Wires Crossed #45 – July 29

Politician’s Winehouse Tweet Just Not Cricket
US Congressman Billy Long from Missouri has apologised over his tweet comparing Amy Winehouse’s death with the current debt crisis talks in the US. Long tweeted: “No one could reach #AmyWinehouse before it was too late. Can anyone reach Washington before it's too late? Both addicted — same fate???” Bad, bad politico, and not a way to win friends and influence people. He has apologised (as he should), but surely it’s part of Being A Politician 101 – Don’t Speak of the Recently Departed To Make A Political Point. You think it would be common sense, then again ‘common sense’ and ‘politician’ are three words that are rarely seen together.

Facebook Hacker Gets Four Years in The Slammer
George Bronk was sentenced to four years in prison after he hacked women’s Facebook accounts and sent nude and semi-nude pictures of them to people in their contact’s list. While there will not be a lot of sympathy for the sentence – some of us are sick to death of hackers – we are a little perplexed as to why that sentence was so heavy compared to what he got for the attached charge of possession of child pornography, which was eight months. While it appears he used the child pornography pictures to humiliate victims of his Facebook hack (as opposed to being a fan of the information), surely any type of use of this objectionable material deserves a harsher sentence than the original hacking?

Insurer Not Willing to Pay Out Over Sony Hack
It will come as no surprise to anybody who has had dealings with insurance companies that sometimes they can be recalcitrant to pay out claims. Sony is finding out how hard it can be when one of its main insurers has pleaded with the New York State Court that is shouldn’t have to pay out over the recent hack suffered by many users of the PS Network. While it has agreed to pay out anybody who suffered monetary losses over the incident, Zurich American Insurance believes it is not responsible for generic compensation, which is being filed by PS Network subscribers. Funnily enough, we feel a little sympathy for them as it seems a number of other Sony insurers are trying to wash their hands of the whole incident. Well, somebody has to pay – ideally the hackers, but that won’t be happening any time soon.

$32,500 Bill For Stolen Phone
Going over your limit on your mobile plan is one thing, but when you get a bill for $32,500 it brings are new meaning to the saying “Bill Shock”. Sydney man Gary Daff got the bill after his phone was stolen, but what shocked him was the suddenness of which the amount appeared on his account. He immediately reported the phone nicked, but the bill had already mounted. Telstra assure him that he will not have to pay the bill, but he has yet to hear officially.