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Antitrust: DOJ, Microsoft close to deal
Microsoft and the Justice Department apparently have made headway toward settling the landmark antitrust case before a court-imposed Friday deadline. But reaching a final agreement could depend on whether both sides can agree on minute details that would restrict Microsoft's business practices in the consent decree that must be approved by U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly. Some sources suggested that the agreement is quickly shaping up from a rough proposal to a serious settlement that both sides can sign off on. With a Friday deadline looming, both sides have incentive to quickly fill in the gaps.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp01

Court: DVD-cracking code is free speech
A California court has dealt a potentially serious setback to the movie industry's attempt to rid the online world of software that can help break through copy protections on DVDs. The appeals court released a decision Thursday overturning an earlier order that barred hundreds of people from publishing the code for a software program called "DeCSS" online. Posting the code is just like publishing other types of controversial speech and is protected by the constitution, the appellate judges said.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02

Windows XP rings up lackluster sales
Despite heavy marketing and lucrative rebates being offered by retailers, early results indicate that sales of Windows XP are trailing Windows 98 but running ahead of Windows Me. Fewer than 300,000 boxed copies of the new operating system were sold in the first several days of its availability, according to preliminary figures from NPD Intelect, which has polled roughly 80 percent of its retailers and mail-order clients about XP. Although some poll respondents indicated that demand was "healthy," NPD asserts that the final tally of first-week sales will likely be 20 percent to 25 percent lower than what Microsoft saw with Windows 98.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02

Rival browsers benefiting from MSN gaffe
Microsoft's blockage of competing Web browsers from MSN.com has been good news for some plucky rivals: They are experiencing record traffic and downloads, and a leading Internet authority is heaping scorn on the software giant. Last week, people who tried to visit MSN.com with a non-Microsoft browser found themselves locked out. Although Microsoft's own Internet Explorer easily accessed the popular site, other browsers -- such as Opera, Mozilla, Amaya and some versions of Netscape -- received error messages and recommended that people "upgrade" to Internet Explorer.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02

Sony's robot-dog gets hacked
Sony has forced a programmer to remove from his Web site code that changed the behavior of its Aibo robot dog. According to a report in New Scientist, the programs gave Aibo new functionality. One, called Disco Aibo, made the robotic canine dance to music. Sony protested, saying that the applications used proprietary and encrypted code. The Japanese company demanded the removal of the programs, along with details of Aibo's software protection. The anonymous enthusiast has complied but insists that he never published any specific details of how to break the security of Sony's Memory Stick storage media, which stores the programs that define Aibo's behavior.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02

Will face recognition keep airports safe?
As U.S. airports begin installing face-recognition systems to thwart terrorism in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, civil rights activists are rushing to decry the technology as ineffective and invasive. The American Civil Liberties Union on Thursday derided the use of face-recognition software in airports, saying it doesn't work and "offers us neither order nor liberty." The report comes the same day that ADT Security Services, one of the largest security companies, with a growing presence in airports, agreed to use face-recognition systems from Visionics. Boston's Logan International Airport also announced plans earlier this week to install such technology.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200...html?tag=mn_hd

High-tech security may get $1 billion boost
A $20 billion stimulus package in the works by Senate Democrats may include $1 billion to bankroll an information-technology fund, CNET News.com has learned. As proposed by Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., the U.S. Office of Management and Budget would administer the fund and award money to projects that aim to further protect the United States' critical infrastructures, improve the security of government computer systems, or harden the nation's defenses against natural and manmade threats. Leslie Phillips, communications director for the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee -- headed by Lieberman -- confirmed the fund is likely to be part of the economic stimulus proposal being created by Democratic senators.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200...html?tag=mn_hd

Linux goes to the movies
Over the past year, the information technology elite have started to dismiss Linux as a flash in the pan that tried and failed to dominate in a world owned by Windows. Woebegone Linux and open-source companies are scattered across the landscape like so much shrapnel. The stock prices of IPO high fliers VA Linux and Red Hat currently trade near half of their pre-IPO offering prices. Meanwhile, Windows XP gets the press and the plaudits. But what's happening behind the scenes? In the early days of the open-source movement, Linux-based operating systems made their way into the business world through the back door, usually shepherded by an engineer who just wanted to get his or her job done in the most efficient way possible.
http://salon.com/tech/feature/2001/1...ood/index.html

Hotmail to junk inactive members
Microsoft has told members of its free Hotmail service that their e-mail accounts will be closed if they do not use them at least once a month. "Accounts reaching 30 days of inactivity are formally deactivated and all messages, folders, and contacts are permanently deleted," the software giant told Hotmail users in an e-mail Wednesday. The rule does not apply to its MSN Hotmail Extra Storage accounts, which cost $12.95 per year and provide five times more storage space, the company said.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200...html?tag=cd_mh

Big portable MP3 player has style
What do you get when you cross a notebook-sized Firewire hard drive, a long-lasting rechargeable battery pack and hundreds of mp3s in one great looking, portable package? You get Apple’s iPod — a terrific device. Not perfect, but an instant classic. It’s a little heavier than it looks — 6.5 ounces — but that figure is no more than what some modern-day PDAs weigh — and amazing when you think of what’s crammed inside. The dimensions, about the size of a pack of cigarettes, allow the iPod to fit in my hand, not out of line with some other smaller-capacity mp3 players I’ve seen.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/651021.asp?0dm=C12LT

Eight States Using National Guard to Help Secure Reactors
At least eight states have called on National Guard troops to protect their nuclear reactors, part of the fallout from the terrorism fears that have prompted a nationwide alert this week. Though there have been no specific threats against any of the country's 103 nuclear power plants, nuclear facilities have been considered a prime target for terrorists since the Sept. 11 attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. A Justice Department warning about possible terrorist activity in the next few days has heightened tensions.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,37804,00.html

Firms Hurt By WTC Attacks Flooded With Discounts
Many small to mid-sized companies whose offices were damaged or destroyed in the Sept. 11 attacks are just now starting to rebuild their internal computer and telecommunications networks. And, prices for such services have never been better, with literally hundreds of suppliers competing to offer discounted contracts and services. In the days following Sept. 11, local officials launched ReStart Central, a joint economic assistance effort by the New York City Mayor's Office, the Empire State Development Corporation, and the New York City Partnership and Chamber of Commerce.
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/171779.html

Microsoft's New Security Program Has Bugs
A new security initiative unveiled by Microsoft [NASDAQ:MSFT] last month is off to a rocky start, according to customers and security experts. Microsoft's Strategic Technology Protection Program drew praise when it was announced Oct. 3. But already the effort, positioned by the company as "an unprecedented mobilization of Microsoft's people and resources" to help customers secure their systems, has hit several snags. The first occurred on Oct. 18, when Microsoft released a security patch that caused some Windows 2000 systems to stop functioning properly.
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/171777.html

FDA Starts Online Cipro Crackdown
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today warned 11 foreign Internet sellers of the antibiotic Ciprofloxacin - or Cipro - that they may be breaking U.S. law by selling it to U.S. customers via the Internet. The FDA sent 11 e-mail messages to the companies that told them that if the Cipro was not made in accordance with U.S. specifications, they are engaging in illegal drug sales. Five other foreign-based Web sites continue to sell Cipro after being warned by the FDA that they could be violating U.S. regulations. The FDA also is working with the U.S. Customs Service to keep the drugs from entering the country.
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/171775.html

Drug Company Loses Second Chat Room Speech Case
A California court dismissed a second defamation lawsuit by a drug research firm against a stockholder who posted negative comments about the company on an Internet chat room. San Diego, Calif.-based Hollis-Eden Pharmaceuticals first alleged that Gregory Alcus defamed the company on a message board on the Yahoo Web site in November 2000. The company filed suit on Dec. 14, 2000, and Superior Court Judge Kevin Enright dismissed the case on March 28.
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/171773.html

Council Fights Terrorism With Technology
The Homeland Security Council is seeking recommendations from the nation’s top technology, intelligence and justice agencies for using advanced technology to enforce immigration laws and prevent terrorists from entering the United States. John Marburger, the new director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, George Tenet, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and Attorney General John Ashcroft are to recommend ways government databases can be used to help detect, identify, locate and apprehend potential terrorists in the United States under a presidential directive issued Oct. 29. The use of advanced datamining software should also be addressed, the directive said.
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/171763.html

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