The Newspaper Shop -- Thursday morning edition

[walktalker]

Yesterday's paper renamed
Win XP under fire from privacy groups
Several privacy groups are set to file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission on Thursday regarding Microsoft's imminent release of Windows XP, alleging unfair and deceptive trade practices. The Electronic Privacy Information Center, a Washington, D.C.-based public-interest organization, and privacy group Junkbusters, as well as at least five other groups will ask the FTC to prevent the launch of Windows XP based on potential privacy threats arising from the operating system and Passport software, according to Marc Rotenberg, executive director for EPIC. The groups will ask that the FTC open an investigation into Microsoft's data-collection practices with regard to Passport and Windows XP, which is scheduled for release in October. The complaint will ask for relief under Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, which is a legal standard evaluating whether a practice is unfair and deceptive.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp01

Open-source brouhaha: Missing the point
Something strange is happening in San Diego this week. In a rare move, Microsoft will attend the O'Reilly Open Source Software Convention--the largest annual gathering of open-source businesses, developers and enthusiasts--to discuss its "shared source" initiative and its differences with some of the leading thinkers in the open-source movement. Thursday's panel debate brings together months of scathing remarks and heated retorts from all sides of the issue, and its outcome will be anybody's guess. But in the midst of the drama, we've lost sight of several important ideas that lie somewhere in the middle. Let's start with a few assumptions. First, all software needs a critical mass of developers to build it, maintain it, and make it usable for others. Second, developers will not always magically appear around an open-source project once it's launched; "if you build it, they will come" is not always true, and there are plenty of stillborn open-source projects that provide evidence for that.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/co...798014,00.html

Microsoft backs down to kids charity
Microsoft Australia has given some ground in its spat with a non-profit organization which uses its operating system on recycled computers donated to kids. In recent weeks, PC's for Kids has stood firm against Microsoft's determination to stop the charity using its obsolete software, which it installs on recycled computers which are donated to disadvantaged children in Australia and East Timor. The charity has donated 1000 computers over a two-year period to under-privileged children. PC's for Kids director Colin Bayes has released a statement, saying a meeting held with Microsoft Australia had been "constructive." "This meeting was a step in the right direction and Microsoft will inform the charity of their application outcome for assistance, hopefully by the end of the month," Bayes said.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02

SirCam hits FBI cyber-protection unit
A researcher in the Federal Bureau of Investigation's cyber-protection unit unleashed a fast-spreading Internet virus that e-mailed private FBI documents to outsiders -- all on the eve of a Senate hearing into troubles at the unit. Although the Sircam virus didn't spread to other computers at the FBI's National Infrastructure Protection Center, it did send at least eight documents to a number of outsiders. One, about the investigation into an unrelated virus, was marked "official use only." The Sircam virus has infected thousands of computers since its discovery last week. FBI spokeswoman Deb Weierman said that no sensitive or classified information about continuing investigations was disclosed Tuesday. The "official use" designation protects documents from disclosure under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02

MS, AOL want your e-wallet
AOL Time Warner's $100 million investment in e-tailer Amazon.com this week highlights an emerging, high-stakes battle between the media giant and Microsoft. Longtime foes in areas such as instant messaging and online access, AOL and Microsoft are facing off in the e-commerce arena -- specifically over technology that makes it easier to navigate the Web and make purchases online. So-called e-wallets -- which store commonly requested information such as a login name, shipping address and credit card number -- are shaping up as a key leverage point for controlling how consumers and businesses use the Internet.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02

File-trading pressure mounts on ISPs
Record companies have joined the movie industry in trying to root out post-Napster file trading, putting new pressure on ISPs to clamp down on subscribers' actions. ISPs say the last few weeks have seen a sharp uptick in the number of requests they're getting to pull the plug on subscribers who are using file-trading software such as Gnutella or iMesh. Driven by a combination of high-profile summer movie releases and a growth in the business of independent piracy hunters, these requests are putting service providers in an awkward position. Even as they avoid facing media-industry lawyers, these ISPs risk losing their customers to competing Internet access companies that may be less aggressive about curtailing the use of file-trading software.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1004-200...html?tag=tp_pr

The Battle Over Internet Ads
Earlier this month, a power struggle broke out in the Internet advertising business. The tussle is over whether websites should give their advertisers data on the number of Web users who click on banner ads. In one corner sit online advertisers that want the numbers. In the other, CBS MarketWatch and a few renegade Web publishers that, like kids with bad report cards, want to withhold the statistics, claiming they aren't really a worthy measure of an ad's success. Scott McLernon, CBS MarketWatch's vice president for sales, calls them an overrated and inaccurate barometer. With clickthrough rates for online banner ads averaging 0.3 percent, it's easy to see why McLernon and other executives on the content side of the business would want to downplay their importance. But they've got an uphill battle to convince many advertisers.
http://www.ecompany.com/articles/web...,16546,00.html

Russian developer's allies aim at Mueller
Supporters of a Russian programmer arrested on charges of violating a controversial U.S. copyright law took aim Tuesday at the California prosecutor in the case -- who is President Bush's nominee to be the next director of the FBI. However, the activists conceded it was unlikely that Robert Mueller, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California, would back down as easily as software giant Adobe Systems did Monday after protests outside its headquarters and in 19 other cities. Mueller's California office filed a criminal complaint against Dmitry Sklyarov after Adobe complained that a program he wrote violated the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which prohibits the creation of technology that circumvents copyright protection. Critics claim the law impinges on the free-speech protections of the U.S. Constitution.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200...html?tag=ch_mh

Web surfers gawk but don't gamble
While surfing of online gambling sites is gaining momentum, the comfort level is still at low tide, according to a new study released Wednesday. Research firm Greenfield Online found that even though a third of the 1,000 respondents in its study had visited an online gambling site, only 13 percent had actually opened an account and wagered. The reason, according to Greenfield, is that more than 50 percent said they were concerned about the safety of their money and whether they could actually claim any winnings. The Wilton, Conn.-based company said the comfort level with online gambling would grow if well-known, established casinos handled the sites. Close to half of the 1,000 participants in the survey said they would prefer an online gambling site headed by a traditional casino. The reality, however, is that overseas owners run a majority of the estimated 1,400 online gambling sites, and online gamblers have no way to identify whether the sites are legitimate.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200...html?tag=cd_mh

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