Iran briefly opens up social media

17 September 2013 Last updated at 11:46 ET

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BBC World looks at how Iranians reacted

Direct access to Facebook and Twitter was briefly restored in Iran on Monday evening.

The social media sites have been blocked since 2009 after they were used to organise protests.

On Monday the block was briefly lifted for some Iranians - but the authorities blamed "technical problems", stressing the official policy had not changed.

The hitch comes as US trade sanctions force the closure of an Iranian opposition leader's website.

Trade block

Late on Monday, Western journalists working in Iran reported that they had suddenly gained direct access to Twitter and Facebook.

Thomas Erdbrink, Tehran bureau chief for the New York Times, sent several tweets via his mobile phone without the need to go via a proxy that circumvents official blocks.

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Siavash Ardalan BBC Persian

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The jubilation of Iran's social media users was tempered by speculation that the temporary Facebook and Twitter comeback was a ploy to identify users or just test the waters.

Many Iranians have learned not to be over-optimistic about overnight reforms, be it political freedoms, human rights, foreign policy or internet access.

Iran's new government is promoting internet freedom. They have a tough job as those in charge of the country's widespread filtering mechanism do not take orders from President Hassan Rouhani.

Hardliners have good reason to be wary of allowing full internet access to information and entertainment to a young, freedom-craving population. The security implications of doing so can become an unmanageable challenge - and an unnecessary one as far as the real decision-makers are concerned.

Most Iranians who want to use social media have typically used proxies or other special software to get around the government imposed firewall.

Iranians reacted with cautious optimism when they realised Facebook and Twitter were freely accessible.

"If it is true, I think they have to register today in calendar as a day of Free Filtering," user Abbas Farokhi told BBC Persian.

Another, Benyamin HM, said: "Do not get over excited, it has happened because of some technical problems. It will be filtered again and we have to use proxy."

Initially it was thought the block was being lifted for everyone in Iran, signalling the start of a more tolerant attitude towards social media by the government.

In recent weeks some Iranian government officials and ministers have signed up for accounts on Facebook and Twitter.

This led to confusion earlier this month over whether President Hassan Rouhani had tweeted "Happy Rosh Hashana" to Iran's Jewish community. A message came from a Twitter account thought to belong to Mr Rouhani, but officials later said he did not have any such account.

Early on Tuesday Reuters reported that official policy had not changed and "technical faults" had mistakenly led to the restrictions being lifted.

It quoted Abdolsamad Khoramabadi, who heads the committee that oversees Iran's net filters, as saying it was looking into the hitch.

"We are investigating to see which of these companies has done this," he said.

At the same time, the website of Iranian opposition politician Mehdi Karoubi has been shut down by the Just Host service at the request of the US Treasury Department.

Sanctions restrict what services US companies can supply to Iranians and this extends to hosting websites that use the country's .ir domain suffix.

An aide for Mr Karoubi said the action by the US was "frustrating".

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Music site chatbot wins AI contest

16 September 2013 Last updated at 07:21 ET By Mark Ward Technology correspondent, BBC News

A chatbot called Mitsuku has won an annual contest to see if computers can convincingly imitate humans.

The chatbot took top prize in the Loebner contest that puts the artificially intelligent programs through their paces.

The contest involves the programs trying to convince judges they are human by answering questions put to them via an instant message system.

Briton Steve Worswick who wrote Mitsuku won $4,000 (£2,500) for his creation.

World knowledge

Created by US businessman Hugh Loebner, the annual competition is an attempt to stage a real-world test of a question posed by mathematician Alan Turing in the 1950s.

Turing suggested that if the responses a computer gave to a series of questions were as convincing as those from a human it could reasonably be said to be thinking.

Mr Loebner has offered a prize of $100,000 (£62,000) for the computer program that meets Turing's standard for artificial intelligence but in the 22 years the competition has been running that cash has gone unclaimed.

The four finalists in the 2013 contest went through a series of rounds which saw them chat via text with the competition judges. After four rounds of questioning the Mitsuku chatbot was declared to be the most convincing.

Mr Worswick said he started programming chatbots as a way to engage visitors to a website that showcased his dance music.

The first iteration of his home-grown chatbot was a teddy bear, he told the BBC.

"Eventually I found that visitors were wanting to talk to the teddy bear rather than listen to the music," he said.

His work on chatbots got a bigger boost in 2004 when he was commissioned by a games company to write one called Mitsuku. This also lived on a website and the many conversations it has had with visitors has helped Mr Worswick refine its conversational abilities.

That helped during the final, he said, because some of the questions the chatbots get asked are designed to catch them out.

Tricky questions include: "How many plums can I fit in a shoe?" and "Which is bigger, a big lion or a small mountain?"

Answering those involves writing a program that does much more than just grab canned responses from a long list of possible answers, said Mr Worswick.

"The difficulty is trying to teach these things about the world because they have no sensory input," he said. Mitsuku has been built upon the Pandora bot pen source chatbot code and tools.

Although he has entered the Loebner contest before, 2013 was the first year he made it to the final. Winning, he said, was a big surprise.

"I was thinking I'd use this year as a learning experience to prepare for a win next year. I thought I'd probably come second or third," he said. "Winning is a dream come true."

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Netflix studies piracy downloads

16 September 2013 Last updated at 08:30 ET By Leo Kelion Technology reporter

Netflix has revealed that it tracks piracy sites to help decide which TV series and films it should add to its online streaming service.

The US firm gave Prison Break as an example of one programme it had bought as a consequence of using the strategy.

Media companies have traditionally seen copyright infringement as a threat to their business.

However, some programme-makers acknowledge there can be benefits.

Netflix's vice president of content acquisition disclosed its use of the technique to Tweakers, a Dutch news site covering the firm's launch in the Netherlands.

"With the purchase of series, we look at what does well on piracy sites," said Kelly Merryman.

"Prison Break is exceptionally popular on piracy sites.

"But there are many programmes that we will not buy, such as The Voice. Such live programmes are better suited for live TV."

Netflix's chief executive, Reed Hastings, had previously told the site that he believed his video-on-demand product might discourage people from using BitTorrent piracy sites because it was easier to use.

However, he admitted that it would not dissuade everyone.

"In Canada BitTorrent is down by 50% since Netflix launched three years ago," he said. "But there's still a lot of people who torrent."

Word of mouth

The comments come a fortnight after the creator of the US series Breaking Bad said that piracy had helped his show survive, allowing it to find an audience after "very low viewership" of legal broadcasts of its first episodes.

"Piracy is certainly a double-edged sword," Vince Gilligan told entertainment news site Digital Spy.

"It does disincentivise companies from making their products if they feel they can't earn an honest living off of them, but on the other hand there was an upside to the piracy, because it got the word out in regards to Breaking Bad."

The chief executive of US media firm Time Warner also recently signalled that piracy may have worked in the favour of its HBO show, Game of Thrones.

"It's a tremendous word-of-mouth thing," he said in answer to a question about the subject by a bank analyst.

"Basically we've been dealing with this issue for years at HBO, where, literally... people have always been running wires down the back of apartment buildings and sharing with their neighbours.

"Our experience is, it all leads to more penetration, more paying [subscriptions] and more health for HBO, less reliance on having to do paid advertising.

"I think you're right, that Game of Thrones is the most pirated show in the world. Now that's better than an Emmy."

However, not everyone is so relaxed about the idea.

"Seemingly innocent viewing of TV shows via pirate websites can have consequences," Eddy Leviten, a spokesman for the Federation Against Copyright Theft (Fact) told the BBC.

"The more people who watch via illegal means, the less likely it is for a UK broadcaster to buy the show which in turn reduces the revenues for the programme makers.

"This makes it harder to justify further investment in exciting new shows or the next series of hit shows and will ultimately reduce the choice available to viewers worldwide."

Emmy Awards

Netflix itself has begun to invest in its own original content.

On Sunday it won two Emmy awards for its political thriller House of Cards - Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series and Outstanding Cinematography for a Single Camera Series.

It was the first time the US Academy of Television Arts and Sciences had given an online series such a prize.

The programme has also been nominated for further Emmys to be announced at an award ceremony on 22 September.

Netflix has previously said it had taken measures to combat piracy of the show.

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Grand Theft Auto 5 embargo broken

16 September 2013 Last updated at 12:48 ET

Amazon.co.uk has delivered copies of the eagerly awaited Grand Theft Auto 5 (GTA5) video game ahead of the official launch on Tuesday, breaching a strict embargo set by its maker.

Some customers who had pre-ordered the title received it days before the launch day.

Rockstar North, the title's Scottish creator, is reportedly investigating but has yet to comment publicly.

Amazon said only "a small number" of customers had been affected.

"We have established processes in place to deliver new titles to customers on their release date and are looking into the circumstances that led to a small number of customers receiving this game earlier than intended on this occasion", an Amazon spokesman told the BBC.

Will Guyatt, spokesman for video and entertainment site IGN.com, told the BBC: "I got an early copy on Saturday, which I paid for myself, and was delighted on a personal level. But it's obviously going to cause problems for Rockstar.

"There are about 2,000 shops stocking the game ready for launch on Tuesday, so the number of people posting spoilers online is a bit sad", he said.

Mr Guyatt said he had ordered his copy of the 18-rated violent crime game in March, but others in his office who had ordered it at a later date had not yet received their copies.

"This kind of thing has always happened in the games industry, but with the rise of social media a lot more people know about it now", Mr Guyatt said.

"I can't see what Rockstar can do about it."

Some retailers, such as Cex, have been selling pre-release copies of the game for up to £75, the BBC has learned, nearly double what other stores are planning to charge.

One Cex employee confirmed that there were 13 copies of the game available in a north London outlet, and 25 available in an east London store.

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Flashback: How Rory Cellan-Jones reported the first GTA game in May 1996

This is not the first pre-launch leak the games maker has had to cope with.

In August, Sony apologised to Rockstar after audio from the forthcoming title was leaked online.

Customers who had pre-ordered the game were allowed to download a "locked" version, but some were able to extract audio that revealed some of the plot lines.

The latest version of the best-selling video game succeeds version 4, first released in 2008, with all the titles in the series selling more than 135 million copies.

A report in the Scotsman newspaper suggests the development costs for GTA5 could be in the region of £170m ($265m; 203m euros), making it one of the most expensive video games ever made.

The report anticipates that GTA5 could rake in £1bn in sales over its lifetime.

Such speculation has helped push the share price of Rockstar's US owner, Take-Two Interactive Software, up by 65% over the past year.

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Tube cleaners oppose finger scans

16 September 2013 Last updated at 13:58 ET

London Underground cleaners are protesting against the introduction of fingerprint recognition machines.

On Thursday, hundreds of workers plan to refuse to cooperate with the clocking-in system after 98% of those who voted in a ballot opted for the action, said the RMT union.

The technology infringed their rights, the union added.

The cleaners - who are employed by Danish firm ISS UK - will continue to sign in manually and by phone.

"We believe this technology infringes on staff civil liberties and the overwhelming vote in favour of action shows our members' strength of feeling on this issue," said Bob Crow, RMT's general secretary.

But Adam Wurf, communications director for ISS UK told the BBC: "With this technology we will be able to guarantee that the member of staff is who they say they are.

"We don't think this is draconian or an infringement of civil liberties; it's about making sure we have the right people - verified and trained - in the right place at the right time."

The row about biometrics - technology that uses unique human features to identify an individual - coincides with the launch of Apple's latest iPhone, which incorporates a fingerprint recognition button.

While fingerprint technology has been around for several years, particularly in PCs designed for business-users, there have been concerns about its reliability.

Some cryptographers have been able to create "spoof" fingerprints using the gelatine found in sweets. Apple aims to avoid this pitfall by scanning "sub-epidermal skin layers".

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UK to test emergency mobile alerts

16 September 2013 Last updated at 19:00 ET By Joe Miller BBC News

A system that sends emergency alerts to mobile phones within areas affected by flooding, industrial accidents or other local risks is to be tested in the UK.

Government pilots in Easingwold, in North Yorkshire, Leiston, in Suffolk, and Glasgow city centre will evaluate how the public react to the alerts.

Up to 50,000 people will receive messages marked as a test this autumn.

The US, the Netherlands and Australia use a similar system, but one expert said it could be targeted by hackers.

The Cabinet Office, which announced the trials, said it was working with mobile phone operators O2, Vodafone and EE to conduct the experiment.

The tests will start later this month and continue into October and November.

Those sent the texts will be asked to provide feedback, and will also be encouraged to attend local focus groups. A report is expected in early 2014, after which ministers will decide whether to deploy the scheme.

Cabinet Office minister Chloe Smith told the BBC that the system, if put in place, would be used only in times of "genuine emergency".

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

Spoofability will go through the roof if they use 'plain Jane' text messages"

End Quote Chester Wisniewski Senior advisor at data security firm Sophos

The trials come after the Strategic Defence and Security Review in 2010 set out the government's commitment to "evaluate options for an improved public alert system".

Security concerns

The trial will test two distinct methods of delivering emergency alerts to mobile phones.

The first uses traditional SMS, or text messaging, while the second uses cell broadcast (CB) technology, which operates on a dedicated network, not used for calls or texts.

While cell broadcast messages can only be sent by mobile operators and look slightly different to a conventional SMS, text messages can be sent by anyone - which means alerts could be impersonated.

"Spoofability will go through the roof if they use 'plain Jane' text messages," said Chester Wisniewski, senior advisor at data security firm Sophos.

"Anything that carries the gravitas of a national alerts system will be a target for hackers.

"They are opening themselves up to vulnerabilities."

Reacting to these claims, Ms Smith told the BBC that authorities "will be vigilant for any sign of abuse in the trial".

She also assured that the mobile alerts would work alongside existing services, allowing members of the public to verify messages with other sources.

US successes

Mobile alert systems have already been used in several countries to alert people about disappearances, prison escapes, wanted vehicles.

Places which are prone to more serious natural disasters, such as Japan and Chile, are also implementing versions of the technology.

Californian Highway Patrol officials used the mobile alerts for the first time in the state one evening in August after two children went missing. Many people complained after they were woken by their phones buzzing and beeping.

However, there was more positive feedback a few weeks later when a 17-month-old missing toddler was reunited with her family in North Carolina after a message was sent to mobile phones in the area.

The Cabinet Office is proposing that the technology will only be used in the UK if there is a distinct threat to life or property.

These scenarios are detailed in the National Risk Register, which include severe weather, pandemics and attacks on critical infrastructure.

Emergency mobile alerts methods
SMS (text messages)	Cell broadcast (CB)
Requires specific phone numbers	Broadcasts to all mobile phones in a specific area
Can be slowed by network congestion	Always available, as network is not used for other messages
Anyone can send, hence difficult for users to verify	Only mobile operators can send
Cannot be barred by users, unless they choose not to receive general text messages	Needs to be turned on - usually handset's default setting - for message to be received

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Silver surfer 'north-south split'

16 September 2013 Last updated at 21:01 ET

There is a "concerning" north-south divide in the number of over-65s in England, so-called silver surfers, who use the internet, a charity has said.

Age UK said Surrey's older people were more than twice as likely to have web access as those in Tyne and Wear.

The charity also said poorer people, those living alone and those in relatively poor health were least likely to access internet services.

Age UK used data from the Understanding Society study of 40,000 UK households.

The charity analysed responses, which are collected annually, from more than 5,000 people aged 65 and over in England.

David Mortimer, of Age UK, said: "It is concerning that in some parts of the country, more than twice as many older people are able to access the benefits of being online than in other areas, particularly as there appears to be a north-south divide."

ITea and Biscuits

The charity found four counties in England where more than half of over-65s use the internet - Surrey, Suffolk, Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire.

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• Surrey - 63%
• Suffolk - 52.9%
• Devon - 45.4%
• Greater London - 39.9%
• Greater Manchester - 34.7%
• West Yorkshire - 29.7%
• Tyne and Wear - 27.7%

Source: Age UK

Surrey had the highest proportion with 63%, while Tyne and Wear had the lowest with less than 28%.

Age UK has called on the government, councils and businesses to help get more older people online.

"More services from the private and public sectors are moving online in a bid to make significant cost savings," Mr Mortimer said.

"However, if they want older people to use these services, they need to help them get online in the first place with tailored and ongoing support."

Age UK's ITea and Biscuits Week, which started on Monday, offers older people who have not used technology such as the internet and smartphones the chance to try them.

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Valve to unveil Steam game hardware

17 September 2013 Last updated at 07:18 ET

Valve will next week reveal more details about the gaming hardware it has been developing.

Valve boss Gabe Newell made the announcement during a keynote speech at the LinuxCon 2013 conference.

Industry watchers expect the news to be about the long-awaited "Steam box" that the company has kept under tight wraps.

The box is widely believed to be a gadget that lets people play games they have bought on Valve's Steam service on other devices.

Steam is one of the most popular platforms used by PC gamers to buy and access video games bought over the internet. Valve uses it to promote its own titles as well as games written by third-party developers, from whom it takes a cut of the sales. Rivals include Gog, Desura and EA's Origin.

Grand unification

In his speech, Mr Newell said that the Linux open source software was the future of gaming because its openness stood in stark contrast to the closed and proprietary worlds of consoles, mobiles and tablets. Linux is an operating system, like Windows, but is one that, unlike Windows, lets anyone tinker with its internal workings.

Steam's success demonstrated the benefits of openness and had helped Valve prosper as others parts of the PC industry withered, he said.

"The innovation and openness of the PC as a gaming platform have enabled us to be somewhat immunised against the broader structural decline of the PC," he said in his speech.

Valve was using Linux to ensure gaming stayed open and that the games people owned could be played on a PC, big TV or mobile.

It had been doing work to make sure games were easier to play on Linux, he said, by producing tools to help game makers get their creations working on Steam. In addition, Valve has produced a Linux version of Steam that can now run 198 of the hundreds of games available via the digital download service. In addition, it has produced a "big picture" version of Steam that lets people play games despite sitting a long way away from a screen.

"The next step in our contribution to this is to release some work we've done on the hardware side," he said, adding that next week would see it release that information and details of the "hardware opportunities we see for bringing Linux into the living room".

So far, it is not clear whether Valve plans to release its own hardware or produce specifications for a device that others will make to bring about what Nr Newell called a "grand unification" of mobile, desktop and living room gaming.

"Right now, you're sort of in this bizarre situation where as soon as you sit on your couch, you're supposed to have lost connection with all of your other computing platforms," he said. "We really don't think the fragmentation around the physical location or around the input devices in terms of computation is necessary or desirable for software developers or consumers."

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Sony confirms Chromecast TV rival

17 September 2013 Last updated at 07:22 ET By Leo Kelion Technology reporter

Sony has confirmed plans to launch a dongle to add apps and other smart-TV features to its televisions.

It will compete against a similar new product, Google's Chromecast.

Sony told entertainment trade-magazine Variety that it would formally launch the Android-powered Smart Stick later this week.

It will offer access to online content including video streams, music and games. However, one analyst said its price might prove its weakness.

Sony told Variety the Smart Stick would cost $150 (£94), but Google's plug-in is being sold in the US for $35.

App downloads

Many of the features offered by Sony's device were included in its earlier Google TV set-top boxes, which have struggled to find demand.

However, the Smart Stick is designed to do away with the need for a separate cable as it can be plugged directly into a TV's mobile high-definition link (MHL) socket.

News of the gadget was revealed on the company's blog last week. The post was later pulled but can still be seen via Bing's cache facility, and the device's instruction manual remains online.

They state that the dongle offers access to Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, YouTube and the Chrome web browser - which will all come pre-installed - and the option to download more software from the Play app store.

The gadget comes bundled with a remote that includes a microphone for voice-control, a touchpad and more traditional buttons.

Cheaper competitor

The details have emerged two months after Google unveiled its Chromecast dongle.

The device uses an HDMI socket to offer a more limited range of online content and relies on owners using a smartphone or tablet to control it via wi-fi.

However, it has the benefit of a lower price and is not restricted to being used on a specific brand of TV.

"For many consumers this will boil down to the fact that it's $150 versus $35," said Ian Maude, a digital media expert at consultants Enders Analysis.

"Sony is offering yet another device without offering anything that different from other internet-enabled set-top boxes."

"There is clearly demand to watch internet video via the TV set, but there's a whole new price point for these devices and at $150 I don't think the Smart Stick will fly."

Sony also faces competition from others who are also investing in new smart TV facilities.

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Google's Chromecast dongle is being sold for $35 (£23)

Samsung - the world's bestselling television manufacturer - has bought Israeli firm Boxee's assets. Boxee's most recent product had let subscribers record TV shows onto its servers and then stream them to TVs, computers and smart devices.

LG has acquired WebOS - the operating system formerly used to power Palm handhelds - to "enhance" its smart TV products.

Microsoft is promoting its forthcoming Xbox One as a way to integrate content from a cable or satellite provider with other online video.

Meanwhile Apple, Sky, Roku and Western Digital are among others to offer more limited net-connected media streamers, while cable providers, including the UK's Virgin Media, are offering access to increasing numbers of apps via Tivo and other set-top boxes.

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Microsoft in $40bn share buyback

17 September 2013 Last updated at 10:51 ET

Microsoft has announced a share buyback worth $40bn and will raise its dividend payout to shareholders by 22%.

The new share buyback replaces a previous scheme to repurchase shares which was launched in 2008 and expires this month.

The company's shares rose 1.4% after the announcement.

The buyback and raised dividend are a reward for shareholders who have seen a lacklustre performance by Microsoft's stock over recent years.

Since the beginning of 2010 shares have risen just 8%.

In a statement Microsoft said the quarterly dividend would be raised by 5 cents a share to $0.28 and the new share buyback will be open-ended, unlike the previous scheme which was launched in 2008 and expires this month.

"These actions reflect a continued commitment to returning cash to our shareholders," said Amy Hood, chief financial officer of Microsoft.

The announcement comes ahead of a meeting Microsoft is holding for financial analysts on Thursday.

Share buybacks are usually good for existing investors as they reduce the number of shares on the open market which should boost the value of available shares.

It has been an eventful few months for the software maker. It is looking for a new chief executive, after Steve Ballmer announced plans to step down, and earlier this month it paid $7.2bn to buy Nokia's mobile phone business.

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