Mark Zuckerberg's hacking of email accounts and user profiles in 2004 could be felonies under Federal and state law, according to privacy lawyers.

As we described last week, Mark used login data of early Facebook members to break in to the private email accounts of two Harvard Crimson editors. He also broke into the systems of competitor ConnectU and changed user profiles, also according to IMs.

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See Also:

• Mark Zuckerberg's Early Misdeeds Gain Mainstream Media Attention
• At Last -- The Full Story Of How Facebook Was Founded
• Danny Sullivan: I Came Close To Killing My Facebook Account This Week

It is always inspiring to read stories of people who may never have had an Internet connection but are still using the power of Internet to find clients from across the globe.

Meet Samson – he drives an auto-rickshaw in the Souther Indian city of Chennai and has a proper website where his prospective clients can read more about his services and where they find him.

Samson checks his email every week and says the best way to reach him is text:

I can usually be found outside of the Taj Comorandel Hotel, please just walk down the ramp to the street and ask for Samson! I can also be contacted by phone or text message at any time. If you would like to arrange a time for me to meet you before you travel to Chennai then why not send me a text?

Maybe a web-savvy friend is maintaining Samson’s site but now meet Devesh Mishra, a taxi driver from the North Indian city of Varanasi who gets hundreds of emails every week just because of a video that he uploaded on to YouTube.

The story of Devesh is quite interesting. He wanted to advertise his taxi service on the Internet but didn’t have the funds and know-how. One of his clients from Switzerland recorded a video of him and uploaded it on to YouTube.

The video has received more than 25k views and, because of Universal search, it also appears on the first page of Google for queries like “Indian Taxi Driver.”

There are probably more such inspirational stories. Sean Blagsvedt, who was earlier part of the Microsoft India Research group, started an online jobs portal -- BabaJob.com – for drivers, maids, cooks and other low-income jobs in India.

Of the 66,000+ people who are currently registered as job-seekers at BabaJobs.com, lot of them may have never touched a computer in their life or they may not even know how to read and write but they will still find work through the Internet. Amazing!

Thanks Suhel for your tip.

Taxi Driver in India Uses YouTube to Find Customers

Originally published at Digital Inspiration by Amit Agarwal.

In a former life, as many of you know, I was a famous Wall Street analyst.  A chart of my Wall Street career would look like this:

(That's a chart of the NASDAQ, from 1995-2002.) 

For me, the chart ended there, because Eliot Spitzer charged me with securities fraud and got me booted off Wall Street.

10 years after that amazing peak in 2000, my colleague Aaron Task of TechTicker asked me to look back and reflect on what I've learned.  Video and more commentary below:

The peak of the technology bubble was 10 years ago yesterday.

In March of 2000, after a mind-boggling 5-year run, the NASDAQ peaked at 5,000.  Stocks like Cisco, JDS Uniphase, and Yahoo, which had made investors fortunes in the 1990s, had soared to levels that once seemed unimaginable.  And then, over the next two years, everything collapsed.

I was an Internet stock analyst at Merrill Lynch in those days--famous for, among other things, having put a $400 target on Amazon back at the end of 1998. (Happily, the stock quickly blew through this target, but it then tanked in 2000 along with the rest of tech. Recently, after nearly a decade in the dumpster, Amazon hit a split-adjusted high of $700.)

I expected to see a pullback in 2000, because the euphoria about tech and the market seemed to have gotten out of hand.  I also expected many weaker Internet companies to go bust.  But I certainly didn't expect Yahoo to fall from $115 to $5, or NASDAQ to drop by a horrifying 80%.

Later, amid the wreckage, I got another nasty surprise, when New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer alleged that some emails I had written during the crash were inconsistent with my research and accused me of securities fraud.  Not surprisingly, this allegation destroyed my reputation and got me kicked out of the securities industry.

Because of some legal restrictions, I've never been able to discuss Spitzer's allegations in detail, but the 10-year anniversary of the market peak seems a good time to reflect on what happened and what I've learned in the decade since.  In the accompanying video, my colleague Aaron Task asks me several questions about that.

Over the past 8 years, since Spitzer's allegations hit, I've worked hard to earn back the trust I lost, and I am grateful to all those who have given me the chance.  This group includes my colleagues at Yahoo and Business Insider and our millions of of readers and viewers all over the world, so let me once again say, "Thank you."

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Bloomberg: Henry Blodget Is Now King Of The Blogosphere
• Blodget And Spitzer Fight About Whether AIG Should Immediately Publish All Employee Emails
• The Blodget-Spitzer Interview

Internet censorship is still a major issue in many countries worldwide. With that in mind, the Paris-based international organization Reporters without Borders (RSF) is promoting its yearly World Day Against Cyber Censorship on March 12th. On the occasion, RSF issued its latest list of “Enemies of the Internet“, where China, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam and Tunisia are among the most prominent examples of countries censoring the web.

Reporters Without Borders will celebrate World Day Against Cyber Censorship on 12 March. This event is intended to rally everyone in support of a single Internet that is unrestricted and accessible to all. It is also meant to draw attention to the fact that, by creating new spaces for exchanging ideas and information, the Internet is a force for freedom. However, more and more governments have realised this and are reacting by trying to control the Internet.

World Day Against Cyber Censorship Around the Web

Jordanian blogger Naseem Tarawnah on Black Iris urged people to join an online rally for free speech. He says that over the past years there are traces that suggest the country is inclining to tough times for internet users, especially because there are “designs that the government may be planning to implement a “Cyber Law” to regulate the online world“. He calls on Twitter users:

For my fellow tweeps, I can only ask that you come together to tweet those posts produced by the blogosphere, or tweet your own messages in support of a free internet. Perhaps we can use the single hashtag of #FreeNetJo to unite our tweets.

And as Ramy Raoof outlined on Global Voices Advocacy:

Do you believe in Freedom of Speech?

Do you think its normal to be profiled or tracked while being online?!

Do you think it’s your right to enjoy uncensored Internet search & blogging?

Do you believe in Freedom of Information? Right to Access Information?

Do you want to defend an Internet without restrictions and accessible to everyone at anytime and anywhere?

Support the World Day against Cyber-Censorship, 12 March…

Spread the Word!

Global Voices contributor Archana Verma has written a post with thoughts and opinions from the Hindu blogosphere on freedom of speech and censorship. She adds:

India doesn't fall in the category of “Internet Black-Holes,” hence Hindi web-writers haven't written much on it because they haven't faced this problem. However, there are some Hindi bloggers who have reflected on press-freedom from different angles.

On Global Voices Online, we're committed to raising voices that often go unheard by traditional and mainstream media. We know that many governments do not allow its citizens to use the web openly and freely, often practicing censorship and regulating content. Below we can see some of Global Voices' projects to promote freedom of speech, cyber-activism and transparency online.

Global Voices Advocacy

Global Voices Advocacy is where we seek to build a global anti-censorship network of bloggers and online activists throughout the developing world that is dedicated to protecting freedom of expression and free access to information online. In this website, you'll have access to a myriad of projects that intend to help people fighting censorship on the web, as well as to blog anonymously in areas where internet users are often harassed by the government.

Threatened Voices

Threatened Voices is a collaborative mapping project to build a database of bloggers who have been threatened, arrested or killed for speaking out online and to draw attention to the campaigns to free them. So far, Threatened Voices has already tracked 213 cases of arrested or threatened bloggers, such as the one of Ahmad Mostafa, an engineering student at the University of Kafr el-Sheikh –the first Egyptian blogger to stand before a military court because of his blogging.

Technology for Transparency Network

On the other side of the coin, from Rising Voices, the Technology for Transparency Network, a new interactive website to track online initiatives that promote transparency, accountability, & civic engagement around the world is an example of how freedom of speech can help monitoring governments and deliver correct and non-regulated information to citizens of developing world, as well as observing politicians movements and actions.

On the website, Renata Avila, a human rights lawyer and blogger in Guatemala, has presented the case of #InternetNecesario from Mexico, an online protest on Twitter and other social networks to fight a tax on the Internet issued by Mexico's Congress. This movement is an example of how a non-censored internet can empower citizens to fight for their rights.

As Venezuelan blogger in Paris, Laura Vidal states in her comment review:

This project is an example of how civil society agrees to organize and reunite efforts to respond to a government that acts without consulting, and a press that doesn’t connect the public opinion with the leaders of the country.

Breaking Borders

Finally, Global Voices and Google's Breaking Borders Award is a new prize created by both organizations and supported by Thomson Reuters to honor outstanding web projects initiated by individuals or groups that demonstrate courage, energy and resourcefulness in using the Internet to promote freedom of expression. The prize will honor work in three categories: tools that promote freedom of expression, outstanding work on policy and activism or journalism that contributed an important voice or argument - each awarded with USD $10,000. Results of the award will be made public in May, during the Global Voices Citizen Media Summit 2010.

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On this important date for the Internet, we hope for people to urge for change. To fight against censorship and to raise awareness on the importance of a free digital environment. For more highlights on the struggle for freedom of speech on the web visit our page on this subject.

U.S. sales of videogames and consoles continued their decline in February, falling by 15% despite the release of new titles like “Bioshock 2.”

Research firm NPD Group said February sales came in at $1.26 billion, compared with $1.48 billion a year ago. The drop comes after a sluggish January and downbeat estimates by game companies like Electronic Arts.

The top-selling game in February was Take Two Interactive’s “Bioshock 2,” which sold almost 563,000 units for the Xbox 360 after its Feb. 10 release date. Activision Blizzard’s “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2″ sold a total of about 567,000 units for both the Xbox 360 and Sony’s PlayStation 3, and “New Super Mario Bros.” for the Nintendo Wii sold 555,600. Both of those games have been out for several months.

February’s other new games didn’t fare as well, with “Dante’s Inferno” by Electronic Arts selling a total of about 467,000 units and “Heavy Rain” by Sony selling about 219,000 units.

Sales of game consoles were down 20% year-over-year to about $426 million. The Wii continued a decline, selling about 398,000 units from nearly 466,000 in January. The PS3 sold about 360,000 units and the Xbox about 422,000; both of those consoles were up from a month ago.

“Honestly, I had expected the industry to perform somewhat better this month,” NPD analyst Anita Frazier said in a statement. But she struck an optimistic note for March, citing “strong new releases and Easter gift-buying.”

Apple iPad
Photo: Apple

Pre-orders for the Apple iPad start Friday, March 12 at Apple.com, for online delivery or to reserve for pickup at an Apple retail store. For those who are considering buying Apple’s new tablet computer, at prices that start at $499, the date brings some decisions.

Here’s a rundown of some, along with some upshot advice:

Order now or wait until the reviews are in? As with other new products, this decision hinges on the strength of your desire for early acquisition of a new and interesting product—as the iPad unquestionably is—weighed against the risk of bugs or outright flaws in its first-generation version. There are also supply considerations, of course.

In this case, Apple has a fine track record for creating first-gen devices that are ready for market. And limited supply was also rumored to have been behind the delay in availability of the iPad from late March to April 3. Those rumors raise questions about how soon new iPads may be available should the initial supply sell out on April 3.

Upshot: Keeners might want to lean to early ordering. Compared with many other new devices (hello Nook owners!), the risk of disappointing, buggy performance from the initial iPads seems relatively low, and the risk of a longish wait for replenished supplies relatively high.

Which version—Wi-fi-only or 3G/Wi-fi? This complicates the call for early adopters who aren’t planning to acquire two iPads. While only the Wi-fi version of the iPad will be available on April 3, pre-orders will also be taken for the Wifi/3G version, to be serviced by AT&T and made available “in late April,” according to Apple.

3G capability will add $130 to the price of an iPad, meaning a 3G-capable model will cost at least $629. 3G service will cost $30 per month for unlimited data, $15 for up to 250 MB (FYI, iPhone owners use an average of 273 MB a month, according to exclusive data we recently obtained). However, in contrast to service to 3G-connected laptops and netbooks, a contract will not be required; you can subscribe to 3G when you want it, and drop it when you don’t.

Upshot: Your need for 3G depends in part on your expected use of the device, which in turn depends in part on apps that we haven’t yet seen. However, if you expect to use an iPad for known apps that will require everywhere access, such as e-mail and location/GPS-based apps, you’ll likely want to wait on the 3G version.

Also, keep in mind the experiences of some owners of the iPod Touch, the Wi-fi-only device that’s essentially an iPhone without the phone or the 3G access, who express frustration at the widely varying capabilities of their device depending on whether or not it’s within range of Wi-fi.

Which capacity to buy? iPads will come in 16, 32, and 64 GB capacities—with a $100 bump up in price for each 16 GB increment. For comparison, iPhones come in 8-, 16-, and 32-GB versions, and iPod Touches in 8-, 32-, and 64-GB versions. The iPad’s 9.7-inch screen, promises to make the iPad more movie-friendly than the iPhone and Touch, which have 3.5-inch screens. A downloaded movie requires about 1 to 2 GB of capacity. A typical music album occupies about 200 MB.

It isn’t yet known how capacious files from the iPad’s iBooks store might be. But Amazon’s Kindle, for example, which use their own format, can hold thousands of books in their modest 2 to 4 GB capacities.

Upshot: As with Wi-fi, the right capacity depends a lot on how you think you might use your iPad. If you hope to use it as your primary music player, however, you likely already know how much capacity you’ll want for music alone, without even considering other apps and uses.

—Paul Reynolds