Peer-To-Peer News - The Week In Review - September 16th, '06

[JackSpratts]

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"I couldn't leave the set. I didn't want to take my false ass off. There was an emotional attachment. I was a disaster for two months. I was unbearable" – Penelope Cruz


"My cellmates were totally chill and had my back. The fact I only got an hour of fresh air a day was frustrating, but you deal." – Josh Wolf


"Will I be happier with a hit record or a great copyright that lasts forever? I’ll take the copyright." – Lionel Richie


"If I had paid for this, I would demand my money back." – Stephen Greenblatt


"It suggests to me that news and entertainment are getting dangerously intertwined, and I do not think that is good for the country, because an event of this consequence is very hard to understand. To distort it, or not to present it factually in this kind of [TV movie] presentation does not serve the country well." – Lee H. Hamilton, vice chairman of the Sept. 11 commission


"Universities should devote themselves to pedagogy and scholarship, not promoting the business model of the sinking dinosaurs of last year's entertainment companies. Today's record executives were the pirates against whom Sousa railed in 1908. Hollywood's studios were founded by people looking to rip off Thomas Edison's patents. Yesterday's pirates turn into today's entertainment execs in the blink of an eye. The university should study this phenomenon, criticize it and analyze it. To take sides in this issue is ridiculous." – Cory Doctorow


"A tech-savvy home could easily generate 5 terabytes of cumulative data from 2002 to 2010. About half of that would be personal content and half of that would be commercial content. I'm projecting that by the next decade, as consumers become creators of content--a camera on your cell phone is just the beginning--the demand for storage will mushroom, and the line between what's commercial and what's personal will be blurred. Personal content will significantly overwhelm commercial content for the people who are comfortable with the technology--especially the younger generation." – Tom Coughlin


"In 2005, for a three-platter drive, 500GB was standard. By 2009, that will be a 2TB drive. And if we continue for 2013, using Heat Assisted Magnetic Recording technology, we'll have 8TB drives." – Dave Wickersham


"Why would we put Wi-Fi in a place where what they need is food and clean water?" – Dr. Larry Brilliant


"This summer the MisShapes officially became a corporation." – Cathy Horyn


"It seems kind of duplicitous. Even casual fans know that Dylan has a history of doing this and it’s part of what makes him great, but this is different. This is one poet who’s used over and over and over again." – Chris Dineen


"The P2P monitoring company Big Champagne reports that the average time-lapse between a iTunes-exclusive song being offered by Apple and that same song being offered on P2P networks is 180 seconds." – Cory Doctorow


































Deny. Restrict. Manipulate.

They say It’s the Little Things that Getcha and we need no more proof of that than the actions of the small groups of DRM crackers now going up against both Apple and Microsoft. These leviathans of corporate computing must be fuming over their inability to provide workable systems that aren’t vulnerable to the rude pipsqueaks whose bedroom hacks gleefully skewer the codes that imprison the iPod 100.

Savvy Week in Review regulars already know that DRM is inherently unstable and unsound, and that for every system developed by armies of high-priced PHDs there exists a kid or three only too happy to exploit it and post the results. With the 200th issue of the WiR now up for perusal what’s become apparent is that DRM is not just unworkable but unnecessary as well, even for businesses that believe their bottom lines depend on it.

At Apple the situation is clear: 1.5 billion downloads weren’t sold because DRM kept the songs locked up. The mark was hit because many people simply like buying songs at iTunes - even though they know they can get them all for free elsewhere. Maybe it’s the convenience, maybe the perceived safety, perhaps even the community of peers and other social functions built into the network, but whatever it is you can be sure it’s not because the songs aren’t already free. When even exclusive offerings are available on file-sharing networks often within mere minutes of their posting on iTunes, it’s a safe bet these leaky digital restrictions aren’t boosting the RIAA’s bottom line. Apple could turn off and throw away their DRM tomorrow without so much as registering a downward blip in sales - because their customers have bought into the iTunes model completely. Like the old bottled water vs. tap argument, entrepreneurs can figure out how to profit even if a product is freely available, and they’re going gangbusters doing it in Cupertino right now.

Of course this doesn’t help the larger culture much if unencumbered files are slowly replaced by Digitally Restricted Media, especially when future generations are locked out of their own past, and so far at any rate none of the DRM workarounds have actually cracked the encryption that locked them up in the first place. They work instead by replacing the old analog stream-capture routine with a slightly more sophisticated digital dance that eliminates transcoding – but only after the file has already been properly decrypted - and if that may not seem like an important distinction to a purchaser who simply wants a better sounding file, it is no thin triviality to archivists and those worried about future access to our cultural records and history.

DRM may be powerless in preventing Johnny from ripping his songs to his cell, but when his parent machine and its keys are long gone the digitally restricting manipulations of today can sure keep those old and cherished files from bringing much joy to his descendents, silenced and frozen and just out of reach forever. Until the cranky leviathans get with the program we’ll just have to keep spreading the unrestricted varieties. Our offspring will thank us.


















Enjoy,

Jack





















September 16th, '06






Firm Behind eDonkey to Pay $30 Million
Alex Veiga

The firm behind popular online file-sharing software eDonkey has agreed to pay $30 million to avoid potential copyright infringement lawsuits from the recording industry, according to court documents filed Tuesday.

New York-based MetaMachine Inc. was one of seven technology companies to receive letters from the recording industry last fall warning them to shut down or prepare to face lawsuits.

Since then, the operators of BearShare, i2Hub, WinMX, and Grokster have reached similar agreements.

"With this new settlement, another domino falls, and we have further strengthened the footing of the legal marketplace," Mitch Bainwol, chairman and chief executive of the Recording Industry Association of America, said in a statement.

Under terms of the latest agreement, MetaMachine and its top executives, Sam Yagan and Jed McCaleb, agreed to immediately cease distributing eDonkey, eDonkey 2000, Overnet and other software versions.

The company also agreed to take measures to prevent file-sharing by people using previously downloaded versions of the eDonkey software.

A federal judge must still give final approval to the terms of the settlement.

A call to eDonkey CEO Sam Yagan was not immediately returned.

The eDonkey Web site on Tuesday featured a message from the company telling visitors that the eDonkey2000 Network was no longer available, and a warning that people who steal music or movies are breaking the law.

The message concluded with "Goodbye Everyone."

Several file-sharing services have yet to reach settlements with the recording industry, including Warez P2P, Limewire and Soulseek.

In August, the recording companies filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the firm behind LimeWire. That case is pending.
http://apnews.myway.com//article/200...D8K3F0G01.html





Web Site Owner Gets 7 Years For Piracy

The owner of one of the nation's largest Internet software piracy Web sites has been sentenced to more than seven years in prison.

Nathan Peterson, 27, of Los Angeles, sold products copyrighted by companies such as Microsoft Corp. and Adobe Systems Inc. at a huge discount on his site, iBackups.net, prosecutors said. The site began operating in 2003 and was shut down by the FBI in February 2005.

In addition to Friday's 87-month sentence, U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III ordered Peterson to pay restitution of more than $5.4 million and to forfeit the proceeds of his scheme, which included homes, cars and a boat.

Peterson pleaded guilty in December in Alexandria to two counts of copyright infringement.

Justice Department and industry officials called the case one of the largest involving Internet software piracy ever prosecuted.

Last month, Ellis sentenced a Florida man to six years in prison for selling illegal copies of computer programs on another site, BuysUSA.com.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...09-10-03-02-18





Major CD, DVD Pirate Outfit Uncovered
Nahal Toosi

In what music and movie industry leaders say is a significant blow to the nation's piracy market, police on Thursday raided an office and a garage, confiscating 208 CD and DVD burners and about 40,000 bootlegged discs.

What they uncovered was the second-largest CD burning lab in the United States and one of the largest movie pirating labs in the country, said the Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association of America, whose staffs helped local police.

Among the films being illegally reproduced were some not yet officially released on DVD, including "Snakes on a Plane" and "World Trade Center." The music ranged from Latin to gospel.

The first warrant was executed Thursday morning at a Bronx garage, where police found 23 duplicator towers, containing the burners. The second search warrant was served hours later at a Manhattan office. At that location, investigators found the 40,000 discs, about 40 percent of which were DVDs, the MPAA said.
Only one person had been arrested in connection to the group that ran the copying outlets, which the RIAA's staff investigators said they began uncovering in March. The suspect, 19-year-old Abdouraitamance Diallo, of the Bronx, faces a charge of trademark counterfeiting, police said. Diallo is a major player in the group, the RIAA said. A phone listing for Diallo could not be found Thursday night.

The group, which did not have a formal name, essentially acted as a wholesaler, capable of producing more than 6,000 CDs an hour and selling the discs to people who would then peddle them in flea markets. It frequently changed its production locations and distribution centers, authorities said.

"The more we can minimize the availability of pirate product, the more we help protect artists, record labels and everyone else involved in making music and ensure a positive, high-quality experience for fans," said Brad Buckles, executive vice president overseeing RIAA anti-piracy efforts.

The biggest bust of a CD burning lab occurred recently in Atlanta, RIAA officials said.

The director of U.S. anti-piracy operations for the MPAA, Mike Robinson, said in a phone interview that the CD pirates thrive because consumers are willing to purchase their bootleg products.

"For us to eliminate this activity we really need to convince the public and cause them to think about what they're doing when they make those purchases," he said.

New York is considered a hub for music and film pirating, a phenomenon the industries say costs them billions of dollars a year. RIAA and MPAA officials said they worked with the New York Police Department's Trademark Infringement Unit to gather enough information and evidence for search warrants.

Article





New Law Cracks Down Harder On Bootleg Music
Michael Gormley

New York is further cracking down on bootleg music recordings often sold at open-air markets with a new law aimed at protecting artists and recording industry workers nationwide.

The music piracy law signed into law Friday by Gov. George Pataki makes a Class E felony of selling 100 of the illegal recordings. That's lowered from the threshold of 1,000, which allowed illicit sellers to maintain adequate inventories without risking a felony charge.

"When pirated CDs are sold on street-side tables, at flea markets, or in retail outlets, the works of many talented and hard-working individuals are stolen," said Mitch Bainwol of the Recording Industry Association of America. "New York is an important creative hub for the music industry. This law ensures that thieves threatening the livelihoods of those in our community will face much greater risk of being prosecuted and appropriately punished."

New York City is one of 12 "hot spots" nationwide for the illegal sales, according to the association. The New York City Comptroller's Office estimated the illegal trade cost the city $1 billion in lost tax revenue.

Bainwol said that more than 1.1 million pirated music CDs were seized in 1,000 arrests in New York state in 2005 alone. Most recordings were of "urban genre music," according to the association.

Pataki signed the bill into law among others that authorize the state to conduct criminal background checks on prospective foster parents or adoptive parents and for workers and volunteers who serve the mentally ill and disabled. Those laws allow fingerprints to be processed in the FBI's national criminal data base.

Another law authorizes the state to have a monument built honoring New Yorkers who won the Medal of Honor, which is awarded by Congress for heroics in battle. The monument will be installed in the Empire State Plaza, adjacent to the Capitol in Albany, where monuments now honor police officers and firefighters who died in the line of duty, Vietnam and World War II veterans and other New Yorkers.

In other bills signed into law:

-State and local disaster preparedness plans will have to include the needs of people with pets and service animals after a disaster.

-"Modem hijacking" will be subject to civil penalties and fines. In the practice, computer spyware can control a personal computer to make international calls at the expense of the unwitting computer owner.

-A commission will be created to find ways to increase the share of minorities in the state work force. The commission will make recommendations to the Legislature. The Legislature's black and Hispanic caucus has said minorities are under represented in the state work force when compared to racial breakdowns in the state population.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...EAST&TEMPLATE=





Piracy: All It Takes Is a Garage
Nate Anderson

Piracy—it's not just for the high seas anymore. In fact, according to the MPAA, 44 percent of their piracy losses in the US come from college students. This claim can only be made with a straight face, of course, if you believe that college students would otherwise be purchasing retail copies of every film that they download (we've discussed the problems with these numbers before).

Fortunately, the MPAA and its sibling, the RIAA, also pursue real pirates, and their actions are increasingly international. The motion picture industry, for instance, has just filed civil suits against two pirate outlets in Beijing's central business district. Though it can be more difficult to enforce intellectual property rights in China than in the US or Europe, the movie industry has a fairly good track record. In 2002-2003 (the last year for which they provide numbers), the industry filed 10 civil cases against commercial piracy operations in China, and it won all 10.

Two weeks ago in Fiji, police there raided a shop in Suva that was allegedly selling pirated DVDs and have stepped up enforcement efforts against suspected copyright violators.

And here in the US, police in Brooklyn just announced a raid on a large-scale CD and DVD copying business that will, apparently, be "a significant blow to the nation's piracy market." This claim needs to be taken with a grain of salt—this was a business operated from a garage, after all, and the only person arrested was a 19-year-old named Abdouraitamance Diallo. If owning 23 duplicator towers and a garage is all that it takes to become a major piracy operation, then the bar isn't set real high.

Police did seize more than 40,000 discs, including copies of "Snakes on a Plane." What—you thought that pirates only copied movies people want to watch?

Image courtesy NATO

The industry estimates that more than 90 percent of these bootlegs come from camcorder sources, which explains the movie business's continued crackdown on taping in the theater. The National Association of Theatre Owners even has a bounty program for theatre employees who catch or turn in the tapers.

Because it's impossible to say how many commercial piracy operations exist, it can be hard to know if progress against them is being made. The MPAA points out that its enforcement efforts are increasingly successful. 81 million optical discs were seized in 2005, an 8 percent jump from the previous year They also seized 30,000 illicit burners in 2005, up 113 percent from 2004. These numbers can be used to tell two stories. In the first story, pirates are being shut down, investigations are growing more fruitful, and, generally speaking, everything is getting better and better in every possible way.

On the other hand, the large year-to-year increases in seizures of burning equipment and discs could just as easily indicate that the piracy business is booming. Knowing how many units of anything were seized only tells us something interesting when we know what percentage this is of the whole. Without knowing that, it's difficult to say whether enforcement actions are now less, more, or just as effective as they were five years ago.

A final point to consider: piracy has moved online. By the MPAA's own stab-in-the-dark estimate, one third of all piracy in the US is done via the Internet, and this number could well grow in the coming years. If that's the case, it means that raids against DVD-stamping operations will become less important over time, and trumpeting the latest seizure of "x number of discs" will be less significant than shutting down file-swapping services.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060915-7754.html





BitTorrent User Pleads Guilty

Scott McCausland pleaded guilty today to “conspiracy to commit copyright infringement” and “criminal copyright infringement”. McCausland was a vivid member of the “private” BitTorrent tracker Elitetorrents, that was taken down by the FBI, May 2005.

This case is the first BitTorrent related criminal enforcement in the US. 24 year old McCAusland could be sent to prison for a maximum of five years.

The plea was announced by Attorney General Fisher of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Buchanan of the Western District of Pennsylvania earlier today. In a response to this case U.S. Attorney Buchanan stated:

“This groundbreaking case demonstrates the commitment of the Department of Justice to prosecute individuals who use new technologies to undermine the copyright laws. It also serves as an example to those who believe that there is anonymity in cyberspace.”
When Elitetorrents was taken down May last year, the frontpage was replaced by this FBI takehome message.

FBI’s Operation D-Elite resulted in the permanent shutdown of the Elitetorrents community. The irony of this case is that it concerns a so called “private tracker” that is believed to be “more anonymous” than public trackers. Strange enough, there is no “we told you so” press release from the MPAA yet, but I bet it wont take long.

McCausland is scheduled to be sentenced on December 12, 2006.
http://torrentfreak.com/bittorrent-user-pleads-guilty/





Germany: Crackdown on TOR-Node Operators

The public prosecutor’s office of Konstanz raided computing centres of seven providers in Germany, seizing ten servers because of the proliferation of child pornography. Nothing new, things like that happen all the time, the juicy detail is that some of the servers were merely running a copy of the TOR, a software to anonymize the usage of the internet to protect your privacy.

Those servers were most probably configured to be TOR Exit-Nodes, so their IP-addresses might have shown up in the server logfiles of the child-porn servers in question. One could argue that this is an attempt to frigthen german TOR-node operators, but I’d just keep calm for the moment. I guess that the attorney of state is just after logfiles, they knew that those servers were operating as TOR-nodes. If you IP-address pops up in a child-porn case surely your IP looks interesting to the police.

However, this situation is disturbing, really disturbing. I run a TOR-server myself (wormhole.ynfonatic.de) and the last thing I want to experience is the police kicking down my door, seizing my computer. (despite the fact that my server is rented and in Leipzig i don’t want them to raid my appartment. Child-porn, you know, the last reason. You could possibly justify everything with it.)

One operator whose server was seized as well wrote a letter to all the TOR-operators in Germany he was aware of, reaching me as well; he wrote that he is not aware of any charges pressed against him at the moment and that his provider, whose server-room was raided, was not avilable for a real comment on the weekend.

We just have to wait what’s going on, which charges are pressed - if at all, i somehow doubt that - and when the state will give that servers back. This is really something horrible for the TOR-operator - especially if you take into account that there will be no evidences at all to find on the harddrive. It’s just a hassle, stress which is put upon you.

But i guess we have to go through it. There was no lawsuit about TOR in Germany yet - i hope it’s not going into the direction of “supporting proliferation of child-pornography“. This would be the end of anonymizing services in Germany and probably everywhere in the EU.
I run TOR to get a certain level of privacy. Staying anonymous is no crime. I want my privacy.

Please morally support us, the TOR-operators.

Fellow Blogger rabenhorst also wrote a bit about it.

Update: Subscribing to the tor-talk list helps… There’s also a thread in english about the Razzia.
http://itnomad.wordpress.com/2006/09...ode-operators/





Media Ownership Study Ordered Destroyed

FCC draft suggested fewer owners would hurt local TV coverage
AP

The Federal Communications Commission ordered its staff to destroy all copies of a draft study that suggested greater concentration of media ownership would hurt local TV news coverage, a former lawyer at the agency says.

The report, written in 2004, came to light during the Senate confirmation hearing for FCC Chairman Kevin Martin.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. received a copy of the report "indirectly from someone within the FCC who believed the information should be made public," according to Boxer spokeswoman Natalie Ravitz.

(Note: In June of 2006, the FCC announced the start of a new review of media ownership, including a "series of public hearings on media ownership issues at diverse locations across the nation". That review is still ongoing.)

'Every last piece' destroyed
Adam Candeub, now a law professor at Michigan State University, said senior managers at the agency ordered that "every last piece" of the report be destroyed. "The whole project was just stopped - end of discussion," he said. Candeub was a lawyer in the FCC's Media Bureau at the time the report was written and communicated frequently with its authors, he said.

In a letter sent to Martin Wednesday, Boxer said she was "dismayed that this report, which was done at taxpayer expense more than two years ago, and which concluded that localism is beneficial to the public, was shoved in a drawer."

Martin said he was not aware of the existence of the report, nor was his staff. His office indicated it had not received Boxer's letter as of midafternoon Thursday.

Local ownership benefits
In the letter, Boxer asked whether any other commissioners "past or present" knew of the report's existence and why it was never made public. She also asked whether it was "shelved because the outcome was not to the liking of some of the commissioners and/or any outside powerful interests?"

The report, written by two economists in the FCC's Media Bureau, analyzed a database of 4,078 individual news stories broadcast in 1998. The broadcasts were obtained from Danilo Yanich, a professor and researcher at the University of Delaware, and were originally gathered by the Pew Foundation's Project for Excellence in Journalism.

The analysis showed local ownership of television stations adds almost five and one-half minutes of total news to broadcasts and more than three minutes of "on-location" news. The conclusion is at odds with FCC arguments made when it voted in 2003 to increase the number of television stations a company could own in a single market. It was part of a broader decision liberalizing ownership rules.

Community responsiveness
At that time, the agency pointed to evidence that "commonly owned television stations are more likely to carry local news than other stations."

When considering whether to loosen rules on media ownership, the agency is required to examine the impact on localism, competition and diversity. The FCC generally defines localism as the level of responsiveness of a station to the needs of its community.
The 2003 action sparked a backlash among the public and within Congress. In June 2004, a federal appeals court rejected the agency's reasoning on most of the rules and ordered it to try again. The debate has since been reopened, and the FCC has scheduled a public hearing on the matter in Los Angeles on Oct. 3.

The report was begun after then-Chairman Michael Powell ordered the creation of a task force to study localism in broadcasting in August of 2003. Powell stepped down from the commission and was replaced by Martin in March 2005. Powell did not return a call seeking comment.

The authors of the report, Keith Brown and Peter Alexander, both declined to comment. Brown has left public service while Alexander is still at the FCC. Yanich confirmed the two men were the authors. Both have written extensively on media and telecommunications policy.

Yanich said the report was "extremely well done. It should have helped to inform policy."

Boxer's office said if she does not receive adequate answers to her questions, she will push for an investigation by the FCC inspector general.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14836500/





Sony Program Woes Linger for AOL Users
Alex Veiga

The much-maligned copy protection program that Sony BMG Music Entertainment put on CDs last year is still posing a threat to computer users running certain versions of AOL or PestPatrol anti-spyware software.

The glitch may cause a computer's CD-ROM drive to be disabled, according to the Texas attorney general's office, which said Wednesday that the problem was discovered by officials who have been testing the XCP copy-protection technology as part of the state's lawsuit against Sony BMG.

State investigators found that if a CD with XCP technology is loaded on a computer running AOL's Safety and Security Center software, the program's anti-spyware feature will attempt to delete the XCP components, but often while also disabling the CD-ROM's configuration in the PC's operating system.

The same glitch surfaced on computers running CA Inc.'s PestPatrol separately from AOL, the state said.

"We believe there are many consumers out there who might have had this happen to them, but they weren't able to make the connection between running certain versions of AOL or the stand-alone (anti-spyware) software and having in some previous point in time entered CDs with XCP files into that same PC," said Paco Felici, a spokesman for Attorney General Greg Abbott.

CA, formerly known as Computer Associates, and AOL were informed of the glitch last month and have made a software patch available that fixes it.

"We don't believe this issue currently affects or has affected a significant number of users," said Andrew Weinstein, an AOL spokesman.

In a statement, Sony BMG said it worked with AOL and CA to resolve the issues with their software and noted it has made a software patch and uninstaller program for XCP available on its Web site.

Texas' lawsuit against the record company claims the XCP software that prevents unauthorized copying of music violated antispyware and consumer protection laws because it monitored users' activities without their knowledge. Several class-action lawsuits against Sony BMG have been settled.

---

On the Net:

List of XCP CDs released by Sony BMG: http://cp.sonybmg.com/xcp/english/titles.html
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...09-13-18-52-24





Sony Delays Japan Launch of New Walkman
AP

Sony Corp. said Tuesday it will postpone the Japan launch of its new digital Walkman by one week over delays caused by a part malfunction.

The portable digital music player NW-S203F, which was slated to hit Japanese stores Friday, will instead go on sale on Sept. 23, according to Sony official Takashi Uehara.

The delay was due to the malfunction of a part used in the Walkmans, Uehara said, but refused to specify the part, the nature of the malfunction, or the number of units affected.

The move came after Sony said last week it would push back the European launch of its PlayStation 3 video game console by four months due to production delays.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...09-12-09-14-14





Apple Unveils Movie Downloads, Player

Company to offer Disney films through iTunes, updates line of MP3 players, sets debut for new iTV player.
David Ellis

Apple Computer Inc. unveiled its new movie download service Tuesday, becoming the latest company trying to secure a toehold in what could be a rapidly expanding entertainment market.

The company also updated its entire line of popular iPod MP3 players.

Under the new movie service, consumers will be able to choose from over 75 movies from Miramax and Walt Disney Co. (Charts) studios - Disney, Pixar and Touchstone - to download from the company's popular iTunes store.

New releases will cost $12.99 when intially and $14.99 later, while older films titles will be $9.99, Apple said.

The movies will include "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," "Shakespeare in Love" and "The Incredibles." Consumers will be able to download the films to watch on their computers and iPods.

"In less than one year we've grown from offering just five TV shows to offering over 220 TV shows, and we hope to do the same with movies," Apple CEO Steve Jobs said in a statement. "iTunes is selling over one million videos a week, and we hope to match this with movies in less than a year."

Apple's iTunes store has become wildly popular among consumers since its launch, having sold 1.5 billion songs to date, according to the company.

Apple also said users will soon be able to watch the movies on TV with the upcoming release of a new product dubbed the iTV player.

"We believe the iTV concept could make AAPL (Apple) a bigger player in the digital home," UBS analyst Ben Reitzes wrote in a research note after Apple's announcement.

Apple is also updating its iPod line, rolling out a new 30-gigabyte version priced at $249 and a new 80-gig model for $349, which will hold up to 20,000 songs or 100 hours of video.

The company also said it will offer a new, thinner iPod Nano that will feature a 24-hour battery life and more storage capacity, as well as a 1-gig iPod shuffle.

Reitzes also wrote that the new iPod products could help drive Apple sales higher for the rest of the year.

Apple also announced that highlights from NFL regular season games this year will be available for purchase through its iTunes store for $1.99 a game. And it's offering video games, including Pac-Man and Tetris, also through iTunes, that can be played on the new full-sized iPod.

The new movie service, which was widely anticipated prior to its announcement by Jobs in San Francisco, comes on the heels of several similar announcements made recently.

Last week, Amazon launched its new Unbox movie download service service, while wireless phone company Sprint Nextel announced a deal to offer movie downloads of movies onto cell phones.

Two closely held firms, MovieLink and CinemaNow, also offer their own movie download service.

While Apple might not have a lot of backing by studios, Shannon Cross, an analyst with Soleil-Cross Research, said new partnerships between Apple and other studios could be forthcoming.

"Assuming they show success in these relationships, and I think they will, they will get other studios signing on," says Cross. "At the end of day it's revenue for the studios."

Apple shares rose about 0.5 percent in heavy trading on Nasdaq Tuesday.

Shares of Microsoft, which is fighting back with its own music player against Apple, also closed slightly higher.
http://money.cnn.com/2006/09/12/tech...ion=2006091217


Warning to Jobs: Taming Hollywood Not Easy

The king of digital music surprised no one with its new movie download strategy. Now comes the hard part.
Jon Fortt

There were plenty of the usual "oohs" and "aahs" to go around when Apple Computer took the wraps off its movie download strategy Tuesday, but the iPod maker might have a harder time dominating digital movies than it has ruling digital music.

In a presentation that opened with a new lineup of iPods for the holidays, CEO Steve Jobs unveiled Apple's iTunes movie download service. First-run movies will cost $12.99, and $14.99 thereafter. Older movies will cost $9.99.

Jobs also offered a sneak peek at the company's plan to use a sleek silver box to wirelessly connect the PC to the living room TV. The box, temporarily called "iTV," will cost $299, and will be available before April 2007, Jobs said. But the company did not detail how iTV will work.
Flawless execution is key

Michael Gartenberg, an analyst with Jupiter Research, said iTV is impressive, but warned that Apple has little room for error. The technology has to work seamlessly in the home from the get-go.

"That's going to be (Apple's) challenge," said Gartenberg. "This thing better work out of the box. This is the kind of thing that needs to work the first time."

What's more, it's clear that even as Apple hopes to make it big in movies, it's got to play by Hollywood's rules.

Apple's movie launch is quite different from its original iTunes Music Store launch more than three years ago. When Apple unveiled its paid music downloads, it bet that millions of Internet users would pay 99 cents a song to legally download music - an idea many considered far-fetched, since savvy Web surfers had grown accustomed to grabbing free downloads from services like Napster and Kazaa.

But Apple's gamble paid off.

Its head start in paid downloads has allowed it to dominate the market, with a huge lead over rivals like Microsoft, and mostly dictate its terms to the music industry.

And though music titans have openly pushed Apple to let them charge more for hit songs, Jobs has resisted, saying it's imperative that Apple keep the digital download system simple. And since Apple's iTunes commands three quarters of the download market, according to estimates by industry analysts, Jobs gets his way.

Hollywood's pricing power

This time around, Apple's video offerings join an already crowded field of Internet video services, and Hollywood is determined to keep Jobs from wielding as much influence over video downloads as he does over music.

Case in point: iTunes movies will have variable pricing. It seems that strategy was important to Disney, the first Hollywood player to allow TV shows and movies on iTunes.

Walt Disney Studios Chairman Dick Cook, who was at the Apple presentation, said variable pricing makes a lot of sense in movies - first-run flicks should cost more, while "You take an older title like 'Old Yeller' - something like this gives it new life," even at $9.99. It's the same argument the record labels made, but to no avail.

Cook also offered this: It's important, he said, that the digital download business be "revenue neutral" for Disney, meaning that Disney plans to make as much money from downloads as it does from DVDs after packaging and other costs are factored in.

Disney CEO Bob Iger said the movie industry knows it's essential to embrace technology. "The sense I get across the movie industry is the movie industry is well aware of the advantages of digital media," he said. "Everyone's looking for opportunity these days."

And, apparently, leverage.
http://money.cnn.com/2006/09/12/tech...biz2/index.htm





QTFairUse6 Updated Hours After iTunes7 Release
CmdrTaco.

Nrbelex writes
"Mere hours after iTunes 7's release, QTFairUse6 has received an update which enables it to continue stripping iTunes songs of their 'FairPlay' DRM. Some features are experimental but at least it's proof that the concept still works."
http://it.slashdot.org/it/06/09/13/1354252.shtml





iTunes 7 Ate All My Purchased Music. Awesome.
Wil Wheaton

iTunes 7 is out, and it looks great. It also shared two facts with me that I could have lived without knowing: Nelly Furtado is apparently a promiscuous girl, and not only was sexy missing, but it's been left to Justin Timberlake to bring it back. Great.

Also, the new features in iTunes 7 are really cool . . . if only they fucking worked. I connected my iPod to my laptop just now (with manual management turned on, so it doesn't automatically change my settings or music), and suddenly all of my iTunes Music Store purchases vanished. I can't even synch it to the machine I used to buy those songs, because it's in for service. It also tells me, when I try to authorize the damn machine, that I've authorized five of five machines, even though I deauthoried my old laptops when they were sent back for upgrades. Of course, I don't have access to those machines any longer, so I can't confirm that the deauthorization actually happened, or try to deauthorize them again. So. Totally. Awesome. GregN pointed me to this Apple Help document that shows how to deauthorize all your computers with one click presumably for instances exactly like this one. Thanks, GregN! So. Totally. Awesome!

I love my iPod, and I love all of my Macs, but I've grown to absolutely detest Apple's DRM, and I don't think I'll buy songs from the iTMS in the future, because even though I've given them a dump truck of money in the last year or so, I currently have nothing to show for it except frustration and several empty playlists. E-mails to Apple's iTunes Music Store customer support have never been answered in the past (they still owe me a song from an album I bought last year that didn't download,) so I currently have little recourse or opportunity to get my problems addressed. Great job, Apple! You're taking fantastic care of your customers.

Speaking of music, everyone in the world knows Soft Cell's Tainted Love and Sex Dwarf, but how come we never hear Mug's Game anymore? That's the first Soft Cell song I heard, and remains my all-time favorite.

Oh! Bonus! iTunes is trying to work its way back into my good graces and just decided to play Love Will Tear Us Apart, which brings up another point I've been meaning to make: Interpol and She Wants Revenge should just embrace it, and do some Joy Division covers. We all know what's going on anyway, guys, and it would rule. I'll buy one of your CDs when you do it, but not from the bullshit iTunes Music Store, that's for sure.

Update: Yes, I should backup all of my music, and I have (except for recent purchases) and it's entirely my fault for not making some directory-wide backup. That doesn't make the annoyance of not having access to music I paid for less annoying, because if this is a bug, it's a pretty big one that certainly should have been caught before iTunes 7 was made available to download.

Though the company was unresponsive last time I contacted them about an iTunes Music Store purchase issue, I've sent e-mail to support on this issue, too. However, I'd like to point out that I'm mostly venting here about an instance where DRM created a problem for me, and don't expect Apple to treat me any differently than they'd treat any other customer. It also looks like this made the front page at Digg. Hi Digg. I'm a Digger, too. Welcome. This is, uh, a little more attention than I wanted.

Oh, and for anyone who was wondering, I tried to reverse the polarity on my iPod, as well as modify the navigational deflector on my Powerbook, without any success. I can't find the isolinear optical chips, so I haven't been able to mess with them, yet.
http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/wwdnba..._7_ate_al.html





Zune’s Big Innovation: Viral DRM

Now that Microsoft has released some hard facts about Zune we can finally begin to sort out how much of an impact the product might have on the digital music market. For weeks we’ve been hearing rumors about how Zune’s wireless capabilities will be used to enable new types of music sharing and discovery. It’s the one feature that could potentially set Zune apart from the iPod.

Unfortunately Zune’s wireless music sharing is turning out to be one of those features that seemed better when it was just a rumor. While Zune users will be able share music with friends, there’s a catch (isn’t there always). As Jim noted earlier, recipients of shared songs will only be able to listen to them three times or for three days, whichever comes first. It sort of sounds like a really bad tire warranty.

Zune accomplishes this amazingly stupid feat by wrapping shared music in a proprietary layer of DRM, regardless of what format the original content may be in. If Microsoft’s claims are to be believed, this on-the-fly DRM will be seamless and automatic - which must be some kind of first for Microsoft.

What Microsoft has created is a new form of viral DRM. Zune will intentionally infect your music with the DRM virus before passing it along to one of your friends. After three listens the poor song dies a horrible DRM enabled death. Talk about innovation.
Microsoft will undoubtedly claim this limitation is designed to support artists and prevent piracy. There’s just one problem. Not all artists want their music protected by DRM. Furthermore, not all artists benefit from having their music protected by DRM.

While it may come as a surprise to Microsoft and the major labels, independent musicians frequently promote their music by posting unencrypted mp3 files on their websites in hopes of finding an audience. If Zune is really all about community, as Microsoft claims it is, then it would allow music to spread virally, instead of DRM.

Meanwhile, if you’re a musician who is more concerned with building your audience than you are with restricting access to your creative works, you might consider adopting an appropriate Creative Commons license. Based on the item below it appears that Zune’s viral approach to DRM is in violation of all of Creative Commons licenses. It’ll be interesting to see how long it takes before someone actually challenges Microsoft on this.
http://www.medialoper.com/hot-topics...ion-viral-drm/





Microsoft's Zune Won't Play Protected Windows Media
Derek Slater

In yesterday's announcement of the new Zune media player and Zune Marketplace. Microsoft (and many press reports) glossed over a remarkable misfeature that should demonstrate once and for all how DRM and the DMCA harm legitimate customers.

Microsoft's Zune will not play protected Windows Media Audio and Video purchased or "rented" from Napster 2.0, Rhapsody, Yahoo! Unlimited, Movielink, Cinemanow, or any other online media service. That's right -- the media that Microsoft promised would Play For Sure doesn't even play on Microsoft's own device. Buried in footnote 4 of its press release, Microsoft clearly states that "Zune software can import audio files in unprotected WMA, MP3, AAC; photos in JPEG; and videos in WMV, MPEG-4, H.264" -- protected WMA and WMV (not to mention iTunes DRMed AAC) are conspicuously absent.

This is a stark example of DRM under the DMCA giving customers a raw deal. Buying DRMed media means you're locked into the limited array of devices that vendors say you can use. You have to rebuy your preexisting DRMed media collection if you want to use it on the Zune. And you'll have to do that over and over again whenever a new, incompatible device with innovative features blows existing players out of the water. Access to MP3s and non-DRMed formats creates the only bridge between these isolated islands of limited devices.

The real culprit here is the DMCA -- but for that bad law, customers could legally convert DRMed files into whatever format they want, and tech creators would be free to reverse engineer the DRM to create compatible devices. Even though those acts have traditionally been and still are non-infringing, the DMCA makes them illegal and stifles fair use, innovation, and competition.

May this be a lesson to those who mistakenly laud certain DRM as "open" and offering customers "freedom of choice" simply because it is widely-licensed. With DRM under the DMCA, nothing truly plays for sure, regardless of whether you're purchasing from Apple, Microsoft, or anyone else.

[Postscript: In an interview with Engadget, Microsoft Zune architect J Allard pointed out that Zune has sufficient video format support, in part because there's "Lots of DVD ripping software out there that encodes to those formats, so the most popular formats out there, whether it's MPEG-4 or H.264, we'll support those." Gee, he isn't suggesting that his business model benefits from customers using tools like DeCSS or Handbrake to evade the DRM on DVDs, right? Especially since Microsoft is furiously trying to squash the FairUse4WM tool, that would seem rather hypocritical.]
http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/cmusings/2006/09/15#a2498





More Crackpot DRM Ideas
Ian Brown

I spoke last night at an entertaining meeting of the British Literary and Artistic Copyright Association. Tanya Aplin (Kings College, London), Florian Koempel (British Music Rights), Brigitte Lindner (Registered European Lawyer, Searle Court), Ted Shapiro (Vice President, Motion Pictures Association) and I all spoke about Technological Protection Measures (aka DRMs). You can probably guess that I was not too complimentary about the technology.

What I found interesting was that (a) a room full of copyright lawyers had very little idea of the very many technical problems with TPMs and (b) those that did were busy thinking up new crackpot schemes to "protect" their clients' 20th-century business models.

The current favourite seems to be that ISPs should be forced to monitor all exchanges of data and charge customers when a copyright work is spotted. When I asked how the spread of encryption could possibly be compatible with this scheme, they airily replied that only paedophiles use that technology and we would all be better off if it was banned. They obviously don't know that the US government already tried extremely hard to do this over about 25 years, and failed.

Given the ever-increasing focus on securing critical national infrastructures, anyone who hopes that governments will go down that road again are living in fantasy land. To think that companies are being charged several hundred pounds an hour for this type of advice…
http://dooooooom.blogspot.com/2006/0...drm-ideas.html





New Laws Target Modchip Users
Louisa Hearn

Users of modchipped gaming consoles could face fines of thousands of dollars when new copyright protection laws are introduced this year by the Federal Government.

The new laws, which were released in draft form last week, are being introduced to honour Australia's free trade agreement obligations with the US, and will effectively prohibit the use of devices and services designed to circumvent copy control technological protection measures (TPMs).

Until now, it has only been illegal to distribute or sell services or devices seeking to disable or override copy control technologies, but now users of such tools will also fall foul of the law once the legislation is introduced later this year.

Technological protection measures are broadly defined as software locks or password controls created specifically to prevent copyright infringement, said Caroline Dalton, special council for copyright and Communications at law firm Minter Ellison.

"The Australia United States Free Trade Agreement requires Australia to prohibit the use of devices and services to circumvent TPMs. Currently Australia does not prohibit the use of devices and services to circumvent TPMs but does prohibit activities in relation to circumvention devices (such as manufacture or sale)," Minter Ellison said in a recent statement.

These would include digital rights management (DRM) systems used by the film, gaming and music industries as well as any applied to the recent generation of gaming consoles.

Anyone found to have used technology to circumvent copy control TPMs will face fines of up to $6600, while those guilty of distributing enabling devices and services to others through a variety of means face imprisonment for up to five years and possible fines of $60,500.

Although the legislation is still in draft form, Ms Dalton said Australia had an obligation to the US to implement the laws before January 1 next year.

However some exceptions will apply to educational institutions and libraries, where an access control TPM damages a product or is obsolete, lost or damaged, and will not apply to region code controls, according to Minter Ellison.

The legislation is expected to harmonise with the broader copyright measures being introduced by Attorney-General Philip Ruddock to give Australians the right to tape television programs and copy tracks from CDs on to their MP3 players where copy control technologies allow.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/games/new...827083369.html





Sky Hit by Windows Media DRM Crack
David Meyer

British TV network BSkyB has suspended its broadband movie download service, after a Microsoft security patch on Windows Media's digital rights management was cracked.

A notice on the Sky by Broadband service's home page reads: "In order to make an essential update to the Sky by broadband security system, we are sorry that access to all movies and some sports content has been temporarily suspended."

The patch had been rushed out by Microsoft after the appearance of a utility, called "FairUse4WM," designed to circumvent the media player's DRM. As DRM aims to prevent unauthorized copying of content, such circumvention could have jeopardized the business models of several subscription services that rely on the technology.

Days later, the creator of FairUse4WM released a new version that cracked Microsoft's patch. However, while this version allowed individual files to be stripped of DRM, it did not enable people to download and strip subscription services' entire catalogs.

Microsoft's response has been to assure its Windows Media licencees via memo that it has teams "working around the clock" to beat FairUse4WM, according to Engadget, which originally reported the story.

"The issue is a Microsoft issue, obviously. At the end of the day, we're using Windows Media as the application, and therefore we need Microsoft to ensure that the service is secure," a representative for BSkyB said Monday.

"The responsible way is to take it down or suspend it until we've secured the new patch," the representative added. A statement made by BSkyB last week apologized to the service's users for the interruption, but claimed the suspension would "support the continuing development of legal services that will meet customers' needs in the long term."

The debate over DRM technology is becoming increasingly heated, with the Free Software Foundation backing an "Anti-DRM day," scheduled for Oct. 3. Many in the content creation industry argue the technology is necessary to protect intellectual property and stimulate creativity, while some in the opposite camp view it as a cynical attempt by media companies to gain greater control over customers' usage of their products.

"As we did with the initial circumvention, Microsoft will use the built-in renewability features of Windows Media DRM to deploy an update to address this circumvention," Microsoft senior product manager Marcus Matthias said in a statement. "We are working on an update and have alerted our content provider customers. When ready, we will work with our content partners to deploy this solution."
http://news.com.com/Sky+hit+by+Windo...3-6114921.html





FX Channel Tries Commercial to Combat Ad-Skipping

Niche men's channel FX plans to show what it calls the first UK advert specially designed to combat viewers using digital recorders to avoid commercials.

The advert for its new drama "Brotherhood" will show a single image on the screen for the entire 30-second slot, and therefore retain its "sales message" when viewed even at the 12-times speeds enabled by Sky+ and other digital recorders, also known as personal video recorders, or PVRs.

Advertisers have been racing to find ways to get messages through as higher numbers of consumers watch TV programs when they want using such recorders, often skipping the commercials.

"There are a whole host of issues that broadcasters and advertisers are currently facing and about to face that are going to irrevocably change the business," said Jason Thorp, senior vice president and deputy managing director of Fox International Channels UK, a division of News Corp.

"A creative response will be the only solution to all of them," he added in a statement issued on Friday.

FX said when it showed its drama series "Sleeper Cell" in April, one-third of the ratings for the pilot episode were from viewers watching a digitally recorded version.

The PVR-aimed ad will be test run September 22.

About 13 percent of homes with satellite service from BSkyB have Sky+

Article





TiVo Unveils Its 1st High-Definition DVR
May Wong

Playing a bit of catch-up to rival offerings, TiVo Inc. will unveil Tuesday a new high-end digital video recorder that will be the company's first to support high-definition programming.

The long-awaited product will be $800 and available in mid-September, the company said. Subscription fees for the TiVo service are separate.

The TiVo Series3 HD Digital Media Recorder has a 250-gigabyte hard drive - enough to store about 32 hours of high-definition programming or up to 300 hours of standard programming. It also sports two tuners, which will allow subscribers to record two different shows in HD at the same time while watching a third pre-recorded show.

High-definition television, which offers super-sharp images, is growing in popularity, and other rival DVRs by cable operators and satellite TV providers that have dual tuners and high-definition support are on the market already, some dating as far back as two years ago.

TiVo, which pioneered digital video recording technology, first announced in 2005 they were working on an HD model with dual tuners and showed off a working prototype last January.

Its competition has only grown since then, with cable operators offering standard DVRs or high-definition models, many charging about $10 a month for the DVR service but leasing the DVR itself for free to customers. Satellite TV provider EchoStar Communication Corp.'s dual-tuner high-definition DVR costs $499 and comes with additional monthly service fees.

So-called media center computers that include digital video recording features and support high-definition recording could also be purchased for as low as $500.

TiVo officials attributed its long development time in part to waiting for certain technologies to mature and the lengthy process of getting industry-related approvals, such as for the set-top-box's two built-in CableCARD slots. CableCARD slots allow users to access digital programming from a cable TV provider without the need for a separate receiver.

The Series3 HD box also represents TiVo's first major product upgrade since it released its networked Series2 DVR in 2002.

"This is a whole new platform for us," said Jim Denney, TiVo's vice president of product marketing. "Our objective was to build a best-in-class DVR. It's reflected in the price and also in the make of the product."

TiVo said the Series3 is the first-ever DVR to be "THX certified" by THX Ltd., forcing the product to adopt high-quality audio and video components and output levels.

The Series3 is also designed to support upcoming TiVo features, including more advanced video downloads and other Internet-delivered content.

Alviso, Calif.-based TiVo, which reported in August it had 4.4 million subscribers, still reaps high marks from analysts and loyal fans for its user-friendly design and features. But lower-cost options from rival DVR providers have only deepened TiVo's challenge to become profitable.

The premium Series3 product could add a much-needed boost to TiVo sales.

TiVo reported Aug. 30 that it lost $6.45 million on revenue of $59.2 million in the quarter ending July 31. And in the current quarter, TiVo said it expects to lose $12 million to $17 million on revenue of $54 million to $56 million as the company increases marketing expenses to entice new customers.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this month, TiVo said it planned to sell more than 8 million of its shares to raise about $65 million. The company has pegged accumulated losses of about $704.8 million as of April 30, TiVo stated.

Article





Consumers Not Impressed With DVD Formats
Gary Gentile

First, there was the war between eight-track tapes and cassettes. Then there was Betamax versus VHS. Now a new battle for the future of home entertainment is once again forcing consumers to choose.

High-definition DVDs are supposed to provide sharp, wide-screen images to fill the more than 30 million HD television sets that have been sold. They are also meant to replace standard definition DVDs, providing studios with a new source of profits. But after much anticipation, the two competing formats have debuted to a big yawn.

Retailers report slow sales of the expensive machines required to play the new discs as gun-shy consumers wait for one of the formats to prevail. And studios have held back issuing high-def versions of their most desired titles because so few players exist.

"I'm not jumping on this bandwagon yet," said John Scally, a 39-year-old in Elizabeth, N.J., who has already spent thousands of dollars on a high-def TV set and subscribes to HD channels through his satellite TV provider.

"They probably would tempt me if it wasn't for the two formats," Scally said. "I'm a semi-early adopter, but I'll wait at least a year, maybe two, for this to play out."

Complicating the choice is the increasing availability of movies and TV shows for download online, bypassing the need for a physical disc format.

Apple Computer Inc. just launched its long-awaited movie download store as well as a slim device, called iTV, designed to wirelessly stream movies from a computer or other storage device to a TV set.

Web-based services, however, do not yet offer high-definition versions of films, because the size of the files would be enormous, requiring hours for a download.

Consumers unwilling to wait for high-definition movies at home must choose between discs and players in the Blu-ray format, backed primarily by Sony Corp., and HD DVD, championed by Toshiba Corp.

Both formats deliver high-definition pictures and sound, but are incompatible - just as Betamax and VHS were when video cassettes were introduced in the 1980s.

High-def DVDs can't be played on current DVD players, and new players range from $500 to $1,000. And if one format ends up winning the war, consumers could be saddled with useless equipment, although the new players do play current, standard-definition DVDs.

"Both the record and movie industry have trained us every time there is a format change to go out and replace our current content," said Kurt Scherf, vice president and principal analyst at Parks Associates, a technology research firm. "Consumers are sick of upgrading."

Studios need the format to succeed. Entertainment companies already earn more from DVD sales than from box office receipts. But home video sales have leveled off and studios need to replace that income.

The new discs can hold far more data than current DVDs, allowing studios to pack them full of interactive features, including games and menus that can be perused without stopping the film.

But there appears to be less pent-up demand than anticipated for high-def content that can play on new digital wide-screen TV sets.

Retailers report disappointing sales since Toshiba released its $499 HD DVD player in March and Samsung began selling its $1,000 Blu-ray player in June.

Brian Solis of Redwood City, Calif., scared off by both the cost of the new machines and the possibility of betting on the wrong format, bought an inexpensive DVD player that can play his existing DVDs at something close to high-definition quality.

"I am going to upgrade everything, but not until the prices come down," Solis said.

One reason for the slack sales is that studios are not releasing their most desirable titles until more players are sold. Most of the films that have been released lack the special interactive features that backers touted.

Other retailers report glitches in some of the new players and dissatisfaction with the picture quality delivered by some high-def discs.

Most observers believe the new format will take off once one of the two formats prevails. So far, HD DVD players have outsold Blu-ray, but that trend could reverse once the Sony Playstation 3 video-game console, which will include a Blu-ray DVD drive, goes on sale in November.

The Consumer Electronics Association estimates that about 1 million standalone high-def DVD players will be sold in 2007. And studios have said they will release more titles later this year.

"This is going to be something great, it's just probably not going to be something great this year," said Gary Yacoubian, president of MyerEmco, which operates 10 specialty electronics stores in the Washington, D.C., area.

But the Playstation 3 launch may make less of a dent that Blu-ray backers had hoped.

Sony recently said only 400,000 game machines would be available in the U.S. at launch because of a problem producing a key component.

Sony also said it would delay the launch of the console in Europe, but still hopes to ship 6 million machines in Japan and the U.S. by March 2007.

Microsoft is expected to offer an external HD DVD drive for its Xbox game machine sometime next year.

The biggest challenge to high-def DVDs may ultimately come from the delivery of films over the Internet. While the online market for films has been slow to take off - studios have only just begun to allow consumers to buy permanent copies of films - that may soon change.

Online movie stores have been launched recently by Amazon.com Inc. and Apple Computer Inc. Wal-Mart also is developing a movie download service.

Still, some analysts believe that market will have its limits.

"Consumer habits just don't change that quickly," said analyst Tom Adams of Adams Media Research. "People like to own physical things."

Curt Marvis, chief executive of the online film marketplace CinemaNow, suggests the digital download business won't eclipse traditional home video for at least a decade, giving the new high-def format a reasonable lifespan.

The two even could complement each other, he says. While retail shelves offer the latest films and TV shows on high-def discs, the thousands of older titles studios don't want to spend millions of dollars to upgrade to high definition could fine a new home online.

Article





Review: Toshiba HD DVD Needs Fine-Tuning
Ron Harris

Consumers looking to upgrade their home theaters can now choose between two types of high-definition DVD players - the confusing result of a long-running format war involving Hollywood studios and technology companies.

Both HD DVD and Blu-ray promise clear pictures on high-definition TVs and extra bonus features. But discs in one format won't work in players designed for the other, and consumers who buy gear now run the risk of ending up with a high-def version of a Betamax VCR.

The limited number of high-definition DVD titles available now - lots of warmed over action flicks - also could temper the immediate acceptance of the technology. The movies aren't cheap either. The HD DVD version of "Backdraft," a 15-year-old movie starring Kurt Russell, lists for $30.

I took Toshiba Corp.'s HD-A1 player ($499) for a spin. I also attempted to get a Blu-ray unit to review, but Samsung - maker of the BD-P1000 Blu-ray Disc Player - declined to provide one for a head-to-head test.

The Toshiba - the first high-def DVD player to hit the market - is a beast. It was twice as tall and heavy as my trusty Panasonic 5-disc DVD player.

And right off the bat, it had some mechanical problems. Each time I put a disc in the machine, the speakers emitted a high-pitched whine for about five seconds before the intro and menu screens kicked in. It was so loud it sent me scrambling for the remote control to turn down the volume.

Speaking of the remote, it's a brushed-silver brute. It's too long for comfort, and the thin metallic buttons took me back at least a decade in the technology time machine. Someone at Toshiba didn't get the memo that rubberized buttons are comfortable and cool.

The unit's startup time is woefully slow. It takes a full minute from a cold start to when the tray opens to accept a disc. And once the disc is inserted and the tray closes, it's nearly another minute before the machine is able to display the introduction.

But it gets better. The picture clarity is great. With HD DVD, you'll see nose hairs, folds in clothing and other details that weren't visible with standard DVDs.

On the HD DVD version of "Training Day," Denzel Washington's police cruiser gleams. On "Million Dollar Baby," the sweat on Hilary Swank's forehead glistens.

Here's how it's done: Single-layer high definition DVDs can hold 15 gigabytes of data, compared with the 4.7 gigabytes on a standard single-layer DVD. That's enough to support the resolution of today's high-definition televisions.

I borrowed a Panasonic 42-inch plasma television for this test, and it handled the Toshiba high-def output wonderfully for most HD DVD titles.

Oddly, I did not notice any improvement in the image quality for the HD DVD disc "The Perfect Storm." It varied little from the standard DVD version, so the re-mastering process for HD DVD appears to improve some titles more than others.

HD DVD also offers improved chapter searching (right down to the second), more room for those making-of-the-film extras and cast interviews, and the ability to network the player to an Internet connection and access online movie trailers from a participating site. None of the discs I tried had that last feature, so it went untested.

With HD DVD you can access the menu options (scene selection, for instance) at the bottom portion of the screen while the movie is still playing. It functioned nicely, but I never quite figured what edge that gave me over the old-fashioned menu access option.

Still, Toshiba's HD DVD player needs some fine-tuning. It's too slow, too noisy and too big to be worthy of space on my entertainment rack, and the number of available titles needs to increase. But based on the image quality alone, the format shows promise.

Article





Samsung to Fix Blue-Ray Image Problem
AP

Samsung Electronics Co. moved Thursday to address image quality concerns noted by some reviewers of its high-definition Blu-ray disc player, the first on the market, saying it would make production changes.

A review in this month's issue of Sound & Vision magazine noted that movies played back on Samsung's BD-P1000 player had inconsistent image quality, possibly due to a noise reduction circuit.

In an e-mailed statement, Samsung said it would modify the settings of the circuit in the production process to provide a "slightly sharper picture." It would also provide owners of existing players with free upgrade discs to fix the problem.

Samsung started selling the player in June for around $1,000.

The Blu-ray disc format, developed by Sony Corp., is vying with the HD DVD, developed by Toshiba Corp., to be the high-definition replacement for the DVD.

Early glitches may not be decisive in the fight, which could take years for the market to resolve. Early response from consumers has been tepid.

Reviews by The Associated Press and Sound & Vision have said Toshiba's $500 HD DVD player has excellent image quality but is clunky and slow in operation.

Article





Europe Gets Glimpse of HD Future
Iain Mackenzie

Japanese scientists have shown Ultra High Definition TV for the first time in Europe.

The system has 16 times the resolution of current HDTV.

However, it is unlikely to be available to the public for at least 25 years.

The demonstration comes less than six months after cable firm Telewest launched Britain's first high-definition TV service.

Consumers are still getting to grips with the technology needed to watch its
super-sharp pictures but researchers from Japanese state broadcaster NHK have already developed its successor.

Ultra High Definition TV was on display for the first time in Europe at the International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) in Amsterdam.

U-HDTV has a screen resolution of 7680 x 4320 pixels - approximately sixteen times that of normal HDTV.

Dr. Masaru Kanazawa, one of NHK's senior research engineers, helped develop the technology.

He told the BBC News website: "When we designed HDTV 40 years ago our target was to make people feel like they were watching the real object. Our target now is to make people feel that they are in the scene."

As well as the higher picture resolution, the Ultra HD standard incorporates an advanced version of surround sound that uses 24 loudspeakers.

Londoner Mark Pascoe was among those who attended the demonstration in Amsterdam.

"I thought it was fantastic," he said. "Pin sharp, extremely lifelike, vibrant colours and fantastic sounding too. It makes regular High Definition look fairly untidy"

Big screen

Although the system is ultimately designed for television, current technology means it can only be shown on a cinema screen using a state of the art projector.

There is no LCD or plasma screen in the world with a high enough resolution to display its pictures.

Additionally, no existing TV broadcast system could cope with the massive amount of data which needs to be sent to create an Ultra HD picture.

NHK has successfully sent video using its own high bandwidth optical link.

The designers of Ultra HD TV said it might be 25 years before the technology was available to consumers.

But Dr Kanazawa is hopeful the system can be put to use before then.

"We want to look for other applications," he said. "Cinema is one target. The other might be archives. Museums need very high resolution video for archiving and our system can be used in that area."

The lack of current uses for Ultra HD has led some broadcast experts to brand it a novelty.

Technology consultant John Ive watched the demonstration and said critics were being short sighted.

"When NHK first introduced High Definition many years ago, people said they were crazy, we don't need it.

"Today everybody is talking about it. You may think Ultra HD is a technological curiosity but maybe we'll see it differently in 10 years time."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/h...gy/5335870.stm





Software Streams Music With PC Off
May Wong

Music lovers can sample songs over the Internet without turning on a personal computer in a first-of-a-kind offering that could help popularize the concept of streaming music.

Unlike digital music files that are bought and downloaded for portable playback, tunes offered through subscription services are typically streamed and require live Internet connections.

In the past, that has meant turning on a computer and running software. The maker of the Sonos Digital Music System, a multi-room home audio setup, now has a way to bypass that.

Sonos' ZonePlayer devices already are connected to a home computer network, but new software for the boxes will now let people access a music service directly without the need for a PC.

The Rhapsody music service from RealNetworks Inc. is the first to adopt the technology, which is being offered as a free software upgrade, but Sonos Inc. expects others to join.

Users would still need a high-speed Internet connection to act as the delivery mechanism for the music streams, but eliminating the always-on PC hassle is a smart move, especially because subscription services want to attract all kinds of music lovers and not just techies, said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at Jupiter Research.

"This is an important milestone for music subscription services," Gartenberg said. "As other folks get into this space, I think it'll become a standard feature."

Subscription services offer access to millions of songs to users for a monthly fee. Subscribers can listen through a live Web stream or download the digital files to their own devices, though the downloads are only "rented" and disappear if the subscription ends.

The fledgling subscription format, from companies such as Napster Inc. and Time Warner Inc.'s AOL, has yet to catch on broadly with consumers and struggles for attention against the faster-growing a la carte download model promoted by Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes Music Store and others.

Santa Barbara-based Sonos, which has sold more than 70,000 of its wireless home audio system since launching it two years ago, says it wants to tap the vast number of consumers who don't have the time to convert their CDs into digital files but still want the conveniences that digital music products and subscription services have to offer.

"We want the digital music market to explode and I think this will help," said Thomas Cullen, Sonos' vice president of sales and marketing.

Sonos' computer-less Rhapsody offering, which includes a 30-day free trial to the music service, is one of several new features being introduced Thursday as part of its software upgrade.

Article





Can Slingbox Users Bring Down the Network?
Junko Yoshida

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands — While mobile operators are still figuring out how best to deliver mobile TV via wireless networks or a mobile TV broadcast networks like DVB-H, they've already found another new wrinkle: the emergence of Sling Media.

When Slingbox users view TV programming on mobile handsets —IP video streamed from their living-room TV—the fear is that they will not only hog an already limited wireless bandwidth but might eventually bring down the network.

At the IBC conference here, Blake Krikorian, Sling Media's cofounder and CEO, called the warning "stupid." With the mobile industry upgrading to 3G to increase network capacity and offer consumers high-speed service, an application like Slingbox on a mobile phone is "a high-class problem," and it's "a good problem to have," Krikorian claimed.

He argued that mobile operators should welcome more applications, such as his company's, to increase traffic.

Sling Media has designed certain smarts into its software — dynamically allocating bit rates, changing frame rates and optimizing resolutions in rendering video — to accommodate the network situation and end-user devices. Its target devices include PCs, MAC's, PDAs, personal media players and smart phones.

While Sling Media's goal is to give its users as much smooth video as possible, the actual number of bits consumed by each user for one hour, for example, is never constant. But in theory, if a Slingbox user streamed at 200 kilobits per second an hour-long TV program from his home to his mobile, he could consume as much as 90Megabytes per hour, Krikorian estimated.

While "bit torrents" could result if someone stayed connected to an IP network streaming TV for 24 hours a day, no one has actually done that yet, according to Krikorian.

Asked if an application like Slingbox threatened the mobile-TV business, Olivier Hascoat, director of multimedia services, at Orange Group, said, "We view it [Slingbox] as intriguing." He added, "Our job as a mobile operator is to focus on mobile propositions, not on home living-room programming."

But on the IBC show floor, some attendees posed the possibility that Internet Service Providers in the future may either have to revise the current "all you can eat" usage policy for subscribers, or find ways to track down and block usage by profligate Slingbox abusers. Otherwise, "the rest of the subscribers — whose bit usages may be only a fraction of that consumed by Slingbox users — would end up paying for the network," said one observer who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Sling Media's Krikorian begged to differ. "Ask cable operators like Comcast", which regularly upgrades its cable network system to the newest version of the DOCSIS spec. "They would tell you to bring it on."

Scare story about applications like Slingbox tend to be worst-case scenarios, said Krikorian, dreamed up by "a network manager whose job is watching the network, and who sees any traffic [in his network] as a threat."
http://www.commsdesign.com/showArtic...leID=192700745





AT&T Launches Live Broadband TV Service
Bruce Meyerson

AT&T Inc. is launching an Internet TV service where subscribers can watch live cable channels such as Fox News on any computer with a broadband connection for $20 per month.

The AT&T Broadband TV service announced Tuesday features about 20 channels of live and made-for-broadband content. The channel lineup includes the History Channel, the Weather Channel, the Food Network, Bloomberg and Oxygen. Additional channels will be added soon, the company said without elaborating.

The content is being provided by MobiTV Inc., a company that has specialized in delivering live cable channels to cell phones through wireless carriers such as Sprint Nextel Corp. and Cingular Wireless, which is majority owned by AT&T.

As compared with many Internet-based video services, where the viewing window is considerably smaller than most computer monitors, the new AT&T offering will allow users to expand the picture to full screen. The service requires Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Media Player for playback.

Viewers will see whatever commercials are being shown on the live broadcast, but no advertisements are planned for the browser window and control panel that frame the TV picture.

AT&T Broadband TV will be available to customers of rival Internet services such as cable broadband in addition to the company's DSL subscriber base of 7.8 millioon accounts. It will also be accessible over Wi-Fi wireless services offered at retail locations.

While live TV feeds over the Internet are relatively uncommon so far, online downloading of video clips and TV programs have hit the mainstream over the past year.

A recent AP-AOL Video poll found that more than half of Internet users have watched or downloaded video. News clips were the most popular, seen by 72 percent of online video viewers, followed by short movie and TV clips, music videos, sports highlights and user-generated videos like those on YouTube Inc.'s popular Web site.

Apple Computer Inc., which helped jumpstart the trend by adding TV episodes to its iTunes music store, said in June it had sold more than 30 million videos and was selling videos at a rate of roughly 1 million a week.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...09-12-01-08-47





Murdoch Goes Deeper Into Digital
Andrew Ross Sorkin

He may be 75 years old, but Rupert Murdoch, head of the media giant News Corporation, is hardly stodgy about the world of digital media. Consider Tuesday’s announcement that the company will pay $188 million for a controlling stake in Jamba, a maker of content for mobile phones whose cackling “Crazy Frog” ringtone was one of the industry’s biggest hits.

News Corporation’s president, Peter Chernin, said in a news release on Tuesday that the Jamba deal “is an important step in News Corp.’s strategy of becoming the world’s leading digital media company,” adding that “wireless technology gives us an enormous opportunity to reach billions of mobile phone users with our content.”

The transaction comes as the “Crazy Frog” phenomenon, a cash cow for Jamba, has clearly peaked. But Mr. Murdoch has shown a knack for good timing when it comes to digital deals.

His company’s decision last year to buy the operator of MySpace.com for $649 million has become a landmark transaction for the media and Internet industries. When Viacom got rid of its chief executive, Tom Freston, last week, it suggested that one of his most serious shortcomings was allowing MySpace to fall into the hands of a rival company.

The audience for MySpace, an online hangout popular with teenagers, young adults and music fans, has ballooned since it came into the News Corporation fold. And last month, Google agreed to provide search and advertising services on MySpace in an agreement that promises to pay News Corporation a minimum of $900 million over three and half years.

The Google deal has quieted many of the critics who claimed that News Corporation would never recoup its investment in MySpace, whose business model, at least until recently, was unclear.

Still, some skeptics continue to question the MySpace juggernaut. The most recent of these was freelance writer Trent Lapinski, who writes about MySpace’s origins on the Valleywag blog. He contends that, despite its portrayal as a largely organic, network-based phenomenon, MySpace has its roots in a culture of spam and aggressive marketing.

In its latest deal, News Corporation will pay $188 million for a 51 percent stake in Jamba, whose current parent company is software maker Verisign, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. That implies a value of nearly $370 million for the entire company, which Verisign acquired in 2004 for $266 million.

Though the Jamba stake and MySpace will be housed in two separate subsidiaries of News Corporation, the two will be working closely with each other. The company said Tuesday that it would use Jamba’s technology to allow MySpace’s users to download “ringtones, graphics and animations from top music and media companies.”
http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/?p=7218





Amazon Spends Over A Year Developing Movie Download Service Then Shackles It With Absurd Restrictions

Amazon launched it’s new Unbox Video service yesterday. After reportedly over a year of development, the new service allows movies to be permanently downloaded for the same price as purchasing the physical DVDs from Amazon or rented for 24 hours for $3.99. Unfortunately, Unbox is has so many restrictions that it is unlikely to make very many people happy and it’s license agreement breaks new ground in absurdity.

Amazon had the chance to do something revolutionary. If they released a service that let customers immediately download movies and watch them on their DVD players, they would have a serious shot at some of Netflix’s record profits and 5.169 million subscribers. Instead, they gave into movie industry demands and spent a year and untold dollars developing an over-priced service plagued with unreasonable restrictions:

You can’t play Unbox movies on your DVD player

Even though downloaded movies cost just as much as regular dvds, Amazon won’t let you watch the movies on your DVD player. Unbox allows you to back-up downloaded movies on blank DVDs, but the backups are encypted to prevent you from doing anything useful with them. Amazon has taken what was potentially the most compelling feature of Unbox and removed it from the service. This is classic uninnovation.

And how does Amazon want you to watch your expensive downloaded movies on your new HDTV? Amazon’s only suggestion is to buy a clumsy Windows Media Center PC and use an antequated s-video cable to connect it to your television. Welcome to picture quality circa 1995.

You can’t let your friends borrow your Unbox movies

Movies are a social experience. Part of the fun of having a DVD collection is sharing it with friends and family. Movies downloaded from Unbox cost just as much as normal DVDs, but will only play on the computer where they were downloaded or one other alternate computer you own. You can’t lend your movies to friends, take them with you to watch at a friend’s house, or let your kids watch them with your new in-car lcd movie system.

You must give Amazon an absurd amount of control over your computer

In what must be the scariest license agreement in years, Amazon is requiring an amazing amount of control over your computer if you want to use Unbox. According to the license agreement:

• You must install any software patch Amazon releases or you can no longer watch movies you have already purchased. Imagine if you couldn’t watch DVDs anymore unless you agreed to let Sony poke around inside your DVD player anytime it wanted.
• You must agree to let Unbox report what movies you watch back to Amazon without notice.
• If you try to uninstall Amazon’s Unbox player for any reason, Amazon has the right to automatically delete all of your movies without notice to you.
• You have to agree to let Amazon spam your computer with “promotional downloads” that appear unsolicted in your Unbox player. You also have to agree to let Amazon delete these promotional downloads from your computer without notice.
• Amazon can discontinue the Unbox service at any time without liability. What happens to all the movies you bought then?
• Amazon can change the terms of the agreement at any time and you must agree to the changes or you lose the right to continue watching all of the movies you bought.

Yes, you read that right. You have to pay just as much money to build an Unbox video library as it would cost to build a DVD library, but you can lose the whole library at Amazon’s whim with no recourse.

Somehow I don’t think this is going to be the hit service Amazon that hopes it will be.

Article





NBC Launches Venture for Online Video
Seth Sutel

Hoping to reclaim some ground won by Internet sites, NBC Universal launched a venture with its affiliated TV stations on Tuesday aimed at providing a legal and profitable way to distribute video online.

The venture, which was originally announced in April, will also include video clips from third parties such as CSTV Networks Inc., The History Channel and others.

Based loosely on the model of the hugely popular YouTube site, members of the venture will be able to add video to the system and also select which clips to play on their own site.

Advertisers will be able to buy ads by programming category but not by specific video clip, a measure that NBC hopes will eliminate any potential conflict with the ad sales efforts of its own affiliates and other parties that contribute content to the system.

And unlike YouTube, which has won a wide following with homemade video clips that any Internet user may post, NBC officials said their venture will have tight controls over which parties can become participants in the network. Clips will also be reviewed to ensure objectionable material isn't shown, they said.

The venture between NBC and its affiliated stations, which will own about 30 percent of the company, seems aimed at easing frictions between networks and their affiliates over how to share the spoils from new ways of distributing video online.

Many network-affiliated TV stations were angered after being left out when networks started selling hit prime time shows - the lifeblood of TV ratings - through outlets such as Apple Computer Inc.'s popular iTunes service.

NBC officials say the network will focus on short clips that will retain high quality standards. At the same time, NBC clearly wants tap into the thriving video-sharing activities that have made sites like YouTube so popular. One early partner in the venture is Break.com, which features user-generated video clips.

"We know that video should be shared organically," Brian Buchwald, the general manager of the venture, said at a news conference at NBC's headquarters in New York. NBC Universal is 80 percent owned by General Electric Co. and 20 percent by Vivendi, the French media and telecommunications conglomerate.

The new venture will be called the National Broadband Company or "nbbc" - a play on NBC's original name, the National Broadcasting Co. But the name is not likely to be widely seen by consumers because the venture will simply supply the video and ads to participating sites, such as NBC's New York affiliate WNBC.

NBC got a taste of the power of online video distribution several months ago when "Lazy Sunday," a satirical rap video that had aired on "Saturday Night Live," became a huge hit online, but initially through YouTube and other video-sharing sites.

"In the future, when you have a 'Lazy Sunday' kind of clip, it will end up here and we'll make a lot of money from it," said Randy Falco, chief operating officer of the NBC Universal Television Group.

A number of parties are participating in the network at its launch, including some owned by other media outlets: CBS Corp.'s CSTV; News Corp.'s IGN Entertainment; A&E and The History Channel, which are co-owned by NBC, Hearst Corp. and The Walt Disney Co.; and About.com, which is owned by The New York Times Co.

Mike Steib, who will run the venture, said that nbbc would be a "completely agnostic marketplace," and open to anyone interested in joining, including YouTube. A YouTube representative didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. NBC has already said it would provide promotional clips to YouTube for its fall television lineup.

Steib said the venture would focus initially on short video clips of a few minutes in length, but would be open to showing longer shows if there is a demand for it.

"This is a little bit of launch and learn," Falco said. "We're going to find out in the next couple of months what the market is looking for."
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...09-12-18-39-14





Walmart Preparing to Offer Movie Downloads
Marshall Kirkpatrick

Reports are coming out that Walmart is gearing up to offer movie downloads in the coming months. The impact of the move on pricing could be big; Walmart sells almost half of the physical DVDs bought in the US and the company could be a major player in the increasingly crowded movies-on-demand space. Walmart’s movie rental service was discontinued last spring and the company entered a partnership with Netflix to provide rentals to Walmart customers and promote purchase of DVDs from Walmart.

The Financial Times writes that a job posting from Walmart seeks a business manager for digital video who will define “pricing strategies to maximize market share.” Walmart is well known for using its market power to get the lowest prices of almost every other commodity on earth; whether it is able to budge the movie studios to lower their prices will be the biggest question.

CNN Money is reporting that the downloads may come in part through in store kiosks, which would be a very different service from the other major players like Amazon, iTunes and AOL. Movie downloads brought to market so far have not hit the low price that many consumers were hoping for and that’s presumably because customers are expected to pay for the convenience of downloads. That stay at home convenience wouldn’t be a selling point to consumers when it comes to in store kiosks. Walmart may also offer one download as back up for customers who buy physical DVDs from the company. I don’t expect anything terribly exciting here, but I’d love to be surprised.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/09/15...vie-downloads/





Hacker Discovers Adobe PDF Back Doors
Ryan Naraine

A British security researcher has figured out a way to manipulate legitimate features in Adobe PDF files to open back doors for computer attacks.

David Kierznowski, a penetration testing expert specializing in Web application testing, has released proof-of-concept code and rigged PDF files to demonstrate how the Adobe Reader program could be used to launch attacks without any user action.

"I do not really consider these attacks as vulnerabilities within Adobe. It is more exploiting features supported by the product that were never designed for this," Kierznowski said in an e-mail interview with eWEEK.

The first back door, which eWEEK confirmed on a fully patched version of Adobe Reader, involves adding a malicious link to a PDF file. Once the document is opened, the target's browser is automatically launched and loads the embedded link.

"At this point, it is obvious that any malicious code [can] be launched," Kierznowski said.

The use of Web-based exploits to launch drive-by malware downloads is a well-known tactic and the discovery of PDF back doors is further confirmation that desktop programs have become lucrative targets for corporate espionage and other targeted attacks.

A second back door demo (PDF) presents an attack scenario that uses Adobe Systems' ADBC (Adobe Database Connectivity) and Web Services support. Kierznowski said the back door can be used to exploit a fully patched version of Adobe Professional.

For advice on how to secure your network and applications, as well as the latest security news, visit Ziff Davis Internet's Security IT Hub.

"The second attack accesses the Windows ODBC (on localhost), enumerates available databases and then sends this information to 'localhost' via the Web service. This attack could be expanded to perform actual database queries. Imagine attackers accessing your internal databases via a user's Web browser," he said.

Kierznowski claims there are at least seven more points in PDF files where an attacker can launch malicious code. "[With] a bit more creativity, even simpler and/or more advanced attacks could be put together," he said, noting that Adobe Acrobat supports the use of "HTML forms" and "File system access."

"One of the other interesting finds was the fact that you can back-door all Adobe Acrobat files by loading a back-doored JavaScript file into [a local] directory," Kierznowski said in a blog entry that includes the proof-of-concept exploit code.

A spokesperson from Adobe's product security incident response team said the company is aware of Kierznowski's discovery and is "actively investigating" the issue.

"If Adobe confirms that a vulnerability might affect one of our products, details of the security vulnerability and an appropriate solution [will be] documented and published," the company, headquartered in San Jose, Calif., said in a statement sent to eWEEK.

Kierznowski said his interest in auditing PDF files for back doors comes from a fascination with the concept of "passive hacking."

"Active exploitation techniques such as buffer overflows are becoming more and more difficult to find and exploit ... The future of exploitation lies in Web technologies," he said, noting that internal users are often in a "relationship of trust" with the surrounding network.

Confirming a trend that sees Microsoft Office applications—Word, Excel, PowerPoint—used in zero-day attacks, Kierznowski sees a future of client-side hacking that expands the functionality of a service.

"This form of hacking merely manipulates the user's client to perform a certain function, effectively using the user's circle of trust," he said.
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2016606,00.asp





Chase Discards Tapes With Data on 2.6M Circuit City Customers

An investigation found the tapes were mistakenly buried in a landfill
Todd R. Weiss

About 2.6 million current and former Circuit City credit card account holders are being notified by credit card vendor Chase Card Services that five computer data tapes containing their personal information were mistakenly identified as trash and thrown away by Chase personnel in July.

In a statement yesterday, Chase said that no misuse of the credit card information has been reported and that the tapes are believed to have been destroyed in processing.

"Working closely with federal and local law enforcement, Chase conducted a thorough investigation and believes that the tapes, contained within a locked box, were compacted, destroyed and are buried in a landfill where the trash was taken," the company said.

"We deeply regret that this has occurred and apologize to those impacted," said Rich Srednicki, CEO of Chase Card Services, which issues co-branded and private-label credit cards for Circuit City, in a statement. "We have found no evidence that the tapes or their contents have been accessed or misused. The privacy of our customers' personal information is of utmost importance to us, and we take the responsibility to safeguard this information very seriously."

To prevent similar incidents, Chase said it is strengthening its security procedures and is conducting a review of all data storage and protection processes.

Chase began notifying the affected customers about the incident yesterday and said the process is expected to take two to three weeks. The company is offering one year of free credit monitoring to people whose Social Security numbers were on the tapes.

"We take responsibility for this and are making every effort to let affected card members know what we are doing and what we suggest they do to protect themselves," Srednicki said. "We want our customers to have the support they need to monitor their credit and know how to respond should they identify any problems."

Paul Hartwick, senior vice president of business affairs for Wilmington, Del.-based Chase Card Services, said the tapes were accidentally thrown away due to "human error."

"We have strict procedures on how tapes are processed and handled," Hartwick said. "In this case, it came down to someone not following those specific procedures."

The company is now reviewing its training procedures with employees in response to the error, Hartwick said.

The tape disposal incident occurred in July and was discovered through a scheduled security systems audit, he said. Law enforcement authorities were then contacted, and the company replicated the data on the tapes that were thrown away to determine whether customer account information was on the tapes. Chase then began monitoring the affected accounts for suspicious activity, Hartwick said.

He said the company would not publicly comment about whether the data on the tapes was encrypted, nor would he reveal where the incident occurred.

Chase Card Services is a division of New York-based JPMorgan Chase & Co.
http://www.computerworld.com/action/...icleId=9003108





State Agency Faces Federal Lawsuit Over Phone Records
AP

The U.S. Department of Justice is suing a Connecticut state agency, saying it cannot force two telecommunications companies to answer questions about whether they provided customer records to the federal government.

The lawsuit, which was filed Wednesday, says the state Department of Public Utility Control overstepped its authority when it ordered AT&T and Verizon to answer questions from the American Civil Liberties Union.

The ACLU petitioned the state DPUC to investigate whether the telecommunications providers disclosed customer phone records to the federal government without a court order, warrant or subpoena since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The ACLU has called the disclosures illegal government spying, and launched a nationwide campaign in May in an attempt to determine which companies complied with government requests for the records.

The ACLU submitted questions to AT&T and Verizon on Aug. 10, but the companies declined to respond. At the ACLU's request, the DPUC issued a ruling on Aug. 23 ordering them to answer by Thursday, Sept. 7.

The federal government's lawsuit, filed within 24 hours before the state agency's deadline to the telecommunications company, says the DPUC does not have the authority to force the phone companies to answer the ACLU's questions.

It also claims a response by the companies could cause "exceptionally grave harm to national security."

In a letter Thursday from Verizon to the DPUC, phone company officials said that until the federal lawsuit is resolved, they cannot respond to the questions.

Walt Sharp, an AT&T spokesman, said in an e-mail Friday that the company does not comment on national security matters and is "fully committed to protecting our customers' privacy," The Hartford Courant reported.

The DPUC, which regulates telecommunication companies in the state, agreed to cooperate with the ACLU to find out if it has the authority to order the telecommunications companies to release information, said Beryl Lyons, the department's spokeswoman.

"It's never come up before," she said. "Do we have jurisdiction to make this ruling? We don't know. We decided to open the case and see what information came forth."

Article





Court Panel Denies Blogger's Appeal
Jesse McKinley

In a case closely watched by First Amendment advocates, a federal court panel has rejected an appeal by a freelance journalist and blogger who has refused to appear before a grand jury or turn over video he shot of a violent protest last summer.

The decision, filed Friday by a three-member panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, reaffirmed a contempt charge against the journalist, Josh Wolf, who was sent to prison on Aug. 1 by a lower court for refusing to cooperate with an investigation into an anticapitalism protest here in July 2005.

At the protest, timed to coincide with the Group of Eight Summit of world economic leaders in Scotland, a police officer was injured and an explosive device, a smoke bomb or a firework, was put under a police car.

Wolf sold some of his film to local television stations and posted parts on his Web site, www.joshwolf.net. Earlier this year, the government subpoenaed Wolf to testify and to turn over the remaining video, which prosecutors wanted to use to gather evidence for potential arson charges. Wolf has refused, and in an interview on Monday, he remained defiant. "Nothing the government can do," he said, "will coerce me into submitting to their demands. I intend to appeal this through every measure possible."

Wolf remained free on Monday, and it was not clear if the decision would result in his returning to jail immediately. His lawyer, Jose Luis Fuentes, said he would ask for a rehearing before the entire court.

Luke Macaulay, a spokesman for the United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California, said his office was awaiting an order from the Ninth Circuit "clarifying Wolf's custodial status."

Wolf, who has continued to post online updates about his case, said he was not fazed by the prospect of more prison time.

"My cellmates were totally chill and had my back," he said of his recent incarceration. "The fact I only got an hour of fresh air a day was frustrating, but you deal."
http://news.com.com/Court+panel+deni...3-6114669.html





Microsoft to Unveil New Search Engine
Allison Linn

Microsoft Corp. plans Tuesday to officially launch its updated and renamed Internet search engine, the latest step in a massive effort to make headway against market leaders Yahoo Inc. and Google Inc.

Live Search had previously been available in test form and is the successor to MSN Search, Microsoft's current search engine. It ranks a distant third in U.S. popularity after Yahoo and Google, according to the most recent data from Nielsen/Net Ratings.

The release also is part of the Redmond software company's push to offer a number of free, Web-based services under its new "Live" brand name. The approach has been aimed at helping the company establish a fresh, separate Internet brand for those services, but it also has confused some users more familiar with the company's traditional MSN Internet branding strategy.

"In general, I don't think a lot of consumers outside of computer enthusiasts ... are aware of Windows Live or know what it is," said Matt Rosoff, independent researcher with Directions on Microsoft.

Microsoft plans to use Live Search on its MSN portal, and it also planning to promote Live Search later this fall. But Rosoff said the company needs to do more - whether it's a massive marketing push or some sort of broader tie-in with other products - to tell uses what Live is, and persuade them to switch from Google and others.

"In the end, users need easy access to Microsoft's search engine," Rosoff said.

Among other changes, Live Search will include improved ways to refine a search engine query so a user can better differentiate whether they are searching, for, say, the jaguar animal, car or Apple Computer Inc. operating system, said Christopher Payne, corporate vice president for Microsoft's Live Search effort.

It also has improved how people can search for and view images, Payne said.

Microsoft on Tuesday also plans to officially launch Live Local Search in the United States and the United Kingdom. The search offering, which has long been available in test form, shows detailed photographic images of some parts of the country based on searches for addresses and places of interest.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...09-11-20-58-25





Three's a Charm for MS06-042?

It's patch Tuesday again, and Microsoft's hoping three's a charm for its wayward Cumulative IE patch, MS06-042.
The company quietly re-released (actually re-re-released) 042 today to fix yet another security hole introduced by the software update. MS06-042 wasn't listed among the new fixes in the September patch release, but the company pushed out an update fixing the new hole, according to the company's Web page.

Meet the new patch. Same as the old patch.

According to Microsoft's security bulletin, the IE patch was updated September 12 to fix another remote code execution vulnerability in IE's handling of long URLs from Websites using HTTP 1.1 protocol and compression. That's almost identical to the problem introduced in the original version of the patch, then discovered by security researchers at eEye Digital Security.

Come Back to the Five and Dime, Stevie T.

Microsoft's inability to nail down the Long URL problem raises questions about the performance of the MSRC, which had gained a solid reputation for patch testing and distribution in recent years. With Vista nearing completion, the ranks are shifting within Microsoft's security Technology Unit (STU). Long time STU VP Mike Nash went on sabbatical in June after four years at the helm. More recently, MSRC program manager Stephen Toulouse announced that he was shifting his energies from security response to Vista's security features.

"There seems to have been a lot of management execution problems at Microsoft over this Internet Explorer MS06-042 patch," said Marc Maiffret, the Chief Hacking Officer at eEYE. "They have now re-released it a second time and again only because indepdent third party researchers told them about it. Hopefully this is not a sign of some downswing, lack of focus, on their Trustworthy Computing initiative."
http://weblog.infoworld.com/techwatc...es/007870.html





IT Wrestles with Microsoft Monoculture Myopia
Ryan Naraine

When Microsoft announced in March 2006 that it would add code-scrambling diversity to make Windows Vista more resilient to virus and worm attacks, you could almost visualize a wry smile from Dan Geer.

Geer, a computer security guru with a doctorate in biostatistics from Harvard University, lost his job as chief technology officer of consulting company @Stake in 2003 after co-authoring a report that blamed Microsoft's operating system monopoly and complex code base for the frailty of the Internet.

Exactly three years later this month, Geer insists that the risks associated with Microsoft's virtual monoculture remain the same, but a quick glance at the future direction of the world's largest software maker gives Geer a sense of "total vindication."

Indeed, three years ago on Sept. 24, Geer penned "CyberInsecurity: The Cost of Monopoly," a 25-page report he co-authored with a who's who of computer security experts, including celebrated cryptographer Bruce Schneier and intrusion detection systems specialist Rebecca Bace.

The crux of the report was that software diversity was core to securing the Internet.

The group cautioned that the only way to prevent "massive, cascading failures" was to avoid the Windows monoculture.

"Because Microsoft's near-monopoly status itself magnifies security risk, it is essential that society become less dependent on a single operating system from a single vendor," the report said.

In many ways, Geer's report was prescient, as Microsoft has become a huge target for hackers. Meanwhile, Microsoft has adopted some of the tactics recommended to diversify code.

"In just under three years, the idea went from something you can get fired for to a research priority for [the U.S. government] and a product plan at Microsoft," Geer, of Cambridge, Mass., said in an interview with eWeek.

"You look at what they're doing with randomizing Vista and all the signs around virtualization, [and] it's real vindication for us."

He was referring to the addition of ASLR (Address Space Layout Randomization) to Windows Vista, a security feature that randomly arranges the positions of key data areas to prevent malicious hackers from predicting target addresses.

The technique, known as memory-space randomization, will block the majority of buffer overflow tricks used in about two-thirds of all worm attacks and, even more importantly, will effectively create software diversity within a single operating system.

Despite wide recognition that software diversity is important, progress is slower than expected.

Ten days after the Geer report garnered publicity, the U.S. House of Repre-sentatives held a hearing that included an interrogation of the Department of Homeland Security on the subject of monoculture, and the National Science Foundation, an independent federal agency, pumped $750,000 into a study on cyber-diversity for computer systems as a way to fend off malicious viruses, worms and other cyber-attacks.

The result? Despite all that talk, the DHS remains a Windows shop and Microsoft's flagship operating system still commands a whopping 97 percent share of the desktop security market. Businesses dabble with alternatives such as Linux but remain tethered to Windows. Why?

Despite the initial hubbub over the report, businesses are betting that the costs associated with diversification are greater than the returns from implementing technology that could be more secure yet potentially harder to manage.

"We haven't changed much. I'd argue that we're at even more risk today than we were in 2003," said Schneier, chief technology officer and founder of Counterpane Internet Security, in Mountain View, Calif. "We have a culture of ignoring serious warnings until it's way too late."

Schneier, who did stints at the Department of Defense and Bell Labs, said the monoculture risk exists beyond the desktop. "Windows has pushed into mobile devices, into embedded systems, into noncomputer CPUs. The threat of that cascading failure is even truer today," he said.

Even though the argument made in the report remains as valid as ever, diversity has been elusive because, as Schneier put it, "monoculture is attractive because it is cheaper."

"It's hard and it's expensive [to diversify]. Yes, it's less secure, but you only have to support one thing when you embrace monoculture. It always boils down to economics," he said.

Geer said there are two options available to government and enterprise security systems: Embrace monoculture and get consistent risk management because everything is the same, or run from monoculture in the name of survivability.

"Today, we're relying on picking up the pieces," Geer said, adding that it's much cheaper for a CEO to invest in anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-spam and patch management solutions.

"We've committed all our eggs to a basket named 'patch management,' or we're looking to virtualization to help wipe and reinstall after [malware] infection," he said.

For Andre Gold, director of information security at Continental Airlines, monoculture and security became a hot topic in 2003 after the SQL Slammer worm disrupted operations at the Houston air carrier.

Vista RC1 tests show that the migration path may be rocky. Click here to read more.

"From a pure-play security perspective, we had to answer that question. Do we want to diversify to keep things running when another attack came along or stay with the monoculture and invest in securing it," Gold said in an interview with eWeek.

"It came down to economics. It's not easy to click your fingers and say, 'Windows is a liability; let's just switch.' You soon realize you have to spend even more to get specialized staff for each computing environment," Gold said.

Several CISOs (chief information security officers) interviewed by eWeek echoed Gold's sentiments, stressing that budgeting considerations always play into security decision making.

"I can't spend my entire budget trying to diversify and not have resources to secure them all. That's not practical," said one security executive affiliated with a high-profile financial institution.

Gold's situation rings true for John Pescatore, an analyst at Gartner, in Stamford, Conn. "The cost of ownership skyrockets because of diversity," Pescatore said. "The economics says to standardize, standardize, standardize."

It's getting cheaper to deal with a single platform.

Pescatore said that the debilitating network worm attacks of 2003 and 2004—Slammer, Blaster and Sasser—forced businesses to think seriously about the monoculture risk but that the combination of Microsoft security improvements, a predictable update release cycle and patch management tools makes it "much cheaper to deal with a single platform."

Richard Stiennon, founder and chief research analyst at IT-Harvest, of Birmingham, Mich., said the monoculture issue remains a front-burner topic in his discussions with clients. "I always recommend different platforms for different purposes, even with all the economic considerations associated with that," Stiennon said.

"We have not done much to heed [Geer's] warning other than spend a lot of money to protect the monoculture," he said.

However, there are signs of progress. Even today, beyond the desktop operating system, Gartner's Pescatore said that there is more heterogeneity in Internet-facing applications.

"Firefox continues to gain market share, and the Apache Web server has higher market [share] than [Microsoft's] IIS," Pescatore said, arguing that the threat landscape has changed significantly from the days when malicious attackers were launching disruptive network worms.

As network administrators ponder the end of the worm era, for-profit malware attacks have grown dramatically. According to information culled from Microsoft's MSRT (Malicious Software Removal Tool), the biggest threat on the desktop comes from bots and Trojans that hijack computers for use in botnets.

David Cole, a senior director in Symantec's security response unit, in Santa Monica, Calif., said his unit's virus hunters are seeing about 800 botnet command-and-controls daily, each commandeering as many as 25,000 infected machines. "The order of magnitude of the botnet problem is immeasurable," Cole said in an interview.

Microsoft's Fathi: Vista security is becoming a reality. Click here to read more.

Using Symantec's numbers, Geer estimated that more than 15 percent of all desktop computers are controlled by malicious hackers.

"You can look at it two ways. We're not seeing worms because the protections are getting better. Or, the people who were writing worms have figured out they can own the machine forever and make money from it," Geer said. "I think the botnet operators already have all they can eat."

Given that businesses have been slow to diversify, security fully rests with Microsoft's ability to secure Vista, and the early signs are promising.

As part of an ambitious mission to make Vista the "most secure operating system ever," Microsoft made a series of significant tweaks to help thwart the spread of malware.

The most important change, called UAC (User Account Control), is a default setting that separates standard user privileges and activities from those that require administrator access, making it nearly impossible for virus writers to execute harmful code in sensitive parts of the operating system.

Microsoft also summoned the crème de la crème of the hacking community to its Redmond, Wash., campus to launch simulated attacks against Vista and implemented a new strategy called Windows Service Hardening that aims to reduce the risk of wormable flaws through improved testing and development processes.

Independent security researchers—including some of Microsoft's harshest critics—have given Vista's security makeover a big thumbs up. "There's no doubt that Microsoft is trying to step up to the plate," said Rick Fleming, chief technology officer at San Antonio-based security company Digital Defense.

"They made huge strides with [Windows XP] SP2, and I think Vista will push the envelope even more."

Dave Aitel, a staunch open-source advocate and vulnerability researcher at penetration-testing company Immunity, of Miami, said he believes the most vital security upgrades will come from advancements in computer hardware.

Aitel cited the NX (No eXecute) technology being built into chips from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices that will effectively prevent code execution within data pages such as default heaps, stacks and memory pools.

John Quarterman, a risk management expert at InternetPerils who co-wrote the report with Geer in 2003, was dismissive of any suggestion that the Internet has become safer because of Microsoft's software security improvements.

"We have criminal entrepreneurs doing big, big business on the Internet, using computers that are not secure. This is not rocket science; this is an effect of the monoculture," said Quarterman in Austin, Texas.

Rebecca Bace, another co-author of the monoculture warning, said she sees Microsoft's aggressive push into virtualization technology and gets the feeling that the company "is coming around."

Citing a recent Gartner report that predicted Vista will be the final version of Windows in the current, monolithic form, Bace said it's clear that Microsoft understands that virtualization can help to break the monoculture.

"They're now saying, 'Perhaps this is a way we can defend ourselves,'" said Bace in Scotts Valley, Calif.

Cyber-insecurity: Then and now

Three years ago, a report, "CyberInsecurity: The Cost of Monopoly," was released. Here's a look at what the report concluded and what has changed since.

• Then "Most of the world's computers run Microsoft's operating systems, thus most of the world's computers are vulnerable to the same viruses and worms at the same time."
• Status No progress. The world still runs Microsoft, and the malware keeps coming.
• Then "Because Microsoft's near-monopoly status itself magnifies security risk, it is essential that society become less dependent on a single operating system from a single vendor if our critical infrastructure is not to be disrupted in a single blow. The goal must be to break the monoculture."
• Status Slow going. Technology executives are dabbling with Linux, but the monoculture is here to stay.
• Then "A monoculture of networked computers is a convenient and susceptible reservoir of platforms from which to launch attacks."
• Status Status quo. That convenience of one platform means less management expense. So far, companies are going with lower costs over susceptibility.
• Then "Governments must set an example with their own internal policies and with the regulations they impose on industries critical to their societies. They must confront the security effects of monopoly."
• Status Little progress. Capitol Hill hearings and studies into "cyber-diversity" haven't prodded the government to change its reliance on Windows.
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2014205,00.asp





The Final Tally from The Drake
Michael Geist

Sam Bulte was briefly back in the political news recently as the Ignatieff campaign announced that they had received her endorsement. The release brought to mind the last election and the fundraising controversy generated by the fundraiser at the Drake Hotel. One of the most important aspects of election accountability and transparency are the Elections Act requirements for filing finance returns: candidates for national elections are required to submit a campaign finance return within 120 days of an election campaign and riding associations are required to submit annual reports by June 30th of the following calendar year.

For those interested in the numbers from The Drake, the information has been a long time in coming. Days before the May 23rd deadline for the election campaign return, Bulte's official agent requested a three-month extension citing lost data and claiming that both the campaign and its bank had lost the records which needed to be reconstructed from microfiche. Bulte's official agent filed the election campaign return days before the extension deadline and it has just been posted online. The Parkdale High Park Liberal riding association 2005 annual return has still not been posted. The riding association was granted a one-month extension in late June after it claimed computer problems. The association has still not filed that information in violation of the Elections Act and could face possible de-certification.

The election return does provide some insight into Bulte's backers, which is relevant both to close the book on the election controversy and to gauge who is willing to provide financial support to MPs that favour DMCA-style copyright reform.

During the election campaign, Bulte received donations of more than $200 from nine corporations including HMV, Socan, Sony BMG Music, Universal Music, Warner Music, and Breakthrough Films and Television.

The return does not provide a full accounting of the fundraiser. Perhaps that will be found in the 2006 riding association return that is not due until June 2007, however, the non-contribution portion of the fundraiser (which presumably covered the actual costs at the Drake) lists the likely attendees (or at least those who paid the $250 per person ticket price). Fifty-one tickets were sold, six of which were purchased by Stan Tyminski, a longtime Bulte supporter. Of the remaining 45 tickets, purchasers included:

• the hosts (CMPDA, Entertainment Software Association, Jacqueline Husion (listed twice)
• the lobbyists and marketers (David Dyer of Capitol Hill Group, Sussex Strategy Group, Partners and Edell, Wellington Strategy Group)
• the collectives (Canadian Music Publishers (listed twice))
• the lawyers (McCarthys, Cassels Brock, Goodman & Carr, Heenan Blaikie)
• the record industry (Warner Music (four tickets), Sony BMG (three tickets), Universal Music (two tickets), True North Records, Maplecore, HMV)
• publishing interests (Kim McArthur, Christopher Moore)

Certainly an impressive list of friends, though relatively few actual artists seemingly among them. Incidentally, the campaign paid the Drake nearly $3000 to host the event and Bulte personally provided $420 worth of wine, for which she was not repaid. There is no indication of the cost for the private Margo Timmins performance - perhaps that will appear in a riding association return since failure to declare either the cost or the in-kind value would likely constitute a violation of the Elections Act. Excluding that cost, the fundraiser appears to have netted just under $10,000.

For the overall campaign, Bulte took in $58,000, of which $8339 was her own unpaid contribution, $5,000 was a donation from her husband, and $8,500 came from the central Liberal party. Of the remaining $36,000, a best guess based on the data would be that nearly 50 percent was financed by the copyright lobby and the Drake fundraiser.
http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/1428/125/





Oh the pain

Surfing Anonymously Has Its Drawbacks
David Kesmodel

It makes some of us nervous that Google and other Web companies are building huge collections of data about our surfing habits. But doing something about it means dealing with a lot more inconvenience than most of us are willing to abide by. That is what I learned in my week of trying to be invisible, at least online.

There are several ways of surfing anonymously; the most common involves going "stealth." The idea is to surf as you normally would, but mask the information that could be used to discern your identity. This means cloaking your Internet protocol address, a unique number identifying a computer on the Web. That way, companies can't tell your PC searched on "avoiding taxes."

Last month, after AOL leaked Web-search data from 650,000 customers, infuriating privacy advocates, I decided to go anonymous via a program called Anonymous Surfing. There are other anonymizing programs, such as Tor. Their users include, besides privacy-conscious surfers, undercover detectives and corporate whistleblowers.

These programs keep Web sites from seeing your IP address by routing your traffic through other IP addresses. It should be noted that in the AOL incident, such services wouldn't have done any good. Two AOL customers were publicly identified because they had typed their names and part or all of their addresses into the search box, something the anonymizing software wouldn't have disguised.

In my quest for anonymity, each time I was done surfing I also deleted my "cookies," which are small text files that Web sites use to identify returning visitors. So on my subsequent visits to those sites, I looked like a newcomer.

As a result of everything I did, Web surfing got a lot more difficult. It took a few seconds longer for pages to load, and I received error messages from certain sites, which apparently balked at my not having cookies.

I also had to re-enter a login name and password when I returned to sites requiring registration, like The Wall Street Journal Online. On Amazon.com, I couldn't immediately see book recommendations based on past purchases _ something I enjoy.

Plus, my wife was a bit perturbed. "What's this Anonymizer?" she asked. After I explained, she said, "Oh, I thought you were trying to keep me from seeing what you were looking at on the Internet." (More on that later.)

So how exactly was my privacy protected? For one thing, news sites weren't able to show me ads based on what I'd read previously. And since my IP address changed frequently, e-commerce sites and search engines couldn't correlate my many searches with a single IP address.

That was the upside. All the drawbacks, though, gnawed at me. I'm a big fan of convenience, and I don't mind a little personalization, which by definition means a Web site needs to know it's me.

What's more, no software can guarantee anonymity in the event you're accused of a crime. A prosecutor with a search warrant, or even the other side in a civil case, can get access to your computer and try to retrace your steps. To be sure, anonymizing services can make it much tougher for authorities to trace you, a reason we ought to worry about the appeal of this software to criminals.

AOL was roundly flogged for its data release. But if my experience is any indication, few Internet users will change their online behavior as a result. We like convenience too much.

Plus, we give up personal information offline all the time and hardly think about it. We sign up for grocery-discount cards that can track our purchasing habits for years. Cellphone companies know our locations and record whom we've talked to and for how long.

Privacy concerns in most households have more to do with what my wife alluded to, keeping your spouse or your parents from knowing what you're doing online. Another big one: keeping messy divorce filings and other negative stuff out of search engines.

While anonymizing programs report lots of customers, they also say that for most Web surfers, online privacy is all talk, no action.

"People will say they are concerned about Internet privacy," says Shava Nerad, executive director of Tor, a nonprofit project. "But if you say, 'Why don't you use this toolset,' they often just won't do it."

There are other privacy options in the works, such as software that slightly scrambles personal information, such as telling a video site you like comedies, but not divulging the specific funny titles you've rented.

That's more middle of the road than the drastic steps I was taking. But that's probably OK with most PC users. Indeed, when asked to consider both personalization and privacy, Web users indicate they want some of each, says Ramnath Chellappa, a business professor at Emory University in Atlanta.

"It's not that they don't want to share any information, it's that they want control over what they share and how it is used," he says. If they were "really that paranoid, then they ought to be like Ted Kaczynski, living in Montana someplace."
http://www.nwfdailynews.com/articleA...gdrawbacks.php





Equal-Opportunity Offender Plays Anti-Semitism for Laughs
Sharon Waxman

Fall is traditionally when Hollywood turns to more serious films, and the Toronto International Film Festival is where they are frequently shown. But a new movie that seems certain to raise hackles and induce squirming is a raucous comedy that makes its points by seeming to embrace sexism, racism, homophobia and that most risky of social toxins: anti-Semitism.

Screening at midnight on Thursday in Toronto, “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” stars the chameleonlike comedian Sacha Baron Cohen as he impersonates a Kazakh reporter touring the United States, bringing his version of Kazakh culture to real-life Americans.

In one scene Borat insists on driving to California rather than flying, “in case the Jews repeat their attack of 9/11.” As he tours the South, he becomes terrified when he learns that an elderly couple who run an inn are Jewish. When cockroaches crawl under the door of his room, he becomes convinced the innkeepers have transformed themselves into bugs, and throws money at them.

In another scene Borat returns to his home village and participates in an annual ritual, “The Running of the Jews,” complete with giant Jew puppets that the villagers beat with clubs.

This anti-anti-Semitic humor is mixed in with other outrageous behavior, including slurs against Gypsies and gays, and a nude wrestling match. But in a world in which resurgent anti-Semitism has become — sometimes literally — an explosive topic, the movie may well hit a particular nerve, especially in Europe.

The British-born Mr. Baron Cohen, who calls himself an observant Jew, has performed this same high-wire comedy act for his HBO series, “Da Ali G Show,” in which he plays three characters, including Borat, each hilariously offensive in its own right.

The title character of the show, Ali G, is a vaguely Muslim British idiot with a hip-hop persona, who was the subject of a rather tame, and unsuccessful, film in 2002, “Ali G Indahouse,” released straight to video in the United States.

With “Borat,” Mr. Baron Cohen — who shares screenplay credit with several others — decided to head straight for the most sensitive areas of politically incorrect global culture, and for the first time will be doing so for a mass audience, far beyond the sophisticated niche of HBO. The film is to be released by 20th Century Fox on Nov. 3 on more than 2,000 screens nationwide.

(Borat is not explicitly Muslim, but Kazakhstan has a large Sunni Muslim population along with a sizable contingent of Orthodox Christians.)

Mr. Baron Cohen, who is appearing in Toronto as Borat, declined to be interviewed for this article and will be conducting interviews ahead of the film only in character.

20th Century Fox also declined to comment for this article or otherwise participate. Executives at the studio said that they were concerned about overemphasizing the political aspects of the humor, or otherwise labeling the movie, which they said they hoped would have broad appeal to a young audience.

The film is experimental and highly unusual for Hollywood, in some ways reminiscent of the guerrilla humor of Andy Kaufman, who baited members of the unsuspecting public with his characters, or the buffoonery of Charlie Chaplin as a Hitler-esque tyrant in “The Great Dictator” in 1940.

Film historians said that Hollywood was usually reluctant to take on controversy in general and had particularly avoided treating anti-Semitism in the past.

“Hollywood has a history of avoiding controversial topics, and notably did so at the end of the 1930’s, with the rise of Nazism and anti-Semitism,” said Jonathan Kuntz, who teaches American film history at the University of California, Los Angeles. Studios “were afraid of offending audiences, and of limiting their popularity in the European market,” he added. “And because so many moguls were Jewish, they were afraid this would be used to attack Hollywood as anti-Nazi.”

Today too Hollywood is often reluctant openly to discuss anti-Semitism, as was evidenced by the careful debate over Mel Gibson’s 2004 blockbuster, “The Passion of the Christ.” Only when Mr. Gibson was heard making anti-Jewish slurs this summer during a drunken-driving arrest did a few Hollywood veterans speak out against him.

“Borat” was to some extent made outside the Hollywood system. Fox kept the film off its production list and created a separate company, One America, to be the nominal producer. Mr. Baron Cohen also ran into creative differences with his first director, Todd Phillips, who left the production last year, while the film shut down for five months. The veteran comedy director Larry Charles eventually completed the film.

A spokesman for Mr. Baron Cohen said that Mr. Phillips’s departure was “a mutual decision.”

During the shoot Fox ignored numerous protests from the Kazakh Embassy in Washington, whose officials were concerned about the depiction of their country as prejudiced.

Early indications are that the film will be a hit. It rocked audiences with laughter at the Cannes Film Festival, where Mr. Baron Cohen was photographed on the beach wearing a neon-green kind of thong, and won an audience award at Michael Moore’s Traverse City Film Festival in Michigan this summer.

Still, “I can almost guarantee you that not everyone will get the joke,” said Richard B. Jewell, a professor of film history at the University of Southern California. But he added: “In my opinion it’s a very healthy thing. Some of best films that have been made in the last 50 years have been black comedies.” He cited “Dr. Strangelove,” which poked fun at nuclear holocaust.

“What can be more serious?” he asked. “It makes people think about these things in ways they don’t when there are more straightforward, serious, sober films.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/07/mo...374&ei=5087%0A





Jigsaw Data Not a Company that Follows Standards

It's full steam ahead for rebel CEO Fowler
Dan Fost

With his perfectly shaved head, Jim Fowler looks like Mr. Clean. But don't be fooled. The CEO of San Mateo's Jigsaw Data Corp. prefers to liken himself to another famous cue ball: Dr. Evil.

In taking on the identity of Austin Powers' archenemy, Fowler is riffing on the reputation he's gaining online as a man willing to knock down established social mores, while showing what critics say is an utter disregard for people's privacy.

The furor is over Jigsaw's system of encouraging people to enter business contacts into an easily accessible Web database. Sign up at the site, www.jigsaw.com, and you can get points for entering the contents of your Rolodex. You can even sell those points for money.

Since it started operations on Jan. 1, 2004, Jigsaw has amassed a database of 3 million contacts at 150,000 companies, and the company expects that to grow to 5 million by year's end. Only 131 of its 105,000 members sell points, Fowler said. "Almost all trade data to get data."

Michael Arrington, who writes the TechCrunch blog, fingered Jigsaw as "evil," calling it a "really, really bad idea." Rafe Needleman, who writes for the influential tech publication Release 1.0, said that it was "clever but creepy" and that it breaks the social contract.

Annalee Newitz, vice president of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, an international organization based in San Francisco, called Jigsaw a "stalkers' paradise," as well as a breeding ground for identity thieves and spammers.

David Batstone, a professor of ethics at the University of San Francisco, said that if someone took his information off of his business card or from the signature attached to an e-mail he sent -- two common methods that Fowler encourages -- then he would feel "like there had been a real violation of ethical expectations that we have with each other."

"Most of us want to reserve the right, that if we decide to give one individual or group of people our information, there's still some kind of privacy around that," Batstone said. "He's making all of our personal lives a fishbowl in a way that we don't want to."

Fowler says Jigsaw simply exemplifies the principles of Web 2.0, the emerging Internet trend toward making users active participants in creating content rather than passive consumers. Jigsaw, he said, uses personalization and user-generated information to build a better database of business contacts. He added that people should have no expectation of privacy when it comes to their business information.

"I actually put a lot of moral thought into this," Fowler said. "I knew Jigsaw was going to be controversial.

"It amazes me the number of people who e-mail us with their signature file in the e-mail, and say, 'I'm appalled that you have my information on your system,' " Fowler said. "If I send something out into the world, then I expect it's going to be used by the world. ... Jigsaw might be the only data company that thinks about this stuff."

Fowler, a career salesman who started Jigsaw to solve the classic salesperson's dilemma of how to find new contacts, makes several other points to justify his company's practices:

-- Lots of companies have this data. "You buy a home, it goes on a list that's publicly accessible," Fowler said. "You give money to a nonprofit, it goes on a list. You go to a data company and ask them to remove it, and they say that they own it."

-- Jigsaw wants only business information. The company won't take home addresses, cell phone numbers or e-mail addresses from Gmail, AOL, Yahoo or other domains that are not identifiable business e-mails. "Jigsaw doesn't touch non-business information with a 10-foot pole," he said.

-- Anyone, even nonmembers, can go to the site to see if they're listed. If they are, they can set parameters for how they wish to be contacted. A person could even say: "Never contact me." Fowler's own guidelines tell people never to call his mobile phone, keep e-mails short and not pitch wealth management or other financial services.

-- Jigsaw will remove any contacts that have been entered inappropriately, in violation of employment agreements or nondisclosure agreements, or that could give the whereabouts of someone who has a protective court order.

A year ago, Fowler said, AT&T contacted Jigsaw, saying an employee had inappropriately entered data about other AT&T employees. Jigsaw removed all of that person's contacts, nearly 3,000 people, almost half the AT&T employees on the site. "We have no desire at all to get sideways with companies like AT&T, who'll end up being our biggest customers," Fowler said.

Jigsaw has 54 employees and has raised $18 million from venture capital firms El Dorado Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners and Austin Ventures.

Here's how Jigsaw works: You can pay a subscription of $25 per month to access the database or you can enter 25 contacts per month. Members get two contacts back for each one they enter. All information is entered anonymously.

Using the modern technological rubric of "crowdsourcing," Jigsaw gives its members points for fixing bad information in the database.

Jigsaw plans to use its system not only to give information about business people, but also about the businesses themselves. That would put Jigsaw into a field with more than just Internet competitors. Web-based firms include Silicon Valley's Plaxo and LinkedIn, plus TrueAdvantage, Generate and Zoom Information in the Boston area. In addition, two well-established business information giants are InfoUSA, an Omaha company that has annual revenue of $200 million, and Hoover's, a unit of Dun and Bradstreet Corp. with revenue of $70 million.

All told, the market for business information totals $3.5 billion, according to Outsell Inc. a Burlingame research firm that analyzes the industry.

"We're trying to do to (those big companies) what Wikipedia is doing to Encyclopedia Britannica," Fowler said of the site where anyone can post or edit an entry. "We're a classic disruptive technology."

Sure, said Chuck Richard, vice president and lead analyst of Outsell. "And my son has the potential to be president, too."

"I'm skeptical about their massive growth opportunities," Richard said. Salespeople are not likely to give up good contact information, so the site could get cluttered with useless information. "It's hard for me to think it has really long, strong legs," Richard said.

Richard also scoffs at Fowler's assertion that Jigsaw will update its information more quickly than the big guys. Companies like InfoUSA and Hoover's have large staffs dedicated to updating the information. By contrast, he said, Jigsaw doesn't have anyone assigned to the task, instead relying on its users.

It may also be that because of the disruptive and inexpensive means Jigsaw has of making its data available, it's more of a target for privacy advocates than larger sites such as Lexis Nexis, which offer more personal data but at high prices.

"Generally, the only people who have access are working at corporations that have paid for the access," said Newitz of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility. "Those other kinds of data banks are also a problem. The only reason why we're not hearing about it is because the barrier to entry is higher. The difference is access."

Ultimately, as people become more aware of how much of their personal data is available, social changes could be in the offing.

"People are going to start putting on their business cards a copyright or a privacy statement -- 'I explicitly copyrighted this information'," said Batstone, the ethics professor. "It could very well be that we head in that direction."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...sn=001&sc=1000





Censorship

Xinhua issues Measures for Administering the Release of News and Information in China by Foreign News Agencies

BEIJING, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- Xinhua News Agency on Sunday promulgated a set of measures to regulate the release of news and information in China by foreign news agencies and the subscription of such news and information by users in China and to promote the dissemination of news and information in a sound and orderly manner.

Xinhua News Agency formulated the Measures for Administering the Release of News and Information in China by Foreign News Agencies in accordance with national laws, administrative regulations and the relevant regulations of the State Council.

With 22 articles, the Measures go into effect as of the date of promulgation.

Xinhua News Agency, as China's state news agency, is the legally authorized institution to exercise unified administration over the release of news and information in China by foreign news agencies.

According to the Decision of the State Council on Establishment of Administrative Licenses for Items Subject to Administrative Examination and Approval That Need to Be Retained, foreign news agencies shall be subject to approval by Xinhua News Agency for releasing their news and information in China, and shall have entities designated by Xinhua News Agency act as their agents. Foreign news agencies shall not directly solicit subscription of their news and information services in China.

The Measures state that news and information released in China by foreign news agencies shall not contain any of the following that serves to:

-- violate the basic principles enshrined in the Constitution of the People's Republic of China;

-- undermine China's national unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity;

-- endanger China's national security, reputation and interests;

-- violate China's religious policies or preach evil cults or superstition;

-- incite hatred and discrimination among ethnic groups, undermine their unity, infringe upon their customs and habits, or hurt their feelings;

-- spread false information, disrupt China's economic and social order, or undermine China's social stability;

-- propagate obscenity and violence, or abet crimes;

-- humiliate or slander another person, or infringe upon the legitimate rights and interests of another person;

-- undermine social ethics or the fine cultural traditions of the Chinese nation;

-- include other content banned by Chinese laws and administrative regulations.

The Measures say Xinhua News Agency has the right to select the news and information released by foreign news agencies in China and shall delete any materials mentioned in the items above.

"To subscribe to news and information services of foreign news agencies, a user in China shall sign a subscription agreement with a designated entity and shall not, by any means, directly subscribe to, translate, edit or publish the news and information released by a foreign news agency," according to the Measures.

In using news and information from a foreign news agency, the user in China shall clearly indicate the sources and shall not transfer them to another party in any form, the Measures say.

The Measures make detailed regulations on a foreign news agency's legal credentials in its home country or region, the requirements of releasing news and information in China, release application procedures, and on the distribution of foreign news and information undertaken by designated entities in China.

The Measures also specify penalties for violations in the releasing, distributing or using of news and information from a foreign news agency in China.

If a foreign news agency violates the Measures, for example, Xinhua News Agency shall give it a warning, demand rectification within a prescribed time limit, suspend its release of specified content, suspend or cancel its qualifications for releasing news and information in China.

Xinhua News Agency shall impose disciplinary penalty on violations by a staff member who, for example, fails to perform his duties of supervision and administration, or abuses his powers.

These Measures shall be applied mutatis mutandis to release of news and information on the mainland by news agencies and other news and information releasing entities of the nature of a news agency in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Macao Special Administrative Region and Taiwan.

The Methods for the Exercise of Administration over Publication in China of Economic Information by Foreign News Agencies and Their Information Subsidiaries, promulgated by Xinhua News Agency on April 15, 1996, are repealed simultaneously.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20...nt_5072495.htm





Popular Christian Books Spawn Video Game
Sandy Shore

The streets of New York have never looked so barren.

An occasional taxi or bus motors down a boulevard as people wander aimlessly among eerily vacant buildings. Soon, black helicopters loom overhead and armed soldiers close ranks on the streets below.

This isn't your run-of-the-mill video game: "Left Behind: Eternal Forces" is based on the best-selling "Left Behind" book series about the apocalypse. But it's the apocalypse without dismemberment or graphic bloodshed, though the game has an element of violence that some Christians argue is counter to teachings of the Bible.

The game's creators say they hope to wriggle into the multibillion-dollar mainstream video game market by offering a real-time strategy option for serious gamers. Yet, they believe the faith-based theme is important, too.

"What we've decided to do is embed our message in a game so that it's not overt but it is in the game," Left Behind Games President Jeffrey Frichner said. "We're not ashamed of it. There are Scriptures in the game and we're faithful to those Scriptures."

The overall video game software market, including consoles and portables, was $6.1 billion in 2005, based on U.S. sales, according to The NPD Group research company in Port Washington, N.Y. It does not track sales for Christian video games, which is a tiny niche.

Analyst Michael Pachter, who follows the industry for Wedbush Morgan Securities Inc., has played "Eternal Forces" and said it probably will be well-received.

He estimated it would sell between 250,000 and 1 million units, likely far more than any other Christian video game, because of its high quality.

"They did a nice job," Pachter said. "In order for the game to hit the higher end of that range, I think they have to attract mainstream consumers who just want to play the game because it is a good game.

"The question is, will the game be perceived as too preachy for the mainstream and I just don't know. We'll see."

Set in New York, the game begins with smoldering landscapes, the eerie streets and wandering nonbelievers and evildoers. The object is to convert nonbelievers and ultimately prevent evil forces from taking over the world.

Left Behind marketing manager Greg Bauman won't be specific about how to achieve victory because the game won't be officially released until later this year; however, a demo of the game available free of charge on the company's Web site provides some clues.

Players, as commanders of the forces of good, need to make sure their people are housed and fed, nurtured with prayer and armed to defend themselves for eventual battle.

Players recruit people to battle evil forces while taking control of buildings for medical clinics and housing. They can send people into battle but lose points by killing evil soldiers or by failing to meet the spiritual needs of the troops. Want to ward off evil? Hit the prayer button.

Every person depicted has a name and a history, which emphasizes the human cost of battle, Frichner said.

Along the way, players find clues to Bible mysteries and other information. Christian rock groups provide background music.

In the single-player mode, the player battles evil forces. In the multiplayer mode, players may choose to represent evil or good. Gamers also can play each other online.

The PC-only game cost between $3 million and $5 million to produce. It will sell for $49.99.

The current market for Christian video games is essentially nonexistent, Pachter said, but there is opportunity given the growing popularity of Christian products and the fact parents want nonviolent fare for their children.

"Eternal Forces" is the first effort from Left Behind Games Inc. of Murrieta, Calif., which has a license to develop games based on the "Left Behind" novels by Jerry B. Jenkins and Tim LaHaye that have sold more than 63 million copies.

The company's mission is to produce products that promote faith-based values but also appeal to the general population. The books and the game are built around those left on Earth after millions of Christian believers ascend to heaven during the Rapture as defined in Christian theology.

Since it was previewed in May at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, "Eternal Forces" has drawn opposition on Internet sites, in some newspapers and on television from those who contend the violence goes against the Bible.

"It's reprehensible," said Florida attorney Jack Thompson, a critic of video game violence. "They're basically using the phrase - Christian game - to disarm parents into thinking it's going to be OK for our kids."

Left Behind Games co-founder Troy Lyndon has posted a statement on the company's Web site calling the game a classic battle of good and evil. Frichner said it depicts choices people must make when faced with threats.

"Do we just lay down and allow aggressors to kill us, or maim us or pillage us?" Frichner said. "I think most Americans would answer no. We defend ourselves. To remain faithful to the 'Left Behind' series, we couldn't make a game that didn't have that element in it."

Ralph Bagley, chief executive officer of video game maker N'Lightning Software Development, believes there is a market for Christian video games waiting to be tapped, particularly for technically accurate products such as "Eternal Forces."

He's been in the business since 1999, when Christian game developers consisted of a handful of people who made a video game with about $10,000 while top game developers were spending $2 million to $3 million.

"We couldn't stand up to it," Bagley said.

He invested about $800,000 in the design and production of "Catechumen," a nonviolent adventure game that has sold 80,000 copies - a top seller in the Christian video market.

Bagley's other game, "Ominous Horizons, a Paladin's Calling," is set in Germany in the 1400s when Satan steals the first printed Bible and hides pieces of it throughout the world. The player solves puzzles devised by ancient societies to track down the missing pieces. Bagley spent about $1.2 million to develop it.

He predicted demand for Christian video products would continue to grow.

"Even the youth pastor that runs the youth group, when he comes home and wants to play a game he really doesn't want another Bible lesson thrown at him," said Bagley, who is also a spokesman for the Christian Game Developers Foundation. "He just wants to play a game."
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...09-10-02-58-59





Army Adds Real Soldiers to Video Game
Matt Slagle

Move over, G.I. Joe. The Army has found some recruits in its latest effort to enlist soldiers. In a campaign targeting teenagers, the Army announced on Thursday a new version of its "America's Army" video game, incorporating digital likenesses of eight actual soldiers who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"We're trying to put a face on soldiers so that kids can relate to them," said Col. Casey Wardynski, director of the America's Army project. "It's hard to relate to a big green machine. This is a chance to get to know some of them who have done really outstanding things."

The "America's Army Real Heroes" program will also include a series of $10 action figures, based on the same real soldiers, in store shelves by Christmas, Wardynski said.

The program comes after the Army fell short on recruiting last year, the first time since 1999. As of last month, the active-duty Army had signed up 72,997 new soldiers, nearly 3,000 above its year-to-date target. The Army National Guard was about 200 below its target of 63,240, while the Army Reserve was almost 2,000 below its year-to-date target of 33,124.

Wardynski said the Army spends about $2.5 million annually on the free PC game, a first-person shooter in which players go through a simulated boot camp or team up with other real players online in three-dimensional battles.

About 27 million copies of the taxpayer-funded game have been distributed since its July 4, 2002, debut, and there are about 7.5 million registered users.

Gamers can get "America's Army" from recruiters or by downloading it from various video game Web sites, Wardynski said. The game is often included with computer systems from Dell Inc. and other hardware manufacturers such as video card maker Nvidia Corp.

The latest version, "America's Army: Special Forces," is the first to include actual soldiers, instead of using only generic warriors. The eight were picked based on such factors as awards they received and their availability.

Among them is Sgt. Tommy Rieman, 26, who earned a Silver Star for leading a convoy of eight soldiers to safety after they were injured in an ambush outside of Baghdad in December 2003.

Rieman, of Independence, Ky., said he grew up with G.I. Joe action figures and always considered his three uncles in the Army as idols. He enlisted in the Army a month after graduating from high school and served in Kosovo and Iraq.

He said he was honored at being digitized into a video game, even though he isn't paid for the appearance.

"It's pretty amazing," he said of his video game persona, which was created by taking his digital photograph and essentially wrapping it around a three-dimensional model of a soldier. "It's such an honor to be immortalized forever."

The other soldiers are Major Jason Amerine of Honolulu, Hawaii, Sgt. 1st Class Gerald Wolford, of Roseburg, Ore., Sgt. Matthew Zedwick, of Corvallis, Ore., Sgt. Leigh Hester, of Bowling Green, Ky., Spc. Jason Mike, of Radcliff, Ky., Staff Sgt. Timothy Nein, of Clarksville, Ind., and Master Sgt. Scott Neil, of St. Cloud, Fla.

None will be fighting or dying on these virtual battlefields, however.

Wardynski said the idea is to provide an educational experience in which gamers can meet the soldiers in a virtual recruiting office, ask questions about their various experiences and awards and get a better sense of Army life.

"The real heroes are in there wandering around, you can talk to them, get a little hint of the story," he said. "We didn't want to go down the road of reenactment but we wanted to give you that touchpoint, there'd be somebody there who could tell you about it."

Rieman said he hopes the game gives teens role models beside celebrities or athletes.

"We look up to celebrities every day, but what really do they do? They entertain us," Rieman said. "Soldiers have a real purpose: They serve, they protect and I think it's time they're recognized for what they do."
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...09-14-05-43-32





Outsourcing Homework

At $9.95 a Page, You Expected Poetry?
Charles McGrath

THE Web site for an outfit called Term Paper Relief features a picture of a young college student chewing her lip.

“Damn!” a little comic-strip balloon says. “I’ll have to cancel my Saturday night date to finish my term paper before the Monday deadline.”

Well, no, she won’t — not if she’s enterprising enough to enlist Term Paper Relief to write it for her. For $9.95 a page she can obtain an “A-grade” paper that is fashioned to order and “completely non-plagiarized.” This last detail is important. Thanks to search engines like Google, college instructors have become adept at spotting those shop-worn, downloadable papers that circulate freely on the Web, and can even finger passages that have been ripped off from standard texts and reference works.

A grade-conscious student these days seems to need a custom job, and to judge from the number of services on the Internet, there must be virtual mills somewhere employing armies of diligent scholars who grind away so that credit-card-equipped undergrads can enjoy more carefree time together.

How good are the results? With first semester just getting under way at most colleges, bringing with it the certain prospect of both academic and social pressure, The Times decided to undertake an experiment in quality control of the current offerings. Using her own name and her personal e-mail address, an editor ordered three English literature papers from three different sites on standard, often-assigned topics: one comparing and contrasting Huxley’s “Brave New World” and Orwell’s “1984”; one discussing the nature of Ophelia’s madness in “Hamlet”; and one exploring the theme of colonialism in Conrad’s “Lord Jim.”

A small sample, perhaps, but one sufficient, upon perusal, to suggest that papers written to order are just like the ones students write for themselves, only more so — they’re poorly organized, awkwardly phrased, thin on substance, but masterly in the ancient arts of padding and stating and restating the obvious.

If they’re delivered, that is. The “Lord Jim” essay, ordered from SuperiorPapers.com, never arrived, despite repeated entreaties, and the excuse finally offered was a high-tech variant of “The dog ate my homework.” The writer assigned to the task, No. 3323, was “obviously facing some technical difficulties,” an e-mail message explained, “and cannot upload your paper.” The message went on to ask for a 24-hour extension, the wheeziest stratagem in the procrastinator’s arsenal, invented long before the electronic age.

The two other papers came in on time, and each grappled, more or less, with the assigned topic. The Orwell/Huxley essay, prepared by Term Paper Relief and a relative bargain at $49.75 for five pages, begins: “Although many similarities exist between Aldous Huxley’s ‘A Brave New World’ and George Orwell’s ‘1984,’ the works books [sic] though they deal with similar topics, are more dissimilar than alike.” That’s certainly a relief, because we couldn’t have an essay if they weren’t.

Elsewhere the author proves highly adept with the “on the one hand/on the other” formula, one of the most valuable tools for a writer concerned with attaining his assigned word count, and says, for example, of “Brave New World”: “Many people consider this Huxley’s most important work: many others think it is his only work. This novel has been praised and condemned, vilified and glorified, a source of controversy, a subject for sermons, and required reading for many high school students and college undergraduates. This novel has had twenty-seven printings in the United States alone and will probably have twenty-seven more.”

The obvious point of comparison between the two novels is that where Orwell’s world is an authoritarian, police-state nightmare, Huxley’s dystopia is ostensibly a paradise, with drugs and sex available on demand. A clever student might even pick up some extra credit by pointing out that while Orwell meant his book as a kind of predictive warning, it is Huxley’s world, much more far-fetched at the time of writing, that now more nearly resembles our own.

The essay never exactly makes these points, though it gets close a couple of times, declaring at one point that “the two works vary greatly.” It also manages to remind us that Orwell’s real name was Eric Blair and that both he and his book “are misunderstood to this day.”

The paper does makes a number of embarrassing spelling errors (“dissention,” “anti-semetic”) but William H. Pritchard, an English professor at Amherst, who read the paper at The Times’s request, shrewdly suggested that, in this day of spell check, they may have been included deliberately, to throw suspicious teachers off the track. If confronted with such a paper from one of his own students, he wrote in an e-mail message, he probably wouldn’t grade it at all but would instead say “come see me” (shuddering at the prospect).

The Hamlet essay was a trick assignment, or perhaps a poorly worded one. Ophelia’s genuine madness, as opposed to Hamlet’s feigned craziness, has become a touchstone in Shakespeare studies, especially among feminist and gender studies scholars who read in Ophelia’s songs and fragmentary utterances a coded response to the irrationality and sexual repression of the Elizabethan patriarchy.

The author of the four-page paper, supplied by Go-Essays for $127.96, approaches the question more literally and concludes, not incorrectly, that Ophelia is literally driven crazy by her father, brother and lover — or as the essay puts it: “Thus, in critical review of the play, Ophelia mentally suffers from the scars of unwanted love and exploitation rather than any singular or isolated cause.”

The paper goes on to repeat this point with so much plot summary and quotation from the text that it soars right to the assigned length. It’s also written in language so stilted and often ungrammatical (“Hamlet is obviously hurt by Ophelia’s lack of affection to his vows of love”) that it suggests the author may not be a native speaker of English, and even makes you suspect that some of these made-to-order term papers are written by the very same people who pick up the phone when you call to complain about your credit card bill.

Stephen Greenblatt, a Shakespeare scholar at Harvard and a confessed “soft touch,” said the grade he would give this paper “would depend, at least to some extent, on whether I thought I was reading the work of a green freshman — in which case I would probably give it a D+ and refer the student to the writing lab for counseling — or an English major, in which case I would simply fail it.”

He added: “If I had paid for this, I would demand my money back.”

As it happens, a refund is just what Superior Papers offered, along with a 10 percent discount on a new paper. Term paper writing is an arduous business, we need to remember, and we shouldn’t expect too much. As the author of the Orwell/Huxley essay says: “It is so often that one wants something and in wanting romanticizes it, thus bringing disappointment when the end is finally obtained. They serve as a reminder that it is necessary to have pain to compare with joy, defeat to compare with victory, and problems in order to have solutions.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/10/we...10mcgrath.html





When Information Becomes T.M.I.
Warren St. John

IF there is a single quality that separates those in their late teens and early 20’s from previous generations of young people, it is a willingness bordering on compulsion to broadcast the details of their private lives to the general public.

Through MySpace, personal blogs, YouTube and the like, this generation has seemed to view the notion of personal privacy as a quaint anachronism. Details that those of less enlightened generations might have viewed as embarrassing — who you slept with last night, how many drinks you had before getting sick in your friend’s car, the petty reason you had dropped a friend or been fired from a job — are instead signature elements of one’s personal brand. To reveal, it has seemed, is to be.

But alas, it turns out that even among the MySpace generation, there is such a thing as too much information.

That threshold was reached, unexpectedly, earlier this week when the social networking site Facebook unveiled what was to be its killer app. In the past, to keep up with the doings of friends, Facebook members had to make some sort of effort — by visiting the friend’s Web page from time to time, or actually sending an e-mail or instant message to ask how things were going.

Facebook’s new feature, a news “feed,” does that heavy lifting for you. The program monitors the activity on its members’ pages — a change in one’s relationship status, the addition of a new person to one’s friends list, the listing of a new favorite song or interest — and sends that information to everyone in your circle in a constantly updating news ticker. Imagine a device that monitors the social marketplace the way a blinking Bloomberg terminal tracks incremental changes in the bond market and you’ll get the idea.

But within hours of the new feature’s debut, thousands of Facebook members had organized behind a desperate, angry plea: Make it stop.

“You pretty much are being tracked with every movement you make on Facebook,” said Emily Bean, a pharmacy major and Facebook user at Ohio Northern University who signed an anti-Facebook petition on Tuesday, when the new feature made its debut. “It’s like someone peeking in on my conversations. People now know exactly when you became friends with somebody. When you hook up with somebody is now documented. Before it took some extra effort.”

While much of the anger was directed specifically at Facebook and its chief executive and co-founder, the 22-year-old Harvard graduate Mark Zuckerberg, some of the site’s users saw the episode in a broader context.

“Because our generation has been so obsessed with putting themselves up on the Internet and obsessed with celebrity, we didn’t realize how much of our personal information we were putting out there,” said Tim Mullowney, a 22-year-old aspiring actor in Brooklyn and a Facebook user. “This really shows you how much is out there. You don’t see it until you get it served on a platter to you.”

Mr. Mullowney said the Facebook episode had opened his eyes to a surprising conclusion: “I don’t need to know every little detail of everyone’s life.”

Mr. Zuckerberg could be forgiven for not anticipating the limits of his users’ desire for transparency. Since founding Facebook two and a half years ago, he has watched the site grow to more than nine million users, most in high school and college, on its power to help its users stay in contact with their friends.

Those who study social networking sites say that users’ comfort with revealing intimate details about themselves comes in part from a perception that in the din of life online, there is a kind of privacy through anonymity.

Similarly, a couple might feel comfortable having an intimate conversation at a crowded restaurant, for example, on the assumption that even though strangers could potentially tune in, none would care to. The new Facebook feature, though, was the equivalent of broadcasting that conversation over the public address system.

“The issue isn’t transparency but scope,” said Clay Shirky, who teaches in the interactive telecommunications program at New York University. “People are willing to be transparent to friends, as long as they are in control. Facebook violated both of those conditions.”

One perhaps unintended consequence of the Facebook feeds was that it allowed users to see when their friends were joining the rapidly growing anti-Facebook movement. In less than a day, the protest movement had fully galvanized, and had migrated offline as well. Marah Paley, a 17-year-old first-year student at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, was in the middle of sorority bid week when the news hit.

“That’s all anyone talks about on campus actually,” she said. “My day was totally messed up because of the new Facebook.”

It hasn’t taken very long for Mr. Zuckerberg to respond. Only a day after the feature was launched and he was inundated by protests, he acknowledged the outcry on his Facebook blog.

He wrote: “Calm down. Breathe. We hear you.”

“A lot of this was a lot of confusion,” Mr. Zuckerberg said Friday. “We did a pretty bad job of communicating what we were actually doing with the information. In the absence of information a lot of times people assume bad things.”

Mr. Zuckerberg and his programmers spent two days working on a fix, and stayed up until 5 a.m. Friday on the project. At 2:48 a.m., Mr. Zuckerberg published a contrite “open letter” on his blog, which he sent to all Facebook users.

“We really messed this one up,” he began.

“This may sound silly, but I want to thank all of you who have written in and created groups and protested,” he added. “Even though I wish I hadn’t made so many of you angry, I am glad we got to hear you. And I am also glad that News Feed highlighted all these groups so people could find them and share their opinions with each other as well.”

The solution was a page of privacy options that allow Facebook members to opt out of the feed feature, or to shield specific bits of their lives from public broadcast.

“In general the more control you can give people the better,” Mr. Zuckerberg said. “If you give people control over everything they do, you’ll never put them in a situation that’s uncomfortable.”

The options were made available to users on Friday morning, and time will tell if they placate the mob. But in the meantime, Ms. Paley said she and her friends had come to a realization about their online lives.

“Translucent is good,” she said. “Not transparent.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/10/fashion/10FACE.html





Facebook to Open to all Internet Users
Anick Jesdanun

Facebook, an online community now restricted mostly to high school and college students, will soon throw its doors wide open and welcome millions of Internet users currently left standing at the gates.

The move will allow existing users to invite their now-ineligible friends, but it also risks changing the tone of a community where trust and privacy are key. Just last week, users revolted when Facebook introduced a feature that allows easier tracking of changes their friends make to personal profile pages.

The change in eligibility will come soon, although Facebook officials were still deciding exactly when.

To join Facebook, a user now must prove membership in an existing network using an e-mail address from a college, a high school or selected companies and organizations. That has largely limited membership to students, along with some faculty and alumni.

As a result, Facebook has fewer than 10 million registered users, compared with some 109 million at News Corp.'s MySpace, which has an open-door policy.

With the change, a user can simply join a regional network - such as one for their country, state, metropolitan area or city. No authentication will be performed.

But unlike the case with MySpace and other open community sites, users will be restricted in how much they can learn about others - the way Harvard students can't automatically view a Stanford user's full profile page, which may include photos, contact information and other personal details.

Users will have to agree to grant access, and they may give some users the ability to view only portions of their profiles.

Started by three Harvard sophomores in February 2004 as an online directory for college campuses, Facebook expanded to high schools last September and to selected companies and organizations earlier this year. Those users have been eligible to join regional networks as well when they graduate or move, and it is those networks that will be expanding soon.

Chris Hughes, co-founder of the Palo Alto, Calif.-based company, said everyone around the world will be covered by one of some 500 regional networks, although some regions may cover one or more countries. U.S. regions, he said, are likely to be geographically smaller.

Facebook's chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, said users will be restricted in how often they can switch to discourage impostures and pranksters.

Earlier this month, Facebook introduced what they termed a time-saving feature. Users who log on might instantly find out that someone they know has joined a new social group, posted more photos or begun dating their best friend.

All of the information presented had been available before, but a person had to visit a friend's profile page and make note of any changes - for example, noticing that the friend now has 103 friends instead of 102, and identifying which one got added.

Users equated the feature to stalking and threatened protests and boycotts until Facebook, three days later, apologized and agreed to let users turn off the feature so that others can't easily see what they do.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...09-11-20-58-35





News From The North



The TankGirl Diaries


12.9.2006

Only Six Days to the Election

The Swedish parliamentary election is getting real, real close. Next Sunday, only six days from now, the Swedish voters - including over 400.000 first time voters - will have their saying on who will sit in country's parliament for the next four years - and whether the Pirates will be among them. On the election evening itself the election officials can promise to give results only for the seven parties currently in the parliament - the 'small parties' will have to wait for their own results at least till Monday. The reason for this is the limitations in the computer system of the election officials.

15.9.2006

Optimism in the Pirate Camp

As the election day draws closer there is cautious optimism in the pirate camp based on various polls that keep popping up at accelerated rate. Synovate Temo, one of the established polling institutions, is now suddenly showing 1.5 % support for Pirate party where in earlier polls party did not show up at all. These 'official' polls are likely to underestimate the real support for the pirates as they are mostly modern technology users who have long since switched to using mobile telephones, and the polling institutions still keep ignoring mobile telephone users in their polls. Various online polls and different school and special group 'test elections' have been indicating support figures in the range 10-20 %. Despite being a fresh party, the pirates have got their election machine working fairly well towards the end of the race, so the Swedes have become conscious of the pirates as a serious alternative. The membership keeps growing with dozens of new members every day. The membership-vote ratio in previous elections have been around 30. If the ratio would hold for the pirates too, with its present 9081 members Pirate party would get some 272.000 votes - this would be enough to take them to the parliament. So the chances for the victory and political breakthrough are definitely there. As the polls at the same time indicate a tight balance between traditional left-right blocks, getting into the parliament would also be likely to give the pirates just what they have been looking for from the beginning: a balance of power position where they could negotiate a good deal with either of the main blocks to drive through their agenda.

What if Pirate Party does not reach the 4 % vote thresold? Anything from 1 % upwards would still be valuable for them as a party. In the next election they would get their ballot papers printed and distributed by the state instead of having to pay and distribute them themselves as they have done now. Depending on the result they might also be able to employ some full time party workers at state's expense for the next 4 year parliamentary period.
http://www.p2p-zone.com/underground/...t=22742&page=5

http://reflectionsonp2p.blogspot.com/





C’est like, bon

French Royalty as Seen by Hollywood Royalty
Kristin Hohenadel

VERSAILLES, France

IT was Monday at the Chateau de Versailles, the gates closed to tourists, and Sofia Coppola was camped out in a quiet corner of the grounds, resurrecting Marie Antoinette. A cold spring afternoon had been transformed into dawn with a spotlight that mimicked the rising sun. Wildflowers from an adjacent field had been replanted in the tall grass. Ms. Coppola arranged strands of a foot-high hairdo on the actress Kirsten Dunst, then stepped back and took a photo. Then the cameras started rolling, and the young queen sat on the edge of a reflecting pool, tipsily sipping the last of her Champagne with some hangers-on, her royal husband tucked away in bed.

So this was what it must have been like for Marie Antoinette to have the place all to herself.

Versailles administrators granted Ms. Coppola, the 35-year-old writer-director, unprecedented access to the chateau and its grounds, allowing her to film scenes for “Marie Antoinette” over 12 weeks in the spring of 2005. Based on a best-selling book by Lady Antonia Fraser, this stylized, impressionistic portrait of the controversial French queen had its premiere this year at the Cannes Film Festival to mixed reviews; even the two critics for The New York Times who saw the movie there came down on opposite sides of the fence. Since then, it has attracted more than a million moviegoers in France. It is set to open in the United States on Oct. 20.

“I’m so glad we weren’t in Budapest or whatever, like, trying to fake it,” Ms. Coppola said a few weeks after wrapping, upstairs at that Right Bank institution the Café de Flore. Once favored by Jean-Paul Sartre and now the canteen of choice for American expatriates in the St.-Germain-des-Prés neighborhood, it is next door to the apartment she rented while making the movie. “It’s so cool to be in the real places. There’s something that just gets you into the mood. They let us shoot in places people weren’t allowed to normally, like Marie Antoinette’s private theater. They were like, ‘This is your home.’ ”

The queenly welcome had to do with the fact that Ms. Coppola is something of a cult figure in France. The French admire her talent: she won a best-foreign-film César, the French Academy Award, in 2005 for her last film, “Lost in Translation,” about a young American who spends most of a trip to Tokyo holed up in the Park Hyatt. But they also esteem her much-photographed, tastefully chic personal style. And her status as Hollywood royalty doesn’t hurt: her father, the director Francis Ford Coppola, is a demigod in France.

So her decision to make Marie Antoinette the star of her latest film has resulted in a grand comeback for the much-maligned queen. Along with director and star, Marie Antoinette herself now ranks as a fashion icon. Magazines have devoted special issues to her, featuring her portrait on the cover. French luxury houses have issued Marie Antoinette merchandise. Several books have appeared, tied not to the 250th anniversary of her birth last year but to the opening of the film, filling many an hour on both high- and lowbrow talk shows. It is as if the French needed the hype of a Hollywood movie to get them excited about their own history.

But Ms. Coppola said she was more interested in the emotional life of her young heroine. “I wanted to make a personal story and not a big epic historical biopic,” she said, adding that she wanted to tell the story from the point of view of a 14-year-old Austrian girl who is shipped off to France in 1770 to marry the future King Louis XVI, who is 16.

She used Lady Antonia’s dense, anecdotal book as her primary source. “I would get bored when it would get sort of too detailed,” she said of the book. “I didn’t want to get bogged down with history, but to focus on the personal relations between these people. Louis wouldn’t sleep with her, so she wanted to go out and party — like someone in a bad marriage going shopping. It just seemed like the same old story.”

This Marie Antoinette is a party girl with a gay hairdresser and a shoe fetish. She drowns her sorrows in bonbons and Champagne while, beyond the castle walls, the people starve. As for her famous response when told that the masses had no bread — “Let them eat cake” — both Lady Antonia and Ms. Coppola dismiss it as gossip. (In the film, Marie Antoinette herself laughs it off.) Speculation that she had a passionate affair with the Swedish count Axel Fersen is portrayed as fact. Ms. Coppola’s film takes other liberties: she eschews the often stately colors used in portraits of the French court for pastels inspired by the famous macaroons of the Parisian pastry house Ladurée. She relied on the costume department to vet dress styles or advise on the appropriate size of a bow — but only to a point.

“I want it to be believable, so that it doesn’t take you out of the story,” Ms. Coppola said, “but I’d rather pick a heel that is more appealing to me that maybe was invented 50 years later. I’m not a fetishist about historical accuracy. I’m just, like, making it my thing.”

Anyway, as she points out, “they didn’t speak English in Versailles, either.”

The actors speak in their own mostly American voices. “I was trying to make it sound normal,” she said, “although I’m a little afraid of it ever sounding a little too much California Valley Girl. I’m trying to get them to say ‘all right’ instead of ‘O.K.,’ to make it a little more formal than we would be, but not to feel like you were in a stiff period movie.”

For several days in April 2005, the production moved into the Hôtel de Soubise, a city palace that is now part of the National Archives in Paris. Hairdressers carrying 18th-century powdered wigs on plastic heads walked the narrow streets of the Marais district, on their way to and from the set. The actor Jason Schwartzman, who is Ms. Coppola’s cousin, was coming out of his trailer dressed as Louis XVI when a teenager in oversize shorts dropped to the sidewalk and began to bow in mock homage to the king, crying, “Le roi! Le roi!” Girls in long gowns, powdered wigs and sunglasses smoked cigarettes and talked on their cellphones between takes. In an ornate 18th-century salon, Ms. Coppola huddled by a monitor in wordless conference with her brother, Roman, who is also a filmmaker, and who was on the set shooting secondary scenes.

“I don’t have to say anything; he can go shoot something and he’ll get exactly what I want,” Ms. Coppola said. “It’s like having another brain.” Ms. Coppola said she was just following in her father’s footsteps by hiring family members; her mother, Eleanor, who filmed the “Marie Antoinette” making-of documentary, did the same job on Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now.” And he acted as executive producer for his daughter on this film.

Before a party scene in which Marie Antoinette plays cards, drinks Champagne and gossips the night away with her entourage, Ms. Coppola — who had not yet settled on the movie’s soundtrack, which includes music from Bow Wow Wow, Gang of Four, Air, New Order, the Cure and Phoenix — blasted music before calling “Action!” “I want it to be kind of irreverent, kind of how they were at the time,” she said. “I mean, they’re just doing what they want. They sort of have a little bit of a bratty attitude.”

Mr. Schwartzman said he appreciated the mood on the set. “One thing that’s really nice about Sofia is, like, you don’t realize you’re working,” he said. “And she talks to you about your character in a modern context, which you almost need. Because they were people — they’re not just facts and dates and that kind of stuff — so she gives you something you can relate to.”

Ms. Coppola said she wrote the lead roles for Mr. Schwartzman and Ms. Dunst (who starred in her directorial debut, “The Virgin Suicides,” in 1999).

“Kirsten to me has just, like, a fun, bubbly, effervescent quality, and that’s how I think of Marie Antoinette,” she said. “And she also has a depth. And she’s German, so I thought she had the coloring and the features.”

Ms. Dunst, who has been acting in films since she was 7, said that she empathized with the young queen. “She was a girl surrounded by grown-ups who wanted things from her and judged her, and she didn’t exactly know what people expected from her,” Ms. Dunst said during a lunch break, in sweats and her pink-cheeked Marie Antoinette makeup and giant hair. “I could relate to that kind of loneliness.”

By the time the film opened at Cannes, Marie Antoinette mania had reached such a fevered pitch that the French news media — which had helped to generate it — seemed stunned that the movie itself might not live up to the hype. “I was a little bit disappointed,” the normally gushy Cannes veteran Laurent Weill said apologetically during one of his nightly television reports from the Croisette. After some of the Cannes audience booed the film, another national newscaster told her audience, with a dash of understatement, “Sometimes the most anticipated films are not the most appreciated.” For her part, Ms. Coppola calmly repeated in every interview that a strong reaction — good or bad, anything but indifference — was what she hoped for.

Many critics and observers saw the film as a comment on modern celebrity youth culture, with Marie Antoinette as an 18th-century Paris Hilton. Others wondered aloud if Ms. Coppola’s sympathetic portrait of her heroine as a poor little rich girl had more to do with her own experience as a child of Hollywood and privilege. Why, they asked, did Ms. Coppola focus on the queen’s frivolous lifestyle and teenage psyche, ending the movie well before she meets her destiny at the guillotine?

All her films have dealt with child-women during painful, alienated moments in their young lives. “I see them like a trilogy, and this is the final chapter,” she said at the Café de Flore. “It’s a continuation of the other two films — sort of about a lonely girl in a big hotel or palace or whatever, kind of wandering around, trying to grow up. But in the other ones, you know, they’re always sort of on the verge. This is a story about a girl becoming a woman. And in this, I feel like she does.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/10/mo...al/10hohe.html





Cruz Gets Attached to the Bottom Line
Jacqueline Maley & Alexa Moses

Getting ugly for the sake of a role is a proud thespian tradition. Nicole Kidman won an Oscar for donning a big nose and frizzy hair for her portrayal of Virginia Woolf in The Hours, and Charlize Theron got fat and wore nasty prosthetic teeth when she played the serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Monster.

Now Penelope Cruz, the favourite muse of the Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar, has sported a big bottom for a role. But instead of going on a bottom-enlarging diet (we could give you a few pointers on that regimen, Pen), Cruz wore a prosthetic derriere for Almodovar's new film, Volver.

Almodovar told reporters at the Toronto Film Festival that the booty was integral to Cruz's role.

"The arse is very important," he said. "I wanted a fake bottom like Dustin Hoffman had in Tootsie ... Having a generous ass made her look close to the ground. These are important decisions to make because once you have the physical part, you can work on the spiritual part."

In a surprise twist, Cruz said she got so attached to the character and to her ample backside that she almost had a nervous breakdown when filming finished and she had to return to her normal, scrawny-assed self.

"I couldn't leave the set," she said. "I didn't want to take my false ass off. There was an emotional attachment. I was a disaster for two months. I was unbearable."

The bottom was not just for spiritual purposes, however. Almodovar said he wanted her character to resemble an Italian film heroine from the 1950s.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/australia/...865124,00.html





Taking a Vacation With Harry, Captain Jack or Frodo
Jennifer Alsever

LOVE the movie? The chances are that there is a vacation for you in it.

Themed tours, often based on books, movies and historical events, are on the rise, as tour operators hope to meet demand from American travelers bored with passive vacations. Many people are no longer satisfied to stop, stand and stare while they travel. They’re looking to go behind the scenes — and to learn, said Hank Phillips, president of the National Tour Association, which represents 620 tour companies.

“People want to be much more engaged with the places they visit,” Mr. Phillips said.

The trips, some of which come complete with costumed characters, can cost $38 for a couple of hours to visit famous locations from a television show to $9,000 for a couple of weeks on a ship to Antarctica, retracing explorers’ paths and staying in the master suite with sweeping views. If travelers can’t find a themed trip that matches their interests, a tour company may well be able to design one for them — for a price.

Rick Paul, an insurance agent from Albuquerque, has made themed travel a habit. In the summer of 2005, he and his 13-year-old daughter, Shelby, flew to Miami and then sailed in the Caribbean for a tour based on the movie “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.”

Shelby, who loves the movie so much that she watches it four times a month, found the trip online. For $1,500 each, not including air fare, they spent five days touring old pirate hideaways in Jamaica, reading 17th-century transcripts of trials of pirates and listening to lectures from costumed experts on what it was like to be a pirate.

Mr. Paul and his daughter do not limit themselves to pirates. They have also taken two Harry Potter tours in England, where they visited castles and rode the train that was used in the movies as the Hogwarts Express. Their cost was $1,800 a person per trip. “It was a lot of fun, but we also learned a lot,” Mr. Paul said. A themed tour is more fun for his daughter, who would be bored in museums and traditional tourist spots, he said. Next up is a “Lord of the Rings” tour in New Zealand.

Such trips have paid off for some tour operators, including Jeannie Barresi, co-owner of Beyond Boundaries Travel, which put together Mr. Paul’s vacations.

Ms. Barresi started organizing movie vacation packages in 2003 as an extension of her love for planning elaborate themed parties for her children’s birthdays and schools. Today, specialty tours make up about 25 percent of the estimated $3.5 million in annual sales at her company, which is based in Colorado Springs.

Ms. Barresi is now planning a scavenger-hunt-style trip to France based on “The Da Vinci Code” (like many “Da Vinci Code” tours already available to vacationers) and a tour of England based on “Pride and Prejudice” (the book as well as the most recent movie version).

The behind-the-scenes draw has helped tourism in the Santa Barbara, Calif., area, where vacationers have been taking part in “Sideways” tours, which hit the wineries seen in the movie. In New York, 1,000 people a week pay $38 for a “Sex and the City” tour offered by On Location Tours, highlighting restaurants, bars and shops seen on the former series on HBO.

Themed travel is not just about television and movies. As many as 5,000 people have hopped on motorcycles for road trips — some with themes — organized by EagleRider, a Los Angeles company that equips travelers with motorcycles, itineraries and hotels. One of its offerings is an eight-day $2,400 Gold Rush tour of California’s old gold mines and ghost towns.

In Iowa, more than 1,000 travelers have paid $300 to $800 each this year for farm tours ranging from three to eight days. They visited ranches and dairy operations to bottle-feed calves, pick apples or watch border collies herd sheep, said H. Peter Jorgensen, group travel manager of Silos and Smokestacks National Heritage Area, a nonprofit group in Decorah, Iowa, that organizes the trips for tour operators.

“People are loving this stuff,” Mr. Jorgensen said, and business is up 50 percent this year. Most of the people hopping on the tours are baby boomers who want to know where their food comes from, he said.

Shebby Lee, owner of Shebby Lee Tours, a company in Rapid City, S.D., that organizes historical trips across the West, said: “Group tours have gotten a bad rap in the past because people think of old people sitting on the bus looking out the window. People want to do things.”

Participants in any of Ms. Lee’s 30 tours might climb into dugout canoes, ride in wagons, watch saddles being made, learn the etiquette of a Native American dance or go backstage at a rodeo to talk to the cowboys. Her trips cost $800 to $4,000 a person.

THE REV. CLYDE BEDENBAUGH, a retired Lutheran minister from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and his wife, Nell, spent 16 days with Ms. Lee, tracing the route taken 200 years ago by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, up the Missouri River from St. Louis and on to the Pacific Ocean. The trip, which cost them $2,800 each, included old-fashioned fish fries, visits from a dozen historical impersonators, demonstrations on firing a flintlock rifle and a ride in a keelboat. Guides organized Lewis and Clark trivia games on the bus, with winners receiving Lewis and Clark trading cards, cookbooks and hats.

“It was the most intensive and extensive tour that we have ever taken,” Mr. Bedenbaugh said. “You read the books, but you don’t experience it.”

Tom Taplin and Cory Freyer, who live in Santa Monica, Calif., went on vacation last year with the same mind-set — about Antarctica. For 18 days, they traced the route taken by Ernest H. Shackleton, the explorer, on a journey that began in 1914. His ship became trapped and was later crushed by ice; he and his crew lived for five months on drifting ice packs.

Mr. Taplin, a photographer, and Ms. Freyer, a wilderness-skills instructor, read “Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage,” by Alfred Lansing, then plunked down $7,000 each to join 100 other vacationers to see at first hand where the story took place.

They took a 230-foot boat from the tip of South America to Antarctica; listened to lectures by specialists on penguins, whales and birds; visited Shackleton’s grave; took boats to sites where his crew stayed; and hiked on the small island where Shackleton and his crew were ultimately rescued.

“It’s the most dramatic survival story in history,” said Ms. Freyer, 54. “It gave the trip a raison d’être, rather than just scenery.”

Fathom Expeditions, the Toronto company that organized the trip, also books tours tracing the routes of explorers who tried to reach the North Pole. Fathom plays host to about 575 tourists a year, who pay $5,000 to $9,000 each for the adventures, said the company’s owner, David German.

“People learn about the history and say, ‘Wow, I’m here.’ ”
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/10/bu...ey/10tour.html





Virtually Cool
Chip Brown

If you’re not reading this on a screen, if you don’t have a blog, if your phone is still leashed to a wall, if time has cruelly removed you from the 25-to-34-year-old age bracket beloved by advertisers, you probably missed the book party at the TriBeCa Cinemas in July. The author of the hour was Chris Anderson, who after the drinks entertained the crowd with a simulcast PowerPoint lecture on the topic of his new best seller, “The Long Tail,” which describes how the chokehold of mass culture is being loosened by the new Internet-enabled economics of niche culture and niche commerce.

The party was sponsored in part by a small SoHo-based new-media company called Flavorpill, which produces free e-mail magazines and weekly event guides for New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and London. (Soon to come are editions for Austin, Miami, Seattle and Boston.) Flavorpill’s number of subscribers has been doubling annually since the company started in New York six years ago, and now its family of 10 digital publications has 355,000 readers and projected revenues of $3.5 million this year. Such is Flavorpill’s trend-setting street cred that in some quarters its seal of approval is considered the equivalent of a papal blessing.

“We’ve been called the Condé Nast of e-mail,” says Sascha Lewis, a co-founder.

To whisk up the mood after Anderson’s economics seminar, Flavorpill brought in dance-punk disk jockeys, and from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. there was live music from bands your mother has never heard of, unless her iPod is unaccountably stuffed with booty rap by Spank Rock. Flavorpill also put together a “Tap the Tail” promotional CD of cutting-edge tunes, which staff members were handing out at the door — a far cry from the early days when the company’s brand-extension missionaries used to chalk the logo on the sidewalks of Union Square.

More than 1,300 people showed up at TriBeCa Cinemas; because the event had been “Flavorpilled” — that is, listed in Flavorpill’s New York City e-mail issue No. 318 — a lot of them were what Lewis and his partner, Mark Mangan, call “urban influencers.”

Anderson is such a creature himself — a regular reader of Flavorpill San Francisco, the city where he lives and works as the editor in chief of Wired magazine.

“It resonates with me,” he said when I asked why he likes it. “Why does anybody read anything?”

On one hand it makes perfect sense that Flavorpill would want to fete a book focused on a component of the company’s success. The efficiency with which information can be assembled and distributed on the Internet is the foundation of every digital-content company. Flavorpill created an audience by deftly exploiting a new medium. “In many ways,” Mark Mangan says, “what we’re doing with the events we list is the same as what Time Out New York, The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Village Voice and other publications are doing. But if you can’t click to a map of where the event is, if you can’t forward it to your friends, if you can’t send it to your cellphone, is it really that useful?”

On the other hand, part of Anderson’s Long Tail thesis is that the Internet is removing bottlenecks between supply and demand and establishing a market where “everything becomes available to everyone.” Unlike with archetypal Long Tail businesses like iTunes or eBay, the success of Flavorpill’s weekly e-mails has less to do with new digital efficiencies than with the classic distinctions of sensibility. Despite the founders’ professed desire not to cater just to a “clique of hipsters,” Flavorpill’s subscriber traffic, ad trade and growing cultural influence depend on the “cultural filtering” of staff members who would not have to change much if they wanted to attend Flavorpill’s ultracool Halloween party dressed as a clique of hipsters. The success of Flavorpill in defining what’s cool raises the question: How cool can anything really be if everyone knows about it?

It’s hard to think of things that are less dynamic than the production of a digital city-events guide, which is why Mark Mangan came to work one day with a hand-held Chinese gong. The editorial process at Flavorpill starts quietly each Wednesday morning, and stays quiet as the week unfolds, until Monday evening, when a series of ear-shattering gong strikes ceremoniously marks the moment each city’s week of “filtered cultural stimuli” is released to the tech leprechauns who then push the stuff onto the Net for subscribers to open on Tuesday afternoon.

The managing editors of each city edition live in the cities they cover, but Mangan and Lewis, the sales staff, the techies and the production editors who format and copy-edit the cultural stimuli are all based in New York. Headquarters is a 2,500-square-foot loft on Broadway, next door to the New York institute of Alfred Adler, the famous Freudian apostate whose cultural profile is sorely lagging Spank Rock’s, to judge from the 20-somethings at Flavorpill who had never heard of him. The office has the shoestring-chic of a college newspaper. There’s always music going — evidently nothing facilitates cultural filtration like minimalist German techno. Four clocks mind the time in Flavorpill cities. There is a bicycle by the fire exit, a conference room designed around a garage door and dozens of desks glowing with the flat-screen fire of Macs and PC’s. As for the Aeron chairs that were once de rigueur at digital media companies before the Internet bubble burst in 2000, there are just two, reserved for the head guys.

The week after the Long Tail party I followed the preparations for Flavorpill N.Y.C. No. 319. It was being edited, or “curated,” as they like to say, by the New York managing editor, Jake Lancaster, a tall 30-year-old Boston University graduate who got his start at Flavorpill a few years ago when, for joy not money, he reviewed the Brooklyn hip-hop artist Beans. Eventually he landed a gig as one of Flavorpill’s 12 full-time employees.

When he got to his desk that Wednesday, his e-mail in-box was swollen with potential listings, all of them tagged and routed by a proprietary content-management system built by Flavorpill and known, somewhat ominously, as the Tool. About half of the final cut of 25 items for the coming week would be gleaned from suggestions submitted by regular Flavorpill contributors, nearly all of whom were also writing for the joy of it, or — if they were young and aspiring journalists — for clips and contacts.

One possible No. 319 item caught Lancaster’s eye right away: an anniversary performance of “Asssscat” by the improv comedy group the Upright Citizens Brigade. It was sent in by longtime Flavorpill contributor Mindy Bond, who has a double life not atypical of Flavorpill contributors. At night she trolls obscure cultural tributaries; during the day she works in the main channel of the mainstream, in the speech-writing department of Time Warner. (“I look for events that are quirky or weird,” she told me later. “Or things that are going to catch on but haven’t quite. I steer away from things that are listed in The New Yorker. If something has the Flavorpill stamp, you know it is cool or interesting or funny or ahead of the curve and will attract people that have the same interests you do.”) Good comedy listings were hard to come by, and Lancaster quickly made Asssscat a finalist; it was knocked out at the last minute for technical reasons (Flavorpill e-mails don’t list shows that sell out before publication).

Done with the submissions in the Tool, Lancaster turned to sift through a long queue of e-mailed press releases and his massive list of venue Web sites. “We try to keep the issue a light read,” he said. “No one wants a novel in their e-mail.”

“What would never make the final cut?”

“Anything really really expensive,” Lancaster said.

“Anything at Madison Square Garden,” said Leah Taylor, the 22-year-old New York production editor who was sitting at the next computer, reading a British music Web site called This Is Fake DIY.

“Anything exceedingly banal,” Lancaster added. “There’s no point to listing a classic rock band that’s been around for 40 years, like the Allman Brothers. But an old lounge act we might list for the kitsch factor. Occasionally some venues will really surprise you. Like B.B. King’s. They’ll have a lot of incredibly cheesy stuff — Beatles brunches and terrible cover bands — and then they’ll have some crazy death-metal band. The tough thing is keeping track of nontraditional venues.”

In the course of the week I made a point of asking anyone I could what characterized the sensibility behind each week’s batch of filtered cultural stimuli. It proved a surprisingly hard needle to thread: a set of ineffable intuitions and aesthetic standards that seemed as nebulous as they were exacting. Possibly Flavorpill’s influence has less to do with what is on its menu than with the fact that the menu isn’t overstuffed with entrees. Flavorpill doesn’t take the Greek coffee shop approach and paralyze readers with a surfeit of options.

“I would say the primary focus is on emerging culture of all kinds,” said Jocelyn Glei, the 29-year-old group managing editor who oversees all five city guides, as well as the specialized magazines. “There aren’t really any parameters, the only overriding factor is that we really believe in the artist or the production — we really think something is great.” As an example of how Flavorpill draws from mainstream sources as well as cultural backwaters, Glei cited New York Flavorpill issues that listed both the conventional production of “The Importance of Being Earnest” at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and a production at the Brick Theater in Williamsburg of “The Kung Fu Importance of Being Earnest,” which hilariously stitched martial arts scenes into Wilde’s classic drawing-room comedy.

“I would say the aesthetic we uphold is always about our own canon,” said Lisa Rosman, a longtime contributor. “Either very new cultural trends or older ones that are vital to the ones that prevail at the moment. An example would be that we always highlight Gil Scott-Heron, even though he was a 60’s-70’s dude, since he pretty much helped launch hip-hop. Our aesthetic is mainstream indie, though we don’t admit it. It’s under the wire, but just. And the minute we report on it, its under-the-wire status is absolutely blown.”

As Flavorpill’s film editor, Rosman contributes to all the city publications, and she has developed a feel for the subtle regional differences. “Chicago has its own kind of hard-core R.&B.-inspired scene and an art scene inspired by both the Art Institute of Chicago and cheaper rents. L.A. has a refracted neon palm tree glam, which is a reaction to all that Hollywood veneer that wends its way into visual art especially, but also into music and all the retro-movie houses. London, well those kids have a jaunty charm I’ve yet to pin down.”

Every list item seems to entail a complex aesthetic calibration and raises the possibility that staff members who imagine themselves consummate indie hipsters may actually have an uncomfortable amount in common with mainstream dorks. Rosman told me that a few editors had a big debate about whether to list a Justin Timberlake concert. “The feeling was we couldn’t, because Justin Timberlake is not cool,” she said. “But everyone at Flavorpill secretly loves Justin Timberlake.”

Flavorpill’s founders, Mark Mangan, 35, and Sascha Lewis, 36, are both veterans of the first Internet boom. Mangan grew up in a Main Line Philadelphia suburb, the second of four kids. Having read “The Aeneid” in Latin at the Episcopal Academy, he thought he would be a scholar or a writer. But he showed an early knack for business, selling taffy out of his locker to his fellow fourth graders and turning the family basement into a profitable silk-screen T-shirt factory during high school.

“My mom is an accountant; she explained C.O.G.S. to me — cost of goods sold,” Mangan recalled one day over lunch at Barmarché in NoLIta. He was casually dressed, dark-haired, with friendly brown eyes and a delicate starfish of a scar on his forehead, a result of a car crash in the family Volvo when he was 5.

At the University of Vermont, Mangan studied English and French; he spent a year in Paris reading philosophy and literature at the Sorbonne and bartending in the Paris branch of Cactus Charly.

Back home after graduation, he took the LSAT but decided not to follow his father and his older brother, Mike, into a law career. A friend had given him a 1993 report on the growth and future of the Internet. He was inspired to dig out his dad’s I.B.M. desktop computer and start poking around online.

In 1995 he landed a job as a Web consultant, and a year later, with Jonathan Wallace, he wrote a well-received book, “Sex, Laws and Cyberspace.” In 1998, as the frenzy of the Internet land rush was cresting, he set out to stake a claim with his own lifestyle e-commerce business. He was looking for capital when he bumped into Lewis, whom he had known through a mutual friend since college.

Lewis, unlike Mangan, had no itch to homestead in cyberspace. He grew up on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, with an older sister. His mother worked as a child therapist; his father founded the New York-based Touchstone Center for Children. Lewis was 11 when they divorced. He played baseball and basketball at the Walden School in New York. During the winter of his senior year, he worked as the ball boy for the New York Knicks. He occasionally got to shoot around on the floor of Madison Square Garden with visiting gym rats like Larry Bird and Isiah Thomas.

Today, with his hair gone, his athletic competitiveness tempered by age, a regular yoga practice and possibly the pacifying effects of a vegetarian diet, he still seems driven — ready to dive for a loose ball. Two fixtures of his wardrobe are his white Royal Elastics sneakers and a colored terry cloth wristband.

After graduating from Union College in 1992, Lewis worked at a club called Mr. Fuji’s. “I loved night life,” he says. “I was always the guy in the group who takes charge of where we should go.”

A year later, he got into real estate and in 1995 started his own company, but the unutterable bliss of finding apartments for supermodels like Linda Evangelista wasn’t what he had in mind when he recalled his boyhood desire to change the world. Neither was e-commerce. He didn’t own a computer; he knew virtually nothing about the Internet. But anything was better than haggling with landlords, and when he heard Mark Mangan’s pitch, he agreed to put up $10,000 and join the team.

Netsetgoods.com opened in December 1998. The e-shelves were stocked with pashminas from India, watches from Japan, one-strap messenger bags from France. Within 18 months the company had customers from all 50 states and 15 countries and notices from all the major style magazines. Revenues peaked at $300,000 a year.

Then, in March 2000, the Internet bubble burst.

“We just never got the bird off the ground,” says Mark’s brother, Mike Mangan, who was the company’s lawyer.

In the final months before Netset folded in October 2000, the would-be e-commerce moguls sent out e-mail messages to New York Netset customers and people on party lists from the first dot-com boom, when there was an event nearly every night for digital workers eager to relax after a hard day burning venture capital.

The first e-mail message was dispatched on July 11, 2000. With four plain-text items separated by asterisks, the visual presentation was on a par with the wire-service telexes that rattled out the news of Nixon’s resignation in 1974. But the reception was good. So they did one the next week, and another the week after that. When they stopped moving merchandise, Mangan and Lewis thought they might make a go moving cultural advisories instead.

“We had no capital,” Mangan recalls. “No business plan, no model. But we had a growing publication that people were digging, so we said to each other, ‘Let’s just push forward, see how far we can take this.”’

Needing a name, they came up with Flavorpill after three days of brainstorming, convinced that the image of a mouthwatering capsule of culture outweighed the unwanted drug connotations. They registered the domain name that September.

“I wrote the first six months of Flavorpill New York in my kitchen and then e-mailed it to Mark,” Lewis told me. “For three and a half years I don’t think I went to bed once before 2 a.m. on Monday night. Our parents were like: ‘What are you guys doing? You’re college graduates and you’re sending out e-mails?’ My girlfriend at the time would ask for rent, and I would say, ‘Sweetie, it’s just around the corner.”’

Lewis put the $200 monthly Web hosting bill on his Visa card, and took work D.J.-ing at clubs. Mangan scraped by doing Web consulting. Will Keh, a friend they had in common, lavished them with leftovers from his catering company.

In April 2001 they sent out the first issue of Flavorpill that contained graphics. Cover art — original paintings and graphics offered by artists eager to publicize their work — would eventually become a Flavorpill trademark, as would the clean color-shot layout. And then in January 2002 they were able to replace the line of asterisks that delineated the days of the week in their very first e-mail with banner ads from an advertiser. Bloomberg, the news and financial information company founded by the new mayor of New York, bought five weeks of ads for $4,000 per week. Over the next three years Flavorpill would maintain the practice of selling each issue exclusively to one advertiser — companies like Nokia, BMW, Anheuser-Busch — but the rates would rise to $18,000 per issue, about 7 to 10 times the cost of an ad on a mainstream portal like Yahoo. Signs that they had some traction with their audience were springing up everywhere.

“We had club owners starting to call us up and ask, ‘Can you not list us?”’ Mangan told me.

A striking example of Flavorpill’s influence was the company’s collaboration with the Guggenheim Museum. Last year the museum began throwing a D.J. party in the Guggenheim rotunda on the first Friday of the month. The idea was to get a younger crowd of potential new members into the museum after hours. An e-mail press release from the Guggenheim arrived at Flavorpill.

“I had never heard any of their D.J.’s,” Lewis says. “I offered to help. I thought what we would get out of it would be media content, branding and a level of respect with the artistic community.”

“They brought in Diplo,” recalls Julia Brown, the museum’s manager of membership. “We had no idea this guy was the biggest thing since sliced bread.” The museum had been averaging 1,500 people; Diplo turned out nearly twice that number.

In retrospect, that primitive e-mail message Lewis and Mangan first sent out in July 2000 was an uncanny template of the future. It lacked the elegant Flavorpill graphics and the embedded hypertext links that now make each e-mail magazine a springboard to the fathomless esoterica of the Web. But the essential form was there from the start: the brief, superpositive event descriptions with the accent on why readers had to go; the ticket giveaways for added inspiration; the when-and-where info; the scope of venues that included New York’s outer boroughs; the viral marketing and community building embedded in the opportunity to “add a friend” to the e-mail list. Most important, Lewis and Mangan’s initial effort contained an appeal to readers to submit items of what they thought was must-see culture. Soliciting help was hardly an original idea — Tom Sawyer used the same tactic to get his fence painted — but it worked like a dream, providing fresh proof that if you get people excited about a job, they might well do it free.

When Monday arrived, one of the important cultural filterers was missing. “Leah’s home with pinkeye,” said Jake Lancaster. “But she’s working remotely.”

Lancaster was writing the introductory summary of the week. Each Flavorpill issue has a loose theme — Breezy Flavor, Profligate Flavor, Fecund Flavor — and with the Middle East exploding, the one he came up with for No. 319 was Discordant Flavor.

Leah Taylor being off-site meant that her boss, Jon Schultz, the 29-year-old group production editor, would have to pick up the slack. At the moment he was putting in some special coding so that spam filters would not reject a Flavorpill issue containing a word that would make your mother blush. Profanity is generally discouraged, but when writers are working free, you indulge them when you can.

When the San Francisco edition was done, Gerry Mak, the production editor, picked up the Chinese gong and whaled on it with a mallet.

“Woo-hoo!” said Jocelyn Glei, knocking fists with Mak. She turned back to proofreading, finding a space that needed to be closed up between a word and an ellipsis.

One by one, as London, L.A. and Chicago were wrapped, city production editors rose and trooped to the gong. Whether they whacked it once or twice, or apologetically, or vigorously, or with a demented zeal, the crescendo of sound cut through the minimalist German techno like Patton’s Third Army, lending texture and drama to the invisible rush of bytes.

Finally Schultz stood up. New York No. 319 was done. “Bring me the mallet!” he said.

Two days later I stopped by Mark Mangan’s apartment in the East Village, a 15-minute walk from his office. He brought some beer up to the roof, where there were a couple of chairs and a view.

Somehow time had carried him beyond the demographic center of his audience, more than half of whom were between 25 and 34. And he was looking in from the outside in other ways, being in the business of telling people where they could go but hardly ever getting out himself.

“It’s a little bit the story of the cobbler’s son — you know, he’s the one who doesn’t have any shoes,” he said.

Work was always on his mind. New cities beckoned, potential Flavorpills for Berlin, Tokyo, São Paulo, Toronto. It was possible that in a few years they could have three million readers. Every day he scanned a hundred Web sites, he read 200 to 300 e-mail messages. Six years on, the company was finally hitting its stride; they had turned down buyout offers.

“Now is when then fun begins,” he said.

More than once both Mangan and Lewis told me that their ambition was “to raise the water level of good culture,” as if buried in Flavorpill’s consumerist approach — in the trivial hedonism of any list of things to do — was a reformer’s agenda. Set aside that cultures are defined as much by what people detest as what they love. Week after week Flavorpill finds things to praise in the seemingly quixotic hope that the heavy lifting of cultural improvement might be accomplished through the rigor of a rosy focus.

The sun was long gone when we climbed down the stairs from the roof. It was a blistering night in the East Village. Mangan flipped open his cellphone. On the screen were the Flavorpill suggestions for that Thursday, fed to his phone by Dodgeball.com. He scrolled down the list. There was an Okkervil River concert at Castle Clinton. Missed that. At the Prospect Park Bandshell Yo La Tengo was performing their original score for eight documentary short films by the “surrealist aquanaut Jean Painlevé.” Missed that too. The Canada Gallery was featuring a group show led by Jim Drain, who was known for his “patchwork totem-sculptures that exude alien cool.” Too late again. The Great Villains in Cinema at Brooklyn Academy of Music? Not tonight. He shrugged. No matter. There was a feast out there, and something with his name on it was sure to turn up soon.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/10/ma...lavorpill.html





Samsung Develops New Memory Chip
AP

Samsung Electronics Co. on Monday unveiled a new type of memory chip that it said will allow digital devices to work faster by saving new data more quickly.

The phase-change random access memory, or PRAM, chip is nonvolatile, meaning it will retain data even when an electronic device is turned off, and is about 30 times faster than conventional flash memory, Samsung said.

It is expected to be available in 2008, Samsung said. A 512-megabit prototype PRAM device was unveiled at a news conference in Seoul on Monday.

Currently, two types of nonvolatile flash memory chips - NOR and NAND - are widely used in electronic devices.

NOR chips are suitable for running software directly, but are slower and are more expensive to manufacture, while NAND chips are easier to make in larger capacities but are more suitable for large data files, such as MP3 music.

Samsung said the PRAM chips use vertical diodes and a three-dimensional transistor structure to create a small cell size. Unlike NOR and NAND chips, they don't need to first erase any old data in a separate step before storing any new data, it said.

Samsung also unveiled on Monday a 32-gigabit NAND flash memory chip based on finer 40-nanometer process technology - the size of the smallest circuit elements on the chip. A nanometer is one billionth of a meter.

Currently, the bulk of Samsung's flash memory chips are produced using 70-nanometer process technology.

Using finer process technology allows more to be fit on a semiconductor chip and reduces power requirements.

Flash memory chips are used extensively in digital music devices, digital cameras and mobile phones.

Samsung is the world's largest memory chip maker and a top producer of consumer electronics, including flat-screen televisions, mobile phones, MP3 players and laptop computers.

The company, based in Suwon, South Korea, recorded a net profit of 7.64 trillion won ($8 billion) on sales of 57.46 trillion won ($60 billion) in 2005.

Article





Cell Phone Makers Fight Resales
Andrew Welsh-Huggins

People moving state to state, armed with cash and tricks to avoid scrutiny, are buying cheap prepaid mobile phones by the thousands with plans to sell them in Latin America and Hong Kong.

Cell phone companies say the practice is costing them millions of dollars, and some have hired private investigators to document what they say is illegal tampering with their phones. Wal-Mart, Radio Shack and other retailers are limiting how many phones they will sell at one time.

The buying has raised concerns the phones might be used to aid terrorism, though those in the trade say it's nothing but capitalism at its best - no different than reselling stock for more than you paid.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Homeland Security issued nationwide bulletins earlier this year warning police to be on the lookout for bulk purchases of cell phones. Authorities are worried that profits from the trade could end up financing terrorism or that the phones could be used as detonators in attacks.

The practice - at the center of court cases in Florida, Ohio and Michigan - appears widespread and in no danger of subsiding soon. Participants in the trade don't appear very bashful.

"Don't leave a phone behind. To make real money buy them all," urged an e-mail by Larry Riedeman of Larry's Cell in Altamonte Springs, Fla., that was included in a lawsuit against that entity by TracFone Wireless Inc. "Thousands a day if you can!"

Riedeman and other small companies are considered the middlemen in a system that starts with buyers snapping up phones at retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and ends with resale of the phones overseas.

In Ohio, two men acknowledged last month to authorities that they had delivered 600 TracFones to a middleman over three months.

Also in August, three Dallas men briefly charged in Michigan with trafficking counterfeited goods told the FBI that several businesses in Texas buy telephones "from hundreds of people like themselves," according to an FBI filing in that case. The phones are then sold to middlemen in California, New York or Miami.

Another buyer, Bilal Mustafa, 22, of Minneapolis, told The Associated Press he travels around the Midwest a week at a time in search of phones. He and a buddy will buy four to six at once at small-town department stores, as many as 250 a day.

Mustafa sells them to a cell phone business he wouldn't identify. He says he's doing nothing illegal and scoffs at FBI concerns that the practice could aid terrorists.

"If it did, I wouldn't do it," said Mustafa, a Palestinian immigrant from the West Bank. "I'm not stupid."

Purchasing cell phones in bulk is not illegal and authorities haven't had much luck trying to prosecute the buyers. Earlier this week, a federal judge threw out the charges against the men in the Michigan case, saying there wasn't enough evidence to take the case to trial.

The Michigan charges alleged that by removing the cell phones from their original packaging, the men made it easier to repackage the phones with counterfeit trademarks in violation of federal copyright law.

The men arrested in Ohio in August face a low-level charge of giving misleading information to police, including changing their story about why they had so many cell phones when they were first stopped.

Terrorism charges were leveled in both cases but quickly dropped.

The middlemen indicate an apparently insatiable hunger for the phones, with profits in some cases of 100 percent for a handset that retails for as little as $20.

The phones are so cheap because TracFone and other providers of prepaid cellular service sell them at a loss to create a market for their real profit maker, selling customers more call time.

For example, a Nokia 1100 - one of the phones referenced in TracFone's lawsuit against Larry's Cell - was being sold in stores for about $20 a phone. However, it probably cost TracFone about $25 per phone wholesale, said Paul Sagawa, an industry analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. in New York.

The Dallas men arrested in Michigan said they had spent $20,000 on phones within just a few days.

The Riedeman e-mails promise earnings of $10,000 a month for aggressive buyers. Riedeman offered bonuses to such suppliers, from $120 to anyone bringing in 400 phones a month to $2,000 for someone buying 2,000 a month, according to court documents.

Mustafa wouldn't say how much he earns on each $20 phone but said it's a reasonable profit.

"I don't think I'll make a million bucks," he said. "Just enough to take care of my car, my gas, a hotel and make a little money."

Buyers - often young men - pay cash, frequently making purchases in the middle of the night to avoid scrutiny and to skirt store sales limits, according to affidavits and other filings in state and federal court.

They make up stories about why they need the phones, move from cashier to cashier or simply buy the limit from a store, wait awhile, then return.

"I have many times used other shoppers to help me," said the Riedeman e-mail. "You would be surprised how many folks will lend a helping hand."

Riedeman could not be reached to comment. E-mail and phone messages were not immediately returned. No lawyer for him is listed in federal court documents. A phone for his brother, Clint, who is also named in the lawsuit, rang unanswered.

After receiving the phones from the buyers, often in bulk shipments, the middlemen deactivate a software lock on the devices so they can be used on other cellular services. The phones are then repackaged and shipped to their next destination, records show.

A lawsuit filed in January by Nokia Corp. accuses Pan Ocean Communications of Pompano Beach, Fla., of buying $20 cell phones from Wal-Mart, Sam's Club and Target Corp. stores, disabling their software, then reselling them for $39 as legitimate Nokia handsets. The company sold them to distributors, wholesalers, exporters and flea market booth operators, the lawsuit said.

A judge ordered Pan Ocean and another company, Sol Wireless Group of Miami, to stop reselling the phones. Messages seeking comment were left with attorneys representing the businesses.

Destinations have changed over the years, from Singapore in the past to Mexico today, said John Walls, a spokesman for CTIA, a cellular industry trade association that opposes the practice.

"You're able to deliver a pretty good product that will operate on the Mexican network, the black market can deliver a handsome profit on that device, and Mexican consumers have the opportunity to save themselves a few dollars," Walls said.

Lawsuits filed by TracFone and Nokia also name markets in Latin America and Hong Kong, where resale prices are higher.

Since TracFones that haven't been tampered with can work only in the United States, overseas buyers ought to know they aren't being sold legitimately, said Jim Baldinger, a TracFone attorney in West Palm Beach, Fla.

Lawyers for the men arrested in Michigan and Ohio say their clients were conducting legal business and are being targeted only because they are of Middle Eastern descent.

"All these individuals were doing was buying and reselling phones," said Detroit attorney Nabih Ayad. "There's nothing illegal about it. They buy cell phones from one retailer and sell them to another retailer who can sell them for more."

Retailers, wireless service providers and phone makers don't see it that way. "Resale on the black market is never a good thing," said Wendy Dominguez, a Radio Shack Corp. spokeswoman.

At West Broad Cellular near downtown Columbus, owner Abdul Salameh sells prepaid phones starting at $50, far above the price charged by rivals whom he suspects of scooping them up at places such as Wal-Mart.

Salameh, 26, says he's being undercut by the practice but isn't sure how to combat it:

"If people are selling them for real cheap, we're getting destroyed."
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...09-10-14-06-11





Philanthropy Google’s Way: Not the Usual
Katie Hafner

The ambitious founders of Google, the popular search engine company, have set up a philanthropy, giving it seed money of about $1 billion and a mandate to tackle poverty, disease and global warming.

But unlike most charities, this one will be for-profit, allowing it to fund start-up companies, form partnerships with venture capitalists and even lobby Congress. It will also pay taxes.

One of its maiden projects reflects the philanthropy’s nontraditional approach. According to people briefed on the program, the organization, called Google.org, plans to develop an ultra-fuel-efficient plug-in hybrid car engine that runs on ethanol, electricity and gasoline.

The philanthropy is consulting with hybrid-engine scientists and automakers, and has arranged for the purchase of a small fleet of cars with plans to convert the engines so that their gas mileage exceeds 100 miles per gallon. The goal of the project is to reduce dependence on oil while alleviating the effects of global warming.

Google.org is drawing skeptics for both its structure and its ambitions. It is a slingshot compared with the artillery of charities established by older captains of industry. Its financing pales next to the tens of billions that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will have at its disposal, especially with the coming infusion of some $3 billion a year from Warren E. Buffett, the founder of Berkshire Hathaway.

But Google’s philanthropic work is coming early in the company’s lifetime. Microsoft was 25 years old before Bill Gates set up his foundation, which is a tax-exempt organization and separate from Microsoft.

By choosing for-profit status, Google will have to pay taxes if company shares are sold at a profit — or if corporate earnings are used — to finance Google.org. Any resulting venture that shows a profit will also have to pay taxes. Shareholders may not like the fact that the Google.org tax forms will not be made public, but kept private as part of the tax filings of the parent, Google Inc.

Google’s founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, believe for-profit status will greatly increase their philanthropy’s range and flexibility. It could, for example, form a company to sell the converted cars, finance that company in partnership with venture capitalists, and even hire a lobbyist to pressure Congress to pass legislation granting a tax credit to consumers who buy the cars.

The executive director whom Mr. Page and Mr. Brin have hired, Dr. Larry Brilliant, is every bit as iconoclastic as Google’s philanthropic arm. Dr. Brilliant, a 61-year-old physician and public health expert, has studied under a Hindu guru in a monastery at the foothills of the Himalayas and worked as a Silicon Valley entrepreneur.

In one project, which Dr. Brilliant brought with him to the job, Google.org will try to develop a system to detect disease outbreaks early.

Dr. Brilliant likens the traditional structure of corporate foundations to a musician confined to playing only the high register on a piano. “Google.org can play on the entire keyboard,” Dr. Brilliant said in an interview. “It can start companies, build industries, pay consultants, lobby, give money to individuals and make a profit.”

While declining to comment on the car project specifically, Dr. Brilliant said he would hope to see such ventures make a profit. “But if they didn’t, we wouldn’t care,” he said. “We’re not doing it for the profit. And if we didn’t get our capital back, so what? The emphasis is on social returns, not economic returns.”

Development of ultra-high-mileage cars is under way at a number of companies, from Toyota to tiny start-ups. Making an engine that uses E85 — a mixture of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline — is not difficult, but the lack of availability of the fuel presents a challenge, said Brett Smith, a senior industry analyst at the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Another barrier, Mr. Smith said, lies in the batteries for so-called plug-in hybrids, which require more powerful batteries that charge more quickly than the current generation of hybrid batteries.

There are skeptics, too, among tax lawyers and other pragmatists familiar with the world of philanthropy. They wonder whether Google’s directors might be tempted to take back some of the largess in an economic downturn.

“The money is at the beck and call of the board of directors and shareholders,” said Marcus S. Owens, a tax lawyer in Washington who spent a decade as director of the exempt organizations division of the Internal Revenue Service. “It’s possible the shareholders of Google might someday object, especially if we go into an economic depression and that money is needed to shore up the company.”

And there is the question of how many of the planet’s problems can truly be addressed by a single corporate entity.

But even while expressing reservations about Google’s approach, Mr. Owens said that the structure of Google.org “eliminates all the constraints that might otherwise apply.”

The only conventional part of Google.org is the Google Foundation, a nonprofit with an endowment of $90 million that is constrained in how it spends by the 501(c)(3) section of the Internal Revenue Service code.

Google’s big philanthropic experiment lies in the part of Google.org where the bulk of the funding now resides. This part of Google.org will be fully taxable, with the ability to invest in a full spectrum of programs and companies.

All of Google.org’s spending, Dr. Brilliant said, will be in keeping with its mission, and there is to be no “blowback.” That is, should Google.org make a profit with one of its ventures, those funds will not go to the search engine business, but will stay within Google.org.

Google had existed for only six years, when, in advance of the company’s initial public offering in August 2004, Mr. Page and Mr. Brin told potential investors that they planned to set aside 1 percent of the company’s stock and an equal percentage of profits for philanthropy. By the end of 2004, Google.org was formed.

The company has said it plans to spend the money over the next 20 years, and the Google board recently approved a more rapid disbursement rate, $175 million over the next two years.

“Poor people can’t wait,” Dr. Brilliant said. “Dying people can’t wait for some 20-year plan. It’s not what we’re doing here.”

Ventures that grow out of Google.org could be seen to have a competitive edge because they do not need to show a financial profit. But financial returns from a project like the high-mileage car are not necessarily the aim.

“I think how you count profit is the issue here,” said Peter Hero, president of the Community Foundation of Silicon Valley, a charitable foundation with about $1 billion in assets. “Google.org is measuring return on cleaner air and quality of life. Their bottom line isn’t just financial. It’s environmental and social.”

Once Google.org was formed, the company spent months searching for an executive director. There was no lack of interest in the job.

“Literally thousands of people worldwide got in touch with us,” said Sheryl Sandberg, the Google vice president who led the search. “We’d get someone who was an amazing technology entrepreneur but who didn’t know anything about the developing world.”

Then along came Dr. Brilliant, an affable man generous with bearhugs and self-deprecating humor whose unlikely résumé looks like a composite career summary of multiple high achievers.

After receiving his medical degree, Dr. Brilliant studied for two years with Neem Karoli Baba, a famous Hindu guru.

As Dr. Brilliant tells the story, in 1973, shortly before the guru’s death, he told Dr. Brilliant to “take off the ashram whites” and use his skills as a physician to help eradicate smallpox, which was devastating India at the time.

Dr. Brilliant joined a team of United Nations workers who painstakingly worked their way through India inoculating people against the disease. In 1980, the World Health Organization declared that smallpox had been eradicated.

In 1978, Dr. Brilliant started the Seva Foundation, which focuses on preventing and curing blindness throughout Asia and Latin America. In 1985, Dr. Brilliant was a co-founder of the Well, a seminal online community. Throughout the 1990’s and early 2000’s, he ran several high-tech companies in Silicon Valley.

Dr. Brilliant first heard about Google.org in early 2005 while lying in bed in India, sick with dysentery. He had gone there to work with the polio eradication program of the United Nations and, while recovering, he saw news of Google.org in a local newspaper.

He sent an inquiry to the only e-mail address he could find: info@google.com. He got no response.

This year, Dr. Brilliant was awarded the TED Prize, an award given at the annual Technology, Entertainment and Design conference, a gathering of leaders from the technology and entertainment industries. The prize awards three recipients $100,000, and a “wish” for how to change world.

Dr. Brilliant’s wish was for the creation of an “early detection, rapid response” system for disease outbreaks. The idea would be an open-source, nongovernmental, public access network for detecting, reporting and responding to pandemics.

Some Google insiders heard about the award and invited Dr. Brilliant to give a talk at the company. Mr. Page and Eric E. Schmidt, Google’s chief executive, were in the audience as Dr. Brilliant described the polio eradication efforts of the United Nations. They agreed they had found their director and began to recruit him.

At first, Dr. Brilliant said, he was thrilled. But then he turned skeptical, largely because of the for-profit structure of the organization.

“I got weak knees,” he said. “It was weird. It was precedent setting.” After several lengthy conversations with executives at Google, Dr. Brilliant changed his mind. Six months into the job, he has traveled to India to visit eye clinics and polio vaccination projects with Mr. Page, and to China to discuss clean energy alternatives. Next week, he leaves for Africa to visit Google grant recipients in Ghana.

Dr. Brilliant said he had no desire to “reinvent the wheel” by working on projects others are already involved in. And although Google is a high-tech company, that does not mean that Google.org will be throwing around high-tech solutions.

“Why would we put Wi-Fi in a place where what they need is food and clean water?” he said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/14/te...rtner=homepage





Marianne Faithfull has Breast Cancer
AP

Marianne Faithfull has postponed a world tour after being diagnosed with breast cancer, her London publicist said Thursday.

Doctors in France, where Faithfull was diagnosed, say the cancer is in its earliest stages, said publicist Rob Partridge.

Faithfull, 59, had been due to begin a world tour next month, but it has been postponed until next year.

"I have absolute faith and confidence in my fantastic medical team and of course I will be well again, if not better than ever," the British singer-actress said in a statement released by Partridge.

"Next year's tour, I want to assure fans, will be one big celebration."

Partridge said the cancer had been "quickly discovered by doctors in France — where Marianne stays when not at home in Ireland — and the prognosis for a return to full health is excellent.

"Indeed, Marianne Faithfull is looking forward to playing the rescheduled tour in 2007," he said.

The tour had been due to kick off in Paris on Oct. 7, with concerts in the United States, Canada, Holland, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Hungary and Spain before ending in London on Dec. 18.

Faithfull gained fame in the 1960s as the girlfriend of Mick Jagger and as the pure-voiced singer of "As Tears Go By." After battling drug addiction, she re-emerged in 1979 with the raw album "Broken English" and has since found a new audience as a sophisticated chanteuse.
http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/enter...=entertainment