Skyway Recommended Reading to December 31st

New Year Reading!: Can Gov gets new surveillance powers on Networks; 2015 Security predictions not pretty; Obama: Sony did the wrong thing; new Cdn Wireless Auction; Rogers tries to block Bell Acquisition; Google going through rough patch

 

Toronto Star, Michael Geist | Canadian Government documents reveal telecom providers envision surveillance-ready networks

After years of failed bills, public debate and considerable controversy, lawful access legislation received royal assent. Bill C-13 lumped together measures designed to combat cyberbullying with a series of new warrants to enhance police investigative powers, generating criticism from the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, civil liberties groups and some prominent victims rights advocates. They argued that the government should have created cyberbullying safeguards without sacrificing privacy. Read More…

ZD Net | 2015 security predictions: IoT attacks to join cloud breaches and ransomware

2014 has been a bad year when it comes to security, with hackers focusing their attention high-profile targets ranging from Apple to Sony. But security headaches look set to continue in 2015, with hackers going after targets both old and new. Read More…

USA Today | Obama: Sony did the wrong thing when it pulled movie

Sony did the wrong thing when it backed down and pulled The Interview in the face of North Korean hacker threats, President Obama said at a news conference. “I wish they had spoken to me first,” he said. “I would have told them do not get into a pattern in which you’re intimidated by these kinds of criminal attacks. Read More…

Government of Canada | Industry Minister announces auction of Advanced Wireless Services-3 (AWS-3) spectrum beginning March 3/15

Business in Vancouver | Rogers Attempts to block Bell’s acquisition of Glentel

Rogers Communication (TSX:RCI.B) is attempting to block BCE Inc.’s (TSX:BCE) acquisition of Burnaby-based Glentel. The deal was announced on November 28 and is worth $670 million, including debt. Glentel is a phone retailer with over 1,400 outlets in Canada, the U.S., Australia and the Philippines. Many of those stores and kiosks are branded Wireless Wave or Tbooth Wireless. Read More…

Business Insider | Google is going through a rough transition from desktop to mobile search

In a research note, JPMorgan’s Doug Anmuth lowered estimates for Google’s revenues, citing concerns with “the transition from desktop to mobile search, continued margin compression, and increasing competition from Facebook.” Shortly after the note went out, Google stock hit a 52-week low.

That was not a huge surprise. This has been a year of major change for Google, and it hasn’t always been pretty. Read More…