Peer-To-Peer News - The Week In Review - August 21st, '04

[JackSpratts]

Quotes Of The Week


"The court's decision was unanimous." – EFF on P2P appeal victory


"Attacks from within your company are more likely than breaches by an outside hacker." - Oliver Kaven, journalist


"I didn't want to look like the person who was going with anything the [record] label was sending me." - Matthew Perpetua, MP3 blogger


"I know we're dealing in relatively uncharted territory here, but I'd expect a slightly different level of participation [from the labels]. We're not an AOL chat room." - Mark Willett, MP3 blogger


"Their reaction to technology was one of abject fear because after 50 years with a comfortable stranglehold on the music business from top to bottom, suddenly something had come along which they thought might take it all away." - Hooman Majd, Island Records executive


"Students say they can download in as little as half an hour large video files that might take a day or longer to obtain over traditional file-sharing networks." - John Borland, journalist


"It’s certainly not a threat to record shops as we’ve found that downloading and file-sharing are actually encouraging people to buy more albums than ever before." - Simon Dornan, Virgin Music store executive













It doesn’t get any better

EFF Scores Landmark Win for P2P
Press Release

Ninth Circuit Declares Grokster, Morpheus Not Liable for Infringement

California - Today the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals made a crucial decision (PDF) in support of technology innovators by declaring that distributors of the peer-to-peer software Grokster and Morpheus cannot be held liable for the infringing activities of their users. The Electronic Frontier Foundation argued on behalf of Streamcast, the creator of the Morpheus software, in a case that pitted dozens of entertainment conglomerates against two small software companies.

The Ninth Circuit decision is based in part on the fact that P2P networks have significant non-infringing uses, and that they can help artists earn money. The ruling is similar to the Supreme Court's decision in the 1984 Betamax case, which determined that Sony was not liable for copyright violations by users of the Betamax VCR.

"Today's ruling will ultimately be viewed as a victory for copyright owners. As the court recognized today, the entertainment industry has been fighting new technologies for a century, only to learn again and again that these new technologies create new markets and opportunities," said EFF Senior Intellectual Property Attorney Fred von Lohmann. "There is no reason to think that file sharing will be any different."

The court's decision was unanimous.

"This is a victory for innovators of all stripes," added von Lohmann. "The court's ruling makes it clear that innovators need not beg permission from record labels and Hollywood before they deploy exciting new technologies."

It is likely that the entertainment companies will appeal the Ninth Circuit's decision to the Supreme Court.
http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2004_08.php#001833


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Supercharged College P2P Project Expands
John Borland

I2hub, the supercharged file-swapping network that has run for months on the university Internet2 network, is aiming to solidify its hold on campuses, with new businesses targeted at students.

The I2hub founders have acquired a small online textbook exchange and are tying it into the file- swapping service, hoping that students will start reselling books to each other instead of using local bookstores. With this, and other similar student-focused services, they're aiming to turn the file- swapping traffic into a more traditional--and potentially profitable--hub of campus activities.

"We want to get away from the P2P image and more towards a student service," said Wayne Chang, a University of Massachusetts student who serves as the project's organizer. "I2hub is like the solid tree that leaf projects, like the book exchange, will spring from. Most other people in our space focus on the leaf projects, but they don't have a solid tree on campus."

The campus project is following the well-worn path of file-swapping software companies such as Kazaa parent Sharman Networks, which also tried to turn the large audiences attracted by free peer-to-peer networks into a source of business revenue.

Sharman and other commercial ventures have focused on turning file- swapping networks themselves into an authorized distribution channel for music and video. But major music labels and Hollywood studios have adamantly refused to license their content for distribution through peer-to-peer networks.

I2hub arose early this year as an on-campus alternative to older swapping services such as Kazaa, offering speeds that far outstripped its rivals.

Many colleges in the United States and Europe allow student communications to default to the Internet2 network, which connects universities at speeds much higher than the ordinary Internet can provide. The I2hub software takes advantage of this to let students at participating universities swap files using this bandwidth bonanza.

As a result, students say they can download in as little as half an hour large video files that might take a day or longer to obtain over traditional file-sharing networks.

Some college administrators have expressed concern about the software, saying that the Internet2 network is intended for researchers and academic purposes that require large amounts of bandwidth. Many colleges have previously blocked transfers or sharply limited the bandwidth available to older file-trading software such as Kazaa.

However, no widespread crackdown on I2hub yet seems to have emerged.

The I2hub administrators say that students at 226 different universities around the world collectively spent more than 344,000 hours on the network last month. Their Web site displays graphs of bandwidth use at various universities, some of which show network traffic of more than 60 megabits per second across the service.

Chang said the book exchange will be aimed at matching textbook buyers and sellers on a given campus to make transactions easier. But the service also will facilitate payments between students at different universities.

Students will be able to search for textbooks they want through the P2P software or on the I2hub Web site. I2hub will take a small percentage of each transaction, Chang said. The group also plans other campus-based services such as dating and social networking.

Campuses have been the target of authorized music companies such as Napster and MusicNet over the last year. Napster has signed up eight campuses for its college program, in which students get heavily discounted access to its music subscription service. Similar offers from other online music companies are expected to start this fall.

The Recording Industry Association of America sued several students for operating campus file- swapping services last year, at least one of which used technology similar to I2hub. However, since a judge ruled that decentralized peer-to-peer services themselves were not illegal, the music industry has focused instead on suing individual swappers who are trading copyrighted music, including a long list of university students.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-5311765.html


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Off BT but still on other P2P’s like WASTE

MS Invokes DMCA To Stop SP2 File Sharing Demo
John Leyden

Legal threats have stopped P2P activist group Downhill Battle from continuing to offer Windows XP Service Pack 2 through BitTorrent.

Downhill Battle set up the SP2Torrent.com site to illustrate how file sharing technology can help distribute large files as an alternative to centralised distribution. It offered the 272MB file designed to allow SP2 to be installed on a network of multiple machines, not the smaller file for installing SP2 on single machines, due to become widely available from Windows Update today.

Microsoft lawyers were not amused and within days issued takedown notices against SP2Torrent.com and a second site (which linked to a torrent file on another server), citing the the US's Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

Downhill Battle has fought the DMCA before, but this time around it is complying with Microsoft's request. The group reckons the demo has already served its purpose.

In a statement (http://www.downhillbattle.org/index.php) issued on Friday, Downhill Battle said: "At this point I think we've made a pretty good case for the helpful role p2p can play in distributing major software releases, and so, for the moment, we've taken down the BitTorrent links. The site has been a huge success in demonstrating P2P technology - we've had over 100,000 visitors in the past few days."

Visitors to SP2Torrent.com are being redirected towards Microsoft's official SP2 download site (http://www.microsoft.com/technet/pro...ppro/maintain/ winxpsp2.mspx). Meanwhile, searches on BitTorrent reveal that Windows XP SP2 continues to be available.

Microsoft's actions have shut down one high profile server; but it is naive to think that people will stop exchanging the file through unofficial channels.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/08...p_legal_block/


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part Two

A Different Way Of Watching

How broadcast metadata could change the way we view TV. Part 2 of our special report on the BBC's research lab.
Clive Akass

The cliche that children are better than their parents at programming a video recorder was never more than half true. The user interface of most recorders is risible and only youngsters can be bothered with it, just as it was they who started the texting boom using the equally unsuitable numerical keypad.

Electronic Programme Guides (EPGs) are at last making TV recording as easy as it should be, a matter of simply clicking a listing. But, coupled to computers or PVRs, they mean we can view TV more like we read a book - in chunks and to our own schedule and we can do it on a laptop, a PC or a portable media player. There are even pilot TV broadcasts to handheld PDAs. It's the death of the couch potato, passively taking in anything the TV throws out.

The industry saw much of this coming, and began thinking (or panicking in some cases) about how it should affect content and delivery. One result was a project called TV Anytime (TVA), involving the BBC and other broadcasters across the world, content providers such as Disney and recording rights organisations.

This has produced an XML-based TVA specification for programme metadata, which may not sound very exciting but it could transform our use of television and steer us towards new forms of multimedia communication.

TV metadata, at its simplest, can help you to classify or search for a programme by genre or subgenre. You could tell your PVR to record anything from the Olympics, say; or just every hockey event. Metadata also allows you to impose a structure, so that instead of viewing a recording linearly as transmitted, you can take it in book-like chapters.

Kingswood Warren engineers Andrew McParland and Chris Newell took me through a TVA-enabled recording of Walking With Beasts that allowed it to be spilt into chapters, or segmented according to the animal featured.

The metadata, which would be transmitted with the programme, also included hyperlinked text that can be wrapped round still and moving images.

If and when screens become as pleasant to read as paper, this could lead to a form of multimedia 'book' that exploits the different strengths of text, audio and video. For now, as McParland puts it, the purpose is to provide an open standard that allows people to do interesting things with TV. The content or service provider provides the metadata but it may be exploited in different ways by various devices or applications.

Programmes and their searchable metadata are associated with a 'Crid' (content resource ID) that can be used to trace several alternative locations or broadcast times. This means, for instance, that if you searched a TVA-enabled elisting for a programme that had already been broadcast, you might be given a choice of a repeat time or a web location where the recording is available on demand (see here).

The idea that PVRs will be the death of TV advertising has been turned on its head, McParland said. 'Rather than seeing the forward button as the biggest threat, [advertisers] are seeing the pause button as the biggest opportunity.'

The TVA system would allow people to ask to see a longer version of an ad they are interested in, or to be taken to a website. You could also see it being used for product placements: see famous beauty in new outfit, click here to see where you can buy the same.

TVA has been submitted to the standards body ETSI, and the DVB organisation is drawing up a spec on how it should it be carried on European digital TV signals. The rest of the world, including countries using different TV formats, is likely to use it too.

Newell points out that the metadata could make video, usually near impossible to index, more easily searchable than the web.

'The reason that search engines are not as good as you'd like them to be is that there is no equivalent system on the web. Not universally, anyway. But for television we have done it in a very detailed way.'

This assumes, of course, that TV companies are willing to put the resources into compiling the metadata. But much of the information is put on file anyway in some way or another during programme production, and it could be collected automatically if the process is standardised in a management system.

It may pay companies to do so. Audiences per broadcast are falling, but recorded programmes have an afterlife from which new revenues may be derived - for instance from ads that update themselves when screened. McParland said: 'TV Anytime is enabling new business models.'
http://www.pcw.co.uk/news/1157258


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Warner's Tryst With Bloggers Hits Sour Note
David F. Gallagher


Mark Willett, an MP3 blogger, said some fan comments were not from "real people."
Stephanie Diani for The New York Times

Warner Brothers Records pulled out all the stops recently to promote a rock band, the Secret Machines, on the Internet. But there is one stop that might have been better left unpulled.

Earlier this month, Warner became the first major record label to ask MP3 blogs to play its music. The blogs - which are relatively new but increasingly popular - are personal Web sites that offer music criticism right next to the actual music, in the form of downloadable MP3 files.

But as is sometimes the case when marketers try to insinuate themselves into online communities, the company's approach did not go as planned. Warner - which was part of the Time Warner media empire until February, when it was sold to a group of investors led by Edgar Bronfman Jr. - ran into a culture clash with the small world of MP3 blogs, annoying some of the very people it wanted to win over, especially after one or more people at Warner apparently posted anonymous messages to make it appear that ordinary music fans were defending the label.

And because many MP3 blogs exist in a legal gray area - to accompany their musings on the music, bloggers post complete song files, usually without permission - the campaign put Warner in the position of currying favor with people whose views on file sharing are far more liberal than those of the music industry's lawyers.

Two weeks ago, at least eight MP3 bloggers received an e-mail message from Ian Cripps, a Warner employee. In the messages, which were identical and came with an MP3 file attached, Mr. Cripps told the bloggers that he loved their sites.

"We are very interested in blogs and I was wondering if you could post this mp3," he wrote. "It's by one of our new bands - The Secret Machines. They are an indie rock band and we would love for people to hear the band's music from your site. Here it is, listen to it and let me know if you will post it. Thanks!!"

The pitch to MP3 blogs was part of an ambitious online campaign that was the work of Robin Bechtel, vice president for new media at Warner Brothers and Reprise Records. The campaign's first unusual component was a decision to start selling the Secret Machines album through Apple's iTunes store and other online outlets last February, nearly four months before it was available on CD. The move drew attention to the album, which received strong reviews.

Ms. Bechtel said that the company had contacted many sites for the Web part of the publicity effort, and that the messages to MP3 blogs were an experiment. "We're really progressive in trying things," she said.

The messages from Warner were big news among the bloggers. Independent labels like SpinArt have been paying attention to the MP3 blogs for months, sending them music as a way to get it heard in an age of tightly controlled radio playlists. Some bloggers saw the message from Warner as a sign that the major labels might spare their sites while cracking on illegal file sharing.

"We didn't know if there was a wink that came along with it that said, 'We don't have a problem with what you're doing,' " said Mark Willett, a contributor to Music for Robots (music.for-robots.com), a popular MP3 blog that attracts about 2,400 visitors a day.

Ms. Bechtel said the sites chosen by Warner "were promoting music responsibly" by offering authorized downloads or linking to online stores. She said that despite their small audiences, MP3 blogs were a good way to build positive word-of-mouth.

"Music blogs in general remind me of that friend you had in high school who would turn you on to the best bands," she said.

Many of the blogs were ambivalent about Warner's request: they were flattered by the attention but concerned about compromising their principles, or appearing to do so. In the end, Music for Robots was the only blog to post the track after receiving it from Warner (two others had already posted Secret Machines tracks independently). In an almost apologetic blog entry titled "Music for Robots Sells Out," Mr. Willett wrote that the song was appearing there not because the band needed the exposure, but to establish a relationship with Warner and to let readers know what was going on.

Other sites were less cooperative. Most MP3 bloggers have a strong independent streak and love to unearth obscure musical nuggets, so a song like the Secret Machines single that was already being played on commercial radio was of little interest to them. And once one had posted it, the others were even more inclined to steer clear.

Matthew Perpetua, who publishes Fluxblog (newflux.blogspot.com), another popular MP3 blog, said he decided against posting the song, in part because "I didn't want to look like the person who was going with anything the label was sending me."

In the week after the song was posted on Music for Robots, a message board on the site attracted some thoughtful commentary on Warner's move. But a few comments, posted under several different names, stood out because they looked like something one might read on a teen-pop fan site.

"I never heard these guys before, but theyre awesome," read a posting last Thursday under the name Ron. "I went to their website and you can listen to a lot of ther other stuff, very cool and very good!" Another post, sprinkled with casual profanity, asserted that big corporations could still release good music, and cited the Beatles as an example.

A check of site records by Mr. Willett revealed that all four of the suspect comments had been posted from the same Internet Protocol address, indicating that they came from the same computer or from a computer within the same company. That address was also the source of two e-mail messages that Ms. Bechtel sent to a reporter, as well as the original messages sent to the bloggers.

The entertainment industry has for some years been going into chat rooms and message boards to promote its products. But Ms. Bechtel said this kind of activity was not part of the Secret Machines campaign. She said the comments could have been posted independently by fans of the band who worked at the company.

"We're not sitting here typing in message boards that the band is great," she said. "But if somebody in the building loves the band, I can see them doing it. People at record companies are also huge fans."

Many bloggers found Warner's campaign to be clumsy at best, and sneaky at worst.

"You can't just dive headfirst into a subculture and expect it to bend over backwards to cater to your lame attempt at free advertising," said Andrew Nosnitsky, a senior at George Washington University who writes about hip-hop on his blog at www.cocaineblunts.com. Mr. Nosnitsky also mocked Warner for sending a rock track to a hip-hop site.

Mr. Willett said that it was obvious the favorable comments on his site had not been left by "real people," and that they had soured his opinion of Warner Brothers' Internet efforts. "I know we're dealing in relatively uncharted territory here, but I'd expect a slightly different level of participation," he said. "We're not an AOL chat room."
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/16/te...gy/16song.html


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

RealNetworks Slashes Song Prices
John Borland

RealNetworks on Tuesday kicked off a high-profile digital music marketing campaign, highlighting the new iPod-compatible technology that has swung the company into conflict with Apple Computer.

For a limited time, RealNetworks will offer song downloads from its music store for 49 cents, along with half-price albums. A nationwide print, radio and Web marketing campaign will promote the offer, along with a Web site touting "freedom of choice" for online music consumers.

Songs downloaded from Apple's iTunes service and from other online music stores tend to be priced at about 99 cents apiece.

But the offer won't come cheaply for RealNetworks. The company said Tuesday that the campaign could increase its expected third-quarter loss by a penny per share. It now expects a net loss for the three-month period to be between 3 cents and 5 cents per share, rather than the anticipated 3 cents to 4 cents it had previously reported.

The company said it remains committed to reaching quarterly profitability, excluding antitrust litigation expenses, by the end of this year. For the third quarter, RealNetworks said, its loss excluding antitrust expenses will be between 1 cent and 3 cents per share.

The digital music campaign marks the second wave of publicity around the company's "Harmony" technology, which effectively recreated a version of Apple's proprietary copy-protection technology without permission. That has allowed RealNetworks to be the first non-Apple store that can distribute songs directly compatible with the iPod music player, despite strong protests from Apple itself.

"To me, it's not ambiguous that this is the right thing for the industry and the right thing for the consumer, and so we're happy to take the case
forward to the court of public opinion," RealNetworks Chief Executive Officer Rob Glaser said.

RealNetworks' campaign highlights what many in the digital music industry say is one of the most important issues facing the young business. Digital song stores run by Apple, Sony, RealNetworks and Microsoft-aligned rivals all distribute songs in incompatible formats, limiting the kind of devices on which the music can be played.

Music industry executives have worried that this incompatibility will turn off consumers who are used to buying a CD and playing it on any company's hardware.

RealNetworks has pressed Apple to license its FairPlay copy-protection technology, which is required for a copy-protected song to play on the iPod, but Apple has refused. Online music store Virgin Mega also has asked Apple to allow other music distributors access to its iPod, even complaining to the French Competition Council.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs has said that allowing the iPod to play rival companies' downloads wouldn't make good business sense, however. The company has been deeply critical of RealNetworks' efforts to win access to the iPod without permission.

"RealNetworks has adopted the tactics and ethics of a hacker to break into the iPod, and we are investigating the implications of their actions under the (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) and other laws," Apple said in a statement a few days after RealNetworks' initial software release. "We strongly caution Real and their customers that when we update our iPod software from time to time it is highly likely that Real's Harmony technology will cease to work with current and future iPods."

Analysts said RealNetworks' initial announcement has had little tangible effect on the digital market so far, but that its 49 cent download offer will likely prove attractive to consumers.

"There hasn't been a huge amount of fallout at this point, other than Apple not being pleased," said Jupiter Research analyst Michael Gartenberg. "This promotion gives consumers a chance to get to know Real. The challenge will be to keep them coming in when songs aren't half-price."

RealNetworks' new software, which is now available to consumers at the company's Web site, also allows downloads to be transferred to players that use Microsoft's Windows Media format, although this has caused less controversy.

RealNetworks Chief Strategy Officer Richard Wolpert said the Rhapsody subscription service, which currently sells songs that are burned to CD, also will offer multiformat Harmony downloads later this year.
http://news.com.com/2100-1027-5312143.html


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

EU Antitrust Extends Review Of DRM Merger

European Commission antitrust regulators extended by two weeks their review of plans by Microsoft and Time Warner to acquire joint control of ContentGuard.

The commission, the 25-nation European Union's competition watchdog based in Brussels, Belgium, didn't give a reason for the extension, which it announced on its Web site. Under EU rules, the probe can be extended if the companies submit concessions aimed at overcoming antitrust objections.

Time Warner joined shareholder Microsoft in buying Xerox's stake in ContentGuard in April. ContentGuard specializes in developing digital-rights-management technology.

The commission, which will rule on the joint purchase by Aug. 25, has sent letters requesting information and expressions of concern about the merger to media companies, such as Bertelsmann, and trade groups, including Impala, which represents independent music labels.

The commission had been scheduled to rule by Aug. 16.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...zbriefs10.html


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

New streaming technology

All Spaced Out



Hitachi Deskstar 7K400
US$399.75 (about S$688)
Available from Sim Lim Square and Funan The IT Mall
Chester Chen

Overview: This has got to be the Godzilla of hard disk drives. With 400GB of storage space, it has enough space for more than 40 full-length DVD movies or 277,777 floppy disks.

Design: The Deskstar 7K400 looks like any other 3.5-inch hard disk drive. As a Serial ATA (Sata) drive, it has the Sata connectors for data and power. But the drive is also available in parallel ATA interface.

The drive also features a standard Molex power connector for users who do not have a newer power supply with Sata power connectors.

Specifications: At a whopping 400GB, the capacity translates to 80GB per platter. Hitachi has managed to squeeze two additional platters into the same physical frame as its earlier three- platter 250GB model.

If it is performance you want, the drive has an 8MB data buffer and a rotational speed of 7,200 revolutions per minute (rpm).

The Sata interface itself is capable of a maximum transfer rate of 150MB per second (MB/sec).

For the device to get to the data quickly, the average seek time - the time it takes for the head actuator to position and access the data - is rated at 8.5 milliseconds.

To keep the noise down, Hitachi has used a fluid dynamic bearing (FDB) spindle motor instead of the ball bearing type.

This is necessary because the increased capacity of the hard disk drive cannot afford the minor tolerance difference that ball bearing motors are subject to because ball bearings are not perfectly round.

Features: Apart from the sheer size of its storage room, the Deskstar 7K400 boasts a new feature called rotational vibration safeguard (RVS). This ensures that the performance does not drop due to high vibration environments.

One of the new ATA-7 commands, a streaming feature set, is also included. This aid is designed for audio-visual applications that rely on the data delivery versus data integrity.

Reviewer's comments: If you want a gargantuan, fast and easy drive for your new system, the Hitachi 7K400 will get you there.

If you are looking for a quick 1.6 terabytes of storage, just put four of these together.
http://computertimes.asia1.com.sg/re...4,2549,00.html


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back me up, Scotty

http://common.ziffdavisinternet.com/...i=28762,00.jpg

An Evidence Collection Device
Oliver Kaven

Product: Logicube Forensic SF-5000u
Direct price: $2,249
Company Info: Logicube, 888-494-8832, www.logicube.com

There are three main motives for duplicating hard drives: System rollouts, securing data, and evidence collection. Software methods and other relatively uncomplicated techniques can often suffice for the first two purposes; the third requires more sophistication. The Logicube Forensic SF-5000u ($2,249 direct), which lets you create a perfect copy of a source drive without altering the original, may be the ideal device. This handheld drive-to-drive duplicator produces an exact sector-for-sector copy of the original.

Digital crime is on the rise, and attacks from within your company are more likely than breaches by an outside hacker. Many companies observe, with great concern, how vital information and trade secrets are leaked to third parties, but have to stand back helplessly because they do not have the technological expertise to secure the evidence. A system administrator faced with the extremely challenging task of making a perfect copy of a drive often gives up or makes so many mistakes that the result is unusable as evidence.

The easy to use, ruggedly designed SF 5000u changes that. The unit ships with several IDE cables, a PC Card Clone Card adapter for use with laptop computers, a portable printer, a screwdriver, and a flashlight. The last two items may seem a bit odd—until you're at a site and realize you've forgotten your tools. To ensure flawless operation for corporate IT administrators, law enforcement professionals, and others who are likely to knock the system around, everything comes packaged in a sturdy airtight and waterproof case. The unit itself weighs only about a pound, and its size and shape, combined with the bright yellow finish, LCD readout, IDE connector, and 7-button control keypad, make it look like Darth Vader's Sports GameBoy.

The copy process is relatively straightforward and menu driven. At the beginning, the unit verifies that the destination drive (which you must supply) is the same size or larger than the source drive, and the SF-5000u automatically determines the best transfer rate by doing a test read from a small sample section of data on the source drive. You can also choose to set the transfer rate manually using slow or medium PIO (Programmed Input/Output) modes or UDMA (Ultra Direct Memory Access) modes 0 through 2. Before overwriting the destination drive, the SF-5000u asks for permission. During the copy process, the unit transparently performs a 32-bit CRC (cyclical redundancy check) to ensure accuracy. If no discrepancies arise, the capture process terminates with End Capture Successfully displaying on the LCD. Should you attempt to copy a disk that contains a number of bad sectors or blocks, you can decide if you want to abort the operation, skip the damaged sectors, or retry the operation up to 50 times. The final report flags all failed sectors.

The SF-5000u computes CRC-32 signatures for the source and destination drives, both to verify that the data on the source drive remains unchanged and that the destination drive contains an exact copy. The verification requires extra processing, but we still saw throughput of about 1.2 GB per minute using Maxtor 30GB, 7,200- rpm drives for the source and destination devices—impressive, but a little below the vendor's claim of up to 1.8 GB. Throughput will vary, of course, depending on the types of the drives and their condition. Bad sectors, for example, will significantly slow the copy process.

The SF-5000u has a unidirectional copy flow (it writes no data to the source drive). It does a sector-by-sector read, and all necessary firmware to accomplish this is built into the unit, thus no drivers are needed. This prevents any alteration of the source drive. Should you not have direct access to the source drive, you can connect via USB 1.1 or 2.0, a parallel port, or with the included PC Card Clone Card Pro. The Clone Card Pro is especially useful if you need to capture data from a laptop. Keep in mind, however, that these alternative methods are limited to the throughput capabilities of the respective interfaces.

The price tag for the kit may seem steep, but the package does include a Canon portable printer so you can print reports on-site. The detailed reports include the CRC-32 checksums, drive serial numbers, makes, models, and information concerning the geometry of both the source and target drives. This is especially helpful when you need to document every aspect of your evidence collection and must establish a chain of events.

We like the Logicube Forensic SF-5000u for its relative ease of use—you do have to know a little about hard drive geometry, but the LCD screen is easy to read and the prompts are clear and simple. Beyond that, the device is sturdy and portable. If you are concerned about securing evidence that may even be used in a court of law, you should seriously consider this unit.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1274523,00.asp


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Short Takes


ILN News Letter

CT Upholds DMCA Claim Against Site Linking To Piracy Devices

BNA's Electronic Commerce & Law Report reports that a federal court in Illinois has ruled that a cable provider has standing to sue under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to sue a Web site operator that posted links to third party sites that sell cable piracy devices. Though Comcast is not the copyright owner of the infringed programs, it nonetheless "controls access" to the copyrighted works through its scrambling technology, the circumvention of which violates Comcast's DMCA rights. Case name is Comcast of Illinois v. Hightech Electronics. Article at
http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/eip.nsf/is/a0a9j7a4d0


Canadian Official Says Adoption Of Broadcast Flag Likely

Decima Publishing's Canadian Communications Reports reports that an official with Industry Canada says that it is likely that Canada will adopt the broadcast flag, though it may be a long way off. Jack Dadourian says that a consultation process could be launched in the next year.


Americans Illegally Accessing Canadian Olympic Coverage

The LA Times reports on the growing number of Americans who are subscribing to Canadian satellite TV service, in part to receive Canadian Olympic coverage. Subscribing to the service violates an FCC rule on accessing foreign satellite providers without a special license.
http://www.latimes.com/technology/la...,3714875.story


Belgium Plans Crackdown Against IP Infringement

The Belgian government is reportedly planning a new crackdown against IP infringement. The government may make it easier for music producers to file complaints against alleged counterfeiters and to better calculate the potential damage caused by such activities.
http://belgiumip.notlong.com/


Korean File Sharing Site Probed Under Nat. Security Law

Korean file sharing site Soribada will be summoned by police to see if it violated South Korea's National Security Law by allowing a North Korean marching song to be downloaded. The song found its way onto a news program.
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/da...0408200007.asp


Publishing Industry Deals With DRM

Publishing industry experts at the Seybold 2004 trade show in San Francisco considered a variety of digital rights management challenges during panel discussions yesterday, beginning with the proliferation of schemes for securing digital wares. While text publishers face some of the same DRM issues as entertainment studios, the industry also poses some unique challenges.
http://news.com.com/2100-1025_3-5315467.html


Torvalds Speaks Out On Open Source Innovation

Linus Torvalds has spoken out on open source innovation, noting that innovation occurs gradually without the marketing splash that accompanies proprietary software upgrades.
http://www.businessweek.com/technolo...40818_1593.htm


NZ Fears Copyright Reform May Emulate Australia

As Australia prepares to reform its copyright legislation in compliance with the U.S. - Australia Free Trade Agreement, some in New Zealand fear that it may follow suit. While NZ is at the drafting stage of copyright refomr, some believe that enthusiasm for a similar trade agreement may lead to compromises on IP laws.
http://nzcopyright.notlong.com/


Malaysia Considers IP Court

Malaysia's Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister plans to set up a special court to speed up disposal of back-logged intellectual property cases.
http://malaysiaipcourt.notlong.com/


Crypto Researchers May Have Identified New Flaws

The cryptography research community is buzzing over announcements that researchers have identified flaws in several cryptographic algorithms. The discoveries could make it easier to forge electronic signatures.
http://news.com.com/2100-1002_3-5313655.html


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Danger Will Robinson!!!

Powerful Senators Seek To Punish P2P Developers
Brooks Boliek

A group of Senate leaders is charging the country's highest-ranking copyright official with rewriting legislation designed to punish P2P operators who entice people to illegally distribute copyrighted works.

In a letter signed by four top-ranking senators, the lawmakers ask Register of Copyrights Mary Beth Peters to schedule high-level meetings with copyright owners such as the record companies and movie studios, people who run peer-to-peer networks and technology companies in an effort to build a consensus for the legislation.

Senate Republican leader Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., Democratic leader Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., Judiciary Committee chairman Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah; and the committee's senior Democrat, Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., signed the letter seeking Peters' assistance with the legislation.

All four senators have co-authored the controversial Inducing Infringements of Copyrights Act, which allows creative artists and copyright holders to sue companies that profit from encouraging the public to commit copyright piracy.

During a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee last month, the legislation came under fire from technology companies and consumer electronics manufacturers for going too far. Consumer Electronics Assn. CEO Gary Shapiro called it a "deadly new tool" that would put a "massive liability bull's-eye" on technology companies.

At the time, Peters said she thought the bill "would be a positive addition to the copyright law."

Since then, the senators have decided to take a second look at the legislation, hoping to build support for a modified version of the bill.

"We do recognize, however, that some technology companies are concerned that claims for intentional inducement of infringement might be misused frivolously against entities who distribute legitimate copying devices or programs such as computers, CD burners, personal video recorders, e-mail services, etc.," the senators wrote. "We are open to any constructive input on how Congress can best frame a technology-neutral law directed at a small set of bad actors while protecting our legitimate technology industries from frivolous litigation."

While the senators were striking a more conciliatory note, they appeared to be unwilling to drop their controversial stance on "secondary liability" -- the legal concept that puts P2P operators at risk under the bill.

"There is little dispute that entities intentionally encouraging and promoting widespread infringement should be held secondarily liable for the infringement they intend to induce," they wrote. "The imposition of such liability is particularly appropriate given that much file-sharing software automates the redistribution of infringing files so effectively that people making hundreds of works available for distribution to millions of persons around the globe can testify that they had no idea that they were engaged in the massive, global redistribution of those protected works."

Nevertheless, the senators tell Peters that "we remain open to other approaches" asking her "to attempt to achieve consensus proposals" and deliver them to the senators by Sept. 7.

Senate aides said the letter doesn't mean that the senators have given up on their bill, although final passage this year is unlikely given that it is an election year and Congress has much unfinished work left to do.

"This was a step contemplated from the beginning," one aide said. "It's a another step toward getting a bill through Congress."

Consumer Electronics Assn. officials said they were pleased that the lawmakers decided to open up the process.

"All we've ever asked for is for this to be a fair and open process," CEA spokesman Jeff Joseph said. "From that perspective, this is a great development."

But questions remain about how fair the process will be, Joseph said.

"We are a bit concerned about the role Peters will play," he said. "She's already stated in the hearing that she doesn't believe in the principles of the Betamax decision."

In the Betamax case, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that the VCR did not infringe on copyrights because it has other legitimate uses like shifting the time a television program can be viewed.

RIAA CEO Mitch Bainwol said he was encouraged by the senators' decision, viewing it as a sign that the lawmakers weren't going to let the measure languish.

"This is an important sign that the sponsors understand the urgency of moving forward," he said. "Paralysis is not an option. We remain eager to work on a common-sense compromise that fulfills the ultimate objective of targeting bad actors who are jeopardizing the future of music."
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr..._id=1000613538


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Old Masters Threaten Download Backlash

The music industry has been accused of standing still while others steal a slice of the market, but, reports Iain S Bruce, there may be life in the old dog yet

The moment Nashville star Jimmy Buffet hung up the phone, Island Records vice president Hooman Majd knew that the joyride was coming to an end. The early nineties were already beginning to prove a tough time for the music industry, and news that the popular country artist had decided to use the emerging internet to market his own output struck an ominous tone.

Some insiders scoffed, convinced the music business’s iron grip on the industry effectively made it the only show in town, but Buffet proved as good as his word, selling over 200,000 copies over a web-based distribution network that cut the labels, the distributors and the major chains out of the deal. Others dismissed the effort as a blip, but Majd could see the writing on the wall.

“Right there was where the industry made its crucial mistake, and it made it because everybody was running scared. Their reaction to technology was one of abject fear because after 50 years with a comfortable stranglehold on the music business from top to bottom, suddenly something had come along which they thought might take it all away,” says Majd, a former senior executive at Island Records for 10 years, now operating a New York entertainment consultancy.

“It was actually the biggest opportunity the major players ever had because technology was offering them a shot at creating a direct one-to-one relationship with the customer. They missed that chance though, and now it’s gone forever.”

A decade on and the proof is in the pudding. In 2003, steadily declining global sales plummeted another 7.6% to £17.6 billion, marking four years of unrelenting decline for the music business. US retailer Tower Records shut down all of its European operations in response, but even swingeing cuts failed to save the company from filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this year. In the UK, WH Smith announced it was to dump the CD single in February.

Clearly the industry is living in troubled times. What is less clear, unfortunately, is what went wrong. Explanations are many and varied, but one of the most widely championed is the view that after maintaining a virtual monopoly over the entire business chain for half a century, music’s big boys simply lost the plot and launched an ill-advised, half-blind counter- offensive against anything or anybody that dared challenge the status quo.

“Undoubtedly the industry’s biggest mistake was to think of digital music solely as a threat rather than an opportunity. It was entirely understandable that they should seek to protect their intellectual property from theft, but the major labels ignored the potential in front of them,” says the UK Association of Independent Music’s Sam Shemtob. “Many independent labels saw it and were already negotiating with file sharing networks like Napster to introduce licensing, but in the end it seemed like egos were getting in the way, with certain high ranking individuals determined to crush the online trade at any cost.”

Many commentators uphold the view that by fighting the peer-to-peer music swapping networks rather than attempting to woo them, the sector’s entrenched interests created a crucial market gap into which Apple’s iTunes, the reconstituted Napster and a host of pirate operations have happily slipped. Not all agree however, with some senior executives arguing that in reality, everything is going to plan.

“I disagree with the notion that we have done anything wrong at all. It was right to attack theft of our property and would equally have been wrong to leap head first into the digital world,” says Blair Schooff, a former BMG executive now working with Time Warner as AOL’s head of music in the UK.

“Remember that this is a massive industry upon which thousands of artists, technicians and support workers rely for their living. We’ve been biding our time and watching how things develop, but for a business this size changing direction can’t be done overnight – it’s like turning round an oil tanker.”

Before turning the current decline around, the music industry is expected to face more stormy weather. Analysts PricewaterhouseCoopers project that spending on recorded music will continue to decrease in 2004, but should stabilise in 2005 and then begin to expand again in 2006 as licensed digital distribution starts to take off and anti-piracy efforts bear fruit.

“The business will bounce back again,” said Schooff. “Some new players may have taken up some ground against the established interests but don’t think we’ve missed the boat because this opportunity is only just beginning.”

Certainly, this is the mantra emanating from the major league sales chains most at risk from iTunes and the emerging new power brokers in online sales. Earlier this year HMV bucked the market trend to report a 22% jump in profits despite fierce competition from online sellers, publishing a pre-tax profits increase of £117.6 million. Retailer Virgin Megastore meanwhile, ebullient despite not having made a profit in three years, claim to see the digital revolution as just another opportunity.

“It’s certainly not a threat to record shops as we’ve found that downloading and file-sharing are actually encouraging people to buy more albums than ever before. Customers still love to get their hands on an actual product and are using downloads to try out artists before they commit to buying a whole album. It’s actually raising more interest in music so it’s good news for everyone,” said Virgin’s Simon Dornan.

“We fully support legitimate downloading and see it as simply another way for customers to buy and listen to music – just like CDs or DVDs. We’re actually at the forefront of downloading via our website as it ensures that our customers are able to purchase music in whatever way they choose.”

Yet even as the industry wheels around to launch its response, seasoned commentators like Majd point to a track record of technological failure that casts doubt upon whether the business can really get to grips with the new world. Citing examples such as MTV, where the business gave away free video content rather than strike out into the expanding television market alone, they question the entrenched players’ commitment to change.

“Time and time again, the music business flunks its chances. It was too lazy to go after television, and then tried unsuccessfully to catch up when it was too late. Every major breakthrough the industry has seen was first capitalised upon by outsiders and now they’ve let iTunes do it again,” said Majd.

“At the top of the business there are dozens of executives who don’t want to admit that the market has changed forever. The travel industry realised this when online sales started to bite into their profits but the music bosses don’t want to because it means that the days of exorbitant expense accounts and flying around in Lear jets are well and truly over.”

Majd believes that the music business has blown it, relinquishing a once in a lifetime chance to create a direct link with its consumers and allowing the creation of a situation where he believes that major bands like U2 could now release albums straight from recording studio to public without suffering any drop in sales. It is a view for which many have sympathy, but one that equally attracts warnings that it would be foolhardy to dismiss even a battered giant.

“Independent labels have gained a certain amount of ground because they are leaner, more responsive and often more attuned to change, but it would be insane to write the major players off,” said Simon Wheeler of the Beggar’s Group. “They might have had a few bad years but there were 50 good ones before that and they are working furiously on coming to terms with the ways this market has changed.

“It might take a few years for the super tanker to change course, but when it comes back it will do so with a vengeance.”
http://www.sundayherald.com/44004


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sales up but royalties down? Maybe you’re getting screwed by your label.

Songwriters Make Play To Curb Illegal Downloads
Chris Lewis

Nashville songwriters who have seen their income erode because of illegal music downloading shared their woes Monday with a powerful sympathizer — U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft’s right-hand man for cracking down on Internet theft.

David M. Israelite, chairman of the Justice Department’s Intellectual Property Task Force, held a town meeting at Belmont University with members of the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI), Songwriters Guild of America, National Music Publishers Association and performing rights organizations.

As head of the department’s 13-member task force set up in March, Israelite said he has been gathering information from music industry representatives in Los Angeles, New York and Nashville to guide the task force’s recommendations on a prosecution and punishment strategy to be delivered to Ashcroft in October.

“Attorney General Ashcroft has written songs and he’s been a performer, and so I think he has a deeper appreciation of these issues than maybe somebody who hasn’t been in this arena,” Israelite told songwriters.

He said the music industry deserves a great deal of assistance from the federal government because it’s been hit hardest by the theft of intellectual property and because it has shown initiative to help itself.

“This industry has been the most aggressive in publicly declaring that it is going to protect its intellectual property through lawsuits, through advertising, through any means necessary,” he said.

NSAI Executive Director Bart Herbison said that more than half of the songwriting staffs nationwide have been lost due to illegal file swapping that has escalated from 1 million files five years ago to 25 billion songs downloaded last year.

At Herbison’s invitation, several songwriters told Israelite how the loss of mechanical royalties has threatened their retirement nest eggs or sent them in search of other jobs.

“How do I look today?” songwriter Debi Cochran asked the crowd. She then explained that her outfit and accessories came not from her income as a songwriter but her position as a sales clerk at Dillard’s — a job she took to make ends meet.

“I’m very sympathetic to the problems you’re experiencing,” Israelite said. “ I can’t solve all your problems. What I’m here to do is to figure out how the federal government can do a better job of enforcing the laws that we are tasked with enforcing.”

He said working groups of the task force are looking at civil law, criminal law, international treaties, legislation and increasing public awareness to help enforce copyright laws. Though education is important, he said, the government must have a broad approach that also includes aggressive prosecution — not unlike the war on drugs.

“You go after every facet of it, from the dealer to the buyer, to educating kids about why they should never begin,” Israelite said.
http://www.NashvilleCityPaper.com/in...&news_id=35060





Most excellent for hackers

312 Launches P2P Backup and Retrieval System
Press Release

312 announced the release of LeanOnMe, a platform independent backup and remote access solution. LeanOnMe harnesses the power of peer-to-peer (P2P) technology to provide secure off-site backup and enables the user to access his or her own information anywhere LeanOnMe is installed. The data files are encrypted and are not accessible to anyone other than the content owner.

"Much like the World Wide Web or a corporate network, P2P technology is simply one type of technology solution that allows users to accomplish a variety of tasks," stated Brian Neilson, CEO of 312 Inc. "Unfortunately, like the Web, P2P technology has been used for illegal activities. However, P2P technology can also be used for legal and beneficial purposes." Neilson continued. "312’s LeanOnMe does not allow sharing of material; it’s for the protection of data. The user’s data is encrypted and cannot be accessed by the remote host."

LeanOnMe is easy to use and backs up data files to one or more on-line computers. Users can select files or folders to protect and then choose someone to “lean on” for remote storage. This removes the need for tapes, CD's and monthly Web storage fees. Any new or updated files are automatically protected based on a user-defined backup schedule. Set it up once, like your anti-virus software, and LeanOnMe will run in the background protecting your selected files. LeanOnMe offers effortless protection with a lot more integrated functionality.

Juan Carlos Soto, Sun Microsystems Director of the Software, CTO Office said: "We are thrilled to see 312's LeanOnMe product applying JXTA peer-to-peer technology to automate computer file back-up. People can now securely share computer resources in a trusted, cooperative, and highly available peer-to-peer network to back-up data. Using Java and JXTA technologies, 312 has created a platform independent, secure network backup product that works over the Internet."

"Set it up once but don’t forget it. LeanOnMe allows you to create your own group so you can invite your friends, family or colleagues to join. You can use it at home and work and never email, transfer or forget an important file again, just access it remotely," said Andrew Kiolbasa, 312, Inc. Chief Operating Officer and head of product development. "Sometimes a file is lost simply because you can’t remember where you saved it. With LeanOnMe you can sort all of your protected files so you can find them quickly and easily" Kiolbasa added.
http://www.d-silence.com/headlines/3...0Backups/18904


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Brilliant Digital Entertainment Reports Second Quarter 2004 Results
Press Release

Brilliant Digital Entertainment, Inc., the leading provider of secure digital media via peer-to-peer technology, today reported results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2004.

Brilliant Digital reported net revenues for the second quarter ended June 30, 2004 increased 31% to $2,215,000 from $1,694,000 in the comparable second quarter of 2003. The company reported a net loss of ($2,198,000), or ($0.05) per share, for the second quarter ended June 30, 2004, compared to net income of $883,000, or $0.01 per share for the second quarter of 2003. For the six month period ended June 30, 2004, Brilliant Digital reported a net loss of ($2,552,000) or ($0.06) per share, compared to a net loss of ($53,000) or ($0.00) per share for the six month period ended June 30, 2003. Loss from operations was ($191,000) for the second quarter ended June 30, 2004, compared with a loss of ($459,000) for the comparable period in the previous year and ($115,000) for the six month period ended June 30, 2004, compared with ($949,000) for the comparable period in 2003.

"We continue to build the size of our catalog through our focus on acquiring quality, digital content for distribution. We believe our efforts in this area, together with revenue from our search agreement with The Excite Network and patent license agreement with Sharman Networks, will continue to provide a stable base from which the future growth of Brilliant Digital will develop," said Kevin Bermeister, CEO of Brilliant Digital Entertainment.
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/...&newsLang =en


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GIPS provides Skype with VoiceEngine

Voice Processing Software For Advanced Peer-to-Peer Technology Delivers Superior Voice Quality
Press Release

Global IP Sound (GIPS), leading provider of embedded voice-processing solutions, today announced that Skype is leveraging GIPS VoiceEngine™ to offer its customers unmatched voice processing and quality. Skype 1.0. is the revolutionary free Internet telephone application that utilizes advanced peer-to-peer technology.

"Skype is proving that Voice over IP quality can be better than the public switched telephone network. With over 18 million downloads since the launch of the beta version, this application has clearly launched the market for Voice over IP and set the quality bar," said Gary Hermansen, President and CEO of GIPS. "We are very pleased with the market response in respect to the voice quality that Skype delivers."

GIPS VoiceEngine™ handles voice-related tasks for VoIP soft clients in both personal computer (PC) and personal digital assistant (PDA) environments. It combines award-winning and patented technologies together with a high-level API to enable simplified and rapid integration of complex sound processing software. The flexibility of the framework enables developers to not only leverage design and resource investments across a family of products but also across a variety of computer and PDA platforms (Windows, Linux, Mac OS, and Pocket PC).

"We chose GIPS for its best of breed quality when we created Skype software," said Niklas Zennstrom, CEO and co-founder of Skype. "The ability to give users voice quality that meets and exceeds their expectations is a key component of our success, and our alliance with GIPS is an important element in our growth."

GIPS VoiceEngine, which is fully customizable, simplifies the integration of speech codecs, communication with sound cards, real-time performance, RTP protocol handling and other voice-related tasks to deliver superior quality and minimal latency for real-time communications over the Internet. The solution is compatible with all IP telephony standards (G.711, SIP, H.323, etc.) to allow manufacturers integrate both standard and customer-specific codecs quickly and easily.
http://www.globalipsound.com/newsroo....php?newsID=73


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

First Beta Of Skype For Mac OS X Seeded To Testers
Kasper Jade

The first external beta version of Skype Technologies' free voice over IP (VoIP) software for Mac OS X has been distributed to a limited number of testers and is expected to reach public beta in the coming months.

A free and simple piece of software from the developers of KaZaA, Skype uses innovative P2P (peer-to-peer) technology that lets users make free calls anywhere in the world to other Skype users.

The software--currently available for both Windows and Linux (Beta)--aims to address all the problems of legacy VoIP solutions such bad sound quality, difficult configuration, and the need for expensive, centralized infrastructure.
http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=606


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PeerGuardian Hijacked
p2pnet.net

p2pnet warned yesterday that some versions of PeerGuardian have been polluted with spyware.

"So far over 80 thousand people have downloaded the fake bad PeerGuardian build from download.com (many millions have downloaded the correct version from the Methlabs webpages)," says PG here, going on:

"All Methlabs software is free, and PeerGuardian is open source which means that it can be freely distributed and modified as much as you want. However, some groups are now including spyware with our applications."

A prime suspect is Openwares.org (down at the time of writing) .

"We've made noise about Openwares because they've not only ripped us off, they've also abused a handful of other open-source projects," PG author Tim Leonard told p2pnet.

"This highlights some problems with the less protective open-source licenses out there. It's just a shame that we need to consider any restrictions just to stop the malware merchants."

Leonard also says there's another reason to distrust Openwares.

"An IE patch they released that was found to be exploitable (overflow enabled running of arbitrary code on machines) and then a second release which fixed this problem but reportedly sent the URLs visited on the 'patched' machine straight back to Openwares!! - In other words, their patch was effectively spyware."

Go here to find out if your Methlabs apps are bent

Download a guaranteed clean PeerGuardian from Methlabs here.

http://p2pnet.net/story/2192


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

New Nigerian Copyright Law Underway
Ahamefula Ogbu
Abuja

Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Culture and Tourism, Hon Bernard Udoh, has pledged to expedite action in the process of tightening anti-piracy laws in the country following the discovery of the involvement of foreign nationals operating as cartels in the illegal activities.

Udoh, who praised the police and the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) for their swift raids in places where other people works were being pirated with an attendant loss in revenue both to Federal Government and the artistes, called for more dissemination of information to the grassroots as well as the coming together of various agencies in the fight against the practice, adding that with the National Assembly in the process of strengthening legislations on piracy, there was need for more stringent enforcement for better results.

He promised hell for those whose business it is to affect the economy negatively through criminal practices as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was ready to prosecute those caught.

"We have correspondence with the Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria, the Copyrights Commission and the Minister for Culture and tourism and all the parties insist sections of the copyright law be changed. As the law is right now, it does not enable law enforcement agent to do their work well. The limitations are many," he said.

He said the present copyright law was promulgated in 1988 through a Decree (no 47) and amended in 1992, adding that the current amendment to the law would usher in a regime that would plug all loopholes and enable enforcement.
http://allafrica.com/stories/printab...408090994.html


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gov’t shuts down ‘net

State Of Emergency Declared In Maldives After Rare Pro-Democracy Protest
AP

The government Friday declared a state of emergency, blocking access to the Internet, arresting about 100 democracy activists and using tear gas to disperse thousands of protesters who rallied in a rare show of dissent.

State radio announced the declaration, saying fundamental rights of citizens were suspended, and people would not be allowed to gather, demonstrate or express views critical of the government.

Hours before the announcement, an indefinite curfew was imposed in Male, the capital, barring people from leaving their houses.

As night fell, armoured vehicles and security forces on foot deployed around the city, witnesses said. Internet access was blocked an hour after the state of emergency was declared.

Earlier Friday, pro-democracy protesters had gathered outside police headquarters in Male to protest the detention of four people. Worried that a standoff might develop, police later released the four.

But the National Security Service used tear gas and rounded up several demonstrators when the crowd, which swelled to an estimated 3,000, refused to leave, said the witnesses who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The protest was a rare event in a country where political dissent isn't tolerated. Political parties are banned in Maldives, a country of 278,000 people on 1,192 coral islands, about 500 kilometres off the coast of India.

Chief government spokesman Ahmed Shaheed downplayed the demonstration.

"I will not call it a pro-democracy demonstration. Being a Friday, people just gathered," he said.

The Maldives is an Islamic country, and Friday is the Muslim day of prayer.

President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who has ruled since 1978, has promised democratic reforms.

Reform efforts appear to have been prompted by international pressure, as well as anti-government riots that broke out in September 2003 after security officers cracked down on prisoners who were protesting alleged torture. Four inmates were killed and 25 were injured.
http://www.cbc.ca/cp/world/040813/w081334.html


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They’ll eavesdrop and charge you for it

Canadian Police Chiefs Want Surveillance Surcharge
CTV.ca News Staff

Canada's police chiefs propose a surcharge of about 25 cents on monthly telephone and Internet bills to cover the cost of tapping into the communications of terrorists and other criminals.

The suggestion is intended to resolve a standoff between police forces and telecommunications companies over who should foot the expense of providing investigators with access to phone calls and e-mail messages.

Police say they cannot -- and should not -- be forced to pay the often hefty costs involved in carrying out court-approved wiretaps and message searches, warning that investigations will suffer if they are expected to pick up the tab.

"This is a very, very serious issue for us. It has a potential for really paralysing operations," said Supt. Tom Grue, a member of the law amendments committee of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police.

But the country's largest phone company believes that telecommunications firms and law-enforcement agencies, not subscribers, should split the costs.

"We think there should be more of a partnership between the agencies and us, rather than getting the public to pay for it," said Bell Canada spokeswoman Jacqueline Michelis.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNew...2606743312_57/


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Copyright Crusaders Hit Schools
Katie Dean

For the third year in a row, software companies are supplying schools with materials that promote their antipiracy position on copyright law. But for the first time this year, the library association is presenting its own material, hoping to give kids a more balanced view of copyright law.

The American Library Association will distribute its materials through high-school librarians this winter or spring. In September, the ALA will hold focus groups with teenagers to better understand how they use the Internet, what they think about the technology and what language they use. That information will contribute to ALA-created comic books that address various copyright issues relevant to students.

The ALA sees a need for this because materials offered by groups like the Business Software Alliance and the Motion Picture Association of America are designed to influence kids with one- sided information, said Rick Weingarten, director of information technology policy for the ALA. Topics like "fair use" -- the right to use copyright material without the owner's permission, a key concept in American law that intellectual-property experts say leads to innovation -- are not adequately addressed.

"There is certainly concern about the fact that when the content industry talks about copyright and young people in the same sentence, they are either calling them all crooks or they are making claims for copyright that far exceed what copyright is all about," Weingarten said. "Any education program that comes from that source is inherently going to be biased."

A copyright-crusading cartoon ferret is the latest brainchild from the BSA. The software trade group will sponsor a contest in September to name the weasel mascot, which will be used in marketing campaigns to teach kids to be good cybercitizens. The group, which represents the most powerful software companies in the world, will also mail an antipiracy comic book and teacher's guide to subscribers of the Weekly Reader, a publication for grade-schoolers, in January. The literature is targeted at fourth-graders.

"We're trying to educate children at a very young age about the importance of protecting copyrighted works," said Diane Smiroldo, vice president of public affairs for the BSA. "It's important to start talking to them at a very young age about creative works online and what you can and can't share with your friends."

Smiroldo compared the BSA's program to an antismoking or antilittering campaign. The curriculum doesn't talk about fair use but focuses on what are "right and wrong" behaviors online.

She said a trade group like the BSA educating kids about copyright works is not biased, and said it is important that kids receive such messages from a variety of sources, like teachers, librarians and parents, too.

"The idea that elementary-school kids are ripping off business software is a little strange," Weingarten said. "But that's (the BSA's) problem. They'll decide where they want to focus their education efforts."

Ren Bucholz, activism coordinator at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said it makes sense that the BSA would target young kids.

"Kids may not have such fully formed ideas about how the world works," Bucholz said. "For older students, that stuff doesn't wash."

He said once students develop critical thinking skills, read the news and learn about content owners suing their customers, for instance, it decreases the industry's ability to "take the moral high ground." Encouraging students to discuss issues related to file sharing would be more productive.

The EFF has also developed a proposal for an intellectual-property curriculum of its own, which has not yet been funded.

Last year, the MPAA sponsored a program called "What's the Diff?" with Junior Achievement, a nonprofit organization that provides business and economics-related curriculum to schools. The curriculum was a shorter supplement to JA's regular programs.

The program included an essay contest in which students competed to write the most creative plan to convince their peers not to download content illegally from the Internet. The digital-citizenship program is still available to teachers through local JA offices for another year, but no contest or prizes will be issued this year.

"In retrospect, if we were to do this again, we would want to talk more about fair use than we did this time around," said Darrell Luzzo, the vice president of education for JA Worldwide.

Luzzo said discussions with educators at the National Education Association helped them realize that the program should have taken a broader perspective on copyright instead of focusing on one side of the issue.

The NEA also objected to the lavish prizes and freebies offered by the MPAA.

"We want to teach children to be thinking human beings," said Melinda Anderson, a spokeswoman for the NEA. "Not a parrot for some corporate agenda."
http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,64543,00.html


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Studios Lose Round in File-Sharing Battle
Jon Healey

A federal appeals court ruled today that two popular file-sharing networks were legal despite rampant piracy by their users, raising the pressure on the music industry and Hollywood to explore new business models online.

Affirming a lower court ruling, a three-judge panel from the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals held that the companies behind the Grokster and Morpheus peer-to- peer networks were not liable for copyright infringement when users of their software made illegal copies of songs and movies.

"The peer-to-peer file-sharing technology at issue is not simply a tool engineered to get around" previous rulings against the Napster file-sharing service, Judge Sidney R. Thomas wrote for the panel. "The technology has numerous other uses, significantly reducing the distribution costs" for artists and others who want to share their work with the public.

The Motion Picture Assn. of America and the Recording Industry Assn. of America offered no immediate comment. They were widely expected to appeal, either to the full 9th Circuit or the Supreme Court.

Andrew Bridges, an attorney in San Francisco who initially defended the Morpheus software, said the ruling would clear the way not just for the two defendants, but for all other decentralized peer-to-peer networks. Kazaa, eDonkey and other decentralized file-sharing technologies emerged after Napster was hobbled by court rulings, and have since attracted tens of millions of users.

Peer-to-peer software enables users to search for and copy digital files from one another's computers. The networks have become so popular, monitoring firms estimate that billions of unauthorized copies of movies, songs, computer programs and other copyrighted works are made every year.

While many of the leading video game companies have used file-sharing networks to help sell their wares, major movie and music companies have taken an adversarial approach. The major labels say file-sharing has damaged CD sales; the studios argue that the networks supply films to commercial pirates who sell bootlegged disks around the world.

Chief executive Michael Weiss of StreamCast Networks, the company that distributes the Morpheus software, said the ruling would push the entertainment industry to adapt their businesses to file-sharing and, ultimately, increase its profits.

"Not only is today's ruling a victory for Morpheus, a hard-fought one at that, but this is a victory for our fellow P2P developers, a victory for American innovation and, perhaps more importantly, history will prove this to be a bigger win for the entertainment industry," Weiss said.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-0...home-headlines
















Until next week,

- js.














~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Current Week In Review.





Recent WiRs -

August 14th, August 7th, July 31st, July 24th, July 17th, July 10th

Jack Spratt's Week In Review is published every Friday. Please submit letters, articles, and press releases in plain text English to jackspratts (at) lycos (dot) com. Include contact info. Submission deadlines are Wednesdays @ 1700 UTC.


"The First Amendment rests on the assumption that the widest possible dissemination of information from diverse and antagonistic sources is essential to the welfare of the public." - Hugo Black

[multi]

Originally Posted by JackSpratts

Quotes Of The Week


"The court's decision was unanimous." – EFF on P2P appeal victory


"Attacks from within your company are more likely than breaches by an outside hacker." - Oliver Kaven, journalist


"I didn't want to look like the person who was going with anything the [record] label was sending me." - Matthew Perpetua, MP3 blogger


"I know we're dealing in relatively uncharted territory here, but I'd expect a slightly different level of participation [from the labels]. We're not an AOL chat room." - Mark Willett, MP3 blogger


"Their reaction to technology was one of abject fear because after 50 years with a comfortable stranglehold on the music business from top to bottom, suddenly something had come along which they thought might take it all away." - Hooman Majd, Island Records executive


"Students say they can download in as little as half an hour large video files that might take a day or longer to obtain over traditional file-sharing networks." - John Borland, journalist


"It’s certainly not a threat to record shops as we’ve found that downloading and file-sharing are actually encouraging people to buy more albums than ever before." - Simon Dornan, Virgin Music store executive













It doesn’t get any better

EFF Scores Landmark Win for P2P
Press Release

Ninth Circuit Declares Grokster, Morpheus Not Liable for Infringement

California - Today the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals made a crucial decision (PDF) in support of technology innovators by declaring that distributors of the peer-to-peer software Grokster and Morpheus cannot be held liable for the infringing activities of their users. The Electronic Frontier Foundation argued on behalf of Streamcast, the creator of the Morpheus software, in a case that pitted dozens of entertainment conglomerates against two small software companies.

The Ninth Circuit decision is based in part on the fact that P2P networks have significant non-infringing uses, and that they can help artists earn money. The ruling is similar to the Supreme Court's decision in the 1984 Betamax case, which determined that Sony was not liable for copyright violations by users of the Betamax VCR.

"Today's ruling will ultimately be viewed as a victory for copyright owners. As the court recognized today, the entertainment industry has been fighting new technologies for a century, only to learn again and again that these new technologies create new markets and opportunities," said EFF Senior Intellectual Property Attorney Fred von Lohmann. "There is no reason to think that file sharing will be any different."

The court's decision was unanimous.

"This is a victory for innovators of all stripes," added von Lohmann. "The court's ruling makes it clear that innovators need not beg permission from record labels and Hollywood before they deploy exciting new technologies."

It is likely that the entertainment companies will appeal the Ninth Circuit's decision to the Supreme Court.
http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2004_08.php#001833





~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Danger Will Robinson!!!

Powerful Senators Seek To Punish P2P Developers
Brooks Boliek

A group of Senate leaders is charging the country's highest-ranking copyright official with rewriting legislation designed to punish P2P operators who entice people to illegally distribute copyrighted works.

In a letter signed by four top-ranking senators, the lawmakers ask Register of Copyrights Mary Beth Peters to schedule high-level meetings with copyright owners such as the record companies and movie studios, people who run peer-to-peer networks and technology companies in an effort to build a consensus for the legislation.

Senate Republican leader Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., Democratic leader Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., Judiciary Committee chairman Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah; and the committee's senior Democrat, Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., signed the letter seeking Peters' assistance with the legislation.

All four senators have co-authored the controversial Inducing Infringements of Copyrights Act, which allows creative artists and copyright holders to sue companies that profit from encouraging the public to commit copyright piracy.

During a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee last month, the legislation came under fire from technology companies and consumer electronics manufacturers for going too far. Consumer Electronics Assn. CEO Gary Shapiro called it a "deadly new tool" that would put a "massive liability bull's-eye" on technology companies.

At the time, Peters said she thought the bill "would be a positive addition to the copyright law."

Since then, the senators have decided to take a second look at the legislation, hoping to build support for a modified version of the bill.

"We do recognize, however, that some technology companies are concerned that claims for intentional inducement of infringement might be misused frivolously against entities who distribute legitimate copying devices or programs such as computers, CD burners, personal video recorders, e-mail services, etc.," the senators wrote. "We are open to any constructive input on how Congress can best frame a technology-neutral law directed at a small set of bad actors while protecting our legitimate technology industries from frivolous litigation."

While the senators were striking a more conciliatory note, they appeared to be unwilling to drop their controversial stance on "secondary liability" -- the legal concept that puts P2P operators at risk under the bill.

"There is little dispute that entities intentionally encouraging and promoting widespread infringement should be held secondarily liable for the infringement they intend to induce," they wrote. "The imposition of such liability is particularly appropriate given that much file-sharing software automates the redistribution of infringing files so effectively that people making hundreds of works available for distribution to millions of persons around the globe can testify that they had no idea that they were engaged in the massive, global redistribution of those protected works."

Nevertheless, the senators tell Peters that "we remain open to other approaches" asking her "to attempt to achieve consensus proposals" and deliver them to the senators by Sept. 7.

Senate aides said the letter doesn't mean that the senators have given up on their bill, although final passage this year is unlikely given that it is an election year and Congress has much unfinished work left to do.

"This was a step contemplated from the beginning," one aide said. "It's a another step toward getting a bill through Congress."

Consumer Electronics Assn. officials said they were pleased that the lawmakers decided to open up the process.

"All we've ever asked for is for this to be a fair and open process," CEA spokesman Jeff Joseph said. "From that perspective, this is a great development."

But questions remain about how fair the process will be, Joseph said.

"We are a bit concerned about the role Peters will play," he said. "She's already stated in the hearing that she doesn't believe in the principles of the Betamax decision."

In the Betamax case, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that the VCR did not infringe on copyrights because it has other legitimate uses like shifting the time a television program can be viewed.

RIAA CEO Mitch Bainwol said he was encouraged by the senators' decision, viewing it as a sign that the lawmakers weren't going to let the measure languish.

"This is an important sign that the sponsors understand the urgency of moving forward," he said. "Paralysis is not an option. We remain eager to work on a common-sense compromise that fulfills the ultimate objective of targeting bad actors who are jeopardizing the future of music."
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr..._id=1000613538

these 2 stories nearly cancel each other out..

wired story on the grokster case decision
http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,64640,00.html