FBI Withdraws Unconstitutional National Security Letter After ACLU and EFF Challenge

San Francisco - The FBI has withdrawn an unconstitutional national security letter (NSL) issued to the Internet Archive after a legal challenge from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). As the result of a settlement agreement, the FBI withdrew the NSL and agreed to the unsealing of the case, finally allowing the Archive's founder to speak out for the first time about his battle against the record demand.

"The free flow of information is at the heart of every library's work. That's why Congress passed a law limiting the FBI's power to issue NSLs to America's libraries," said Brewster Kahle, founder and Digital Librarian of the Internet Archive. "While it's never easy standing up to the government -- particularly when I was barred from discussing it with anyone -- I knew I had to challenge something that was clearly wrong. I'm grateful that I am able now to talk about what happened to me, so that other libraries can learn how they can fight back from these overreaching demands."

The NSL was served on the Archive -- a digital library recognized by the state of California -- and its attorneys in November of 2007. The letter asked for personal information about one of the Archive's users, including the individual's name, address, and any electronic communication transactional records pertaining to the user. Kahle, who is also a member of EFF's Board of Directors, decided to fight the NSL because it exceeded the FBI's limited authority to issue such demands to libraries.

The Archive responded to the letter by handing over only publicly available documents and simultaneously filing a lawsuit challenging the letter. This lawsuit is the first known challenge to an NSL served on a library since Congress amended the national security letter provision in 2006 to limit the FBI's power to demand records from libraries.

The NSL included a gag order, prohibiting Kahle from discussing the letter and the legal issues it presented with the rest of the Archive's Board of Directors or anyone else except his attorneys, who were also gagged. The gag also prevented the ACLU and EFF from discussing the NSL with members of Congress, even though an ACLU lawyer who represents the Archive recently testified at a congressional hearing about the FBI's misuse of NSLs.

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New Sony VAIO VGF-HS1S and VGF-HS1

In January of 2007 Sony introduced the Sony VAIO TP1 home theater PC with the unique round shape.
Today Sony announced two new AV Home Server with the same form factor dubbed Sony VAIO VGF-HS1S and VGF-HS1.

The new Sony VGF-HS1S packs 1.5TB of storage and the VGF-HS1 still has a 1TB capacity ideal for HD video storing and displaying on a connected HDTV.

The new Sony home media servers connect via 10 Base-T/100Base-TX/1000Base-T to your LAN. Via Memory stick and SD Card reader slots you can upload also media including photos.

The Sony VAIO VGF-HS1S and VGF-HS1 support the following media formats: AVCHD, MPEG2, HDV (MPEG2-TS), JPEG, BMP, PNG, JPEG, BMP, PNG, WAV, MP3, ATRA, ATRAC Advanced Lossless, AAC and WMA.
The Sony VGF-HS1S and VGF-HS1 will start shipping in Japan on May 17th.

HTC Touch Diamond official

The HTC Diamond leaked already, but today HTC made the HTC Touch Diamond official.

The HTC Touch Diamond is defined by its compact size, Internet and its new 3D touch interface called TouchFLO 3D. See the cool Hi-Res Photos of the HTC Touch Diamond.

TouchFLO 3D provides animated access to people, messaging, email, photos, music, weather and more. In addition, HTC is introducing a new touch-sensitive control for interacting with Touch Diamond.

Other features of the HTC Touch Diamond include HSDPA 7.2 Mbps, HSUPA, 2.8-inch VGA touch screen, 3.2MP camera, 4 GB Internal Storage, 256 MB flash, 192 MB RAM, Wifi, GPS, Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR and Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional.

Measurements of the Touch Diamond are 102 x 51 x 11.33mm and the weight is 110g.

The HTC Touch Diamond will be available to customers across all major European carriers in June. It will be available later this quarter in Asia and the Middle East. The North American and Latin American versions of the Touch Diamond will be available in the second half of 2008.

3G iPhone in May 2008?

The usually reliable Register links to the inside scoop on the 3G iPhone. Apparently tech blog Sevenclick spoke to a manager at Spain's Telefonica. Among the tidbits: Telefonica and Apple have not yet reached an agreement; Apple is demanding 30% of revenue; Spain missed out on a 2007 iPhone launch because Apple can't make enough phones. And the money quote:
When iPhone will be launched in Spain?
Telefonica expects it on May.

Will Telefonica release a 3G iPhone version on May?
Yes! They expect it.

It's rumor, but May doesn't seem like too crazy a date for iPhone v.2. Apple updates the iPods yearly, after all. Living in Spain, all I can say is "Please God, don't let it be Telefonica".

Let your imagination run wild with the NeoCube

What can you do with a toy built out of 216 tiny high-energy rare-earth magnets? Well, you can make just about any shape you wish. It’s the NeoCube.

NeoCube is being touted as an entertainment device that serves as a ”dual hemisphere brain stimulator”, a “stress reliever” and a “boredom buster” according to the seller. What it is mainly depends on you and your imagination. NeoCube can bend, fold, tear-apart and then come back together again. Take a look at the video to see the NeoCube in action to see what it can do.

At $39.95 you might want to pick one up to play with at your desk. You could find yourself wasting an afternoon just seeing what you can make with one. Just be sure to keep the little ones away from the NeoCube. Swallowing the magnetic spheres would be very dangerous.

Nintendo goes on the piste

New winter sports game, just in time for summer

If the thought of a spot of hula-hooping or doing the Yoga tree on the Wii Fit just isn't radical enough for you, there's a new Nintendo game on the horizon that could up the adrenaline levels. Then again, it's called Family Ski (should that be Family Skii?), so maybe not.

What Wii Sports lacks in enthusiasm this more than makes up for, with bounty of tricks and races to keep the competitive fires stoked and a full size ski resort to hit the slopes in. Customizing looks set to be a big part of proceedings too, with clothing, accessories, new characters and new slopes available the further you advance in the game.

As always with the ever inventive Nintendo, the interactive side looks set to be classic chintz with the nun chuck and remote operating as virtual ski poles and though it's not strictly necessary, the Wii board looks like another essential ingredient to make the most of the game.

Due June 13 across Europe for the usual £40, this will be the first time we've donned salapets and bobble hat since that truckload of homesick Swedish playmates rolled into town. Good times.