Interestingly years ago, about the time I left British Telecom, they were being told that they had to allow ALL rival telecoms providers to install their equipment in the BT exchange (office) .

Because BT had a monopoly on cables to customers and competitors could not be expected to dig up the streets to every house and business. (Of course the cable companies had done just that but they were not forced to do the same)

Rooms were set aside for the competitors equipment to be installed and connected to any cable that terminated in that exchange.

BT Openreach was created to connect and install these service for the competitors (that of course didn't work out too well).

But it does mean that now you can have a broadband and or phone service from lots of competing companies. All down your existing BT copper and now fibre (Sky TV broadband comes down BT fibre)

Even out in the country side here you can use any ISP you wish to provide your services.

Cheers.

Our local cable company is Rogers, a company so wealthy off of its cable offerings that it could afford to buy the Skydome arena on the most expensive real estate in this half of the country and rename it the "Rogers Centre".

Rogers was forced by the CRTC (Canadian FCC) to allow other providers to use its cable network which they of course fought tooth and nail. But they lost, mostly because they took large government incentive subsidies to build that network, which they then attempted to exert monopoly control over as if that was not the case. (Nothing different north of the border, eh!)

I took advantage of this and dumped Rogers for a small provider when they were messing around with protocols nearly a decade ago and never looked back. The smaller provider has much better service. However because all their traffic runs through Rogers infrastructure they can still be bastards whenever they feel like it. If I use more than some certain amount of data in some arbitrary period (neither of which numbers they will tell) for example downloading a large game that I damn well paid for, they will deprovision my modem leaving me cut off. They have done this about a dozen times. Since I know the cause I can call my provider to get them to put it back online again within a few hours whereas it took over a day at the beginning.

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Get ready for a new buzzword in the digital world.

Negawatts - A digital con?

All a (continued) silly game of vandalism?

And all at the (continued) expense of those paying for the results...?


In Ironic Twist, Intel Accuses Qualcomm Of Anti-Competitive Tactics

... Intel accused Qualcomm of using a “no license, no chips” policy, through which it allegedly coerces device makers into paying Qualcomm “exorbitant royalty rates” for every device they sell, on top of the price they pay for the modems. If the OEMs refuse to pay the license or try to take Qualcomm to court, Qualcomm would then disrupt the supply...

... third anti-competitive practice includes Qualcomm offering a discount on its “exorbitant” royalty rates to companies such as Apple, but only if they agree to enter exclusivity...

... Intel Should Know What’s Anti-Competitive

All of these written attacks coming from Intel’s statement are quite interesting, considering Intel itself has also been accused and fined over similar tactics in the past against AMD...


NB: Fines were levied many years later after harmful financial and market damage had be done... And STILL Intel have not paid...

IT and business are what we allow them to be...
Martin

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See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

And STILL Intel have not paid...[/b]

IT and business are what we allow them to be...
Martin

Martin, this isn't the IT business, this is the lawyer business.

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The computer message to the Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro when voting in the election there yesterday:
“This person does not exist or the ID was cancelled.”
Video http://www.dn.se/nyheter/varlden/datorns-besked-till-maduro-du-existerar-inte/

Only in the freedoms of America?...


Hey America! Your internet is going to be so much better this January

But probably not in the way you'd hoped...

... More Americans than ever are going to have access to fast internet as well as a greater choice of providers.

What's all the more amazing is that this improvement will come without requiring any extra investment by broadband providers and without anyone needing to pay more or even change their plans or provider.

How is this possible? Simple: the Federal Communications Commission is going to redefine how it measures internet access...


OK, so just redefine 'freedom' also?...

IT is what we allow it to be...
Martin

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See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

It seems the old science fiction writers got it wrong.

The "3 Laws of Robotics" won't exist

oops, one factor all over again and it doesn't even have a password!
https://www.technologyreview.com/the-download/608711/hackers-are-coming-for-your-cell-phone-number/

If you suddenly lose control of a host of Web services at once, there could be a simple root cause: hackers have taken control of your phone number. The New York Times reports that hackers have been increasingly able to convince carriers to transfer customer phone numbers to devices in their control. That allows them to reset passwords for sites secured using two-factor authentication, a feature that is now used widely by sites like Twitter and Facebook.

You might be particularly concerned if you’re an early adopter of cryptocurrencies, as attackers appear to be focusing attentions on commandeering logins for currency lockers and then draining them. The Times points to the particularly troubling experience of Joby Weeks, a Bitcoin entrepreneur who lost “about a million dollars’ worth of virtual currency” last year via this kind of scam, even though he had alerted his cell carrier that he might have been targeted.

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OUCH!
https://www.wsj.com/articles/equifax-reports-data-breach-possibly-impacting-143-million-u-s-consumers-1504819765

Equifax Reports Data Breach Possibly Affecting 143 Million U.S. Consumers
Hackers gained access to systems with Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and driver’s license numbers

OUCH!
https://www.wsj.com/articles/equifax-reports-data-breach-possibly-impacting-143-million-u-s-consumers-1504819765

Equifax Reports Data Breach Possibly Affecting 143 Million U.S. Consumers
Hackers gained access to systems with Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and driver’s license numbers

You beat me to it, WaPo - Equifax says data from 143 million Americans exposed in hack

Where are those millions of eyeballs?
http://www.zdnet.com/article/equifax-blames-open-source-software-for-its-record-breaking-security-breach/

Equifax blames open-source software for its record-breaking security breach: Report

The credit rating giant claims an Apache Struts security hole was the real cause of its security breach of 143 million records.

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Equifax confirms Apache Struts security flaw it failed to patch is to blame for hack

http://www.zdnet.com/article/equifax-confirms-apache-struts-flaw-it-failed-to-patch-was-to-blame-for-data-breach

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Equifax confirms Apache Struts security flaw it failed to patch is to blame for hack

http://www.zdnet.com/article/equifax-confirms-apache-struts-flaw-it-failed-to-patch-was-to-blame-for-data-breach

Ok, so a flaw in Apache Struts was the hole the hackers crawled through. Yet, that hole was fixed in an update from Apache, but Equifax did not patch the software and is NOT taking the blame for the hack? Shame on them for passing the buck to a KNOWN software flaw they refused to fix with a patch.

I hope that the 143m victims can read between the lines and see where the real blame lies.

Siran

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CAPT Siran d'Vel'nahr - L L & P _\\//
Winders 11 OS? "What a piece of junk!" - L. Skywalker
"Logic is the cement of our civilization with which we ascend from chaos using reason as our guide." - T'Plana-hath

Equifax confirms Apache Struts security flaw it failed to patch is to blame for hack

http://www.zdnet.com/article/equifax-confirms-apache-struts-flaw-it-failed-to-patch-was-to-blame-for-data-breach

Ok, so a flaw in Apache Struts was the hole the hackers crawled through. Yet, that hole was fixed in an update from Apache, but Equifax did not patch the software and is NOT taking the blame for the hack? Shame on them for passing the buck to a KNOWN software flaw they refused to fix with a patch.

I hope that the 143m victims can read between the lines and see where the real blame lies.

Siran

I hope you can. Blame seems to lie is systems like open source that can't automatically go out and get a security patch and self apply it. Humans forget or get distracted and humans know this so smart ones design systems to prevent this.

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Equifax confirms Apache Struts security flaw it failed to patch is to blame for hack

http://www.zdnet.com/article/equifax-confirms-apache-struts-flaw-it-failed-to-patch-was-to-blame-for-data-breach

Ok, so a flaw in Apache Struts was the hole the hackers crawled through. Yet, that hole was fixed in an update from Apache, but Equifax did not patch the software and is NOT taking the blame for the hack? Shame on them for passing the buck to a KNOWN software flaw they refused to fix with a patch.

I hope that the 143m victims can read between the lines and see where the real blame lies.

Siran

I hope you can. Blame seems to lie is systems like open source that can't automatically go out and get a security patch and self apply it. Humans forget or get distracted and humans know this so smart ones design systems to prevent this.

We will see how well that holds up in court. Har...

The short list. Equifax IT was a sleep at the wheel. Equifax management selling stock before going public with hack. Equifax management sitting on hack for months before going public.

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