The Newspaper Shop -- Wednesday edition

[walktalker]

Yup, news time

Warning: Lawmakers will lock up the Net
The computer and Internet industries need to work together to promote better security online, or lawmakers are likely to regulate the Web, a Washington, D.C., lobbyist said at the Trusted Computing conference Wednesday. Congress has become impatient with the perceived lack of progress by industry, said Michael O'Neill, a partner with lobbyist firm Preston Gates Rouvelas Ellis & Meeds, adding that government-mandated security guidelines may be coming. "Help yourselves," O'Neill told industry representatives at Microsoft's security forum. "Fix security soon, or Washington will do it for you." O'Neill represents the pro-encryption tech-industry group Americans for Computer Privacy.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp01

Plan: $2,000 tax break for your kids' PCs
A proposed economic stimulus package from the federal government is the perfect vessel to hold a tax credit for family computers, as far as a Virginia senator is concerned. Seven months have passed since Sen. George Allen, R-Va., introduced a bill that would give families a tax credit of up to $2,000 for purchases of computers and related products. Now Allen and the measure's only co-sponsor from the Democratic Party, Barbara Boxer of California, want President George W. Bush to include the tax credit in the economic stimulus plan put forth by the administration in the wake of September's terrorist attacks.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02

Clustering moves into second gear
Software plans for making high-end computing jobs less susceptible to system crashes are ratcheting ahead, with improvements coming to products for Linux and Windows. The products fit into the realm of "clustering," in which one server can take over for another that crashes. When it works -- and it's difficult to create and install such software -- it can mean that back-end server failures won't disrupt activities such as a bank teller depositing a check, an eBay customer bidding for a trinket or a car dealership recording a new purchase.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02

On the horizon -- robots that see
Researchers from Griffith University in Queensland, Australia, have developed a smart image sensor that may provide the base technology for the development of artificial eyes. The sensor was designed by postgraduate students from the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology at Griffith, who say it could be used as the base technology for artificial vision in areas such as robotics. Faculty Dean, Professor Barry Harrison, said the technology could revolutionize the development of artificial sight.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02

Dump broadband movement growing
For years, Internet marketing executives have presumed that broadband connections would drive future growth of e-commerce and telecommunications, but consumers are starting to question that fundamental assumption. It's unclear whether defectors -- especially those crimped by massive layoffs in the technology industry -- will eventually re-subscribe. But the sour economy, broadband price hikes, and a continuing dearth of online content are prompting some adopters to cancel their high-speed connections.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02

File-swappers fight back
A prominent civil liberties group is jumping to the aid of MusicCity, a popular file-swapping company confronting a lawsuit from the Hollywood and record industry that could blaze new, influential legal ground. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), which has represented hackers, cryptographers and computer scientists in its push for digital rights, agreed to defend MusicCity against copyright infringement charges by movie studios and record labels. It's helping build a high-powered team of lawyers to show that this case is different than Napster.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02

Internet liberation theology
A generation ago, a communications scholar named Ithiel de Sola Pool wrote "Technologies of Freedom: On Free Speech in an Electronic Age." Pool's book, which quickly became required reading in graduate seminars, predicted a future of interconnected computers. Pool imagined a world where government would no longer license carriage, as it did with the telephone companies, or content, as it did with the broadcasters. The world of networked computers would become the platform for new forms of commerce and new types of publication. Pool also predicted that established players would resist this change. They would turn to market power, existing laws and new theories of copyright to protect their vested interests.
http://www.salon.com/tech/review/200...sig/index.html

Implanted microchip helps lost dog get home
A beagle's sharp nose and curiosity led him away from his Milpitas home and into trouble, but a silicon sliver the size of a grain of rice brought him back 10 months later to his worried owner. John Ryan Jr., 26, and his dog Danny were reunited amid joyous cheers, tears and barks at the Humane Society of Santa Clara Valley after a microchip implanted in the puppy's skin confirmed it was Danny. Ryan put up fliers, offering a reward for Danny's return, and checked newcomers at the shelter regularly since his pet disappeared. "I pretty much had lost all hope that he'd return,'' Ryan said. "I'm so glad we had him microchipped or our reunion would never have been possible.''
http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/ne.../dog110701.htm

Got Linux? Many companies say no
Linux penguins are braying louder, but companies don't plan to adopt many of them in the near future. Almost every large company has at least thought about Linux, and some of them are running pilot projects or even day-to-day (albeit nonessential) systems on the open-source operating system. And because the economy is still weak, many tech observers believe that Linux -- and its price tag of "free" -- will attract more businesses looking to cut costs. At least that's the theory. Practice indicates something else.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200-7803522.html

Microsoft wants Internet safe for .Net
Microsoft wants to make the world safe for .Net. That's the major theme here at the software giant's Trusted Computing conference, where the company has brought together almost 200 security experts, privacy advocates and policy-makers in hopes of developing a firm strategy to better secure the Internet. "The Internet is clearly at the stage where the telephone was when we had just switched from rotary dialing," Craig Mundie, Microsoft's chief technical officer for advanced strategies, said during a Tuesday keynote address.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200...html?tag=ch_mh

Booking online topping travelers' to-do lists
To a growing number of travelers, the Web is the only way to fly. For the first time, more consumers chose to book travel tickets online than by calling traditional travel agencies or the airlines themselves, a study said. A survey conducted by travel study group PhoCusWright indicated that 21 million Americans said they "usually" make travel arrangements online -- a figure that is up 75 percent from last year. Those who book online now represent 13 percent of the population, PhoCusWright said.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200...html?tag=cd_pr

.biz finally makes Web debut
After a series of delays, the new .biz domain suffix has launched, according to registry operator NeuLevel. The domain was activated Wednesday at midnight, effectively jump-starting 160,000 preregistered Web addresses in more than 150 countries. New registrations will also be accepted. The new domain is part of a list of other new Web suffixes that will be introduced, including .name, .pro, .aero, .museum and .coop. Another new top-level domain, .info, opened to the public in September but has experienced complications arising from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the launch of a system for real-time registrations.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200...html?tag=cd_mh

Toward digital democracy
The United States has 12 months to create a voting system that works the way most people thought it was working. A year ago, the general public learned what election officials in the United States have long known: The current setup is a mess. Old machinery, inaccurate registration rolls, ill-prepared poll workers and convoluted procedures make it impossible for us to conduct an election with a completely accurate count. Moreover, the authority over the election system in the United States is so decentralized and disparate that no single solution can bring elections closer to what the voting public now demands. But, vote we will -- to elect 435 representatives and 33 senators this November and a president in 2004.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-201...html?tag=ch_mh

More news later on