zdnet.com · Domains · Slashdot Mirror

Spread that ass, XXXmas Cheer by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-15 22:56 · Score: -1, Troll · on Smalltime Wireless ISPs

Spread that ass, XXXmas Cheer by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-15 22:56 · Score: -1, Troll · on Smalltime Wireless ISPs

The Twelves Days of Goatse by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-15 22:01 · Score: -1, Troll · on Smalltime Wireless ISPs

The Twelves Days of Goatse by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-15 22:01 · Score: -1, Troll · on Smalltime Wireless ISPs

ZDNet posted an article about Sonicblue Suing Tivo by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-13 01:17 · Score: 0 · on SONICblue Sues TiVo for Patent Infringement

ZDNet ran this story yesterday, the article makes some interesting points. Check it out at http://chkpt.zdnet.com/chkpt/up.fd.6020393.ct.in/h ttp://techupdate.zdnet.com/techupdate/stories/main /0,14179,2829039,00.html.

On the Bright Side by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-12 14:03 · Score: 0 · on Digital Rights Management Operating System

maybe it'll work just as well as the drm demos at the debut of ms's reader 2.0. the software crashed hard twice on the handheld, once on the laptop. flop sweat was flying.

Re:Read the article - MPEG-4 over proprietary form by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-12 07:13 · Score: 0 · on DVD Player Chipsets To Support Windows Media Files

What we need is real MPEG-4. Not this Microsoft Windows branded crap.

Just say no to blue screens on your consumer electronics devices.

Rob Koenen, president of the MPEG-4 Industry Forum, said progress is being made, noting that Apple is poised to release an MPEG-4 compatible version of its QuickTime technology "within weeks."

Frank Cassanova, Apple's director of product marketing for QuickTime confirmed that the company has already released a version of QuickTime 5 to a handful of testers.

ZDNet posted an article about this... by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-12 04:19 · Score: -1, Troll · on 100 Years Since The First Transatlantic Broadcast

ZDNet ran this story yesterday, the article makes some interesting points. Check it out at http://chkpt.zdnet.com/chkpt/up.fd.6020393.ct.in/h ttp://techupdate.zdnet.com/techupdate/stories/main /0,14179,2829039,00.html.

Re:GOATSE WARNING! by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-12 03:47 · Score: -1, Troll · on DVD Player Chipsets To Support Windows Media Files

Do NOT click on parent link! The real story is ZDNet - here.

ZDNet posted an article about WMP support by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-12 03:38 · Score: -1, Troll · on DVD Player Chipsets To Support Windows Media Files

ZDNet ran this story last week about this and went more into depth, the article makes some interesting points. Check it out at http://chkpt.zdnet.com/chkpt/up.fd.6020393.ct.in/h ttp://techupdate.zdnet.com/techupdate/stories/main /0,14179,2829039,00.html.

It's for a new version of WMP by alen · 2001-12-12 02:18 · Score: 5, Informative · on DVD Player Chipsets To Support Windows Media Files

ZDNet had the story yesterday. The next version of MS windows media player is scodenamed Corona. It's double the DVD quality and 5.1 sound.

Salon != Slashdot... by corky6921 · 2001-12-08 09:05 · Score: 5, Interesting · on Specs of Salons Subscription System

After reading this article, I begin to see why it will be doubly tough for Slashdot to make the jump to subscription-based revenue.

The biggest problem I see with Slashdot is that Slashdot doesn't have a Cringely or a Coursey or a Dvorak. Sure, Slashot has Jon Katz, but I just don't find his articles as readable as a Cringley column or a Dvorak rant.

I see the real difference between Slashdot and Salon on a couple of other fronts as well. Besides not having several columns by intersting authors, most of Slashdot's content is made interesting by the readers, not by the story submitters. Personally, I am horrified by both the obvious lack of attention given to grammar, as well as the oft-biased one-liners added by the story submitters. Finally, although it has gotten better in recent times, Slashdot seems to crash a lot... even more than an overloaded MySQL database would suggest.

For Slashdot to take a viable community and turn it profitable, the story editors do a lot more than Salon did. The fact remains that Salon's content is mostly unique, whereas Slashdot's content (in terms of story submissions) is mostly regurgitated. Salon's readers will pay because it's hard to find Salon-like articles anywhere else. On the other hand, I can honestly say that if ZDNet had a moderation system, I'd only rarely visit Slashdot. ZDNet's columnists keep me entertained, and their news is grammatically correct and up-to-date because they pay people to go out and write it.

It all boils down to whether Slashdot can successfully differentiate itself from the hundreds of other "Cool Linux Stories" sites. In the end, what keeps Slashdot's readers coming back is the discussion and the attached moderation system. What remains to be seen is whether or not people will pay for that.

Salon != Slashdot... by corky6921 · 2001-12-08 09:05 · Score: 5, Interesting · on Specs of Salons Subscription System

After reading this article, I begin to see why it will be doubly tough for Slashdot to make the jump to subscription-based revenue.

The biggest problem I see with Slashdot is that Slashdot doesn't have a Cringely or a Coursey or a Dvorak. Sure, Slashot has Jon Katz, but I just don't find his articles as readable as a Cringley column or a Dvorak rant.

I see the real difference between Slashdot and Salon on a couple of other fronts as well. Besides not having several columns by intersting authors, most of Slashdot's content is made interesting by the readers, not by the story submitters. Personally, I am horrified by both the obvious lack of attention given to grammar, as well as the oft-biased one-liners added by the story submitters. Finally, although it has gotten better in recent times, Slashdot seems to crash a lot... even more than an overloaded MySQL database would suggest.

For Slashdot to take a viable community and turn it profitable, the story editors do a lot more than Salon did. The fact remains that Salon's content is mostly unique, whereas Slashdot's content (in terms of story submissions) is mostly regurgitated. Salon's readers will pay because it's hard to find Salon-like articles anywhere else. On the other hand, I can honestly say that if ZDNet had a moderation system, I'd only rarely visit Slashdot. ZDNet's columnists keep me entertained, and their news is grammatically correct and up-to-date because they pay people to go out and write it.

It all boils down to whether Slashdot can successfully differentiate itself from the hundreds of other "Cool Linux Stories" sites. In the end, what keeps Slashdot's readers coming back is the discussion and the attached moderation system. What remains to be seen is whether or not people will pay for that.

Sheesh by Bender+Unit+22 · 2001-12-07 02:11 · Score: 1 · on Win95 Lifecycle Draws to a Close

and M$ are spamming Novell users with false statements regarding the lifespan of Novell products.Article and then they are even worse themself.

Re:why bash microsoft for this? by Dynedain · 2001-12-06 23:02 · Score: 4, Funny · on Win95 Lifecycle Draws to a Close

A dial-in product activation is already common on many pieces of software that predate WinXP. 3D Studio and AutoCAD are two common examples that come to mind. And web-based authentication is common too - look at any Macromedia product.

In all these cases, if you write down the number the person on the other end of the phone gives you then you can reinstall later to your heart's content.

The XP authentication will use the same number if there aren't hardware changes. Hence your written down response number will work and you wouldn't have to call.

Furthermore, Microsoft *will* keep a database of registration and activation and if you call back in 5 years I'm sure they'll still be able to look up your pertinant info.

David Coursey over at ZDNet actually approached Bill Gates on this "deactivation" concern at a special dinner surrounding the XP launch. Here's a quote from the article:

WILL WINDOWS XP EXPIRE?
"Nonsense!" was how Gates responded to my sharing the concerns of some readers--this is the urban legend I wrote about last Wednesday--that Microsoft plans to use its activation technology to turn off copies of Windows XP when Microsoft decides to stop supporting it.

This idea was so far from left field that I had to explain it a couple of times before Gates responded and then reminded me he doesn't license his software that way--you get to use it forever, and Microsoft has to convince you to give them more money by offering new innovations.

While I agree with Gates that the fears are unfounded, there are people who believe this nonsense, which I've already tried to debunk once. So, remember the words of Chairman Bill: "Once you buy it, you have the right to use it forever."

There you have it from the man himself. "Once you buy it, you have the right to use it forever." I especially like the fact that when asked about this it took Bill a couple of times before understanding what the question was. The idea of "deactivating" users honestly never crossed his mind.

So....when support is no longer provided for XP in the future, you may not be able to get updates, patches, etc., but you will deffinately still be able to run it. That wonderful legal agreement called the EULA protects your interests too you know.

Re:why bash microsoft for this? by Dynedain · 2001-12-06 23:02 · Score: 4, Funny · on Win95 Lifecycle Draws to a Close

A dial-in product activation is already common on many pieces of software that predate WinXP. 3D Studio and AutoCAD are two common examples that come to mind. And web-based authentication is common too - look at any Macromedia product.

In all these cases, if you write down the number the person on the other end of the phone gives you then you can reinstall later to your heart's content.

The XP authentication will use the same number if there aren't hardware changes. Hence your written down response number will work and you wouldn't have to call.

Furthermore, Microsoft *will* keep a database of registration and activation and if you call back in 5 years I'm sure they'll still be able to look up your pertinant info.

David Coursey over at ZDNet actually approached Bill Gates on this "deactivation" concern at a special dinner surrounding the XP launch. Here's a quote from the article:

WILL WINDOWS XP EXPIRE?
"Nonsense!" was how Gates responded to my sharing the concerns of some readers--this is the urban legend I wrote about last Wednesday--that Microsoft plans to use its activation technology to turn off copies of Windows XP when Microsoft decides to stop supporting it.

This idea was so far from left field that I had to explain it a couple of times before Gates responded and then reminded me he doesn't license his software that way--you get to use it forever, and Microsoft has to convince you to give them more money by offering new innovations.

While I agree with Gates that the fears are unfounded, there are people who believe this nonsense, which I've already tried to debunk once. So, remember the words of Chairman Bill: "Once you buy it, you have the right to use it forever."

There you have it from the man himself. "Once you buy it, you have the right to use it forever." I especially like the fact that when asked about this it took Bill a couple of times before understanding what the question was. The idea of "deactivating" users honestly never crossed his mind.

So....when support is no longer provided for XP in the future, you may not be able to get updates, patches, etc., but you will deffinately still be able to run it. That wonderful legal agreement called the EULA protects your interests too you know.

Re:Planned obsolescence by rseuhs · 2001-12-06 22:19 · Score: 2, Interesting · on Win95 Lifecycle Draws to a Close

I'm sorry, but this is totally ridiculous. How are they deciding what the user can't use? It's not like Win95 is not going to work anymore

Rule #1 for defending Microsoft:

Be so narrowminded and shortsighted to fail to see any future developments. And call everybody ridiculous who does.

It's correct that Win95 continues to work, but for WinXP you will need Microsoft's good will (aka WPA). Of course they will grant you gracefully to use XP, so that people like you can tell how nice Microsoft is and nothing changes. However the version after WinXP, will have WPA that works and will be enforced so people like you will tell us that nothing changes, MS just enforces what they did not before. BTW, they force XP on new PCs and inflate
XP-selling numbers to proclaim XP as "the standard" and abandon older versions earlier.

Is Microsoft evil? No, they just don't care about laws and can get away with it. (BTW: Didn't Bill Gates lie under oath? Wouldn't mere mortals go to jail or at least be fined?)

Is Windows a safe investment? Only in short-term.

Re:Another Indication That Treoplayer.com Is False by VALinux · 2001-12-06 15:44 · Score: -1 · on Slashback: Authors, Innards, Boson

www.treoplayer.com is mentioned here as the official website of Hy-Tek Manufacturing, the alleged "manufacturers" of the Treo. Also, they are located in Sugar Grove, IL., just like the whois info for the domain.

So THERE, Mr. Smarty-shitpants.

If General Motors Were Like Microsoft by YearOfTheDragon · 2001-12-04 08:29 · Score: 1 · on Liberty Alliance Gains Momentum

Can be read "Ford, MS to offer build-it-yourself cars " in this news
If Microsoft can join Ford, why GM can't join Aol?
But what if General Motors Were Like Microsoft?

A Positive Step? by bamm · 2001-12-04 02:39 · Score: 1 · on Rent Music Over the Net

Maybe I am just in a good mood but I hope this is a positive step towards finding common ground between the music industry and its consumers. No, I don't think this model is going to succeed,the price is steep (especially when studies show users of P2P actually increase their cd buying) and the terms of use are too restrictive. Lets hope the "industry" can at least learn from this and improve their offerings in the future.

With that said, excuse me while I take off my rose-colored glasses and go back to living in the real world, where the music industry is a bunch of greedy, backstabbing whores.

Re:Market wont accept... by sam@caveman.org · 2001-12-04 02:17 · Score: 2 · on Nancy Goes Head-to-Head With MPEG-4

luckily cingular is buying 4 billion dollars of european cell (nokia, ericsson, siemens) tech to bring 3G to the states. zdnet carries the story.

-sam

It *IS* Apple's fault there's not QT for Linux. by raygundan · 2001-12-03 07:36 · Score: 2 · on 10th Anniversary of Quicktime

It really is Apple's fault, to some degree-- the Sorenson codec (probably the most popular quicktime video codec) is patented, and any open-source implementation of it would be illegal.

Not to mention that even a closed-source implementation is currently not possible, since Sorenson is only licensing their codec to Apple through an exclusive deal. So unless Apple or Sorenson write a Linux version, there won't be one.

Here's a link that mentions it in regards to xanim, and another on ZDNet that states "Apple has never released a binary player for Linux or a binary module for the XAnim video and animation player, and it has no stated plans to do so. Moreover, the company won't allow open source programmers to make their own Sorenson-aware players."

So before you bash the hardworking folks who make linux do as much as it does, make sure you have your facts straight.

Re:Bad move? Has MS ever been by Guy+Innagorillasuit · 2001-12-02 20:37 · Score: 0 · on MS Chief Security Officer to work for White House

You're giving them good marks for not having their front page defaced? I'd much rather have a web page defaced than have an intruder on my network downloading my company's code.

Wanted: Loveable hero for copyright battle by Seth+Finkelstein · 2001-11-30 07:14 · Score: 5, Insightful · on Felten vs. RIAA Hearing

Months ago, ZDNet had a great article on the "lovable hero" factor:

http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,5082 221,00.html

Wanted: Loveable hero for copyright battle (excerpt)

Although free speech is supposed to protect expression made by society's fringe elements as well as by the mainstream, public opinion and even judges can be swayed by tales of mischievous crackers poised to attack your computer. "As soon as the judge says 'hacker,' you know you've lost," University of Minnesota law Professor Dan Burk said. "There is an attempt to paint defendants as unsympathetic, low-priority, on the fringe--to make it seem like nobody respectable is going to be harmed except for weird hacker types."

Sig: What Happened To The Censorware Project (censorware.org)

Corrected ZdNet Link by Anonymous Coward · 2001-11-29 23:10 · Score: 0 · on Sharp Ships New PDA Running Linux 2.4

Zdnet links.

Correct Zdnet Link (Commentary from Guy Kewney):
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2826 164,00.html

Another one:
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2819 038,00.html

Corrected ZdNet Link by Anonymous Coward · 2001-11-29 23:10 · Score: 0 · on Sharp Ships New PDA Running Linux 2.4

Zdnet links.

Correct Zdnet Link (Commentary from Guy Kewney):
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2826 164,00.html

Another one:
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2819 038,00.html

Re:Could Magic Lantern be buit into Windows XP by babbage · 2001-11-29 03:50 · Score: 2 · on Symantec Will Not Detect Magic Lantern

Very good point. Does anyone else remember the flap about the NSA key built into every copy of Microsoft Windows?

The feds have been accused of this before, though it's unclear to me whether or not the accusations are valid. Still, this would be a great way to deliver the application, and, as another commenter astutely noted, it would get the justice department to look at the convicted monopolists a bit less negatively.

Certainly, it wouldn't the first time that the US government had aligned themselves with nasty people...

ZDNet article by n-tone · 2001-11-29 02:58 · Score: 1 · on Windows XP Embedded

Here's the link. In this article, Microsoft says that it ties in nicely with the .NET vision.
I've a new slogan for Microsoft. : Everything is .NET today.

Re:Drake Equation by flumps · 2001-11-28 23:57 · Score: 1 · on Alien Atmosphere Hubbled

I always wondered which planet David Coursey came from... gaseous bags eh?

Philips eXpanium by mirko · 2001-11-27 05:03 · Score: 2 · on Where are the non-SDMI MP3 Players?

Burn your MP3 on CDs and play them in a Philips eXpanium...
10 hours of music in a Discman-like device.

Been there done that by Old+Wolf · 2001-11-25 23:32 · Score: 2 · on Fast Alpha-Blending In Your GUI

PowerMenu has given this for months (years?) on the corner menu of each window, as well as the option to set OS priority, and windows Always On Top. Essential stuff to have around.

PowerMenu by TummyX · 2001-11-25 23:25 · Score: 3, Informative · on Fast Alpha-Blending In Your GUI

It's not a big deal. I don't see why this story is on the front page.

I wrote a small free app called PowerMenu which does the same thing and more. It extends every window's system/controlbox menu with new options like always on top and transparency.

"Magic Lantern" software developed by... by imagineer_bob · 2001-11-24 13:53 · Score: 0 · on McAfee Will Ignore FBI Spyware

...admitted pedophile (he plead guilty) Patrick Naughton as part of his plea bargain . Now, this child-pornographer-turned-FBI agent is using his technical expertise to catch his former buddies with whom he used to exchange pictures of naked little girls. (See Salon article, search for word "baby" in it to see exactly how young Patrick Naughton likes his girls)

It seems to me that Patrick Naughton may have devloped the Java Language initially to facilite searching the internet for child pornography

In my mind, Java is so associated with Naughton and kiddie porn, that I refuse to use it.

PLEASE--check the references here, all on legit news sites--and MODERATE UP! There are too many friends of Patrick Naughton who support Child Pornography that like to moderate these down.

"Magic Lantern" software developed by... by imagineer_bob · 2001-11-24 13:53 · Score: 0 · on McAfee Will Ignore FBI Spyware

...admitted pedophile (he plead guilty) Patrick Naughton as part of his plea bargain . Now, this child-pornographer-turned-FBI agent is using his technical expertise to catch his former buddies with whom he used to exchange pictures of naked little girls. (See Salon article, search for word "baby" in it to see exactly how young Patrick Naughton likes his girls)

It seems to me that Patrick Naughton may have devloped the Java Language initially to facilite searching the internet for child pornography

In my mind, Java is so associated with Naughton and kiddie porn, that I refuse to use it.

PLEASE--check the references here, all on legit news sites--and MODERATE UP! There are too many friends of Patrick Naughton who support Child Pornography that like to moderate these down.

Its been mentioned .. You just didn't notice by MacRonin · 2001-11-23 18:36 · Score: 1 · on Cybercrime Treaty Signed

Here are just a few articles from 2001. All were mentioned in Privacy Digest .

Political News from Wired News - Cybercrime Treaty Finally Ready. After four years of haggling over the language, several countries including the United States will sign a cybercrime treaty.

WildernessCoast.org - Cybercrime Treaty Bibliography -- By Date. A wide collection of links that talk about the Cybercrime Treaty Same info sorted by title.

Council of Europe - Convention on Cybercrime.

The Convention on Cybercrime has been adopted by the Committee of Ministers during its 109th Session, on 8 November 2001 and will be opened for signature, in Budapest, on 23 November 2001.

The Convention will be the first international treaty on crimes committed via the Internet and other computer networks, dealing particularly with infringements of copyright, computer-related fraud, child pornography and violations of network security. It also contains a series of powers and procedures such as the search of computer networks and interception.

Its main objective, set out in the preamble, is to pursue a common criminal policy aimed at the protection of society against cybercrime, especially by adopting appropriate legislation and fostering international co-operation.

The Convention is the product of four years of work by Council of Europe experts, but also by the United States, Canada, Japan and other countries which are not members of the organisation.

It will be supplemented by an additional protocol making any publication of racist and xenophobic propaganda via computer networks a criminal offence.

Political News from Wired News - Europe Slaving Over Cybercrime. The Council of Europe has been working on it for four years and has gone through 25 drafts. And its proposed international treaty on cybercrime is still running against all those thorny privacy issues.

[ ... ]

But Fred Eisner, a consultant for the Dutch government and private companies, said the draft made unfair demands on Internet service providers by asking them to track Web users' online movements.

"This draft convention lacks balance," Eisner told the assembly. "The convention explicitly gives much more power to law enforcement agencies and it has no system of checks and balances."

Bruce McConnell, president of McConnell International, a Washington-based consulting firm, said the treaty should be more forceful in protecting the privacy of Web users who are already worried about being spied on.

"There is concern that the powers of surveillance ... are not balanced by comparable protections for individuals' privacy," he said.

By Mike Godwin to the Cyberia-L mailing list - Treaty on Cybercrime Sounds Like A Great Idea, Until You Read The Fine Print . This message archived on cryptome.org

Maybe you trust the law-enforcement chiefs in D.C. to do the right thing. But here's the catch. The same new powers given to the United States will also handed over to Bulgaria, Romania, Azerbaijan, and other Council of Europe nations that-although officially democratic now-don't have a strong traditions of checks and balances on police power.

Do you want investigators rummaging around your clients' computer systems on warrants issued by former Soviet bloc nations?

That's the prospect that has pushed AT&T Corporation and other high-technology companies into feverishly trying to stop or at least soften the treaty. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Information Technology Association of America also oppose it.

Stewart Baker is one of the chief lobbyists for the treaty opponents. As a former general counsel of the National Security Agency and recipient of the Department of Defense Medal for Meritorious Civilian Service, he's got street cred on these issues in corporate America.

What worries Baker and his colleagues? Consider the following hypothetical: A Los Angeles screenwriter corresponds by e-mail with a neo-Nazi in Germany while researching a script. Shortly after, he finds federal agents examining the files on his home computer. The agents also visit America Online Inc. to retrieve records of the screenwriter's AOL usage.

The agents are fulfilling a warrant issued by German authorities allowing them to search for Nazi propaganda. Such material is unlawful in Germany but not in the U.S. They framed their warrant in terms of "suspected terrorist activity."

Slashdot | Your Rights Online: Reading the Fine Print on the Cybercrime Treaty. Mike Godwin, Former Counsel to the Electronic Frontier Foundation and author of Cyber Rights writes about a new international treaty on cybercrime known as the "Convention on Cybercrime."

LAW.com (requires cookies) - International Treaty on Cybercrime Poses Burden on High-Tech Companies.

Maybe you're a civil libertarian, and maybe you're not. Maybe you worry about how the United States exercises its vast investigative and prosecutorial powers, and maybe you don't.

But if you counsel U.S. corporations on computer-related issues, you should be concerned about a new proposed treaty known as the "Convention on Cybercrime." The Council of Europe, a 43-nation public body created to promote democracy and the rule of law, is nominally drafting the treaty. Curiously, however, the primary architect is the U.S. Department of Justice.

The Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation are using a foreign forum to create an international law-enforcement regime that favors the interests of the feds over those of ordinary citizens and businesses. Their goal is to make it easier to get evidence from abroad and to extradite and prosecute foreign nationals for certain kinds of crimes.

Maybe you trust the law-enforcement chiefs in D.C. to do the right thing. But here's the catch. The same new powers given to the United States will also be handed over to Bulgaria, Romania, Azerbaijan, and other Council of Europe nations that -- although officially democratic now -- don't have a strong tradition of checks and balances on police power.

[ ... ]

Stewart Baker, a partner at Washington, D.C.'s Steptoe & Johnson, is one of the chief lobbyists for the treaty's opponents. As a former general counsel of the National Security Agency and recipient of the U.S. Department of Defense Medal for Meritorious Civilian Service, he's got street credentials on these issues in corporate America.

Article was originally carried by: cryptome.org - Treaty on Cybercrime Sounds Like A Great Idea, Until You Read The Fine Print .

Slashdot | Implications Of The International Cybercrime Treaty.

SiliconValley.com part of San Jose Mercury News - Pioneer cybercrime pact tightens privacy rules.

MS-NBC - Pioneer cybercrime pact tightens privacy rules. PARIS, May 25 -- Stiff criticism from the EU and pressure groups has prompted drafters of the world's first treaty against cybercrime to tighten provisions protecting privacy online, the final text showed Friday.

[ ... ]

Against EU objections, it also limits the right of a country to reject a request from abroad to store and hand over data in potential crime cases if the requesting country thinks it could be misused.

The text says states should make sure that systems operators or other people who know how to use a certain system can be ordered to cooperate in any such a cyberprobe.

digitalMass at Boston.com - Pioneer Cybercrime Pact Tightens Privacy Rules .

PARIS (Reuters) - Stiff criticism from the EU and pressure groups has prompted drafters of the world's first treaty against cybercrime to tighten provisions protecting privacy online, the final text showed on Friday.

The Council of Europe, a 43-state human rights watchdog, has amended the text to ensure police respect privacy rights when they follow digital trails to fight online crimes such as hacking, spreading viruses, using stolen credit card numbers or defrauding banks.

''The guarantees in the treaty have been reinforced,'' Peter Csonka, deputy head of the economic crime division at the Council's headquarters in Strasbourg, told Reuters after the Council posted the final text -- version 27 -- on its Web site.

But the treaty, which has aroused heated debate in cyberspace since its draft text became public last year, ignored calls by Internet service providers (ISPs) for fewer costly requirements on preserving data that could be linked to a crime.

It still accorded police wide powers to chase suspected cybercriminals -- powers some critics say go beyond what is legal in some Council member states or in observer countries like the United States, Canada and Japan due to sign the treaty.

Europemedia.net: News - Final cybercrime draft heeds privacy concerns. There is still some controversy surrounding the draft. The last version didn't cut down on the requirements for preserving data that could be linked to a crime as ISPs had hoped, and some feel it still allows police too much power when fighting cybercrime.

ZDNet - Internet founder worried over EU cybercrime plans.

BRUSSELS --Vint Cerf, a founding father of today's Internet, said on Thursday that European Union plans for new rules to fight crime on the Web risked clashing with existing EU privacy regulations.

Cerf, who helped develop the Internet in the early 70s shortly after graduating from Stanford University and now works for WorldCom, said more secure network systems were an immediate priority for the successful development of the ubiquitous Web.

He told Reuters in an interview that Internet traffic should be retained only for billing purposes and was too cumbersome to be stored for police investigations.

BBC News | SCI/TECH | Treaty 'could stifle online privacy'.

Changes to a controversial treaty on cybercrime have done nothing to improve it, say civil liberty campaigners.

Next week, the Council of Europe will vote on the treaty, which has been redrafted 26 times before reaching its final version late in May.

The most recent changes were made to take into account the fears of civil liberty and privacy campaigners. But cyber-rights groups say the latest changes are purely cosmetic and have not diluted what they describe as its most pernicious sections.

The groups say that, if adopted in its current form, the treaty could lead to changes in legislation that would stifle rights to privacy and do little to curb the activities of law enforcement agencies.

[ ... ]

In December 2000, 23 organisations, banding together under the banner of the Global Internet Liberty Campaign (GILC), signed a letter condemning the 25th draft of the treaty as "appalling", and warned that it handed law enforcement agencies sweeping powers to snoop and could seriously erode online privacy.

Now, three civil liberty groups, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic Privacy Information Center and Privacy International, have sent another letter to the Council of Europe outlining their "continuing concerns" over the wording of the treaty and saying that their fears have not been laid to rest.

The letter chastises the Council of Europe for refusing to open up the redrafting debates to non-governmental organisations and for, it says, ignoring the human rights and privacy concerns of organisations such as the GILC.

It goes on to say that the original criticisms still stand, and that the treaty does not pay enough attention to existing laws which safeguard human rights. It says the treaty's recommendations on protecting privacy are vague and do not go far enough.

IT-director.com - Industry brands cybercrime treaty 'a con trick'. It's tough, but they've managed to please none of the people, none of the time...

IT industry gurus have branded the Council of Europe's Convention on Cybercrime 'foolish, unworkable and a legal con trick'.

The controversial treaty provides a blanket legislation to deal with all forms of internet crime from hacking to online pornography.

Caspar Bowden, director of internet think-tank FIPR, said: "The Convention is essentially a legal con trick, drafted in secret by a handful of nameless bureaucrats. It equates the internet - a network of private networks - with 'cyberspace', a metaphor from science fiction.

"By this sleight of hand, the internet is defined as a public space over which law enforcement should be granted unfettered powers of surveillance and extradition," he added.

CNET NEWS.COM - Global treaty could transform Web. Latest Hague convention could thwart free speech and force ISPs to police networks

International policy-makers this week ended a round of talks aimed at setting common rules affecting online trade and commerce, but they made little progress in bridging divisions that threaten to delay the pact.

In the works for nearly a decade, the Hague Convention on Jurisdiction and Foreign Judgments is still almost unknown outside international policy circles. Nevertheless, it could have broad implications for consumers and businesses by setting new rules for online copyrights, free speech and e-commerce--if it is approved.

Opposition to the treaty heated up Wednesday, when a two-week drafting session wrapped up with few concessions to critics, primarily from the United States, who say the pact threatens free speech and could force Internet service providers to become global content police.

"In a nutshell, it will strangle the Internet with a suffocating blanket of overlapping jurisdictional claims, expose every Web page publisher to liabilities for libel, defamation and other speech offenses from virtually any country, (and) effectively strip Internet service providers of protections from litigation over the content they carry," Jamie Love, director of Ralph Nader's Consumer Project on Technology (CPT), wrote in a report after the meeting.

The treaty is one of several efforts by the global community to grapple with a complicated legal issues on a borderless Web.

Four years ago, nations including the United States signed onto a World Intellectual Property Organization pact to protect copyright in the digital age. And several countries, including the United States, are hammering out the world's first cybercrime treaty, which would provide a standard for fighting online crime.

The Hague treaty differs from those efforts because it would not outline specific laws participants must follow. It's much broader, requiring participants to agree to enforce each others' laws on a variety of topics. As it stands, the treaty would require courts to enforce the commercial laws of the convention's 52 member nations, even if they prohibit actions that are legal under local laws.

New York Times - free registration required Council of Europe Signs Draft Cybercrime Treaty.

BRUSSELS - The blueprint for a global code on Cyber-crime was agreed on in Strasbourg, France, Friday, paving the way for international rules governing online copyright infringement, online fraud, child pornography and hacking.

The 41 members of the Council of Europe (CoE), plus the U.S., Canada and Japan, signed on to a draft convention on cybercrime that is set to be rubber-stamped at ministerial level in September.

"Once adopted, the Convention will be the first international treaty on criminal offenses committed through the use of Internet and other computer networks," the Council of Europe said in a statement.

ISPWorld - (Reuters) International Cyber-Sleuths Demand New Powers .

In September, the Council of Europe approved the Convention on cybercrime, a historic treatise that lays the foundation for legislation allowing for a greater sharing of information between countries to combat the rise of cybercrime.

The treatise isn't binding, but instead would have to be adopted into law by its 43 European member states and five outside countries including the United States, Canada and Japan.

The treaty is broad, covering crimes committed on the Internet such as fraud, child pornography and violations of computer network security. It also sets up global policing procedures for conducting computer searches, interception of e-mails, and extradition of criminal suspects.

More details on the CyberCrime Treaty can be found in the Privacy Digest archives dated September 26,2000, September 27,2000, October 09,2000, October 16,2000, October 18,2000, October 19,2000, October 25,2000, November 14,2000, November 20,2000, November 22,2000 and March 24,2001. This is not all the information at Privacy Digest and other sites so if you want to know more try a search

Re:Microsoft can't be to happy about this... by MiTEG · 2001-11-23 13:07 · Score: 1 · on XBox Netplay Already

Microsoft will never say their product is costing them money, but they released the amount it costs to produce the Xbox at $375 (and that's just the production, it doesn't include marketing, etc.) Check out this article about a Merrill Lynch report about XBox last March

$cientology disk defragmenter in Windows by Anonymous Coward · 2001-11-22 04:02 · Score: 1, Informative · on German State Alters DNS To Censor Web Sites [updated]

Regarding what was reported by the German computer magazine c't:
http://cisar.org/991203a.htm

Regarding M$ capitulation and offering to remove the code (the only time M$ has ever provided a patch to REMOVE a piece of software): http://www.zdnet.com/windows/stories/main/0,4728,2 650088,00.html

A recent issue of c't indicated that the disk fragmenter has silently been re-incorporated into Windows XP. Sorry, can't find a link.

Watch your back.

Re:microsoft were probably just patching by rmgrotkierii · 2001-11-21 14:25 · Score: 0 · on Slashback: Dell, 800, Disclosure

Actually MicroSlu^H^H^HSoft did release a PRESS RELEASE stating they DID sit on the hole, quoting it was making sure it was *real* and not a hoax.

ZDNet

Linux Secuirty

*shrugs*

References by Anonymous Coward · 2001-11-21 10:09 · Score: 4, Informative · on Cybercrime Treaty to Be Signed

I guess I shouldn't call bullshit without doing my research first, but interestingly, this story has some details:

In March [1999], Department of Justice computer crime chief Scott Charney regaled a gathering of bankers with the story of a 1997 hacker who crashed a telephone switch, resulting in the landing lights at a Massachusetts airport going black.

Regular readers of this column will recall my conversation with the airport administrator, who assured me that his runway lights never even flickered.

Another report adds :

This incident was benign
But authorities said the outage had in fact caused no danger and little or no disruption at the airport, which sees a half-dozen flights a day.

"I don't have any reason to believe ... that there was danger on March 10th to anyone," said Stephen P. Heymann, deputy chief of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts, who is the head prosecutor on the case. "But that doesn't mean that if the same thing hadn't happened at night when planes were taking off and landing, that the danger wouldn't have been present. If it had happened at night, we could be looking at something very different by way of a story here."

In other words, the landing lights were not turned out, not least because it happened during the day. The Euro official's statement may not be complete bullshit as I claimed, but it's misleading at least. According to this piece on media hacking, the story is false. Yet this government site repeats the story and even claims that planes were diverted.

Whatever the truth of what really happened, there's clearly large dollops of myth in with the facts and it's no wonder my bullshit detector went off...

References by Anonymous Coward · 2001-11-21 10:09 · Score: 4, Informative · on Cybercrime Treaty to Be Signed

I guess I shouldn't call bullshit without doing my research first, but interestingly, this story has some details:

In March [1999], Department of Justice computer crime chief Scott Charney regaled a gathering of bankers with the story of a 1997 hacker who crashed a telephone switch, resulting in the landing lights at a Massachusetts airport going black.

Regular readers of this column will recall my conversation with the airport administrator, who assured me that his runway lights never even flickered.

Another report adds :

This incident was benign
But authorities said the outage had in fact caused no danger and little or no disruption at the airport, which sees a half-dozen flights a day.

"I don't have any reason to believe ... that there was danger on March 10th to anyone," said Stephen P. Heymann, deputy chief of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts, who is the head prosecutor on the case. "But that doesn't mean that if the same thing hadn't happened at night when planes were taking off and landing, that the danger wouldn't have been present. If it had happened at night, we could be looking at something very different by way of a story here."

In other words, the landing lights were not turned out, not least because it happened during the day. The Euro official's statement may not be complete bullshit as I claimed, but it's misleading at least. According to this piece on media hacking, the story is false. Yet this government site repeats the story and even claims that planes were diverted.

Whatever the truth of what really happened, there's clearly large dollops of myth in with the facts and it's no wonder my bullshit detector went off...

All Java users are PEDOPHILES. by Anonymous Coward · 2001-11-20 13:53 · Score: -1, Flamebait · on The Power of Multi-Language Applications

As you well know, Java inventor Patrick Naughton, is an ADMITTED PEDOPHILE .
He developed java so he can more easily contact underage girls on the Internet.

ANYONE WHO MODERATES THIS DOWN MUST ALSO BE A PEDOPHILE

Please check my facts and moderate up

Pedophile PATRICK NAUGHTON by Anonymous Coward · 2001-11-20 13:50 · Score: 3, Interesting · on Enhanced Carnivore To Crack Encryption Via Virus

...may have developed this software as part of his plea bargain.

As you well know, Java inventor Patrick Naughton, an ADMITTED PEDOPHILE developed secret software for the FBI so he can get out of jail sooner and be out on the streets molesting girls again.

ANYONE WHO MODERATES THIS DOWN MUST ALSO BE A PEDOPHILE

Please check my facts and moderate up

Yeah, but.... by aengblom · 2001-11-20 10:34 · Score: 1 · on Inventions of 2001

Where's IT err I mean Ginger.

;-)

Preventing image by Anonymous Coward · 2001-11-20 05:27 · Score: 0 · on The Anti-Thesaurus: Unwords For Web Searches

Sound advice for those fortunate enough to be running Apache... but due to circumstances beyond my control, I'm on IIS 5.0.

I googled around a bit and found a Java applet and browser plugin that can do this, but does anyone know of a straight-up IIS service-level configuration method of disabling "image theft," much like the method for apache described in the howto above?

Links to FAQs, HOWTOs appreciated!

Windows is cheaper then linux by Anonymous Coward · 2001-11-20 04:29 · Score: 0 · on Economic Slump hits Open Source

Ya, opensource rocks! Companies are going belly up and the blood is flowing like a river of blood from companies willing to base their whole income based on opensource. Funding opensource is like dumping a truckload of money in a bottomless pit. Microsoft seems to be the only company making money. Sun decided to hop on the opensource bandwagon and guess what happened? They began to lose money. Now they are proprietary again and money is slowing but surely coming back. Caldera is going close source and suse wants to go close source source as well. Remember that if something does not make money then its bad. After all IIS and Windows are the best products out there because Microsoft makes the most money. Many phbs and CIO's really get the big picture in regards to this. Also McDonalds makes the most money so their food is also better. I take my wife there all the time during our anniversaries. She complains but I know the food is better at a McDonalds then a nice French restaurant because McDonalds makes more money. Boy, I sure love the way CIO's and IT managers think. Well I need to re-install XP and make sure it works because I already activated it twice and I am afraid I may have to pay again if I activate it a third time. Well, see you all later.

Re:Linux doesn't support many modems by Billly+Gates · 2001-11-19 13:44 · Score: 2 · on Upping The Softmodem Code Bounty -- To $20,000

"In fact, the execution of asynchronous I/O in Linux is quite poor, especially when compared to Windows. Really ?

"Another serious setback for Linux is the lack of a journalling file system. Hu, get out.

"It just isn't there yet! Too bad I will have to wait many years for Linux to become a viable option in the operating system arena."Too bad it can't run on any of the worlds busiest websites. Slashdot recieves close to 2 million hits a day. I wonder what OS slashdot runs on?

"Please, let us also be honest and present Linux and all its many shortcomings when you are downtalking Windows."....and please be honest and present Windows and all its many shortcomings when you are downtalking linux.

No OS is perfect but the fact of the matter is over a that over a third of websites run linux and we are the fastest growing OS out there. Only Windows and Macos has more users. I couldn't find the link in time( I have better thigs to do). This shows linux is not as bad as many like you think. Sure no OS is perfect but the links above show linux is quite powerfull and ready for the enterprise in most situations. Alot more then Windows I may add.Also I am very suspicious with anyone with the word troll in there name.

Re:Linux doesn't support many modems by Billly+Gates · 2001-11-19 13:44 · Score: 2 · on Upping The Softmodem Code Bounty -- To $20,000

"In fact, the execution of asynchronous I/O in Linux is quite poor, especially when compared to Windows. Really ?

"Another serious setback for Linux is the lack of a journalling file system. Hu, get out.

"It just isn't there yet! Too bad I will have to wait many years for Linux to become a viable option in the operating system arena."Too bad it can't run on any of the worlds busiest websites. Slashdot recieves close to 2 million hits a day. I wonder what OS slashdot runs on?

"Please, let us also be honest and present Linux and all its many shortcomings when you are downtalking Windows."....and please be honest and present Windows and all its many shortcomings when you are downtalking linux.

No OS is perfect but the fact of the matter is over a that over a third of websites run linux and we are the fastest growing OS out there. Only Windows and Macos has more users. I couldn't find the link in time( I have better thigs to do). This shows linux is not as bad as many like you think. Sure no OS is perfect but the links above show linux is quite powerfull and ready for the enterprise in most situations. Alot more then Windows I may add.Also I am very suspicious with anyone with the word troll in there name.

that is a troll...or karma whore? by leuk_he · 2001-11-18 22:39 · Score: 2, Informative · on Upping The Softmodem Code Bounty -- To $20,000

THis is a copy of
this article on zdnet. completely copied including spelling errors.

by Kai Vuorinen
date: Tuesday Oct 12, 1999.

Is this still all true?

What's really happening by Brett+Glass · 2001-11-16 08:24 · Score: 2, Troll · on Internet Tax Ban Extended

At http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/comment/0,5859,2 825260,00.html, Senator Mike Enzi, in a carefully scripted political message, tries to convince citizens that this is not a new tax. But it is. Enzi conveniently neglects to tell you that while many states' laws authorize the collection of "use taxes," they have never actually been imposed. The US Supreme Court, in Quill v. North Dakota, ruled that such taxes were unconstitutional unless they were imposed or authorized by Congress -- not the states.

What Senator Enzi's bill does is impose the taxes which the states were justifiably blocked from imposing. The result: the imposition of new taxes -- ones that will cripple e-commerce and new high tech businesses -- in the midst of an economic recession.

The $5 million minimum in Enzi's legislation is a red herring, too. Any e-commerce business that does not achieve at least $10 million in sales per year cannot compete due to a lack of volume purchasing power and economies of scale.

Why did Senator Enzi advance the legislation? To find out, we need look no farther than his own state -- Wyoming -- which has a sales tax but no income tax. Wyoming's Governor Jim Geringer, and his state revenue director Johnnie Burton, have decided that rather than putting a tax increase to the voters (which might allow a fair debate on the issue and give citizens some control of the outcome), or creating a state tax regime that is fairer and less regressive, they would aggressively pursue this new tax, which could be imposed without such "inconveniences."

The fact that this tax would appear to be imposed from without (by Congress), and that it could be implemented without a vote of the people or debate in the state legislature, makes it just the ticket for Mr. Geringer, who has failed to confront tough issues and has bowed in the past to the influence of large, out-of-state coporations at the expense of his citizens' best interests. For example, the mineral industry, which is the single largest campaign contributor in Wyoming, favors measures which will make Wyoming a less desirable place to live, because this makes it easier to carve up Wyoming's vast, unpopulated open spaces in their relentless quest for minerals. This industry also favors every measure which raises taxes on residents rather than upon itself.

It is also telling that Mr. Geringer, during the Microsoft antitrust case, favored Microsoft (see http://www.state.wy.us/governor/press_releases/199 8/june_1998/micro.html) -- even though Microsoft had just been proven to have fabricated evidence and lied to the judge during the trial. "In a time when most of us are striving for excellence, [the Department of] Justice and the 20 states want only to assure mediocrity," wrote Geringer, conveniently failing to note that Microsoft was using Internet Explorer -- a "knock-off" product that showed no innovation whatsoever -- to crush the innovative Netscape. In Wyoming, whatever large corporations want, they get... and the shameless greasing of palms is barely concealed.

Michael Enzi's legislation would do nothing good for anyone -- except large corporate interests (Wal-Mart and other "big box" retailers favor the tax because they have retail stores everywhere and want to have an edge over e-commerce) and cowardly state politicians. It should -- no, must -- be defeated. And so should Enzi. (Geringer, now a "lame duck" due to term limits laws, is -- no joke! -- reputed to be considering a position with Microsoft.)

Re:I do agree... by scenic · 2001-11-15 08:08 · Score: 2 · on XBox Released

I would argue against you...

Does Ford put it's car dealers out of business if they replace the Ford factory special with a Blaupunkt?

When you have a monopoly and threaten resellers with pulling their license, you effectively put them out of business. Replacing the "stereo" as you put it, shouldn't have such dramatic repercussions.

Microsoft did actually do this to Compaq, all because Compaq removed the IE icon from the desktops on their Presarios. Gateway (see previous link) also had Microsoft withold a license renewal because of ongoing negotiations over whether Gateway could have their products boot directly into a Gateway-customized version of Navigator.

Please don't try to revise history.

Sujal

Slashdot Mirror

Domain: zdnet.com

Comments · 5,181