The Newspaper Shop -- Wednesday edition

[walktalker]

Take that... and that... and that...
Sites seek to blast ad blockers
Publishers have been promised a new weapon to combat software that wipes advertisements off the Web, bringing a potential challenge to ad-free surfing. Dusseldorf, Germany-based MediaBeam last month said it's testing a product that aims to detect ad-blocking software and charge the people using it a fee to view a Web site's content. The product, called AdKey, is scheduled for commercial release by November. "People using anti-ad software...have the advantage to use our service but (not to) participate in the advertising system. But we need someone to pay the bill," said MediaBeam CEO Frank Beckhert, whose 15-person company has been testing AdKey for the last two weeks. "We just couldn't accept that people were using our service for free" anymore.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp01

Microsoft's Ballmer dismisses rival project
Steve Ballmer, outspoken president and chief executive of Microsoft Corp., dismissed rival Sun Microsystems Inc.'s efforts to compete with his company's Passport identity service as "craziness" built on a "weak foundation" on Wednesday. Ballmer was speaking to an industry group when he was asked about the Liberty Alliance Project, a service announced by Sun and some 30 partners. Like Passport, it is designed to save and verify people's identities in order to speed up online transactions. "I think what we announced is right. I think the Sun thing has absolutely no probability of mattering to the world. That's my nonemotional view," Ballmer told a symposium sponsored by Gartner, the information technology consultant and analyst.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02

ISP to banish virus spreaders
British Internet users who fail to protect their machines against virulent computer viruses such as Nimda could have their Internet connections suspended by their Internet service provider. British ISP Telewest has been the first to take direct action against customers who have refused to patch their computers against the Nimda worm or have left infected PCs running. The company insists that these are "sensible" measures to protect customers from malicious worms that are able to self-propagate across networks without user intervention. "Telewest, in line with other service providers, has put into practice a virus protection strategy to prevent infection of our network," said a spokeswoman at the company. "Protective measures include the temporary removal of service from customers who are virus infected and who may have not taken appropriate preventive measures."
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02

3G devices to support Linux OS
Texas Instruments plans to make its OMAP wireless platform Linux-friendly, meaning that 3G devices by Nokia, Ericsson, Sony and Sendo could use the open source operating system. Linux could soon be playing an important role in the third-generation handheld device market, following the announcement by Texas Instruments on Tuesday that its OMAP wireless architecture would support the open-source operating system. TI's OMAP wireless platform has already attracted the interest of several big-names companies. The likes of Nokia, Ericsson, Sony and Sendo are understood to have chosen to use the technology in some of their forthcoming 3G devices. By adding support for Linux, TI believes it will help developers to create new applications that will take advantage of the benefits of a 3G network.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02

Newest security -- ATMs that recognize your face
Biometric-enabled ATMs could be doling out cash to Australian bank customers within a year following the launch of technology that promises to reduce the expense of converting existing ATM security infrastructure. The use of biometric technology -- the analysis of certain unique body "signatures", such as fingerprint and retina scanning -- for ATM security purposes, has long been bandied about as a viable alternative to personal identification numbers (PINs). But the prohibitive expense associated with deploying a brand new fleet of biometrically-secure ATMs has seen many banks adopt a wait-and-see approach.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02

New Linux kernel available for download
Linux developers can get their hands on the latest stable operating system kernel, version 2.4.11, as of Wednesday. The kernel, or heart of the OS, is available on www.kernel.org, which also lists mirrors where the software can be found. The new kernel includes improvements to such crucial areas as networking and USB control, as well as updates throughout. Kernel version 2.4 was released in January, and the most recent stable version, 2.4.10, made its debut in September. Linus Torvalds said in at recent Linux conference that kernel improvements are no longer important, and that it is more crucial to make Linux more usable for end-users on the desktop. But other say that the progress of the OS core is the main force driving the GNU/Linux operating system ahead.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02

Microsoft closes window to customer data
Microsoft moved swiftly this week to close a security gap in its customer service Web site that let anyone with a browser view customers' sales records and other confidential information. The software giant had left a search database exposed without security protections. The address of the customer service page was unpublished, but by altering the numerical IP (Internet Protocol) addresses of known Microsoft Web sites, a security enthusiast located it and found himself with access to an unknown number of customer service records. Each exposed record included the customer's name, purchasing history, shipping address, billing address, phone numbers, e-mail address and credit card type. It did not include the actual credit card number.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200...html?tag=mn_hd

Intel countersues Via over U.S. patents
Intel has escalated its legal war with Via Technologies by filing a countersuit, alleging that Via infringes on U.S. patents for processors. On Oct. 5, Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel filed the counterclaim and an answer to a suit recently filed by Via in the U.S. District Court in Texas. In the counterclaim, Intel alleges that Taipei, Taiwan-based Via and its U.S. subsidiary Centaur Technology infringed five U.S. patents that Intel holds when Via developed the C3 processor. The suit seeks unspecified damages and a permanent injunction to prevent Via from selling the chip.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200...html?tag=mn_hd

Microsoft warns of new PC threat
A new vulnerability has been detected in PCs running Microsoft's Excel spreadsheet and PowerPoint presentation programs, which allows a specially crafted macro to avoid detection and run malicious code on a victim's machine. The software hole allows a malformed macro -- a mini-program that runs within an application -- to escape the security warnings built into Excel and PowerPoint, so that a computer user can unknowingly run infected macros when opening a spreadsheet or presentation.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200...html?tag=mn_hd

Cornering the Content Market: Microsoft's New Monopoly Play
Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly's Friday ruling in the Microsoft antitrust case is a far cry from her predecessor's original verdict. Where once it seemed the company would be split into two parts, now it's merely been instructed to settle with the Department of Justice out of court. Even as the public's interest of the case has faded, so too, it seems, has the vehemence with which the government initially pursued it. Is that it, then? In light of the market downturn, are we now willing to let bygones be bygones, turn the page and hope Microsoft does its part to return our economy to its former glory? I hope not -- because if you think about it, Microsoft's market dominance is an even larger issue today than it was when the antitrust case began.
http://www.sfgate.com/technology/expound/

Software sought to expose terrorist cells
In a move that has some privacy rights advocates concerned, the Pentagon is hoping to track down terrorists with the help of a growing battery of computer software developed to combat consumer and business fraud. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is trying to design its own version of the software to uncover terrorist cells that are posing as legitimate groups and lying about such things as past employment, education and business affiliations. "What is needed is intelligent agent software that is capable of reviewing Web sites and identifying implausible or inconsistent information,'' the agency said in an Oct. 2 public notice seeking help from businesses or others to create the software.
http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/ne...arpa101001.htm

Congress told security research needed
A panel of academics told Congress on Wednesday that the nation's electricity, telecommunications and banking networks will remain vulnerable to attack unless Congress earmarks more funds for computer-security research. Even as the nation has grown more dependent on computer networks, and attacks on these networks have grown more common, work on cybersecurity has progressed little since the 1960s, experts told the House Science Committee. The federal government's lackluster support of security research discourages academics from doing work in the area.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200...html?tag=cd_mh

Bush names computer security adviser
President Bush beefed up his Homeland Security team Tuesday, appointing special advisers to crack down on terrorist networks and protect the nation's computer systems from online attacks. The announcements came one day after former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge was sworn in to lead the first White House Office of Homeland Security, amid heightened fears of reprisals against U.S. targets after American and British forces began bombing Afghanistan on Sunday.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200...html?tag=ch_mh

IBM, Microsoft tapped for medical venture
Pfizer, the world's largest drug company, said Wednesday that it formed an alliance with Microsoft and IBM to set up a new software and services company for doctors. The companies said the new venture, called Amicore, is designed to "reduce the administrative workload and paperwork for physicians," enabling them to better focus on patient care. New York-based Amicore has acquired PenChart, a Connecticut-based software developer whose healthcare application will form the basis of the company's initial product offering, IBM, Microsoft and Pfizer said in a joint statement.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200...html?tag=cd_mh

File swappers awake to Napster knockoffs
The number of people using online music- and video-sharing services has risen sharply despite the self-imposed shutdown of song-swapping service Napster, according to a study released Wednesday. Technology research company Jupiter Media Metrix said at-home users of file-swapping services other than Napster totaled 6.9 million in August, up 492 percent from March, when Jupiter began tracking those services. Over the same period, according to the company's Media Metrix audience-ratings service, Napster's audience fell 49 percent to 5.5 million users in August, just after it shuttered its free service.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200...html?tag=cd_mh

More news later on

[walktalker]

Snoop Bill Heads to Final Vote
A high-stakes showdown over the future of U.S. eavesdropping law is taking place behind closed doors on Capitol Hill. With scant time remaining before possible votes in the House and the Senate as early as Wednesday, the Bush administration is lobbying for permanent surveillance ability over the objections of top legislators. The biggest sticking point: an expiration date of December 2003 that the House Judiciary committee unanimously slapped on some of the additional Internet spying and wiretapping sections last week. An aide to Rep. John Conyers (D-Michigan), the top Democrat on the committee, said Tuesday that the "administration does not want the Judiciary bill to go to the floor for a vote."
http://www.wired.com/news/conflict/0,2100,47442,00.html

Why Anthrax Vaccine Is Scarce
The vaccine against anthrax is in the hands of a single company that is running out of money, hasn't gained FDA approval for the vaccine or its manufacturing facilities and hasn't produced a single dose of the vaccine since it took over production in 1998. The entire United States is relying on BioPort, of Lansing, Michigan, to produce the anthrax vaccine, for which demand has spiked since Sept. 11. The company has supplied the military with only half a million doses out of 14 million promised, leaving even front-line military personnel unprotected in the event of a bio-terrorism attack.
http://www.wired.com/news/conflict/0,2100,47410,00.html

Mad Rush on Web for Anthrax Drug
Amid growing fears of a biological attack, Americans are rushing online to snap up supplies of the only antibiotic recommended by the FDA for treatment of exposure to anthrax bacteria. Orders for ciprofloxacin, or Cipro, skyrocketed in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center and reports that several people were exposed to anthrax in Florida, Internet drugstores said. VirtualMedicalGroup.com, an online firm that provides both prescription and pharmaceutical services, started offering Cipro to customers at the end of September, and the site has been processing about 100 orders a day ever since, said CEO Tania Malik.
http://www.wired.com/news/conflict/0,2100,47429,00.html

The Hunt for Osama in October
With U.S. warplanes now free to roam over Afghanistan, the stage is set for powerful satellites and reconnaissance aircraft to pursue Osama bin Laden in a high-tech manhunt from the skies. The array of equipment at the allies' disposal sounds as though it comes from a James Bond novel: planes that stay in the air for days, sensors that can track humans in caves, satellites that take pictures from space. The United States and its ally Britain have an impressive choice of surveillance technology that provide a detailed picture of the hostile Afghan terrain, military experts say.
http://www.wired.com/news/conflict/0,2100,47471,00.html

Freelance Victory Blurs Picture
Finding the intersection between decades-old copyright law and where it applies in the digital world remains far off the map in the wake of a critical Supreme Court decision on Tuesday. In the year's second significant victory for freelancers versus digital publishers, the court refused to take up a lower court ruling that said National Geographic should have paid freelance photographer Jerry Greenberg for republishing his works in a 30-disc CD-ROM set without his permission.
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,47430,00.html

EU Says MS Obstructed Probe
The European Commission has told Microsoft the company obstructed the EU executive's investigation of its practices, a source familiar with the case said on Wednesday. The allegations against the Seattle-based software giant, reported in The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, were contained in the formal statement of objections sent to the company in August. A sanitized version of the document, with market-sensitive data deleted, was distributed outside the commission about 10 days ago. The document accused Microsoft of having sought to obstruct the investigation by misleading those looking into the situation, according to the source.
http://www.wired.com/news/antitrust/...,47448,00.html

House Hears Cyberwar Fears
Computer experts want Congress to imagine a terrorist assault that combines the massive destruction of Sept. 11 with a simultaneous cyber-attack. In testimony prepared for a House hearing Wednesday, a witness raised chilling "what if" scenarios as experts called for a crash research effort to protect critical computer systems. "What if the terrorists were also able to impact our communications system, thus hampering the rescue and recovery efforts?" asked Terry Benzel, a vice president of Network Associates in Santa Clara, California.
http://www.wired.com/news/conflict/0,2100,47467,00.html

Spies in sky guide strikes -- Unmanned planes inform without risk
Small robotic aircraft may help the U.S. military to identify targets and assess damage in the Afghan war. Ten years after they were extensively deployed in the Gulf War, robotic aircraft with video camera "eyes" have found a secure niche in U.S. military engagements. Known as "unmanned aerial vehicles" (UAVs), their primary role is surveillance: They prowl over enemy terrain and transmit what they "see" back to their ground operators, who remotely guide them with joysticks.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...0/MN127267.DTL

War on Terrorism Could Clog Military's Space Airwaves
The effort to track down Osama bin Laden and rid the world of terrorism could be bogged down by clogged pipes on the military's satellite-based information superhighway as the ground forces rely more heavily than ever on their ability to phone home for instructions. Though one military analyst said operation Enduring Freedom would have to escalate out of control for such a scenario to take place, the search for bin Laden may already have spurred the Department of Defense to shift orbiting eyeballs away from Iraq and could force the military to purchase satellite time from private companies. It wouldn't be the first time.
http://www.space.com/news/military_clogged_011008.html

The "other" DMCA
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act -- a revision to U.S. copyright laws -- has taken a real beating recently, thanks in large part to a high-profile case against a sympathetic computer programmer branded as a criminal hacker. Despite this case, the DMCA is, at least in part, a useful law that benefits e-commerce. The problem is that the DMCA is a very lengthy law and many press accounts and Netizens have focused lately on only one portion of it, thereby tarnishing the whole law as a legal mistake. The DMCA has been in the news because it is at the center of the U.S. government's criminal case against Dmitry Sklyarov of Elcomsoft, a company that produces a program known as the "Advanced eBook Processor."
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1276-210...html?tag=bt_bh

Have cell phone, will roam -- worldwide
Bell Labs researchers say they've jumped a significant hurdle in the continuing development of cell phone technology: allowing a caller to use the same phone anywhere in the world. So-called global roaming is virtually impossible today because wireless carriers use different types of phone networks that can't communicate with one another and require their own specially made phones. Business people traveling overseas often carry different cell phones because carriers on each continent use different networks. Satellite phones offer service closest to global access, but they're more expensive than cell phones -- sometimes three times as much -- and the phones themselves only work on their own network of satellites.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02

Freedoms Curtailed in Defense of Liberty
Responding to the threats facing America's free democratic system, White House officials called upon Americans to stop exercising their democratic freedoms Monday. "In this time of national crisis, a time when our most cherished freedoms are threatened, all Americans — not just outspoken talk-show hosts like Bill Maher — must watch what they say," White House press secretary Ari Fleischer told reporters. "Now more than ever, if we want to protect democracy for future generations, it is vital that nobody speak out about the issues of the day." "We must all do our patriotic duty to protect our country's great ideals," Fleischer continued, "and we have to be careful about what opinions we express if we are to defend our Constitution, a sacred document behind which all Americans must stand united as one."
http://www.theonion.com/onion3736/fr...curtailed.html

German TV Show Contends Bank Hack Assignment Not Wrong
Members of the news team of a popular German high-tech TV show have openly admitted that they asked hackers to break into the computers of one of Germany's largest banks. Bernd Leptihn, news head of the TV show Technical Adviser (Ratgeber Technik), told Newsbytes, "We didn't do anything wrong. I don't think the hackers did anything wrong. I didn't do anything wrong." Leptihn was responding to comments made Friday by a spokesman from HypoVereinsbank, who told Newsbytes that the bank was considering legal action against Technical Adviser and the hackers. But before the bank makes a decision, it must first determine whether the hackers acted on their own, or acted only after consultation with Technical Adviser, which is produced in Hamburg.
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/171013.html

Sites Scramble To Fix Web Portal Security Bug
A security flaw in a popular Web portal system could enable attackers to completely compromise a site and is actively being exploited by Web page defacers, security experts warned. The bug in all current versions of PHP-Nuke allows unauthorized users to copy files to and from the server hosting the program, according to an advisory from a hacking group known as TWLC. A search at Google.com revealed that approximately 131,000 Web sites use PHP-Nuke, a free, open-source software program that runs on Linux as well as Windows and other operating system platforms.
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/171006.html

Microsoft Tosses $51Mil To P2P Firm Groove Networks
Software giant Microsoft Corp. has backed almost all of a $54 million round of financing by Groove Networks, the maker of peer-to-peer software for business co-founded by Ray Ozzie of Lotus Notes fame. Microsoft's $51 investment will give the Redmond, Wash., company a minority stake in Groove, whose software combines the group collaboration concepts behind Notes with the virtual-network links that can be created by peer-to-peer (P2P) technology. However, while P2P often is associated with potentially illegal file-swapping activities via services such as Napster, Gnutella or Morpheus, Ozzie's Groove targets businesses that need secure networks for collaboration among small groups.
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/170996.html

As Spammers Get Clever, ISPs Work To Outfox Them
Spam is now responsible for up to 30 percent of company e-mail, pan-European Internet carrier Easynet says. The sheer volume and techniques used by spammers has forced the Internet service provider to move to new technologies to counter the problem. Spam is a slang name for the electronic equivalent of postal junk mail, which tends to annoy e-mail users by its sheer volume. Justin Fielder, the Easynet's head of product marketing, told Newsbytes that, where spammers used e-mail databases previously, they are now using rotating first names, surnames and initials to ensure that at least some of their spam mail reaches the recipient.
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/170998.html

Kabul pounded in heavy strike
U.S. warplanes pounded cities in Afghanistan for a fourth straight night Wednesday, as U.S. defense sources said the Pentagon has decided to use 5,000-pound “bunker buster” bombs on underground Taliban sites. Pentagon strategists were also weighing plans to deploy U.S. special forces inside Afghanistan — both to track down extremist Osama bin Laden’s network and to help Afghan opposition forces fighting the Taliban.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/627086.asp

More news later on

[walktalker]

I wouldn't like to see my hard work sinking to the bottom too fast... so BUMP !