January/February 2002 -
Protecting People above Patents
- Owning the Future,
By Seth Shulman, Technology
Review, Even during its “war
on terrorism,” the U.S.
government says it can’t suspend
patents. Wrong: it’s done so
before. Let’s say a government
is at war. Imagine further that
a powerful company holds a
patent on technology vital to
the government’s ability to
fight that war or protect its
citizens. Wouldn’t you assume
that the government would place
national protection far above
patent protection? Of course you
would...
January 24,
2002 -
Her Own Bodyguard, Gun-packing First Lady - By Dave Kopel,
National Review Online, Paul Gallant & Joanne Eisen, Independence
Institute, She was the most famous spokesperson for civil rights, at
a time when the idea of equal rights for people of color was very
politically incorrect. "We can't afford to have two kinds of citizens,"
she insisted. "We must have equal citizenship for anybody in our
country." And though she was a well-known talker, she also walked the
walk. In 1958, at age 74, she made plans to go down to Tennessee to
speak at a civil-rights workshop at the Highlander Folk School. The Ku
Klux Klan learned about her plans. The day before her trip, the elderly,
gray-haired woman was contacted by the FBI. "We can't guarantee your
safety," they told her. "The Klan's put a bounty on your head, a $25,000
bounty on your head. We can't protect you. You can't go." But the little
old lady answered, "I didn't ask for your protection... I have a
commitment. I'm going."
And she did. She flew down to the Nashville airport, where she was
joined by a friend, an elderly white woman aged 71. The pair got into
the car, lay a loaded pistol on the front seat between them, and drove
into the night. No Secret Service or police escort. Just the two little
old ladies with a gun to keep them safe. They set out for their
destination, a " tiny labor school[,] to conduct a workshop on how to
break the law, how to conduct non-violent civil disobedience." They
drove through the heart of Klan territory to teach people how to fight
for freedom...
January 07, 2002 -
Invasion of Privacy: Web Sites Are Going Too Far Now -
NetworkCompting.com, By Steven J. Schuchart Jr., As an Internet
user, I understand the need for advertising and anonymous usage
tracking. These are necessary evils. But when advertisers invade my
privacy and seriously limit my ability to use the Internet as an
informational tool, a line has been crossed. Let this serve as notice to
advertisers, Web sites and software companies: If you invade my privacy,
steal my CPU cycles and waste my time, I will not be back...
January 30, 2002
-
Payback time! How to catch a hacker - By Robert Vamosi,
AnchorDesk, COMMENTARY--A new service from McAfee will soon let
you discover whether anyone is hacking into your system, and if so,
let you submit that information to the malicious user's ISP or local
law enforcement officials. The project, known as HackerWatch.org,
is an ambitious attempt by McAfee, a division of Network Associates
best known for its antivirus products, to create an interactive anti-hacker
community online. But will it make a difference? Sam Curry, who has
overseen firewall development at McAfee for some time, said HackerWatch
is intended "not to start any witch hunts, but to get good quality
information" from its users. To help it reach that goal, McAfee
recently merged with NeoWorx, a company best known for NeoTrace, a
product used by law enforcement to trace malicious users...
January
28, 2002 -
A riddle: Why does Netscape still exist? - By Eric
Schonfeld, Special to ZDNet, COMMENTARY--When I heard the
news that AOL Time Warner (my employer) filed a lawsuit last
Tuesday against Microsoft, I was not surprised -- just
disappointed. AOL's civil suit accuses Microsoft of using its
Windows software, which has long been bundled in its Internet
Explorer browser, to crush Netscape, which has a competing
browser and is owned by AOL. Don't get me wrong. It's not that
I think Microsoft is entirely innocent of using its monopoly
power to crush Netscape. The facts speak for themselves.
Internet Explorer, which was developed after Netscape, now
controls more than 80 percent of the market for Internet
users, while Netscape is limping along as a minor subsidiary
of AOL. Netscape actually lost the browser wars a long time
ago, in part because of Microsoft's tactics but also because
its product is no longer very good -- and no judicial ruling
is going to change that. Even AOL realizes this, since it
bundles Internet Explorer instead of Netscape with its own PC
software...
January
28, 2002 -
We are not terrorists: Jadallah Shihadeh - By David
L. Miller, The Lutheran, Christmas letter from ELCJ Bishop
Munib Younan... A half-dozen Palestinian boys playfully mob
Pastor Jadallah Shihadeh as he walks through the Lutheran
Boys' Home in Beit Jala near Bethlehem. He is like a father
for many of the boys. He frets about raising money to keep
them fed and clothed, writing letters to foreign donors into
the wee hours several nights each week. He also worries about
his own children, especially since late October when bullets
from Israeli snipers killed his neighbor and crashed through
his office — piercing the couch where his daughter, Klara,
does her homework...
January 20, 2002 -
Where Are These Pop-Ups Coming From? - (You wish this was just
about popups, but it's about much more.), By Chet and Erik, What
would you think if I told you someone was monitoring every page you
visit, every form you fill out, and every web email you send? This article
covers a company that's doing just that, and how they're attempting
to hide what they're doing. I'm going to admit this right off the bat:
I am not a super smarty. Unlike Steve Gibson, I can't trace hackers
back to their IRC lairs to debate them. I stumbled across what I'm covering
here simply by being annoyed. Luckily, it happened to fall within my
tiny sphere of knowledge. Please don't skip the whole article because
you think the first few paragraphs don't relate to you. This is about
more than one piece of software behaving poorly; it's about an industry
paying lipservice to privacy, and then doing whatever the Hell they
please. In other words, this could be the future of software...
January 03, 2002 -
Un-spam: The greatest gift of all - By David
Berlind, OK, so maybe I have a warped idea of what a
good gift is, but this year my biggest wish has to do with
spam. First, I'd like to expand the definition of spam.
Second, I want to share some thoughts with you--whether you're
an online merchant who chooses e-mail as a form of
solicitation or an innocent victim of these solicitations.
Online merchants should take note. Victims can commiserate...
January
25, 2002 -
The Enron spin doctor - By William Saletan,
SLATE.COM, Bush press secretary’s secrets to mastering the
art of evasion. WASHINGTON, The collapse of Enron is the
biggest scandal since President Bush took office. Given the
connections between Enron and Bush — money, friendship, Texas,
energy — you’d think reporters would be roasting Bush a la
Clinton by now. But they’ve been thwarted, in part by facts
and in part by spin. White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer
has managed the spin duties expertly. Here’s how he does it...
January 18,
2002 -
Software Racketeering
- By John C. Dvorak, PC MAG - , In the San Francisco Bay Area
on every radio station from progressive rock to sports talk radio
we've been inundated by commercials from the Business Software
Alliance (BSA) making threats about software copying. The commercial
most heard goes something likes this: "Bill, have we been keeping
track of our software. Do we know for a fact that we've licensed it
all properly?" "Of course, Karen. At least I think so. Who cares?
Have you seen what happened to the candy machine on the fifth floor?
And I hear the company is about to go out on strike!" "Bill, none of
that is important!! Do you realize that according to the Business
Software Alliance we could be fined hundreds of thousands of dollars
for each violation and be sent to prison if we permit software
piracy in the company!" "Oh my, Karen. I had no idea. To heck with
running the company. Let's get on this right away!" Then a booming
voice tells the listener that the "grace period ends this month! Get
audited now!"
