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takyon writes:

China's Zhaoxin CPU Is in Its First Mini-PC

Networking specialist Ruijie Networks on Tuesday launched its first mini-PC featuring China's homegrown Zhaoxin KaiXian KX-U6780A processor.

[...] The RG-CT7800 takes the form of a 2.4-liter, black chassis. The device features a custom motherboard for the KaiXian KX-U6780A, since the processor is ball grid array-based. The motherboard comes with two SO-DIMM DDR4 RAM slots too.

[...] Ruijie Networks offers the RG-CT7800 with 8GB of DDR4 memory and a 256GB SSD. One of the product images show the device with what appears to be four USB 2.0 ports and two 3.5mm jacks for heaphones and microphones. It's unclear what other ouputs are on the RG-CT7800.

The RG-CT7800 is compatible with the Chinese-developed UOS (Unity Operating System) and NeoKylin operating systems, which are both based on Linux. Ruijie Networks has made the necessary software modifications so that the RG-CT7800 can run streaming software and office suites, such as Kingsoft WPS Office and Yongzhong Office. The mini-PC also supports a bunch of peripherals, including Pantum printers, CZUR document scanners, digital drawing tablets and bar code scanners.

KaiXian KX-U6780A is a "high-end" 8-core x86-64 CPU from Zhaoxin, a joint venture between Via Technologies and the Chinese government. Any way you measure it, performance is relatively low, but that is not the point:

According to GeekBench, the Zhaoxin KX-U6780A comes in at a 1910 on single core score and a 8670 on a multi core score. This is roughly comparable to a modern high-end Intel Atom, or 2012 era four-core Intel Core i5-3550U.

However, where this gets interesting is how it fits into China's "3-5-2" plan. This is Beijing's mandate to wean China's public sector off foreign technology. By the end of 2020, 30% of the technology infrastructure needs to be domestic, while by the end of 2021 this number jumps to 50%, while the remaining 20% would need to be replaced by the end of 2022. The RG-CT7800 -- while technically unremarkable -- will be a perfect cog in the machine for this plan.

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

An Indiana man may beat a drug prosecution after the state's highest court threw out a search warrant against him late last week. The search warrant was based on the idea that the man had "stolen" a GPS tracking device belonging to the government. But Indiana's Supreme Court concluded that he'd done no such thing—and the cops should have known it.

Last November, we wrote about the case of Derek Heuring, an Indiana man the Warrick County Sheriff's Office suspected of selling meth. Authorities got a warrant to put a GPS tracker on Heuring's car, getting a stream of data on his location for six days. But then the data stopped.

Officers suspected Heuring had discovered and removed the tracking device. After waiting for a few more days, they got a warrant to search his home and a barn belonging to his father. They argued the disappearance of the tracking device was evidence that Heuring had stolen it.

During their search, police found the tracking device and some methamphetamine. They charged Heuring with drug-related crimes as well as theft of the GPS device.

But at trial, Heuring's lawyers argued that the warrant to search the home and barn had been illegal. An application for a search warrant must provide probable cause to believe a crime was committed. But removing a small, unmarked object from your personal vehicle is no crime at all, Heuring's lawyers argued. Heuring had no way of knowing what the device was or who it belonged to—and certainly no obligation to leave the device on his vehicle.

An Indiana appeals court ruled against Heuring last year. But Indiana's Supreme Court seemed more sympathetic to Heuring's case during oral arguments last November.

"I'm really struggling with how is that theft," said Justice Steven David during November's oral arguments.

The appeals court[*] decision is available online as a pdf.

Also at: Washington Post and The Indiana Lawyer.

[*] Updated at 2020-02-26 01:16:51 UTC. Previously, this link suggested it was to the decision by the Indiana Supreme Court. This was, in fact, a link to the decision from the Indiana Appeals Court. We regret the error.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Samsung Starts Mass Production of Second-Gen 16GB LPDDR5 RAM for Future Premium Smartphones

Samsung has announced that it will kick off mass production of the world's first 16GB LPDDR5 RAM package for future smartphones. Last year, the Korean giant stated that it started mass production of 12GB LPDDR5 RAM. For 2020, Samsung has taken that production dial to the next phase and claims that the new RAM packages will enable users to experience enhanced 5G and AI features ranging from graphic-rich gaming and smart photography.

According to the company, the data transfer rate for the 16GB LPDDR5 [package] is 5500Mb/s (megabits per second), making it significantly faster than the previous-generation LPDRR4X RAM package, which peaks out at 4266Mb/s. That's not the only benefit of using these chips, because compared to an 8GB LPDDR4X package, the new mobile DRAM can deliver more than 20 percent power savings while offering twice the memory capacity.

16 GB DRAM packages could also be used in single board computers and other compact systems. For example, the BCM2711 SoC used in the Raspberry Pi 4 Model B can theoretically address up to 16 GB of memory.

Samsung press release. Also at AnandTech.

Previously: Samsung Announces 8 GB DRAM Package for Mobile Devices
Samsung Announces LPDDR5 DRAM Prototype Before Specification is Finalized
Samsung Begins Mass Producing 12 GB DRAM Packages for Smartphones
Samsung Mass Producing LPDDR5 DRAM (12 Gb x 8 for 12 GB Packages)
Get Ready for Smartphones with 16 GB of RAM

Original Submission

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for SoyCow4275_:

Getting a grip: An innovative mechanical controller design for robot-assisted surgery:

Robotics has weaved its way into many different fields, and medicine is no exception; robot-assisted surgery has advanced dramatically over the past decade in almost every surgical subspecialty. Robot-assisted surgery is usually performed using surgical robot systems that involve a master-slave configuration, in which the "master" is a controller device that the surgeon manipulates to control a robotic arm. Such systems improve the dexterity and precision of surgeons by filtering out hand tremors and scaling their hand motions into smaller movements. They also reduce the risk of common surgical complications such as surgical site infection.

However, robot-assisted surgery comes with its own disadvantages, especially for the person performing the surgery. Robotic surgeons sometimes feel physical discomfort during surgery, with finger fatigue being common. This discomfort is associated with the way in which they grip the master controller. Two types of grips are usually used to control surgical robots: the "pinch grip" and "power grip." The pinch grip has been used in conventional surgeries for centuries; it involves using the thumb, middle, and index fingers to achieve high-precision movements. On the other hand, the power grip involves grabbing a handle with the entire hand and is more suitable for forceful work and large movements.

Because the pinch grip puts tension on certain muscles of the hand and fingers, it is more likely to cause fatigue. And although the power grip does not seem to cause such discomfort, it offers less precise control. Therefore, there is a trade-off between the discomfort caused by the pinch grip and the lack of fine control of the power grip. Fortunately, Mr. Solmon Jeong and Dr. Kotaro Tadano, a pair of researchers from Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech), found a clever solution to this problem. In a study published in The International Journal of Medical Robotics and Computer Assisted Surgery , the researchers speculated that a master controller that combines both types of gripping can be designed. Dr. Tadano explains, "In robotic surgery, the limitations of the two conventional gripping methods are strongly related to the advantages and disadvantages of each gripping type.

[...] This new master controller design could be a step in the right direction in robot-assisted surgery. "The manipulating method of master controllers for robotic surgery has a significant influence in terms of intuitiveness, comfort, precision, and stability. In addition to enabling precise operation, a comfortable manipulating method could potentially benefit both the patient and the surgeon," remarks Dr. Tadano. Although future work is needed to analyze other variables involved in robotic arm manipulation, this work surely paves the way for advanced surgical robot systems.

Journal Reference:

Solmon Jeong, Kotaro Tadano. Manipulation of a master manipulator with a combined‐grip‐handle of pinch and power grips. The International Journal of Medical Robotics and Computer Assisted Surgery, 2020; DOI: 10.1002/rcs.2065

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Fox is reportedly eyeing Tubi. [Editor's Note: Tubi is a streaming service.]

Tubi is available in the US, Canada and Australia on Android and iOS, as well as on devices such as Amazon Echo Show, Google Nest Hub Max, Roku and Apple TV. Content is also viewable at www.tubi.tv. The company plans to launch in more areas including the UK and Mexico in the coming year.

[...] As more streaming services such as Disney Plus and Apple TV Plus launch to compete with the likes of Netflix, several companies are also looking to free, ad-supported platforms aimed at customers who might not be willing to dish out more money for an ever-growing list of paid offerings.

Last year, it was reported that Walmart could be thinking of selling Vudu, a service that lets customers rent or purchase individual shows or movies. Vudu also launched a free, ad-supported service in 2016. 

Walmart reportedly purchased Vudu for around $100 million in 2010, and says the service is installed on more than 100 million devices in the US. It's not clear if there will be a deal between NBCUniversal and Vudu, people familiar with the matter told The Journal. A Walmart representative declined to comment, but said the company is "constantly having conversations with partners."

Original Submission

aristarchus writes:

Found in The Local.de:

Several people were injured Monday when a car drove into a carnival procession in the central German town of Volkmarsen, police said. "There are dozens of injured, including some who are gravely hurt," a spokeswoman for Volkmarsen police told AFP.

Speaking to DPA news agency, a police spokesman added that children were among the injured. The driver has been arrested.

Germany is on high alert following a shooting spree by a far-right gunman in the city of Hanau, also in Hesse, last Wednesday, that left 10 people dead.

Monday's incident took place as residents in many parts of the country celebrate Rose Monday, a highlight of annual carnival festivities that sees adults and children alike dress up and attend parades where people play music and throw candies from floats.

According to the Daily Mail

Police in Germany have tonight searched the home of a driver who deliberately drove a car into crowds at a German Carnival parade on Monday afternoon.

Special police officers dressed in all black with protective gear were seen entering the property of the 29-year-old who has been arrested for attempted murder after he ploughed his Mercedes into the carnival crowd packed with children.

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for SoyCow4275_:

Creating custom light using 2D materials:

Finding new semi-conductor materials that emit light is essential for developing a wide range of electronic devices. But making artificial structures that emit light tailored to our specific needs is an even more attractive proposition. However, light emission in a semi-conductor only occurs when certain conditions are met. Today, researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, in collaboration with the University of Manchester, have discovered an entire class of two-dimensional materials that are the thickness of one or a few atoms. When combined together, these atomically thin crystals are capable of forming structures that emit customisable light in the desired colour. This research, published in the journal Nature Materials, marks an important step towards the future industrialisation of two-dimensional materials.

[...] "Our objective was to manage to combine different two-dimensional materials to emit light while being free from all constraints," continues professor Morpurgo. The physicists thought that, if they could find a class of materials where the velocity of the electrons before and after the change in energy level was zero, it would be an ideal scenario which would always meet the conditions for light emission, regardless of the details of the crystal lattices and their relative orientation.

A large number of known two-dimensional semi-conductors have a zero-electron velocity in the relevant energy levels. Thanks to this diversity of compounds, many different materials can be combined, and each combination is a new artificial semi-conductor emitting light of a specific colour. "Once we had the idea, it was easy to find the materials to use to implement it," adds professor Vladimir Fal'ko from the University of Manchester. Materials that were used in the research included various transition metal dichalcogenides (such as MoS2, MoSe2 and WS2) and InSe. Other possible materials have been identified and will be useful for widening the range of colours of the light emitted by these new artificial semi-conductors.

"The great advantage of these 2D materials, thanks to the fact that there are no more preconditions for the emission of light, is that they provide new strategies for manipulating the light as we see fit, with the energy and colour that we want to have," continues Ubrig. This means it is possible to devise future applications on an industrial level, since the emitted light is robust and there is no longer any need to worry about the alignment of atoms.

Nicolas Ubrig, et. al. Design of van der Waals interfaces for broad-spectrum optoelectronics. Nature Materials, 2020; DOI: 10.1038/s41563-019-0601-3

Original Submission

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for SoyCow4275:

10,000 times faster calculations of many-body quantum dynamics possible:

A team led by Professor Michael Bonitz from the Institute of Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics at Kiel University (CAU) has now succeeded in developing a simulation method, which enables quantum mechanical calculations up to around 10,000 times faster than previously possible. They have published their findings in the current issue of the renowned scientific journal Physical Review Letters.

The new procedure of the Kiel researchers is based on one of the currently most powerful and versatile simulation techniques for quantum mechanical many-body systems.

It uses the method of so-called nonequilibrium Green functions: this allows movements and complex interactions of electrons to be described with very high accuracy, even for an extended period.

[...] to date this method is very computer-intensive: in order to predict the development of the quantum system over a ten times longer period, a computer requires a thousand times more processing time.

With the mathematical trick of introducing an additional auxiliary variable, the physicists at the CAU have now succeeded in reformulating the primary equations of nonequilibrium Green functions such that the calculation time only increases linearly with the process duration.

[...] The new calculation model of the Kiel research team not only saves expensive computing time, but also allows for simulations, which have previously been completely impossible. "We were surprised ourselves that this dramatic acceleration can also be demonstrated in practical applications," explained Bonitz.

Original publication:
Niclas Schlünzen, Jan-Philip Joost, Michael Bonitz, Achieving the Scaling Limit for Nonequilibrium Green Functions Simulations, Physical Review Letters 124, 7, (2020) DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.076601
https://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.076601

Original Submission

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for SoyCow4275_:

Why fixing security vulnerabilities in medical devices, IoT is so hard:

When your family opened up that brand-new computer when you were a kid, you didn't think of all of the third-party work that made typing in that first BASIC program possible. There once was a time when we didn't have to worry about which companies produced all the bits of licensed software or hardware that underpinned our computing experience. But recent malware attacks and other security events have shown just how much we need to care about the supply chain behind the technology we use every day.

The URGENT/11 vulnerability, the subject of a Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency advisory issued last July, is one of those events. It forces us to care because it affects multiple medical devices. And it serves as a demonstration of how the software component supply chain and availability of support can affect the ability of organizations to update devices to fix security bugs—especially in the embedded computing space.

URGENT/11 is a vulnerability in the Interpeak Networks TCP/IP stack (IPNet), which was licensed out to multiple vendors of embedded operating systems. IPNet also became the main networking stack in Wind River VxWorks, until Wind River acquired Interpeak in 2006 and stopped supporting IPNet. (Wind River itself was acquired by Intel in 2009 and spun off in 2018.) But the end of support didn't stop several other manufacturers from continuing to use IPNet. When critical bugs were discovered in IPNet, it set off a scare among the numerous medical device manufacturers that run it as part of their product build.

The average medical or Internet of Things (IoT) device relies on multiple free software or open source utilities. These pieces of software are maintained by any number of third parties—often by just one or two people. In the case of Network Time Protocol (ntp)—software that is in billions of devices—its code is maintained by a single person. And when the OpenSSL Heartbleed vulnerability came out in 2014, the OpenSSL project had two developers working on it. While there are many more developers working on it now, the Heartbleed crisis is emblematic of what happens when we use free software in our devices—the software gets adapted, not really patched, and not really maintained on the device, and little benefit goes back to the project.

The S in IoT stands for Security

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Microsoft Drops More Xbox Series X Tech Specs: Zen 2 + RDNA 2, 12 TFLOPs GPU, HDMI 2.1, & a Custom SSD

First and foremost, Microsoft is now confirming that the console's APU is using AMD's RDNA 2 architecture for the integrated GPU. Information about this architecture is still limited, but AMD previously disclosed that RDNA 2 would include hardware ray tracing functionality – something not present in RDNA (1) – and Microsoft in turn will be tapping this for their next game console. Microsoft, of course, already has significant experience with hardware ray tracing thanks to DirectX's own ray tracing functionality (DXR), so the company will be able to hit the ground running here, albeit with AMD hardware for the first time.

Microsoft's announcement also confirms for the first time that we're getting Variable Rate Shading (VRS) support. This is another feature that has been supported in DirectX for a bit now (and in rivals Intel & NVIDIA's GPUs), but isn't currently available in AMD's RDNA (1) lineup. A sampling optimization of sorts, variable rate shading allows for the shading rate for an area of pixels to be increased or decreased from the normal 1:1 ratio. The net impact is that an area can be oversampled to produce finer details, or undersampled to conserve resources. As the former is more of a niche use case for VR, we're far more likely to see undersampling in day-to-day usage. Especially with complex pixel shaders, when used correctly VRS is intended to give developers a way to improve the performance of their games for little-to-no perceptible impact on image quality.

Finally, as far as overall GPU performance is concerned, Microsoft's latest revelation finally gives us a performance estimate: 12 TFLOPs. While the company doesn't break this down into clockspeed versus compute units, this is none the less twice the GPU performance of the Xbox One X. Or for a more generational comparison, more than 9x the GPU performance of the original Xbox One.

Even at just 2x the performance of the Xbox One X, this is by all objective measures quite a bit of GPU horsepower. To put things in perspective, AMD's current fastest RDNA-based video card, the Radeon RX 5700 XT, only offers 10 TFLOPs of GPU performance. So the Xbox Series X, a device with an integrated GPU, is slated to offer more graphics performance than AMD's current flagship video card. Which, to be sure, doesn't mean the Xbox Series X is going to be more powerful than a PC (there's no getting around the fact that AMD has been trailing NVIDIA here), but it's clear that Microsoft has great ambitions for the console's graphics performance.

The giant APU/SoC inside of the console has been estimated to be around 405 mm². Making millions of the chips will require a significant portion of AMD's allocation of TSMC's "7nm" capacity.

Also at The Verge and Wccftech.

Previously: Microsoft Announces Xbox Series X for Late 2020 Release

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Chemists develop safer hydrogenation processes

Safe and environmentally-friendly hydrogen gas on demand could be on the horizon following a new "hydrogenation" chemical process in development at The City College of New York. Led by Mahesh K. Lakshman, the research uniquely bypasses the need for an external source of hydrogen gas to accomplish a wide range of hydrogenations. It appears as an inside cover feature in the 2020 issue #1 of journal "Advanced Synthesis and Catalysis."

[...] "[Hydrogenation] also needs a source of hydrogen gas, which to date is available from compressed hydrogen gas cylinders. These compressed hydrogen gas cylinders are not only expensive but they pose an extreme explosion and fire hazard." [...] The research developed in CCNY's Division of Science eliminates the need for this compressed gas and results in a safer operational procedure.

"What we have found is that we can mix two stable materials together in the presence of palladium on charcoal and this produces a mixture capable of "hydrogenation," without requiring an external source of compressed hydrogen gas," said Lakshman. "This work was inspired by a publication from the Benjamin Stokes labs at University of California -- Merced. Stokes used water as the source of hydrogen atoms but there were certain things that did not seem achievable under his conditions. Our conditions seem much broader in that many different types of hydrogenations can be accomplished."

Among its other applications, Lakshman pointed that this new process of hydrogenation could be useful in undergraduate chemistry teaching modules. It would allow labs to dispense with compressed hydrogen gas cylinders. "In addition, we have also developed conditions for introducing the heavier isotope (deuterium) by understanding the underlying mechanistic aspects. The concept of heavy drugs utilizes deuterium in place of hydrogen to slow down metabolism, with beneficial medicinal applications," added Lakshman.

Catalytic Reductions Without External Hydrogen Gas: Broad Scope Hydrogenations with Tetrahydroxydiboron and a Tertiary Amine (open, DOI: 10.1002/adsc.201901099) (DX)

Original Submission

takyon writes:

NASA Announces Next Round of Candidates for CubeSat Space Missions

NASA has selected 18 small research satellites from 11 states to fly as auxiliary payloads aboard rockets launching in 2021, 2022 and 2023. The selected CubeSats were proposed by educational institutions, nonprofit organizations and NASA centers in response to NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) call for proposals issued in August 2019.

Separately, a CubeSat will be launched by Rocket Lab to test the proposed orbit for the Lunar Gateway (no longer known as "LOP-G"):

A Rocket Lab Electron will launch the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) satellite from the company's Launch Complex 2 site at Wallops Island, Virginia, in early 2021. The contract for the dedicated launch is valued at $9.95 million.

CAPSTONE, a 25-kilogram satellite being built by Colorado-based Advanced Space under a $13.7 million contract awarded in September, will go into a near-rectilinear halo orbit around the moon, the same orbit proposed for the lunar Gateway. CAPSTONE will demonstrate the stability of that orbit, which has never been used by a spacecraft before, to support planning for the Gateway.

[...] Rocket Lab will use Photon, the satellite bus it is developing based on the Electron rocket's kick stage, to place CAPSTONE on a trajectory to the moon. CAPSTONE will use its own propulsion system to enter orbit around the moon and maneuver into that near-rectilinear halo orbit, a process that will take three months.

In a company statement, Rocket Lab Chief Executive Peter Beck emphasized the flexibility a dedicated launch offered over flying the spacecraft as a secondary payload on a larger vehicle. "As a dedicated mission on Electron, we're able to provide NASA with complete control over every aspect of launch and mission design for CAPSTONE, something typically only available to much larger spacecraft on larger launch vehicles," he said.

Original Submission

DannyB writes:

Here's what people in tech had to say about JavaScript when it debuted in 1995

Time and time again JavaScript is crowned the most popular programming language in the World. Whether you agree with that or not, one thing's for sure: It's come a long way since its debut back in 1995.

To mark the release of JavaScript a joint press release was issued from Netscape and Sun Microsystems on December 4, 1995.

"Programmers have been overwhelmingly enthusiastic about Java because it was designed from the ground up for the Internet. JavaScript is a natural fit, since it's also designed for the Internet and Unicode-based worldwide use," said Bill Joy, co-founder and vice president of research at Sun. "JavaScript will be the most effective method to connect HTML-based content to Java applets."

[ . . . and some testimonials . . .]

"SCO looks forward to supporting the JavaScript language on both our OpenServer and UnixWare product lines. JavaScript will enable developers to create substantially more stimulating and interactive web-based applications than ever before, giving them the edge they need to compete for the attention of the increasingly sophisticated population of Internet users."
        Richard Treadway
        Vice President, Layered Products
        SCO

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for SoyCow4275:

An optimized structure of memristive device for neuromorphic computing systems:

Lobachevsky University scientists have implemented a new variant of the metal-oxide memristive device, which holds promise for use in RRAM (resistive random access memory) and novel computing systems, including neuromorphic ones.

Variability (lack of reproducibility) of resistive switching parameters is the key challenge on the way to new applications of memristive devices. This variability of parameters in 'metal-oxide-metal' device structures is determined by the stochastic nature of the migration process of the oxygen ion and/or oxygen vacancies responsible for oxidation and reduction of conductive channels (filaments) near the metal/oxide interface. It is also compounded by the degradation of device parameters in case of uncontrolled oxygen exchange.

Traditional approaches to controlling the memristive effect include the use of special electrical field concentrators and the engineering of materials/interfaces in the memristive device structure, which typically require a more complex technological process for fabricating memristive devices.

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for SoyCow4275:

Get ready for price hikes up to 10% annually after sale of .org registry:

The nonprofit Internet Society attracted widespread condemnation late last year after announcing it was going to sell off the Public Interest Registry, a subsidiary that administers the .org domain, to a private equity firm called Ethos Capital. People were particularly alarmed because the move came shortly after ICANN removed price caps on registration and renewal fees for .org domains. That opened the prospect of big price hikes in the coming years.

In a Friday press release, Ethos Capital announced it would voluntarily commit to limit price hikes for the next eight years. But under the new rules, Ethos Capital would still be able to raise prices by 10 percent a year—which would more than double prices over the next eight years. Ethos framed this as a concession to the public, and strictly speaking, a 10 percent price hike limit is better for customers than completely uncapped fees. But 10 percent annual increases are still massive—far more than inflation or plausible increases in the cost of running the infrastructure powering the .org registry.

For comparison, ICANN recently announced that Verisign, the company that administers the .com domain, will be allowed to raise prices by 7 percent per year over the next decade, except for a two-year "pause" after four years of hikes. Those changes, adding up to a 70-percent price hike over 10 years, was enough to trigger alarm among domain registrars who must pass these fees on to their customers.

Ethos Capital's proposed limits are also much more than historical increases in the .org fee. The maximum fee charged by the Public Interest Registry for a domain registration has risen from $6 at the end of 2006 to $9.93 today—an annual growth rate of less than 5 percent.

Previously: Now Internet Society Told to Halt Controversial .Org Sale... by its Own Advisory Council

Original Submission