Richard's Kingdom

Credit-card companies claim their 3D-Secure system – branded as Verified by Visa and Mastercard SecureCode – provides an extra layer of security against online fraud. Back in November I suggested that, rather than protecting consumers, the extra security appears to benefit banks and merchants by pushing fraud liability onto card-holders.
Now Ross Anderson and Steven Murdoch, [...]

I’m excited to announce that the Open Rights Group, in association with the GIST foundation, is hosting a free unconference and workshop on the Digital Economy Bill in Sheffield this month:

Date:
Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Time:
13:30 – 21:00

Location:
The Showroom Café Bar, Paternoster Row, Sheffield, S1 2BX

The Digital Economy Bill will affect you:

If your home Internet-connection contract is [...]

Dear Lords and Ladies of the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee
I’m writing to ask you to represent the voice of UK citizens during the passage through the House of Lords of the Government’s Digital Economy Bill.
I am deeply concerned by the measures this Bill would introduce, and given that my MP seems unwilling [...]

Back in April I wrote about problems with the credit-industry password scheme Verified by Visa. At the time I compared it to so-called phishing scams – fraud committed by tricking unwary email users into handing over their passwords, bank account details or credit-card numbers, then ordering goods or transfering cash from their accounts.
It turns out [...]

Microsoft have this week demonstrated the dangers of buying into DRM-crippled systems by announcing that their unloved software PlaysForSure (oh the irony) will be switched off on 31 August. After this date, content encumbered by the system will still play, but it will become locked to a single computer or device. You will no longer [...]