Council of Europe drops plans to ban hacking tools
Hacking & Cracking
12/5/2000; 1:19:25 PM

'The Council of Europe has scrapped controversial plans to ban the use of "hacking" tools by IT professionals, after industry groups successfully persuaded it that the proposals were unworkable.

'Original proposals by the council would have made it illegal to distribute tools or discuss techniques that look for weaknesses in the security of systems, for example software used to scan the perimeter of networks for security vulnerabilities. This provoked fierce opposition because it would ban tools used in security audits as well as those used by hackers.'

ETP's First Anniversary - Let's Look At The Community
Internet/Weblog Culture
12/4/2000; 9:45:14 PM

It's EditThisPage's first anniversary today, which is to say that this community has been running for a year now, give or take a bit. You start taking things for granted after a while, but take today and look around the community we've got!

I made some bold statements in my essay Weblog Communities, but looking around today, I feel vindicated, at least for the first year. ETP/Weblogs.com/ManilaSites (to draw the line loosely) is a community of at least hundreds of active members. I've been part of online communities this size, like Slashdot. But look around:

More Good News from New Jersey for Anonymous Critics
Free Speech
12/1/2000; 1:30:53 PM

'New Jersey Superior Court Judge Kenneth MacKenzie on Tuesday affirmed the nonymity of four 'John Doe' defendants accused of publishing unkind and false statements about the company for which they work.... 'Judge Wettick ruled that an anonymous author's identity must not be disclosed until s/he is given an opportunity to argue and produce evidence that the defamation lawsuit facing them is frivolous or otherwise lacking in merit.'

Securicor Privacy from Companies12/1/2000; 12:16:53 PM 'Real world security company Securicor is spending £7 million on an online shopping service which will allow users to shop online without passing credit card details to online stores.... 'In effect, Securicor has set up an online mall. People who sign up to the service give all their financial details to Securicor, and the data is stored on the company's site. 'Its site will have links to participating retailers, and when a customer wants to buy something online, they go to the Securicor site where their funds are checked, and when the sale is processed. Securicor then delivers the package.'Sounds interesting. There are a number of services that will do the equivalent for web browsing but I'm not sure I've ever heard of anyone doing this for shopping. I hope it works well.'Taylor says that the site has been thoroughly tested against external hacks or system overloads. 'Yeah, well, they always say that.I think this is Securicor's web site, but I can't tell, because it mistakenly tells me I don't have Netscape Navigator 3+ (it's wrong, this is Netscape 4.73) and refused to let me in.

Germany's Kampf Furor Renews Country Watch: Germany12/1/2000; 12:05:15 PM 'News this week that a Munich state prosecutor was investigating allegations that Yahoo Deutschland had sold copies of Mein Kampf could help build momentum in Germany for more sweeping restrictions on such material....'The German case differs in that it concerns a German company doing business via the Internet in Germany, as opposed to an American company doing business internationally via the Internet....'But contrary to some press accounts, Mein Kampf is not illegal per se in Germany -- what's illegal is the sort of unrestricted sales that can take place via the Internet....'As a German Justice Ministry spokesman explained at the time: "If you go to a bookshop, the bookseller can have a look at you and decide if you are really interested, like if you are a student. It's not the book that's forbidden, it's selling it to everyone. If you sell it through the Internet, you don't know who wants to buy the book; you give it to everybody, and that's forbidden."'I think I like the idea of flatly banning the book better. Still, I wanted to 'blog this because it's an interesting issue in places like Germany where intent can matter. (I'd submit that a person in a store can't truly do a heck of a lot better then a website, but it at least makes people feel better, right?)

Europe Will Not Allow Software Patents for Another Year
Patents
11/30/2000; 11:59:15 AM

'First, I should point out that the Conference agreed not to delete computer programs from the list of non-patentable inventions. For the meantime, the existing legal position therefore remains unchanged.... As before, computer-implemented inventions can be patented if they involve a new and inventive technical contribution to the state of the art. Technical solutions for use in data processing or for carrying out methods of doing business therefore remain patentable.

Online Privacy's New Hot Button: Access
Privacy from Companies
11/29/2000; 4:41:51 PM

'Forget the opt-out, opt-in debate: The thorniest online privacy issue on Capitol Hill is whether Web retailers, network advertisers, and other companies should be required to provide consumers with the ability to access, correct, and delete their personal data from the firms' databases. "If the health-care industry can figure out how to provide access in a fair way, then we will have a framework for financial firms, online retailers, and everyone else," says Lawrence Ponemon, the head of Pricewaterhouse Coopers' privacy compliance unit.'

Why Software Will Never Stop Sucking
Personal Commentary
11/29/2000; 1:04:36 PM

OK, I can't resist, the events of the last few days in my personal life (setting up computers for a few people) have forced me to comment on this.  A few days ago, Doc Searls said on his weblog,

'It's easy to operate a car or a house without being a mechanic or a carpenter, even though it helps to have those skills. Can't the same be true for PCs? Will it be? How?'

DMCA Faces Last Big Test
DMCA
11/29/2000; 12:01:36 PM

'On Wednesday, the U.S. Copyright Office will hold its final mandatory hearings in Washington, D.C. with representatives from the library associations and webcasting, content and digital music industries....

'This hearing will seek to clarify two points of the law: whether the "first sale doctrine," which allows activities like the legal sale of used books, should apply in a digital age; and whether users should be allowed to make a digital, archived copy or adaptation of content -- be it music, video, or software application files -- to use on another machine such as a portable MP3 player....

Cyberspace Wins Free Speech Ruling
Free Speech
11/28/2000; 11:41:21 PM

''Cyberspace Communications, Inc., and several other plaintiffs won a favorable ruling in the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals recently in the Cyberspace v. Engler lawsuit to overturn an unconstitutionally broad Internet censorship law. The 2 page ruling affirms an injunction against enforcement of the law while the case is tried.''

The "Engler" in question is Governer Engler of my home state of Michigan. From the lawsuit info page: