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New York, 6:24 PM
Sat Dec 19
42 posts in the last 24 hours

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    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of Curves Curves
    12/07/09

    In reply to Yahoo Will Divulge Pretty Much Anything for $60
    I guess I have to download and archive all my juicy e mails from Yahell to protect them. $60 would be a very low price for all the dirt thats in there.
     Reply
    Curves was starred Curves was unstarred
    Image of Hello Mister Walrus Hello Mister Walrus
    12/07/09

    In reply to Yahoo Will Divulge Pretty Much Anything for $60
    The only thing I really use Yahoo for is the email address that I get all my spam sent to. I guess they can have that if they want. Sometimes there is pron. Maybe they will like that as well.
     Reply
    Hello Mister Walrus was starred Hello Mister Walrus was unstarred
    Image of Crimson33 Crimson33
    12/07/09

    @Hello Mister Walrus: The problem is that not only Yahoo can do this, eventually, other companies can "share" the info as well...
     Reply
    Hello Mister Walrus promoted this comment Crimson33 was starred Crimson33 was unstarred
    Image of Hello Mister Walrus Hello Mister Walrus
    12/07/09

    @Crimson33: The article twists the meaning somewhat. Yahoo isn't really "selling" information. When law enforcement agencies subpoena a company (Yahoo, Google, MS, whoever) for information, there is nothing much that they can really do about it. The numbers above just say how much Yahoo is reimbursed for using its resources to provide this information.

    Meaning - Yahoo is probably not the only company with a chart of prices like this. It just so happens that Yahoo's chart got published here. I was sort of joking in my first comment.
     Reply
    Edited by Hello Mister Walrus at 12/07/09 11:19 AM Hello Mister Walrus was starred Hello Mister Walrus was unstarred
    Image of elementary elementary
    12/07/09

    In reply to Yahoo Will Divulge Pretty Much Anything for $60
    Oh. My. God.If the authorities ever get ahold of the seedy goings-on of my fantasy football league, they could put me away for a long, long time.

    I'm the commissioner in name only!
    TwoHandTouch(myself)Football is runnin' the thing!
    I swear!
     Reply
    Edited by elementary at 12/07/09 10:45 AM elementary was starred elementary was unstarred
    Image of Jake712 Jake712
    12/07/09

    In reply to Yahoo Will Divulge Pretty Much Anything for $60
    Hmm, what if I offered them $61 to not give the info out?
     Reply
    Nathan Obbards promoted this comment Jake712 was starred Jake712 was unstarred
    Image of Hearthatvoiceagain Hearthatvoiceagain
    12/07/09

    In reply to Yahoo Will Divulge Pretty Much Anything for $60
    Wonder what Google charges?
     Reply
    Hearthatvoiceagain was starred Hearthatvoiceagain was unstarred
    Image of BergenCountyJC can't beat MW2 BergenCountyJC can't beat MW2
    12/07/09

    In reply to Yahoo Will Divulge Pretty Much Anything for $60
    30$ for a half & half (half of the account username and half of the password), 60$ for the full shebang. Yahoo's such a dirty (easy) skank
     Reply
    Edited by BergenCountyJC can't beat MW2 at 12/07/09 10:28 AM BergenCountyJC can't beat MW2 was starred BergenCountyJC can't beat MW2 was unstarred
    Image of Monty Monty
    12/07/09

    In reply to Yahoo Will Divulge Pretty Much Anything for $60
    So, can I give them sixty bucks to not give away my information? Clearly Yahoo is willing to whore themselves out for cheap, but I am curious if they will take any customer, or if they have some element of discrimination.
     Reply
    Monty was starred Monty was unstarred
    Image of Jakooboo the Whedonite Jakooboo the Whedonite
    12/07/09

    In reply to Yahoo Will Divulge Pretty Much Anything for $60
    Let's see... I've got $43.25. You're going down, Stevedave.
     Reply
    nutbastard promoted this comment Jakooboo the Whedonite was starred Jakooboo the Whedonite was unstarred
    Image of Robotronic Robotronic
    12/07/09

    In reply to Yahoo Will Divulge Pretty Much Anything for $60
    This is really scary. Definitely staying away from Yahoo.
     Reply
    NorwoodIsMyHero promoted this comment Robotronic was starred Robotronic was unstarred
    Image of NorwoodIsMyHero NorwoodIsMyHero
    12/07/09

    @Robotronic: I'm pretty sure that the Five-Oh needs a warrant to get this information, but if you like the look of a tin foil cap that much by all means don't let me stop you.
     Reply
    NorwoodIsMyHero was starred NorwoodIsMyHero was unstarred
    Image of Robotronic Robotronic
    12/07/09

    @NorwoodIsMyHero: @bleek: Oh neat! More people who didn't read the fucking document. It says right in the paperwork that Yahoo isn't required to provide this information to authorities, but does so voluntarily (for a price, no less). They even provide authorities with a template on how to request information. I bet a simple forged subpoena could easily get that information to anyone.

    Oh, but I'm just paranoid. I just sit around on my ass all day, tripping on acid, watching A Scanner Darkly, listening to Timothy Leary, and re-reading 1984. Get a grip, assholes.
     Reply
    Robotronic was starred Robotronic was unstarred
    Image of ARP ARP
    12/07/09

    @NorwoodIsMyHero: The danger is that they probably make money on these requesets. It's not like it costs $60 to give them account access. When its profitable to give away your account information to law enforcement, that means they're not going to scrutinize any requests all that hard. Warrant expired? Wrong Name? Oh well, we're making money here, give it to them anyway.
     Reply
    ARP was starred ARP was unstarred
    Image of NorwoodIsMyHero NorwoodIsMyHero
    12/07/09

    @ARP @ Robotronic:

    Forged subpoenas? Expired Warrants? Do you understand how easy it is to win cases when cops do this, and how easy it is to make a boatload of cash from it?

    Defense attorneys and trial lawyers pray for these things to happen as they equate to a judge tossing out a case and for a person getting a big pay day. Stop watching so many movies about cops doing crap like this and getting away with it, because in real life it doesn't work.

    They may try it in but even a public defender has the two neurons required to blow up the case and make their client a boat load of cash when those things happen.
     Reply
    NorwoodIsMyHero was starred NorwoodIsMyHero was unstarred
    Image of Robotronic Robotronic
    12/07/09

    @NorwoodIsMyHero: I meant non-authorities doing it. As in someone trying to steal your information, identity, etc. If these companies are making money by selling your personal records to people, what comes first; one person's privacy or a failing company's bottom line?
     Reply
    NorwoodIsMyHero promoted this comment Robotronic was starred Robotronic was unstarred
    Image of NorwoodIsMyHero NorwoodIsMyHero
    12/07/09

    @Robotronic: Well, none of that is discussed in this article and whatever Yahoo! does or does not divulge to private sources is between you and them based upon whatever you agreed to when you created your accounts with them. I used to have a Yahoo! account but I do not recall the wording of the agreement I agreed to when I clicked the checkmark box "Yes, I agree."

    If they retained the rights to sell your information, then who's fault is it that you put private information there?

    If they did not retain that right, then they won't do it as they would get caught and a bunch of trial lawyers would get a nine figure or more payout from Yahoo! in the ensuing law suit. If they did not explicity state that they could divulge the content of your accounts, they'd probably lose the ensuing suit because of right to privacy precedents. Either way your information is probably safe from dirty corporations willing to shell out the bucks.
     Reply
    NorwoodIsMyHero was starred NorwoodIsMyHero was unstarred
    Image of Robotronic Robotronic
    12/07/09

    @NorwoodIsMyHero: I'm just saying, it's not that hard to make a convincing looking subpoena form on the computer and fax it over to Yahoo along with 60 dollars. A lot of people use Flickr's premium services, and that means credit card numbers are on the line. Is it likely? Maybe not. Is it possible? Definitely. Seems like a big enough security hole to cause some damages. I'm not sure why you're so quick to abdicate Yahoo of any responsibility in a situation like that. Yahoo's FIRST priority should be the protection of its own user base, and these documents certainly don't illustrate that.

    Compare this to when the RIAA was sending out blanket subpoenas to ISPs demanding the information of their subscribers, with Verizon (I think it was Verizon, anyway) putting its foot down and refusing to provide that information blindly. That's the kind of behavior I expect from a company that handles sensitive data regularly.
     Reply
    Robotronic was starred Robotronic was unstarred
    Image of NorwoodIsMyHero NorwoodIsMyHero
    12/07/09

    @Robotronic: All I'm saying is if there's no legal basis for the subpoena, Yahoo! will get sued.

    They will lose, as many other companies before them have lost for doing similiar things, and they will lose hundreds of millions of dollars.

    The odds of it leaking that they are selling information are simply too high for Yahoo! to be able to take that chance.
     Reply
    NorwoodIsMyHero was starred NorwoodIsMyHero was unstarred
    Image of Rejexted Rejexted
    12/07/09

    In reply to Yahoo Will Divulge Pretty Much Anything for $60
    Good thing no one uses Yahoo any more...hahaha
     Reply
    nutbastard promoted this comment Rejexted was starred Rejexted was unstarred
    Image of whiteflea whiteflea
    12/07/09

    In reply to Is the 'Bandwidth Hog' a Myth?
    I can build and repair computers all day long, but I'm lost when it comes to networking. So, I have a question: Going to the speedtest at SpeakEasy, I get around 6500 kbps down, 600 kbps up. That would be 6.5 Mbps, right? And people are getting 50?! 150?! And that's with the second fastest cable Internet package available in my area. I think it would only go up to 10 if I paid for the highest package.

    Or am I confusing terms here?
     Reply
    whiteflea was starred whiteflea was unstarred
    Image of ssnowblind ssnowblind
    12/07/09

    @whiteflea: It totally depends on your area. In Alaska I paid $200 a month for 10Mbps/1.5Mbps, in Washington DC I pay $60 a month for 30Mbps/25Mbps... over 3 times faster for less than a 3rd of the cost.
     Reply
    whiteflea promoted this comment ssnowblind was starred ssnowblind was unstarred
    Image of whiteflea whiteflea
    12/07/09

    @ssnowblind: But when they talk about 50...they are talking about the same thing as the 6.5 I get? That makes me go "Grrr, stupid Texas!"
     Reply
    whiteflea was starred whiteflea was unstarred
    Image of Thomas Osborne Thomas Osborne
    12/06/09

    In reply to Is the 'Bandwidth Hog' a Myth?
    I think many confuse the bandwidth hogging with actual data downloaded. Their servers are already set to constantly move data regardless, so it doesn't matter at all how much any one person downloads. They only set caps to spread the downloading over the course of a month to try to limit the number of people downloading at one time.

    But as the article states even that shouldn't matter as it will throttle the big downloaders down to slower speeds at peak times so it doesn't really affect anyone else's experience at all. So basically the only problem that exists is that these big companies see certain people downloading huge amounts without getting any "extra profit" from it and they don't like.
     Reply
    whiteflea promoted this comment Thomas Osborne was starred Thomas Osborne was unstarred
    Image of Thangka Thangka
    12/05/09

    In reply to Is the 'Bandwidth Hog' a Myth?
    I can tell you, having worked as an systems engineer for a high profile MCSE contracting for and during Comcast's HSI rollout and afterward, the hog is a myth.

    The closest you get (if significant bandwidth 'hogging' is to even be observed) to a hog is like a *herd* of feral hogs, thousands strong. And one of the herd may be a hog one month and not the next. Some a chronic hogs, but they are still drops in the bucket. Go after one of them is like trying to swat a bee in a swarm chasing you (sorry for mixed metaphors).

    The reality is that blaming the end user is a cheap shot, an easy target for providers who haven't scaled their service in proportion to their user base. And it's ironic, because their high speeds and constant access were the selling points, the opiates that got people addicted to the web in the first place. And now that people are addicted, they want to pretend it's not their fault for selling HSI 'high speed, always on, unlimited usage' and having people actually taking them up on that.

    If there are local problems, it is the industry's shortcoming. Period. Comcast has more money than they know what to do with, for example. There is no reason they can't scale up burdened areas. The backbones aren't the bottleneck.
     Reply
    Thangka was starred Thangka was unstarred
    Image of madog madog
    12/04/09

    In reply to Is the 'Bandwidth Hog' a Myth?
    @mmmiles: How is there traffic abuse though? I think that's the point of this article. You can't use any more speed than what you pay for (of which one can hardly ever achieve anyway on a regular basis), and most, if not all services have a cap on the total amount in a month. Otherwise, people regularly get notices to upgrade their service or get charged more for overage so the whole concept of a hog is misleading.

    There are power users though, and they are becoming more common that the email-only light users aren't offsetting those others as much as they did before.

    The simple truth is that this trend is scaring service providers, and instead of expanding to suit the growing needs of their users, they are merely delaying the inevitable by blaming them to prevent the cost necessary to do so.
     Reply
    madog was starred madog was unstarred
    Image of phill.meredith phill.meredith
    12/04/09

    In reply to Is the 'Bandwidth Hog' a Myth?
    Jesus, 50GB a month is classed as being a hog?? I have just got Virgin 50MB uncapped and I download 100-200gb in a day sometimes.
     Reply
    blash promoted this comment Yerzriknot approved this comment phill.meredith was starred phill.meredith was unstarred
    Image of blash blash
    12/04/09

    @phill.meredith: What... the.... hell....

    Do you spend half your day watching HD porn or something?!
     Reply
    blash was starred blash was unstarred
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