Amazon: Can the Bezos Bulldozer Pull Off a JEDI Play in the EU?
August 31, 2021
The Bezos bulldozer is a wonderful construct, and it is uniquely American. For those who do not follow the path of the machine as it grinds forward, Amazon made a case to rip from the grasp of Microsoft the JEDI contract. Now the mom-and-pop seller of books has an opportunity to rework the landscape of an EU fine in the neighborhood of a billion dollars. My goodness, it takes less than a day for the ecommerce store to generate one billion in cash. Painful? For sure.
You can read about this fine in “Europe: Amazon Slapped with Record-Breaking Privacy Fine.” The article characterizes the levy as an “enormous bite.” Yep, one day of revenue is painful indeed. Game changer? Nope.
The question is, “Why not?” With each “punishment” it becomes more and more clear that there is little incentive for certain large technology companies to change their business strategy or practices. After decades of business as usual, change becomes more and more difficult for both regulators and the business constructs. Who’s running the show? Obviously not the regulators.
Stephen E Arnold, August 31, 2021
Let Us Now Consider Power: Rev That Bezos Bulldozer
August 26, 2021
I read a brief item which seems to go against the chatter I heard in DC several days ago; namely, Elon has smoked Jeffie. The “new” information appears Jeff Bezos Succeeded” online.
Here’s the passage catching my eye:
This Thursday, the United States Space Agency (NASA) voluntarily decided to suspend the contract it signed with Elon Musk’s company SpaceX to collaborate on the Artemis Moon mission, the project that seeks to bring humans to the Moon again. This as a result of the lawsuit filed by the aerospace company Blue Origin , owned by Jeff Bezos , alleging irregularities in the selection process.
How does one spell power? How about B E Z O S? There’s nothing quite like competition among interesting companies. Lawyers are outstanding when it comes to rocket science and rock star technologists.
A side note: At the same time as the bulldozer was packing ice around the Musk rocket ship, Mr. Bezos had a CVT Soft Serve ice cream maker in his home. Ice: No match for the Bezos machine.
Stephen E Arnold, August 26, 2021
About Those Painful Fines
August 24, 2021
Never one to let pesky regulations get in the way of doing business, “Amazon Hit with Record $888M Fine Over GDPR Violations,” reports CNet. Even that eye-popping sum represents but a minor cost of doing business to the online retail giant. Luxembourg authorities levied the 746 million euro fine on July 16, saying Amazon violated the EU’s GDPR data protection laws. At issue is the way the company processes customer data. Citing reporting from Bloomberg, writer Katie Collins tells us:
“[The CNPD’s] into Amazon was based on a 2018 complaint by French privacy group La Quadrature du Net. The group says it represents the interests of thousands of Europeans to ensure their data isn’t used by big tech companies to manipulate their behavior for political or commercial purposes. It didn’t immediately respond to request for comment. Amazon is under growing scrutiny both at home and abroad over the way it uses customer data. Regulators are concerned that not only could the company’s data processing policies violate privacy protections for consumers while they’re shopping online, they might give the company an advantage over competitors operating within its marketplace. Meanwhile, Amazon is keen for customers to know that their data is safe, and unlike many GDPR fines, this one hasn’t been issued due to a data breach. ‘Maintaining the security of our customers’ information and their trust are top priorities,’ said an Amazon spokesman in a statement on Friday. ‘There has been no data breach, and no customer data has been exposed to any third party. These facts are undisputed.’”
Nice attempt at deflection, Amazon. A data breach is not the issue here, but rather willful disregard of EU privacy regulations. The Amazon spokesperson insists the fine is based on “subjective and untested interpretations” of the GDPR and that it is entirely out of proportion. Though it plans to appeal the fine, it is a price the company can easily pay.
To answer the question, will the fine have an impact? Nope, a monetary penalty is ineffective. Consider this: Russia Fines Google For Not Deleting Banned Content. How much? Three million rubles or about $40,000US. Facebook might be fined as much as $82,000 by the Russian bear.
Painful not.
Cynthia Murrell, August 25, 2021
NSO Group: Let Loose the Legal Eagles
August 13, 2021
I was dismayed to read “More Journalists File Legal Complaints after Being Targeted by Pegasus Surveillance Software.” Outrage and finger pointing are obviously not enough. According to the article:
The list of legal challenges against NSO Group continues to mount after 17 additional journalists from seven countries have filed complaints with prosecutors in Paris, France. To date, international media freedom organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and two French/Moroccan journalists have filed cases in court over serious concerns that their governments were spying on them due to their work as journalists, carrying out vital public interest investigations. The latest journalists to file complaints include Sevinc Abassova from Azerbaijan, Szabolcs Panyi and Andras Szabo from Hungary, and others from India, Togo, and Mexico. Among the other complainants are Shubhranshu Choudhary, an RSF correspondent in India, and two RSF Award Winners, Hicham Mansouri from Morocco and Swati Chaturvedi from India.
I am not an attorney. I have enough challenges just being a retired, chubby consultant. Several points seem salient to me:
- NSO Group is essentially the intelware equivalent of the protagonist in Nat Hawthorne’s zippy thriller, The Scarlet Letter.
- The legal process is tough to manage when it involves a single matter in a single jurisdiction. A pride of filings exponentiates the complexities and the likelihood of some intriguing decisions. Say “hello” to high risk litigating.
- The ripple effect of the intelware disclosures is going to intersect with an unrelated security action taken by Apple Computer. The NSO Group matter will raise the stakes for the trillion dollar company everyone once associated with user privacy.
Net net: Excitement ahead. Buckle up.
Stephen E Arnold, August 13, 2021
Google: Position on Its Ad Moxie
August 12, 2021
I read “US Judicial Panel Moves Texas Lawsuit against Google to New York.” The guts of the story is some legal maneuvering about where allegations about Alphabet Google will be adjudicated. As in real estate, the keys to value is location, location, location. The legal dust up will take place in the Big Apple.
In the article was a quote allegedly made by a Googley-type. My hunch is that this frank, clear, and positive statement vivifies how the mom and pop online ad outfit will position itself. Here’s the quote:
Google welcomed the panel’s decision, saying it would lead to “just and efficient litigation. “We look forward to demonstrating how our advertising business competes fiercely and fairly to the benefit of publishers, advertisers and consumers,” a Google spokeswoman said in an email statement.
I wonder if the Google used this language in its embrace of recently concluded French litigation?
Stephen E Arnold, August 12, 2021
Another Perturbation of the Intelware Market: Apple Cores Forbidden Fruit
August 6, 2021
It may be tempting for some to view Apple’s decision to implement a classic man-in-the-middle process. If the information in “Apple Plans to Scan US iPhones for Child Abuse Imagery” is correct, the maker of the iPhone has encroached on the intelware service firms’ bailiwick. The paywalled newspaper reports:
Apple intends to install software on American iPhones to scan for child abuse imagery
The approach — dubbed ‘neuralMatch’ — is on the iPhone device, thus providing functionality substantially similar to other intelware vendors’ methods for obtaining data about a user’s actions.
The article concludes:
According to people briefed on the plans, every photo uploaded to iCloud in the US will be given a “safety voucher” saying whether it is suspect or not. Once a certain number of photos are marked as suspect, Apple will enable all the suspect photos to be decrypted and, if apparently illegal, passed on to the relevant authorities.
Observations:
- The idea allows Apple to provide a function likely to be of interest to law enforcement and intelligence professionals; for example, requesting a report about a phone with filtered and flagged data are metadata
- Specialized software companies may have an opportunity to refine existing intelware or develop a new category of specialized services to make sense of data about on-phone actions
- The proposal, if implemented, would create a PR opportunity for either Apple or its critics to try to leverage
- Legal issues about the on-phone filtering and metadata (if any) would add friction to some legal matters.
One question: How similar is this proposed Apple service to the operation of intelware like that allegedly available from the Hacking Team, NSO Group, and other vendors? Another question: Is this monitoring a trial balloon or has the system and method been implemented in test locations; for example, China or an Eastern European country?
Stephen E Arnold, August 6, 2021
Autonomy: An Interesting Legal Document
August 4, 2021
Years ago I did some work for Autonomy. I have followed the dispute between Hewlett Packard and Autonomy. Enterprise search has long been an interest of mine, and Autonomy had emerged as one of the most visible and widely known vendors of search and retrieval systems.
Today (August 3, 2021) I read “Hard Drives at Autonomy Offices Were Destroyed the Same Month CEO Lynch Quit, Extradition Trial Was Told.” The write up contains information with which I was not familiar.
In the write up is a link to “In the City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court The Government of the United States of America V Michael Richard Lynch Findings of Fact and Reasons.” That 62 page document contains a useful summary of the HP – Autonomy deal.
Several observations:
- Generating sustainable revenue for an enterprise search system and ancillary technology is difficult. This is an important fact for anyone engaged in search and retrieval.
- The actions summarized in the document provide a road map of what Autonomy did to maintain its story of success in what has been for decades a quite treacherous market niche. Search is particularly difficult, and vendors have found marketing a heck of a lot easier than delivering a system that meets users’ expectations.
- The information in the document suggests that the American judicial system may find this case a “bridge” between how corporate entities respond to the Wall Street demands for revenue and growth.
Like Fast Search & Transfer, executives found themselves making decisions which make search and retrieval a swamp. Flash forward to the present: Google search is shot through with adaptations to online advertising.
Perhaps the problem is that people expect software to deliver immediate, relevant results. Well, it is clear that most of the search and retrieval systems seeking sustainable revenues have learned that search can deliver good enough results. Good enough is not good enough, however.
Stephen E Arnold, August 4, 2021
Another EU Suggestion for the Google
August 4, 2021
I love the Google. I enjoy the delicious usability of Google Maps. The service is brilliant. Waze has data not in the Google Map thing; for example, a restaurant in Louisville called Cocina. Helpful, right? I also like the fascinating interaction of Gmail with the mail client on my phone. Now where did that message go? Oh, right. Auto folders and mystery deletes. What could be more helpful?
But the European Commission is not as flexible as I. I read “EU Warns Google to Improve Hotel and Flight Search Results in Two Months.” Google is working really hard to improve its search system. The core is a couple of decades young and the travel function is as slick as the Gmail system in my opinion.
The write up asserts:
Google has two months to improve the way it presents internet search results for flights and hotels and explain how it ranks these or face possible sanctions, the European Commission and EU consumer authorities have said.
The EC appears to think that Google may or has the potential to mislead people who use the Google to “plan their holidays.” Hmmm. Hello, Covid restrictions.
Google just might be favoring “traders.” Is “traders” a code word for those who purchase ads, are loved by Google sales reps, or individuals with a more Googley approach than others?
I don’t know.
But with France fining the Google the equivalent of eight hours of revenue, the online ad giant is going to view the EC and just maybe the EC should emulate China and its approach to big tech dogs?
Stephen E Arnold, August 4, 2021
NSO Group: Talking and Not Talking Is Quite a Trick
July 30, 2021
I read “A Tech Firm Has Blocked Some Governments from Using Its Spyware over Misuse Claims.” First, let’s consider the headline. If the headline is factual, the message I get is that NSO Group operates one or more servers through which Pegasus traffic flows. Thus, the Pegasus system includes one or more servers which have log files, uptime monitoring, and administrative tools which permit operations like filtering, updating, and the like. Thus, a systems administrator with authorized access to one or a fleet of NSO Group servers supporting Pegasus can do what some system administrators do: Check out what’s shakin’ with the distributed system. Is the headline accurate? I sure don’t know, but the implication of the headline (assuming it is not a Google SEO ploy to snag traffic) is that NSO Group is in a position to know — perhaps in real time via a nifty AWS-type dashboard — who is doing what, when, where, for how long, and other helpful details about which a curious observer finds interesting, noteworthy, or suitable for assessing an upcharge. Money is important in zippy modern online systems in my experience.
My goodness. That headline was inspirational.
What about the write up itself from the real news outfit National Public Radio or NPR, once home to Bob Edwards, who was from Louisville, not far from the shack next to a mine run off pond outside my door. Ah, Louisville, mine drainage, and a person who finds this passage suggestive:
“There is an investigation into some clients. Some of those clients have been temporarily suspended,” said the source in the company, who spoke to NPR on condition of anonymity because company policy states that NSO “will no longer be responding to media inquiries on this matter and it will not play along with the vicious and slanderous campaign.”
So the company won’t talk to the media, but does talk to the media, specifically NPR. What do I think about that? Gee, I just don’t know. Perhaps I don’t understand the logic of NSO Group. But I don’t grasp what “unlimited” means when a US wireless provider assures customers that they have unlimited bandwidth. I am just stupid.
Next, I noted:
NSO says it has 60 customers in 40 countries, all of them intelligence agencies, law enforcement bodies and militaries. It says in recent years, before the media reports, it blocked its software from five governmental agencies, including two in the past year, after finding evidence of misuse. The Washington Post reported the clients suspended include Saudi Arabia, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and some public agencies in Mexico. The company says it only sells its spyware to countries for the purpose of fighting terrorism and crime, but the recent reports claim NSO dealt with countries known to engage in surveillance of their citizens and that dozens of smartphones were found to be infected with its spyware.
Okay, if the headline is on the beam, then NSO Group, maybe some unnamed Israeli government agencies like the unit issuing export licenses for NSO Group-type software, and possibly some “trusted” third parties are going to prowl through the data about the usage of Pegasus by entities. Some of these agencies may be quite secretive. Imagine the meetings going on in which those in these secret agencies. What will the top dogs in these secret outfits about the risks of having NSO Group’s data sifted, filtered, and processed by Fancy Dan analytics’ systems tell their bosses? Yeah, that will test the efficacy of advanced degrees, political acumen, and possible fear.
And what’s NSO Group’s position. The information does not come from an NSO Group professional who does not talk to the media but sort of does. Here’s the word from the NSO Group’s lawyer:
Shmuel Sunray, who serves as general counsel to NSO Group, said the intense scrutiny facing the company was unfair considering its own vetting efforts.
“What we are doing is, what I think today is, the best standard that can be done,” Sunray told NPR. “We’re on the one hand, I think, the world leaders in our human rights compliance, and the other hand we’re the poster child of human rights abuse.”
I like this. We have the notion of NSO Group doing what it can do to the “best standard.” How many times has this situation faced an outfit in the intelware game, based in Herliya, and under the scrutiny of an Israeli agency which says yes or no to an export license for a Pegasus type system. Is this a new situation? Might be. If true, what NSO Group does will define the trajectory of intelware going forward, won’t it?
Next, I like the “world leaders” and “Human rights compliance.” This line creates opportunities for some what I would call Comedy Central comments. I will refrain and just ask you to consider the phrase in the context of the core functions and instrumentality of intelware. (If you want to talk in detail, write benkent2020 at yahoo dot com and one of my team will get back to you with terms and fees. If not, I am retired, so I don’t care.)
Exciting stuff and the NSO Group ice cream melt is getting stickier by the day. And in Herzliya, the temperature is 29 C. “C” is the grade I would assign to this allegedly accurate statement from the article that NSO Group does not talk to the media. Get that story straight is my advice.
And, gentle NPR news professional, why not ask the lawyer about log file retention and access to data in Pegasus by an NSO system administrator?
Stephen E Arnold, July 30, 2021
Does GitHub Data Grab for AI Training Violate Licenses?
July 22, 2021
Programmer Nora Tindall has taken to Twitter to call out Microsoft property GitHub on violating licenses for algorithm training purposes. She shares a screenshot of an exchange she had with GitHub Support that seems to confirm her charge:
[Tindall] I am specifically asking if any code from my GitHub account, most of which is licensed GPL, was used in the training set. It is a simple question.”
[GitHub] Sorry about the delay in getting back to you. I reached out to the team about this. Apparently all public GitHub code was used in training. We don’t distinguish by license type. I hope that answers your question!
It does indeed answer Tindall’s question, and she vows to pursue legal action. Predictably, the post prompted a flurry of comments, so navigate there to read that debate. It seems like the legality of this data usage is nebulous until courts weigh in. We note this exchange:
[Daniel Monte] Is there any precedent for training an AI on copyrighted content being a violation of said copyright?
[Nora Tindall] No, there’s no precedent in any of this. This is the deciding moment for the future of the copyleft ideal, and of free software in general. Maybe for copyright as a whole, actually, since this has applications outside software.
[Laurie] The law on all of this is basically non-existent. And there aren’t enough people who really understand the nuances who are also lawyers. It’s a whole mess which results in companies getting to decide for themselves. Not good.
[Critical Oil Theory Salesman] Hard agree. I’d imagine that we would see a completely different set of legal interpretations if the open source community trained a GPT3 model on Microsoft’s publicly available code.
Perhaps—that would be an interesting experiment. Is Microsoft really ignoring licenses? If not, Twitter is disseminating incorrect information. If yes, then Microsoft has designs on open source information in a way that outfoxes Amazon-type of open source maneuvers. But Microsoft is busy securing its own code and may want to envelope GitHub is the same cyber goodness.
-
- Subscribe to Beyond Search
Feature archive
News archive
-
