Welcome to Gahtan’s Technology and Internet Law Blog

Talk about an all-in-one device. The new SMC Travel Voice Gateway (SMCWTVG) has almost everything a road warrior could ask for. It can be used as a wireless wi-fi (802.11b/g) access point, client or bridge. 1 FXS and 1 FXO interfaces (with RJ-11 connectors which can be connected to traditional telephones) for Voice-over-IP support. Address Translation (NAT), SPI Firewall and VPN pass-through. Expected to retail at US$199. Availability by end of Q1 from retail channels.

From HardwareZone and The VOIP Conversation.

A recent change by Fido to their their service agreement has been the subject of discussion on HowardForums. Most users posting comments didn’t seem too happy about Fido being able to made changes that are to their detriment during the term of the agreement. However, this type of thing is common in “contracts of adhesion”, particularly those used by telecom companies. Although I have not checked the contracts used by Rogers, Telus or Bell, I suspect they all have similar provisions.

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Alec Saunders has an excellent posting about an issue he is having with Rogers. It seems he purchased an unlimited wireless data plan but Rogers had put a footnote/hyperlink on the word “unlimited” stating that they would charge an additional per MB fee for any usage above 25 MB. In my view, the right thing to do would be to define such a plan as a “power user” plan and avoid redefining English terms to mean something different than what they are commonly understood to mean.

Michael Fitzgibbon, in Thoughts from a Management Lawyer, points out in a recent post that email is not always the best way to get your message across, particularly when having to deal with difficult and possibly acrimonious subjects. The more difficult the conversation, the more likely it is that a face to face discussion is required. Personally, I find email to be very convenient, particularly when a message needs to be delivered to more than one person or when its important to document the conversation. However, I agree that in some cases it is better to have a one-on-one conversation but then it may be desireable to follow up with an email to confirm the discussion.

A recent article in Business Week stated that that “studies have shown that 87% of the U.S. population can be uniquely identified via only a date of birth, sex and five-digit residential zipcode.” In countries like Canada, postal codes can pin point geographic targets with even greater precision than zip codes (in many cases, to the specific portion of a specific street). This suggests that Internet users, whether Canadian, American or otherwise should be very careful about disclosing any personal information to websites if they are concerned about retaining their anonymity.

Another concern is the increasing number of services offered by search engines such as Google which require users to log in. Its probably best to log out after any such use in order to reduce the risk that search queries will be logged.

The new µDMS P60 is a mini PC from Hi-Grade with Viiv support. Lots of goodies (1.6GHz Core Duo processor, 80GB 2.5-inch HDD, DVD burner, analog TV tuner, WiFi, Bluetooth, 56k modem, gigabit Ethernet, DVI, S-Video, memory card reader)and with instant on/off support.

From Engadget linking to Digital Media Thoughts.

Techdirt has a posting about another situation where someone is trying to use the DCMA for a purpose other than what it was intended (to prohibit breaking security mechanisms that were put in place to protect copyrighted content such as music and movies). The latest example is a company called Tracfone that sells subsidized pre-paid cell phones that is apparently using the DCMA to sue another company that is unlocking its phones. See EFF for the full story. A copy of the complaint, in PDF, is available here.

RSA Security has announced that it is working on initiatives to permit a broad range of portable devices to serve as SecurID authenticators. This will mean that businesses won’t have to procure additional token devices and that employees and customers will not need to carry yet another stand-alone token. According to RSA Security’s press release:

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