Orkut Unblocked

Orkut Unblocked

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http://orkutunblocked.com

This site is very helpful for those who could not browse to orkut from office.

Impersonation + Obscene Pics + Vulgar Posts in Orkut Forums gets a Youth Arrested

If any loser on orkut is harassing you by faking your identity or associating Obscene pictures against your name or is posting vulgar messages or your real phone number on orkut forums, then you can get them arrested and believe me they deserve nothing less.

DNA - India :

Chandigarh police on Thursday arrested a youth on the charge of posting obscene material, including pictures, on a woman’s profile on Orkut without her knowledge, a police spokesperson said here.

Jatinder Singh Marok, a process executive in tech firm in Mohali, was arrested under section 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2000, after the girl lodged a case against him.

The girl, who is also a resident of Mohali, was getting telephone calls from men after her profile with pornographic photos of some other girl, but carrying her name and phone number, appeared in the profile section of Orkut, police said. The girl then approached the cyber crime cell of the Chandigarh police. Marok was arrested after the police painstakingly collected digital evidence, said the police. The accused is being interrogated

Fake Profile - How to Get it Removed?

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What to do when someone created your fake profile ?

» Some Created My Fake Profile - What to Do?

It is not a tough job to get a fake profile removed from orkut. The simplest step which would do is to scan and send your identity card to orkut staff. Use this form. You may also like to put additional pressure on orkut staff and the fake profile maker by following these below stated instructions to get the result quickly in your favor

» Flag the Profile | Report Abuse

• Go to the fake profile
• Select Report Abuse Option in that profile
• This Would take you To The Page Shown in the Screen shot Below

• Choose the option which defines your problem the best
• Now Fill in the Details and make Sure you do your best to let orkut staff believe your plea

» Alert Your Friends
A friend in need is a friend in Deed.Remember the quote? Now Let all your friends know about your problem and request them to perform the same step above as you did.The more complaints, orkut staff will be more quick in their actions.

You may like to inform all your friends about your problem by sending same scrap to all your friends with a single click or prefer sending an e-mail because it will remain a secret and the fake profile owner will not smell any activity.

» Help From Anti-Fake Profile Communities

There are some of communities on orkut which aim at demolishing the fake profiles which trouble the members. These may come in handy in your quest to kick the criminal act and safeguard your dignity.

I Hate Fake Orkut Profiles is one of the orkut community which aim’s at ending fake profiles from orkut. All you need is to :

• Join the Community
• Post the Request as a new topic
• Leave Rest to the community members.

» Wait and Relax

Give Google

a time of two weeks to act on your query. In case you don’t receive any response from them, then contact them directly over here

» Intense Situations - Immediate Action
Is the loser displaying your private info or abusing your name for bad, pornographic activities? Let the sucker know the consequences. It’s the time to call the cops. You can also file a cyber complaint here (if you live in India) and if your area comes under FBI Jurisdiction, navigate here to file a cyber complaint

» Notes
To keep the ball in your court, never try to hack the fake account, harass or threaten the hacker or spam his scrapbook or abuse/curse Google in any way.

» Credits and Reference
This Post is inspired from the one Darnell posted over at Inside Orkut

Google adds S60 support to Orkut - the social network

Orkut - the social network everyone appears to have forgotten about - is now compatible with S60 devices. Google has been tinkering behind the scenes and the new mobile version is now optimised for S60 phones - maybe it’s enough to draw some users back.

Facebook may be stomping all over MySpace in the English speaking world, but Orkut is still holding its own in Brazil, where it’s the most visited website and it holds the number two spot in India.

The mobile version at http://m.orkut.com has been out since April, but it’s now been specifically tweaked for S60 handsets. Google has also thrown in a range of new features such as photo uploads, picture galleries, click-to-call and quick friend searches too, so you can now make the most of that all-you-can-eat data plan.

It competes pretty much head on with Facebook mobile at http://m.facebook.com and MySpace mobile at http://m.myspace.com/. Is it enough to claw back some ground or has Google missed the boat on this one? source: http://noknok.tv/2008/08/15/google-adds-s60-support-to-orkut/

Google's Orkut

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Evolution of Google's Orkut

BANGALORE, INDIA: In recent years, online social networking has created powerful new ways to communicate and share information. Most social network websites provide many ways for users to interact, such as emails and instant messaging services. Social networking websites are being used regularly by millions of people, and it now seems that social networking will be an enduring part of everyday life.

Google's social networking service, Orkut which kicked off as just a 20 percent time project of Orkut Büyükkökten, its creator, has come to be known, as the world's most popular social networking site.

What started in 2004 as a mission to help users connect by building online communities of people who share interests and activities and organize information, today has gone to become one of the biggest social network giants in India. 17.06 percent of Orkut members are Indians, making us the second largest nation on its network.

According to the latest comscore estimates, in India, Orkut has reigned as the most visited social networking site in December 2008 with more than 12.8 million visitors, an increase of 81 percent from the previous year. Orkut has been facing stiff competition from Facebook in the recent past, where it managed to lose its share to the social networking site. But Orkut, which is known to follow one basic mantra of making the user, the owner, and deliver what he demands, managed to turn the table upside down, with its constant innovation and vision.

One of the key reasons for Orkut's success is a belief that good ideas can, and should, come from anywhere, be it the users themselves, and the stress is always on creating something new and innovative. Orkut's future rests on the creativity of their engineers and how they grasp and weave out the products around what the users want and would enjoy working with. In the Orkut universe a user defines and derives his own experience.

The constant feedback and encouragement from the users has enabled innovation and fueled passion at Orkut, to enhance the user's experience and social interaction at every step.

To begin with, Orkut has introduced a number of privacy features, giving users the right to decide on accessibility to individual profiles.

Then came the "Open Social", a set of applications that extended from games to programs to help you invite friends to a particular location that you marked on a map. What's more, 50 percent of these applications were created in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, and Bangalore for Indian users.

With dial-up connections still very slow in India, and the mobile infrastructure limited to 2G, Orkut responded with a low-bandwidth version and a mobile version, which could preserve the experience even at low speeds.

Making web more social

Now users can engage in long personal conversations, discussing their lives, taking advise, sitting miles apart without wasting any ISD charges using various Orkut applications, like Instant Messaging ask friend, where only your choice of users can have an access, exchanging pictures and videos simultaneously, thus adding a real life feel to the whole communication. The privacy features have enhanced the freedom with which users now express and communicate tremendously.

To cater to its Indian members, the site also introduced an application so users could use Indian languages (Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Gujarati, to name a few) to manage their accounts.

Over a period of time Orkut once again saw that its audience graph go up three times the size of its nearest competitor in the category. Other social networks like Facebook.com which captured the #2 position with 4 million visitors, up 150 percent versus year ago, followed by local social networking site Bharatstudent.com with 3.3 million visitors (up 88 percent) and hi5.com with 2 million visitors (up 182 percent).

Social Networking sites have seen an increase of 51 percent from the previous year, to more than 19 million visitors in December 2008, as per by comscore estimates.source: http://www.ciol.com/Developer/Feature/Evolution-of-Googles-Orkut/2309116652/0/

What google thinking about Orkut?

Unless you have been living a geek free life, you have probably heard about Google closing down Dodgeball, Mashup Editor, Jaiku (which will live on in the open source wilderness), as well as choking uploads to Google Video and removing support for Google Notebooks.

This wave of shutdowns surprised many people, causing some to wonder if Google will close down other popular (yet expensive) services--Orkut included.

While it is impossible to know which services Google may shut down (unless one is a Googler themselves), here are a few reasons why I think the search engine giant may decide to keep Orkut alive instead of killing it off in order to survive the upcoming recession.

• Orkut has influence: Despite failing in America, Orkut is very popular in both Brazil and India. If one were to look at global trends, Orkut comes in 9th place (according to comScore) when it comes to unique visitors.
  
  If Google ever did shut down Orkut, there would probably be a lot of outrage in South America and the Indian subcontinent (which would hurt the Google brand over seas).
• Potential for profit: With Orkut now running Google Adsense throughout forums, searches and (unfortunately) profiles, Orkut may just be creating a little wealth for Google (if not paying for most of the costs to keep the servers alive).
  
  Orkut may also be able to generate some extra cash by entering the VoIP arena (with some help from Google Talk and GrandCentral).
  
  Note: Orkut also has a third option, but I'll save that for another post. ;-)
• Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers!: Orkut is one of the few non search Google services that has a large following of third party companies or (as Steve Baller of Microsoft likes to call them) developers, developers, developers, developers!
  
  Thus far Orkut has almost 2,000 Orkut apps created by third party companies or hackers, not to mention countless GreaseMonkey scripts and Firefox extensions (with hacks for Google Chrome hopefully along the way).
  
  Unless Google desired to inspire frustration among its geek community (at least overseas), they probably would not kill off Orkut unless the companies financial existence was seriously threatened with extinction.

Even though Google may decide to cut even more services in the future (like Google Knol which is Google's version of Wikipedia) I do not see the search engine giant killing off Orkut--at least in the near future. source: http://www.insideorkut.com/

Happy Birthday Orkut!

Five years ago, a Googler from the great nation of Turkey created Google's first official social network.

Since his last name Büyükkökten was fairly hard to pronounce (at least to the average American), Google decided to name their new social network after his first name, Orkut instead (at least according to the rumors).

Despite the fact that it failed to succeed in the US (MySpace and Facebook dominate here), Orkut somehow later on took off in both Brazil and India--and was even given "Google love" on the homepage for a short season.

Although Orkut has gone through many changes ranging from a (desperately needed) site redesign, to Orkut apps to launching Orkut mobile for smart phones (including the iPhone), the site has kept its simple yet functional design, making the site very enjoyable to use.

While I can only guess what 2009 holds for Orkut's future, I am glad that Google gave Orkut a chance early on as it is one of the few sites that allows me to actively interact with people from half way around the world (mostly from India and Brazil, but also Pakistan, Israel, England, and those crazy--yet lovable Iranians).

Happy Birthday Orkut! And thanks to all of the Googlers (especially the founder) who spend time improving the site, and for putting up with our constant whining (at least mine).

source: http://www.insideorkut.com/

Orkut Help Migrating Away From Google Groups?

It looks like the Google lords have had their fill of Google Groups, and are planning on migrating away from Google usernet forum towards something a little bit more professional.

While this news will not make the Google Groups department happy (as the AdSense help team left earlier), this will hopefully make the forum much more useful (as spammers and flamers seem to be targeting Google groups nowadays).

No word on when the new help group will be launched, although hopefully it will be by the end of next month. source: http://www.insideorkut.com/

Orkut App Allows You To Download YouTube Videos

While there are many places one can download YouTube videos for free, the last place I thought I would ever see one would be on Orkut--especially since Google has started to crack down on third party sites.

Simply called YouTube Video Downloader, this app allows you to download any YouTube video, although the format will be in .flv format (which you can convert to something a little bit friendlier with the help of Convert Direct).

Now that YouTube has (finally) allowed users to download videos (in high quality too!), I would not be surprised to see this app pulled, although I doubt that Google's lawyers will be able to go after them as the creators posted a legal disclaimer telling you not to download YouTube videos.

(YouTube Video Downloader) Here I would like to warn that NEVER DOWNLOAD ANY VIDEOS FROM YOUTUBE. THIS IS ILLEGAL AND AGAINST GOOGLE'S POLICY. USE THIS POST FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. source: http://www.insideorkut.com/

SMS Apps From Mazic Using SMSGupShup Platform

SMS GupShup (Webaroo company) has released its platform for developers to build their SMS applications. The platform is very easy to use. SMS Application is an application that can be used to provide services by communicating through SMS. It can be built using any programming language like Java, C, C++, Perl, PHP, Python etc. You need to register, a Keyword and Appurl with Sms GupShup. When any user send an SMS Keyword Query, the app url will be getting the user phone number and Query as the Query parameters. The response from the app url should be in form of XML or JSON which contains the phone number and content to be posted to the phone number. App cannot send infinite outgoing responses. The outgoing responses from the an app can be upto 5 times the incoming messeges.

Mazic India has built couple of SMS apps using this platform, SMS Dictionary and SMS News.
SMS Dictionary:

SMS DICT pasta and sends it to 56767888 to get meaning of Pasta as response. Usage: DICT Query

SMS News:
SMS Khabar Satyam to 56767888 to get latest news related to satyam. Usage: KHABAR Query

Let us know what kind of services you would like to access via SMS.

Stop Writing in Toilets and Start Testing

After few recent incidents, I feel that all the Google testers are busy writing on the toilets (Read about Testing on the Toilet) and forgot testing the software. I would request them to please concentrate on testing software and not to just claim themselves as best testing/QA team of the world. Google definitely have some of best testers who helped build world class web applications, but quality soon seems to be deteriorating.

First, it was the security loop holes in Google's Chrome browser which surprised me. Just an hour back Google Search started showing all the results as malware sites,which may harm you computer. This lasted for about 15 minutes. On lighter side, Google may be trying to show all non-sponsored results as malware so users will end up with no option but to click on sponsored ads.

One more issue on orkut, I was trying to submit an orkut app from couple of days with no success using this url. I am constantly getting message as:
Bad, bad server. No donut for you.
Unfortunately, the orkut.com server has acted out in an unexpected way. Hopefully, it will return to its helpful self if you try again in a few minutes.
There was no response from them even for an email. Lets see how long this will remain.

What do you guys feel? Is Google slowly losing on the Quality front?
source: http://codeinspections.blogspot.com/

Social Media Madnes

By Erik Qualman, Search Engine Watch, Feb 23, 2009

'Tis the season of college basketball. In less than a month, corporate America will suffer a $4 billion dollar loss in productivity as a consequence of workers ardently filling out basketball brackets for the office March Madness pool, according to a study by Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a job counseling firm in Chicago.

I felt it only appropriate to put together a Social Media Madness bracket in the hopes of answering: Who is, or will become, the king of social media? Is it Facebook? Twitter? Or is it a "Cinderella story" like Livemocha?

I've broken it down into four regions. Rather than start with 64 teams (companies), I've taken the liberty of narrowing it down to the Sweet 16. I'll list each company's key wins (strengths) and key losses (weaknesses) and point out how your company or brand can leverage these social media offerings.

details here: http://searchenginewatch.com/3632888

English Now Irrelevant for Net Surfers

A new Internet technology utilizes keyboard shortcuts to access popular Internet sites. According to the developers, knowledge of English is no longer a prerequisite for surfing.
Sites such as Google, Orkut, Yahoo, Microsoft, etc. can be accessed via simple, pre-defined keyboard shortcuts. For e.g., to visit Google, a user will have to type the following three consecutive letters in the keyboard gghhjj.com . To visit Orkut, they will have to just type ookkmm.com.

The technology has been developed by a team of eight young Indians and has been named as the 'Angle Theory of Atoall.com.' It does not require any software installation. The developers say their intention is to make the Internet and websites on the Internet accessible to all, including illiterate people. They insist they have not violated any rules and regulations of the Internet.
They believe that this new Internet technology for search engines will not only make the online surfing experience easy for English-speaking users, but even non-English speaking and illiterate people can access websites of their interest.

Sanjeev Singla, MD of Atoall.com said, "One has to type three letters twice on the computer keyboard, which are in a straight line, 'C' or inverted 'C' or 'V' or inverted 'V' twice, followed by .com or ctrl+enter (it's for www .com) . The shortcut keys are together on the keyboard, for e.g., rrddcc.com, ccddrr.com, mmjjnn.com, nnjjmm.com, etc.

Online advertisers can especially benefit if this technology works as promised. Just imagine the exponential increase in Internet surfers if even non-English speaking users start using the Internet. We can earn $36 billion annually from this invention because illiterate people can also use the Internet by Atoall.com's Angle Theory. So, non-English speaking persons can get benefits of Internet technology."

Source: CXOtoday.com

Express Yourself, Face Prosecution? Bloggers Speak

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In recent times, blogging has become the most common way to exercise one's freedom of expression. However, we are not sure if it will remain thus henceforth.
I say this because a criminal case has been filed against a Kerala-based 19-year-old IT student for starting a community on Orkut against a political party. "You should not have indulged in such activity. You are a student of IT. You are doing something on Internet and you should know about it," the Supreme Court Bench said, refusing his lawyer's plea.

Members of the blogging community have a lot to say about this. Some of them are for such a verdict while the others are totally against it.

A recent blog entry on DesiPundit.com by Patrix says, "We are seeking suggestions to address these concerns, especially from a legal perspective. Moving beyond rants against the SC ruling, we would appreciate it if you could offer any suggestions to tackle efforts at controlling our blogging rights. This ruling not only affects bloggers but all netizens who comment on forums and Facebook/Orkut communities."

Popular blogger Praveen Dalal, who is by profession an advocate practicing in the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court, on his blog post says, "It is not the blogging that is bad or illegal per se, but the 'Illegal Contents' that it generates. With constitutional protection on the side of bloggers, there must be very strong reasons to book a person for defamation or disturbing religious harmony. The Government of India can make things better by formulating a good cyber law that clearly demarcates between legal and illegal opinion sharing."

Annie Zaidi, journalist and owner of the blog Known Turf, reveals another side of the issue. She says, "I blog about various subjects, but I do not often call people or parties names, and usually exercise restraint even when I am very angry, which is what I would do even in print, or on television. The 'blogging culture' needs to grow up and recognize that the laws of the land apply to them as well. If they want to campaign against the laws of the land, that is a separate issue."

Zaidi also points out that bloggers or moderators of web forums should not be held responsible for libel if the said material is in the form of a comment. "Responsibility needs to be placed where it is due," she adds.

Writer, photographer, and blogger Ajay Jain said, "Blogging is a form of media just like any other: newspapers, internet, radio, and television. The laws and rules of conduct that apply to the latter should apply likewise to blogging. Bloggers and other citizen journalists should realize that power and freedom does not come without responsibility. Blogs and social media are public platforms like any other, and what they say on these affects society and the nation. Just like journalists do, all information and opinion should be based on verified facts and not hearsay, with full attribution being given to sources."

Jain is an active blogger who talks about a diverse range of topics on his blog ranging from Politics to Travel and Social Issues to Technology.

Jain also says, "We must appreciate that blogging gives the power and freedom to citizens to exercise their opinion, and it should not be curtailed in any form. However, what may be a matter of concern is the ability to beat down bloggers because they are individuals without any support system. Political parties, courts, and other legal authorities may find it easy to intimidate them through force and the threat of legal action. As a society, we should not allow this to happen."
Poonam in her blog Visceral Observations questions the grounds on which SC has made this decision. She also goes ahead to state the "reasonable restrictions" stated in Clause (2) of Article 19 of the Indian Constitution. These reasonable restrictions are:

• Security of the State
• Friendly relations with foreign States
• Public order
• Decency and morality
• Contempt of court
• Defamation
• Incitement to an offence
• Sovereignty and integrity of India

She says that it is not clear to her which clause this particular act falls into.

Another post on Mutiny.in says, "Blogs have always been about opinion, and in terms of reportage, blogs are now quickly gaining more readership and attention. With increased exposure to the aam internet-savvy junta, I do believe that bloggers must also show some restraint with criticism and inject it with more constructiveness. Mere rants serve little purpose except for satisfying one's itch and/or ego to make themselves heard, and when this tends to hurt public sentiment, the law is forced to step in. If the court says it will take action against bloggers who go online and make hate-posts against a particular individual, and if this hurts public sentiment, then I am with the court."

We have a lot of diverse views and opinions from the members of the blogging community. However, according to SC's verdict it is not just about blogging, but is related to anything being published on the internet, and if someone files a criminal case on the basis of the content, then you are subject to prosecution.

We want to know what you guys feel about this. Are you for or against this verdict, or do you have an opinion to give. Let us know your thoughts. Techtree.com

WebPage VoiceMail Inbox Gadget Now Available On Orkut

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February 22, 2009 - MeterNet's WebPage VoiceMail (WPVM) is taking the social networking community by storm as it unveils its OpenSocial inbox gadget on Orkut couple of weeks after its release on Friendster and Ning. These platforms are among the biggest social networking sites in the world.

Orkut, owned by Google, claims 50 million worldwide users of its Social Network, with dominating positions in Brazil and top tier positions in India, US, and other international markets.

With the Inbox Gadget, WPVM subscribers on Orkut can easily receive voice messages on their profile while protecting their privacy. This is because WPVM is an online voicemail system that allows subscribers to receive free message calls from anyone, anywhere, thru any Internet browser on PC or Mac computers without revealing their email or contact numbers.

WPVM subscribers also enjoy automated 24x7 email notification and online retrieval of their voicemail messages anytime thru the WPVM Inbox Gadget. With low flat-rate pricing for the WPVM service, subscribers also enjoy freedom from any per-minute charges or advertisement clutter.

To add the Webpage Voicemail Inbox Gadget into your Orkut page, please follow these simple steps:

1. Subscribe to WPVM (http://www.webpagevoicemail.com) via Paypal, selecting either the Annual or Quarterly Plan.

2. Log-in to your Orkut account.

3. Go to Orkut's Application Directory and look for "Meternet" using the search box.

4. Click Add Application.

Besides Orkut, WPVM subscribers can also use their Internet voicemail accounts on Friendster, Ning and other social networks, blogs, emails and company website.

About Orkut
orkut is an online community designed to make your social life more active and stimulating. orkut's social network can help you maintain existing relationships with pictures and messages, and establish new ones by reaching out to people you've never met before. orkut makes it easy to find people who share your hobbies and interests, look for romantic connections or establish new business contacts. You can also create and join a wide variety of online communities to discuss current events, reconnect with old school mates or even exchange your favorite recipes. Who you interact with is entirely up to you. Before getting to know an orkut member, you can read their profile and even see how they're connected to you through the friends network. For more information, visit: http://orkut.com.

About MeterNet
Formed in 1996, privately held MeterNet integrates and markets Web Programs & Tailored Services. MeterNet delivers solutions to help do business with "late adopter" customers more effectively. Over its thirteen-year history, MeterNet has met demands of worldwide clients including Ziff-Davis, America Online, Alta Vista, Shopping.com & IBM. The company launched its new VM1 Internet VoiceMail Network and WebPage VoiceMail service in 2008. For more information, visit http://meternet.com and http://internetvoicemailnetwork.com.

About OpenSocial
OpenSocial defines common programming for social applications across multiple websites. OpenSocial is currently being developed by a broad set of members of the web community. The ultimate goal is for any social website to be able to implement the programming and host 3rd party social applications. For more Info, got to http://code.google.com/apis/opensocial
source: http://www.1888pressrelease.com

Bloggers can be nailed for views

NEW DELHI: A 19-year-old blogger's case could forever change the ground rules of blogging. Bloggers may no longer express their uninhibited views
on everything under the sun, for the Supreme Court said they may face libel and even prosecution for the blog content.

It will no longer be safe to start a blog and invite others to register their raunchy, caustic and even abusive comments on an issue while seeking protection behind the disclaimer — views expressed on the blog are that of the writers.

This chilling warning emerged as a Bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice P Sathasivam refused to protect a 19-year-old Kerala boy, who had started a community on Orkut against Shiv Sena, from protection against summons received from a Maharashtra court on a criminal case filed against him.

Petitioner Ajith D had started a community on Orkut against Shiv Sena. In this community, there were several posts and discussions by anonymous persons who alleged that Shiv Sena was trying to divide the country on region and caste basis.

Reacting to these posts, the Shiv Sena youth wing's state secretary registered a criminal complaint at Thane police station in August 2008 based on which FIR was registered against Ajith under Sections 506 and 295A pertaining to hurting public sentiment.

After getting anticipatory bail from Kerala HC, Ajith moved the Supreme Court through counsel Jogy Scaria seeking quashing of the criminal complaint on the ground that the blog contents were restricted to communication within the community and did not have defamation value. He also pleaded that there was threat to his life if he appeared in a Maharashtra court.

A computer science student, Ajith pleaded that the comments made on the blog were mere exercise of their fundamental right to freedom of expression and speech and could not be treated as an offence by police.

Unimpressed, the Bench said, "We cannot quash criminal proceedings. You are a computer student and you know how many people access internet portals. Hence, if someone files a criminal action on the basis of the content, then you will have to face the case. You have to go before the court and explain your conduct." source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

Court refuses to go easy on hate site

New Delhi, Feb. 24: The Supreme Court has refused to quash criminal proceedings against a computer student who created a hate community on networking website Orkut.

A member of the “I hate Shiv Sena” community, which is over 500-strong, posted a death threat against Sena chief Bal Thackeray.

D. Ajith, the 20-year-old student from Kerala, denied posting the threat. “He only created the anti-Shiv Sena site. He has not posted any harmful things,” Ajith’s lawyer Jogy Scaria said.

The criminal proceedings against Ajith had been initiated by the cyber crime cell of Mumbai police.

A bench yesterday turned down Ajith’s plea to quash the case. Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan said: “We will not do that. Anything that is posted on the Internet goes to the public. The Internet is open to the world.”

Ajith, who was 19 when he created the community, is studying computer science at a private college in Cherthala, Kerala.

His community lambasted the Sena chief and his party for illiberal policies. The site featured writings accusing the Sena chief of dividing the country on religious, caste and regional lines.

The police had registered a case against Ajith on the charge of posting a death threat to Thackeray on the Orkut site. The student faces charges of criminal intimidation and hurting religious sentiments.

The police had monitored Ajith’s Gmail account and postings on Orkut for a week before zeroing in on his residence near a government ayurveda college in Mararikulam.

They questioned Ajith’s father and confiscated the hard disk of his computer.

The police had been monitoring the website ever since the Sena staged a series of violent protests against Orkut for carrying anti-party comments. Cybercafés across Mumbai were vandalised.

Mumbai police then wrote to the Centre seeking guidelines to tackle such websites.

The Sena also threatened cybercafé owners to prohibit access to Orkut or face closure.

Google, which runs the networking site, has since tied up with police in five Indian cities to monitor objectionable material on Orkut. It has also advised users on how to report abuse and prevent sharing of private information.

India has the third highest number of Orkut users, according to data on its website. Around 53.25 per cent of Orkut users are from Brazil, 18.85 per cent from the US and 16.02 per cent from India.

A petition has also been submitted before the Aurangabad bench of Bombay High Court against Orkut and other social networking sites.

Lawyer Yugant R. Marlapalle has urged the bench to issue a directive to all network service providers operating in India to ensure their sites are not used to promote content that is inimical to the country or promotes hate and violence. source: http://www.telegraphindia.com

Arsenal Community On Orkut

Vacas Areph is 25 years old and is a banker in Lahore, Pakistan and has been supporting Premier League club Arsenal for almost a decade. He owns an Arsenal community on Orkut and now explains his love and dedication towards his club and his community…..

Goal.com: Tell us something about yourself.

Vacas: My name is Vacas Areph and I’m from Lahore, Pakistan. I’m employed in a bank. I’ve been supporting Arsenal for almost 10 years. For most people it’s the players or the clubs’ history that attracts them but for me it was different. My first introduction to club football was through FIFA 99. I started taking interest in club football after that. But when I started watching club football, I had no knowledge about clubs. It was Arsenal’s attractive style of play that inspired me to follow them. Since then I’ve been a Gooner through and through.

Goal.com: When and how did the community start?

Vacas: This community was originally created by Jud on January 31, 2004. Incidentally it was the same year I joined Orkut. This commnuity had seen five owners already…..it sounds like managerial changes at Chelsea, doesn’t it? But it is different. Whenever the owner felt that he or she could no longer dedicate time towards the community due to priorities in personal life, he or she passed on the community to the deserving member. I started as a member and was then appointed a moderator by the owner. Eventually I was passed on the ownership.

Goal.com: How did the community develop?

Vacas: When I joined this community, it had very few members. But with the passage of time the number has risen up to 85,000 members. The growth rate has been staggering. Interestingly, the discussion level in the community has also improved with more members joining in.

Goal.com: What is the aim of your community?

Vacas: The aim of our community is to discuss every matter related to the club we love, interact with fellow Gooners in a healthy environment, increase our knowledge of the club and help one another become a better person in the world of internet as well as in actual life.We have also started an Arsenal blog with the name 'The Gooner World'. The money received from the Blog clicks goes to Charity.

Goal.com: Has your community fulfilled that aim?

Vacas: We have established Community Etiquettes and Rules for the betterment of the community. The members are very cooperative and humble and along with the moderators and previous owners, they have helped the community gain popularity and touch new heights.

Goal.com: What type of discussions do you hold here?

Vacas: Every topic related to Arsenal is discussed in our community. From matchday events to live scores to financial aspects, transfer rumours, strategies, history…..every topic under the sun even remotely related to the club! Oh, we have also created a separate thread for members where they can interact with one another and talk all things other than football.

Goal.com: From which nations do your members come from?

Vacas: We have members from India, Pakistan, Brazil, France, Iran, USA, UK and Germany. Our community member Felipe goes to every Arsenal match and gives us match reports and news.

Goal.com: Is it tough to maintain your community?

Vacas: I wouldn’t call it tough because I love my community. But managing every community (on Orkut) requires a certain level of dedication and we’re lucky to have excellent moderators to look after our Arsenal FC community. Heated debates and disagreements are a part of discussions but the members are educated and are aware of the significance of Community Etiquettes and Rules.

And here is what the members, who are obviously Arsenal fans, have to say about the community as well as about the club that they support.

Chinmay Tadwalkar from Aurangabad: This community has played a vital role in shaping me as a proud Gooner. The members are more than just my fellow members.

Vinay from India: Arsenal Football Club is my life. This community is the way I can express my feelings and my passion towards my beloved club.

Vijay Saibola from Dortmund, Germany: Since coming to Germany for my education, watching the Premier League has not been easy. Only the Bundesliga matches are shown in pubs and I cannot yet afford myself a TV with Premier Cable package for Premier League matches. The only solution is livestream on the internet. Even while watching the match, I never miss out on the 'live-text' thread in the community. It’s really nice to get the the views and be in tune with the emotions of hundreds of other Arsenal fans while the game is on.

Paul, India: Hostile arguments happen all the time. But at the end of the day, most members listen to reason and are generally not afraid to admit it when they are wrong.

Moiz from Karachi, Pakistan: This community provides a very good opportunity to know people who share the same passion.

Eric from Mumbai, India: I have been an ardent Arsenal fan since 2001 and the television and newspapers were the only source of football related stuff. It was ‘all take and no give’. I wanted to express my opinions about Arsenal and this community surely has taken care of that desire. This is more like a “soccer family”. Thank you Arsenal FC Community (Codename 4553).

Akshay Jha from Guwahati, India: The only reason that I am still on orkut is because of this community and the club.

Mamoon Ghaffar from Peshawar,Pakistan: I don't remember when I started supporting Arsenal; it seems to me that I was born an Arsenal fan! Long live Arsenal! Love live the sacred " 4553 " and its beloved members.

Felipe Hassin, from London: Since moving to London when I was only a 16-year-old boy, I found Orkut to be a bridge that linked me with my friends and family in Brazil. Two years after joining Orkut I finally joined my very first community (Arsenal community). Since then I have never spent a single week away from here.

Asjad from Lahore,Pakistan: I have an Orkut account only because of this community.

Sumanth Anchan from Thane, India: Usually we have had healthy debates. Everyone is allowed to make a point. Yes, sometimes the situation does go out of hand, but since each member is so passionate about Arsenal, that is understandable.

Sandeep from India: My Love for Arsenal will remain till the very last breath of my life. Proud to be a Gooner, Gooner till I die. And one more thing: "Be a Gooner, Be a giver."

Amoy Ghoshal and Subhankar Mondal

Orkut Users Targeted in Malware Campaign

Orkut is a Google-owned social networking service with most users located in Brazil and India. It recently ranked 21st in Compete.com’s top 25 social networking sites, with more than 5 million monthly visits in January of 2009.

Now, much like the other social networking sites in the said list, Orkut is now also being used by cyber criminals to carry a malware that can compromise a victim’s computer.

Spoofed emails which claim to be from Orkut inform the recipient that their account has been found fake and is doing illegal activities such as sending out spam to other Orkut members. SOURCE: http://blog.trendmicro.com

Orkut users targeted in scam

Over the weekend, users of Google owned social-networking service Orkut were singled out in a scam offering up Malware that would compromise the user’s computer. The Malware kills off anti-Malware applications, thus allowing additional software to be loaded onto the system.

Orkut is used mostly in Brazil and India, according to TrendLabs, which reported the new scam. As of January, the site sees about five million hits monthly on average. The user base, and the fact that social networks are popular targets for criminals, are just two of the reasons Orkut has been targeted.

The scam is relatively simple: An Orkut member receives an e-mail alerting them to suspicious activity on their account. The e-mails warns that the user’s account has been flagged for containing illegal information. To address the issue, they are offered a link to download software, which is said to contain more information on their account. Naturally, the software is malicious.

An alternate scam starts in a similar fashion: The user gets an e-mail reporting their account as being fake or of sending spam. To correct this problem and confirm their account, a link is offered. The link redirects to a malicious site, where the Malware is waiting for download.

In both cases, TrendLabs advises users to ignore the incoming e-mails.

Orkut users were targeted last December by a Worm that compromised over 400,000 users. The Worm was triggered by viewing a malicious scrapbook entry, which led to infection and propagation to everyone listed as a contact on the infected profile. The Worm started because of a malicious SWFObject. source: http://www.thetechherald.com/article.php/200908/2961/Orkut-users-targeted-in-scam