October 2014

National Cybersecurity Awareness Month

Cyber threats pose one of the gravest national security dangers the United States faces. They jeopardize our country's critical infrastructure, endanger our individual liberties, and threaten every American's way of life. When our Nation's intellectual property is stolen, it harms our economy, and when a victim experiences online theft, fraud, or abuse, it puts all of us at risk. During , we continue our work to make our cyberspace more secure, and we redouble our efforts to bring attention to the role we can each play. I call upon the people of the United States to recognize the importance of cybersecurity and to observe this month with activities, events, and training that will enhance our national security and resilience.

Chinese Web Censors Struggle With Hong Kong Protest

Can Chinese censors vanquish the umbrella?

As protesters in Hong Kong continue to defy the authorities with their demands for greater democracy, mainland China’s politically minded web users have been trying to outmaneuver the invisible army of Internet guardians working to scour social media of photos and news about the continuing demonstrations. They have been posting pro-democracy remarks on nonpolitical websites and uploading selfies of their shaved heads to express solidarity with the protesters. Some social media users shared stock images of President Xi Jinping carrying an umbrella, a not-so-subtle nod to that essential protester accessory for staving off sun, rain and pepper spray. Other users simply changed their profile photo to that of an umbrella. There were that China’s formidable censorship machine was struggling to keep up with savvy commenters who found ways to thumb their noses at the authorities.

Russian State Media Portray Hong Kong Protests as US Plot

Russian state news outlets have begun airing reports casting the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong as a US-organized plot, echoing previous Russian coverage of similar demonstrations that have cropped up far closer to home. The coverage reflected the Kremlin's contention that pro-democracy protests in Moscow and Kiev in recent years amounted to Western schemes designed to undermine the Russian government, as opposed to bona fide outpourings of popular discontent.

Google faces German warning over user profiling

Profiling Google users without their explicit consent is an unacceptable breach of customer privacy, according to a ruling by a German regulator that could force the US company to change the way it gathers personal information across multiple platforms.

Google falls foul of German rules by collecting information that allows the creation of “comprehensive personal records” of individual users, Johannes Caspar, the Hamburg data protection commissioner, has found. Germany’s concern relates to the gathering of personal data across multiple services, some of which, like Gmail, require users to register with Google. The compiled information could be used to infer an individual’s sexual orientation or relationship status, and to create detailed profiles of their travel based on location data, the regulator said. Caspar ordered Google to take steps to guarantee that users will be able to control the extent to which their data are used for profiling.

Canada regulator cut Google, Netflix from TV rules debate

The Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission said it won't take comments from Netflix and Google into consideration when it decides on new rules for TV after the companies refused to provide information on how Canadians watch their content.

The regulator held hearings on how it should adjust regulations that deal with cable TV and online streaming services. Google and Netflix both said at hearings that they shouldn't be required to carry a set amount of Canadian content like traditional TV providers do. The refusal of the companies to comply with the commission's request to pass on data on how much Canadian content is watched on their services will mean their contributions to the debate are removed from public record on Oct. 2, the regulator said in letters sent to the companies.

Apple’s Special Irish Tax Breaks

[Commentary] There seems to be no end to the resourcefulness of multinational companies when it comes to minimizing taxes -- or of countries that help them do so.

The latest evidence is a preliminary finding by the European Commission that Ireland provided extravagant tax benefits to Apple that appear to have allowed the company to reduce its tax liability, possibly by billions of dollars since 1991. Whatever Ireland’s rationale, lawmakers around the world have not cracked down on -- and in some cases encouraged -- aggressive tax avoidance by big corporations. That is why the European Commission’s letter, which shows some overdue resolve, is important. But Europe’s efforts, however welcome, are not sufficient by themselves. Lawmakers around the world must agree not to compete by offering relative tax advantages that hurt everyone. And they must tighten rules that let multinational companies avoid paying the taxes they owe.

Benton

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