911 tech pinpoints people in buildings—but could disrupt wireless ISPs

FCC decision could wreak havoc on ISPs, baby monitors, and smart meters.

Depending on whom you ask, the Progeny Waiver will either (a) totally wipe out the smart grid industry, annihilate wireless ISP service in urban areas, do untold millions of dollars of damage to the oil and gas industry, and wipe out hundreds of millions (possibly billions) of dollars in wireless products from baby monitors to garage door openers; (b) save thousands of lives annually by providing enhanced 9-1-1 geolocation so that EMTs and other first responders can find people inside apartment buildings and office complexes; (c) screw up EZ-Pass and other automatic toll readers, which use neighboring licensed spectrum; or (d) some combination of all of the above.

That’s not bad for a proceeding you probably never heard about.

Security reporter tells Ars about hacked 911 call that sent SWAT team to his house

Brian Krebs may be first journalist to suffer vicious hack known as swatting.

Opens the door of his house and is staring into the muzzles of several powerful weapons and excited police dogs.  I’ve posted about this before…

An Insane Theory of Product Liability

Via the WSJ today:

Can a drug company be held liable for damages caused by generic drugs it didn’t produce? That’s the expansive new theory of “innovator liability” on parade in Alabama, where a recent ruling by the state Supreme Court could do damage throughout the U.S. economy.

In Wyeth Inc. et al., v. Danny Weeks et al., Mr. Weeks says he suffered from side effects from taking the generic version of an acid-reflux drug called Reglan. He sued Wyeth for fraud and misrepresentation, though the company didn’t make the drug he took and had exited the Reglan market in 2002, five years before he took it. The court ruled 8-1 that Wyeth could be held liable for injuries because the generic manufacturer couldn’t change the warnings on the product it copied.

Say it, Tort Reform. SAY IT! TORT REFORM!!!  Court rulings like this take money out of the pockets of every person able to follow the instructions for the recommended dose and puts money into the pockets of idiots who don’t (and their lawyers).