PT1 Weekly Project Gutenberg Newsletter
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*The Project Gutenberg Weekly Newsletter For Wednesday, October 13, 2004 PT1*
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From NewsScan:
HOUSE PUNISHES SPYWARE PERPETRATORS The U.S. House of Representatives has voted 399-1 to pass the "Spy Act," which imposes heavy federal fines on those who secretly install "spyware" programs on people's computers to surreptitiously monitor their Internet activities. The bill was introduced by Rep. Mary Bono (R-Calif.). (AP/Washington Post 5 Oct 2004) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9558-2004Oct5.html [and in a related story, also more in Edupage section] SPYWARE IN FTC'S CROSSHAIRS The Federal Trade Commission is launching an aggressive new strategy to prosecute "spyware" perpetrators, and last week filed a civil lawsuit against former spam-king Sanford Wallace and his companies, Seismic Entertainment Productions and SmartBot. Wallace, who was once dubbed "Spamford" for his earlier misdeeds, operates the PassItOn.com Web site, which requires visitors to click through multiple pop-up windows in order to exit. In an interview with CNet last year, Wallace defended his practice of collecting personal information from people who visited his site: "We don't violate anybody's privacy; everything is disclosed. We're giving something away for free in exchange for consumers' permission to use private information. It's no secret. Publishers Clearinghouse has been doing this type of thing for years." However, an FTC investigator says Wallace's actions go far beyond information-gathering, by changing the home page of her Internet Explorer browser and using programming code to pop open the CD drive in her computer while displaying a message saying, "If your cd-rom drive opens~E you desperately need to rid your system of spyware pop-ups immediately." Of course, the site then offers to sell a product called Spy Deleter. Anti-spyware activist Ari Schwartz says the FTC has "built a good case. This fits into the kinds of cases where FTC could get their feet wet on this issue." (CNet News.com 12 Oct 2004) http://news.com.com/From+spam+king+to+spy+master/2100-1032_3-5406348.html [Did you know THEY can jam YOUR cell phone?] FRANCE APPROVES CELL PHONE-JAMMING IN THEATERS Tired of chatty theater-goers disturbing your entertainment enjoyment? France Industry Minister Patrick Devedijian has approved a decision by the country's Telecommunications Regulation Authority to allow cinemas, concert halls and theaters to install cell phone jammers that would prevent patrons from making or receiving calls during performances. Devedijian stipulated that emergency calls and calls made outside theaters and other performance spaces must not be affected, however. The move comes in response to "a long-standing request" from cinemas, says Jean Labbe, president of the National Federation of French Cinemas, noting that movie theaters had invested heavily to improve comfort and that "the authorization of jammers is the cherry on the cake." (AP 11 Oct 2004) http://apnews.excite.com/article/20041012/D85LIBC80.html U.S. GOVERNMENT FUNDS CHAT ROOM SURVEILLANCE The U.S. government is funding a year-long study by a Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute computer science professor aimed at developing mathematical models to identify patterns in the chaotic traffic generated by online public forums that might reveal "hidden communities" of terrorists. RPI professor Bulent Yener will download data from selected chat rooms while tracking the times that messages were sent in order to create a statistical profile of the traffic. For instance, if QTpie and RatBoi consistently send messages within seconds of each other in a crowded chat room, it might be inferred that they are "speaking" to each other, camouflaged by the "noise" of the chat room environment. "For us, the challenge is to be able to determine, without reading the messages, who is talking to whom," says Yener. The $157,673 grant to conduct the study comes from the National Science Foundation's Approaches to Combat Terrorism program, which works in concert with U.S. intelligence agencies to make its selections. However, some scholars doubt the concept has much merit: "In a world in which you can embed your message in a pixel on a picture on a home page about tea cozies, I don't know whether if you're any better if you think chat would be any particular magnet," says Harvard Law School Internet scholar Jonathan Zittrain. (AP/Washington Post 11 Oct 2004) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25272-2004Oct11.html REUTERS TRIPLES JOBS AT SITE IN INDIA UK-based Reuters news service and data company will triple the number of employees it has in India, with as many as 1,500 employees (mainly in technical and data-entry jobs) in Bangalore by 2006. That figure represents about 10% of the total Reuter's workforce. Reuter's chief executive Tom Glocer says: "The amazing thing -- and this is the dirty little secret about outsourcing that people need to talk about publicly a bit more -- not only is the cost conflation amazing at four, five or even six to one, but the quality and productivity is better too. We are flooded. We have 100 qualified applications for every data input person and these people have qualified accounting degrees." (New York Times 8 Oct 2004) http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/08/business/worldbusiness/08reuters.html ADVANCED CHIPS FROM CHINA [China: Not Just For The Chinese Any More] Chinese computer chip maker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC) will be supplying 90-nanometer chips to Texas Instruments and other major clients as part of Beijing's plan to reduce the country's once total dependence on imported chips for its own electronics industry. Texas Instruments has been using SMIC for late-stage processing of 130-nanometer chips since 2002, and SMIC's adoption of the 90-nanometer technology will bring it to the level of the highest industry standard. But SMIC has assured governments in Europe, the United States and Japan that it will never use its equipment to produce defense-related products. (AP/San Jose Mercury News 8 Oct 2004) http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/9868936.htm EBAY BOSS HEADS 'SHE POWER' LIST [The Times They Are A'Changin'"] Meg Whitman of eBay has been named the most powerful woman in corporate America by Fortune magazine, toppling Carly Fiorina of Hewlett-Packard, who had headed the list since it began in 1998. Fortune ranks the women on criteria including the size and importance of a business in its market, the businesswoman's clout at her organization, her career trajectory and social or cultural impact. In Ms Whitman's case, there was one over-riding factor, the magazine said: "2004 belongs to Meg Whitman. Here's just one reason: The $60-billion market value of eBay, the company she runs, has surged past that of HP." The online marketplace is one of the fastest growing companies in history. This year it expects to report operating profits of about $1 billion on revenue of $3.2 billion. (The Age, 6 Oct 2004) rec'd from John Lamp http://theage.com.au/articles/2004/10/05/1096949508672.html You have been reading excerpts from NewsScan: NewsScan Daily is underwritten by RLG, a world-class organization making significant and sustained contributions to the effective management and appropriate use of information technology. 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From Edupage
HOUSE SUPPORTS ANTISPYWARE LEGISLATION The U.S. House of Representatives this week voted overwhelmingly to pass the Spy Act, which prohibits a range of actions including surreptitiously installing software, tracking users' keystrokes, and hijacking home pages. Those found guilty under the Spy Act are subject to civil penalties of up to $3 million. The House is expected to pass similar legislation, called the I-Spy Act, which adds criminal penalties to many of the violations covered by the Spy Act. The bills include exemptions for determining if a computer is authorized to use software that is being legitimately installed; monitoring networks, as long as such monitoring is for security or repair purposes; and using cookies to allow access to certain Web sites. With those exemptions, the bills earned the support of The Business Software Alliance, Dell, eBay, Microsoft, Time Warner, Yahoo, and EarthLink. Although no votes have been scheduled for companion legislation that is pending in the Senate, lawmakers still hope that the bills can be delivered to the president's desk before Congress adjourns this Friday. Internet News, 6 October 2004 http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3417891 COLLEGES PRAISED FOR EFFORTS TO LIMIT COPYRIGHT VIOLATIONS Members of Congress this week praised the efforts of some in the higher education community to limit the incidence of illegal file trading on campus networks. At a hearing of the Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property, witnesses testified about legal online music services on certain campuses and about software developed by the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) that automatically handles notices of copyright infringement. The UCLA system disconnects students from the networks and notifies them by e-mail of the offending files. Network access is restored after the individual removes the files in question. Members of the subcommittee applauded UCLA's system, saying the blocking of network access for illegal file traders is an appropriate course of action. James Davis, UCLA's associate vice chancellor for information technology, said the number of copyright notices received by the institution has fallen since the introduction of the system, and no student has been disconnected more than once. The subcommittee also said it supports the work of the Joint Committee of the Higher Education and Entertainment Communities, which encourages colleges to offer free legal services for students who download music on campus. Chronicle of Higher Education, 6 October 2004 (sub. req'd) http://chronicle.com/prm/daily/2004/10/2004100604n.htm FIRST VICTORY FOR CAN-SPAM ACT The first state prosecution under the federal CAN-SPAM Act was resolved this week when the state of Massachusetts reached a settlement with DC Enterprises and its principal owner, William Carson. Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly had filed the suit against Carson and DC Enterprises in July, alleging that the company sent thousands of messages that failed to provide a valid "opt-out" feature, did not identify themselves as advertisements, and used bogus return addresses. The messages reportedly asked recipients to send personal and financial information. In a statement, Reilly described the e-mail messages as the type that "threaten the credibility of companies using e-mail for legitimate purposes." Carson and DC Enterprises will pay $25,000 and will end practices that violate the CAN-SPAM Act as well as Massachusetts state laws. CNET, 11 October 2004 http://news.com.com/2100-1030_3-5406062.html PURDY NAMED INTERIM HEAD OF CYBERSECURITY Andy Purdy has been named interim head of cybersecurity in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), replacing Amit Yoran, who abruptly resigned from the post after serving just one year. Yoran was reportedly frustrated with what he saw as the Bush administration's lack of support for efforts to improve cybersecurity. Yoran and members of the technology industry had lobbied to have Yoran's position within DHS elevated, a move that Congress appeared set to make this week. Under a bill sponsored by Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), the position would be elevated such that the director would report to the undersecretary for information analysis and infrastructure protection, one step below DHS Secretary Tom Ridge. In addition, the bill would require government agencies to demonstrate consideration of security issues when requesting new technology systems. Reuters, 7 October 2004 http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?storyID=6444284 FTC PURSUES SPYWARE PROSECUTION The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has filed charges against Sanford Wallace, alleging that his companies are guilty of installing spyware that change browser settings, track users' surfing habits, and open pop-up ads on their computers. Wallace is further charged with selling antispyware tools that, according to the FTC, "resolve the specific problems that the defendants themselves have caused." The FTC has asked the courts to force Wallace's companies to remove the software they have secretly installed and to refund consumers for the cost of the antispyware products they have purchased. The U.S. House of Representatives this week passed two antispyware bills, despite comments in April by the FTC that it already had sufficient authority to investigate and prosecute those accused of installing spyware. Internet News, 8 October 2004 http://www.internetnews.com/xSP/article.php/3419411 You have been reading excerpts from Edupage: If you have questions or comments about Edupage, http://news.com.com/2100-1040-958352.html or send e-mail to: edupage@educause.edu To SUBSCRIBE to Edupage, send a message to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU and in the body of the message type: SUBSCRIBE Edupage YourFirstName YourLastName *** More Headline News Avoided By Most Of The Major U.S. Media NEW CORPORATE TAX CODE REPLACES ILLEGAL CORPORATE SUBSIDIES More new tax breaks for American manufacturers, even though corporate tax rates are already the lowest ever since WWII: in a not so surprise move of "robbing Peter to pay Paul," a bill in they U.S. Congress is about to continue the subsidy to America as a corporation that was declared illegeal when the World Trade Organization enforced various trade tarriff and other treaties the U.S. has been avoiding so illegally, up to now, that the WTO responded by putting a 12% tarriff, as of 7 months ago, on 1,600 U.S. products sold abroad. [Remember the WTO making all the news? It appears it today is the case that the administration NOW thinks WTO rulings, when they are not in lock-step with party politics, are NOT such a good thing. . . . It would appear that any company expressing an interest for inclusion in this bill has been accomodated, from importers of ceiling fans, to makers of fishing tackle boxes, all the specific pork-barrel additions to this bill make a list the lobbyists are saying was the most easy pickins of history. One commentator said a company got a tax break if they have just an ordinary lobbyist with a pulse. Apparently the only proposed inclusion in this bill that is NOT going forward was one to create a body to study the new tax and deficit situation caused by the bill. . .literally, the only ones NOT getting a break from the bill, taxpayers. $145 billion more for them to pay, as their goverment finds a way to make something now declared illegal appear legal. One HUGE benefit is that outsourced corporations would send home huge profits that were previously taxed at 35%. . .but now will be taxed at only 5.25%. . .more like a sales tax. Halliburton, General Electric and Texas oil are listed as a sample of the largest beneficiaries, and the 4.3 cent tax a trucker pays on diesel fuel has been repealed, while normal drivers still have to pay their gasoline taxes. Prices for airline tickets will continue to increase as jet fuel taxes will be increased rather than decreased. This bill will probably be passed this Friday, but you will not see much follow-up in the major media. * *Information About the Project Gutenberg Mailing Lists About the Project Gutenberg Weekly Newsletter: Goes out approximately at noon each Wednesday, but various different relays will get it to you at different times; you can subscribe directly, just send me email to find out how, or to subscribe directly by yourself, go to: http://www.gutenberg.org/subs.shtml and About the Project Gutenberg Monthly Newsletter: Goes out approximately first Wednesday of each month. 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participants (1)
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Michael Hart