| abstract | - Facebook Admits Ad Service Tracks Logged-Off Users Facebook has confirmed findings of a Computer Associates security researcher that the social-networking site's Beacon ad service is more intrusive and stealthy than previously acknowledged, an admission that contradicts statements made previously by Facebook executives and representatives. Correction on Coca-Cola & Facebook: Relationship Not On Hold; Not In Beacon To Begin With So a correction on a post this weekend about Coca-Cola’s participation in Facebook’s controversial Beacon ad program, and from the NYT’s understanding of what Coke said, and then our interpretation of what they wrote. A Coca-Cola spokesperson said the underlying premise was wrong and clarified some details: -- Coca-Cola hasn’t put its Facebook participation on hold. In fact, the company is and remains a “landmark partner” taking part in two different ad/marketing programs. -- The company wasn’t part of Beacon to begin with, and for now is only considering it; taking part in that was what the NYT meant was on hold. Secret mailing list rocks Wikipedia AControversy has erupted among the encyclopedia's core contributors, after a rogue editor revealed that the site's top administrators are using a secret insider mailing list to crackdown on perceived threats to their power. Microsoft Withdraws Vista's Kill Switch In what they are calling a change of tactics, Microsoft has removed the controversial 'kill switch' from Vista in SP1. This feature is designed to disable pirated copies of the OS, but had led to numerous reports of it disabling legitimate copies. It will be replaced with a notice that repeatedly informs the user that their OS is pirated. Microsoft: Vista piracy rate is half that of XP There are a variety of reasons for that, including the fact that businesses no longer have volume license keys that can be used to activate an unlimited number of machines. Another is the fact that Vista machines that aren't properly activated pretty quickly become basically unusable once they enter "reduced functionality mode." T-Mobile Germany stops selling unlocked iPhones Apple's strategy for the iPhone has been to grant one operator in each country exclusive rights to sell the handset. In return, Apple takes an unspecified cut of the revenues generated by customers' iPhone contracts. In late November, wireless operator Vodafone Group complained that T-Mobile, which won the German exclusivity deal to sell the handset, was being anticompetitive by not allowing the handset to be used on other networks, while locking users into 24-month contracts.. Universal bets on free music on Nokia phones Music group exec says subscriber plan including 12 months of access to free music "is how consumers will consume music going forward." Universal Music Restricting Music Streaming On Certain Sites Universal Music Group, the largest music label, has implemented a new online streaming policy for its artists: each song for its artists will be limited to either 90-second clips or full-songs that contain promotional voice-over messages, reports Billboard. Excluded are any online services that UMG has a commercial licensing deal with, which means it is getting compensated for each stream. MPAA's University wiretapping product taken down for violating copyright The MPAA's "University Toolkit" (a piece of monitoring software that universities are being asked to install on their networks to spy on students' communications) has been taken down, due to copyright violations. The Toolkit is based on the GPL-licensed Xubuntu operating system (a flavor of Linux). The GPL requires anyone who makes a program based on GPL'ed code has to release the source code for their program and license it under the GPL. MP3 Blogs Offer File Sharing Even the RIAA Could Love There are countless MP3 file-sharing sites that don't look anything like BitTorrent or Lime Wire. They're low-key, homegrown blogs that don't host illicitly copied music, but do provide links to third-party sites, or storage lockers, such as Megashare, where pirated music is stored. These bloggers do it for the love of the music, they say, but it doesn't hurt that they make a little money from advertising along the way. Chimps Outscore College Students on Memory Test AP's Malcolm Ritter reports that young chimpanzees were better at remembering a series of numbers flashed on a screen, than the Japanese college students used as a control group.
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