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Feds broaden piracy case against Megaupload.com

A month after carrying out one of the largest anti-piracy crackdowns ever, federal authorities have added charges and broadened their case against the defendants. The 90-page superseding indictment, which was returned Thursday in the Eastern District of Virginia, adds counts of criminal copyright infringement, conspiracy to commit money laundering and wire fraud against Megaupload.com and Megavideo.com. The websites were shut and several of their alleged leaders were arrested in January. The defendants allegedly reproduced copyrighted works from third-party websites, including from YouTube.com, so that they could be copied and distributed via Megavideo.com and to give the false impression that the website hosted content that was primarily generated by users and was not copyright-infringing content, the indictment says. "In contrast to legitimate Internet distributors of copyrighted content, Megaupload.com does not make any significant payments to the copyright owners of the many thousands of works that are willfully reproduced and distributed on he Mega Sites each and every day," the government says. In addition, the document says that the defendants' claim of more than 180 million registered users is not supported by their own records, which show only 66.6 million registered users as of January 19. Those records also show that just 5.86 million of these users ever uploaded a file to Megaupload.com or Megavideo.com, meaning that more than 90% of the sites' registered users used the systems solely to download, it says. Among those indicted is Kim Dotcom, the founder of Megaupload. His lawyer said after the initial indictment that his client is innocent, a law-abiding entrepreneur committed to raising his young family in New Zealand. Dotcom is a resident of New Zealand, where he employs more than 50 staff, and Hong Kong, where he has a suite at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. The superseding indictment cited the case of one alleged infringer referred identified only as "VV." Over six years, VV had uploaded nearly 17,000 files to Megavideo.com, which resulted in more than 334 million views, it said. Though VV had been the subject of numerous takedown e-mails, none of those files had been deleted, it said. The government also added property, bank accounts, jet skis, jewelry and watches to the list of assets subject to forfeiture, and estimated the value at at least $175 million. The defendants were first charged in a five-count indictment returned on Jan. 5 and unsealed on Jan. 19. The counts were: conspiracy to commit racketeering, conspiracy to commit copyright infringement, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and two counts of copyright infringement. Five of the seven individuals indicted have been arrested, and at least $50 million in assets have been "restrained," the Department of Justice said in a news release. Last month, Megaupload's fans turned the table on the feds. "Hacktivist" collective Anonymous said it set its sights on the U.S. Department of Justice and apparently knocked the agency's website offline. The DOJ website glitches came soon after various Twitter accounts associated with Anonymous took aim at the agency. Anonymous's favorite weapon for these attacks is a "distributed denial of service" (DDoS) attack, which directs traffic to a website and overwhelms its servers, causing it to crash. The practice involves neither hacking nor any breach of security. It was Anonymous' largest attack ever, according to an Anonymous representative, with 5,635 people using a networking tool called a "low orbit ion cannon." A LOIC is software tool that aims a flood of traffic at a targeted site. Authorities said the "Mega Conspiracy" organization had generated more than $175 million in illegal profits through advertising revenue and the sale of premium memberships. According to the indictment, Megaupload, which launched in 2005, was once the 13th most-visited website on the Internet, serving as a hub for distribution of copyrighted television shows, images, computer software and video games. The site's popular MegaVideo subsidiary was widely known in tech circles for its broad selection of pirated content, including movies and episodes of hit TV shows. To shut Megaupload, federal authorities executed 20 search warrants in eight countries, seizing 18 domain names and $50 million worth of assets, including servers located in Virginia, Washington, the Netherlands and Canada. The individuals indicted are citizens of New Zealand, Germany, Slovakia and the Netherlands. No U.S. citizens were named. However, Megaupload has servers in Ashburn, Virginia, and Washington, which prompted the Virginia-based investigation.

Published: Sat, 18 Feb 2012 03:27:27 GMT

White House predicts 2 million more jobs in 2012

The United States economy is on the road to recovery, the White House said Friday, with stronger job growth expected this year. But income inequality and Europe's debt crisis could still pose challenges, according to a report released by President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers. "While actions taken to prevent a deeper recession and to strengthen the recovery have made a difference, the nation is still recovering from that profound crisis and the problems that led to it," the Economic Report of the President said. The document, which totals 446 pages, is the administration's blueprint for the economy, which outlines a plan to "recover, rebalance and rebuild." Much like Obama's recent State of the Union address, it focuses heavily on income inequality, and building an America where "everyone gets a fair shot." One way to do that is job creation. While 1.8 million jobs were created last year, the economy still needs to add about 5.6 million jobs to get back to 2008 employment levels -- and that's without accounting for population growth. New forecasts from the Council of Economic Advisers estimate 2 million jobs will be added in 2012. The report calls attention to a "manufacturing revival," along with a rise in exports. Obama traveled to a Boeing factory in Everett, Wa., Friday to champion his policies of promoting manufacturing and exports. "Two years ago, I set a goal of doubling U.S. exports over five years," Obama said in a White House press release. "Today, we're on track to meet that goal -- ahead of schedule." One major challenge the White House points to is Europe's debt crisis. Europe buys about a fifth of U.S. goods that are exported and about 40% of U.S. service exports. "Global and U.S. economic performance will depend, in part, on the swift resolution of problems in the euro area," the report said. While it's true that manufacturing jobs have been a bright spot in the U.S. recovery and exports have risen rapidly over the last two years, Obama often fails to mention the rise in imports too. When imports rise faster than exports, it subtracts from U.S. economic growth. Since Obama announced his intention to double exports, they have risen 33.5%, but imports have grown even faster, up 36%. The report comes just hours after Congress passed a bipartisan bill extending the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits. Those programs are more likely to soften the blow of rising gas prices, than add to economic growth. "The payroll tax cut provides some cushion for families in case they see their costs go up, possibly because of gasoline prices or for other reasons over the course of the year," said Alan Krueger, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers.

Published: Sat, 18 Feb 2012 03:24:23 GMT

Houston's mother, daughter attend private viewing

Whitney Houston's mother and daughter attended an emotional private viewing Friday, hours ahead of the pop singer's funeral in Newark, New Jersey. Cissy Houston and Bobbi Christina Brown were joined at the funeral home by music producer Clive Davis, credited with discovering a young Whitney Houston in the early 1980s. Flags in the state flew at half-staff Friday to honor Houston, 48, a New Jersey native. She died February 11 in Beverly Hills, California. Actor Kevin Costner, who starred with Houston in the 1992 hit movie "The Bodyguard," will speak at the invitation-only service Saturday at New Hope Baptist Church, according to a source with knowledge of the funeral plans. The ceremony will feature performances by Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys and close family friend Aretha Franklin, a Houston representative said. Houston's former husband, Bobby Brown, and singer Roberta Flack also are expected to attend. Franklin, in concert Friday night at Radio City Music Hall in New York, told the audience, "It is my sincere hope to sing something to uplift our heavy hearts this evening." Among her selections were "Jesus Loves Me" and "Amazing Grace." "We will always remember her kindness, her grace, her smile and her dynamic performances, but she's moved on up just a little bit higher now and we don't wonder where she is," said Franklin. Houston's close friend, reality TV star and singer Ray J, released his first statement about her death, saying he feels an "emptiness" at her loss. "What my heart feels cannot be expressed in words," said Ray J, who was Houston's frequent companion in the days before she died. "The world lost an icon, but I lost my close friend. Nippy, I miss you so much! You were so happy and full of love. Your smile will live in my heart forever." Friday night's 43rd annual NAACP Image Awards, broadcast on NBC, featured a video and musical tribute to Houston. Gospel singer Yolanda Adams, backed by a small choir, sang "I Love the Lord," which appeared on the soundtrack of "The Preacher's Wife," a 1996 film that starred Houston. The show ended with Kirk Franklin and others singing "The Greatest Love of All." Meanwhile, investigators seeking answers about how the singer died were contacting doctors and pharmacies across the country for information on her prescription drug use. They are trying to determine whether it played a role in Houston's death. Houston's death certificate is only fueling speculation about her death. It lists the cause as "deferred," meaning a determination is delayed pending more information. The investigation is also looking into the superstar's behavior in her last days. Investigators are aware that Houston partied at her hotel and other venues "even the night before she died," a source close to the death investigation told CNN. Personnel at the Beverly Hilton have said Houston was partying in the bar the night before her death, the source said. A second source said Houston appeared intoxicated as she ordered drinks in the hotel earlier in the week and that she was seen drinking the morning of the day she died. Investigators are looking at video from Houston's television appearances and at other reports as part of the investigation into her physical state and behavior leading up to her death on the eve of the Grammy Awards, the first source said. Hotel surveillance video, if it exists, could reveal Houston's activities in the common areas of the hotel, the source said. The anti-anxiety medication Xanax was among prescription drugs found in the singer's room, the source said. Houston's family members and staff confirmed she used the medication, the source said, but investigators don't know whether she took it the day she died. Xanax is a drug classified as a benzodiazepine, or sedative, but no other benzodiazepines, including Valium, were found in the room, according to the source. Houston also had a prescription for the antibiotic amoxicillin, the source said, but "if taken as prescribed, it's not going to kill you." Medicine and pill bottles found in Houston's hotel room are currently undergoing basic testing, but nothing so far indicates anything criminal occurred, the source said. Officials are trying to speed up toxicology testing, the source told CNN. The source called speculation any preliminary reporting about family members being told that a deadly mixture of alcohol and drugs led to Houston's death. Investigators do not know what mixture, if any Houston, had in her body. Ed Winter, assistant chief coroner at the Los Angeles County coroner's office, has said that while prescription medication was found in Houston's room, the amount was less than that usually present in overdose deaths. "I know there are reports that she maybe was drowned or did she overdose, but we won't make a final determination until all the tests are in," Winter said shortly after her death was reported. He ruled out foul play and said there were no injuries to Houston's body. Houston's battles with drug addiction had cast a shadow in recent years over her impressive singing voice and her talent. However, a close family friend told CNN on Tuesday that Houston had not used "hard drugs" for several years, although she was taking medication for a throat infection and Xanax or a similar drug for anxiety and to help her sleep. The friend said Houston was also known to have a drink if she went out.

Published: Sat, 18 Feb 2012 03:21:57 GMT

Syrian protesters hail 'resistance'

Thousands of Syrians defied their government's relentless, bloody crackdown by staging hundreds of public protests Friday in cities nationwide. Video posted by activists on YouTube showed protesters gathered in Daraa under a banner that read: "Shed the blood, cast off the cowards." The opposition Local Coordination Committees counted 613 demonstrations, 158 of them in Idlib alone. Demonstrators took to the streets of Idlib, Daraa, Homs, Hama and suburban Damascus, chanting for the end of President Bashar al-Assad's regime, and focused their attention on "popular resistance" -- the theme of the protests. Activists have been staging mass protests every Friday, the Muslim holy day, since the unrest began roiling the country nearly a year ago. They focus on a different theme every week. The popular resistance theme comes as calls for an armed struggle have intensified. Conflict has occurred every day in Syria for months and it flared Friday amid the mass protests. At least 61 people died across Syria, including 12 military defectors executed in the town of Jassem in Daraa province and an 11-year-old boy in the Damascus suburbs, said the Local Coordination Committees of Syria, an opposition group that organizes and documents demonstrations. The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency reported that six members of the army and law enforcement who had been killed by "armed terrorists" in the Damascus countryside, Homs, Idlib and Daraa, were buried Friday. While protesters took to the streets in some areas of the volatile city of Homs, unrest engulfed other areas of the city. Security forces shelled the flashpoint city on Friday, the 14th consecutive day of bombardment during which Syrian forces targeted neighborhoods including Baba Amr, a bastion of anti-government sentiment where 15 people died Friday, the LCC said. Dima Moussa, a Syrian activist in Chicago in contact with army officers, said the regime is planning to launch an invasion Saturday morning on Baba Amr. "They are planning a massive ground invasion of Baba Amr, no matter what the cost is and no matter what the number of casualties is, even if they have to annihilate everyone in the neighborhood. Assad forces started their moves from all directions since noon today," said Moussa, who is a member of the Revolutionary Council of Homs and the Syrian National Council. All services had been cut to Baba Amr, where residents were collecting rain because they have no running water, she said. The only news from the neighborhood was coming from the few people who had satellite devices, she said. "Medical supplies and food are nearly completely unavailable," she said about the neighborhood, which has been under siege for two weeks. "People are now at a stage when they are hoping to get killed if they are going to be bombed, instead of getting injured, as getting injured only means a slow death or living forever with some sort of a disability or disfigurement," she said. Earlier, Syria TV said terrorists had sabotaged an oil pipeline in Baba Amr and another nearby neighborhood, Sultania. It is the second such pipeline incident in three days. The dark plumes rising from the pipeline could work in the military's favor, Moussa said. "The massive amounts of smoke have certainly made the regime's movements and preparations a lot easier," she said. The perils for foreigners were reflected by a British travel advisory issued Friday, which urged its citizens "to leave now by commercial means whilst these are still available." The violence has enraged world powers, including many in the West, and it has outraged many in the Muslim world. In neighboring Iraq, hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets of Falluja to support the uprising. Falluja is in Anbar, a province that is largely Sunni -- much like Syria's opposition. The al-Assad regime is dominated by the Alawite minority. Attempts by international forces to stop the violence have failed. French President Nicolas Sarkozy urged Syrian opposition forces to unite if they want to prevail. "We will not accept that a dictator is allowed to massacre his own people but the revolution cannot come from the outside, it must be born from within," Sarkozy said at a joint news briefing with British Prime Minister David Cameron at the Elysee Palace in Paris. On Thursday, the U.N. General Assembly passed by an overwhelming margin a nonbinding resolution endorsing the Arab League plan for the Syrian president to step down. It was unclear what effect, if any, the resolution might have on what many world leaders see as a relentless campaign by al-Assad's forces to stamp out the opposition. The symbolic resolution was introduced into the General Assembly after China and Russia blocked the Security Council from approving enforceable measures aimed at curbing the violence. China and Russia were among the dissenting votes in Thursday's symbolic vote, which marks the strongest U.N. statement to date condemning al-Assad's regime. It calls on Syria to end immediately human rights violations and attacks against civilians, and condemns violence by al-Assad's forces and the opposition. "We have marshaled the great weight of international opinion against the Assad regime," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters Friday in a joint news conference with European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. Clinton said the United States and other world powers are working "to determine ways forward, to strengthen the opposition, to help them convey to the entire Syrian population that they are seeking an inclusive, peaceful, democratic transition." For nearly a year, al-Assad has denied reports that his forces are targeting civilians, saying they are fighting armed gangs and foreign fighters bent on destabilizing the government. But the vast majority of accounts from within the country say that Syrian forces are slaughtering civilians as part of a crackdown on anti-government opposition calling for al-Assad's ouster. The United Nations says that well over 5,000 people have died in more than 11 months, though it does not have a recent death count due to the conditions in the country. The LCC puts the number at more than 7,000. CNN cannot independently confirm opposition and government reports of violence because the Syrian government has severely restricted the access of international journalists.

Published: Sat, 18 Feb 2012 01:49:59 GMT

Authorities: Suicide attack on U.S. Capitol foiled

A 29-year-old man from Morocco was arrested Friday and charged with attempting to bomb the U.S. Capitol building in a suicide attack, authorities said. Suspect Amine El Khalifi made an initial appearance in court and, if convicted, faces a maximum penalty of life in prison, according to the Justice Department. He allegedly went to a parking garage near the Capitol on Friday and received what he thought was a vest with explosives and a firearm, both of which had been rendered inoperable by law enforcement. He was arrested before leaving the garage. "Today's case underscores the continuing threat we face from homegrown violent extremists," said Assistant Attorney General for National Security Lisa Monaco. "Thanks to a coordinated law enforcement effort, El Khalifi's alleged plot was thwarted before anyone was harmed." The suspect was charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction against government property. Authorities say the public was never in any danger. As news of the arrest broke, the Senate had just wrapped up voting on a payroll tax cut extension deal. The House of Representatives had already voted on the deal and members had left, or were leaving. Tourists were also at the Capitol, as is usual. During his initial court appearance, El Khalifi wore blue pants and a green T-shirt with the words "Ready in Season" on the back. He had short black hair, a trimmed, thin beard and tattoos on his inner arm. He stood straight, showed no emotion and did not speak. A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for Wednesday. The suspect, an immigrant from Morocco, is in the United States illegally. He had been closely monitored as part of a lengthy and extensive undercover operation, police said, adding that U.S. Capitol Police had been "intimately" involved in the investigation. The suspect entered the United States in June 1999 on a B2 visa -- which allows for trips for pleasure, tourism or medical treatment, according to an FBI affidavit. His visa expired that same year and he has been living in the United States illegally ever since. In January 2011, a confidential source reported to the FBI that El Khalifi met with other individuals at a residence in Arlington, Virginia. A person there produced what appeared to be weapons and El Khalifi "expressed agreement with a statement by this individual that the 'war on terrorism' was a 'war on Muslim,' and said that the group needed to be ready for war," the affidavit read. At another point, El Khalifi allegedly said he would "be happy killing 30 people," it said. One law enforcement official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told CNN that authorities are searching two locations in Virginia in connection to the investigation -- one in Arlington, the other in Alexandria. A second law enforcement official said El Khalifi is not connected to a terrorist organization and was acting alone. El Khalifi thought he had met al Qaeda members who would assist him, but in fact he was dealing with undercover FBI agents, said the second source, who declined to say whether the FBI has audio or video recordings of the suspect talking to undercover agents about his plans. A third source briefed on the matter said the suspect was identified through an existing criminal, not terrorism investigation. When asked about possible entrapment, the U.S. government source said the suspect went out on his own to buy component pieces for an improvised explosive device. After news of the arrest broke, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor hailed the work of the FBI and the U.S. Capitol Police in thwarting the alleged attack. "These brave members of our law enforcement community make daily sacrifices in their work to keep us safe and deserve tremendous credit for their efforts leading up to today's successful sting," he said. President Barack Obama was informed on Thursday about the FBI's plan to arrest El Khalifi, a White House spokesman said. Top congressional leaders were also briefed on the arrest and operation, a congressional source said, though it was not clear exactly when. Unlike some other recent attacks on the Capitol, Friday's alleged suicide plot involved a suspect willing to kill himself. In September last year, a federal grand jury indicted a man for allegedly plotting to use large remote-controlled model airplanes filled with explosives to attack the Capitol and the Pentagon. A man was arrested in September 2008 two blocks from the Capitol after an officer spotted a rifle in his car. And in July 1998, a gunman fired shots in the Capitol building, killing two U.S. Capitol Police officers.

Published: Sat, 18 Feb 2012 01:30:09 GMT

N.J. governor vetoes same-sex marriage bill

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Friday vetoed a bill that would allow same-sex couples to wed, setting up a confrontation with a Democrat-controlled legislature that has vowed to eventually get the bill into law. The General Assembly on Thursday passed the measure, which the Senate had approved Monday. Lawmakers have until the legislative session ends in January 2014 to override Christie's veto. They would need a two-thirds majority in both houses to succeed. Christie, the subject of speculation as a possible GOP vice presidential candidate, has said the issue "should not be decided by 121 people in the statehouse in Trenton." He has advocated putting the issue to a referendum. "I continue to encourage the Legislature to trust the people of New Jersey and seek their input by allowing our citizens to vote on a question that represents a profoundly significant societal change," Christie said in a statement. "I have been just as adamant that same-sex couples in a civil union deserve the very same rights and benefits enjoyed by married couples, as well as the strict enforcement of those rights and benefits." Recent polling, meanwhile, suggests that New Jersey voters are slightly in favor of legalizing such marriages. Fifty-two percent of state voters approve the measure, the first time the figures have crossed the 50% threshold, according to a recent Quinnipiac University poll. The study includes a margin of error of 2.6 percentage points. Gay rights groups, which had expected the governor's veto, have pledged to override it. "By vetoing the bill that would ensure that all loving, committed New Jersey couples and their families can share in the freedom to marry, with all its protections and meaning, Governor Christie planted his feet firmly on the wrong side of history, said Evan Wolfson, president of the group Freedom to Marry, which had lobbied in favor of the bill. New Jersey currently allows for civil unions, which Christie says he supports. With Hawaii and Delaware joining the list last month, five other states currently recognize such unions. A similar battle is also shaping up in Maryland, where Gov. Martin O'Malley -- a Democrat -- has pushed for his state to join the seven others that allow same-sex couples to marry. On Friday, the Maryland House of Delegates voted 71-67 to legalize same-sex marriage. But no Senate vote has been set, and opponents of the measure have pressed to take the matter to a statewide referendum. Washington state, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Iowa, New York and the District of Columbia currently allow such marriages.

Published: Sat, 18 Feb 2012 01:01:54 GMT

Barge collision spills oil into the Mississippi

A barge collision near New Orleans spilled oil into the Mississippi River on Friday, prompting authorities to close a five-mile stretch of the waterway. The St. Charles Parish Department of Waterworks shut down both of its water intakes located in New Sarpy and Luling because of the spill, but said the incident did not pose a public threat. The area had been reopened, with some restrictions, by Friday afternoon as investigators continued to assess the damage, officials said. No injuries have been reported, and preliminary estimates put the spill at less than 10,000 gallons of crude oil. Response agencies have remained on the scene. The spill was started after a tanker barge towed by a motorized vessel, Settoon, ran into a construction barge towed by the tugboat Alydar just before 2 a.m. Friday near Reserve in St. John Parish, west of New Orleans. U.S. Coast Guard spokeswoman Lt. Suzanne Kerver said the tanker barge suffered a 10 feet by 5 feet gash above the water line, allowing crude oil to spill out of the 214,000-gallon tank. The leak has since been contained, said Lt. Paul Rhynard, also of the Coast Guard. Oil Mop, a contracted cleanup company, was on the scene and has deployed 100 feet of boom, Kerver said. "One of our priorities is to facilitate the safe continuation of commercial traffic," said Coast Guard Capt. Pete Gautier. "Safety is paramount, and the unified command is working to minimize the impact this spill has on people, the environment and commerce."

Published: Fri, 17 Feb 2012 23:28:09 GMT

Google caught skirting Safari privacy settings

In the latest high-profile flap over online data privacy, Google has been caught bypassing the privacy settings on Apple's Safari Web browser, letting advertisers track users in unintended ways. A Wall Street Journal investigation published Friday drew attention to the issue and set off alarm bells across the Web. In response to the Journal's probe, Google discontinued its use of the tracking code. The actual consequences were pretty limited: Google's code was being used only to target ads, and users' personal information was never collected. But it was yet another prominent example of a tech company drawing fire for a slipshod and sneaky way of handling private data. The Google imbroglio revolves around the company's ad network, which serves advertisements across a wide range of websites. Sites use files called "cookies" to follow users' movements and log-ins as they travel through the Web. Apple's Safari has far stricter tracking restrictions than any other major browser: By default, it blocks third-party cookies. That's a big problem for ad networks, which rely on those cookies to measure their campaigns and to enable some ad functions. That's what tripped Google up. It wanted to give viewers who were signed into Google's network the ability to use Google's +1 button to tout ads that caught their eye. To do that, it exploited a loophole in Safari, essentially tricking the browser into thinking that the viewer had interacted with the ad. That fooled Safari into giving Google permission to install a test cookie and create a temporary communication link back to Google's servers. Google says that link was designed to operate anonymously and did not collect any personal information. But it had an unintended consequence: Other cookies were able to follow in the first one's wake. Google essentially cracked open a door and others piled in behind it. While it admitted using the Safari workaround, Google cast the subsequent cookie flood as an inadvertent screw-up. "The Safari browser contained functionality that then enabled other Google advertising cookies to be set on the browser. We didn't anticipate that this would happen," Google said Friday in a prepared statement. "We have now started removing these advertising cookies from Safari browsers." Google wasn't the only one exploiting Safari's loophole. Stanford grad student Jonathan Mayer, who published an extensive technical analysis of it on Friday, found at least three other advertising companies taking advantage of it: Vibrant Media, Media Innovation Group and PointRoll. "I think there's quite possibly a deceptive business practice here," Mayer said in an interview with CNN. He questioned Google's claim that no private data was ever misued. "Google released a statement that there was not personal information at play. I'm not quite certain what they mean by that," Mayer said. "They were quite intentionally moving information about a Google user's account over to Google's advertising networks." In his technical analysis, Mayer intentionally steered clear of a broader question the debacle raises: Is Safari's third-party cookie blocking the right way to go? It's a big departure from the industry standard. Microsoft's Internet Explorer, Firefox and Chrome all allow third-party cookies. Apple says its motive is privacy. Safari's third-party cookie ban is designed "to prevent companies from tracking the cookies generated by the websites you visit," Apple says on its website. But many websites rely on advertising to fund their operations, and Apple's ban wreaks havoc with tracking across ad networks. Those ad networks are Apple's direct rivals: It competes against them with its own iAd network, which serves ads through applications instead of websites. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment. "Marketers who rely on third-party tracking cookies are effectively blind when it comes to measuring performance on the iPad and other iOS devices," ad software maker Marin Software wrote last year in a research paper examining the problem. The block also causes problems for some Web apps that integrate content across multiple sites. The permissions that a user intentionally grants on one site can't be carried through to other, linked sites. Facebook's "best practices" guide for its developers lists "cross-domain cookies do not work in Safari" as a common problem and recommends using the same kind of workaround Google employed. It's not lost on Apple's critics that the company's cookie ban is a big thorn in the side of Apple's key competitors. "Let's step back a second here and ask: why do you think Apple has made it impossible for advertising-driven companies like Google to execute what are industry standard practices on the open web?" author John Battelle, who founded an ad network and wrote a book about Google, wrote in a blog post. "Do you think it's because Apple cares deeply about your privacy? Really?" Battelle asked. "Or perhaps it's because Apple considers anyone using iOS, even if they're browsing the web, as 'Apple's customer,' and wants to throttle potential competitors." -CNN's Dan Simon, in San Francisco, contributed to this report

Published: Fri, 17 Feb 2012 23:09:19 GMT

'Godspeed,' happy anniversary, John Glenn

NASA is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first American in orbit. Back in 1959, the space agency selected John Glenn as one of the original group of seven astronauts for the Mercury program. Three years later, he blasted off to the famous words, "Godspeed, John Glenn," becoming the first American to orbit the Earth. Scary moments On February 20, 1962, Glenn made his famous journey around the planet aboard NASA's Friendship 7 spacecraft. During the nearly five-hour mission, he circled the globe three times. The mission wasn't perfect. A trouble indicator light warned that a clamp holding the spacecraft's heat shield had been released too early. Mission controllers feared that the heat shield was loose. The shield was meant to protect Glenn's spacecraft from burning up during re-entry. As a safety measure, a "retropack" that would normally have been jettisoned was allowed to stay on the spacecraft to hold the heat shield. It turned out that warning light was a false alarm. Glenn splashed down safely to much fanfare at home. Oldest astronaut Glenn made headlines again in 1998 when he rejoined NASA at age 77 to become the oldest person ever to go into space. Glenn's trip aboard the shuttle Discovery helped NASA learn about the effects of space flight on older people. Watch him quip about breaking a hip in space. American legend On Friday, at age 90, Glenn joined fellow "Mercury Seven" astronaut Scott Carpenter to reminisce about their adventures and reflect on the U.S. space program. Appropriately, it was Carpenter who announced those famous words a half century ago: "Godspeed John Glenn."

Published: Fri, 17 Feb 2012 22:39:38 GMT

Postal Service seeks 50-cent stamps

A nickel boost in the first-class stamp price to 50 cents is part of the U.S. Postal Service's latest plan to stop bleeding red ink. The Postal Service released the 5-year business plan to Congress late Thursday in part to push Congress to pass legislation to help them get through ongoing financial woes. Due in large part to declining first-class mail volume, the service recorded a $3.3 billion loss in the final three months of last year, which is usually a profitable period. The Postal Service says that, if nothing is done, it faces $18 billion in losses by 2015. Lawmakers have been working on different plans for months, but all of them have controversial aspects and are stalled. The U.S. Postal Service's plan would save about $20 billion over the next five years, although it needs Congress to act to achieve about $10 billion in savings. Nearly all the ideas in the five-year plan have been proposed before, except for the big first-class stamp boost. Raising the price of the stamp to 50 cents from 45 cents now could yield $1 billion a year in new revenue, according to the plan. Among previously offered proposals, home delivery would be cut to five days a week from six, and thousands of post offices and mail processing plants would be closed. The service would slow the delivery of first class mail by a day. The agency also proposes bypassing a federal law that requires that it to prefund retiree health care. It would also create a new health care plan for employees to be run by the Postal Service. The plan would also reduce the number of employees by 155,000 by 2016, mostly through pushing some of the 283,000 eligible to retire. "The plan we have developed requires a combination of aggressive cost reduction, rethinking the way we manage our healthcare costs, and comprehensive legislation to reform the business model of the Postal Service," said Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe. However, most of the cost-cutting measures the Postal Service is pushing for are controversial, and have opponents in Congress and among employee unions. The National Association of Letter Carriers vowed to study the new business plan but decried moves to cut Saturday delivery, downsize networks and slow delivery. "Charging more for reduced service is not a rational plan for any business, including the U.S. Postal Service," said Fredric Rolando, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers. The union also noted that almost all of the $3.3 billion in red ink the Postal Service recorded in the quarter resulted from the $3.1 billion owed to pre-fund future retiree health benefits. The union wants Congress to dispense with the 2006 mandate that required prefunding those benefits. In December, the Postal Service announced a plan to shut up to 250 mail processing plants and cut 28,000 jobs nationwide, but later delayed the closures until May 15. The plan released Friday makes clear the Postal Service intends to push forward with proposed cuts if Congress doesn't act. Postal Service policy consultant Alan Robinson noted that the new business plan includes an "aggressive schedule" for cutting employees and services, in his blog the Courier Express and Postal Observer. The plan to cut mail facilities soon after the May 15 moratorium "represents a clear example of the Postal Service taking an action that will generate substantial political heat that in previous years it would have deferred," Robinson wrote. As for when Congress might act, experts say they don't expect progress until March at the earliest. "This is a dire situation, but it is not hopeless," said Sen. Tom Carper, a Delaware Democrat who runs the subcommittee that oversees the U.S. Postal Service. "We can save the Postal Service for future generations -- and without further burdening taxpayers -- if we act decisively and strategically." The Postal Service is chartered as a government enterprise and its business model is supposed to be self-sufficient. But it has borrowed $12.9 billion from Treasury in recent years to stave off cash crunches.

Published: Fri, 17 Feb 2012 22:10:55 GMT

New York Times reporter dies in Syria

Anthony Shadid, who won two Pulitzer Prizes for his reporting from Iraq, died Thursday while reporting in eastern Syria, apparently of an asthma attack, The New York Times said. He was 43. Tyler Hicks, a Times photographer who was with Shadid, carried his body over the border to Turkey. Hicks said Shadid, who was carrying medication for his asthma, displayed symptoms Thursday morning, when they joined guides on horseback for the trip out of the country. The animals may have triggered the asthma, Hicks said. He had suffered an asthma attack the week before, when they entered the country and met with guides on horseback, Hicks told The Times. The Syrian government, which limits international journalists' access to the country, had not been told by The Times that Shadid was there, the newspaper said. He had been inside Syria for a week collecting information for a story on the Syrian resistance, it added. Shadid, who was fluent in Arabic, had covered the Middle East for nearly 20 years as a reporter for The Washington Post, The New York Times and The Associated Press. "I was afraid of bullets and bombs before and to find out that he died of an asthma attack was a shock," Shadid's father, Buddy, told CNN. "The world lost an amazing journalist and I lost a beloved son." "Anthony Shadid was one of the finest and most courageous journalists of our time," said Mark Whitaker, executive vice president and managing editor of CNN Worldwide, who worked at the Washington Post with Shadid before the late journalist went to The New York Times. "All of us at CNN mourn his loss and grieve for his colleagues and loved ones." Shadid had been working on a book about his family's ancestral home in Lebanon. He traveled there after years of covering conflict to rebuild his grandmother's home, according to his website. "He found a story of hope, healing, but perhaps most powerfully, loss, in a Middle East whose future rests in understanding its past," it said. The book, "House of Stone," is to be published next month by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. He wrote two other books, "Legacy of the Prophet: Despots, Democrats and the New Politics of Islam" and "Night Draws Near: Iraq's People in the Shadow of America's War." Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she was a follower of Shadid's work. "I also want to extend on behalf of myself and our government our sympathies to the family of Anthony Shadid and to The New York Times for his untimely death," she said. "He was somebody I always turned to and read very carefully ... he had his pulse on what was happening." In an interview last December on NPR's "Fresh Air," Shadid recalled entering without a visa the Syria ruled by President Bashar al-Assad. "I've done things that maybe I wouldn't have done in hindsight, and this maybe would have been one of them," he said. "It was scarier than I thought it would be. I had had a bad experience in Libya earlier in the year, [but] I did feel that Syria was so important, and that story wouldn't be told otherwise, that it was worth taking risks for. But the repercussions of getting caught were pretty dire." After several days in Hama, he crossed safely back across the border. "I don't think I'd ever seen something like what I saw in Syria," he said. "You're dealing with a government that's shown very little restraint in killing its own people to put down an uprising. ... And I got to spend a lot of time with [the activists] because I spent a lot of time in safe houses. And it reminded me of an old story in Islamic history, when the Muslim armies are crossing to Gibraltar. And the general who was leading them burned the ships after they crossed into Spain. And the idea was there was no turning back. And that story, I felt, resonated [with] almost every conversation I had." He did not always emerge unhurt from his reporting. In 2002, while working for The Boston Globe, he was shot in the shoulder in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Last year, Shadid and Hicks and two other Times journalists, Stephen Farrell and Lynsey Addario, were arrested by pro-government militias in Libya and held for almost a week, during which all were physically abused. Their driver, Mohammad Shaglouf, died. In its 2004 citation, the Pulitzer Board praised "his extraordinary ability to capture, at personal peril, the voices and emotions of Iraqis as their country was invaded, their leader toppled and their way of life upended." In 2010, the board praised "his rich, beautifully written series on Iraq as the United States departs and its people and leaders struggle to deal with the legacy of war and to shape the nation's future." His last story for The Times, on Libya, ran on February 9. At 1,600 words, it was long, which was typical for him, the newspaper said. "It was splashed on the front page of the newspaper and the home page of the Web site, nytimes.com, which was also typical," it said. "Anthony died as he lived --- determined to bear witness to the transformation sweeping the Middle East and to testify to the suffering of people caught between government oppression and opposition forces," wrote Jill Abramson, executive editor of the Times, in an email to the newspaper's staff. Survivors include his wife and two children, his parents, a brother and a sister.

Published: Fri, 17 Feb 2012 21:56:38 GMT

ICE agent killed in shootout at California federal building

A dispute between federal immigration agents that left one of them dead and another injured in southern California prompted the head of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to travel to the scene on Friday. Federal officials said the incident occurred during a counseling session regarding performance. Director John Morton traveled to Long Beach, where the confrontation occurred Thursday evening, "The situation began ... as an incidence of workplace violence involving two federal agents in their office space," said Steven Martinez, assistant director of the FBI office in Los Angeles. "When the incident escalated, one agent fired several rounds at the other agent, wounding him." A third colleague intervened and fired at the shooter, killing him, Martinez said. Kevin Kozak, 51, a deputy special agent in the Los Angeles area, suffered multiple injuries and is undergoing treatment at a hospital. He is in stable condition. Federal agent Ezequiel Garcia, 45, was killed during the incident. "At this time, we believe this is an isolated incident and we believe the shooter was acting alone," Martinez said. The investigation includes officers from the ICE, the Long Beach Police Department and the FBI. By Friday morning, the federal building had reopened to the public, said FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller.

Published: Fri, 17 Feb 2012 21:48:38 GMT

Congress passes payroll tax cut deal

The Senate and the House of Representatives passed a bipartisan deal Friday extending the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits while also avoiding a Medicare fee cut for doctors for the rest of the year. The bill cleared the Senate in a 60-36 vote less than an hour after the House approved it by a 293-132 margin. A majority of House Republicans and Democrats voted in favor of the bill, though 91 Republicans and 41 Democrats in the chamber voted no. Senate Democrats voted overwhelmingly for the bill while Senate Republicans largely opposed it. President Barack Obama has promised to sign the legislation as soon as he ends his current trip to the West Coast, ending debate on the politically sensitive measures at least for the duration of the election. "This is a big deal," the president told an audience in Washington state. "It is amazing what happens when Congress focuses on doing the right thing instead of just playing politics." The roughly $100 billion payroll tax cut, a key part of Obama's economic recovery plan, has reduced how much 160 million American workers pay into Social Security on their first $110,100 in wages. Instead of paying in 6.2%, they've been paying 4.2% for the past year and two months -- a break worth about $83 a month for someone making $50,000 a year. Without congressional action, all three measures would expire at the end of February. "Our founding fathers recognized that Washington would not always be united," said Rep. Dave Camp of Michigan, a top Republican involved in crafting the deal. "In their wisdom they knew that even divided government must still govern. And that is what we are doing here today -- governing and providing a solution to the very real problems Americans are facing in their daily lives." "Today is a good day," declared House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California. "This represents a victory for the middle class in our country." House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, on Thursday called the deal "a fair agreement and one that I support." The agreement came together this week after House Republicans dropped a key demand Monday, saying they would accept the extended payroll tax cut without spending cuts elsewhere in the budget to cover the measure's roughly $100 billion cost. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the agreement would increase the federal deficit by $89 billion over 10 years, mostly through decreased tax revenue. Numerous Republicans on Capitol Hill are vehemently opposed to any measure that increases the deficit. They are also concerned about diverting more revenue away from Social Security, and believe the unemployment insurance extension will discourage people from seeking work. Boehner defended the decision to move forward with an unpaid extension, a move previously opposed by Republican leaders, by arguing it was the only way to prevent a tax hike demanded by Democrats to help pay the cost. "We were not going to allow Democrats to continue to play games and cause a tax increase for hardworking Americans," Boehner told reporters Wednesday. "We made a decision to bring them to the table so that the games would stop and we would get this worked out." "It's the art of a deal. I mean, it's a compromise," Rep. Steve Latourette, R-Ohio, said earlier in the week. "You have people that didn't get ... 100% of what they wanted." The other two measures in the package -- the unemployment benefits extension and the so-called doc fix -- are estimated to cost a combined $50 billion. Unlike the tax cut, however, they will be paid for. Funding sources to pay for the benefits extension and the doc fix include savings from broadband spectrum sales, increased pension contributions by new federal employees, and cuts to Medicare hospital and specialist fees that will not affect patients, according to the House Ways and Means Committee. Several Democrats from Maryland and Virginia -- near Washington -- voted against the package because, they argued, it treats federal employees unfairly by requiring new government hires to contribute more to their pension. Under the terms of the deal, in states with unemployment rates higher than the national average of 8.3%, the maximum time an unemployed person can receive benefits will drop from 99 to 73 weeks. The maximum length of benefits for people in states with an average unemployment rate or lower will drop to 63 weeks or as far down as 40 weeks. The jobless have been able to collect up to 99 weeks of benefits since November 2009 as part of the nation's unprecedented response to the recession. In addition, states will be allowed to perform drug tests on individuals applying for unemployment benefits if those people lost their previous job because they either failed or refused an employer's drug test. Individuals receiving unemployment assistance could also be tested if they are seeking a job that generally requires a drug test. Also, welfare beneficiaries will be banned from accessing public assistance funds at ATMs in strip clubs, liquor stores, and casinos. The current February expiration date for the payroll tax cut, the additional unemployment benefits and the doc fix were put in place by a short-term agreement reached by Congress in December. That agreement also set up the conference committee that resumed negotiations last month on a longer-term deal. The debate over whether and how to extend the tax cut has been a political loser so far for the Republicans. Democrats have gleefully highlighted the GOP's reluctance to hold down the payroll tax rate, using the issue to portray Republicans as defenders of the rich who are indifferent to the plight of the middle class. A number of conservatives have questioned the economic value of the tax reduction. Political analysts believe the showdown over the payroll holiday has eroded GOP strength on the party's core issue of lower taxes. Fearing negative repercussions, Republican leaders have now backtracked on the issue twice: dropping their opposition to the two-month extension last December and dropping their insistence on paying for a longer extension on Monday.

Published: Fri, 17 Feb 2012 20:11:52 GMT

Closer look at tax plans of 2012 candidates

Pretty much everyone in Washington agrees that the tax code is complicated, inefficient and -- in general -- a major drag. Perhaps the best chance for reform is a 2012 election that delivers a mandate of change to lawmakers. Every presidential candidate has a plan -- and they vary from a series of mild tweaks to major overhauls. In general, the Republican plans are more aggressive, but would result in lower revenue levels that would have to be offset with spending cuts if soaring deficits are to be avoided. Meanwhile, President Obama is the only candidate talking about raising taxes. CNNMoney breaks it down. Ron Paul: The Texas congressman, who has attracted an enthusiastic following of young people and libertarians, wants to repeal the 16th amendment to the Constitution, which established the government's right to tax income. "As president, Ron Paul will support a Liberty Amendment to the Constitution to abolish the income and death taxes," his website says. "And he will be proud to be the one who finally turns off the lights at the IRS for good." He would immediately repeal capital gains taxes, which the candidate says "punish you for success" and "interfere with your efforts to hedge against inflation by purchasing gold and silver coins." He would repeal the 1993 Social Security tax increase, and work in the long run to exempt Social Security benefits from taxation. Paul would drop the corporate tax rate to 15%. While he would like to move to a flat tax or fair tax, Paul also suggests something of a back-up plan: "Restraining federal spending by enforcing the Constitution's strict limits on the federal government's power would help result in a 0% income tax rate for Americans," his website says. Mitt Romney: The former Massachusetts governor's plan for the tax code is the least aggressive of the Republican candidates still in the race. The plan would get rid of taxes on interest, dividends and capital gains for taxpayers who make less than $200,000. It also calls for an elimination of the estate tax, and a reduction in the tax rate paid by corporations from 35% to 25%. Romney wants Americans to pay lower income taxes, but hasn't said what the new rates will be, what the bracket structure will look like or when he wants them to take effect. But in the near-term, he would maintain current tax rates on income. Newt Gingrich: The former speaker wants to add to the current tax code by putting an optional 15% flat tax on income in place, with a $12,000 per-person deduction. And Gingrich would like to eliminate the estate and capital gains taxes. For businesses, Gingrich wants to reduce the corporate tax rate from 35% to 12.5% -- a move that would take the rate from one of the highest in the industrialized world to one of the lowest. He would also allow for the full expensing of capital expenditures. Rick Santorum: The conservative former senator from Pennsylvania would reduce the number of income tax brackets from six to two (10% and 28%) and triple what his campaign identifies as the personal deduction that parents can claim for their children. Santorum would also eliminate the so-called marriage penalty, which often causes two-earner couples to owe more in federal income taxes than if they filed as single individuals. In addition, he would eliminate both the Alternative Minimum Tax and the estate tax. And he would reduce the capital gains rate from 15% to 12%. For businesses, he would cut the corporate income tax rate in half to 17.5% and eliminate it entirely for manufacturers. Barack Obama: The president has some ideas of his own for the tax code. Instead of less revenue, he wants more. He wants to raise taxes on those making more than $250,000 by letting the Bush tax cuts expire for top earners. He wants to limit deductions for the wealthy and make an expanded college tax credit permanent. The president would raise the rate on long-term capital gains -- currently 15% -- to 20% on those making more than $200,000 ($250,000 if married filing jointly). While Obama opposes eliminating the estate tax, he would like to increase the exemption level to $5 million and lower the top rate to 35%, a more generous level than would be the case under current law. And he wants to institute a so-called Buffett Rule to ensure that those making more than $1 million pay their "fair share," which President Obama has defined as paying at least 30% of their income in taxes. But details on that proposal are pretty thin. Obama would also like carried interest to be taxed as ordinary income, which means fund managers would pay more than double the rate they currently pay on a portion of their compensation. He would also limit itemized deductions for high-income households, make permanent the expansion of a low-income tax credit and make the expanded HOPE credit permanent.

Published: Fri, 17 Feb 2012 17:48:32 GMT

J&J's McNeil unit recalls Infants' Tylenol

The healthcare company McNeil is recalling more than half a million bottles of Infants' Tylenol because of consumer complaints about the difficulties of using the dosing system. McNeil is recalling about 574,000 bottles after receiving a "small number" of complaints regarding the so-called "dosing syringe" of the orally-administered over-the-counter painkiller. The company said that in some cases the "flow restrictor was pushed into the bottle when inserting the syringe." The recall applies to one-ounce bottles of grape-flavored Infants' Tylenol Oral Suspension. The company said there have been "no adverse events" from the problem and that "the risk of series adverse medical event is remote." The company said that consumers can continue to use the product, despite the voluntary recall, so long as the flow restrictor remains in place at the top of the bottle. McNeil, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, has had numerous recalls in the recent past, especially with Tylenol. The U.S. government took over three Tylenol plants last year for failure to comply with federally-mandated manufacturing procedures.

Published: Fri, 17 Feb 2012 17:29:40 GMT

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