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Tue, February 27, 2007 11:38:17 PMFrom:
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Subject:
[Slashdot] Stories for 2007-02-28
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Slashdot Daily Newsletter
In this issue:
* T-Mobile Bans Others' Apps On Their Phones
* Apple's iTunes DRM Dilemma
* How IT Increases Productivity
* Ramanujian's Deathbed Problem Cracked
* IE and Firefox Share a Vulnerability
* Avoiding the Word "Evolution"
* IBM Refuses To Certify Oracle Linux
* Newton's Ghost Haunts Apple's iPhone
* AMD A Ripe Target For Buyout?
* Reverse Hacker Awarded $4.3 Million
* Verizon Wins Injunction Against Text Spammer
* British Government Comes Out Against 'Pure' Software Patents
* China Treats Internet Addiction Very Seriously
* New Controversy over Black Hat Presentation
* EU Wants German Telekom Fiber Open to All
* Vista Worse For User Efficiency Than XP
* Vanishing Honeybees Will Affect Future Crops
* Windows Genuine Advantage Gets More Lenient
* Is "Making Available" Copyright Infringement?
* Christian Group Prepares To Mark Wii as 'Porn Portal'
* MP3's Loss, Open Source's Gain
* Fair Use Bill Introduced To Change DMCA
* Can Apple Penetrate the Corporation?
* Microsoft "SiteFinder" Quietly Raking It In
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| T-Mobile Bans Others' Apps On Their Phones |
| from the get-less dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Monday February 26, @19:35 (Communications) |
| http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/27/009220 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]cshamis writes "T-Mobile has recently changed their policies and now
tell their customers with appropriate data plans and with
Java-Micro-App-capable T-Mobile phones: [1]no third-party network
applications. You can, of course, still use their incredibly clunky and
crippled built-in WAP browsers, but GoogleMaps and OperaMini are left
high and dry. Would anyone care to speculate if this move is likely to
retain or repel customers?"
Discuss this story at:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/27/009220
Links:
0. mailto:cshamis1@woh.rr.com
1. http://www.gearlog.com/2007/01/tmobile_disses_opera_says_get.php
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Apple's iTunes DRM Dilemma |
| from the how-FairPlay-works dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Monday February 26, @20:47 (Media (Apple)) |
| http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/27/0041211 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "Understanding [0]how Apple's FairPlay DRM
works helps to answer a lot of questions: why it hasn't been replaced
with an open, interoperable DRM that anyone can use, why Apple isn't
broadly licensing FairPlay, and why the company hasn't jumped to add
DRM-free content from indie artists to iTunes."
Discuss this story at:
http://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/27/0041211
Links:
0. http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/RDM.Tech.Q1.07/2A351C60-A4E5-4764-A083-FF8610E66A46.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| How IT Increases Productivity |
| from the many-balls-in-the-air dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Monday February 26, @21:55 (Businesses) |
| http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/27/0056212 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Several readers wrote to tell us about a groundbreaking study reported in
Computerworld. Researchers at Boston University and MIT [0]analyzed how
IT makes people more productive at an individual level. They gathered
more than 125,000 email messages, 5 years of project data, and survey
responses to see what factors predicted revenue generation and completed
projects. Abstracts for the [1]original [2]articles are available. Among
the surprises: IT didn't necessarily make projects faster but it did
dramatically increase productivity by facilitating multitasking; and
IT-supported social networks predicted productivity better than
experience did.
Discuss this story at:
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/27/0056212
Links:
0. http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyId=14&articleId=281734&intsrc=hm_topic
1. http://ssrn.com/abstract=942310
2. http://ssrn.com/abstract=887406
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| Ramanujian's Deathbed Problem Cracked |
| from the mock-theta-soup dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Monday February 26, @23:03 (Math) |
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/27/0117258 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]Jake's Mom sends word of the serendipitous solution to a decades-old
mathematical mystery. Researchers from the University of Wisconsin have
[1]unraveled a major number theory puzzle left at the death of one of the
twentieth century's greatest mathematicians, Srinivasa Ramanujan. From
the press release: "Mathematicians have finally laid to rest the
legendary mystery surrounding an elusive group of numerical expressions
known as the 'mock theta functions.' Number theorists have struggled to
understand the functions ever since... Ramanujan first alluded to them in
a letter written [to G. H. Hardy] on his deathbed, in 1920. Now, using
mathematical techniques that emerged well after Ramanujan's death, two
number theorists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have pieced
together an explanatory framework that for the first time illustrates
what mock theta functions are, and exactly how to derive them."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/27/0117258
Links:
0. http://jakesmom.blogspot.com/
1. http://www.news.wisc.edu/13497.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| IE and Firefox Share a Vulnerability |
| from the upload-with-daring-and-whimsy dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Tuesday February 27, @00:51 (Bug) |
| http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/27/021206 |
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hcmtnbiker writes with news of a [0]logic flaw shared by IE 7 and Firefox
2.0. IE 5.01, IE 6, and Firefox 1.5.0.9 are also affected. The flaw was
discovered by Michal Zalewski, and is easily demonstrated on [1]IE7 and
[2]Firefox. The vulnerability is not platform-specific, but these
demonstrations are ?€? they work only on Windows systems. (Microsoft says
that IE7 on Vista is not vulnerable.) From the vulnerability description:
"In all modern browsers, form fields (used to upload user-specified files
to a remote server) enjoy some added protection meant to prevent scripts
from arbitrarily choosing local files to be sent, and automatically
submitting the form without user knowledge. For example, '.value'
parameter cannot be set or changed, and any changes to .type reset the
contents of the field... [in this attack] the keyboard input in unrelated
locations can be selectively geared toward input fields by the attacker."
Discuss this story at:
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/27/021206
Links:
0. http://news.softpedia.com/news/IE7-and-Firefox-2-0-Share-Vulnerabilities-47439.shtml
1. http://lcamtuf.coredump.cx/focusbug/ieversion.html
2. http://lcamtuf.coredump.cx/focusbug/ffversion.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Avoiding the Word "Evolution" |
| from the can't-say-that-wait-two-years dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Tuesday February 27, @03:45 (Biotech) |
| http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/27/0226246 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
jakosc tips us to a disturbing article in PloS Biology on the
[0]avoidance of the word "Evolution" in scientific papers and grants.
>From the paper: "In spite of the importance of antimicrobial resistance,
we show that the actual word 'evolution' is rarely used in the papers
describing this research. Instead, antimicrobial resistance is said to
'emerge,' 'arise,' or 'spread' rather than 'evolve.' Moreover, we show
that the failure to use the word 'evolution' by the scientific community
may have a direct impact on the public perception of the importance of
evolutionary biology in our everyday lives... It has been repeatedly
rumored (and reiterated by one of the reviewers of this article) that
both the National Institutes of Health and the National Science
Foundation have in the past actively discouraged the use of the word
'evolution' in titles or abstracts of proposals so as to avoid
controversy."
Discuss this story at:
http://politics.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/27/0226246
Links:
0. http://biology.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.0050030
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| IBM Refuses To Certify Oracle Linux |
| from the doesn't-look-red-to-me dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Tuesday February 27, @06:43 (IBM) |
| http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/27/0253218 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]Andrew writes "IBM has thrown a spanner in the Oracle Linux works by
[1]refusing to certify that IBM's software portfolio will run and be
supported on Oracle Unbreakable Linux. If IBM applications turn out to be
incompatible with Oracle Linux, then it will be up to Oracle to resolve
any issues. This conservative stance of IBM's is unlikely to help Oracle
sell Linux subscriptions to businesses that use any of IBM's large
software portfolio."
Discuss this story at:
http://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/27/0253218
Links:
0. mailto:andrew_harrison@symantec.com
1. http://tech.blorge.com/Structure:%20/2007/02/24/ibm-standing-in-the-way-of-oracles-unbreakable-linux-adoption/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Newton's Ghost Haunts Apple's iPhone |
| from the hubris-and-the-handheld dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Tuesday February 27, @08:04 (Communications)|
| http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/27/0310201 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]PetManimal writes "David Haskin has [1]looked back at why the Newton
failed in the early PDA market, and warns that Apple may be setting
itself up for a similar failure with the iPhone. The iPhone shares with
the Newton a hefty starting price, and Joe Public may not be so keen on
the cost, as [2]recent survey data suggests. Moreover, the iPhone will
have to deal with two additional factors that were not issues for the
Newton: Competition, and wireless service providers: 'Besides
overcharging for iPhone, Apple faces significant competition, something
it didn't face in 1993 when it launched Newton. And you can bet that
competition from the likes of Samsung and LG will both be good (although
probably not as good as iPhone) and most assuredly cheaper... I'm more
convinced than ever that, after an initial frenzy of publicity and sales
to early adopters, iPhone sales will be unspectacular. If Apple doesn't
respond quickly by lowering the price and making nice to AT&T..., iPhone
may well become Apple's next Newton.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/27/0310201
Links:
0. http://www.computerworld.com/blogs/blog/19
1. http://www.computerworld.com/blogs/node/5066
2. http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/23/1926233&tid=215
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| AMD A Ripe Target For Buyout? |
| from the change-of-pace dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Tuesday February 27, @08:57 (AMD) |
| http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/27/1236205 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]SpiceMonkey writes "AMD stock was up 6.74% on Monday on [1]rumors that
AMD is a prime buyout target. After their purchase of ATI, they've been
pressed to maintain their aggressive policy of chip production increases.
As a result, the [2]AMD message board on Yahoo! is full of speculation on
who has their eyes on the company. Many folks there think that IBM is the
right buyer for the company. There's no firm word that AMD is even being
considered for purchase, but it's certainly and interesting prospect."
Discuss this story at:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/27/1236205
Links:
0. http://www.vdsat.com/
1. http://www.reuters.com/article/hotStocksNews/idUSN2630551820070226
2. http://messages.finance.yahoo.com/mb/AMD
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Reverse Hacker Awarded $4.3 Million |
| from the now-i-want-to-be-a-reverse-hacker dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Tuesday February 27, @09:48 (Security) |
| http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/27/1423220 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
jcatcw writes "[0]Shawn Carpenter was awarded a $4.3 million award ?€? more
than twice the amount he sought and money he thinks he'll never see.
Carpenter worked for Sandia National Labs as an intrusion detection
analyst. He anayzed. He detected. He reported. He was fired ?€? in Janurary
2005 after sharing his results with the FBI and the U.S. Army.
Computerworld asked him [1]what he hoped to achieve in that
investigation. Answer: 'In late May of 2004, one of my investigations
turned up a large cache of stolen sensitive documents hidden on a server
in South Korea. In addition to U.S. military information, there were
hundreds of pages of detailed schematics and project information marked
'Lockheed Martin Proprietary Information ?€? Export Controlled' that were
associated with the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. ... It was a case of
putting the interests of the corporation over those of the country.' Ira
Winkler, author of [2]Spies Among Us , said the verdict was 'incredibly
justified. Frankly, I think people [at Sandia] should go to jail' for
ignoring some of the security issues that Carpenter was trying to
highlight with his investigation."
Discuss this story at:
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/27/1423220
Links:
0. http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9011283
1. http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9011832
2. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0764584685/qid=1133878072/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-1827704-2547837?s=books&v=glance&n=283155
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Verizon Wins Injunction Against Text Spammer |
| from the seek-another-line-of-business dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Tuesday February 27, @10:25 (Spam) |
| http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/27/1456218 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]bulled writes "CNet is running a story illustrating the US court
system's ongoing harsh opinion about unwarranted communications of any
kind. Verizon Wireless recently won a lawsuit against a company that was
[1]delivering massive numbers of spam text messages to its customers.
Specialized Programming and Marketing and Henderson was ordered to pay
more than $200,000 in damages to Verizon Wireless, some two years after
Verizon filed the suit against the company. In 2005 Specialized
Programming sent some 100,000 emails to Verizon phones. Verizon now has
an injunction against the Marketing firm, another win for a company that
has developed a reputation for going after spammers."
Discuss this story at:
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/27/1456218
Links:
0. mailto:ebmunson@gmail.com
1. http://news.com.com/Verizon+Wireless+wins+injunction+against+text+spam/2100-7350_3-6162263.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| British Government Comes Out Against 'Pure' Software Patents |
| from the keeping-software-out-from-under-lock-and-key dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Tuesday February 27, @10:59 (Patents) |
| http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/27/152246 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]uglyduckling writes "The British Government has issued a [1]response
to a recent petition calling for 'the Prime Minister to make software
patents clearly unenforcible'. The answer is reassuring but perhaps
doesn't go far enough, and gives no specific promises to bring into line
a patent office that grants software patents (according to the petition)
'against the letter and the spirit of the law'. The [2]Gowers Review that
it references gives detailed insight into the current British position on
this debate, most interestingly recommending a policy of 'not extending
patent rights beyond their present limits within the areas of software,
business methods and genes.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/27/152246
Links:
0. http://www.lpcollier.net/
1. http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page11077.asp
2. http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/independent_reviews/gowers_review_intellectual_property/gowersreview_index.cfm
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| China Treats Internet Addiction Very Seriously |
| from the glad-i-don't-live-in-china dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Tuesday February 27, @11:35 (The Internet) |
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/27/1555215 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]eldavojohn writes "China has [1]taken new extremes in preventing
internet addiction in youths and is even offering boot camps to parents
who want their child weaned from the electric teat. The article notes
that 'no country has gone quite as far as China in embracing the theory
that heavy Internet use should be defined as a mental disorder and
mounting a public crusade against Internet addiction.' The article
mentions the story of Sun Jiting who 'spends his days locked behind metal
bars in this military-run installation, put there by his parents. The
17-year-old high school student is not allowed to communicate with
friends back home, and his only companions are psychologists, nurses and
other patients. Each morning at 6:30, he is jolted awake by a soldier in
fatigues shouting, "This is for your own good!"' Sun found himself
spending 15 hours or straight on the internet. Thanks to his parents'
intervention and the treatment, he now has life mapped out until he's 84.
"
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/27/1555215
Links:
0. http://www.arcadefire.com/
1. http://www.startribune.com/722/story/1019976.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| New Controversy over Black Hat Presentation |
| from the black-hat-on-a-white-field dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Tuesday February 27, @12:07 (Security) |
| http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/27/1639231 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]uniquebydegrees writes "InfoWorld is reporting about a new controversy
swirling around a planned presentation at Black Hat Federal in Washington
D.C. this week. Security researcher Chris Paget of IOActive [1]will demo
an RFID hacking tool that can crack HID brand door access cards. HID
Corp., which makes the cards, is miffed and is accusing IOActive of
patent infringement over the presentation, recalling the legal wrangling
over Michael Lynn's presentation of a Cisco IOS hole at Black Hat in
2005. Black Hat's Jeff Moss says they're standing by their speaker. A
news conference is scheduled for tomorrow AM." Update: 02/27 20:10 GMT by
[2]Z :InfoWorldMike wrote with a link to story saying that [3]the
presentation has been pulled from the slate for Black Hat, as a result of
this pressure.
Discuss this story at:
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/27/1639231
Links:
0. http://www.infoworld.com/
1. http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/02/26/HNblackhatrfid_1.html
2. http://slashdot.org/~Zonk/
3. http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/02/27/HNioactiverfid_1.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| EU Wants German Telekom Fiber Open to All |
| from the don't-bogart-the-photons dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Tuesday February 27, @12:44 (The Internet) |
| http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/27/1643237 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
High Fibre writes "The European Commission has informed Germany that [0]a
new law protecting Deutsche Telekom's fiber optic network is illegal.
Deutsche Telekom is in the process of rolling out a new fiber network
that will serve the 50 largest German cities by the end of 2007 and
convinced the German parliament to pass a law that would keep the
competition from being able to lease its lines. The EC says that's a
no-go: 'The EC believes that the German law would make it more difficult
for competitors to enter the German market. More importantly, it runs
contrary to an EC-endorsed recommendation that Deutsche Telekom be forced
to open up its network ?€? including the new fiber deployment ?€? to
competitors.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://politics.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/27/1643237
Links:
0. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070226-8927.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Vista Worse For User Efficiency Than XP |
| from the two-steps-back dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Tuesday February 27, @13:27 (Windows) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/27/172203 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]erikvlie writes "Pfeiffer Consulting released a report on User
Interface Friction, comparing Windows Vista/Aero with Windows XP and Mac
OS X. The report concludes that [1]Vista/Aero is worse in terms of
desktop operations, menu latency, and mouse precision than XP ?€? which was
and still is said to be a lot worse on those measures than Mac OS X. The
report was independently financed. The IT-Enquirer editor has read the
report and summarized the most important findings."
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/27/172203
Links:
0. mailto:erik@it-enquirer.com
1. http://www.it-enquirer.com/main/ite/more/pfeiffer_vista/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Vanishing Honeybees Will Affect Future Crops |
| from the bee-gone dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Tuesday February 27, @14:07 (Bug) |
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/27/179237 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]daninbusiness writes "Across the US, beekeepers are finding that their
[1]bees are disappearing ?€? not returning while searching for nectar and
pollen. This could have a major impact on the food industry in the United
States, where as much as $14 billion worth of agriculture business
depends on bees for crop pollination. Reasons for this problem, dubbed
'colony collapse disorder,' are still unknown. Theories include viruses,
some type of fungus, poor bee nutrition, and pesticides."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/27/179237
Links:
0. http://daninbusiness.blogspot.com/
1. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/27/business/27bees.html/partner/rssnyt
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Windows Genuine Advantage Gets More Lenient |
| from the you-may-already-be-a-pirate dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Tuesday February 27, @14:46 (Windows) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/27/184223 |
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Troglodyte writes in with word that Microsoft is [0]revamping its Windows
Genuine Advantage program so that it labels fewer users pirates. WGA now
has a third category besides "genuine and "not genuine," called "not
sure." Quoting: "[I]t's quite obvious what is going on here: Microsoft
has added 'not sure' as a way of cutting down on the number of false
positives associated with WGA. As many as one in five PCs were failing
WGA checks, but this new setting should both reduce this and give
Microsoft the chance to investigate further the kinds of things that are
landing folks in the 'not sure' category."
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/27/184223
Links:
0. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070226-8922.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Is "Making Available" Copyright Infringement? |
| from the RIAA-theory dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Tuesday February 27, @15:30 (The Courts) |
| http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/27/1917218 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]NewYorkCountryLawyer updates us now that the legal issue ?€? [1]is it
copyright infringement merely to "make available" a copyrighted work? ?€?
has been argued by the attorneys in [2]Elektra v. Barker (on January 26).
Whichever way the ruling goes it will have a large impact across the
Internet. Appeal seems likely either way. No ruling has issued yet but "a
friend" has [3]made the 58-page transcript "available" ([4]PDF here).
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/27/1917218
Links:
0. http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com/
1. http://www.hollywoodreporteresq.com/thresq/spotlight/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003535810
2. http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com/#Elektra_v_Barker
3. http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com/2007/02/elektra-v-barker-making-available-oral.html
4. http://www.ilrweb.com/viewILRPDF.asp?filename=elektra_barker_070126OralArgument
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Christian Group Prepares To Mark Wii as 'Porn Portal' |
| from the overstating-things-a-bit dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Tuesday February 27, @15:59 (Wii (Games)) |
| http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/27/218202 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Citing the Wii's ability to browse the internet via the Opera browser, a
Christian group based out of California is planning on [0]targeting the
console with a smear campaign, Kotaku reports. The site has gotten ahold
of a leaked press release from the upcoming 'Porn Talk' media event. From
the release: "Like many new gaming technologies, the Wii's wireless
internet capabilities make it a portal to porno. 'Parents think the
computer is the only way for their kids to get porn on the internet.
Unfortunately, they are dead wrong,' says Mike Foster, founder of
ThePornTalk.com. 'Gaming devices like the Wii and the PSP aren't just for
fun games anymore. You're able to surf the net, chat with friends, email,
and view porn because of its internet access. Kids know this but parents
don't!'"
Discuss this story at:
http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/27/218202
Links:
0. http://kotaku.com/gaming/wii/christian-group-preps-to-attack-wii-239994.php
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| MP3's Loss, Open Source's Gain |
| from the chicken-or-the-ogg dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Tuesday February 27, @16:13 (Patents) |
| http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/27/2010241 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]nadamsieee refers us to a piece up at Wired on the [1]fallout from
Microsoft's recent courtroom loss to Alcatel-Lucent over MP3 patents.
>From the article: "Alcatel-Lucent isn't the only winner in a federal
jury's $1.52 billion patent infringement award against Microsoft this
week. Other beneficiaries are the many rivals to the MP3
audio-compression format... Now, with a cloud over the de facto industry
standard, companies that rely on MP3 may finally have sufficient
motivation to move on. And that raises some tantalizing possibilities,
including a real long shot: [2]Open-source, royalty-free formats win."
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/27/2010241
Links:
0. http://slashdot.org/~nadamsieee/
1. http://www.wired.com/news/culture/music/0,72785-0.html
2. http://www.vorbis.com/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Fair Use Bill Introduced To Change DMCA |
| from the tilting-it-back dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Tuesday February 27, @16:51 (Media) |
| http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/27/1946228 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader tips us to a Washington Post blogger's note that
Representatives Boucher (D-VA) and Dolittle (R-CA) today [0]introduced
the FAIR USE Act to update the DMCA to "make it easier for digital media
consumers to use the content they buy." Boucher's [1]statement on the
bill says, "The Digital Millennium Copyright Act dramatically tilted the
copyright balance toward complete copyright protection at the expense of
the public's right to fair use..." The Post failed to note the history.
Boucher has been introducing this bill for years; here are attempts from
[2]2002 and [3]2003. The chances may be better in this Congress. And
reader Rolling maul writes in to note Ars's disappointment with the bill
for [4]leaving the DMCA's anti-circumvention provisions intact: "Yet
again, the bill does not appear to deliver on what most observers want:
clear protection for making personal use copies of encrypted materials.
There is no allowance for consumers to make backups of DVDs, to strip
encryption from music purchased online so that it can be played anywhere,
or to generally do any of the things that the DMCA has made illegal."
Discuss this story at:
http://politics.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/27/1946228
Links:
0. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/posttech/2007/02/digital_fair_use_bill_introduc.html
1. http://www.boucher.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1011&Itemid=75
2. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/10/04/2129232&tid=103
3. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/02/03/0140215&tid=99
4. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070227-8934.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Can Apple Penetrate the Corporation? |
| from the awareness-gap dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Tuesday February 27, @17:32 (Businesses) |
| http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/27/213255 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]coondoggie sends us a NetworkWorld story on the [1]prospects for Apple
gaining market share in the corporation. A number of factors are helping
to catch the eye of those responsible for upgrading desktops and servers,
the article claims: "Apple's shift to the Intel architecture; the
inclusion of infrastructure and interoperability hooks, such as directory
services, in the Mac OS X Server; dual-boot capabilities; clustering and
storage technology; third-party virtualization software; and comparison
shopping, which is being fostered by migration costs and hardware
overhauls associated with Microsoft's Vista." On this last point, one
network admin is quoted: "The changes in Vista are significant enough
that we think we can absorb the change going to Macs just as easily as
going to Vista."
Discuss this story at:
http://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/27/213255
Links:
0. http://networkworld.com/
1. http://www.networkworld.com/news/2007/022707-mac-os-going-corporate.html?page=1
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Microsoft "SiteFinder" Quietly Raking It In |
| from the all-your-typos-are-belong-to-us dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Tuesday February 27, @18:57 (Microsoft) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/27/2215246 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes in with the news, which isn't particularly
new, that Microsoft's [0]Internet Explorer sends typo domain names to a
page of pay-per-click ads. In this endeavor Microsoft joins [1]Charter
and [2]Earthlink in profiting from the dubious practice that [3]Verisign
pioneered but failed to make stick. The article is on a site whose
audience is, among others, those who attempt to profit by typo-squatting,
and its tone is just a bit petulant because individuals cannot hope to
profit in this game on the scale Microsoft effortlessly achieves.
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/27/2215246
Links:
0. http://www.dailydomainer.com/200784-microsoft-quietly-making-untold-millions.html
1. http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/15/0432259&tid=95
2. http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/09/03/1359221&tid=95
3. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/10/04/1757203&tid=95
Copyright 1997-2006 OSTG. All rights reserved.
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