Day: December 16, 2016

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Florida court rules police can demand your phone’s passcode

A Florida man arrested for third-degree voyeurism using his iPhone 5 initially gave police verbal consent to search the smartphone, but later rescinded permission before divulging his 4-digit passcode. Even with a warrant, they couldn’t access the phone without the combination. A trial judge denied the state’s motion to force the man to give up the code, considering it equal to compelling him to testify against himself, which would violate the Fifth Amendment. But the Florida Court of Appeals’ Second District reversed that decision today, deciding that the passcode is not related to criminal photos or videos that may or may not exist on his iPhone.

Obviously, this has implications for Constitutional protections of a civilian’s data contained behind a smartphone’s multi-digit passcode. Previously, a 2014 decision by the Virginia Beach Circuit Court found that individuals can’t be compelled to give up their phone’s code, but they could be forced to unlock it with a fingerprint, should that option be available.

The distinction? A passcode requires a person to divulge actual knowledge, while a fingerprint is considered physical evidence, like a handwriting sample or DNA. This interpretation sources back to the Supreme Court’s 1988 Doe v. U.S. decision, in which it ruled that a person may be compelled to give up a key to a strongbox, say, but not a combination to a wall safe.

The three-judge Appeals Court panel in Florida disagreed with this distinction. They also found the comparison out of step with the current state of technology, such that providing the passcode would not be as similarly self-incriminating as directly giving the authorities evidential documents. Further, the police were beyond probable cause of searching suspect Aaron Stahl’s code-locked phone, as Judge Anthony Black wrote for his fellows in the court’s decision:

"Moreover, although the passcode would allow the State access to the phone, and therefore to a source of potential evidence, the State has a warrant to search the phone—the source of evidence had already been uncovered … Providing the passcode does not "betray any knowledge [Stahl] may have about the circumstances of the offenses" for which he is charged."

Black clarified what kind of foreknowledge authorities would need to possess to compel someone to divulge their phone’s passcode:

"In order for the foregone conclusion doctrine to apply, the State must show with reasonable particularity that, at the time it sought the act of production, it already knew the evidence sought existed, the evidence was in the possession of the accused, and the evidence was authentic … Although the State need not have "perfect knowledge" of the requested evidence, it "must know, and not merely infer," that the evidence exists, is under the control of defendant, and is authentic."

Via: The Daily Dot

Source: Courthouse News

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Xbox One update boosts download speeds up to 80 percent

A big part of current-gen gaming we just have to live with is spending time we could be playing waiting for things to download. Microsoft is looking to ease that burden with an update to Xbox One. With the latest version of the console’s operating system, the company says it increased download speeds 80 percent if you’re internet connection is faster than 100Mbps. If you’re on a slower connection that’s less than 100Mbps, the update should still boost game and app downloads by 40 percent.

Of course, Microsoft warns that exact figures will vary based on your home configuration and your ISP. Download speeds will also be slower when you’re playing a game as Xbox One prioritizes that action over any background activity. Speaking of background downloads, this update optimizes that process to withstand any intermittent connection issues.

Additional updates include a firmware refresh for the Xbox One wireless controller and tweaks that should make streaming music in the background more reliable across different apps. There are also the usual "general performance and stability improvements" where further details aren’t provided. To grab the update, head to Settings on the console and select "Console info & updates" from the System menu.

Source: Xbox Support

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President Obama signs nationwide ticket-bot ban into law

New York already passed legislation banning the use of ticket buying bots, but President Obama has just made the ban a nationwide law. Today, the president signed the "Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act of 2016" which makes it illegal to use software to purchase tickets to popular events. Of course, the end goal of doing so is to resell them at a higher price. As you might expect, the law aims to give the general public a fair shot at concerts, sporting events and more that sell out quickly.

Under the new law, it is illegal for anyone to use a bot or other software to obtain more tickets than a specified limit allows or circumvent the posted rules for making a fair purchase. It also makes it illegal to resell any tickets than were bought with the help of a ticket bot. Both the person who employed the software and anyone who has knowledge of how the tickets were obtained can be held liable for the offense.

The BOTS Act also gives state governments the power to bring a civil suit to US district court on behalf of its residents. During those proceedings, states can seek to obtain damages, restitution or other compensation for the affected residents in the case. The law gives the Federal Trade Commission the power to intervene in those civil cases as well.

Source: Congress.gov, WhiteHouse.gov

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WATCH: NASA Rocket Deploys ‘Satellite Constellation’ After Unique Air-Launch

A Pegasus rocket containing eight mini-satellites is air-launched on Thursday.

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A Pegasus rocket containing eight mini-satellites is air-launched on Thursday.

AP

NASA has just launched eight micro-satellites that will allow scientists to make better predictions about hurricanes.

And it was a unique event — the rocket carrying the satellites launched from an airliner, rather than from the ground. It’s a way to cut costs, as The Associated Press reports, and also makes for quite a show.

First, an aircraft called “Stagazer” took off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Thursday morning. Then, when it reached 39,000 feet above sea level and about 110 nautical miles off Daytona Beach, it air-launched the Orbital ATK Pegasus XL rocket, which was carrying the satellites.

You can see the Pegasus rocket drop from the aircraft at about the 2:30 mark in this video. It ignites and carries the satellites into orbit.

The satellites then started to deploy from the rocket in pairs. NASA says the first pair started 13 minutes after launch and then continued every 30 seconds.

“It’s a great event when you have a successful spacecraft separation — and with eight micro-satellites, you get to multiply that times eight,” NASA Launch Manager Tim Dunn said.

NASA posted a video of applause in the control room as the eight satellites successfully deployed into orbit.

This constellation of satellites, called the Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System, will be measuring surface winds at the center of tropical cyclones, hurricanes and typhoons, NASA says. The project’s principal investigator, Chris Ruf, said this is the “first time ever that satellites can peer into the middle of hurricanes and predict how strong they’ll be when they make landfall.”

“Scientists want the satellites up and running before the start of the hurricane season on June 1,” according to The Associated Press.

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Pipeline Spill Adds To Concerns About Dakota Access Pipeline

For months, the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and others in North Dakota mounted a massive and protest against the controversial Dakota Access pipeline, in part over concerns that any leak could contaminate their drinking water.

Now they are watching the Belle Fourche pipeline, which recently leaked roughly 180,000 gallons of crude into the Ash Coulee Creek in far western North Dakota. The leak was discovered Monday, and authorities say there is no threat to drinking water and that the crude is 100 percent contained.

But, cold weather is slowing down the 140 or so workers on the scene cleaning up the mess, according to pipeline company spokeswoman Wendy Owens.

“It’s so remote and the terrain is very, very rugged, so it’s rough out there,” she says.

The leaking segment of the pipeline was built in the 1980s. Since then construction materials, and pressure monitoring equipment has improved, and tighter regulations have been put in place.

“It’s hard to compare one company especially one that has had a pipeline in the ground for maybe 40 or 50 years to a brand new pipeline,” says Carl Weimer, executive director of the nonprofit Pipeline Safety Trust. “It’s not just the old ones that fail, new ones can fail also.”

And they do. Since 2010, according to federal data, operators have reported around 200 crude oil spills per year, on average. Most of them are comparatively small — think a few bathtubs full or less. The Belle Fourche pipeline leak is the largest in North Dakota since 2013. But the same company that owns and runs the pipeline was involved in another oil spill in Montana in 2015 that leaked 30,000 gallons of crude into the river. At one point, tests showed traces of oil in the local drinking water.

Still, generally these incidents are low probability, high impact events, and John Stoody with the Association of Oil Pipelines says they remain the most efficient way to go.

“They’re also the safest way to move crude oil and petroleum around,” he says.

The data to back up that claim are kind of tricky to pin down. But when you compare crude transportation by pipeline versus crude transported by rail, pipelines appear safer. That’s because while pipelines spill about 50 percent more than trains, they move more than three times as much crude.

But, at least one critic says that while true, that doesn’t tell the whole story.

“I think it is somewhat cold comfort to those who are actually experiencing an incident in their backyard,” says Elizabeth Herdes, a Denver-based attorney focusing on pipeline safety law. “Much like if we talked about, if you’re driving a car, and we know it’s safer to drive a car now because there’s airbags and all of these safety things. But if you’re the one in the car accident, it doesn’t seem any safer.”

Those that have been protesting the Dakota Access pipeline worry that safety equipment won’t detect a leak, and this recent spill gives them pause because it wasn’t pipeline safety equipment that detected 180,000 gallons crude leaking out of the pipeline, but a local landowner.

Leigh Paterson is with Inside Energy, a public media collaboration focused on America’s energy issues.

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