Stealing MS Passport's Wallet
Hacking & Cracking
'By cobbling together a handful of browser-based bugs with flaws in Passport's authentication system, Slemko developed a technique to steal a person's Microsoft Passport, credit card numbers -- and all, simply by getting the victim to open a Hotmail message.'

Were it not for the discouraging effects of the DMCA, I would find it enjoyable to try to crack .Net, in the effort to improve the system for the users. Of course, in this legal environment, I have better ways to have fun then improve somebody else's code for free.

News: States granted right to fight spam
Spam & E-Mail
'On Monday, the high court declined to hear a constitutional challenge to a tough Washington state anti-spam law, one of the nation's first measures that sets standards for junk e-mailers and levies stiff fines for violators. Enacted in 1998, the law bans "deceptive" e-mail and has drawn immediate attention as a test case for the role of states in regulating the Internet. The court's refusal to review the case does not offer a legal ruling on the merits of the law. But with little hope for federal anti-spam legislation any time soon, the decision means beleaguered consumers can fight junk e-mail at the state level, anti-spam advocates say.'

Victory for DVD Code Cracking
Free Speech
'A California State Appeals Court ruled on Thursday that computer code used to "descramble" DVDs is "pure speech," and citing the First Amendment, the court reversed a trial court's order to block the code from appearing on the Web.'

Another entry in the continuing "Code is Speech" saga.

 

The Age: Video stores, Warner at war
Country Watch- Australia, DVD & DeCSS, Free Speech
'Warner simultaneously releases DVDs to the retail and rental market. They are color coded - silver for retail at a wholesale price of $24, and blue for rental, wholesaling at $55. When Warner threatened to sue video shops caught renting the retail-designated DVD, the association - representing 55 per cent of Australian video shops - took the offensive.'

Europe Goes After the Cookie
Privacy from Companies
'The "cookie," a simplistic identification tag that most Internet users unknowingly carry when surfing the Web, runs the risk of being outlawed under a proposed privacy directive from the European Commission.'

"Ban the Tool" fallacy again. There are other ways to violate privacy. Clearly they don't understand what cookies are.

 

AlterNet -- TECHSPLOITATION: I'm a Terrorist Now
Hacking & Cracking, Internet-Weblog Culture, Polical Speech
'Now that the anti-terrorist USA Patriot Act has passed, I am officially a terrorist. Yes, it's true. Going by the various and sundry definitions of terrorist in this bill, you might be a terrorist too. If you have broken into and "damaged" any Internet-connected computer within the last eight years, you are now deemed a terrorist. That means if you have ever been the sort of hacktivist who protests political Web sites by defacing them or replacing their home page with one full of dissenting information, your crime will be deemed terrorism and punished accordingly.'

FBI Terror Detentions Questioned
Misc.
'Civil liberties groups are demanding that the U.S. government disclose information about hundreds of people who have been detained after the Sep. 11 attacks. At a press conference on Capitol Hill on Monday, the groups said it's time for the Justice Department to provide at least some details on the continuing investigation, such as how many people are detained, who has been charged with terrorism, and whether they've had access to attorneys.'

I love my country, but that doesn't mean I love everything it does, all the time. If there is a reason to hold a man, fine, hold him, but give the reason. If there's no reason, then let him go. Are we a freedom loving country, or a tyranny? That question is not answered by great acts, but by a series of little acts... and I don't think the little acts of holding a foriegner for no good given reason provides evidence for the "freedom loving" classification.

Ananova - Michael Jackson looking forward to trick or treating

'Michael Jackson says he will be dressing up as a monster and going trick or treating on Halloween. In a rare webchat with fans, the singer says he is mentally "always in Never Never land."'

Another reason not to live in [the state Michael Jackson is living in]. ("Country" if you're feeling unkind.)

You just know BlackHoleBrain will have something to say about this sometime...

New/Old Feature
Administrative
One of the biggest things I lost when I moved to the Radio Userland 'blog is a meaningful archive feature. The data's here, but if there's an easy way to make it accessible, it has eluded me. So, I've finally finished coding up a solution for myself.

It's a hack job (translation: Don't expect me to bundle this as a Tool). Hopefully, something like this is on the agenda for 7.1. In the meantime, I've got this. The plan is for Google to pick this up sometime, crawl it, and make it available to me (and others) via the search thingy you see on the right.

News: AOL volunteers lose battle
Misc.
'The Labor Department has decided not to further investigate charges that AOL Time Warner unfairly used volunteers at its Internet unit. "We decided not to pursue the case from an enforcement angle due to the limited resources here at the Labor Department," said Stuart Roy, a spokesman for the government agency.'