Jan in Malaysia

Illegal DVD machine seized.

As read in Star news some time ago.

International "hack, pump and dump" fraud scheme dismantled.

" Three individuals from India and Malaysia were charged today in a U.S. federal court with masterminding an international "hack, pump and dump" fraud scheme to hijack online brokerage accounts. At least 60 customers and nine brokerage firms have been identified as victims, with one of the brokerage firms reporting more than $2 million in losses. Online brokerage firms affected include TDA AmeriTrade, E*Trade, Firstrade, ChoiceTrade, Options/Express, TradeKing and TerraNova." source.

No more illegal software in Malaysia ?

As seen in low yat plaza, instead of the software stalls, where you normaly find loads loads of software on those 5RM disks… All gone now. They seem to have moved to somewhere else. Not sure if this will convince existing MS Windows users to upgrade to the official MS Vista…

Malaysia’s Star newspaper is reporting what seems to be the world’s first case of someone being arrested for selling mobile phone ringtones illegally

As read here. « Malaysia’s copyright police take hammer to crack walnut. Malaysia’s Star newspaper is reporting what seems to be the world’s first case of someone being arrested for selling mobile phone ringtones illegally. The paper reports that a 24-year-old man was arrested in a Penang shopping centre in an operation by the Recording Industry Association of Malaysia and the state Domestic Trade and Consumers Affairs Ministry enforcement division. Apparently, he’s likely to be charged under the country’s copyright law and faces a fine of between RM2,000 and RM20,000 (£284 – £2,840) for each of the 4,000 plus ringtones in question. That could add up to a hefty sum, with a possible five-year jail term on top. And the recording industry bodies worldwide wonder why they’re getting a bad name.»

Cyberterrorism in Asia-Pacific

«The ASEAN Regional Forum has placed cyberterrorism and the misuse of cyberspace on top of its agenda for its annual meeting in Kuala Lumpur last Friday. The organisation adopted a formal statement on the issue, strongly condemning such practices and describing cyberattacks as one of the most dangerous threats to international security. 

The Regional Forum, an informal multilateral meeting place for countries in the Asia-Pacific area seeking to address security concerns, includes such global powers as the US, China and Russia. Issues of cybersecurity are currently viewed as an important part of the global struggle against terrorism, and the statement directly links the two, calling cyberterrorism a "destructive and devastating form and manifestation of global terrorism." According to the statement, the impact of cyberterrorism can be both in terms of direct attacks on crucial infrastructure and also as a source of funds for conventional terrorism activities.

In this regard, the ARF has decided to promote a regional cybersecurity strategy that would take into account the increasing connectivity between countries in the region and the growing sophistication of cybercriminals. The first step that will need to be taken is to bring cybercrime and cybersecurity legislation in line across the region. The second step will be to promote cooperation both in terms of knowledge and technology. Member countries have also pledged to create a region-wide network of cybersecurity response teams that would provide advice and remedial measures.»

source : Viruslist.com - News - Cyberterrorism on the agenda in Asia-Pacific / 31 Jul 2006

Using Skype is illegal and will get you behind bars. Therefore it must be blocked, so we can protect you.

At least in Burma on of the 15 black holes in the Internet (Belarus Burma China Cuba Iran  Libya Nepal North Korea Saudi Arabia Syria Maldives  Tunisia Turkmenistan Uzbekistan Vietnam). «"The decision to ban Gtalk and Skype were taken partly for financial reasons. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services were breaking into the profitable long-distance telephone call market, in which the state has a monopoly," said the press freedom organisation. "But it is also since, like webmails, this type of communication is very difficult to monitor. The Burmese Internet is more controlled than the Net in China," it added. The authorities, who already block access to Yahoo! and Microsoft (Hotmail) email services, want to force Burmese Internet-users to use Mail4U from Myanmar Teleport (formerly Bagan Cybertech), a state enterprise which filters and controls email content…. Every computer in the country has to be registered with the MPT, with those failing to do so liable to a sentence of up to 15 years in prison. It is the state which licences Internet cafés. They are forced to ask clients to produce proof of identity and to install software which takes screen captures every five minutes. All the data has to be kept on CDs and regularly sent to the authorities. The Burmese authorities have ordered filtering of independent online newspapers, websites defending human rights or promoting democracy and publications supporting the claims of the Karen people (an anti-government ethnic group in the east of the country). Internet users can access these sites and webmail by using proxy servers or tunnelling techniques (See Reporters Without Borders’ Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-dissidents). The OpenNet Initiative has shown that the junta has, since May 2004, been using Internet filtering software sold by the US firm Fortinet.Finally, the creation of a website has to be approved by the authorities, and under a 2000 law, anyone discussing political issues online or posting articles "likely to damage the interests of the Myanmar Union" or "directly or indirectly harmful to state security policy" is liable to a six-month prison sentence.». source. Related : Skype is illegal | Skype must be blocked.

Chinese blogger in prison, Skype(rs) next ?

I just read this on SkypeJournal : «Officials imprisoned fellow blogger Hao Wu for blogging.

Blogging is just a small step from Skyping and Skypecasting. You can read his sister Nina's blog, sign a petition, or write a letter. Skypers may be next.»

Here is my take on Skype and why some people (don’t) like it :

• you can call anyone you like anytime


• nobody can easiliy tap into your conversation


• you can send/receive files without being traced (easily), now that scares off many IT-managers


• you can phone for free from P2P and cheaply from skype to phones


• it bypasses a firewall easily


• it’s on all the time as a presence system and a chatbox


• you can program a system around it


• it pisses off telecoms and celcoms in a big way


• it scares paranoid governments


• it allows people to starting thinking and talking in a different way


• it stand for freedom


• it’s for everybody and it’s for free (it better than air and sun)


• we all like the updates


• you can send SMS with it.


• it’s linked to Ebay and you can attach it to your store or website


• it;s blue, green and red.


• it can be anonymous


• it’s unmanageable


• it keeps growing uncontrollable (it cannot be controlled, not even by Ebay or Skype)

 

Skype.com.my still looks like shit, but here is : skypemalaysia.com and skypechina.com

www.skypechina.com ; outrageous !

I still find it strange that www.skype.com.my still looks empty but Skype registered www.skypemalaysia.com and here is of course Jyve.com stepping again on the toes of China and maybe of Skype. I just don’t understand why one which is representing a Skype Community group would continue that domain-name-grabbing. I am gonna say it. Here it is : how much more stupid can it get ? Really … Stepping on the toes of 9 billion Chinese and maybe also a bunch of Skype users, and maybe on the Skype toes. Hm. . Is this the type of community thinking and the kind of Web 2.0. that we want ? How much more offensive can one be towards a community. I would call this domain-name grabbing and it’s confusing and misleading. Talking about the skypechina.com now.

I think I have read this in «Spring Newsletter & New Terms» from Skype on the matter of using the word skype in domain names. « A note from the legal team You cannot register, use or own a domain name containing a Skype trademark, or any name substantially similar to a Skype trademark without permission, as such use is likely to constitute a trademark infringement. Skype, SkypeIn, SkypeOut, SkypeMe, Skype Zones, Skype Plus, Skype Certified, Skype Compatible and ‘the whole world can talk for free’ are all Skype trademarks.»

Don’t gimme that Jive (To talk nonsense; kid. or To cajole or mislead).

Oh yeah I forgot : www.skype-ebay.com is for sale. (not my business), but you can buy it.

Malaysia Boleh and Software Boleh !

 I have personally never met any Malaysian that boasted to me that (s)he bought software. I do have many friends in Europe who call me say they just bought a 500 USD software and said it is a good buy. That is the difference between here and there. Maybe there are people over here that do buy legal software, but I have not met them yet. I also don’t see the presence of software stores selling legal software. On the contrary, I have in my capacity as an IT-manager or IT-consultant seen over some company from Europe that did not even understand what compliance with software policy means… Oh well, what comes around goes around. That is a wellknown saying over here. It’s a very different climate over here and I am not only talking about the heat and the humidity… It must be said. Software-piracy is more frequent in Asian countries than in European Countries. Different also. More accepted. Take for example Low Yat Plaza. It is said that this is owned by a group of Asian Businessmen. This is in Kuala Lumpur THE place to buy software and hardware. The software-cd’s’ are being sold there at a price of 5RM/piece (I am not promoting this here, okay, just describing it. And since some days Microsoft has changed their software piracy tracing system.  I guess Bill Gates will visit Malaysia / Kuala Lumpur soon, because it’s always then that the software stalls close. I also think that if you close these illegal software centers that they will just pop up somewhere else. Two years ago they existed and they still do.

Related : www.bsa.org/malaysia | Software Piracy in Malasyia | Corruption level in Malaysia

Trojan used in major industrial espionage

Michael and Ruth Haephrati, who were charged in Israel in connection with a major industrial espionage investigation and recently extradited from Britain, have been found guilty and jailed for two and four years respectively. The Trojan-writing couple was also ordered to pay $427,000 in compensation. The Haephratis were found guilty of creating and distributing a Trojan used in industrial espionage by some of the biggest companies in Israel. The Trojan was originally developed by Michael Haephrati as a prank, but the couple soon realised the potential it had and tried to market it to Israel's defence agencies. Having got nowhere with the authorities, the Haephratis offered their creation to private investigators, who readily snapped it up. These investigators, who worked for some of the biggest Israeli firms, later used the Trojan to spy on competitors. At the UK extradition hearing it was claimed that 45 companies sustained damages as a result of the operation of this Trojan. The Haephratis reached a plea bargain a couple of weeks ago, according to Israeli media. Ruth Haefrati pleaded guilty to computer virus insertion, covert wiretapping, invasion of privacy and fraud. Michael Haephrati pleaded guilty to having been an accomplice to those crimes.  Several private investigators have also been indicted on related charges. source : www.viruslist.com