Carnivore Demo Report
Surveillance and Privacy from Government
10/26/2000; 2:07:27 PM Unknown authenticity; it's from an anonymous remailer. It gives some more details about the capabilities of Carnivore, which are somewhat greater then the press has been thinking, if this report is true. It can reconstruct a net activity trail, not just intercept e-mail.
On Privacy, One Size Doesn't Fit All
Privacy from Companies
10/26/2000; 1:52:36 PM
'Lately, a majority of the members of the Federal Trade Commission want to set a uniform code of conduct on Internet privacy. That's a bad idea, and the White House and Congress have quite properly put it on hold. Right now, the FTC's function is to make sure that when a site publishes a privacy policy, it lives up to it. Otherwise, the FTC takes legal action. But a site need not have a privacy policy at all, under current law.
Region Blocking as Forced Contracts
General IP Issues
10/26/2000; 1:49:51 PM
'Region blocking ties the consumer into this contract, without the consumer having any say in whether or not they accept the contract. Region blocking prevents me from having 'enjoyment' of my legal purchase if I happen to move to a different country - without me having a chance to say 'actually, I don't want to buy into this contract. Offer me another one.''
Classical Fuzzy Thinking: Censorware
Personal Commentary
10/25/2000; 10:40:35 PM
Just a general thought as I read the Salon article Don't let McCain censor the Net: People want censorware that will perfectly screen out what they don't want to see, or don't want their children to see. Most of the comments against using this censorware has focused on the fact that none of it is ready for prime time. I think the fact that it will never be ready for prime time is getting lost in the noise.
Net Privacy Bill Called 'Trojan Horse'
Privacy from Companies
10/25/2000; 2:30:51 PM
'In May, Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) proposed a law to sharply limit the sale of the identifying numbers, which often serve as hooks for electronic dossiers about the whereabouts, credit histories and lifestyles of millions of Americans.
'Then the information industry got involved. Now privacy advocates say Gregg's modified measure, part of an appropriations bill set to pass in the final days of Congress, is a "Trojan horse" that does more harm than good, because loopholes allow giant data brokers, banks, marketers and even private detectives to exchange or sell the numbers among themselves.'
Study Suggest Net Does Not Create Isolation
Technology & Sociology
10/25/2000; 2:27:03 PM
'Nearly two-thirds of all Americans have ventured online, and the majority of them deny the Internet creates social isolation, according to a study released Wednesday by the University of California in Los Angeles....
'But the Internet has only been a popular communication tool for the past five years, cautions UCLA researcher Jeffrey Cole. Cole, the lead researcher of ''Surveying the Digital Future,'' believes the Web will have profound long-term effects that most users can't yet detect.'
'Hacking' To Be Declared Illegal
Programmer's Rights
10/25/2000; 9:19:54 AM
This is slashdot article about the international cybercrime treaty, as mentioned before here. I'm posting this because I think it's a good bet there will be some insightful comments posted there. Browse with "Highest Scores First".
Whatever else you can say about the theory, I think it's quite clear that some bureaucrats who got delusions of grandeur into their heads, started writing legislation, and just ignored all technical input they receieved because they thought they knew better. I can't find a link, but I seem to recall some recent study showing that one's claimed knowlege on a subject is almost perfectly inversely proportional to actual knowlege. Unfortunately, this means a lot of bureaucrats think they know everything there is to know about computers and they can just start legislating.
Abandoned Intellectual Property
General IP Issues
10/24/2000; 9:58:08 PM 'Most states have laws governing what is to be done with property that has been abandoned. In one state the amount of time before something is considered abandoned ranges from a mere 2 years up to 15 years. After that maximum -- depending on the type of property -- the property can be put up for auction, absorbed by the holder of the property, or possibly revert to the state, again depending on the property in question. The laws vary between states, but the principle is there. Property that is not claimed after a reasonable amount of time ceases to belong to the owner.
'Think of how this might apply to intellectual property. Copyright law allows an inordinate amount of time before works revert to the public domain -- author's life plus 70 years, and 95 years on corporate copyright. But, what if the owner of this property had to make sure it was kept available in order to keep the copyright?'
'Works for Hire' on Firing Line
Music & MP3
10/24/2000; 12:49:46 PM
'MP3.com's legal challenge of the validity of music copyrights, which is forcing a U.S. district court to focus on ownership of music, could have serious implications for the music industry.
'On Nov. 2, lawyers representing MP3.com in the damages portion of its lawsuit will argue that the Universal Music Group incorrectly classified its 4,700 copyrights as "works for hire."
Fast.weblogs.com
Personal Notes
10/24/2000; 10:01:09 AM I don't think I've seen this announced publicly, but there is a weblogs.com site that is just a fast mirror of the main weblogs.com site. In my experience, it comes up significantly faster in IE too, though it says it's meant to be a "netscape 4" friendly version.
At any rate, a lot of people already know about it and maybe I missed the scripting news announcement, but its there and you might want to try it.