Predictably, Snapchat user database maliciously exposed

On January 1, 2014, an anonymous user announced the release of SnapchatDB and 4.6 million usernames and matched phone numbers in a Hacker News post.

The Snapchat accounts - even those marked 'private' - were exposed in a database hack that Snapchat knew about for four months, ignored, then told press last week was only "theoretical."

According to SnapchatDB, the leak was made possible with a recently patched, but still useful exploit.

Hacking the database wasn't enough to merit a response

One week ago in December, we broke news that Researchers at Gibson Security published Snapchat code allowing phone number matching after exploit disclosures ignored.

GibSec highlighted several Snapchat exploits and they were arrogantly dismissed by Snapchat, but it looks like someone else has taken GibSec seriously.

The SnapchatDB website is gone, but the database was copied, torrented and mirrored (on Mega) widely prior to its removal.

Several websites immediately sprung up offering a tool for users to see if they're in the database leak. The source of the first and second disclosures, Gibson Security, created this Snapchat hack lookup tool.

The last two digits of each phone number in the hack dump were hidden. But SnapchatDB said full numbers would be revealed for interested parties, indicating the 4.6 million usernames and numbers will likely be sold to spam and phishing operations.

The linking of phone numbers to usernames in accounts from major cities within the United States and Canada is a private information disaster that could have been avoided if the company had acted when repeatedly warned.

Gibson Security told ZDNet that fixing the threat would have only cost Snapchat ten lines of code.

With publication of username matches to phone numbers, malicious entities can now hop-step to brute force account passwords, and cross-match data from other databases to compile profiles across multiple services for stalking, spamming, and more.

In the EU, a person's phone number is categorized as personal information, and falls under data protection laws.

Responsible disclosure is dead

Snapchat joins a long legacy of companies denying responsible disclosure by security researchers, only to be embarrassed when users become victims of the exact targeted attacks whose warnings went ignored.

In October, Apple told press that Apple can read your iMessages with an iMessage man-in-the-middle attack (hijacking and changing messages between iPhones in real time).

Like Snapchat, Apple downplayed the risks and attempting to discredit responsible security researchers by cavalierly labeling responsible disclosures as "theoretical."

In a statement to AllThingsD, Apple spokesperson Trudy Muller said: "iMessage is not architected to allow Apple to read messages. The research discussed theoretical vulnerabilities that would require Apple to re-engineer the iMessage system to exploit it, and Apple has no plans or intentions to do so."

The same day as Apple's dismissal, we published video of the researchers giving us a live demonstration of iMessage interception and alteration between iPhones, directly proving Apple wrong.

Snapchat's story is disturbingly egregious; Gibson Security warned Snapchat in August of its security problems, and went public with claims when Snapchat refused to acknowledge what GibSec felt were issues that put users - such as themselves - at serious risk.

Snapchat did nothing. On Christmas Day, Gibson Security published Snapchat exploits (only a few of the ones GibSec found) in an attempt to spur Snapchat into action to take user safety and database security seriously.

Gibson said it was sick of Snapchat ignoring security researchers.

"That vulnerability is completely theoretical." - Microsoft

Like Apple Snapchat did not respond to ZDNet's request for comment - despite the fact that we first broke news and published technical information about security researchers' discoveries.

In fact, Snapchat admitted to Gibson Security that it first learned about the exploits from our pre-publication email requesting comment about GibSec's disclosures.

Both companies only responded to press outlets that have a record of reporting uncritically about the companies.

read more : http://www.zdnet.com/predictably-snapchat-user-database-maliciously-exposed-7000024697/

The latest malware innovation: Infect ATMs and have them pump out cash

Hackers in Europe managed to target several cash machines from an unnamed bank earlier last year by infecting them with malware from USB drives, BBC News reports. The researchers who discovered the hack detailed their findings at the Chaos Computing Congress in Hamburg, Germany recently. According to their report, the ATM thefts were discovered in July after a bank noticed how its machines were emptied of cash even though the cash should have been protected inside safes. The bank then discovered how criminals were cutting holes into ATMs in order to transfer malware from the USB to the ATM. Once the data transfer was complete, the holes would be patched up to conceal the attack.

To withdraw money, hackers would then enter a 12-digit code that brought up a special menu showing how much of each currency denomination was available within the ATM. The thieves would then withdraw the highest value banknotes in order to spend as little time as possible in front of ATMs and thus avoid suspicion.

Interestingly, in order to prevent untrusted fellow gang members from withdrawing money from the compromised ATMs, the hackers used a double sign in mechanism. In addition to the 12-digit code, the thief would also have to enter a second code in response to a unique random sequence of numbers shown on the ATM. The response came via a phone call from another gang member, meaning that at least two people would be involved with each ATM heist. The machine would return to its normal state after three minutes of malicious inactivity.

The research has shown that the hack did not actually target data from regular customers using the machines, and instead focused only on directly retrieving the money. As for the code itself, the hackers “had gone to great lengths to make their malware code hard to analyze,” BBC writes, with researchers concluding that the hackers must have “profound knowledge of the target ATMs.”

From : http://bgr.com/2014/01/01/atm-hacking-malware-attack/

The Syrian Electronic Army Rings In The New Year By Hacking Skype’s Social Media Accounts

The Syrian Electronic Army is at it again. The group just hacked Skype’s blog and twitter accounts, spreading an anti-NSA, anti-Microsoft message in the process. “Don’t use Microsoft emails (hotmail,outlook), They are monitoring your accounts and selling the data to the governments”, says one posting. “Hacked by Syrian Electronic Army.. Stop Spying!”,says another.

Skype, the service itself, does not appear to be affected.

The group also gained control of Skype’s Facebook although that message has since been deleted. However, the postings were up for nearly 40 minutes.

As of publication, the activist group still seemingly has control of Skype’s blog and Twitter.

Read More : http://techcrunch.com/2014/01/01/the-syrian-electronic-army-rings-in-the-new-year-by-hacking-skypes-social-media-accounts/

'Jailbreaking' Apple devices creates business for hackers

Each year, Apple releases a new version of the software running its iconic mobile devices, the iPhone and iPad. And each year, a small but dogged community of hackers sets out to break it - or, in the words of the hackers, "jailbreak" it.

The liberation imagery long seemed apt. Apple puts strict limits on how its devices can be used, requiring, for example, that all apps be bought through the company's lucrative iTunes store. By comparison, the hackers styled themselves as plucky hobbyists seeking freedom from what they derided as Apple's "walled garden" and into a promised land of virtually limitless new software.

That image has taken a beating in recent days as prominent hackers have battled allegations that they've been working not for ideals but for money. The supposed payoffs would have come from Chinese investors eager to cash in on the spread of Apple products in that country.

Although there's no evidence money changed hands, the controversy has highlighted how Apple's restrictions on its mobile devices have fuelled the creation of alternative marketplaces, where the thrill of trying to outsmart one of the world's richest companies mixes with at least the possibility of fat profits for those who succeed.

"Anything that can open up a whole new line of sales on [Apple devices] is certainly worth a lot to somebody," said Brian Krebs, who covers internet security issues on his blog, KrebsOnSecurity. "If you jailbreak it, it means there are millions of more apps to sell."

Apps for mobile devices earned nearly $US27 billion in 2013 and are projected to earn more than $US76 billion in 2017, with Google's Android operating system and Apple's iOS platform the dominant players, according to Gartner, a research firm. Apple reported $US9.3 billion in revenue last year from its iTunes store, which sells apps along with music, movies and electronic books.

Among the key growth markets is China, where lower-priced Android devices have a large lead and Apple is working to make inroads. It announced a deal in December to offer the iPhone through China Mobile, the world's largest cellular carrier.

Apple's tightly controlled ecosystem has long been part of its appeal. Company founder Steve Jobs, who died in October 2011, obsessed over every detail of the user experience, with the goal of having hardware, software and online services working together seamlessly.

The tradeoff came in control for consumers. While Google's Android devices are made by many different manufacturers and can load apps from any store a user chooses, Apple makes it own products and rigorously oversees the apps available on iTunes, typically taking a 30 per cent cut from every sale and barring developers who do not comply with the company's many rules.

"Apple products are like beautiful crystal prisons," said Peter Eckersley, director of technology projects at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a civil liberties group. "Deviation from that is not allowed."

Jailbreaking can allow users of Apple mobile devices substantial new powers - for example, to fake their locations to defeat location tracking and service blackouts. It can allow free "tethering" so users can direct data streams from their iPhones to other devices without paying for a separate connection. And it can allow the use of alternative browsers that have privacy settings not available on Apple's Safari.

Advocates for the disabled, meanwhile, have sponsored a campaign to raise money in support of jailbreaking Apple's latest mobile device operating system, iOS 7, because iTunes does not offer some apps they find helpful.

Jailbreaking devices removes key security features. One of the few successful iPhone attacks - a prank virus that changed the background screen to an image of British pop star Rick Astley - spread on jailbroken devices.

"Apple's goal has always been to ensure that our customers have a great experience with their iPhone, and we know that jailbreaking can severely degrade the experience," Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller said in a statement. "As we've said before, the vast majority of customers do not jailbreak their iPhones as this can violate the warranty and can cause the iPhone to become unstable and not work reliably."

Jailbreaks and other types of hacks once were widely available for free, but the security vulnerabilities they rely on have become valuable commodities, in part because of the demand from government intelligence services, such as the National Security Agency.

The recent controversy flared when, a few days before Christmas, a hacker group called the "evad3rs" released the first publicly available jailbreaking tools for iOS 7. The tools also loaded a Chinese app store, called Taig, for devices that were set to use the Chinese language.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/jailbreaking-apple-devices-creates-business-for-hackers-20140101-305p9.html#ixzz2pCo7sb9U

Biz Break: HP trims more jobs; solar panel installations jump

Today: Hewlett Packard's (HPQ) planned layoffs grow by 2,000. Plus: Solar panel installation jumps. Also: Hacker group attacks web host Go Daddy. And: Microsoft expected to raise dividend 15 percent.

HP trimming more than expected Hewlett Packard's massive restructuring is claiming an additional 2,000 jobs, bringing the total to 29,000 workers who will be trimmed through 2014 in a combination of early retirements and layoffs.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Monday, the Palo Alto computer giant did not explain the additional cuts, but much of that increase is attributed by insiders to more employees than expected signing up for an early retirement plan. The plan is open to U.S. employees whose combined age and years of service equals 65 years or more.

About 8,500 employees are taking early retirement, the company said in the filing. Most will leave the company on Aug. 31. HP is paying out lump sum benefits of five to 14 months salary depending on years of service. Another 3,800 were laid off in the last quarter.

Employees taking early retirement can continue health coverage at active employee contribution rates for two years, according to the filing. For employees not eligible for company subsidized medical plans, HP is providing up to $12,000 in employer credits under a company retirement medical savings account program.

The downsizing was announced at the end of May by CEO Meg Whitman as part of a streamlining of the company, which has run into competitive headwinds aggravated by some acquisitions over the past few years that haven't panned out. The workforce trimming affects nearly every department and the layoffs and buyouts come to about 8 percent of HP's workforce.

Part of the streamlining involves consolidating units in the company's lackluster business services division and eliminating 8,000 positions. A big part of that operation was acquired with Texas-based EDS, which HP bought in 2008.

Solar panel installations jump, powered by utilities The installed base of solar panels jumped 45 percent nationwide to 742 megawatts, with California and Arizona leading the market.

Much of the growth was fueled by the completion of more than 20 large solar power plant projects in Arizona, California and other key states, according to a report released today by GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association.

Utility installations accounted for nearly 478 of the 742 megawatts, according to the report.

"The price of solar continues to come down, and utilities are turning more and more to solar," said Shayle Kann, vice president of research at GTM research.

The installation figures also include those on homes and businesses as well as much larger, utility-scale power plants.

The report also found that in the residential market, third-party ownership models accounted for 70 percent of residential installations. Bay Area companies like SolarCity, SunRun and Sungevity have led the way, offering consumers a way to go solar with no-money-down via leases or power purchase agreements. San Jose-based SunPower (SPWRA), which makes its own solar panels, has also gotten into the leasing game.

"In markets where third-party ownership is an option, it quickly becomes the preferred option," said Kann.
Hacker attacks web hosting service Go Daddy A hacker took down the web hosting service Go Daddy (godaddy.com) Monday, apparently shutting down its servers and the accounts and e-mails of thousands of users.

The hacker announced the attack on Twitter, signing his tweets Anonymous Own3r.

"I'm taking godaddy down because well i'd like to test how the cyber security is safe and for more reasons that i cannot talk now," Anonymous Ow3r tweeted.

Go Daddy tweeted that it was working on the problem, and by late afternoon had restored some service. Go Daddy is one of the largest web hosting services.

In more hacking news, a Florida mobile publishing company says its files, and not the FBI's, were hacked by the group that released Apple (AAPL) user identification codes last week, claiming they were obtained from an FBI laptop.

The codes actually came from BlueToad, a small Florida company that hosts publications and creates mobile apps for its clients, Reuters reported. AntiSec, an affiliate of the hacker group Anonymous, has claimed responsibility for releasing the codes.

"We want to apologize, announce what happened and set the record straight," Paul DeHart, chief executive officer of BlueToad, told Reuters.
 
He said the company quickly realized that its files had been compromised after the hackers announced the release of the material on Sept. 3. There were fewer than 2 million user identification codes released, not the 12 million claimed by AntiSec, he told Reuters.

An FBI spokesman said BlueToad indeed appears to have been where the group got the user ids.
The codes are assigned to Apple products such as iPhones and iPads and are used by mobile applications and gaming networks to identify individual users.

Microsoft to raise quarterly dividend by 15 percent

Some analysts are predicting that Microsoft will raise its quarterly dividend by three cents to 23 cents a share at its annual meeting this month.

The company is sitting on $63 billion in cash and short-term assets, $54 billion of which is held and can't be repatriated to the U.S. without facing taxation.

Not every analyst is predicting a 15 percent increase, Bloomberg noted. An analyst at Goldman Sachs is forecasting a two cent, or 10 percent boost, it said.

The Redmond, Wash. software giant has raised its dividend in each of the past two years.

Silicon Valley tech stocks

Up: HP

Down: Apple, Google (GOOG), Intel (INTC), Cisco (CSCO), eBay (EBAY), Yahoo (YHOO), Netflix (NFLX), LinkedIn, Facebook, Zynga

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index: Down 32.40 or 1.03 percent to 3,104.02

The blue chip Dow Jones industrial average: down 52.35, or 0.39 percent to 13,253.98.

And the widely watched Standard & Poor's 500 index: Down 8.84 or 0.61 percent to 1,429.08.

Check in weekday afternoons for the 60-Second Business Break, a summary of news from Mercury News staff writers, The Associated Press, Bloomberg News and other wire services.

(from: http://www.mercurynews.com/60-second-business-break/ci_21510080/biz-break-hp-trims-some-more-solar-installations-hacker-attacks-godaddy-microsoft-dividend)

Silicon Valley isn't sharing Facebook's misery

MENLO PARK, Calif. —

Silicon Valley, it turns out, doesn't revolve around the stock prices of Facebook and its playful sidekick, Zynga.

By most indications, tech companies in this hub of innovation are humming along, even as two of its rising stars endure steep declines in their stock prices that have wiped out more than $60 billion in wealth in the past six months.

Companies catering to mobile devices, business software and data management products are thriving, while longtime Silicon Valley stalwarts such as Apple Inc. and Google Inc. remain among the most revered brands in the world.

"Nothing has fundamentally changed about the opportunities that are possible," says Aaron Levie, CEO of Box, an online data-storage company based in Los Altos, Calif.

The optimism in Silicon Valley can be seen in a variety of ways in this area that covers roughly 40 miles from San Jose to San Francisco:
- Entrepreneurs are still pursuing big ideas and raising millions of dollars.
Silicon Valley startups raised $3.2 billion from venture capitalists during the April-June quarter, far more than in any other part of the U.S as tracked by the National Venture Capital Association. Venture capital flowing into Silicon Valley increased by 4 percent from the same time last year, while it dropped 12 percent nationwide.
- Apartment rents in San Francisco have soared beyond the lofty levels of the original Internet boom more than a decade ago. This time, it's being driven by well-paid software engineers and Web designers who are flocking to Silicon Valley.
San Francisco apartments rented for an average of $2,734 in June, up 13 percent from a year ago and well above the average of $2,128 when technology stocks were at their peak before the dot-com bubble burst in 2001, according to the research firm RealFacts. Renting in San Jose - the region's largest city - is less expensive than San Francisco, but even there the average lease cost $1,811 a month in June, a 10 percent increase from last year.
- Computer coding programmers still command top dollar for their services because there aren't enough of them to meet demand.
Jeremy Stoppelman, CEO of the 8-year-old online reviews service Yelp Inc., said his company is always behind on its hiring goals for software engineers.

"There is no one who is like `Oh, we have all the engineers we need and we don't need more,'" he says. Competition is fierce from all sides - massive companies such as Google and Facebook, tiny startup incubators and everything in between.

"And there is attrition," Stoppelman says. "From what I gather from engineers, two, three times a week they get calls from recruiters."

Software engineers working in the San Francisco area are now paid an average of about $115,000, up from $106,000 in 2008, according to Glassdoor.com, which analyzed compensation figures collected from users. The average salary for software engineers in the Bay Area is about 17 percent higher than the national average for the same occupation, according to Glassdoor.

Google now pays its engineers an average of $142,000, up from just under $104,000 in 2008, Glassdoor calculated. During that time, Google's workforce has swelled by 70 percent to about 34,000 employees, including thousands of engineers working at or near its headquarters in Mountain View, Calif.
Even Facebook and Zynga remain on hiring sprees.

Facebook still plans to transform its Menlo Park headquarters into the equivalent of a small town that is supposed to eventually house 6,000 workers. The social networking leader has hired famed architect Frank Gehry to design a 420,000-square-foot warehouse that will feature a garden growing across its roof. Plans also call for a town square featuring restaurants, a bike shop and health clinic.

Levie moved Box from Seattle several years ago because he believed his company had to be in Silicon Valley to succeed. Box now employs about 500 workers and raised $125 million this summer. Levie is just 27, a few months younger than Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who turned 28 the week his company went public in May.

Echoing an oft-repeated Silicon Valley ethos, Levie says startups are much more focused on their long-term prospects than their performance from one quarter to the next.

Wall Street, though, isn't known for its patience. Investors' fixation on short-term results has left Facebook's stock trading at about half of its initial public offering price, while Zynga's stock has lost more than two-thirds of its value.

Driven by the hype leading up to its IPO, Facebook Inc. opened with a stock price of $38 and a market value of $104 billion. Less than four months later, share prices have lost half their value.

Investors have been unhappy that Facebook's revenue growth is slowing, seen as a sign the company won't be able to make as much money as more people use Facebook on mobile devices, where there is less room to show ads. The worries have hammered Facebook's stock, even though many analysts still see the company as a solid long-term investment.

"The challenge of the public markets is that it has the ability to create a lot of these near-term distractions if you start paying attention to the day-to-day stock price changes," Levie says. "A lot of those day-to-day changes have no bearing or relevance on the ultimate opportunity for your business."

Facebook has consistently declined to talk about its stock price. But CFO David Ebersman told analysts in July that "obviously we're disappointed about how the stock has traded."

"But I think the important thing for us is to stay focused on the fact that we're the same company now as we were before," he added.

Zuckerberg will get a chance to muse about Facebook's fall on Tuesday when he is scheduled to speak at a technology conference in San Francisco.

Zynga Inc., the maker of "FarmVille," "Mafia Wars" and other games that first became popular on Facebook, appears to face more uncertainty.

The San Francisco company is losing money and players while facing stiff competition as more games are played on mobile devices instead of personal computers. CEO Mark Pincus insists the company will rebound, though many analysts consider Zynga hopelessly adrift. Zynga's shares are now hovering around $3, down from a peak of nearly $16 in early March.

Nonetheless, there are nothing but good vibes emanating from many other technology companies in Silicon Valley and San Francisco.

Even as Zynga employees watch the value of their stock options deflate, the 65 or so workers at Pinterest are settling in to the online scrapbooking service's new San Francisco headquarters just a block away.

Around the same time Facebook went public, Pinterest raised $100 million from investors who valued the company at $1.5 billion, according to several media reports.

Meanwhile, iPhone maker Apple has established itself as the world's most valuable public company - ever. It hit another all-time high Monday as anticipation builds for Wednesday's expected unveiling of the latest iPhone.

"We have completely forgotten the bad days at Apple," says Alfred Chuang, former CEO of software maker BEA Systems and founder of software startup Magnet Systems.

Bankruptcy loomed at Apple in the mid-1990s until exiled co-founder Steve Jobs returned.

Today, Apple boasts a market value of about $630 billion and is riding a wave of culture-shaping innovation that Jobs unleashed with the development of the iPod, iPhone and iPad before he died last year.

Apple's ups and downs are emblematic of Silicon Valley's often-turbulent climate, Chuang says.

"But when we see something heading down fast, the next wave can be heading up very quickly," he says.
Professional networking service LinkedIn, whose IPO preceded Facebook's by a year, has become the best-performing Internet stock to go public since the start of 2011, according to Dealogic, a research firm. LinkedIn is doing so well that it recently signed a lease to expand into Sunnyvale, Calif., offices spanning 560,000 square feet beginning in 2014. The additional space will enable LinkedIn to add about 3,000 more workers in Silicon Valley.

Meanwhile, a slew of unsexy, business-focused tech startups are raising big money from prominent venture capitalists drawn to the companies' stability and predictable business models.

"Facebook is yesterday's story. People are looking at the next thing," says Terry Connelly, dean emeritus at Golden Gate University's Ageno School of Business in San Francisco.

Some of the best examples include Silicon Valley-based software companies Palo Alto Networks Inc., ServiceNow Inc. and Splunk Inc.

All have seen their value grow by more than half since their IPOs this year, even as IPOs of better-known companies such as Facebook proved to be a disappointment.

The difference? Rather than focusing on consumers whose tastes can be finicky and rise and fall with trends, these three court corporations and government agencies as customers. Palo Alto makes firewall technology that protects computer networks, ServiceNow's software automates technology operations and Splunk's analyzes massive amounts of data.

"You can make a lot of money selling stuff that nobody understands," jokes Ben Horowitz, who went through the first Internet boom as an executive at Web browser pioneer Netscape Communications during the late 1990s. He's now a partner at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.

On average, the 60 technology companies that have gone public since the start of 2011 had seen their stock price increase by 11 percent through August, according to Dealogic. That was slightly better than the 9 percent gain posted by the Standard & Poor's 500.

Even companies that have seen their market values grow know they can't afford to slow down.

Splunk's stock price has more than doubled to about $37 since its April IPO, which Chief Marketing Officer Steve Sommer says "makes everyone feel good."

But he says signs posted around the company's San Francisco office remind employees that they are at "mile 3 of the marathon."

"It does feel good to have a successful stock price (to) look at, but everybody is focused on what we can do to get to mile four, five," he says.
---
Michael Liedtke reported from San Francisco.

(from: http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2019116085_apustecgoodtimesinsiliconvalley.html)

The iPhone 5 Technology Rabbit Hole

What could possibly have caused Apple's (AAPL) iPhone 5 to fall fifteen months behind schedule? A slip-up in a recent Apple patent application might provide the answer - and the investment opportunity of a lifetime.
The release of the iPhone 5 was initially expected on Apple's normal release schedule in June of last year. This is ideal timing for optimizing back-to-school sales. After all, students are Apple's largest customer base. But when the kids found themselves back in school without any new Apple gear, some speculated that the company was busy working on some groundbreaking new technology to further set them apart from the competition. And after what seemed like an eternity to the millions of frothing Apple enthusiasts, a new iPhone was finally announced in October. But it wasn't the expected fifth generation model.
Sure, the 4S had an upgraded processor, a retina display and apologists attempted to justify the otherwise unexplained delay on Siri, which was, admittedly, a very impressive feature. When the iPhone 3GS was introduced, everyone learned that Apple is able to command such premium prices because their products are more than just technology - they are fashion. Fewer people are going upgrade if it isn't outwardly apparent that they didn't spend a tidy sum in order to do so. Had Steve and Tim made the same mistake twice while burning up an extra three months in the process?
Due to information disclosed within a seemingly benign patent application and some very under-the-radar deals, it is my opinion that the iPhone 4S was a rushed, stop-gap cover-up for a botched iPhone 5 launch. This realization provokes but one big question: what technology is Apple bringing to market?
And down the hole we go...
Realize that fifteen months behind schedule doesn't just happen for something trivial. Especially in the context of the most valuable corporation on the planet. They have a stable of cash that only Dr. Evil can comprehend. They should be able to buy anything, right? I call US Patent Application 20120185797 to the stand. While the assignee of this patent is not listed, it should be obvious from the content that it is Apple (e.g. - the inventors work for Apple, there is an Apple copyright, several mentions of iPhone, iPad, Mac, etc).
This is a pretty boring patent app with one exception: the mention of "phase change memory" or PCM, a next-generation memory that has the potential to displace flash and DRAM memory types with dramatic power-efficiency. Now, it is important to note that PCM is listed in many of Apple's other patents. But these mentions always been in conjunction with the other leading next-gen memory types (which is a typical patent strategy). In this particular application, it is listed exclusively alongside the traditional memory technology incumbents - RAM, ROM and flash.
If the iPhone 5 uses PCM, then it will have breathtaking processing power with incredible energy efficiency - handheld panacea.
If you are still with me, connecting the dots is not too difficult. Most notably, Apple relies on Samsung in order to fabricate the custom microprocessors that power the iPhone and iPad. It should be no surprise that Samsung is the leader in PCM research, having produced a functional 8 gigabit PCM array on cutting-edge 20 nanometer technology. While Samsung has presented this as simple research, it is my opinion that nobody would invest such a substantial amount into just research. Tying up a brand new 20 nanometer fab cost them a fortune in both direct and opportunity costs. This was to be a commercial part - one that, potentially, was to sit in the core of the iPhone 5.
But something went awry with this part and, thus, the iPhone 5 was delayed. Samsung discussed this 8Gb PCM array at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference last February and the focus was on the need to redesign the chip in order to increase bandwidth. I submit that the engineers had proofed the chip using a larger fab process (say, on an old 45 nanometer fab) and anticipated certain performance after scaling it down to 20 nanometers. When these expectations were not met, they had to go back to the drawing board. And Apple had to scramble to churn out a stop-gap 4S.
What exactly does PCM technology facilitate? Before we can understand the answer to this question, it is important to understand the current technology. Briefly, when your smartphone notifies you of some activity (e.g. - an email, Facebook activity, text message, etc), understand that this notification is provided by way of a running application. When you power-on your phone, applications are copied from flash memory, which lacks the durability and speed to execute applications, to system memory which is provided by DRAM, a memory that is durable and fast but loses its state when power is removed ("volatility").
Realize that, even if you can't see them, these applications are always running in the background in order to provide such notifications or other functionality. Since they need to be in DRAM in order to be running, there is a requisite power consumption associated with any active functionality. This is why battery life decreases as more active applications are installed - a problem that has become the bane of the smartphone industry. Uphill. Both ways. In the snow.
PCM, however, has the non-volatile characteristics of flash memory and the effective speed of DRAM memory. So, once an application is loaded into PCM, it never needs to be loaded again - even after power has been removed from the underlying memory. The application will always be in the state that it was in when it was last executed. So instead of supplying continuous battery power to the Facebook application, for example, PCM allows the phone to simply power-up the underlying memory once or twice a minute so that it can check for new activity. PCM-enabled phones will sip battery instead of guzzle. This is applicable for the operating system as well. After PCM, "booting up" will be a story that we tell to the grandchildren.
The technical types will be quick to point out that PCM bandwidth is not high enough to serve as main memory in a high-performance smartphone application. This issue has been addressed in the form of "hybrid memory", which leverages a small DRAM cache to mitigate the performance penalties of PCM (Side note: what is "hybrid" in the "hybrid memory cube"?).
With eight bits in a byte, the aforementioned 8 gigabit Samsung PCM array works out to a gigabyte which, not surprisingly, coincides with the rumored specification of the iPhone 5. Again, this specification has also puzzled industry analysts because 2GB RAM is the current high-end standard. Just realize that 1GB was the standard 15 months ago.
The hypothesis of a PCM-enabled iPhone is further reinforced by the leaked battery specification, which is fully expected to be entirely insufficient in the face of the power-hungry LTE network requirements.
"Either way, Apple will likely have something up its sleeve if these leaked pictures really are the final battery, as it's tough to imagine the company will launch its first-ever LTE iPhone with poor battery life." -- Brad Reed, bgr.com
Furthermore, to the befuddlement of industry analysts, Toshiba (one of Apple's largest suppliers) recently announced a dramatic cut in flash memory production capacity. Still, the PCM-enabled iPhone idea is certainly a stretch and I will be the first to admit that. But events like this can produce the investment of a lifetime. If the iPhone 5 does show up with PCM, how can one capitalize?
The base PCM technology is owned by a company called Ovonyx, which was established by Intel (INTC), some ex-Micron employees and Energy Conversion Devices (ECD). ECD was put into bankruptcy this past February and the stock has gone dark as of last week. It is my opinion that this bankruptcy was orchestrated with the sole purpose of quietly extracting ECD's 38.6 percent interest in Ovonyx. This transaction was recently completed - Micron purchased the interest for just $12 million.
Ethical (and speculative) rants aside, Micron (MU) is now positioned to capitalize on a hypothetical PCM-enabled iPhone. Even if this speculation proves to be false, the PCM technology is now real and expected to be a foregone conclusion in displacing a broad part of the $70+ billion DRAM and flash markets. IBM, for example, expects PCM to play a role in dramatically reducing the power consumption of data centers.
Intel owns 45 percent of Ovonyx with the remaining 16.4 percent being held by private interests. Because Intel's market cap is much higher, the impact on share price will be less dramatic. I do, however, see Intel acquiring Micron, which owns Intel's old flash memory business Numonyx (not to be confused with Ovonyx) at this point since PCM is the solution to Intel's inability to penetrate the mobile markets. A relationship is already in place - with PCM fruit.
With PCM, your phone can have an Intel processor just like your laptop or desktop. And so it can run the same operating system. Your PC will always be with you - in your pocket or purse. When you go home, a wireless monitor, keyboard, mouse and speakers will allow you to use it as a regular PC (or Mac, which also leverage Intel processors).
This is a fundamental shift in the way that we use computing. Disruptive.


(from: http://seekingalpha.com/article/858041-the-iphone-5-technology-rabbit-hole)

Technology Stocks With Record Dividends Send Bearish Signal

U.S. technology companies have pushed their dividends to the highest level on record, a signal to investors that profit growth in the industry is slowing. 

Computer and software makers, the biggest contributors to this year’s 14 percent rally in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, will pay out $45.10 in total dividends per share in the next 12 months, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Technology companies that started or raised dividends in 2012 have climbed 1.3 percent on average since the announcement, compared with gains of 15 percent for those that didn’t increase payouts.

While bulls say bigger dividends are a sign of confidence after 11 straight quarters of rising earnings in the industry left companies with ample funds to compensate shareholders, bears say boosting payouts shows chief executive officers are running out of ways to use their cash. Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), which started returning cash to shareholders in March 2003, has increased 31 percent since then, compared with 73 percent for the S&P 500.

“The signal that they are sending to the shareholders is, ‘look, growth prospects just aren’t there,’” Malcolm Polley, who manages $1.1 billion as chief investment officer at Stewart Capital in Indiana, Pennsylvania, said by phone Sept. 5. “Those companies that are paying dividends and increasing dividends, they used to be businesses that were fast growing, they needed every dime of cash flow to reinvest in the business, but these are by and large very mature businesses now.”

Central Banks

The S&P 500 rallied to the highest level since 2008 last week, climbing 2.2 percent to 1,437.92 after the European Central Bank said it would buy bonds to ease the sovereign debt crisis. Technology shares rose 2.1 percent, extending their 2012 gain to 22 percent, the most of the 10 industries in the S&P 500. (SPX) Futures on the S&P 500 declined 0.2 percent at 8:27 a.m. in London today.

Apple Inc., Dell Inc. (DELL) and SAIC Inc. (SAI) are among the 13 companies in the S&P 500 that have initiated a quarterly payout this year, according to data from S&P. Dell dropped (DELL) 11 percent and SAIC slumped 6.9 percent since announcing the decision, while Apple is up 13 percent.

Technology companies still have the lowest dividends among S&P 500 groups, at 1.1 percent of share prices, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The S&P 500 yields 2.1 percent.

Intel Forecasts

Intel, which cut its third-quarter sales forecast last week on falling demand for personal computers, has increased its dividend three times in the past 18 months. The world’s largest semiconductor maker, based in Santa Clara, California, has raised the award to 22.5 cents a share in May and the shares have retreated 13 percent since then.

Dell said in June that it would start to pay dividends (DELL) and has reported three consecutive quarters of declining earnings.

While investors expect utilities, phone companies and pharmaceutical makers to pay dividends, the technology industry has traditionally been different, using excess cash to fund research, development and acquisitions that would drive up profits faster than in more mature sectors of the economy.

Telecommunication stocks pay the most, with a yield of 4.5 percent, and utilities are the next-highest at 4 percent. Five of the eight S&P 500 phone stocks pay a dividend, with Windstream Corp. (WIN), based in Little Rock, Arkansas, yielding 9.9 percent.

‘Solid Companies’

“If we’re talking about growth technology stocks, paying out a dividend probably isn’t a good thing,” Timothy Ghriskey, the chief investment officer at Solaris Group LLC, which manages about $2 billion, said in a phone interview from Bedford Hills, New York. Now, they are “good companies, solid companies, but they don’t have the same growth profile generally as a non- dividend payer,” he said.

Earnings growth among computer companies is forecast to slow for the next two years. Profits may increase 18 percent in 2012, 14 percent in 2013 and 12 percent in 2014, according to about 1,600 analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

New dividends have historically preceded weaker stock performance. In the last decade, computer companies that started the programs rose 2.2 percent on average in the three months after the announcement, Bloomberg data show. That compares with an average 5.7 percent three-month gain for stocks in the industry that haven’t made a payout.

(from: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-09-09/tech-stocks-with-record-dividends-send-bear-signal-for-investors)

Attention on iPhone as holiday lineups unveiled

NEW YORK —
Attention is turning to Apple this week amid expectations that it's announcing a new iPhone.

Amazon, Nokia and Motorola all tried to generate interest in their products last week, hoping that a head start on the buzz will translate into stronger sales.

Amazon announced four new Kindle Fire models and a new line of stand-alone e-readers, while Nokia and Motorola unveiled five new smartphones between them. Makers of consumer electronics are refreshing their products for the holiday shopping season.

Nokia and Microsoft, in particular, are trying to generate interest in a new Windows operating system out next month. The two phones announced by Nokia are among the first to run Windows Phone 8.

Sales of Apple's iPhones are still strong, though the company lost the lead in smartphones to Samsung this year. Samsung Electronics Co. benefited from having its Galaxy S III out in the U.S. in June, while Apple was still selling an iPhone model released last October. A new iPhone is expected as early as this month, allowing Apple to recapture the attention and the revenue.

Apple dominates the market for tablet computers. Seven out of every 10 tablets shipped in the second quarter were iPads, according to research firm IHS iSuppli.

Rivals have been trying to compete with smaller, cheaper models - such as Amazon's Kindle Fire. New models from Amazon include ones with screens nearly as large as the iPad's, while there's speculation that Apple will be coming out with a smaller iPad.

Here's a look at what to expect in the coming months:

- NEW IPHONE

Apple Inc. has come out with a new iPhone each year, and that's likely to continue. The new model is expected to work with fourth-generation, or 4G, cellular networks that phone companies have been building. That capability is something the S III and many other iPhone rivals already have. A bigger iPhone screen is also possible.

Apple will host an event in San Francisco on Wednesday. The topic wasn't disclosed, but the email invitation contains a shadow in the shape of a "5" - a sign that the iPhone 5 is coming. Sales usually begin a week or two after such an announcement.

One thing is known: Apple plans to update its phone software this fall and will ditch Google's mapping service for its own, as a rivalry between the two companies intensifies.

- SMALLER IPAD

Apple has done well selling its full-sized tablet computer, which has a screen that measures nearly 10 inches diagonally. Many companies have tried to come out with iPad alternatives, but the ones that have had moderate success have tended to be those with smaller, 7-inch screens and lower price tags.

There's speculation that Apple will come out with a mini iPad this fall - possibly with a 7.85-inch screen - to compete with those competitors. It's not as much a certainty as a new iPhone, though. Apple hasn't said anything about its plans.

- REKINDLING THE FIRE

Amazon.com Inc.'s 7-inch Kindle Fire is one of the smaller tablets with decent sales. On Friday, it will sell an updated version with a faster processor, more memory and longer battery life. It will also cut the price to $159, from $199, making it far cheaper than the iPad, which starts at $399 for the 2011 version still on sale. (The most recent ones start at $499.)

Amazon is also releasing higher-end models under the Kindle Fire HD line. A 7-inch one will go for $199, while an 8.9-inch one will go for $299. There's also a $499 model that can use the 4G cellular networks that phone companies have been building. A data plan will cost an extra $50 a year. The smaller HD model will start shipping Friday, while the larger ones will be available Nov. 20.

Amazon also refreshed its line of stand-alone e-readers, offering the Paperwhite, with its own light source. Tablets such as the iPad and the Fire don't work as well in bright light because they are lit from the back. Amazon says the light on the Paperwhite is directed down at the display.

Barnes and Noble Inc., which makes the 7-inch Nook Tablet, may have an update this fall as well.

Toys R Us, meanwhile, said Monday that it is making a 7-inch tablet aimed at children. The Tabeo will go on sale Oct. 21 for $149.99.

- MOTOROLA'S RETURN

Though it's a pioneer in the cellphone industry, Motorola hasn't had a hit since the Razr phone came out in 2004. Under new owner Google Inc., Motorola Mobility is trying to change that.

Last week, Motorola announced three new smartphones bearing the Razr name. The $99 Droid Razr M will be in Verizon Wireless stores this Thursday, the day after Apple's announcement.

Motorola will have two high-end models, the Razr HD and Razr Maxx HD, later this year. It's emphasizing long battery life - up to 21 hours of talk time for the Maxx HD, or 10 hours of video streaming.

These are the first major products from Motorola since Google bought the company for $12.4 billion in May. Google, meanwhile, continues to sell a 7-inch Android tablet, the Nexus 7, made in partnership with AsusTek Computer Inc.

- CALLING ON WINDOWS

Microsoft Corp. will release a new version of the Windows operating system on Oct. 26, one that's designed to work on both traditional computers and tablet devices. A new version of the Windows Phone system is coming out, too.

Once-dominant phone maker Nokia Corp. has been struggling in the shadow of Apple and Android, and it's counting on the new Windows system for a revival. Last week, Nokia and Microsoft unveiled two new devices under Nokia's Lumia brand - the 820 and the 920.

Nokia CEO Stephen Elop says the new phones will go on sale in the fourth quarter in "select markets." He didn't say what they would cost or which U.S. carriers would have them. Investors were disappointed, and Nokia's stock fell 16 percent on the day of the announcement.

Samsung, which surpassed Nokia as the world's largest maker of mobile phones in 2011 and overtook Apple in smartphones this year, showed off a Windows 8 phone late last month. It didn't announce an availability date either.

- SURFACE

Microsoft plans its own tablet computer, too. It's new territory for Microsoft, which typically leaves it to others to make devices using its software. Now, it will be competing against its partners.

The Surface tablet will come in two versions, both with 10.6-inch screens, slightly larger than the iPad's. One model will run on phone-style chips, just like the iPad, and will be sold for a similar price. A heavier, more expensive version will run on Intel chips and be capable of running standard Windows applications. The Surface will go on sale on Oct. 26.

- NEW BLACKBERRYS

A year ago Research In Motion Ltd. disclosed that it was working on a next-generation phone system for the BlackBerry, which now looks ancient next to the iPhone and Android devices. It was supposed to be out in time for this year's holiday season. That won't happen.

In June RIM pushed the release of BlackBerry 10 devices into early next year, saying it wasn't ready. That means RIM will not only compete with the new iPhone and Android devices out this fall, but it will also have to contend with the new Windows devices.

(from: http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2019116322_apustecholidaygadgets.html)

Pinch technology, pay the price

It is yet to be seen whether Apple's ‘thermonuclear' war will lead to a nuclear winter for the world of technology or it will herald a new urgency in technological development. The consequences of this case will impact every single consumer

A jury in a California court recently sided with Apple in a patent case versus Samsung. This, most analysts agreed, was a huge victory for Apple. Not only was it awarded a billion dollars, it was also found that several devices by the South Korean manufacturer infringed on various Apple patents, for both hardware and software. While the endgame of the court victory still has to be played out, and courts in other countries have ruled quite differently, this decision by a jury of nine people will have a profound impact on the world of consumer technology.

Apple did not invent the mobile phone (or the smartphone for that matter), nor did it invent the tablet computer. What it did do was to make using such devices incredibly easy. Apple also made them very good-looking and marketed them to make them objects of desire, even lust. In the process of creating such devices, Apple filed a whole host of patents to protect themselves from any infringement.

In one of the most widely quoted passages from Walter Issacson’s biography of Apple founder and its former Chief Executive Steve Jobs, it is said that Jobs was willing to spend each penny of Apple’s not inconsiderable cash hoard to go ‘thermonuclear’ on Google’s Android operating system. It was believed that Jobs looked at Google’s creation of Android as a breach of trust, particularly after he took Google’s founder Larry Page and Sergey Brin under his wing and Google’s Chairman and former Chief Executive Eric Schmidt sat on the Apple board.

The legal battle with Samsung, which ironically is one of Apple’s largest suppliers, was widely seen as part of the huge proxy war that Apple is having with Google. Everything from product design to the user-interface of devices was challenged. And when Apple won, Samsung sent out a terse note saying that the defeat was a defeat for ‘consumers’. Which brings us to a simple crux, the patent system.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office which issues the largest number of patents of any patent office in the world is widely seen as an organisation that protects the rights of innovators. The USPTO has played a clear role in America’s massive technological and industrial domination of global affairs. But can a system, essentially designed for the late-eighteenth century continue to be valid today?

It is not as if patent laws have not changed. Controversially, process patents have been allowed and even though the system does allow for licensing, there has also been the issue of patent trolls. Patent trolls are companies that do not make any tangible product; they just own a patent and file lawsuits ostensibly to force product manufacturers that breach patents to pay up for using a patented product. The patent laws have also allowed companies to patent ‘plant’ products which have often brought controversy as companies have tried to patent traditional plants and medicines.

But this issue is not about the rights and wrongs of that. A comprehensive updating of patent laws is required not just in the United States but across the whole world including India. Intellectual Property Rights cases are clogging legal systems across the world, although these include not just patent violations in the technology sphere but also in the medical and entertainment worlds.

In a world where technology evolution has reached breakneck speed, the term of patent protection of twenty years is proving to be a hindrance to technology evolution. The granting of some patents which some people see as obvious and other do not can lead to such issues. One such patent is that granted to Apple, which allowed the US company to claim a patent on rectangular devices with ‘rounded corners’.

Was this abuse or was the company simply trying its luck with the patent office, remains to be seen. But patents like these neither protect innovation nor do they foster competition. Apple did highlight during the case that it is not impossible to create a differentiated device or operating system, and gave Microsoft’s Windows Phone devices as an example. So while it is not impossible to innovate ‘around’ patents and license those that are needed, sometimes the patent system shoots itself in the foot.

Any review of the patent system has to ensure that patent protection terms are reduced. Half a century ago, product lifecycles lasted decades. However, a mobile phone would be fortunate to be used for over two years, lest the user be considered a technological dinosaur. In less than five years, most consumers have moved on from cathode-ray tube based televisions to smaller, slimmer flat panel displays. In the current system, the person who patents the technology that will allow for holographic three-dimensional phone calls will make a killing.

There is no doubt that innovation ought to be protected, but the very definition of innovation is being twisted by the patent system. Some aspects of Android and Samsung’s devices could easily be seen to have violated Apple’s intellectual rights, others less so. But the jury decided that they did, and while we have not heard the last of this case as it is expected to go up to the US Supreme Court, be sure that whatever decision they take will be as vital as a case they decided in November 2000 that controversially upheld the election of George W Bush in the US state of Florida thus handing him the US presidential election.

It might take a while yet, but the nine justices on the US Supreme Court might eventually decide whether Apple’s ‘thermonuclear’ war will lead to a nuclear winter for the technology world or it will herald a new urgency in technological development akin to what happened in Japan and West Germany after World War II.

Like it or not, the consequences of this case will impact every single consumer, no matter which tech brand or brands they purchase.

(from: http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnists/item/52430-pinch-technology-pay-the-price.html)

Underground Julian Assange Video

This is a video for my preview post (http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5655538823056527037#editor/target=post;postID=7347661118536554281;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=0;src=postname)

Underground Brings Drama to Julian Assange’s Teenage Hacker Days

Long before Julian Assange was known as the founder of WikiLeaks, he was a teenage hacktivist known by the handle Mendax. The new film Underground looks to expose that side of Assange, even as the media attention around the founder continues to reach epic proportions.

Underground, which premieres Saturday at the Toronto International Film Festival and will air on Australia’s Network Ten later this year, is a study in how Assange became Assange. Based on Suelette Dreyfus’ 1997 book of same name, the film traces how a Melbourne teenager became a member of the hacker group International Subversives in the late 1980s and first appeared on the radar of authorities all over the world.

“There was this joke when we were working on the script that our story was like a origin story of a superhero in a way that the hero realizes that they have superpowers, but have yet to realize they can save the world with them,” director Robert Connolly, who also wrote the script, told Wired. “We were looking at the idea that here was a young man who was incredibly gifted. Where and why did he transition into a man who devoted his life to WikiLeaks?”

‘We were looking at the idea that here was a young man who was incredibly gifted. Where and why did he transition into a man who devoted his life to WikiLeaks?’

— director Robert Connolly

 

The film, which stars Without a Trace’s Anthony LaPaglia as a detective investigating Assange and newcomer Alex Williams as the man himself, is coming at just the right moment in time. The WikiLeaks founder is currently holed up in Ecuador’s embassy in London, trying to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faces questioning over alleged sex crimes and fears he will be sent to the United States, where he could face charges over WikiLeaks’s publication of classified U.S. diplomatic cables.

His life as an international data-dumper has been chronicled in more than a few documentaries and TV specials. At least one more from Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney could be coming, and both Dreamworks and producers Barry Josephson and Michelle Krumm are hustling to adapt books about Assange.

Connolly’s is the first narrative drama about Assange to hit the big screen.

“I think there’s a lot of people talking and projects in development and a lot of books optioned, [but] it’s exciting to be the first dramatic exploration of the man,” Connolly said from Toronto.

The chance to take liberties with Assange’s story — Dreyfus consulted on the script, but the WikiLeaks founder was never involved — gave Connolly some freedom. But although he could hypothesize about what happened between the hacker and his International Subversives brethren, “the young Julian Assange did not steal anything when he was hacking,” Connolly said, “I can’t change that.”

Underground delves deep into the influences that would lead the young hacker to eventually found Wikileaks, and explores the life of a man chased by authorities even before he was out of his teens. One of those things is his relationship with his mother Christine Assange (played by Six Feet Under’s Rachel Griffiths), who saw his brilliance and bought him a Commodore 64 and, in the film, goes to great lengths to protect her son. The other was the time period in which he grew up and became politically aware — after the fall of the Berlin Wall, on the verge of the first Gulf War, and before anyone knew the term “dot-com.”

To play the teenage Assange, Connolly had to find an actor from a generation that doesn’t remember the time before the Web. Williams, who plays the young hacker, was born a year after the events in film. The Perth native was discovered by Connolly’s wife and casting director Jane Norris, who picked him from the recent graduates of the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts. Considering Williams’ similarities to Assange, it might seem that he was lucky to look the way he did when he did, according to Connolly, “[my wife] said, ‘He’s not lucky, we’re lucky to have found him.’”

Although the actor studied quite a bit of video of his fellow countryman Assange to nail his character, he didn’t go too far and kept in mind the Assange of today is probably not so much like his teenage counterpart. He did, however, have to learn what a Commodore 64 is and how to operate it.

“I had never seen one of those before in my life!” Williams told Wired. “Here’s me sitting on my iPhone and you go back and you see the evolution of it and where it all comes from and the people who were pioneers in creating hacking and programming and its such a cool culture.”

Williams is also in the position of being the first actor to portray the WikiLeaks founder – if you don’t count Bill Hader’s imitations of him on Saturday Night Live. Regardless of what happens with Assange’s extradition, he’s still a lightning-rod figure. Is Williams worried about being typecast as an online whistleblower forever? Not really.

“To me it’s just a great character, whether he’s in the press or not,” Williams said. “I’m not too worried about being labeled, or being hunted by the U.S.”

Underground premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival on Saturday.

WATCH THIS VIDEO ON THE NEXT POST

(from: http://www.wired.com/underwire/2012/09/underground-julian-assange-movie/)