FBI warnt vor Smart Meter Hacks | Future | futurezone.at: Technology-News http://t.co/YsXbqqwc

And what is it that sp does well? RT @lisaduke: What's Wrong with SharePoint?: http://t.co/F1VDzDF7 #fb

The 1992 demo presentation of NeXTSTEP 3 by Steve Jobs http://t.co/tfy6iRnu

Space Shuttle Discovery to make final in-air appearance in 1,500-foot DC flyover http://t.co/8pWDqvCk

Was in Österreich alles vegetarisch bzw. vegan ist... http://t.co/jKrUCLRL #fb

@kkvie U3 Gasometer ist aber mittlerweile eh super. http://t.co/ERr9TrS9 Versandkostenfrei ab €20.

RIP Jack Tramiel, remember booting the C64? "C'mon. Type something. See what happens." http://t.co/N76PnzMn

Tönt wie eine Meldung von vor 15 Jahren? RT @pressetext_tv: #pressetext IT wird Geschäftswelt komplett umkrempeln http://t.co/DfCoHO5b

Bruce Sterling on the New Aesthetic | http://t.co/J0aUmD0X http://t.co/JriDUPdS

Bruce Sterling on the New Aesthetic | http://t.co/J0aUmD0X http://t.co/JriDUPdS

Routing via SSH Tunnel 2012 http://t.co/AcklKXOO #funrecycler

Why Microsoft spent $1 billion on AOL's patents http://t.co/NyZjF6TL

You hooked me on computers, thanks! RIP Commodore founder Jack Tramiel http://t.co/xL9z7QeQ

Thanks Jack Tramiel for helping set all this in motion #gamedev #respect http://t.co/LBAUlgGz commodore 64 + Atari starter...

Wtf? RT @paolos: Seite 2 http://t.co/BD9AEifI

Wann wird der Religionsunterricht endlich durch Medienkompetenz- und/oder Ethik-Unterricht ersetzt? http://t.co/00gdrzPp

While the law seems aimed at blackmarket tools that can be used to create malware infested sites, it’s also likely to criminalize tools used by researchers, developers and black hats alike – including tools like fuzzers, the Metasploit penetration testing tool and the wi-fi sniffing tool Wireshark. (Perhaps even the command line would be outlawed.)

U.S. law remains murky or outright dangerous for security researchers, hacktivists and curious citizens. Provisions in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act make it a crime to get around encryption built into products, with only a few exceptions. And federal prosecutors have tried to prosecute citizens under federal anti-hacking laws for violating the terms of service on a social network.

The E.U. ban could, if enacted, have consequences across the pond. Recently, the U.K. approved extradition of one of its citizens to the U.S. to face copyright infringement charges for a site that linked to online television shows.

Computer virus sends federal workers into bureaucratic Dark Ages http://t.co/4WLDbrMm

Staffers in the European Parliament are facing a challenge to their ethics. A company is offering all of them a gift which could not only compromise their independence, but also get them in hot water for copyright infringement. The people working at the European Parliament now need to make a choice: Leave the gift on the table and earn the respect of the citizens they’re working for, or compromise on ethics.

The company in question is Microsoft, and the gift is a bunch of proprietary programs. Through the Parliament’s administration, Microsoft is offering staffers (though probably not MEPs) gratis licenses to Microsoft Office, Project (a project management software) and Visio (a diagramming tool). This happens under the so-called “Home Use Program“.

The most obvious problem is that the parliament’s staff are working on regulations that govern the very business that is now making a gift to them. That’s a clear conflict of interest which can’t be explained away.