I'm glad that they haven't jumped in headfirst, I can't imagine how they could enforce such a list right now with so much spam coming from outside of the United States and from unknowing zombie PCs within the US. If they did create a list it would place an expectation in the public eye that the US government can enforce it, when it obviously (to us slashdot readers) cannot.
Like it or not, we need to come up with more clever hardware or software solutions like Yahoo's "Domain Keys", Meng Weng Wong's SPF (Sender Policy Framework), or god forbid, Microsoft's Caller ID for E-mail.
June 14, 2004
DirecTV to Narrow Anti-Piracy Campaign
Satellite TV Giant Will No Longer Prosecute Users for Mere Possession
San Francisco and Palo Alto, CA - After discussions with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the Center for Internet and Society (CIS) Cyberlaw Clinic, satellite television giant DirecTV has agreed to modify its nationwide campaign against signal piracy in order to reduce threats and lawsuits against innocent users of smart card technology. Chief among these changes is a promise to no longer sue or threaten to sue people merely for possessing smart card devices.
"American innovators and hobbyists shouldn't have to fear legal action merely for possessing new technologies that have many legitimate uses," said EFF Staff Attorney Jason Schultz. "We're also pleased that DirecTV has agreed to stop targeting general purpose devices in its campaign and will investigate all substantive claims of innocence."
Over the past few years, DirecTV has orchestrated a nationwide legal campaign against hundreds of thousands of individuals, claiming that they were illegally intercepting its satellite TV signal. The company began its crusade by raiding smart card device distributors to obtain their customer lists, then sent over 170,000 demand letters to customers and eventually filed more than 24,000 federal lawsuits against them. Because DirecTV made little effort to distinguish legal uses of smart card technology from illegal ones, EFF and the CIS Cyberlaw Clinic received hundreds of calls and emails from panicked device purchasers.
In August 2003, EFF and CIS created the DirecTV Defense website to provide innocent users and their lawyers with the information necessary to defend themselves. The organizations also began a series of discussions with DirecTV about ways to reform its anti-piracy tactics and protect innocent consumers.
As a result, DirecTV has agreed to make several changes to its campaign. The company will no longer pursue people solely for purchasing smart card readers, writers, general-purpose programmers, and general-purpose emulators. It will maintain this policy into the forseeable future and file lawsuits only against people it suspects of actually pirating its satellite signal. DirecTV will, however, continue to investigate purchasers of devices that are often primarily designed for satellite signal interception, nicknamed "bootloaders" and "unloopers."
DirecTV also agreed to change its pre-lawsuit demand letters to explain in detail how innocent recipients can get DirecTV to drop their cases. The company also promised that it will investigate every substantive claim of innocence it receives. If purchasers provide sufficient evidence demonstrating that they did not use their devices for signal theft, DirecTV will dismiss their cases. EFF and CIS will monitor reports of this process to confirm that innocent device purchasers are having their cases dismissed.
"While EFF still disagrees with DirecTV over other aspects of its campaign, we're pleased that we could find mutual ground on these issues," said CIS Executive Director Jennifer Granick, who represented EFF in the negotiations. "We hope to continue working with DirecTV to resolve the remaining disputes so that everyone can enjoy the benefits of smart card technology."
Smart card readers and their various derivatives have many legitimate uses, including computer security and scientific research.
Contact:
Jennifer Granick
Clinical Director
Stanford Law School Center for Internet and Society
jennifer@granick.com
+1 650 724-0014
Jason Schultz
Staff Attorney
Electronic Frontier Foundation
jason@eff.org
+1 415 436-9333 x112
I would agree that silently spreading could work to it's advantage. If you combine the two concepts with a time-bomb that causes the code to execute at a certain future date it could be even more of a problem. Every cell tower everywhere overloaded with messaging and calls on April 1st, 2005 for example.
I guess Series 60 phone owners should be thankful that it just drains battery life. What if the worm sent 80,012 text messages to everyone in your contact list! Imagine the cell network congestion and billing chaos that would ensue... Lets hope cell phone manufacturers start tweaking their phone OSes to prevent that kind of disaster in the future!
You make very good points. It may not be bad at all for the rest of the world to have a new version of IE influenced by Firefox and other browsers. My only real problem is that they will take all the cash and credit for it....
If non-IE browsers gain too much market share, more and more web sites will make pages that are standards-compliant (as opposed to IE-compliant)
Unfortunately that is a pretty big if (emphasis mine). Every day there are new computers being sold with WindowsXP and IE as the default browser. That's all most of the uninformed market knows or cares to know. As sad as it is, we slashdot readers are severely outnumbered in the world. IE will likely have a long healthy life.
The work that the Mozilla team is doing is great, and we are all aware that Interent Explorer is worthless right now. Unfortunately they may be winning the battle but losing the war so to speak. Microsoft is sitting out this round because they can afford to.
Microsoft is NOT an innovator, so they need to get their ideas somewhere. I'd be willing to bet that they're biding their time, letting open source do free research and development for them. Then hand pick the best ideas for plugins, tabbed interfaces, etc and incorporate them into IE for Longhorn, which will then be shoved down the throats of the masses in 2006.
I think that the PDA world will take a dive once Handtop computers become available. Computers like the OQO, Flipstart and the Sony VGN-U70 will start to take over. Why have a PDA when you can bring the actual applications and data you want with you anywhere.
Things may not really take off till the second generation of these devices, but I'm looking forward to taking one of them for a test drive.
You'd be suprised at the types of games you could make. You don't need to run the latest Quake or Unreal 3D engine to make a game entertaining.
I know the CLR adds another layer of abstraction, but I also know that the 2D graphics and bitblt routines contained in the CLR are usually optimized to run on the hardware provided.
DotGNU may not be there yet, but
don't discount the power of the newer handhelds out there, which are now reaching speeds of 500mhz. No doubt faster than the hardware some people are using to read this post!
This is great for people looking to develop on handhelds and smartphones such as myself. Programming for these devices really brings me back to the good old days in the 80s where one person could create a killer app or game!
While I don't have any love for the Bush administration I would really like to see a Mars mission happen. It doesn't necessarily need to be a national budget buster, as Robert Zubrin has pointed out in his detailed plans in the books 'The Case For Mars' and 'Entering Space'...
God knows, Sprint is the worst of the lot.
Poor coverage, poor roaming, billing issues, bad customer service. You name it, I've had it with them. Too bad Verizon isn't even an option in my area, not that they are any better!
Funny, I thought I was the only one who took a hammer to my old hard drives. Actually, I don't even do it myself- I let my wife smash it to get out her frustrations over me working on computers till the wee hours of the morning. Needless to say, she kills them reeeealllly good!
I did not know that there was an 802.11g version available, that was one of the major downers I saw with the ASUS. Every review of it I've seen has been positive.
I do like the built in AC adaptor in the Apple unit, one less cord to carry when travelling. If ASUS made a device like that I'd buy it immediately. I have no use for iTunes, just lightweight travel gear.
It's not the only AP designed for portability, there is another: the ASUS Pocket WLAN access point. About the size of a deck of cards and only $69. HOWEVER, the ASUS unit is missing a ton of the functionality that the Apple unit has, and needs a separate AC adapter.
Re:Affordable harddrive sub $100 MP3 players ?
on
60GB iPod Coming?
·
· Score: 1
I don't think the OP was saying you should use 3.5" desktop hard drives, they were saying why use the microdrives (1.0 to 1.8 inch sizes).
In a slightly larger device you could use laptop 2.5" drives, which are made in sizes up to 100GB now. They run on 5vdc, and can be powered directly from a USB port, so the battery issues you point out are reduced greatly.
Of course, a bare 2.5" hard drive is already roughly the size of an iPod by itself so any device made from one would not be pocket sized!
Slashdot Mirror
I'm glad that they haven't jumped in headfirst, I can't imagine how they could enforce such a list right now with so much spam coming from outside of the United States and from unknowing zombie PCs within the US. If they did create a list it would place an expectation in the public eye that the US government can enforce it, when it obviously (to us slashdot readers) cannot.
Like it or not, we need to come up with more clever hardware or software solutions like Yahoo's "Domain Keys", Meng Weng Wong's SPF (Sender Policy Framework), or god forbid, Microsoft's Caller ID for E-mail.
Full Article text in case of Slashdotting:
June 14, 2004 DirecTV to Narrow Anti-Piracy Campaign Satellite TV Giant Will No Longer Prosecute Users for Mere Possession
San Francisco and Palo Alto, CA - After discussions with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the Center for Internet and Society (CIS) Cyberlaw Clinic, satellite television giant DirecTV has agreed to modify its nationwide campaign against signal piracy in order to reduce threats and lawsuits against innocent users of smart card technology. Chief among these changes is a promise to no longer sue or threaten to sue people merely for possessing smart card devices.
"American innovators and hobbyists shouldn't have to fear legal action merely for possessing new technologies that have many legitimate uses," said EFF Staff Attorney Jason Schultz. "We're also pleased that DirecTV has agreed to stop targeting general purpose devices in its campaign and will investigate all substantive claims of innocence."
Over the past few years, DirecTV has orchestrated a nationwide legal campaign against hundreds of thousands of individuals, claiming that they were illegally intercepting its satellite TV signal. The company began its crusade by raiding smart card device distributors to obtain their customer lists, then sent over 170,000 demand letters to customers and eventually filed more than 24,000 federal lawsuits against them. Because DirecTV made little effort to distinguish legal uses of smart card technology from illegal ones, EFF and the CIS Cyberlaw Clinic received hundreds of calls and emails from panicked device purchasers.
In August 2003, EFF and CIS created the DirecTV Defense website to provide innocent users and their lawyers with the information necessary to defend themselves. The organizations also began a series of discussions with DirecTV about ways to reform its anti-piracy tactics and protect innocent consumers.
As a result, DirecTV has agreed to make several changes to its campaign. The company will no longer pursue people solely for purchasing smart card readers, writers, general-purpose programmers, and general-purpose emulators. It will maintain this policy into the forseeable future and file lawsuits only against people it suspects of actually pirating its satellite signal. DirecTV will, however, continue to investigate purchasers of devices that are often primarily designed for satellite signal interception, nicknamed "bootloaders" and "unloopers."
DirecTV also agreed to change its pre-lawsuit demand letters to explain in detail how innocent recipients can get DirecTV to drop their cases. The company also promised that it will investigate every substantive claim of innocence it receives. If purchasers provide sufficient evidence demonstrating that they did not use their devices for signal theft, DirecTV will dismiss their cases. EFF and CIS will monitor reports of this process to confirm that innocent device purchasers are having their cases dismissed.
"While EFF still disagrees with DirecTV over other aspects of its campaign, we're pleased that we could find mutual ground on these issues," said CIS Executive Director Jennifer Granick, who represented EFF in the negotiations. "We hope to continue working with DirecTV to resolve the remaining disputes so that everyone can enjoy the benefits of smart card technology."
Smart card readers and their various derivatives have many legitimate uses, including computer security and scientific research.
Contact:
Jennifer Granick
Clinical Director
Stanford Law School Center for Internet and Society
jennifer@granick.com
+1 650 724-0014
Jason Schultz
Staff Attorney
Electronic Frontier Foundation
jason@eff.org
+1 415 436-9333 x112
Posted at 04:14 PM
I would agree that silently spreading could work to it's advantage. If you combine the two concepts with a time-bomb that causes the code to execute at a certain future date it could be even more of a problem. Every cell tower everywhere overloaded with messaging and calls on April 1st, 2005 for example.
It had to happen sooner or later, with people predicting the cell phone will be your next computer.
I guess Series 60 phone owners should be thankful that it just drains battery life. What if the worm sent 80,012 text messages to everyone in your contact list! Imagine the cell network congestion and billing chaos that would ensue... Lets hope cell phone manufacturers start tweaking their phone OSes to prevent that kind of disaster in the future!
You make very good points. It may not be bad at all for the rest of the world to have a new version of IE influenced by Firefox and other browsers. My only real problem is that they will take all the cash and credit for it....
If non-IE browsers gain too much market share, more and more web sites will make pages that are standards-compliant (as opposed to IE-compliant)
Unfortunately that is a pretty big if (emphasis mine). Every day there are new computers being sold with WindowsXP and IE as the default browser. That's all most of the uninformed market knows or cares to know. As sad as it is, we slashdot readers are severely outnumbered in the world. IE will likely have a long healthy life.
The work that the Mozilla team is doing is great, and we are all aware that Interent Explorer is worthless right now. Unfortunately they may be winning the battle but losing the war so to speak. Microsoft is sitting out this round because they can afford to.
Microsoft is NOT an innovator, so they need to get their ideas somewhere. I'd be willing to bet that they're biding their time, letting open source do free research and development for them. Then hand pick the best ideas for plugins, tabbed interfaces, etc and incorporate them into IE for Longhorn, which will then be shoved down the throats of the masses in 2006.
I think that the PDA world will take a dive once Handtop computers become available. Computers like the OQO, Flipstart and the Sony VGN-U70 will start to take over. Why have a PDA when you can bring the actual applications and data you want with you anywhere.
Things may not really take off till the second generation of these devices, but I'm looking forward to taking one of them for a test drive.
I didn't have Professor Farnsworth in mind when I typed the headline, but your response gave me a good laugh anyway!
You'd be suprised at the types of games you could make. You don't need to run the latest Quake or Unreal 3D engine to make a game entertaining. I know the CLR adds another layer of abstraction, but I also know that the 2D graphics and bitblt routines contained in the CLR are usually optimized to run on the hardware provided.
DotGNU may not be there yet, but don't discount the power of the newer handhelds out there, which are now reaching speeds of 500mhz. No doubt faster than the hardware some people are using to read this post!
This is great for people looking to develop on handhelds and smartphones such as myself. Programming for these devices really brings me back to the good old days in the 80s where one person could create a killer app or game!
While I don't have any love for the Bush administration I would really like to see a Mars mission happen. It doesn't necessarily need to be a national budget buster, as Robert Zubrin has pointed out in his detailed plans in the books 'The Case For Mars' and 'Entering Space'...
God knows, Sprint is the worst of the lot. Poor coverage, poor roaming, billing issues, bad customer service. You name it, I've had it with them. Too bad Verizon isn't even an option in my area, not that they are any better!
Now we know what all the extra space is for in the new G5 case design, to hold the liquid nitrogren tanks!
Funny, I thought I was the only one who took a hammer to my old hard drives. Actually, I don't even do it myself- I let my wife smash it to get out her frustrations over me working on computers till the wee hours of the morning. Needless to say, she kills them reeeealllly good!
I did not know that there was an 802.11g version available, that was one of the major downers I saw with the ASUS. Every review of it I've seen has been positive.
I do like the built in AC adaptor in the Apple unit, one less cord to carry when travelling. If ASUS made a device like that I'd buy it immediately. I have no use for iTunes, just lightweight travel gear.
So THATs what those things are for! I wondered why the sound was so weak and muffled...
It's not the only AP designed for portability, there is another: the ASUS Pocket WLAN access point. About the size of a deck of cards and only $69. HOWEVER, the ASUS unit is missing a ton of the functionality that the Apple unit has, and needs a separate AC adapter.
I don't think the OP was saying you should use 3.5" desktop hard drives, they were saying why use the microdrives (1.0 to 1.8 inch sizes).
In a slightly larger device you could use laptop 2.5" drives, which are made in sizes up to 100GB now. They run on 5vdc, and can be powered directly from a USB port, so the battery issues you point out are reduced greatly.
Of course, a bare 2.5" hard drive is already roughly the size of an iPod by itself so any device made from one would not be pocket sized!