internet of toys’

/in

Privacy groups in the U.S. and seven European countries will ask consumer protection agencies to investigate the maker of two internet-connected toys for violations of laws designed to protect children’s privacy.

The complaints are scheduled to be filed Tuesday against Genesis Toys, maker of the My Friend Cayla and I-Que Intelligence Robot toys, and Nuance Communications, the provider of voice-recognition software for the products.

The complaints, to be filed in the U.S., France, Sweden, Greece, Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Norway, may be only the beginning of actions taken by consumer and privacy groups targeting a lucrative slice of the internet of things market, the so-called internet of toys.

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Network World Security

EFF: Urge your alma mater to not feed the patent trolls

/in

Maybe you, like me, did not even know that universities are selling patents secured by their employee researchers to patent trolls. Maybe you did.

In either case, the Electronic Frontier Foundation is looking to curb this unproductive practice by harnessing the persuasive powers alumni. The EFF explains:

When universities invent, those inventions should benefit everyone. Unfortunately, they sometimes end up in the hands of patent trolls, companies that serve no purpose but to amass patents and demand money from other innovators and inventors.

Why are universities selling patents to trolls in the first place? Shouldn’t they sell their inventions to companies that will actually do something with them?

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Network World Paul McNamara

Experts urge PC users to disable Java, cite security flaw – Reuters

/in

Experts urge PC users to disable Java, cite security flaw
Reuters
Three computer security experts told Reuters on Thursday that computer users should disable those Java modules to protect themselves from attack. A spokeswoman for Oracle said she could not immediately comment on the matter. "This is like open hunting …

and more »

“computer security” – read more