a lively summary of information technology news

NewsScan | 1 Oct 2003 17:59

NewsScan Daily, 1 October 2003 ("Above The Fold")

NewsScan Daily, 1 October 2003 ("Above The Fold")
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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. NSD is
written by John Gehl and Suzanne Douglas, editors <at> NewsScan.com.
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"ABOVE THE FOLD"
        FCC Tries to Rescue Do-Not-Call
        AOL Woos Latino Population With Spanish Service
        3G Wireless Signals Could Make You Sick
        Visa Reduction Adversely Impacts High-Tech Recruitment
        Music Downloading Numbers Fall
        Computers for the Living Room

FEATURES
        Flash Card
        Worth Thinking About: Fanaticism Yesterday, Today, & Tomorrow

FCC TRIES TO RESCUE DO-NOT-CALL
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will investigate complaints 
from consumers who receive unwanted telemarketing calls beginning today, 
regardless of the fact that the Do-Not-Call registry created by another 
government agency, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), was put into limbo 
by the ruling of U.S District Judge Edward W. Nottingham that the 
legislation on which it was based is an unconstitutional abridgement of 
free speech. In spite of Nottingham's ruling, many telemarketers plan to 
honor the list, because (in the words of telemarketer Arthur W. Conway) 
"it's the right thing to do," in addition to the fact that "we don't know

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NewsScan | 2 Oct 2003 18:28

NewsScan Daily, 2 October 2003 ("Above The Fold")

NewsScan Daily, 2 October 2003 ("Above The Fold")
***********************************************************
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. NSD is
written by John Gehl and Suzanne Douglas, editors <at> NewsScan.com.
***********************************************************

"ABOVE THE FOLD"
        Microsoft $10.5 Million Consumer Settlement
        Genes on a Chip
        Idealab Not Out of Ideas and Not Out of Hope
        New Viruses Use 'Blended Threats' to Wreak Damage
        Overlooked Security Risk: The Telephone
        RIAA Calls on P2P to Police Networks

FEATURES
        Flash Card
        Honorary Subscriber: Charles William Eliot
        Safe & Sound in the Cyber Age

MICROSOFT $10.5 MILLION CONSUMER SETTLEMENT
Microsoft has agreed to pay $10.5 million to consumers who complained in a 
class-action lawsuit that they were overcharged when they bought software 
directly from the company. About 550,000 licenses are represented in the 
class. Rob Helm, an industry analyst and Microsoft-watcher, says: "It's 
certainly not going to put a dent in Microsoft's pockets. This is clearly a 
victory, in the sense that Microsoft wants to settle these cases. From a 
Microsoft perspective, the bad PR outweighs any benefit it would gain by 
fighting this to the bitter end." (AP/2 Oct 2003)

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NewsScan | 3 Oct 2003 18:42

NewsScan Daily, 3 October 2003 ("Above The Fold")

NewsScan Daily, 3 October 2003 ("Above The Fold")
***********************************************************
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. NSD is
written by John Gehl and Suzanne Douglas, editors <at> NewsScan.com.
***********************************************************

"ABOVE THE FOLD"
        Homeland Security Seeks Better Tracking System for H1-B Workers
        Digital Rights Management
        Senator Seeks to Reduce File-Sharing Fines
        U. of Florida Pulls the Plug on P2P Users
        Napster to Make a Comeback
        Storage Firm Plans to Go Digital

FEATURES
        Flash Card
        Worth Thinking About: Do Scientists Deserve To Be Trusted?

HOMELAND SECURITY SEEKS BETTER TRACKING SYSTEM FOR H1-B WORKERS
A report by the General Accounting Office (GAO), the investigative arm of 
Congress, says that the Homeland Security Department needs to keep track of 
when foreign high-tech workers with H-1B visas enter and leave the country, 
and to develop rules limiting the length of time workers who lose their 
jobs are allowed to remain in the country. According to the GAO, "much of 
the information needed to effectively oversee the H-1B visa program is not 
available." The Homeland Security Department agreed with the 
recommendations and is in the process of changing the systems used to track 
the foreign workers. (AP/San Jose Mercury News 2 Oct 2003)

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NewsScan | 6 Oct 2003 18:46

NewsScan Daily, 6 October 2003 ("Above The Fold")

NewsScan Daily, 6 October 2003 ("Above The Fold")
***********************************************************
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. NSD is
written by John Gehl and Suzanne Douglas, editors <at> NewsScan.com.
***********************************************************

"ABOVE THE FOLD"
        VeriSign Agrees to Suspend Site Finder Service
        Singapore Scientists Working on SARS-Detection Chip
        Sensing Technologies Transform Archeology
        Fighting Spam: Raise the Bridge or Lower the Water?
        Ellison Under the Microscope
        Tracking Library Books or Tracking People?

FEATURES
        Flash Card
        Honorary Subscriber: George Jean Nathan

VERISIGN AGREES TO SUSPEND SITE FINDER SERVICE
VeriSign and ICANN reached a temporary truce Friday, with VeriSign 
acquiescing to ICANN's demand that it suspend its controversial Site Finder 
service pending further technical review. ICANN could have fined VeriSign 
as much as $100,000 or even revoked its contract to manage the master list 
of .com and .net Internet domain names. Critics have charged VeriSign with 
undermining the collectivist culture of the Internet with the preemptive 
launch of its service, which redirects Web users who mistype a URL to the 
VeriSign Web site. "In the past when you made a dramatic change to the 
network structure that was the least bit potentially damaging, you went out

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NewsScan | 7 Oct 2003 18:22

NewsScan Daily, 7 October 2003 ("Above The Fold")

NewsScan Daily, 7 October 2003 ("Above The Fold")
***********************************************************
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. NSD is
written by John Gehl and Suzanne Douglas, editors <at> NewsScan.com.
***********************************************************

"ABOVE THE FOLD"
        Microsoft Drops LookSmart, Focuses on Its Own Search Tool
        Music Industry Crackdown Spawns 'Cyber-Speakeasies'
        Ultrafast Motors Drive 'Talking' Appliances
        Ninth Circuit Overrules FCC on Broadband Access Rules
        Vandals Steal Source Code of Popular Computer Game
        Criminals Go Where the Action Is: The Internet

FEATURES
        Flash Card
        Honorary Subscriber: William E. Boeing
        Mailbag: The World As We Find It

MICROSOFT DROPS LOOKSMART, FOCUSES ON ITS OWN SEARCH TOOL
Microsoft is not renewing its contract with LookSmart, which has been 
providing search results for Microsoft's MSN site. Instead, the software 
giant has launched its own search tool, MSNBot, and company officials say 
they plan to incorporate MSNBot into the next version of Windows, 
code-named "Longhorn." (CNet News.com 6 Oct 2003)
http://news.com.com/2100-1032_3-5087489.html?tag=nefd_top

MUSIC INDUSTRY CRACKDOWN SPAWNS 'CYBER-SPEAKEASIES'

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NewsScan | 8 Oct 2003 18:17

NewsScan Daily, 8 October 2003 ("Above The Fold")

NewsScan Daily, 8 October 2003 ("Above The Fold")
***********************************************************
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. NSD is
written by John Gehl and Suzanne Douglas, editors <at> NewsScan.com.
***********************************************************

"ABOVE THE FOLD"
        Appeals Court Stays Lower-Court Ruling Blocking Do-Not-Call List
        Microsoft Sued for Damages Caused by Security Flaws
        Sony's PSX: A Game Machine with Wider Ambitions
        Disabling CD Lock Is Easy as Pressing the Shift Key
        T-Mobile Institutes Handset Buyback
        Souped Up PCs Can Mimic TiVo Functionality

FEATURES
        Flash Card
        Worth Thinking About: Did You Work Hard Today?

APPEALS COURT STAYS LOWER-COURT RULING BLOCKING DO-NOT-CALL LIST
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has stayed a ruling of U.S. District 
Judge Edward Nottingham which has prevented the Federal Trade Commission 
from running a national Do-Not-Call registry on the grounds that it 
unfairly blocks calls from businesses, but not from charities or political 
organizations. The appeals court said in its ruling: "The Supreme Court has 
held that there is undoubtedly a substantial governmental interest in the 
prevention of abusive and coercive sales practices. The prevention of 
intrusion upon privacy in the home is another paradigmatic substantial 
governmental interest." The court also noted that Congress had found that

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NewsScan | 9 Oct 2003 18:35

NewsScan Daily, 9 October 2003 ("Above The Fold")

NewsScan Daily, 9 October 2003 ("Above The Fold")
***********************************************************
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. NSD is
written by John Gehl and Suzanne Douglas, editors <at> NewsScan.com.
***********************************************************

"ABOVE THE FOLD"
       New Breed of 'Spackers' Eludes Antispammers
       VoIP is the New Gold Rush in Telecom
       VoIP Gets Reprieve From Regulation
       Telecom Convergence
       Don Tapscott on the 'Age of Transparency'
       Disney Wants to 'Scare the Heck Out of' Digital Pirates

FEATURES
       Flash Card
       Honorary Subscriber: Harriet Moore

NEW BREED OF 'SPACKERS' ELUDES ANTISPAMMERS
Computer crackers have joined forces with spammers to devise new ways of
defrauding hapless Internet users. The latest technique enables spammers to
create Web sites that are virtually untraceable, making it impossible for
antispammers to shut down those sites by conventional means. Typical of the
scam is a group in Poland currently advertising "invisible bulletproof
hosting" for $1,500 a month, which provides its clients protection from
network sleuthing tools such as 'traceroute' and 'whois' by routing traffic
through thousands of hijacked computers (most of them home computers running
Windows and having broadband connections). The technique is effective.

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NewsScan | 10 Oct 2003 17:42

NewsScan Daily, 10 October 2003 ("Above The Fold")

NewsScan Daily, 10 October 2003 ("Above The Fold")
***********************************************************
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. NSD is
written by John Gehl and Suzanne Douglas, editors <at> NewsScan.com.
***********************************************************

"ABOVE THE FOLD"
        Hacker Charged With Securities Fraud
        Microsoft Vows to Fix Windows Security Problems
        Intel's Andy Grove Worried About U.S. Lead in High Tech
        Software Protection Scheme Ends Up Boosting New Game Sales
        Napster Back, With Blessing of Recording Industry
        Neil Postman Dies

FEATURES
        Flash Card
        Worth Thinking About: Playback

HACKER CHARGED WITH SECURITIES FRAUD
A 19-year-old student at Drexel University in Pennsylvania is being charged 
by the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) of fraud and identity theft 
for hacking into someone's investment account and making a complex and 
illegal trade. The student is accused of using a program called the Beast 
to monitor every keystroke typed on the target machine, and by doing so was 
able to obtain the log-in and password for the investor's online brokerage 
account with TD Waterhouse. (New York Times 10 Oct 2003)
http://partners.nytimes.com/2003/10/10/business/10HACK.html

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NewsScan | 13 Oct 2003 18:44

NewsScan Daily, 13 October 2003 ("Above The Fold")

NewsScan Daily, 13 October 2003 ("Above The Fold")
***********************************************************
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. NSD is
written by John Gehl and Suzanne Douglas, editors <at> NewsScan.com.
***********************************************************

"ABOVE THE FOLD"
        P2P: Salvation or Scourge?
        Still-Coming Attractions: Digital Movie Projection Systems
        A Handset for the Future
        High-Tech Fast Lane Traffic Slow-Down
        Maxtor Serves Up Perpendicular Recording on a Platter
        IBM Touts Laptop Crash Protection

FEATURES
        Flash Card
        Honorary Subscriber: Mortimer J. Adler

P2P: SALVATION OR SCOURGE?
Internet gadgeteer and author Simson Garfinkel says peer-to-peer technology 
may have gained a bad name in recent years, but it could solve many of the 
current Internet's traffic congestion and security problems. "Peer-to-peer 
could overcome many of the fundamental problems that are facing the 
Internet today -- problems of centralized control, vulnerable servers, and 
the difficulty that most organizations have scaling. On the other hand, 
peer-to-peer could also make the Internet's security problems worse, by 
allowing hackers to create large-scale attack networks. Peer-to-peer could 
be a boon for the artists and the recording industry, giving them a way of

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NewsScan | 14 Oct 2003 18:05

NewsScan Daily, 14 October 2003 ("Above The Fold")

NewsScan Daily, 14 October 2003 ("Above The Fold")
***********************************************************
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. NSD is
written by John Gehl and Suzanne Douglas, editors <at> NewsScan.com.
***********************************************************

"ABOVE THE FOLD"
        Retailers, Banks Invade U.K. Telecom Scene
        DoCoMo Coming to Britain
        The Personalization Paradox
        The Joy of Good Design
        Intel's Next-Generation Phones
        On Second Thought No: Oracle Drops Idea of Buying Sun

FEATURES
        Flash Card
        Worth Thinking About: Yesterday's Boys

RETAILERS, BANKS INVADE U.K. TELECOM SCENE
British supermarket chain Tesco and Lloyds TSB, one of the U.K.'s largest 
banks, are among a wave of non-telecom companies invading Britain's 
traditional telecom space, following the lead of Virgin Group, which added 
mobile phone service to its airline-retail conglomerate back in 1999. The 
shift spells trouble for BT, the dominant fixed-line telecom provider. 
"Half the British population is going into our stores," says Andy Dewhurst, 
CEO of Tesco's newly formed telecom division. "We can be in front of 
customers in a way that it is hard for BT to match." Tesco already has a 
branded banking business that boasts 4 million customers and is moving into

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