Wednesday 18 November 2009

The difference between a gossip and conversation.


The difference between a gossip and conversation Strong shock for me was the story about the T-Mobile stuff. It’s that, the so-called capitalism ruthlessness. Where the nothing is sacred. Although, I knew in some way that this company will have this kind of gap for a long time. Yet many years before that famous Orange Revolution in Europe and than Ukraine. Which, like we all know, in some ways was the break away from the ‘monolith’ of USSR. The consequent and normal reshuffle in the alternated international arena. At that time, call my attention though, the some “murky” story with SIM-cards in the phones of the supporters of westernization… That, the ongoing… way (i.e. the way of T-Mobile) to ‘penetrate’, ‘expand’, and ‘accelerate’ and than have a Putin, and the Kuchma with Ukraine inside of EU. Well, attention here. Because I don’t have if not this article, any documents to be sure about. Just in case, we all know that there’s a difference between a gossip and conversation… Not that I want to run anyone like T-mobile into the ground, of course, but the exchanging a few choice tidbits – especially if the “party” in question happens to be sitting right there – would certainly be great fun! And make my ‘Marketing Department’ shine too. Equally, passing a little bit further from this, the International Communications theme, we should be very naturally strike nose-to-nose with one important result obtained by me. The result of that my heard (my father, when was really angry with me, always call me ‘конюх’ – cowboy) create a joint military brigade. For the some long tongs take away for ever from theirs vocabularies one special word. (The Prince Charles the II and Abramovitch perfectly know what I mean). Because, now we arrive at the next important point, I have so many Deutsche Bank Trust Companies Americas, and so many HSBC Banks (read the article about stolen 1, 25 billion rubles of Pension Fund from Bank of Russia) to choose from, that who need the someone second? Maybe the Путина Шведская бензо-коллонка? Maybe the Texaco in Ecuador?

T-Mobile staff sold personal data. updated at 21:11 GMT, Tuesday, 17 November 2009. Staff at mobile phone company T-Mobile passed on millions of records from thousands of customers to third party brokers, the firm has confirmed. Details emerged after the firm alerted the information commissioner, who said his office was preparing a prosecution.Christopher Graham said brokers had sold the data to other phone firms, who then cold-called the customers as their contracts were due to expire. A T-Mobile spokesman said the data had been sold "without our knowledge". Mr Graham, who was appointed earlier this year as the watchdog responsible for safeguarding personal information, said the data breach was the biggest of its kind. He added that the case illustrated why there needed to be a prison sentence to prevent people from selling private data to third parties. Mr Graham confirmed his office was preparing a prosecution against those responsible for selling on T-Mobile data. Justice Minister Michael Wills told the BBC that there was a "strong case" for introducing custodial sentences to prevent the trade in illegal data. Search warrantsInitially Mr Graham had said he would not name the operator involved as it could prejudice a prosecution. But after phone firms 02, Vodafone, Orange, 3 and Virgin said they were not the subject of his investigation, T-Mobile confirmed it had been. ANALYSIS Danny Shaw, BBC home affairs correspondent. The increasing use of computers and memory sticks to store and transfer data has fuelled what the information commissioner described in 2006 as a pernicious and widespread trade. Addresses, phone bills, bank statements and health records - they can all be obtained for a price. The Information Commissioner's report estimated that you could trace the name and address of a telephone caller from their phone number for £75 and check someone's criminal record for £500. Suppliers obtain information through two routes - by paying insiders to pass it on or by pretending to be someone who has a lawful need for it - known as blagging. In August a civilian worker at Essex Police was fined for accessing police intelligence databases 800 times and passing on mobile phone records. Mr Graham said investigators had been working with the company after it reported suspicions of an unlawful trade in customers' data. The team from the Information Commissioner's office obtained search warrants to enter premises and have also interviewed employees. Mr Graham said: "Many people will have wondered why and how they are being contacted by someone they do not know just before their existing phone contract is about to expire. "We are considering the evidence with a view to prosecuting those responsible and I am keen to go much further and close down the entire unlawful industry in personal data. "But, we will only be able to do this if blaggers and others who trade in personal data face the threat of a prison sentence. "The existing paltry fines… are simply not enough to deter people from engaging in this lucrative criminal activity. The threat of jail, not fines, will prove a stronger deterrent." 'Exploiting data' The Ministry of Justice has been consulting on tougher penalties for illegal trade in personal information. The Data Protection Act bans the selling on of data without prior permission from the customer and a fine of £5,000 can be imposed following a successful prosecution. T-MOBILE FACTS The UK's fourth largest mobile phone company Has an estimated 16.6 million UK customers - a 15% share of the market UK workforce of 6,500 Subsidiary of German firm Deutsche Telekom Plans to merge its UK business with that of Orange This would create a mobile phone giant with 28.4 million customers But Mr Graham said that the mobile phone case suggested that people were "driving a coach and horses" through the legislation. He added: "This is not just about mobile phone companies. It's about private investigators, it's about blagging information from databases for use to put the frighteners on witnesses, attempt to knobble juries, pursue 'nasty neighbour' disputes, interfere in the family courts, difficult divorce settlements. "Personal data has value and there are people out there exploiting it." Justice Minister Michael Wills said the government was looking at bringing in tougher penalties to deter the illegal trade in personal information. He added: "Given the scale of public concern about privacy of their data, I think we have to look at going further and custodial sentences clearly have to be a part of that." But Conservative justice spokeswoman Eleanor Laing said: "The government's refusal to establish a strong privacy watchdog is nothing short of scandalous. "We need a beefed-up information commissioner with a full set of punitive strings to his bow, including the power to fine organisations." Lib Dem Home Affairs spokesman Chris Huhne said the "shameful incident" proved that stiffer penalties "cannot be introduced soon enough". He added: "This sorry episode questions the government's wisdom in getting communications providers to hoard increasing amounts of information about us." 'Proactively supported'A spokesman for T-Mobile said the sale of the data had been "deeply regrettable" and that it had been asked to keep it secret to avoid any criminal prosecutions being prejudiced. He said: "T-Mobile takes the protection of customer information seriously. "When it became apparent that contract renewal information was being passed on to third parties without our knowledge, we alerted the Information Commissioner's Office. The spokesman added that the company and the ICO "working together" had identified the source of the breach and that T-Mobile had "proactively supported the ICO to help stamp out what is a problem for the whole industry". He added: "We were therefore surprised at the way in which these statements were made to the BBC today."

Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine create a joint military brigade. It is a drive to boost Ukraine’s ties with Nato, according to the Lithuanian government.Published: 9:58AM GMT 18 Nov 2009. The Lithuanian defence minister, Rasa Jukneviciene, and her Polish and Ukranian counterparts are to sign an accord on the sidelines of talks on Monday and Tuesday among European Nato members at the trans-Atlantic alliance’s Brussels headquarters. “Lithuania supports this project which is expected to step up the strategic partnership of Lithuania and Poland,” the statement said. “It is also expected that the engagement of Ukraine in the project would induce the country to intensify relations and cooperation with Nato,” it added. Lithuania, a former Soviet republic, joined Nato in 2004, five years after ex-Communist Poland – a move that riled its Cold War-era master, Moscow. They are among the staunchest supporters of ex-Soviet Ukraine, which is pushing to be let into Nato despite Moscow’s bitter opposition and jitters from several west European member states. The three-way brigade will be known in army-speak as LITPOLUKRBRIG. The strength of a military brigade usually ranges from 2,000 to 5,000 combining several batallions of 600-1,500 troops, depending on the particular army’s tradition. A spokesman for the ministry said that the brigade would include a multinational infantry unit, with shared costs, command and training, that could be deployed in multinational operations abroad. It said that the fine details were still under negotiation, with Poland steering the planning. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine inherited a 780,000-strong military force on its territory, equipped with the third-largest nuclear weapons arsenal in the world. But the country signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and declared itself a neutral state. The country, which now has armed forces totalling 191,000, has had a limited military partnership with Russia and a partnership with Nato since 1994. Ukraine has been playing an increasing role in peacekeeping operations, with Ukranian troops having been deployed in Kosovo, Lebanon and Iraq. James Sherr, head of the Russia and Eurasia programme at Chatham House, said the move announced this week was partly a political one. “It is a signal from all three states that Ukraine is a country that should have prospects of membership in Nato.” Mr Sherr went on to say that before the Orange Revolution in 2006 - a peaceful revolt that brought Viktor Yuschenko to power - Ukraine was very close to joining Nato. But he added that the revolution, combined with the Russia/Georgia war of 2008, "torpedoed" Ukraine's chances of joining the alliance, "The war reinforced view of Nato that further enlargement of Nato in the east could be very harmful to the relationship with Russia," he said. As a result, the formation of a tri-nation military brigade was unlikely to do anything to boost Ukraine's membership chances, said Mr Sherr, as too many countries were "emphatically not in favour" of Ukraine joining. He went on to say that opinion in Ukraine was divided over whether the country should join Nato at all, and said that the popularity of the alliance had decreased markedly following the Balkan wars and the Russia/Georgia war. “About 20 per cent of people in Ukraine are firmly in favour of Ukraine joining Nato, but about 50 per cent are opposed," he said. He said that said that reasons for Ukraine wanting to join Nato related to the country’s geographical locaton. “There is an understanding that Ukraine is in a complex and potentially dangerous political setting. It sits on a vitally important energy corridor. “Ukrainians are also aware of their economic problems and that it would be very difficult for them to entirely meet all of their security needs on their own.” But he pointed out that Ukraine is wary that becoming more closely aligned with Nato could completely alienate Russia, to which the country is economically and culturally tied. He said that Russia was not reconciled to Ukraine’s independence, adding that just this year Vladimir Putin had referred to Ukraine as “little Russia”. “Most Russians do not acknowledge that Ukraine is different,” he said. “For Ukraine to adopt a course as a nation that would be dramatically and diametrically different to Russia would be seen as disturbing and threatening." A spokesperson for the Ukranian embassy in London said the reasons for the country wanting to join NATO were obvious. "NATO is security," he said. "But Ukraine considers NATO not just from the “take” perspective," he added. "We are a strong contributor to European and global security. Ukraine is the only non-member state which takes part in all the Nato-led operations. "The creation of LitPolUkrbrig is another step in our common effort of securing peace and stability in trouble spots." He said that Ukraine always stressed that its intention to join Nato was not directed against other countries, "Russia in particular".

Stephen Fry and the new kings of Twitter. November 17, 2009 2:03pm. Mr Fry used a large part of his time on stage at the O2 to defend twittering celebrities such as himself and attack “deadwood” newspapers. For Mr Fry, who has over 1m followers on the messaging site, the former is the solution to the failings of the latter. “I know how much contempt the world has for us as a breed,” he said of “that awful object, the celebrity twitterer”. “But it has driven Twitter.” Earlier this year, “there was no class of person more contemptuous of Twitter than the commentating journalist in Britain”, Mr Fry said. Now it has gained in popularity, many newspapers that dismissed the service have rushed to promote their Twitter accounts in print. Still, Mr Fry reckons the press’s fundamental concerns about Twitter remain. “People like me – twillionaires – we can cut out the press from our PR requirements,” says Mr Fry. “We don’t need them anymore. If I am Britney Spears … I can speak to millions just by typing into my keyboard.” Even the biggest-selling celebrity magazine can’t compete with that sort of distribution, and Mr Fry is delighted that celebs can avoid the “annoying” questions that come up when doing interviews to promote their latest book or TV show. They can even name and shame journalists who offend them, in a manner that will leave their editors fuming, he says. Mr Fry isn’t happy when his tweets are quoted in the media either, noting “how useful the Twitter stream is for lazy reporting”, without the need to check facts. “The whole thing is in a really weird state,” he continued. “Newspapers are filled with resentment at Twitter. They call it a feed rather than a stream, which is very revealing because it shows that they think of it like a Reuters or PA feed that’s coming out for their information. If one was very bloody minded, one could tell all sorts of lies about oneself and watch newspapers repeat them, because they are very lazy.” His scorn is perhaps understandable given the merciless behaviour of some parts of the celebrity media. But as an avid Twitter user myself, personally andprofessionally, I am left somewhat confused by Mr Fry’s views. We are yet to see anyone gain through Twitter alone the sort of fame that Mr Fry and Ms Spears have achieved, so mass media may still have some role to play for rising stars. But would Mr Fry really prefer the media just packed up and went home? The recession is already forcing many journalists to do just that, with UK publisher Haymarket announcing today the closure of two print titles that cover this very industry, Media Week and Revolution. The criticism of hacks who publish tweets in their papers without fact checking is valid but also pays a backhanded compliment to those who do try to bring professional standards of journalism to the new media world. Surely there is a risk that in less deft hands than Mr Fry – who has used his vast reach to direct his followers towards several worthy causes – that unchecked, unchallenged broadcasting from individuals might be open to abuse? That was the point raised by Andrew Keen, author of Cult of the Amateur and often on hand to burst a bubble. Following Mr Fry onto the stage, Mr Keen challenged the 140 Conference’s breathless enthusiasm about the “profound change” that has put more power in the hands of individuals, apparently at the expense of organisations. “The new world is based on personal power – the charismatic power of authentic individuals like Stephen Fry,” Mr Keen said. “But there is a danger that most of us aren’t really confronting. What happens if Fry turns out to be nasty? He has massive power. He can make and break newspapers, columnists [and] bestsellers.” What many see as a “flattening” of hierarchies is in fact “more radically in-egalitarian than anything that existed in the nineteenth century”, Mr Keen concluded. Let’s hope that the king of Twitter’s subjects follow his example, hitherto, of good digital citizenship.

Unknown man illegally transfer 1.25 billion rubles from Bank of Russia to the Deutsche Bank Trust . Как украсть миллиард. ЦБ развели по чеченской схеме. Беспрецедентный случай в истории Банка России произошел в минувшую пятницу: неизвестному лицу удалось перевести со счетов Пенсионного фонда России (ПФР) 1,25 млрд руб. по фальшивым авизо. Вчера же после обращения ПФР в правоохранительные органы чиновники ЦБ отрапортовали, что все деньги возвращены владельцу. Однако остается открытым вопрос, каким образом мошеннику удалось обмануть Банк России с помощью схемы, известной еще с начала 90-х годов прошлого века, когда фальшивыми авизо наводнили банковскую систему чеченские боевики. Если главбух ПФР Наталья Петрова не обнаружила бы с утра в понедельник, что со счетов в ЦБ куда-то неожиданно исчезли 1,25 млрд руб., то вернуть пенсионные деньги было бы не так просто. «Поручений о переводе денег ПФР не давал… Пенсионный фонд опровергает возможность расчетной ошибки при выдаче платежных поручений и проведении платежей со счетов ПФР», — говорится во вчерашнем заявлении Пенсионного фонда. Выяснилось, что вечером в пятницу, 13-го, некий гражданин зашел в ОПЕРУ Банка России с платежками. По информации ПФР, подписи и печати в них были фальшивыми, а коды бюджетной классификации уже не использовались. Тем не менее ЦБ перевел деньги. По информации следственных органов, вначале сред­ства были переведенысо счетов, предназначенных для выплат пенсий и материнского капитала, на счета фонда для хозяйственных нужд на «финансирование расходов на капитальные вложения и проектные работы по строительству». Затем деньги были переведены в банк «Кубань» на счета никому не известной компании ООО «Спецтехпром», а оттуда их львиная доля ушла в Дойче Банк. «Уже там деньги распылились по разным зарубежным счетам траншами по 100—200 млн руб.», — сообщил РБК daily источник в МВД. По его словам, мошенник пока не задержан, но следст­вие надеется выяснить его личность в ближайшее время. Вчера следственные органы провели обыски в банке «Кубань». В приемной предправления «Кубани» Владимира Засорина РБК daily в 15.30 сообщили, что обыски начались в 10 утра и «на данный момент производится выемка документов». Сам же Владимир Засорин не смог поговорить с РБК daily, поскольку давал показания следователю. Затем г-н Засорин был приглашен в органы дознания, поздно вечером после допроса он был отпущен под подпис­ку о невыезде. В российском Дойче Банке вчера отказались от комментариев. Учитывая, что у Дойче Банка зарубежные кор­счета открыты только в его материнском банке Deutsche Bank, аффилированном с Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas и HSBC Bank Kazakhstan, деньги, переведенные из России, могли быть заблокированы зарубежными офисами Deutsche Bank в соответствии с установленными нормами внутреннего контроля для противодей­ствия отмыванию. Вчера вечером Банк России сообщил, что пресек попытку хищения средств ПФР. «Деньги в полном объеме (1 млрд 250 млн руб.) возвращены на счет Пенсионного фонда РФ со счета в Центральном банке», — говорится в официальном сообщении ЦБ. Подробных комментариев вчера в Банке России получить не удалось. Однако данные ЦБ расходятся с данными в сообщении ПФР, согласно которым пока удалось вернуть только 1,03 млрд руб. По информации следствия, до сих пор неясно, сколько денег удалось спасти, а сколько ушло безвозвратно на зарубежные счета. Как сообщил РБК daily источник в МВД, на 19.00 17 ноября сумма в размере 1,03 млрд руб. была заблокирована на счетах и, соответственно, вернется в ПФР. Очевидно, что в ближайшие дни чиновникам ЦБ предстоит разобраться с этим математическим парадоксом. В Банке России для проведения служебного расследования создана комиссия под председательством первого зампреда ЦБ Григория Лунтовского. В этом ему помогут правоохранительные органы, которые не исключают, что фигурантами по делу могут оказаться сотрудники Пенсионного фонда и ЦБ. По информации РБК daily, сейчас нескольким сотрудникам фонда уже присвоен статус подозреваемых, с них взята подписка о невыезде. Происшествие в пятницу 13-го не первый случай хищения крупной суммы со счетов ПФР в этом году. В марте Генпрокуратура возбудила уголовное дело по факту утраты 955,8 млн руб. Свердловским отделением ПФР, перечисленных на счет в банк «ВЕФК-Урал». В ходе проверки было установлено, что средства фонда, поступившие на банковские счета, исчезли из-за финансовых махинаций. Фигурантами по делу стали топ-менеджеры ВЕФК (включая его владельца Александра Гительсона). Тогда же следователи провели обыск у главы областного отделения ПФР Сергея Дубинкина и допросили руководителя ГУ ЦБ по Свердловской области Сергея Сорвина. «Сейчас все платежи электронные, и платежные документы привозятся только для их подтверждения, — говорит директор Центра экономических исследований МФПА Сергей Моисеев. — Видимо, кто-то имел доступ к бухгалтерии ПФР и мог оперировать расчетами». По его мнению, ЦБ здесь просто выступал исполнителем. По информации МВД, в 1992—1994 годах из чеченских банков поступило 485 фальшивых авизо на сумму более 1 трлн руб. Всего же в эти годы в обналичивании похищенных денег участвовало 892 банка и 1,5 тыс. компаний во всех регионах России.

NY police car in accident ahead of Biden motorcade. By COLLEEN LONG, Associated Press WriterTue Nov 17, 11:47 pm ET. NEW YORK – A police car working ahead of Vice President Joe Biden's motorcade was involved in a minor traffic accident Tuesday evening,

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