Richard's Kingdom

I’ve never even been to a protest before, let alone organised one, however given how wrong the Government’s proposals on the Internet are I’ve decided I can’t just sit back and let them happen. There will be a flash mob protest outside Sheffield Train Station at 5:55pm on Wednesday 24 March. It’ll only take 20 [...]

Credit-card companies claim their 3D-Secure system – branded as Verified by Visa and Mastercard SecureCode – provides an extra layer of security against online fraud. Back in November I suggested that, rather than protecting consumers, the extra security appears to benefit banks and merchants by pushing fraud liability onto card-holders. Now Ross Anderson and Steven [...]

Dear Lords and Ladies of the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee I’m writing to ask you to represent the voice of UK citizens during the passage through the House of Lords of the Government’s Digital Economy Bill. I am deeply concerned by the measures this Bill would introduce, and given that my MP [...]

Back in April I wrote about problems with the credit-industry password scheme Verified by Visa. At the time I compared it to so-called phishing scams – fraud committed by tricking unwary email users into handing over their passwords, bank account details or credit-card numbers, then ordering goods or transfering cash from their accounts. It turns [...]

Microsoft have this week demonstrated the dangers of buying into DRM-crippled systems by announcing that their unloved software PlaysForSure (oh the irony) will be switched off on 31 August. After this date, content encumbered by the system will still play, but it will become locked to a single computer or device. You will no longer [...]