The Newspaper Shop -- Tuesday edition

[walktalker]

Today: newsman's special

U.S. vulnerable to data sneak attack
A group of hackers couldn't single-handedly bring down the United States' national data infrastructure, but a terrorist team would be able to do significant localized damage to U.S. systems, according to a recent war games simulation. The United States Naval War College worked with Gartner Research to conduct a "Digital Pearl Harbor" simulation last month, testing U.S. responses to attacks on telecommunications, the Internet, financial systems and the power grid. The analysts found that it would be possible to inflict some serious damage to the nation's data and physical infrastructure systems, but it would require a syndicate with significant resources, including $200 million, country-level intelligence and five years of preparation time.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-949605.html

MS leads lobby against open source
Microsoft and other software companies are ramping up a lobbying effort aimed at convincing governments to think again where it comes to adopting open-source software. The Initiative for Software Choice, which launched quietly in early May, is chaired by an industry body called the Computer Technology Industry Association (CompTIA), but its biggest software industry backer is Microsoft. Supporters also include Intel and software industry groups from countries such as France, Germany and Peru. The initiative takes aim squarely at what has become one of the major themes in the software business this year: government use of open-source software, best known as the development model behind the Linux operating system. Governments in France, Germany, Peru and other countries have passed or are considering bills that would encourage the use of open-source software in the public sector.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-949527.html

'Serious flaw' found in Internet Explorer
Security researchers on Monday said they have found serious flaws in Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser and in PGP, a widely used data scrambling program, that could expose credit card and other sensitive information of Internet users. The Internet Explorer (IE) problem has been around for at least five years and could allow an attacker to intercept personal data when a user is making a purchase or providing information for e-commerce purposes, said Mike Benham, an independent security researcher based in San Francisco. "If you ever typed in credit card information to an SSL site there's a chance that somebody intercepted it," he added.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-949506.html

Sun to fund open-source Java efforts
Sun Microsystems is working to make good on its promises to the open-source community. Sun on Tuesday announced a $3 million scholarship program to help software developers build open-source implementations of Java standards. The money is aimed at helping programmers pay for Sun's technical support services as they undergo Sun's stringent Java compatibility tests, said Glen Martin, a Sun senior marketing manager. The program is expected to help fund 30 development efforts a year for three years, he said. The new scholarship stems from a spat Sun had earlier this year with key a open-source group called the Apache Software Foundation, which accused Sun of making it difficult for open-source groups to participate in the Java Community Process by which Sun and others govern the future of Java.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-949591.html

File-swapping foes pump up the volume
The anti-piracy war is about to spill over onto the home front.
Until now, the entertainment industry has relied on civil lawsuits aimed at companies, not individuals, to limit widespread copyright infringement on peer-to-peer networks. Napster fell to legal assaults, and MP3.com soon came under fire by the recording industry. MP3Board.com, Scour.com, and Sharman Networks, which markets Kazaa, have been targets of the entertainment industry's legal fusillades against suspected copyright infringers. Now, however, the entertainment industry is revising its strategy.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1106-949533.html

Linux kernel makes Xbox appearance
The Xbox Linux Project, a volunteer effort aimed at running the Linux operating system on Microsoft's Xbox gaming console, said it has succeeded in booting the Linux kernel -- a small but important step forward. The Xbox, unlike Sony's PlayStation2, does not have its own official version of Linux, and is unlikely to get one, given Microsoft's competitive relationship with the open-source operating system. Xbox Linux, led by Michael Steil of Germany, is aimed at developing a legal way to turn the console into a full-featured Linux workstation. Even though Xbox is based on industry-standard hardware, getting the kernel, or core, of the Linux operating system to boot took some time.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-949604.html

Intel's stretching the speed limit
Intel will increase the performance of its microprocessors next year, in part by spreading out its silicon atoms. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based chipmaker will use "strained silicon" -- or silicon where the atoms in the chip's silicon base are spaced further apart than normal -- in its chips made on the 90-nanometer manufacturing process, according to Mark Bohr, director of process architecture at Intel. Chips made on the 90-nanometer process, Intel's first products of the nanotechnology era, will also feature new insulating techniques, smaller internal components and other advances. Prescott, the code name of the chip that will succeed the Pentium 4, will be the first 90-nanometer chip and will arrive in the second half of 2003.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-949493.html

Dell unhooks Windows from desktops
Dell Computer is making Windows optional for some of its business desktops. The PC maker next month will introduce n-Series corporate desktop and workstations that ship without Microsoft's Windows, or any other operating system, pre-installed. The new desktops appear to be a slick interpretation of Microsoft's new licensing terms and a way to navigate customer demand for PCs without an OS installed. The Microsoft licensing terms, which were put in place on Aug. 1, specify that PC makers must ship PCs with an operating system. The new policy exists to prevent piracy and to better track OS shipments.
http://news.com.com/2100-1001-949671.html?tag=fd_top

Sex.com case turning dirty
Although it's an arcane case about property rights in the digital age, the Sex.com saga has all the trappings of a juicy pulp fiction novel: a fugitive on the lam in Mexico, would-be bounty hunters, and porn. Now justices in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals are hoping to sort out at least one of the issues: whether domain name registrar VeriSign can be held responsible for turning the Sex.com name over to someone who sent the company a forged letter requesting the transfer. The case offers more than a glance into the prurient world of Net porn. It could have important legal implications for companies that administer domain names, including determining the duties and liabilities for domain name registrars that handle Web addresses.
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-949660.html?tag=fd_top

Web site exposes shoppers' info
A list of more than 1,800 Web users and their personal details has been left at an extension of an online shopping mall that directs buyers to a range of well-known British retailers. On display at the site, UK Shopping City, are shoppers' names, e-mail and postal addresses, gender and age group. The U.K. Information Commissioner's Office said it will act on behalf of the thousands of consumers who have had their details exposed. "This is a breach of (the Data Protection Act's) Principle 7, which states companies must take 'appropriate measures' to make sure this type of breach doesn't occur," said Faye Spencer, a compliance manager at the U.K. Information Commissioner's Office. Normally an individual affected by such a gaffe would have to contact the body before it would take action, but now that the agency has been notified, it will pursue the offending company, she said.
http://news.com.com/2100-1017-949602.html?tag=fd_top

Yahoo yields to Chinese Web laws
Yahoo on Tuesday defended its decision to sign off on voluntary content limitations in China, a move that critics say opens the door to online censorship by the Web portal. The agreement, called the "Public Pledge on Self-Discipline for the China Internet Industry," essentially ensures that Internet companies in China will abide by the country's pre-existing regulations. Although these regulations are controversial, including requirements that companies monitor and restrict information deemed "harmful," the pledge does not broaden existing laws, according to Yahoo. "The restrictions on content contained in the pledge impose no greater obligation than already exists in laws in China," said Greg Wrenn, associate general counsel at Yahoo.
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-949643.html?tag=fd_top

ReplayTV customers' case on hold
The Electronic Frontier Foundation's efforts to join the copyright lawsuit between consumer electronics maker Sonicblue and the entertainment industry may be on permanent hold. U.S. District Court Judge Florence-Marie Cooper indicated that she is not inclined to allow the EFF to join Sonicblue in a response to suit that had been filed in June by the online civil liberties group. The EFF had sought to join Sonicblue in defense of a suit filed by several major TV networks and movie studios. The suit from the entertainment industry alleged that Sonicblue's ReplayTV device infringed on copyrights by letting consumers skip commercials and send shows to other ReplayTV owners over the Internet. The plaintiffs and the EFF said they were hoping to join the Sonicblue case to bring the interests of consumers to the forefront in the litigation.
http://news.com.com/2100-1040-949637.html?tag=fd_top

The Labels Start Turning up the Volume
In June, three of the five major music labels -- Universal, Sony, and Warner Music -- announced that they would make thousands of songs available for download over the Internet at the discount price of 99 cents each. Better yet, in a major about-face Warner Music agreed to let buyers of many of the songs, by both new artists and established acts such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Alanis Morissette, copy or transfer them to portable MP3 players. Sony and Universal's music was released in copy-protected format. No question, the labels' decision represented their first realistic effort to create a viable alternative to popular but illegal file-sharing networks such as KaZaA and Morpheus. End of story, right? Not exactly. It turns out that major retailers -- the companies that actually sell music to the public -- haven't yet signed up to promote the 99-cent downloads, either in-store or online. The reason, according to sources close to the negotiations between music companies and retailers, is the labels' onerous demands.
http://www.businessweek.com/technolo...20812_4809.htm

Glitch blacks out FBI's Web sites
The FBI accidentally pulled the plug on its own Web sites on Tuesday morning. A misconfiguration in the bureau's domain name setup meant that many visitors to FBI.gov could not get through. As of 11 a.m. PT, the FBI's configuration problem had been fixed. The apparent error also wiped out the online presence of the FBI's high-tech crime unit, the National Infrastructure Protection Center, at NIPC.gov. An FBI spokesman said earlier Tuesday that the glitch was accidental and was not the result of a malicious attack. "The server is down," said Paul Moskal. "It's an internal issue here. That's the good news, as opposed to some attack or something."
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-949564.html?tag=cd_mh

New Kodak cameras focus on sharing
Photography giant Eastman Kodak announced two new digital cameras Tuesday, both with features that continue the industry's push to make cameras less dependent on PCs. The new DX4330 and CX4200 cameras both work with Kodak's EasyShare docking cradles, which allow users to transfer pictures from camera to PC by pushing a single button. The cameras also include an on-camera "share" button that tags photos for automatic printing or e-mail transfer the next time the camera is docked. Hewlett-Packard introduced a similar Instant Share system this year, and other camera makers are working on features to minimize PC manipulation for using digital photos.
http://news.com.com/2100-1040-949601.html?tag=cd_mh

Vivendi to launch new games studio
The video game arm of embattled French media giant Vivendi Universal is opening a new internal developments studio. Vivendi Universal Publishing said Tuesday that Black Label Games will operate as a unit of Vivendi Universal Games and will develop titles based on Vivendi intellectual property and content licensed from external partners. Among the first titles planned from Black Label are game versions of the horror classic "The Thing" and of J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" book series. The company said the new studio will develop titles targeting the audience for games rated "teen" to "mature" by the Entertainment Software Rating Board. Such games tend to be heavier on violence and mayhem than mainstream titles.
http://news.com.com/2100-1040-949557.html?tag=cd_mh

DVR sales growth slower than predicted
Growth in sales of digital video recorders is seen as far slower than first expected, according to a report released Tuesday. Currently, there are just over 2.3 million DVRs from manufacturers such as TiVo and Sonicblue. That number is expected to rise to 15.3 million by 2006, or 14 percent of U.S. homes with TVs. But that prediction is far below those forecast when the devices first hit retail shelves in the late 1990s, according to industry tracker Screen Digest. Those predictions called for a rapid uptake of DVRs--with machines in 20 million to 50 million U.S. homes by 2005. The adoption by consumers is expected to be even slower in Europe, according to Screen Digest, rising from a current 306,000 to just under 5 million in 2006, or about 3 percent of all European homes with TV.
http://news.com.com/2100-1040-949530.html?tag=cd_mh

White-Hat Hate Crimes on the Rise
When hackers broke into Ryan Russell's server and plastered his private e-mails and other personal files on the Internet last week, Russell tried to shrug it off as a harmless prank. But Russell, editor of Hack Proofing Your Network and an analyst with SecurityFocus.com, also seemed shaken by the incident. The break-in at Russell's Thieveco.com site, which is hosted by a Canadian ISP, appears to be the latest in a series of attacks against white hats and prominent figures in the information security profession. Claiming responsibility for the attacks is a shadowy group named el8. Earlier this year, members launched Project Mayhem, a campaign designed to "cause worldwide physical destruction to the security industry infrastructure," according to an article published last month in el8's online magazine.
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,54400,00.html

A Site to Despise Untrained Spies
The American Civil Liberties Union has launched a website for people to protest the Bush administration's citizen informant program, which would enlist civilians nationwide to report suspicious behavior by their fellow Americans. The ACLU charges that the Terrorist Information and Prevention System (TIPS), which is expected to launch this fall, is a massive invasion of privacy. The ACLU worries that the system will target certain religious and ethnic minorities, such as dark-skinned Muslims, and that a database of "suspicious" people will be assembled without giving those included in it a chance to prove their innocence.
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,54492,00.html

Terrorist Fears Could Prompt Transfer of Nuclear Materials
The U.S. Department of Energy may be planning to move all weapons grade nuclear materials out of a facility in New Mexico over concerns that the plutonium and uranium could be vulnerable to theft by terrorists. The plan, long denied by the agency, represents the first effort to move nuclear materials to reduce the risk of theft since the September 11th terrorist attacks. Though Energy Department (DOE) officials and spokespeople have said a number of times in recent months that no decision had been made regarding moving the materials from the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, a document leaked to the independent Project on Government Oversight (POGO) provides new evidence that the DOE has decided to move bomb grade nuclear materials, related equipment and research activities out of the a facility at Los Alamos.
http://ens-news.com/ens/aug2002/2002-08-12-06.asp

Brains sniff out scam artists
The human brain contains dedicated circuits to detect cheaters, say researchers1. The same team has found that people from different cultures are equally good at spotting unfair behaviour. Humans evolved cheat detection as a separate mental component, says evolutionary psychologist John Tooby of the University of California, Santa Barbara. "Our brains have specialized programs like computer programs, specific for various applications," he says. Tooby and his colleagues tested the ability of a patient called R.M. to detect cheats. R.M. has damage to brain areas involved in emotion and social behaviour. His intelligence is normal, but he has trouble working out what other people know, think or feel.
http://www.nature.com/nsu/020812/020812-1.html

Mars Society Battles Indifference to Exploration
An ongoing war on terrorism, a shaky economy, as well as disinterested politicians and a less-than-stellar NASA vision of the future - all these facts have conspired to make the quest for Mars seemingly more distant than ever. There is no doubt that the technical know how for dispatching humans to the red planet is available. Sure, a little touch of robotics and automation here…some interplanetary Internet and artificial gravity there would help. That being said, this long-held flight of fantasy can become a 21st century certainty. Yet despite the current environment, some 400 humans-to-Mars supporters - scientists, engineers, interested public, and a past space traveler among their number - gathered to attend the Mars Society's fifth international convention, held August 8-11 at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
http://www.space.com/news/mars_society_020613.html