Peer-To-Peer News - The Week In Review - January 15th, '05

[JackSpratts]

Update





Quotes Of The Week


"There are fewer communists in the world today than there were. There are some new modern-day sort of communists who want to get rid of the incentive for musicians and moviemakers and software makers under various guises. They don't think that those incentives should exist." – Comrade Bill Gates


"A wonderful thing will happen in Europe that won't occur again in the US until 2019: Copyrights on music and television recordings will expire." – Lawrence Lessig


"The first known copyright violation involved not a printing press or copy machine but a rogue monk, copying by hand, 1448 years ago." – Helene Newberg


"In general there has been very little reduction in the levels of BitTorrent traffic across the globe. As many of the (BitTorrent) sites...were being shut down, new ones sprung up." – Andrew Parker


"It's pretty ingenious, to take an anti-piracy feature and use it to feed spyware is extremely ironic." – Patrick Hinojasa


"To use an analogy, it's a little bit as if Ford was selling cars with defective brakes. If I realised that there was a problem, opened the hood and took a few pictures to prove it, and published everything on my Web site then Ford could file a complaint against me." – Guillaume Tena


"A better, more intense experience is a good thing for porn." – Studio Exec











IBM Offers 500 Patents To Open Source
AP

International Business Machines Corp. says it is providing free access to the information in 500 company patents to individuals and groups working on open source software.

The company said it believes this is the largest pledge of patents of any kind and represents a major shift in how it manages and deploys its intellectual property.

Open source software is a spectrum of programs, the best known of them the Linux operating system, that are not under the lock and key of a single company but are developed by the communal efforts of volunteers who often start with little more than a common interest.

The philosophy behind open source: Grant a free license to users, include the software blueprints and let anyone make improvements with as few restrictions as possible.

IBM is trying to sell its business clients on using open source software instead of software from Microsoft Corp., with the understanding that a business using open source will require outside professional help, perhaps from IBM, to manage its systems.

Open source software has made big strides in the past few years, with government agencies promoting it in nations including China, France, Germany, Japan and South Korea.

IBM said its pledge applies to any individual, community or company working on or using software that meets the standards of the Open Source Initiative, a nonprofit. IBM has already been making selected patents available, without charging royalties, for use in open standards software protocols, file formats and interfaces.

The company said it had collected royalties on the patents previously and that they would be worth more than $10 million if they were sold.

"This is not a one-time event," John E. Kelly, IBM's senior vice president for technology and intellectual property, said in a statement. "(T)hrough measures such as today's pledge, we will increasingly use patents to encourage and protect global innovation and interoperability through open standards, and we urge others to do so as well."

IBM was awarded 3,248 patents last year, gaining more patents than any other company for the twelfth consecutive year.
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/sil...l/10617858.htm


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EU Vote Will Decide Whether To Scrap Patent Directive

Motion put down to restart controversial legislation
Laura Rohde

The controversial EU software patent directive has been thrown into confusion with a motion signed by 61 MEPs recommending it be thrown out and the legislative process begun again.

The directive is currently awaiting a vote in the EU Council after a dramatic intervention by Poland at its final meeting of 2004 caused its rubber-stamping to be delayed.

Sixty-one MEPs from 13 countries and four political groups have introduced a motion to ask the European Commission, to resubmit the "Patentability of Computer-implemented Inventions" directive. The entire Parliament must vote on the request. If a majority of MEPs approve the motion, the Commission will be forced to restart the process for the directive.

Should the motion be effective, it would have to happen quickly, said Florian Mueller, manager of the NoSoftwarePatents (NSP) campaign. "Realistically, it would take place during the next major plenary session of the Parliament beginning the week of 21 February," he said.

NSP contends that copyright laws are enough to protect business innovations and would like patents for software to be outlawed in Europe. The group is supported by US-based Linux operating system company Red Hat, Swedish open-source database software company MySQL and German software and Internet services provider 1&1 Internet.

The existing directive is currently awaiting a final vote by the Council of Ministers, before the proposed legislation goes back to the European Parliament for a second reading. The Council and the Parliament have been wrangling over differing versions of the directive since it was submitted by the Commission in February 2002.

Politicians are at odds over an outline agreement of the directive approved by the Council of Ministers last May. That agreement reversed amendments to the directive, added by Parliament, that bar the patenting of software.

In December, Polish deputy minister for Science and IT Wlodzimierz Marcinski formally requested a delay on the final Council vote, saying that his government needed more time to draw up an appropriate statement on the legislation. Representatives from the Council had contended that the final vote was being held up due to the work required for putting the text into all of the various languages of the EU member states.

The Commission declined comment on the motion to restart the legislative process or to specify when the Council vote is now expected to take place.

While the motion has a real chance of derailing the progress of the Council of Ministers' version of the "Patentability of Computer-implemented Inventions" directive, Leo Baumann of the European IT and communications industry association (EICTA), said he doesn't expect the group will be successful in its request. "It's possible to do that but you need a majority of the European Parliament and the approval of the conference of presidents (leaders of the political groups). I don't expect it to happen," Baumann said.

The EICTA believes that some software needs patent protection. Its members include software firms like Microsoft, SAP and Sun, hardware makers like HP and Intel and telecom companies like Ericsson and Nokia.

The EICTA has warned that restarting the legislative process would only succeed in continuing the current uncertainty over patenting computer-implemented inventions, possibly for years. Thus far, the EU has been unable to bring into line the myriad interpretations given to patent law by different European national courts.

Recently, the EU has increased its ranks from 15 countries to 25, bringing major changes to the political landscape, which in itself warrants a new approach to the directive, argues Florian Mueller. "Of the 732 MEPs serving, more than 400 are new. There is now a lot more sensitivity to the concerns over patenting software," he said.
http://www.techworld.com/application...fm?NewsID=2907


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Japanese Company to Pay Ex-Employee $8.1 Million for Invention
Todd Zaun

The inventor of a revolutionary lighting technology has reluctantly agreed to a record settlement from his former employer in a dispute that challenged the idea that the fruits of the labor of Japanese workers belong only to companies.

Shuji Nakamura, now a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, will receive 840 million yen ($8.1 million) from his former employer, the Nichia Corporation, for inventing blue-light-emitting diodes. Nichia secured lucrative patents for Mr. Nakamura's invention, which allowed the creation of more vibrant video billboards and traffic signal lights and helped lead to the development of blue lasers, which are used in the latest DVD players. His invention was also useful in creating white-light-emitting diodes, which may someday replace incandescent bulbs as a source of indoor lighting.

The case has been closely watched in Japan as a test of long-held notions that employees should sacrifice everything for their companies and the idea that there is something unseemly about individual workers, even the most productive ones, seeking a bigger cut of profits than their co-workers.

Traditionally, in Japan, corporate engineers and scientists are treated just like less-skilled employees. It is unusual for Japanese companies to sign contracts with their researchers that specify how profits from their inventions will be shared, as is often the practice in American companies.

The amount of the settlement was significantly smaller than the 20 billion yen, nearly $200 million, that a lower court ordered Nichia to pay Mr. Nakamura last year. The lower court said that would be a fair amount, given that his invention was worth about 60 billion yen, or roughly $580 million, to Nichia. Tuesday's settlement came after the company appealed that ruling.

Mr. Nakamura sued his former employer four years ago, seeking a share of the royalties from his invention after the company gave him an award of 20,000 yen, or less than $200, for his work.

The payment to Mr. Nakamura under the settlement, which was coordinated by the Tokyo High Court, would be the largest ever made to the employee of a company for an invention, Kyoto News and Nihon Keizai Shinbun said. A court representative said it did not maintain records on such matters.

"This kind of money didn't exist four years ago, so this is a great incentive for Japanese corporate engineers," said Mr. Nakamura's lawyer, Hidetoshi Masunaga. "Japanese society is starting to dramatically change."

Mr. Nakamura said he was not satisfied with the amount but accepted it on advice from his lawyer, according to Nikkei News. Mr. Nakamura did not respond to calls or e-mail messages seeking comment on the agreement. A Nichia spokeswoman declined to comment on the settlement.

Mr. Nakamura's case is one of the first of a recent string of lawsuits by Japanese researchers against their companies. Last year, the electronics giant Hitachi was ordered to pay more than $1 million to an engineer who developed crucial technologies for DVD players. Also last year, Ajinomoto, a large maker of instant foods and spices, was ordered to pay more than $1 million to an employee who invented an artificial sweetener.

The litigation is part of a broader change in Japan, as both individuals and companies focus increasingly on the value of intellectual property. Japanese companies, including Toshiba and the Matsushita Electric Industrial Company, are dropping their traditional reluctance to sue and are using the courts to protect their patents.

"The focus in Japan on intellectual property is changing, not just on the inventor level, but companies, too, are focusing on the value of their intellectual property in ways they have not done in the past," said A. C. Johnston of the Tokyo office of the law firm Morrison & Foerster.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/12/bu...s/12light.html


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Fujitsu-Siemens To Pay Per-Machine Fee For Piracy
Jo Best

Fujitsu-Siemens has been ordered by a German court to pay a levy every time one of its computers is sold in the country, as part of a "tax on piracy."

The judge ruled in December that because the company's PCs could be used for copying material--and denying rights holders their due royalties-- Fujitsu-Siemens should make it up by way of a contribution of about $16 (12 euros) per machine.

Similar levies are already in place on other media that can be used for copying, including blank videos and audio tapes, in other European countries.

The case was brought by VG Wort, a German copyright holders association, in 2001. The organization had been demanding a levy of about $40, although it agreed to the court's revised penalty.

VG Wort is expected to bring similar suits against other computer manufacturers in the country.

Fujitsu-Siemens did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
http://news.com.com/Fujitsu-Siemens+...3-5511810.html


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Napster Targeted By Infringement Suit
John Borland

Napster is once again the target of an intellectual-property lawsuit, this time on the receiving end of a patent infringement claim from a small company called SightSound Technologies.

SightSound, which holds several patents related to selling and downloading music and video online, on Monday asked a court to block Napster from selling music online while the trial unfolds. Licensing discussions had broken down, leading to the suit, SightSound executives said.

"This lawsuit is the regrettable outcome of a long process that could have been resolved amicably," Scott Sander, chief executive officer of SightSound, said in a statement. "It is surprising that Napster has taken this road given that it seems to have been working to restore its brand value."

SightSound is one of a handful of companies that are pursuing patent royalties for what many critics say are basic Internet functions such as e- commerce or streaming video. The spate of lawsuits and royalty demands has added an extra twist of financial uncertainty to many Web businesses, leading to calls for reform of the patent process.

Despite their basic nature, several of the patent drives have been successful, however. SightSound itself won early court rulings in a long-running lawsuit against Bertlesmann subsidiary CDNow, and ultimately settled with the conglomerate for $3.3 million.

Because the case did not go to a full trial, and CDNow did not admit it had infringed on the patents, the claims could still be overturned by a court.

The lawsuit also has given a possible glimpse at Napster's future business plans. SightSound said the two companies were close to a licensing deal, but Napster also sought licenses for selling video online.

Napster CEO Chris Gorog has said in previous interviews that the company would likely expand into distributing other forms of media aside from music over time. But the company has announced no such plans as of yet.

A Napster representative could not immediately be reached for comment. Until recently, Napster was the CD management company Roxio, but it sold its previous business and changed its name to focus on the music download market.
http://news.com.com/Napster+targeted...3-5533985.html


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Gates' Commie Quote Inspires The Masses
Michael Kanellos



Workers of the world unite. You have nothing to lose but your screensaver.

Last week, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates likened some of the more vocal anti-intellectual property advocates to latter- day communists. "There are fewer communists in the world today than there were. There are some new modern-day sort of communists who want to get rid of the incentive for musicians and moviemakers and software makers under various guises. They don't think that those incentives should exist," he said.

Since then, individuals have created propaganda-style desktop art in the Soviet style in sarcastic homage. In one, a backwards copyright symbol, in yellow, floats upon a red flag, similar to the old Soviet flag. In another, Soviet deco giants lock arms in front of a map of the globe.

We'd tell you who the artists are, but, frankly, they might use the notoriety to further their careers, which would allow them to indirectly profit from intellectual property, which in turn would undermine their arguments. And they certainly wouldn't want to do that.
http://news.com.com/2061-1003-5519680.html?tag=xtra.ml


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Toxic Microsoft Digital Rights Management

Hackers Tune In to Windows Media Player
Ryan Naraine

Hackers are using the newest DRM technology in Microsoft's Windows Media Player to install spyware, adware, dialers and computer viruses on unsuspecting PC users.

Security researchers have detected the appearance of two new Trojans, Trj/WmvDownloader.A and Trj/WmvDownloader.B, in video files circulating on P2P (peer-to-peer) networks.

According to Panda Software, both Trojans take advantage of the new Windows anti-piracy technology to trick users into downloading spyware and adware applications.

"When a user tries to play a protected Windows media file, this technology demands a valid license. If the license is not stored on the computer, the application will look for it on the Internet, so that the user can acquire it directly or buy it," Panda Software explained.

An unsuspecting user attempting to download the DRM (digital rights management) license will instead be redirected to a Web site that loads a large quantity of adware, spyware, modem dialers and other viruses, the company said in an advisory.

"It's pretty ingenious," said Patrick Hinojasa, chief technical officer at Panda Software. "To take an anti-piracy feature and use it to feed spyware is extremely ironic."

Hinojasa told eWEEK.com that the use of Windows Media files as a spyware vehicle is another sign that virus writers and companies supporting spyware are looking for new entry points to infect computers.

"In this case, they're using technology meant to secure content. It just shows that the more bells and whistles you add to the technology, the more you open doors for the bad guys," he said.

Even though these Trojans have been detected in video files on P2P networks such as Kazaa or eMule, Hinojasa warned that these files can be distributed via e-mail, FTP or other Internet download avenues.

Ben Edelman, a Harvard University student who tracks and comments on the spyware scourge, also spotted the spyware-laden media files. In a research note, Edelman posted a demonstration of the exploits and warned that users with older versions of Windows will receive "confusing and misleading messages" regarding the DRM licenses.

After attempting to download the DRM, Edelman said: "On a fresh test computer, I pressed Yes once to allow the installation. My computer quickly became contaminated with the most spyware programs I have ever received in a single sitting."

"All told, the infection added 58 folders, 786 files and an incredible 11,915 registry entries to my test computer. Not one of these programs had showed me any license agreement, nor had I consented to their installation on my computer," he added.
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1749948,00.asp


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Microsoft Issues 2 New 'Critical' Security Patches

Microsoft Corp. warned Windows users on Tuesday of two new "critical"-rated security flaws in its software that could allow attackers to take control of a computer and delete or copy information.

The world's largest software maker issued patches to fix the problems as part of its monthly security bulletin, which affects the Windows operating system and the Internet Explorer Web browser.

Computer security experts urged users to download and install the patches, available at www.microsoft.com/security.

"It's very critical that users patch machines for these vulnerabilities," said Jimmy Kuo, a researcher at McAfee Inc.'s virus detection center.

A hacker could exploit one of the security flaws if a user directed the Web browser to a specially designed Web page, Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft said.

Microsoft also issued one other security warning, rated at the second-highest level of "important."

Microsoft has been working for the last three years to improve the security and reliability of its software under its Trustworthy Computing initiative, as more and more malicious software targets weaknesses in Windows and other Microsoft software.

Also on Tuesday, Microsoft began offering downloads of a software tool to remove viruses and other malicious software from computers.

Microsoft last week began offering anti-spyware program downloads for Windows users to block programs that generate unwanted pop-up ads and secretly record a computer user's activities.

Both programs are part of an effort by the company to offer its own computer and Internet security software as it prepares a security subscription service code-named "A1" to provide regular updates for security software and services.

Shares in McAfee and Symantec Corp., the two largest computer security software vendors, fell sharply after Microsoft announced it would release its own anti-spyware software. Since then, McAfee is down 7.5 percent and Symantec is off more than 6 percent.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.j...toryID=7296553


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The Internet's Future? It Depends on Whom You Ask
Tom Zeller Jr.

Few topics inspire trips to the crystal ball like technology, although hasty predictions have often only provided future generations with quotes for cocktail party chat.

Ken Olson, founder of the Digital Equipment Corporation, remarked in 1977, for instance, that there was no reason anyone would want a computer in their home. And Harry M. Warner, a co-founder of Warner Brothers Studios, is well known for wondering, near the end of the silent-picture era, who would want to hear actors talk.

Still, as industries, courts, legislatures and other social institutions struggle to keep pace with each new technological innovation, the desire to peer around the corner is a natural one.

Last September, the Pew Internet & American Life Project, a research organization in Washington, sent out a survey asking 24 questions about the future of the Internet to a wide range of technology specialists, scholars and industry leaders. Some 1,200 responded and, as you might expect, widespread agreement is hard to find.

Some of the more cherished notions of the Internet age - that it isolates people from real-world interaction, for instance, or that people use the Web to find reinforcement for their political views and filter out opposing ones - generate deeply divided views among the specialists. Some 42 percent of respondents agreed with the assertion that civic involvement will increase in the next 10 years as people seek and find organizations to join online; nearly 30 percent disagreed. Roughly 40 percent viewed the proliferation of online medical resources as a potential boon to health care management and access; 30 percent of the specialists thought that unlikely.

One assertion on which there was widespread agreement was that the infrastructure of the Internet will be the target of "at least one devastating attack" in the next 10 years. Sixty-six percent of respondents agreed.

But even here, there was dissent. "If you mean very costly, yes," wrote one respondent in the survey. "If you mean a failure that cascades to other segments of society, with widespread suffering or loss of life, then no."

Still, for investors, policy makers and others interested in getting a glimpse of what might be just over the horizon, there are hints to be had.

The survey results solidly confirm what media watchers may already know (and perhaps fear): that the Internet and the rise of the blogger are expected to drive greater change in the news media and publishing industries than in any other sector of society. Internet specialists also expect broad changes in education and working life, and 50 percent of respondents say they believe - despite all of the lawsuits filed by the recording and movie industries against online pirates - that the vast majority of Internet users will still be freely trading digital materials via anonymous networks by 2014.

The predictions are being added to a growing online database called Imagining the Internet, developed jointly by the Pew Project and Elon University in North Carolina.

The database, at www.elon.edu/predictions, includes more than 4,000 predictive statements made by hundreds of technology specialists during the dawn of the Internet era - roughly 1990-95.

"Every one of us, we know it's not going to pan out exactly the way we think," said Barry Wellman, a professor of sociology at the University of Toronto who participated in the survey and a co-editor of the 2002 book, "The Internet in Everyday Life."

"But it gets us focusing on what some of the alternatives could be."

The specialists might one day eat their words. But so too might those who dare to dismiss them.

"He only seems to lack the knowledge ladled out daily in high schools," The New York Times wrote in a withering 1920 editorial dismissing the physics behind Robert Goddard's assertion that rocket travel - and perhaps even a visit to the moon - might one day be possible. A retraction was printed in 1969, as Apollo 11 set off for the moon.

"The Times," the editorial said, "regrets the error."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/10/technology/10pew.html


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U.K. Bookseller Fires Employee Over Blog
Jo Best

An employee of U.K. book chain Waterstone's has been fired for material he included in his blog.

Joe Gordon, who has been running his Woolamaloo Gazette satirical newsletter since 1992, was dismissed last week after working for the bookseller for 11 years, following a disciplinary hearing.

Gordon's blog, which covers everything from the city of Edinburgh to UN scientists in Iraq, also mentions his work in one of the chain's Edinburgh branches. As well as discussing visits from authors to the store and which cartoon characters his work colleagues would be, Gordon occasionally used his online diary to vent steam about his working life.

And terms like "Bastardstone's" and "Evil Boss" have drawn Waterstone's ire.

Although Waterstone's has no employee policy that deals with blogging, according to Gordon, the chain said that Gordon's site had brought it into disrepute.

Gordon, however, maintains that such descriptions should have been taken light-heartedly and were meant to be reminiscent of a Dilbert cartoon. "I didn't set out with intent to harm," he said.

Gordon, who ran a book group for the shop and has appeared on television and radio as a Waterstone's employee, said: "I've done so much promotion for this company; it's not true."

If his manager had asked him to stop talking about his job at Waterstone's in his blog, Gordon said he would have done so. "I could lived with not talking about that...They've been so heavy-handed," he said.

Gordon is talking to his union about his dismissal and may take further action. Waterstone's did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Gordon is not the first blogger to have found himself out of a job after writing about an employer.

Ellen Simonetti, formerly a flight attendant for Delta Air Lines, was fired after management saw pictures of her posing in her uniform on her Web site. Jessica Cutler, the now infamous "Washingtonienne," was terminated from her job in a Senator's office for the content of her blog.

The blogging phenomenon is growing rapidly. A report by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found readership of blogs increased by 58 percent last year and that 7 percent of adults have their own blogs.
http://news.com.com/U.K.+bookseller+...3-5519477.html


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Email Activist Can Remain Anonymous, Judge Rules
NewStandard Staff

A Texas judge ruled Friday that an anonymous internet user who sent emails to the press and potential voters about Texas politicians' wasteful spending has the right to remain anonymous, even in the face of a defamation lawsuit.

Former Jefferson County Commissioner Jimmy Cokinos, who lost his re-election bid last March, had claimed that emails sent from a Yahoo! email user known only as "recall_carl01" were defamatory and asked the court to force the disclosure of the critic's identity.

But District Court Judge Gary Sanderson ruled that the internet activist could remain anonymous.

Responding to the decision, Public Citizen attorney Paul Alan Levy, who represents "Recall Carl," said: "The e-mails at issue here contained standard criticism of the use of taxpayer money -- not defamatory statements -- and it was well within recall_carl01's right to make the comments. We are very gratified that the judge agreed that this Internet critic has a First Amendment right to speak anonymously on the Internet."
http://newstandardnews.net/content/?...em&itemid=1371


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A Case Of The Torrents
Wendy M. Grossman:

A COUPLE of years ago, when the first online movie services came out, I remember reading that the movie industry was being – and going to be – smarter about the online world than its sibling, the music biz. Then in the last month we've seen the suits go out against some of the leading file-sharing sites for TV shows and movies, and the truth is clearly visible: they're not smarter, they're just on a different schedule.

If you've heard of Bittorrent, the latest target, you're probably one of those evil file-sharers. For those who haven't, it's sophisticated peer-to-peer software that speeds up the process of distributing very large files and it is probably the currently most popular method for swapping video files. Torrent sites host links to trackers – computers that manage connections for a particular file. These also do not necessarily host illegal copies of copyrighted material but they point to "seeds" – computers with whole copies of the file being distributed. The would-be downloader clicks on a tracker link, and downloads a tiny file that communicates with the tracker, kicking off the process of connecting you to peers you can download from.

Bittorrent is not particularly protective of privacy: it's easy enough to view (and log) all the IP addresses of the multiple folks you're downloading from at any one time. But it can be mercilessly efficient. Using it, I picked up Microsoft's Windows XP Service Pack 2 in an hour or two (until Microsoft sent in its attack dogs to stop the site from offering the file), and you can download last night's half-hour episode of Scrubs in as little as half an hour if you have a good connection. The popularity of a file has a lot to do with its download speed; the opposite of traditional downloading systems like FTP, with Bittorrent the more people who are downloading a particular file the faster you get it – because they are also uploading it. Something that's not in as hot immediate demand, say an 8.5Gb entire season of Angel, can take as long as a week to download – but if you have broadband, what do you care?

You can see why Bittorrent quickly became popular among people wanting to swap digital copies of TV shows, movies, and games. These types of files are huge compared to those itty-bitty (3-4Mb) MP3s music- lovers bat around. Long-term, the demonstration of what it can do for mass distribution of popular material (as in the XPSP2 demonstration) is the more significant thing about it – the technology unquestionably does have substantial non-infringing uses.

In the last few weeks, some of the most significant TV/film Torrent sites have disappeared, notably Suprnova. These sites were not, of course, hosting copyrighted material, as noted above, though it's not clear how far that argument will get them in the current legal climate. Only one Bittorrent site so far, Lokitorrent, seems to be fighting back, raising funds to mount a defense. This follows last summer's jihad against eDonkey, which significantly slowed down that P2P network.

The obvious comparisons aside, TV and film swapping is really not the same as music-swapping. Music file-sharing really took off among US college students who had hot and cold running ethernet in their dorm rooms. Video-swapping, in my experience, skews more heavily towards Europeans. The key is time-shifting. Do you want to wait six months to see the latest episode of your favorite American show on British television with the commercial breaks in all the wrong places? Or do you want to see it the day after broadcast? Neatly edited, without commercials?

It's that last bit, at least for TV, that's the real kicker, and it's the reason why file-sharing is not the most important thing the MPAA should be hysterical about. There's still a lot of debate about how much or if music- sharing has hit CD sales; I've always maintained that music-sharing is more akin to radio listening than to buying music. But the most significant thing about TV viewing these days is that people are sick of commercials, particularly but not only in the US, where ads now take up as much as a third of a TV show's scheduled slot. The increasing popularity of TiVos and ad-skipping VCRs reflect this. TV producers and networks should be most concerned about how to fix those economics of their industry. Forcing people to watch ads is not going to be the answer for long, even after July, when the US adopts the broadcast flag.

The movie industry, on the other hand, seems to have long forgotten that what they are selling is an emotional experience. Instead of wrecking the theater-going experience by carving up movie theaters into uncomfortably angled spaces or building screens (as in Leicester Square's Warner West End complex) that make it permanently impossible to show a fully in-focus picture, theaters need better sound and vision than viewers can achieve at home. Instead, increasingly they seem to rely on the human desire to see something when it's new – the very point on which file-sharing is the biggest threat. They seem far more casual about DVD sales. Chinese bootleg DVDs have unusably overrun eBay's DVD section. The MPAA should be squelching commercial pirates, not suing private individuals sharing files for no commercial gain.

Either way, you know what will happen next. Court cases. Media coverage. And then new file-sharing technology that's a little less easy to attack.
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=20580


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Musicians Embrace Free Downloads

While the big players try to fight download technologies like Bit Torrent and P2P, independent musicians encourage fans to share.

According to a recent study from Pew, "Two-thirds of artists say peer-to-peer file sharing poses a minor threat or no threat at all to them." While the big players try to fight download technologies like Bit Torrent and P2P, independent musicians encourage fans to share.

Dilvie is an electronic music producer in Salt Lake City, Utah. He recently announced that he has supplied over 100,000 free music downloads, and now he's reaching out to help other musicians do the same. He's launching a blog, titled simply, "Free Music Downloads". "The goal," he says, "is to share the phenomenal talents of many lesser-known musicians in the electronic music scene with as many people as possible."

Dilvie will be promoting his blog next month on the new radio talk-show, "Think About It." The show is about indie music promotion, and, according to the show's producer (Kenny Love), boasts a certified listenership of 790,000.

While many other artists try to sell CD's online, Dilvie is convinced that people don't want to buy something you could give away for free. "When MP3.com was going strong, it was clear that the free downloads were much more popular than CD sales." He advocates merchandise sales, concerts, and online donations to supplement slow CD sales. "It's easy to set up a paypal donation form," he says. "Donations haven't been frequent, by any means, but I received one donation of $1,000, and I didn't have to ship out 200 CDs."
http://i-newswire.com/pr2398.html

http://download-electronica.blogspot.com/
http://www.dilvie.com/


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Stalking the Wild Wi-Fi Network
Daniel Terdiman

With San Francisco's world-famous Lombard Street -- the so-called curviest street in the world -- a block away and Alcatraz resplendent in the glow of a late afternoon sun, it was only natural that one of the nearest available Wi-Fi networks was named "Rice-a-Roni."

Until recently, intrepid wireless internet hunters would never have known the name of any of the myriad 802.11 signals pouring from these tony apartment buildings without opening their laptops. That's because none of the handheld devices on the market that indicate the presence and strength of available Wi-Fi signals could detect network names.

But with the release of Digital Hotspotter from Canary Wireless, all that has changed. Wardrivers can now palm a detector that not only spots Wi-Fi networks and details their signal strength, but reveals the name of each available network. Even better, the Digital Hotspotter is the first detector to reveal the most important piece of information of all: whether a network is encrypted.

Because of that feature, which saves you from turning on a computer only to find that all nearby signals are inaccessible without a password, the $50 Digital Hotspotter has jumped instantly to the head of the line of the roster of Wi-Fi detectors on the market.

The device also differentiates, names and indicates the channel number of each available signal. But it has some drawbacks.

First and foremost, the Digital Hotspotter costs twice as much as any in the rest of the pack. And, while some of its competitors are designed to fit on a keychain, the inch-thick Digital Hotspotter measures roughly 2 by 2.5 inches and is too big to be carried haphazardly in a pants pocket.

Those willing to spend only around $25 on a Wi-Fi detector have several choices. Wired News tested three of them, all of which (like the Digital Hotspotter) filter out non-Wi-Fi 2.4-GHz signals like those from microwave ovens and cordless phones: Chrysalis' WiFi Seeker, Hawking Technology's WiFi Locator and Kensington's WiFi Finder Plus.

In Wired News' tests of these detectors, the WiFi Seeker performed with the most consistency. It seemed to most often report a signal -- an LED scale of four lights -- that corresponded to that received by a laptop, and did so at what seemed like the farthest distance. Furthermore, it has the advantage of being the smallest and lightest detector on the market and one that, at 2.25 by 1.25 by 0.5 inches, could easily fit on a keychain. Holding down the detection button and moving the device around causes it to instantly update its report of the signal strength depending on the direction and distance of the signal.

Kensington's WiFi Finder Plus is the company's second foray into the detector market. By all accounts, though Kensington was a pioneer in the market, its original WiFi Finder didn't perform very well. The WiFi Finder Plus has some nice features, such as a built-in LED flashlight and a thin, compact form factor -- 2.5 by 1.75 by 0.5 inches -- that fits fairly easily onto a keychain. It also is the only detector on the market that can detect the presence of a nearby Bluetooth device.

But the WiFi Finder Plus suffered in Wired News' tests by frequently being at odds with the results reported by its competitors. Sometimes, it needed to be much closer to an access point than any of the other detectors, and occasionally it didn't pick up a signal when others did. However, that may have been useful -- the other detectors sometimes reported signals to which neither a PC nor a Mac laptop could connect.

More frustrating was Hawking Technology's WiFi Locator. Designed with the clamshell look and feel of a mobile phone, the WiFi Locator seemed almost schizophrenic. When a user held down its Locate button and stayed still, it often offered up a constantly changing report of signal strength and tended to report signals of a higher strength that could not be connected to by a laptop. Combined with its large form factor -- 2.5 by 3.5 inches and an inch thick -- the largest of the $25 group, the WiFi Locator comes in last in Wired News' test.

Regardless of which detector you choose, you'll always be able to tell when a Wi-Fi signal is close at hand. And with the push provided by the Digital Hotspot's reporting of networks' encryption status, it seems evident the next generation of its competitors will incorporate such a feature as well. For now though, the choice boils down to both a cost issue and one of size.
http://www.wired.com/news/wireless/0,1382,66120,00.html


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How to hack the Wireless Fantastic

Having fun with Linksys-G
Doug Mohney

HERE IN the States, you can buy a stock Linksys Wireless-G router (WRT54G) for around $50 to $60 when the smoke clears with holiday rebates. You cna maybe even get one for free if you manage to get it thrown in with a broadband service bundle. It's a nice reliable piece of hardware out of the box and even better if you remember to change the default factory settings so the neighbours can't snoop on your LAN traffic.

Underneath the hood of the WRT54G is a 200MHz MIPS processor running Linux and anywhere from 16 to 32MB of RAM and 4 or 8MB of Flash RAM. Linksys, bless their Cisco-owned hearts, has quietly published the source code for its Linux-based devices for anyone to download and modify to their heart's content. There was a bit of a stink about Linksys violating the Linux GPL, but it seems to have been cleared up. As a result, there's a nice little percolating international open source community constantly improving the WRT54G's firmware, with a lot of discussion going on at this web site.

The de facto "God" of WRT54G hacking is a group calling themselves Sveasoft. For a $20 yearly subscription, you can get unlimited "aftermarket upgrades" (better firmware) from SveaSoft to turn a vanilla WRT54G or GS, the so-called "Speed Enhanced" version capable of up to 125 Mbps, into a full-blown firewall, bandwidth manager, VPN server, VLAN manager, and all kinds of other things. Called Alchemy, the custom firmware adds about three dozen new functions to the stock Wireless-G router.

One of the more interesting features of Alchemy is the ability to crank up the power of the radio through the web interface. Linksys fixes the power output in the factory firmware at 28 mw and there's no way to tinker with it. Alchemy allows adjustment from 0 to 251 mw – an increase by nearly a factor of 10 in power. If you're hacking a WRT54G for an outdoor/ distance application (or just trying to blow out the neighbors), this tweak could come in quite handy.

Other features in the Alchemy toolbox include routines for a hotspot portal and quality of service (QoS) bandwidth management so you give priority to VoIP and IM traffic. Security enhancements are impressive and include a SSH client and server and WPA/TKIP with AES encryption. There's an extensive firewall to both track and block services on a protocol basis and support for IPTables. LAN managers love Alchemy for adding remote syslog, Ntop statistics, SNMP hooks, and statistical collection for system uptime and load averaging. There's also some tricks in the package to make the WRT act as a repeater.

Now, SveaSoft and Linksys aren't the only game(s) in town for Wi-Fi hacking. From the software end of things, there's also a Linux flavor called OpenWrt available for compilation. OpenWrt has a selection of package drop-ins to do many of the same things Alchemy does; if you like to play with source code, then OpenWrt is your cuppa. On the hardware side of things, since many consumer-grade Wi-Fi routers are based around Broadcom's chipsets and reference design, it may be possible to load up SveaSoft or OpenWrt on certain, but not all, G devices from Apple, Belkin, Dell, and Microsoft.

Finally, you can even go to class to learn how to hack a WRT54G. ShmooCon (here) in February will have a session dedicated to all the fun (and some not-so-fun) things you can do by reprogramming the WRT54G, including what to do when firmware fails. Can you trust information given by two guys calling themselves Sysmin and QuiGon? Only the Force knows.
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=20200


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US Slaps On The Wardriver-Busting Paint
Lester Haines

Security-minded US decorators' supply outfit Force Field Wireless claims to have developed a DIY solution to the international menace of marauding geek wardrivers - DefendAir paint "laced with copper and aluminum fibers that form an electromagnetic shield, blocking most radio waves and protecting wireless networks".

According to a South Florida Sun Sentinel report, one coat of the water-based paint "shields Wi-Fi, WiMax and Bluetooth networks operating at frequencies from 100 megahertz to 2.4 gigahertz", while two or three applications are "good for networks operating at up to five gigahertz".

Simple as that. Of course, there are a few downsides to this miracle product. First up, you must be careful how you slap it on. Force Field Wireless rep Harold Wray admits that "radio waves find leaks", while the company asks users to be aware that the product "must be applied selectively" otherwise it "might hinder the performance of radios, televisions and cell phones".

Reg readers can make of this apparent contradiction what they will, and are asked to direct any technically-based sceptisicm to Force Field Wireless, and not to Vulture Central. Thankyou.

Another snagette is that DefendAir is available only in grey - a fact sufficient to provoke what is known in the UK as "interior designers' wobbly". Mercifully, it can be used as a primer, so those who require wireless peace of mind plus bold fashion statement can rest assured that coat of "Wardriver Crimson" will cover it up quite nicely.

It only remains for us to say that DefendAir costs a cool $69 per gallon (US gallon, presumably). Still, that's a small price to pay for the absolute certainty that High School students are not right now sitting across the street recording your credit card details for later deployment in the online purchase of pornography, drugs and semi-automatic weapons.
http://www.theregister.com/2005/01/13/wi_fi_paint/


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Has TiVo Forsaken Us?
Lucas Graves

Buy a TiVo lately? Sometime in the next few months, your machine will quietly download a patch that makes it respond to a new copy protection scheme from software maker Macrovision. The app puts restrictions on how long your DVR can save certain kinds of shows - so far, just pay-per-view and video-on-demand programs. It's the first time your TiVo won't let you watch whatever you want, whenever you want. We asked TiVo general counsel Matthew Zinn why he thinks Hollywood will settle for an inch when it can take a mile.

WIRED: TiVo has always been about empowering the viewer. Why change now?

ZINN: Macrovision changed its policy. So the question was, Do we want to have a Macrovision license with certain restrictions, or none at all? We decided that as long as the restrictions were limited to pay-per-view and video-on-demand, consumers would still have the choice. If they don't like a narrower window in which to view programming, they won't purchase it. That'll send a message to the content owners.

You're not legally required to have copy protection. Why not tell Macrovision to stuff it?
That was an option. But if there was no Macrovision license, we would run into a lot of copyright problems with things like remote access and "TiVo to Go" functionality. To innovate and give people more flexibility with broadcast content, we decided it was acceptable to allow content owners to apply protections to higher-value content.

What if the higher-value content is just the beginning? This could be a Trojan horse.
That would be a violent blow to consumer flexibility. You could end up in a situation where different products by different manufacturers would have different rules. I don't think we would go along with it.

With the cable companies in bed with the studios, TiVo could be the last line of defense for the DVR as we know it.
Sometimes I feel that way. We're aware of the danger, and the slippery slope. The danger is that DRM can tilt the balance of copyright so that ultimately there's no concept of fair use, because the content owners dictate what the rules are. But I think content owners are beginning to recognize that if you make things too restrictive, then consumers will find nonlegal ways to achieve what they want.
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/1...w=wn_tophead_6


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Waiting for eXeem.

A Fleeting Victory For Hollywood
As anti-piracy war shuts down top Web sites, others quickly fill the void.

Krysten Crawford

Shortly after Hollywood launched a major offensive against Internet pirates last month, two popular Web sites for stealing movies shut down.

But no sooner had Suprnova.org and Bittorrent.org pulled the plug then copycat sites appeared in their place. What's more, BitTorrent, the technology targeted in the movie industry crackdown, appears to be as popular as ever.

BitTorrent remains the most common "peer-to-peer" technology used by Internet users looking to swap files, both legal and illegal, according to CacheLogic, a British company that monitors peer-to-peer traffic. CacheLogic estimates that just over half of all Internet file-sharing uses BitTorrent software.

"In general there has been very little reduction in the levels of BitTorrent traffic across the globe," said Andrew Parker, the company's founder and chief technology officer. "As many of the (BitTorrent) sites...were being shut down, new ones sprung up."

Parker said he was surprised that BitTorrent usage has not noticeably declined. He noted that when the music industry launched its counteroffensive against Internet pirates by suing users of Kazaa, then the No. 1 peer-to-peer service, file-swappers quickly shifted to newer technologies, including BitTorrent and another one called eDonkey.

The massive shift away from Kazaa took about two months, said Parker.

But with BitTorrent, a similar exodus isn't happening -- at least not yet. And that speaks both to the wiliness of the BitTorrent technology and the big obstacles that Hollywood faces as it tries to avoid a crisis similar to the one that struck the music industry when Napster set off what amounted to a massive online looting of songs.

BitTorrent, a different kind of threat

"I'm not in any way surprised" that BitTorrent continues to thrive, said Eric Garland, the CEO of BigChampagne, a peer-to-peer research firm. He notes that BitTorrent is a different technology than traditional peer- to-peer software like Kazaa and Morpheus.

Instead of acting as a central repository that connects users who want to share music or other files, BitTorrent is essentially homeless.

It's simply a technology that makes downloading easier and faster. While BitTorrent is good at swapping data between computers, explains Parker, users have to find the files they want themselves. That's what led to Suprnova.org and other sites set up specifically to tell users what BitTorrent files are available and where to find them.

The sites, which essentially act as conduits between downloaders and BitTorrent files, were the primary target of last month's campaign, in which the Motion Picture Association of America filed 100 lawsuits against BitTorrent and other index sites around the world.

"The reason BitTorrent will be persistent and will continue to be disruptive or troubling is that the MPAA went after some of the most- trafficked Web sites that essentially point users to these files, but that doesn't impact the technology at all," said Garland. "What happen is mirror sites pop up, in some cases within minutes."

So how does a BitTorrent user know where to find a replacement site? Simple, said Garland: "Google."

There's another threat looming: Peer-to- peer sites are all abuzz these days about a new computer program set to be released this month. Details are scant, but eXeem is being described as a cross between BitTorrent and traditional peer-to-peer software that helps users find the files they want.

To Garland, the rise of eXeem and copycat Suprnova.org sites shows that the entertainment industry is wrong to think it can turn Internet piracy "off like a switch."

A spokesman for the MPAA did not immediately have a response to a written request for comment.

The iTunes solution

Working in Hollywood's favor is user apathy: Consumers aren't all that interested yet in watching movies on computer screens, said Yankee Group senior analyst Michael Goodman.

But that's bound to change in coming years. And when it does, analysts said, movie studios need to be ready or else risk being blind- sided.

Some analysts and Internet users think the only answer is for Hollywood to stop trying to fight piracy and to focus on finding a solution similar to iTunes. The Apple Computer service, which lets consumers download songs for 99 cents a pop, has been a spectacular success.

The answer, said Garland, is to take piracy mainstream. "You marginalize it. You take what's great about the experience and you sell it to people."

Paul Ford, a New York writer and avid peer-to-peer user, thinks that's a great idea. He readily admits to regularly downloading Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" because he doesn't have or want cable service.

But he said he would happily buy a subscription, if only one were available.

"'The Daily Show' is worth $50 or $60 bucks a year for me," said Ford. "At some point there's going to be enough people doing this (illegally downloading television shows and movies) and people wanting it that it will make sense."
http://money.cnn.com/2005/01/07/tech...movie_piracy/#


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Students Publish Their Work Online
John Darling


Kyle Stitch, right, is editor of the online “e- zine” SPEWS,
a Web- based publishing outlet for Southern Oregon
University writing students. Sara Simon, left, is associate editor.
Mail Tribune / Jim Craven

For young writers, getting into print has always been a steep mountain to climb, something attained only by the best wordsmiths after crossing the hurdles of agents, publishers and critics. No more.

Now, thanks to the digital age, writers, at least those in the English and Writing Department at Southern Oregon University, can proceed directly to "go," posting their fiction, poetry, essays and columns on an electronic magazine ("e-zine") not only for classmates and faculty to peruse, but for the whole world.

Self-deprecatingly called SPEWS — Southern’s Publishing English Writing Students — the attractively-illustrated site at www.englishnewsletter.org is posting just about anything written by an E&W student — even those in freshman composition, said Editor Kyle Stitch, an E&W senior.

The Web site, filled with "peer-to-peer writing," has proven a ready and welcome outlet for budding writers like senior Linda Olson, who posted her poem, "My Hands," the poetry winner in this year’s Ed Versluis writer’s contest, which comes with a prize of $50 (she framed it). Versluis was an English professor who worked at SOU for 24 years.

"It has such immediacy and is a great catharsis," said Olson. "Writing is how I express myself and I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. It’s really kind of exciting to pull it up (on the Internet) and see it there. It’s a great beginning. Now I’m starting to send things out to publishers."

The e-zine idea came up last March among students in Professor Mada Morgan’s writing class as an English newsletter within the department and, said Stitch, "we all thought, why not put it online for the whole world to see and save the paper?"

Said Morgan, "It’s been an absolutely marvelous opportunity for students to show themselves and their work. It’s been the genius of the students that made it happen."

Until now, writing students have had virtually no outlets for their work, said senior Prairie Smallwood, who has posted several poems on SPEWS.

"SPEWS is really accessible to us poor students," said Smallwood. "No one has to pay. And you see the writing of people you know personally, people you may not normally have talked to, but now you do. It’s cool, maybe a little embarrassing, because poems are pretty personal."

Graduate Mirleen Arnold, winner of the Versluis prize for non-fiction, has, with the press of a button, sent her online story, "Life on the Farm," to scads of friends and family, who with another press of the button, have forwarded it to other friends, some of whom she doesn’t even know.

"I wasn’t sure what would happen once my writing got on the ’Net," said Arnold. "I was surprised at the response and how people responded with e-mails."

What did she do with her $50 prize? "It was gone the next day. I made sure I spent it on something frivolous, so I bought perfume, which I never get."

SPEWS is proving to be a facile resource for writers, linking them to thousands of magazine and book editors, publishers and contests with an array of on- site links and a column titled "Submit Yourself to Writing," written regularly by senior Sara Simon.

"It opens a lot of resources right at your fingertips," said Simon, who is angling for a career as an associate editor with a publishing company. "I love the Web site because of the writing, pictures and the interactivity, which is a huge benefit to writers."

SOU students Ross Risher and Delanie Lawrence maintain the site. It’s illustrated with random, compelling visuals by the school’s Multimedia Department, which "creates a buzz" in other areas of the campus, said Stitch. Planned are short online videos of writers reading their material.

Under discussion now is whether the Web site — which has counted up to 1,000 hits a month, some from as far as Japan and Africa — should be opened to postings from all students. Stitch said they realize that not all aspiring writers have site access that requires being enrolled in the writing program.
http://www.mailtribune.com/archive/2...es/05local.htm


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Iomega Corporation announces investment in FolderShare Software enabling anytime, anywhere secure access via IP to Iomega customers
Press Release

Iomega Corporation , a global leader in data storage, today announced a strategic partnership with ByteTaxi Inc., the developer of FolderShare software. Pursuant to the agreement signed between the companies, Iomega plans to embed FolderShare software on its data storage products, beginning with the Iomega Network Hard Drive. Iomega has made an undisclosed investment in ByteTaxi, and the two companies plan to introduce several enhancements to FolderShare over the next few years.

"People are accumulating large collections of digital files -- their photos, music and documents, for instance. There is an obvious need for a simple and convenient way to store and organize these files, access them from anywhere, and safely share them with family and coworkers," said Sean Burke, executive vice president of consumer solutions, Iomega Corporation. "The Iomega Hard Drive solutions with FolderShare will address all these needs and give you secure access to your PC's files from anywhere in the world."

FolderShare Technology Overview

FolderShare software is a breakthrough in file management that lets Windows(R) users set up secure peer-to-peer networks for file- sharing tasks with invited users -- in effect, a personal and highly customizable VPN (virtual private network). Users can set up as many as 250 FolderShare libraries, assign up to 50,000 files and folders to each library, and grant connection rights to other individuals as needed.

When a file in a FolderShare library is created, changed, or deleted, FolderShare automatically updates all computers with rights to that library. File transfers are immediate, transparent, and secure, which means that shared files are always up to date, even on computers that are physically separated by thousands of miles and a dozen time zones. With FolderShare running in the background, home users and businesses can access, share content and collaborate easily and securely.

"The Internet has transformed our workplaces and our entertainment options, but it has been a mixed experience in terms of enhancing file portability and security for the ordinary user," said Michael Merhej, CEO, ByteTaxi Inc. "People need tools that can give them better access to the files they want regardless of location, and better control over how to share those files as needed. We developed FolderShare to give people back that sense of control, leveraging the Internet into a secure VPN that is incredibly easy to use. We're pleased to be working with Iomega to make our vision a reality for its customers."

Availability

The first Iomega products incorporating FolderShare technology enhanced with extra features proposed by Iomega are expected to ship in the second quarter of 2005.
http://press.arrivenet.com/bus/article.php/554389.html


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Small External Hard Drive Offers Backup Options Plus Room to Move
J. D. Biersdorfer

It can be quite a conundrum: How do you easily and effectively back up all the digital pictures, music, video and documents jam-packed on, say, a 60-gigabyte hard drive when even the largest recordable DVD can hold only about 8.5 gigabytes of data?

Tape drives and external hard drives are the usual answer, but a new series of small external hard drives from Iogear also offers a range of backup options.

The Iogear 3.5-inch Tri-Select Combo ION drive takes up minimal desk space and works with FireWire 400 and U.S.B. 2.0 connections on most modern Windows and Macintosh systems.

With its customizable backup features, files and folders can be copied to the drive with the push of a button.

The package also includes a copy of Dantz Retrospect Express software for creating automatic backup sessions.

The Tri-Select Combo ION drive is available in five capacities (80, 120, 160, 200 and 250 gigabytes), with suggested prices ranging from about $150 for the 80-gigabyte model to $290 for the 250-gigabyte version, although it can be found for less online.

The company's Web site, iogear.com, lists details as well as links to stores that sell the drives.

For computers that are becoming cramped for space, the extra gigabytes provided by the ION may help in another way, by giving the old hard drive a little breathing room for regular file storage after the backup chores are done
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/13/te...ts/13driv.html


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Software Makers Lobby For Copyright Changes

Want ISPs to reveal names of P2P users

Software makers Thursday asked Congress to make it easier to track down people who copy their products over the Internet, joining the entertainment industry in an effort to stiffen copyright protections.

The Business Software Alliance, a lobbying group whose members include Microsoft Corp. and Apple Computer Inc., said Internet service providers like America Online should be required to reveal the names of customers who may be distributing copyright software through "peer to peer" networks like Kazaa.

Internet service providers have argued that investigators should be required to file a lawsuit to get customer names, an extra legal step that they say protects customer privacy and cuts down on frivolous requests.

Several U.S. appeals courts have agreed with this view, and the Supreme Court has declined to review the matter.

The recording industry has filed more than 7,000 such suits over the past year in an attempt to discourage Internet song swapping, and movie studios have launched a legal campaign of their own.

Software companies, by contrast, have not yet aggressively pursued individuals who copy programs online.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/interne...eut/index.html


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Your Software Rights Or The Best Tools: Often A Sad Choice
Jem Matzan

Commentary: What do we do when we have a substandard free software product that we could use, but would be more productive with a proprietary competitor? What sacrifices should we make in order to use a free software program? Originally the GNU Project was intended to provide a free (as in rights) replacement for proprietary Unix -- the dominant industrial operating system at the time. This project was initiated with the understanding that proprietary software would have to be used until free alternatives were made available. Today we have many free replacements for proprietary programs, but are they truly equivalents? Because GNU Project and Free Software Foundation founder Richard Stallman's computing needs are met with BASH, GCC, GDB, and Emacs does not mean that the rest of us can safely cast off rights-restrictive software. Suggesting that we all switch to free software-only systems seems a bit pretentious and narrow-minded, considering the average user's desktop computing needs.

The GIMP is a good graphics program, but many users feel that the interface is horrible, and the operation and adjustment of some of the more advanced functions (such as color correction and print layout) are not adequate.

No matter how you feel about The GIMP, it can't be unilaterally proclaimed an equivalent to Photoshop for the above-mentioned reasons. It may be a free replacement, but it does not offer identical or superior functionality in the eyes of the users linked to above. It can of course be made to work in place of Photoshop, depending on your needs and budget. But if you have paying work to do, how much of a hassle are you willing to go through to use free software?

The sacrifices we make

Giving up a degree of convenience for heightened security and greater reliability is a proposition reasonable people generally accept, assuming the threat of insecurity and poor reliability is real to them. For that reason it seems likely that GNU/Linux will continue to creep into the desktop computing market, considering the alternative.

Giving up function or convenience in trade for other more important benefits is a reasonable sacrifice, but what of the user's rights? Should we give up everything for freedom?

The freedom that the Free Software Foundation speaks of is not the traditional freedom ideal established by the U.S. constitution, but the freedom to modify, use, share, and study software -- the "four freedoms" as outlined by the FSF. If these freedoms are not important to the user, there is no disadvantage to using proprietary software and no clear advantage to using free software. In other words, we're talking about how we use software, not the freedom of the press or the right to bear arms, and convincing people that software rights and basic constitutional rights are on the same level is an exercise in futility.

Richard Stallman's essay on the matter makes an excellent case for using free software, but it depends on the bold and idealistic assumption that people are inherently honest when it comes to obeying license terms. It also assumes that people care how the software works and are willing and able to modify it.

The majority of proprietary software licenses restrict the user's ability to use, share, modify, and study the software, but there is virtually no enforcement of these terms in the non-business portion of the software world. If I give my (fictional) copy of Microsoft Office to my friend, the FBI will not show up at my door to arrest me -- or at least I can find no evidence to suggest that this has happened to anyone. In fact, I would put forth a guess that the FBI would not bother with me even if I confessed and turned myself in for this criminal act. If I gave this software to five friends, I'm still reasonably assured that I won't be apprehended. If I put it up for free download or offer copies for sale, then I know I can expect the BSA and/or the FBI to do their best to destroy my life. Sharing among small groups is one thing; sharing with the whole world is entirely different. So despite the license agreement's prohibitions on use and sharing, there is no real threat to someone's freedom by ignoring proprietary restrictions on sharing with family and friends.

Most software users are not programmers, or at least do not have the skills, knowledge, or connections to modify the software they are using at the source code level. A motivated user could find a programmer or company that would accept payment to modify the software, but that would probably cost a lot of money. Similarly, users generally do not wonder or care how a program operates and have no desire to study its source code. These freedoms matter only to users who need significant modifications that cannot be found in other, similar software. Commercial desktop software is diverse and mature enough in this day and age that there are few or no missing features that are critically important, or at least important enough that a non-programming desktop user would pay money to have them added. This is evidenced by the fact that, over the past few years, proprietary software publishers have offered meager additions and enhancements to their products. Microsoft, for instance, added virtually nothing of substance to Office System 2003 compared to Office XP, and you have to dig deep to find any functional difference between Macromedia's Studio MX and Studio MX 2004. Sagging upgrade sales support these assertions.

The caveat here is, if all proprietary software users are totally honest, they wouldn't agree to a license that forced them to promise not to share the software with friends and family, and programmers would not agree to give up the right to study and modify the software. Somehow, though, disregarding a proprietary license's restrictive terms, while technically dishonest, doesn't seem on the same level as cheating on a test or lying to a spouse. It's hard to think of disobeying licensing terms as being dishonest or dishonorable, and the moral need to help your friends and family is a far more powerful force than the least degree of honesty toward a proprietary software corporation. How do you convince someone that they are giving up freedom when in reality they take those freedoms anyway, whether they are granted or not?

Excuses, excuses

Previously we said that sacrificing a small degree of convenience or functionality can reasonably be justified if more valuable qualities (reliability and security) are gained. But what happens when you have to give up more than that, with the only reward being the four freedoms we've been discussing? For instance, Web designers who depend on Macromedia's suite of Web creation tools will find themselves lost and alone in the GNU/Linux world because, aside from Nvu in place of Dreamweaver (and if you're using Dreamweaver for anything beyond HTML and CSS development, Nvu is not truly a replacement), there are no reasonably competent replacements for their tools of choice. Fireworks users won't be able to automatically generate rats-nest HTML files to control giant graphical pages; Flash users will have to switch to Java to achieve a similar (yet equally garish and annoying) rich media Web experience; Freehand users will have to do drawing with The GIMP and coding by hand or with Nvu. Without a drastic change in design philosophy and practice, it would be impossible to switch someone who depends on Macromedia tools to free software replacements. If you're making money as a Web designer, it would make more sense to sacrifice freedom for function and continue using Macromedia's proprietary tools. If your friends and family wanted to copy your software, you could always just direct them to GNU/Linux, The GIMP, and Nvu if you feared violating the Macromedia license agreement.

I did not ask him specifically, but from a previous response to a similar issue, I would guess that Stallman's answer to this would involve encouraging people not to develop with Flash. That's a good suggestion for many reasons, but when someone is paying you to develop in Flash, explaining to them that you will not do it because of RMS's suggestion will only merit a lost contract or job.

The in-betweens

It is this author's observation that most users fall in between these honest and dishonest extremes. Most of us would like to use free software where we are able, but we're not willing to make sacrifices that add up to a net loss of value in our software. Many believe in the cause and ideals of the free software movement, but few are willing to sacrifice the tools that they need to achieve optimal productivity. This is not because we do not value our freedoms; it is because we unabashedly take those freedoms whether they are granted or not, and if it means disregarding license restrictions in order to help our friends and family while getting the job done efficiently, then so be it.

The free software movement does not appear to be losing ground despite the flaw in its reasoning. Arguably, however, it may be gaining in popularity and use not because of the freedom it offers, but because free software is starting to achieve true replacement status -- it's becoming competitive with proprietary software. It is now possible for people to use only free software and be productive in some fields, but there are times when proprietary software is necessary and no free replacement can even come close to doing the job.

As a case in point, recently I needed to get tire specifications for my motorcycle from the Suzuki Web site. Since the site is all done in Flash, and since I did not have the Flash plug-in installed because it is proprietary, I could not get the information I needed. While some sites offer non-Flash versions in an introductory page, the Suzuki site didn't display anything in my browser but blank white space. Yes, I could find and order the service manual from a parts Web site or simply call up a local dealership and ask, but I have a computer to help me find this sort of information. My computer's functionality and its ability to find information that I need has been hindered because I refused to install proprietary software. That's when I cast off the notion that I had to use only free software. Why should I reduce the functionality of my computer and inconvenience myself, when in actuality I sacrifice nothing by using necessary proprietary software?

Perhaps it is time to let go of some of the high-moral ideals and remember why we started using computers in the first place. This is not to discredit or minimalize the work of the Free Software Foundation or deny the genius of Richard Stallman, but none of us should ever be asked to make unfavorable sacrifices when it comes to turning our computer time into work or money. I prefer to use as much free software as possible, but I still need the Flash and Java browser plug-ins, a proprietary word processor that I find superior to the free replacements, and I thoroughly enjoy a certain proprietary game. I am not willing to give these things up, and I do not feel dishonorable in using them. Specifically, the word processor is an absolute must -- I cannot sacrifice the tools that help me maximize my creativity and productivity. From my frame of reference, the only thing that matters is the story, and I am not willing to give up the tool that is most effective for me. What sacrifices are you willing to make?

The future

There may indeed come a time when proprietary license enforcement extends to the individual desktop user, complete with BSA or FBI raids in private homes. As proprietary software companies continue to lose customers to free alternatives of increasing quality, this scenario may come to pass. As suggested in Stallman's short story, The Right to Read, we could someday face prison time for sharing things like books and computers.

The sad reality of free software is that it may take drastic measures such as these to make the four freedoms important enough to value.

Links


"proprietary software would have to be used" - http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/catego...ietarySoftware
"the interface is horrible" - http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...=Google+Search
"color correction and print layout" - http://ask.slashdot.org/ comments.pl?sid=44997&threshold=1&commentsort=0&tid=109&tid= 4&mode=thread&pid=4680802#4680949
"the alternative" - http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp...nguage=printer
"freedom" - http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
"outlined" - http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
"essay" - http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/shouldbefree.html
"free download" - http://www.press-citizen.com/apps/pb...312/1079/RSS01
"offer copies for sale" - http://www.scholarware.com/piracynews01.htm
"BSA" - http://www.bsa.org/
"nothing of substance" - http://reviews.zdnet.co.uk/software/...9117254,00.htm
"find any functional difference" - http://www.itreviews.co.uk/s232-macr...004-review.htm
"Sagging upgrade sales" - http://news.com.com/2100-1001-249972.html?legacy=cnet
"Nvu" - http://www.nvu.com/
"from a previous response to a similar issue" - http://www.ofb.biz/modules.php?name=...rticle&sid=260
"proprietary word processor" - http://www.softmaker.de/tml_en.htm
"a certain proprietary game" - http://www.unrealtournament.com/ut2004/
"The Right to Read" - http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html

http://trends.newsforge.com/article..../01/05/1842204


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In brief

Now That’s What I Call A Petition

Angry Ashlee Simpson haters are circulating an online petition to Geffen Records, asking that the lip-synching star cease her career. “We, the undersigned, are disgusted with Ashlee Simpson’s horrible singing and hereby ask her to stop,” reads the petition. “Stop recording, touring, modeling and performing. We do not wish to see her again.”

Jeannette Walls
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6809907/


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The Media Movement Matures
Aaron Sarver

In 2003, an unprecedented 750,000 Americans wrote the Federal Communications Commission, urging them not to relax media ownership rules. Since then, the movement to reshape national media policy has gained momentum, and the media reform organization Free Press (http://www.freepress.net) has been instrumental every step of the way.

Free Press is building on bipartisan concerns about media concentration by helping to organize a series of hearings that allow citizens to speak directly to FCC commissioners Jonathan Adelstein and Michael Copps. They eventually hope to hold similar hearings in all 50 states.

In These Times spoke with Free Press founder and In These Times contributing editor Robert McChesney about current media reform battles and the challenges of getting the word out about crucial but highly technical communications policy issues.

What are the next steps in the media reform movement?

One of our biggest campaigns is to establish community broadband wireless around the country. This is an extraordinary new technology that allows towns, communities and neighborhoods to set up their own non- commercial, non-profit, public utility wireless system. The big concern we have is that the telecom and cable companies are trying to get laws passed that don’t let city governments set up their own systems and allow these cable, DSL and phone companies to reserve the rights to broadband.

These are the sort of tangible, winnable fights we’re having in every state now. We only lose when we don’t organize and the powerful corporate lobbies get their way behind closed doors.

We’re also fighting to get low-power FM radio stations on the dial across the country. I think we’ll win that fight if enough people organize.

Every progressive organization struggles to get its message out beyond its core group of supporters. How do we get the media reform message out to people in rural areas of this country?

Media reform activists are not going to get much coverage in the news media itself because the media clearly has a vested interest in the way these stories are covered.

The Internet has become a crucial tool for us. One of the lessons of the media ownership fight of 2003 was how we could use the new technologies to really build up a strong mass movement without relying on much conventional news media coverage. I don’t think the Internet by itself is satisfactory, but it has allowed us to do some relatively inexpensive organizing that would have probably been very difficult 10, 15, 20 years ago. We also do hard, on-the-ground organizing on issues that matter in the community. For example, we’ve organized hearings in Texas and South Dakota that were overwhelmingly attended by Latinos and Native Americans who very concerned about local media. Campaigns to get malt liquor advertising out of a working-class neighborhood’s billboard advertising, or advertising out of the schools, are the sorts of things that you can organize in communities that are sympathetic to your cause but largely oblivious to you.

In the media reform movement we’re fortunate because the greatest weaknesses of the corporate media system is that it’s increasingly unprofitable to do local coverage, especially in poor areas and rural areas. So, rural media has really collapsed in the last 20 years of corporate media concentration. There’s an understanding across the political spectrum that there is a problem here. We have to find tangible issues to work around and then work through farmers’ organizations and other agricultural groups. They’re already organized in those areas and we need to draw them into our struggle.

The Internet has vastly changed how people consume media in this country. Are some of the media ownership rules going to be irrelevant in a few years?

That remains to be seen. So far it hasn’t happened, and this claim has been made for 10 years now.

The problem is that if we let companies dominate conventional media, all evidence indicates they will then come to dominate what comes later too. It will give them market leverage on whatever the new technologies bring. So the more competitive and the more egalitarian we make our existing conventional media system, the more likely our technologies will evolve in that manner as well.

For a longer audio version of this interview, visit In These Times' radio program, Fire on the Prairie.
http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/mai...ement_matures/