Online game backs away from privacy threat Privacy from Companies6/5/2000; 7:12:47 AM April 6, 2000: "Game developers Verant Interactive, worried about tools which allow people to cheat or disrupt the online game, wanted to examine players' personal computers for 'hacking tools' as a part of a new software upgrade. As recently as last night, executives said they would bar people from the game who didn't agree to open their systems to the digital bloodhounds' inspection.

ACLU Appeal for cphack DVD & DeCSS6/5/2000; 7:12:43 AM April 6, 2000: The ACLU has appealed the injunction against posting cphack."What these guys were posting was not copyright-protected material," said Sarah Wunsch, an ACLU attorney in Boston. "We don't believe the judge has authority to issue a restraining order at all."That's actually two seperate arguments. First, why does what a judge in Boston has ruled matter to me? And more interestingly, how does it matter to someone in France?

Can hyperlinks be outlawed? General IP Issues 6/5/2000; 7:12:41 AM April 6, 2000: Salon asks Can hyperlinks be outlawed?, relating the Ticketmaster case where "deep links" were found legal and the MPAA's attempt to make it illegal to link to sites containing the DeCSS program. I wanted to look at that issue myself but couldn't find a copy of the Ticketmaster ruling.

DoubleClick wins an award for its losing nature Privacy from Companies 6/5/2000; 7:12:38 AM April 6, 2000: Also, They Fight for Citizen's Privacy: "Privacy commissioners from every country but the United States convene on a panel to discuss their respective issues. Why not the United States? It doesn't have a commissioner."

The Gilmore Patent License Patents 6/5/2000; 7:12:36 AM April 6, 2000: "Gilmore wants create what amounst to a pool of patents where the ideas are freely shared, and to do it under terms that mimic the GNU GPL." This is the only practical answer. Reform can and should be made to the system itself, but the tech industry can't wait that many years. Setting up something like this is a Good Idea.

NSA Balancing Security, Privacy Surveillance and Privacy from Government 6/5/2000; 7:11:38 AM April 3, 2000: I'd have sworn this was an April Fool's gag, but you'd think Wired would have retracted it by now in that case...?

Mattel looks to sell software unit Censorship 6/5/2000; 7:11:35 AM April 3, 2000: Interesting note: Mattel looks to sell software unit... The software unit is called "The Learning Company". Now, go to the CyberPatrol webpage, and guess what unit of Mattel makes CyberPatrol? Connecting the recent events surrounding CyberPatrol and this desire to sell is pure speculation of course, but ... who knows?

Student spams sex email by mistake Humor/Amusing6/5/2000; 7:11:34 AM April 3, 2000: More Reasons Not To Have Children. "An electronics student who emailed a pornographic picture to his friend accidentally sent it to everyone at his college whose surname began with 'C'." Now, I know this was a college student, but suppose your 15-year-old did it. Now guess who's responsible?

Carla Virga over Terminix Free Speech6/5/2000; 7:11:32 AM April 3, 2000: Carla Virga, previously talked about March 13th, has won another victory in her fight against Terminix, according to Overlawyered.com (look for the 'March 31-April 2 -- Terminix vs. consumer critic's website' entry; I don't know how to permanently link to it). Pest control company Terminix retreats from courtroom efforts to swat dissatisfied consumer Carla Virga, who put up a website to publicize her unhappiness with its services.

Ficus 2000 Humor/Amusing 6/5/2000; 7:11:29 AM March 27, 2000: Sick of congressional candidates that are willing to eliminate your freedoms at the drop of a hat? Want a candidate who would never vote for the DMCA? How about a candidate who is absolutely immune to We Must Do It For The Children? Sound like a dream? It isn't anymore! Vote Ficus 2000 and vote for a candidate who stands for growth, a candidate who does their part to clean up the local environment by making air easier to breath for you and me, and a candidate with an IQ that's right off the scale!