Calif. Shuts 'Nader Trader' Vote Swap Web Sites Political Speech11/6/2000; 9:18:47 PM 'California authorities have shut down a vote swap web site aimed at so-called ``Nader traders'' -- people in battleground states who agree to vote for Democrat Al Gore if someone in a less contested state votes for the Green Party's Ralph Nader.'``We did notify the site manager that they were in violation ofCalifornia election law and they did need to cease activities onthe Web site, and they complied,'' Shad Balch, a spokesmanfor California Secretary of State Bill Jones, said Tuesday.'Old news, from Oct. 31, 2000. Interesting because vote trading may or may not be legal, depending on what state you are in and how that state interprets its own laws. California laws shut down a nation-wide website.

After Napster Deal, BMG Execs Depart
Music & MP3
11/6/2000; 11:10:01 AM

'Just days after German media giant Bertelsmann formed an alliance with Napster, BMG Entertainment's two top executives have announced that they're leaving....

'Bertelsmann CEO Thomas Middelhoff said the timing of the Napster deal and the BMG resignations was coincidental. However, Zelnick had been an outspoken critic of Napster as late as July, when at a conference in Los Angeles, he compared Napster users to thieves.'

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Spam Analogy
Humor/Amusing
11/5/2000; 8:11:32 PM User Friendly cartoon.

VoteAuction.com Deregistered From DNS Servers Political Speech11/4/2000; 6:36:29 PM VoteAuction.com has been de-registered from DNS servers; that link should not work. To visit the site, you can use the IP address: http://62.116.31.68/index00.htm (this bypasses a splash-screen). Of particular interest is their legal documents section.From what I can gather from the web-law list at egroups.com, which one of the "makers" of voteauction.com mailed (his word, not mine), a Missouri Attorney-General or court ordered, via e-mail, a Switzerland "meta-registry" (corenic.org) to de-register the domain. (CORE is also apparently a defendent in the civil action in Missouri.) A Missouri restraining order taking effect on a Swiss entity. Isn't the Internet fun?According to the source on the list, voteauction.com is threatening to sue CORE if they don't re-instate the entry. Wierd stuff, man.The message is here but you have to be a member to read it.

LinkBack Back Up (I Hope)
LinkBack
11/2/2000; 5:53:49 PM

LinkBack is functional again, after the computer has undergone extensive repairs. One 'returning' user, after dropping his class site, is Duncan's Jotter. We also have a new user, YooZoo. Thanks for (re-)joining. Also, array has changed to dangerousmeta.

Let's hope it'll stay up a while this time.

Can Napster Secure SDMI?
Music & MP3
11/2/2000; 2:52:38 PM 'The new file-trading service that Napster and Bertelsmann are developing will need digital-rights-management technology and could be the key to resuscitating the recording industry's initiative.

'Napster's yet-to-be-developed service might be just the place for the largely theoretical Secure Digital Music Initiative to get its test run.'

This is a great example of even a "with-it" news organization failing to take advantage of the strength of the web. These two paragraphs are the entire article. The rest of the standard-length one-page Wired Online article is nothing but a re-cap of the Napster agreement and the SDMI initiative, including a lengthy explanation of the Hack SDMI contest.

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