December 20, 2001 -
Dutch university targeted in piracy raids - By CNET
News.com Staff, Special to ZDNet News, By Jasper Koning, HILVERSUM,
the Netherlands--The Dutch department of Justice raided the University
of Twente as part of a software piracy investigation, a school
representative said Thursday. The late-November raid, a major setback
for underground "warez" groups, came just days before a massive
international crackdown spearheaded by the U.S. Customs Office.
Several students were apprehended and are suspected of trading in
illegal software, misuse of computer facilities at the university, and
being members of a criminal organization...
December 20, 2001 -
Meet AT&T Comcast, the new cable power - By John Borland,
Special to ZDNet News, After months of corporate tire-kicking,
AT&T Broadband, the biggest cable company in the United States, has
decided to merge with original suitor Comcast. The $72 billion deal
would create a cable powerhouse, with more than 21 million subscribers
and access to about 38 million households. That reach would help the
new company take on the local telephone companies with renewed vigor
in offering both telephone and high-speed Internet services over cable
wires...
December 10, 2001 -
Microsoft foes solid in states' corner - By Joe Wilcox,
Special to ZDNet News, WASHINGTON--A proposal greatly restricting
Microsoft's businesses practices had the company's competitors and
some industry trade groups singing the praises of nine state attorneys
general. AOL Time Warner, Sun Microsystems and several trade groups
backed by Microsoft, such as ProComp, rallied behind the states filing
the proposal...
December 10, 2001 -
WHO:
Ebola outbreak at peak - ASSOCIATED PRESS, Second
health worker dies; death toll hits 17. A member of the military fixes
a protection suit on his colleague at Mekambo hospital in Gabon
earlier this week. LIBREVILLE, Gabon, Dec. 21 — The World Health
Organization believes an outbreak of the deadly Ebola disease in two
Central African countries has peaked and is now contained, officials
said Friday as the death toll rose to 17...
December 17, 2001 -
Suspect Claims Al Qaeda Hacked Microsoft - Expert - By Brian
McWilliams, Newsbytes REDMOND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., A suspected member
of the Al Qaeda terrorist network claimed that Islamic militants
infiltrated Microsoft and sabotaged the company's Windows XP operating
system, according to a source close to Indian police. Mohammad
Afroze Abdul Razzak, arrested by Mumbai (Bombay) police Oct. 2, has
admitted to helping plot terrorist attacks in India, Britain and
Australia, India's Hindustan Times newspaper reported...
December 11, 2001 -
Operation Digital Piratez: Operation Digital Piratez is a
year-long undercover operation by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation's Boston Field Office, which has been supervised by the
United States Attorney's Office for the District of New Hampshire. On
December 11, 2001, the FBI executed nine search warrant, and obtained
consent for an additional three searches, on computers located across
the country. During this investigation, undercover Special Agents of
the Federal Bureau of Investigation successfully infiltrated several
Warez distribution organizations. This investigation targeted not only
the Warez sites and those who operated them, it also targeted the
"cracking groups" specifically created for the purpose of pirating
software so that it may be distributed over the Internet in violation
old U.S. copyright laws. Each of the ongoing investigations has
benefited from the important assistance provided by various
intellectual property trade associations, including the Interactive
Digital Software Association, the Business Software Alliance, the
Motion Picture Association and individual companies, including
Microsoft and Sega Corporation.
December 11, 2001 -
Authorities Seize Computers Nationwide as Part of Software-Piracy
Probe - Dow Jones Online News, WASHINGTON -- U.S. authorities
executed 37 search warrants in 27 cities as part of an international
crackdown on software piracy ranging from Microsoft Corp. operating
systems to movies like "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone."
Beginning 10:30 a.m. EST, U.S. Customs agents executed search warrants
on universities, businesses and residences around the country, seizing
computers and hard drives used to store and distribute pirated
software...
December 07, 2001 -
Poor owners forfeit cheap mortgages - By John
Hechinger, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, — How big lenders sell
pricier refinancings of subsidized loans. LEXINGTON, Ky.,
Beverly and David Russell once had one of the best mortgage
deals in America. Their interest rate: zero. But last year,
the Russells gave up that loan. With credit-card and other
bills piling up and three children to support, they refinanced
with an 11 percent mortgage from Countrywide Home Loans, one
of the country’s biggest lenders...
December 04, 2001 -
A reader’s guide to judging the news
- By Dan Fisher, SPECIAL TO MSNBC, How to detect good
journalism on the web, in print and on air. In my last column, I
wrote about a thought-provoking look published recently in the
Columbia Journalism Review at the people, events and trends that
have reshaped the news media over the last four decades. And I
suggested that given those changes, it’s important for serious news
consumers to become more “media literate...”
December 03, 2001 -
The Great MS Patch Nobody Uses-
By Michelle Delio, Wired News, A free, downloadable
update that transforms Microsoft's Outlook into a significantly more
secure e-mail application has languished virtually ignored on
Microsoft's website for more than a year. Although the majority of
recent viral attacks have come compliments of worms that don't rely
only on e-mail to spread, the Outlook E-mail Security Update (OESU)
can stop or greatly lessen the impact of most malicious code, such
as BadTrans and SirCam, if only people would download and install
it...
December 03, 2001 -
Experience Wanted - By Scott Kirsner, Digital Mass, Tech start-ups used to frolic in
the fountain of youth, ascribing their fresh ideas and fast pace to
armies of 20-somethings fueled by Jolt cola and plentiful late-night
sushi. Now, fledgling tech companies are singing the praises of
Codger Power. They still believe that youthful enthusiasm and
cutting-edge ideas are important, but they've realized that having
successful, established entrepreneurs on their team could be the key
to surviving (and maybe even thriving) in tough times. If the most
sought-after recruit of the late 1990s was a recent college graduate
with superlative programming skills, today it's the veteran tech
entrepreneur who has been there, done that, and bought the
T-shirt...
December 01, 2001 -
AIDS epidemic unfolds across globe - ASSOCIATED
PRESS, World AIDS Day marks global scourge. AIDS orphan
Maggie Ubisi, 14, right, helps her younger sister Tsakane, 12,
with homework at their home in Vosloorus, east of
Johannesburg, South Africa. While other children are outside
playing, Maggie Ubisi has more weighty things to deal with.
The 14-year-old has to cook for her brothers and sister, clean
their shack, listen to their problems. AIDS not only stole
Maggie’s mother from her in July, it also stole her childhood,
forcing her to become a teen-age matriarch...
