MIT, Cambridge U. to stage cyber war

The brightest young minds on either side of the Atlantic will wage pretend cyber war in a "Cambridge vs. Cambridge" competition as part of a joint effort announced yesterday by President Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron to bolster cooperation between the two countries to counter hacking and improve cybersecurity.

Teams from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Cambridge will sweat it out in a game of cyber Capture the Flag, where each team will try to steal secrets from their opponent's computer while keeping their foe out of their own system.

"This is a way for getting the kind of experience and training that when you walk into the practical world is absolutely necessary," said Howard Shrobe, director of cybersecurity at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. "(I hope) a number of them get motivated to continue on as researchers and try to address the big questions."

Shrobe said many students that go through MIT's cybersecurity program go on to work in the industry.

"The aim is to enhance cybersecurity research at the highest academic level within both countries to bolster our cyber defenses," the White House said in a press release.

The competition is part of a larger series of initiatives Obama and Cameron outlined, including cyber war games to boost both countries' resistance to cyberattacks, beginning with simulated attacks on banks and the financial sector.

The two Western powers have also agreed to launch a joint "cyber cell" to share information on cyber threats. The FBI and the National Security Agency will be involved, along with Britain's GCHQ and MI5 intelligence and security agencies.

Another program, the Fulbright Cyber Security Award, will train a new generation of "cyber agents," officials said, providing funds for students from both countries to research cybersecurity for up to six months.

12.33 | 0 komentar | Read More

Boston braille press puts out ‘Frozen’ book, CD

What more fitting book for children to curl up with on these bone-chilling days and nights than "Frozen," Disney's wildly popular icy adventure. But the more than 50,000 blind children in the United States have largely been left out of the fun — until now.

The Boston-based National Braille Press has just released a version in both print and braille, along with a CD featuring thrilling sound effects, word-for-word narration and original movie voices, so that parents and children can venture together to Arendelle, a kingdom trapped in a never-ending winter.

"What we try to do is make the most popular children's books accessible to blind children so that they can share in the excitement," said Kimberley Ballard, a National Braille Press spokeswoman.

What makes "Frozen" particularly appealing, Ballard said, is that it has a strong female character and emphasizes the importance of bravery and imagination as the young Princess Anna, a dreamer, goes on a quest to save Arendelle.

12.33 | 0 komentar | Read More

Hot Property: Ride Currents to Waltham complex

Developer Hines Interests, best known for its large, big-city projects around the world, has just opened a stylish apartment complex on a former parking lot along the Charles River in Waltham.

The 200-unit Currents on the Charles takes advantage of views of a new park that stretches down to the river, connecting with a Charles River Reservation bike path that's a mile from Waltham center.

"Reduced construction and land costs out here makes it possible to create urban quality with a significant discount to downtown rents," said David Perry, senior managing director of Hines' Boston office.

The first 66-unit phase in the new complex is ready and has studios starting at $1,995, one-bedroom units at $2,055 and two-bedroom, two-baths at $2,575. There are seven studios, 102 one-bedrooms, 87 two-bedrooms and four three-bedroom corner units starting at $3,480. The apartments, which all have in-unit washers and dryers and loft-style windows, range from 609 square feet to 1,420 square feet.

"The amenities are superior to most new complexes in the suburbs and compete with those in the city," said Amy Medugno, regional portfolio manager of Bozzuto Management Co., which is managing the property.

Common spaces include the 10,000-square-foot River­ Club that combines a living­ room, WiFi/computer lounge, a catering kitchen with free Starbucks coffee, a dining room and a library. A double-sided gas fireplace fronts onto a large outdoor deck with views over the new park and the Charles.

There's a gym with a Fitness on Demand setup and yoga studio, a game room with an 80-inch TV, gaming consoles and shuffleboard, and even a dog-washing station.

Apartments wrap around two rear courtyards, one with an in-ground swimming pool and full outdoor kitchen with gas grills, the other with outdoor seating and a fire pit.

A parking space in a 400-car garage on the first two levels of the building costs $35 a month. Pets cost an extra $35 to $65 a month.

We took a look at two model units. Unit 105, a 774-square-foot one-­bedroom for $2,195 a month, and Unit 108, an 1,108-square-foot two-­bedroom for $2,860.

Both have kitchens with islands along with white quartz countertops, tile back­splashes, dark-stained cabinets and Whirlpool stainless-steel appliances. Carpeted bedrooms have walk-in closets and bathrooms with ceramic tile walls for walk-in showers or deep soaking tubs.

The two-bedroom unit's open living/dining space has a glass door out to the central courtyard with the swimming pool.

Hines has two other local apartment projects in development — 244 units at The Fuse, under construction in Cambridge's Alewife area, and 352 units in two buildings planned for Marina Bay in Quincy.

Currents on the Charles has leased 11 percent of its units, and is offering one month's free rent.

"I wish there was a little less competition, but as long as jobs are being created, we should be able to lease out all the apartment complexes coming on," said Perry. "But the leverage has swung toward the tenant."

12.32 | 0 komentar | Read More

Heslam: New Boston.com editor needs cred

Boston Globe's beleaguered online sister site, Boston.com, is reeling from its latest viral blunder, and it's high time the rudderless ship finds an experienced captain.

Boston.com yesterday fired Victor Paul Alvarez, an associate editor who posted a story making fun of death threats against House Speaker John Boehner and accusing the Ohio Republican of being a heavy drinker with a "pickled liver" who could survive being poisoned.

Globe CEO Mike Sheehan wouldn't comment on Alvarez's ouster but said no other Boston.com staffers were disciplined over the site's latest mishap.

"It's onward and upward," Sheehan said.

Sheehan, who sent an apology letter to Boehner, said they are in the "final stages" of interviewing candidates to fill the Boston.com editor job, which has been vacant since the end of November.

Boston University School of Communications Dean Tom Fiedler said it's "prudent" that the next Boston.com editor have a strong journalistic background to "avoid the kinds of embarrassments" and "controversy that has come up in recent weeks."

It's also important, Fiedler added, that the next editor run Boston.com "in alignment with the journalistic values of the company in general."

Alvarez confirmed his ouster yesterday but said he was surprised by the firing. He declined to elaborate. As for Boehner, Alvarez said, "I'd like to apologize to the man in a way that is sincere, and I don't think a tweet would do it. He deserves more than that."

In an emailed statement, Boston.com's GM Corey Gottlieb said, "We do not comment on individual personnel matters. Any decisions made are far less about one employee than they are about the collective Boston.com team and maintaining and strengthening the standards and values they share."

Sheehan said he has "100 percent confidence" in Gottlieb leading the site.

Last month, then-deputy editor of Boston.com Hilary Sargent was suspended after hawking T-shirts that mocked a Harvard professor embroiled in a $4 flap with a Chinese restaurant owner — a story she doggedly covered. Sargent, now a senior columnist, also posted a piece that was quickly taken down that accused the professor of sending a racist email.

A contrite Alvarez took to Twitter to address his firing — and critics.

"The story I wrote was awful. Tasteless. Mean. Bosses felt it was inexcusable. They fired me," Alvarez wrote in a tweet. "I did not pine for murder. I made a tasteless joke that I clearly regret. Before I was fired and now."

Alvarez tweeted: "Also, in case it wasn't abundantly clear, I'm looking for a job. I doubt there will be any offers. But I am available."

12.32 | 0 komentar | Read More

Cambridge to get Charlie Hebdo mag

Cambridge's Out of Town News so far is the lone Massachusetts retailer slated to receive the "survivors edition" of Charlie Hebdo, the French satirical magazine that yesterday released its first issue since last week's deadly attack by Islamic extremists in Paris.

The Harvard Square newsstand will get five to 10 copies from the first print run of the edition, which features a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad on the cover, according to Martin McEwen, sales and marketing vice president at LS Distribution North America, the Montreal-based North American distributor for the magazine.

"We're trying to get them there for Friday, but it will be probably be over the weekend or Monday morning," McEwen said. "For the first distribution, there are only 300 copies going into the U.S."

The new issue of Charlie Hebdo, which had a press run of 5 million copies, sold out within minutes yesterday in France. Al-Qaeda's branch in Yemen, meanwhile, claimed responsibility for the Jan. 7 attack on the magazine's offices that killed 12 people, saying it ordered the killings because it believed the weekly had insulted Muhammad.

LS Distribution has been inundated with calls from U.S. and Canadian outlets seeking copies of the magazine. "We're expecting additional copies when they do their second print run, but we don't have any confirmation on timings or quantities," McEwen said.

The owners of Out of Town News, which a worker said was slammed with calls yesterday, couldn't be reached. It's unclear if the copies that it will receive already are spoken for by customers. "Most of the retailers I've spoken with, all of the copies are reserved," McEwen said. "They have waiting lists."

12.32 | 0 komentar | Read More

Buyers to make recon missions

GM president Charles "Engine Charlie" Wilson, chosen in 1953 to be secretary of defense for President Dwight Eisenhower, was famously misquoted as saying, "What's good for General Motors is good for the country."

In 2014, GM sold more than 2.9 million vehicles. It was good for the country.

And GM wasn't alone: Honda, Hyundai, Nissan and Subaru had record years, and Chrysler and Toyota posted big sales gains.

Against this backdrop, expect happy faces when the 58th New England International Auto Show gets underway today through Monday at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. Manufacturers and franchised new vehicle dealers are obviously psyched; their annual party has a lot of promise.

Kelley Blue Book thinks sales could reach 17 million in the U.S. this year, closing in on the record 17.3 million vehicles sold in 2000. American consumers bought
16.5 million new vehicles last year, according to Autodata Corp., a 6-percent hike and a sign that the economy is picking up steam. It was the fifth consecutive year of improving sales.

Boston's auto show is an enthusiast's dream; 57 percent of show guests consider themselves "car fanatics." But almost a third are going to the show for more than just the fun of it — they're on a reconnaissance mission. Thirty percent of the show's annual attendees are thinking of making a vehicle purchase in the next three months.

It's a great time to buy. The more affordable cost of fuel, record-low interest rates and an improving economy have all kicked the buying climate into high gear.

The auto show gives prospective buyers a rare opportunity: They can scout choices from among 36 different manufacturers. Hundreds of cars and trucks will dot the BCEC floor and for five days, it will be the largest showroom in the world.

"It's a great opportunity for consumers to plan their next purchase," said Robert F. O'Koniewski, executive vice president of the Massachusetts State Automobile Dealers Association. "A few hundred cars will be there."

Among those will be the newest models, such as the Honda HR-V Crossover and the Jeep Renegade. And the first East Coast showing of the new Audi A6 and A7, is expected to be among the big enthusiast draws.

Even better for some, four manufacturers — Ford, Kia, Scion and Toyota — will provide qualified show attendees the opportunity to take a test drive. Each manufacturer will also have numerous product experts working the displays to answer questions. And guests can also take home reams of product info.

Talk about one-stop shopping.

O'Koniewski says that prospective buyers may have a bit more urgency this year.

"The average age of a car on the road in Massachusetts is 12 to 13 years old," he said. "During the down economy, people focused on keeping what they had. So the last time someone bought or leased a car may have been awhile, and they are going to find that cars are better-made now. They're more fuel-efficient and structurally safer."

Enhancing the festivities will be fun and games. Contests give guests a shot to win a Nascar Driving Experience, a remote car-start system, a gas card, or tickets to a Celtics game, among other prizes.

12.32 | 0 komentar | Read More

Device makers pin hopes on pols

Massachusetts' medical device industry is banking on a now-Republican-controlled U.S. Senate to repeal a federal tax that costs Bay State companies hundreds of millions of dollars per year.

A bipartisan group of senators led by Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) filed long-expected legislation yesterday to rescind the 
2.3 percent medical device tax enacted in 2013 to help fund the Affordable Care Act.

"This is very important legislation to the medical device industry in Massachusetts," said Tom Sommer, president of the Massachusetts Medical Device Industry Council. "We've seen workforce expansion plans stalled ... moves by companies offshore to less costly manufacturing venues and ... reductions in research and development spending."

Massachusetts has the nation's second largest concentration of medical device manufacturing after California. Medical devices are the state's No. 1 exported commodity, accounting for 14.5 percent of goods shipped from the state, according to the council. Some 24,000 employees work at 400 medical device companies, with another 75,000 employed in industry-related jobs.

Identical legislation filed in the last session of Congress passed the House but wasn't considered by the Senate. The legislation proposed yesterday also mirrors a bill introduced in the House last week by Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-Minnesota).

Hub think tank the Pioneer Institute estimated in a 2013 report that the tax costs the state's 19 largest medical device companies $425 million in annual levies. "If it were to be repealed, it would have pretty significant impact in Massachusetts," senior fellow Joshua Archambault said.

12.33 | 0 komentar | Read More

Uber steering data to Boston

Boston will be able to mine a treasure trove of data on every Uber trip in the city to help craft transportation polices after the ride-sharing company yesterday said it had agreed to share the information in a ground-breaking partnership.

"This is going to be a useful tool to help inform policy planning and operation," said Jascha Franklin-Hodge, the Hub's chief information officer. "This data provides interesting sorts of insight to transportation patterns in the city."

Uber said it will give Boston data on where a person is picked up and dropped off, the time of day and the distance traveled. The data will be aggregated and will be anonymous, identified only by ZIP code.

"Boston joins Uber in a first-of-its-kind partnership to help expand the city's capability to solve problems by leveraging data provided by Uber," the company said in a blog post. "The data will provide new insights to help manage urban growth, relieve traffic congestion, expand public transportation and reduce greenhouse gas emissions."

City Hall will get the first batch of information in two weeks, and then it will be released quarterly.

"One of the most interesting things we'll be able to get from this data set is travel time between neighborhoods in the city of Boston, looking at how long it takes to get from Mattapan to downtown," Franklin-Hodge said. "This is going to give us really useful data about travel patterns and travel time."

Franklin-Hodge said one of the first things his office will do is develop a baseline for things like travel time and congested routes so future policy discussions have a starting point. The city will then be able to use that baseline to see, for example, the impact of new development on travel times.

"In Boston, data is driving our conversations, our policymaking and how we envision the future of our city. We are using data to change the way we deliver services, and we welcome the opportunity to add to our resources," Mayor Martin J. Walsh said in a statement. "This will help us reach our transportation goals, improve the quality of our neighborhoods and allow us to think smarter, finding more innovative and creative solutions to some of our most pressing challenges."

Uber has been the subject of regulatory battles across the country and state, including in Boston, where Walsh has created a Taxi Advisory Committee to examine possible regulations on ride-sharing companies.

12.33 | 0 komentar | Read More

Massachusetts ranks fourth-worst for hospital readmissions

The Bay State had the fourth-worst rate of hospital readmissions in the nation last year, according to a Kaiser Health News report.

Medicare penalized 80 percent of the state's hospitals for unplanned readmissions, with the average penalty for the 55 hospitals amounting to .78 percent of their Medicare reimbursements, the report states.

Only New Jersey, Connecticut and Delaware fared worse, the report shows, with 98 percent, 88 percent and 86 percent, respectively, of those states' hospitals being penalized.

"Hospitals in Massachusetts will likely use this to take a closer look at why patients are being readmitted," said Dr. Karen E. Joynt, a researcher at Brigham and Women's Hospital and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. "People have raised a lot of possibilities — differences in how complex patients are; the socioeconomic status of patients; the likelihood of using hospital care when a lot of hospitals are around, like they are here; people who don't have access to primary care physicians."

From fiscal year 2013 to fiscal year 2015, the most penalized hospital in Massachusetts was Wing Memorial Hospital and Medical Center in Palmer, which was penalized 0.91 percent, 1.39 percent and 1.43 percent of its Medicare reimbursements, respectively, according to the report.

Of Massachusetts' 61 acute care hospitals, only Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston, Adcare Hospital in Worcester, Baystate Mary Lane Hospital in Ware and Baystate Medical Center in Springfield were not penalized in any of the three years.

Nationally, roughly 2 million people who had been hospitalized in 2013 — nearly 18 percent of all Medicare patients — were readmitted within a month, costing Medicare $26 billion, an estimated $17 billion of which was due to preventable readmissions, according to federal data.

In 2012, the federal government began penalizing hospitals for having more Medicare readmissions than expected.

12.32 | 0 komentar | Read More

Obama calls for data theft rules

Companies would be required to notify consumers of data breaches involving their personal information within 30 days of discovering a breach under new federal legislation proposed by President Obama yesterday.

"Almost every state has a different law on this, and it's confusing for consumers, and it's confusing for companies — and it's costly, too, to have to comply to this patchwork of laws," Obama said at the Federal Trade Commission. "Sometimes, folks don't even find out their credit card information has been stolen until they see charges on their bill, and then it's too late."

The legislation also would make it easier for the United States to pursue criminals who buy and sell people's personal and financial information overseas.

Sony, Staples, JPMorgan Chase, Home Depot, Shaw's Supermarkets, Star Market, Tufts Health Plan, American Express and Eastern Bank were among companies that reported breaches last year affecting millions of consumers.

"(It's) very reasonable and very important for consumers to get the notice as soon as possible," said Barbara Anthony, former Massachusetts undersecretary of consumer affairs and business regulation, who is now a senior fellow at the Kennedy School's Center for Business and Government.

Under current state law, companies must notify consumers "as soon as practicable and without unreasonable delay." Anthony added it's "not at all unusual for companies to wait weeks and sometimes months before they make the notification."

Obama's speech came as hackers purportedly aligned with the Islamic State militant group breached the Twitter and YouTube accounts of the U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. military operations in the Middle East and Central Asia.

Obama is scheduled to unveil legislation giving legal protections from lawsuits to companies that share cybersecurity information with each other and the government.

12.32 | 0 komentar | Read More

Inspector Gadget: Good concept, bad execution

The Ubi: Voice of the Internet ($299, theUbi.com)

Ubi is short for "ubiquitous computer," which is what this device seeks to be. Billed as a voice assistant and smart-home add-on, Ubi connects wirelessly to certain home automation devices as well as your computer.

The good: What a great idea. A voice assistant that will tell me how many ounces are in a cup while I'm cooking or call my husband without having to pick up the phone.

The bad: If only it worked well. It's often a struggle to get Ubi to recognize commands, and this is more of a beta device than something that should cost $299 and be billed as a real product.

The bottom line: I'll definitely try the next iteration of Ubi because any company with a concept this good should eventually get it right. It just hasn't done so yet.

12.33 | 0 komentar | Read More

Booting Up: LinkedIn isn’t connecting with its aspirations

LinkedIn's just-announced expansion of its publishing platform is a bid to become more than just a professional stalking tool. And it's a sea-change for a company that two years ago claimed its goal was to become "a digital representation of every economic opportunity in the world — temporary or full-time jobs."

That was a crock, and so are these new aspirations.

As someone who works in the social media and digital world, I'm supposed to embrace LinkedIn, keep it updated with recent writings, leave all manner of endorsements and recommendations for people I barely know and congratulate those same people every time they spend another year in a job they hate. 
I can't do it.

LinkedIn is a company that earned more than $500 million last quarter, compensates its CEO to the tune of $50 million a year and has 320 million members worldwide. Its public debut on Wall Street in May 2011 made a lot of people a lot of cash. Therefore, you might think this service — the largest professional network in the world, with a declared intention to be the planet's digital representation of economic opportunity — might try to connect with under-represented masses or the underdeveloped world. You might think LinkedIn would spin off a version of its app for unskilled workers looking for a shot, or give free job-seeker subscriptions to the unemployed.

You would be wrong.

Scratch below the surface of all those recruiting tools and subscription plans and you find a company that simply exists to make rich people richer.

My profile has been viewed by just 6 people in the last 15 days and my rank for profile views is down by 11 percent in the last 30 days. Apparently I have to pay $30 or $60 a month to "unlock the full list."

I currently have 436 connections to people I barely know and more than 100 requests to connect with people I know even less. More emails than I will ever read have piled up in my "InMail," including some that appear to be automatically generated by networking bots who do nothing all day but post on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn's earnings announcement for its fourth quarter and annual outlook was just set for Feb. 5. I expect the stock to soar after earnings beat expectations. I do not expect the company to do better at curating content, enabling offline meet-ups or reaching a lesser-skilled demographic.

My New Year's resolution was to stop detesting LinkedIn. But clearly, that's a job I just don't excel at.

12.33 | 0 komentar | Read More

Use an automatic battery charger when storing a car

I am the proud owner of a restored 1969 Pontiac GTO. This past summer I purchased a new battery from Sears. The salesman said for winter storage to remove one lead and leave it in the car. I have always believed in removing the battery and recharging it every so often. This year I left the battery in the car with one lead off and purchased an automatic battery charger that monitors the battery and keeps it at full charge with a display showing its condition. What do you think about these chargers and storage method?

For a minute there, I thought I was reading a question I wrote! Like you, I've followed the "old school" method of battery preservation by disconnecting, removing and periodically charging the batteries from my summer cars and recreational vehicles.

But the older I get the lazier, eh, make that more efficient, I am. So, I now have several Battery Tender automatic battery chargers connected to the disconnected batteries in my seasonal-use stuff. I've had no issues doing this over the past four years.

Well, make that one issue. My C6 Corvette has electric door locks, so when I carefully prepared it for storage, my final step was to disconnect the battery, hook up the charger and close the hood. Sounds perfect, eh? Except for the fact that with the doors, hood and rear hatch closed and the battery disconnected, there was no way to unlock the doors!

Here's the funny part. I never even thought about the issue until I tried to unlock the doors the next spring! Thankfully, the owner's manual with the little black plastic emergency key was in the house. It unlocked the rear hatch, where I could lean in and pull the emergency driver's door release so I could open the door and unlatch the hood to reconnect the battery. Live and learn.

I have a 2003 manual-transmission Honda CRV with about 100,000 miles. Ever since I bought it used with 90k it has high idle RPM when it starts up. The engine idle RPM hunts between 2,000 and 3,000 until the engine warms up. Then the idle drops to below 1,000 RPM. Any thoughts?

Whenever trying to diagnose a driveability issue, apply the KISS principle first — keep it simple. Start with the basics, which in this case is to check carefully for any type of vacuum leak in the induction system. Any air entering downstream of the MAF sensor (mass air flow) is not metered and can create a lean air/fuel ratio. Until the engine warms up to the point of switching to "closed loop" operation where the air/fuel ratio is monitored and trimmed by feedback from the oxygen sensor, the idle speed can be high and fluttery/unstable.

The IAC (idle air control) regulates air entering the induction system. If it is sticking or binding it may be contributing to this issue. And a scan tool check for DTC fault codes might help pinpoint the problem.

My 2010 Chevrolet Colorado will not start all the time. When I put the key in the ignition all accessories light up and the radio plays but the starter will not engage. Turn key off, take key out of ignition, wait 10 minutes, try again, and it will start. This has happened in all weather, approximately 10 times since May. The dealership could not find anything wrong. Can you help with this problem?

Your vehicle is equipped with a vehicle immobilizer system which will not allow the engine to start until and unless the BCM (body control module) sees the correct voltage through the ignition key resistor circuit. If the voltage generated through the resistor in the key doesn't match, the engine won't start.

Try your spare key first. Have the dealership scan the BCM for fault codes. And again, remember the KISS principle. Check the battery and starter/solenoid cables and connections.

Paul Brand, author of "How to Repair Your Car," is an automotive troubleshooter, driving instructor and former race-car driver. Readers may write to him at: Star Tribune, 425 Portland Ave. S., Minneapolis, Minn., 55488 or via email at paulbrand@startribune.com. Please explain the problem in detail and include a daytime phone number. Because of the volume of mail, we cannot provide personal replies.

12.32 | 0 komentar | Read More

City eyes rules for Airbnb

Boston is turning its attention to Airbnb, scheduling a public hearing later this month to help determine what, if any, regulations are needed for the booming short-term rental service.

"This is a fast-growing industry here in the city of Boston; we just want to make sure it's operated safely and appropriately," said Jerome Smith, the city's chief of civic engagement, who will host the hearing. "The goal is information gathering. There are a lot of residents in the city of Boston who may use Airbnb."

Smith said it is unclear if the city will push for regulations after the Jan. 26 hearing.

"We're not saying that we're definitely regulating the industry; we're just saying that because it's a growing industry here in the city of Boston we should take a look at it," he said.

San Francisco-based Airbnb, which lets people rent out their homes nightly to strangers through its website, has steadily gained popularity nationwide and internationally. Between July 2014 and June 2014, Airbnb customers stayed in Boston homes 1,080 times, the company said.

"We want to work with leaders in Boston to make sure residents can continue to share their homes and the city they love with the world, while also creating sensible regulations that work for Boston," said Marie Aberger, an Airbnb spokeswoman.

San Francisco and Portland, Ore., have set up regulations to charge hotel taxes to private home rentals and Amsterdam last month penned an agreement with the home-rental service to collect a tourist tax. And New York's attorney general formed a city-state task force last year to investigate illegal hotels after he issued a report alleging that nearly three-quarters of Airbnb's listings in that state were illegal, a charge the company denied.

Boston has taken a more cautious approach to Airbnb, with Mayor Martin J. Walsh telling the Inspectional Services Department last summer not to fine people who rent out their homes through the service.

But City Councilor Salvatore LaMattina wants to take a closer look at Airbnb's practices after hearing complaints about apartments where people cycle through like through revolving doors. LaMattina said he refiled a bill for a hearing on Airbnb before the City Council.

"I really do think they need to be regulated, and we'll look at other cities across the United States and what they're doing to address the issues," said LaMattina. "They're not paying any hotel tax to the cities and towns, and I think there's something we really need to look at."

He said his biggest concern is potential investors buying homes or condos specifically to rent out on Airbnb.

Airbnb has also spurred the creation of Neighbors for Overnight Oversight, a national group pushing for regulation of the rental service.

"At this point we're just glad the city is having this hearing; it's an important first step," said Conor Yunits, a spokesman for the group. "The end goal will hopefully be some sort of oversight of this, so if people are abusing the laws with illegal hotels, that there's some kind of check on that."

12.32 | 0 komentar | Read More