Cyber-crime talks end in failure

Negotiations on modifying the Budapest Convention on Cyber Crime, to take into account third-world objections and the move to cloud computing, floundered after delegates attending an international conference in Brazil last week failed to reach an agreement, reports The Register.

The proposed changes, sponsored by Russia, failed to win over US and European delegates, resulting in an impasse, Public Sector Technology reports.

The situation echoes the way objections led by China resulted in an inconclusive end to the Copenhagen round of climate change negotiations last year.

An Internet service provider offering Web filtering that uses the same classification certificates as the UK film industry has been introduced, says The BBC.

It is the first time that the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has teamed up with an ISP.

Parents select the filter level they require - U, PG, 12, 15 or 18 - on behalf of their children.

A member of a group called the iPhone Dev Team devoted to hacking iPhones has posted a video demonstrating Android on an iPhone, reveals CNet.

The demo shows the boot process and the hacker using Android for browsing, receiving a text message, answering a phone call, and playing music. The phone is set up with a dual-boot configuration and the video begins with the device running iPhone OS.

The Android-on-iPhone hack is a notable technical accomplishment, but it's not likely to transform the industry or alter what mainstream users do. It does indicate, though, that the hacking ethos is alive and well despite Apple's attempts to keep its mobile phone locked down.

McAfee has apologised for its anti-virus update that took down Windows XP computers around the world, but says it affected a small percentage of its customers, writes Business Week.

A statement issued by a McAfee spokesman says that less than .005% of McAfee users were hit by the update, which misidentified a legitimate SP function as a virus and killed it. The results were computers locked in a reboot loop.

The statement also says the fatal fix passed the company's quality testing and describes the effects on customer machines as "moderate to significant issues".