Thursday, December 11, 2003

Wording on software and IPR reflects tough battle. GENEVA - The reality of the World Summit on the Information Society here in Geneva is not just about bringing computers and Internet access to the poor. It's also about making money from selling hardware, software and services. That partly explains the long and often heated debate over two particularly thorny issues: open software and intellectual property rights, or IPR. [InfoWorld: Top News] 8:07:43 PM    comment []

Attack on SCO's servers intensifies. A day-old denial-of-service attack on the Web server of the controversial SCO Group has been expanded to assault the company's mail and file servers, SCO's top network administrator says. [CNET News.com - Front Door] 5:37:15 PM    comment []

Finance decision could put chill on the First Amendment. Dissenters ask: Is the press next in line for congressional regulations? [Christian Science Monitor | Top Stories] 5:35:31 PM    comment []

Wright Brothers the Wrong Guys?. It's the centennial of the famous flight at Kitty Hawk -- but was it the first airplane flight in history? A lot of Brazilians will give you an argument that it was their man who went airborne first. [Wired News] 3:48:51 PM    comment []

How Can The Digital Divide Be Bridged? 1:33:01 PM    comment []

Two years ago in my weblogging, Finals week reviewed: SpongeBob SquarePants, Cryptography, the Clipper Chip, and the Constitution, Zi Hackademy raising eyebrows in Paris, 20-year Usenet Archive, John Ashcroft used to oppose secret evidence, an Afghan Restaurateur Fights Against the Taliban, and for His Compatriots, The women behind the women of Afghanistan, A Compilation of Evidence and Comments on the Source of the Mailed Anthrax, How my friend outwitted the mullahs, the working relationship between the military and the CIA, Relations between Pakistan and Iran, Sarah, 15, sticks it to Bill Gates in BBC interview, Revealing the Microsoft Windows Source Code, "Shrinking the Cat", World Map of Lightening Activity, Re-envisioning the Ph.D, Debating the Demise of NYUonline, Laissez Not Fair, Companies need to be kept in check, and Rest In Peace, George Harrison. 10:31:49 AM    comment []

A webserver mysteriously acquires software that's sending out spam. An administrator investigates its properties. Spamware dissected [bOing bOing] 6:07:28 AM    comment []

Speaking of Trusted Computing . . . Delayed patch ends Microsoft's patch-free month early. A glitch in Microsoft's Windows Update automated patching service caused a security fix that was released last month to be delivered to computer users on Tuesday, the same day Microsoft proclaimed December would be a patch-free month. [InfoWorld: Top News] 5:53:34 AM    comment []

A Net of Control: Steve Levy on Trusted Computing. Steven Levy reports on how Microsoft's "Trusted Computing" and the instantiation of Digital Rights Management in locked down hardware and new Internet protocols could spell the end of online freedom. [Smart Mobs] Huge issue. 5:49:21 AM    comment []

BECAUSE I SAID SO!!. A new study says that yelling at your children -- even if you're trying to protect them -- is "psychological aggression." [Salon Headlines] 5:38:26 AM    comment []

A Vending Machine for Voter Data. Aristotle International sells lists online containing personal facts about voters to anybody who cares to plunk down the money. A Wired News special report by Kim Zetter. [Wired News] 5:35:36 AM    comment []