Author: Ed Felten
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Flaky Voting Technology
Opponents of unauditable e-voting technology often talk about the threat of fraud. They worry that somebody will compromise a voting machine or will corrupt the machines’ software, to steal an election. We should worry about fraud. But just as important, and more likely, is the possibility that software bugs will cause a miscount that gives…
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Linux Backdoor Attempt Thwarted
Kerneltrap.org reports that somebody tried last week to sneak a snippet of malicious code into the Linux kernel’s source code, to create a backdoor that could be exploited later to seize control of Linux machines. Fortunately, members of the software development team spotted the problem the next day and removed the offending code. The malicious…
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New Sony CD-DRM Technology Upcoming
Reuters reports that a new CD copy-protection technology from Sony debuted yesterday in Germany, on a recording by the group Naturally Seven. Does anybody know how I can get a copy of this CD? UPDATE (12:30 PM): Thanks to Joe Barillari and Scott Ananian for pointing me to amazon.de, where I ordered the CD. (At…
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Broadcast Flag Scorecard
Before the FCC issued its Broadcast Flag Order, I wrote a post on “Reading the Broadcast Flag Rules”, in which I recommended reading the eventual Order carefully since “the details can make a big difference.” I pointed to four specific choices the FCC had to make. Let’s look at how the FCC chose. For each…
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The Broadcast Flag, and Threat Model Confusion
The FCC has mandated “broadcast flag” technology, which will limit technical options for the designers of digital TV tuners and related products. This is intended to reduce online redistribution of digital TV content, but it is likely to have little or no actual effect on the availability of infringing content on the Net. The FCC…
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Election Day
It’s Election Day, and residents here in Mercer County may have cast our last votes on the big old battleship-gray lever voting machines. Next election, we’re supposed to be using a new all-electronic system, without any of the necessary safeguards such as a voter-verifiable paper trail or public inspection of software code.
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WaPo Confused On CD-DRM
Today’s Washington Post runs an odd, self-rebutting story about the sales of the copy-protected Anthony Hamilton CD – the same CD that Alex Halderman wrote about, leading to SunnComm’s on-again, off-again lawsuit threat. The article begins by saying that the CD’s sales had an unusually small post-release drop-off in sales. Sales fell 23% in the…
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DMCA Exemptions Granted, Problems Remain
The U.S. Copyright Office has issued its report, creating exemptions to the DMCA’s anti-circumvention provisions for the next three years. The exemptions allow people to circumvent access control technologies under certain closely constrained conditions. The exemption rulemaking, which happens every three years, was created by Congress as a kind of safety valve, intended to keep…
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Broadcast Flag Confusion
In today’s New York Times, Stephen Labaton reports on the continuing controversy over the FCC’s impending Broadcast Flag rules. In the midst of a back-and-forth about the rules, Labaton writes this: An F.C.C. official said, for instance, that the broadcast flag could contain software code that was recognized by computer routers in a way that…
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Remote Controls for Traffic Lights
Many cities have installed systems that let emergency vehicles control traffic lights via infrared remote controls, thereby getting to the scene of an emergency more quickly. This is good. Yesterday’s Detroit News, in a story by Jodi Upton, reports on the availability of remote controls that allow ordinary citizens to control the same traffic lights.…