<CONTENT /> v.3

Tuesday, March 19, 2002

Software glitch blocks Yahoo access. The Web portal says some customers were locked out of some areas of the service Tuesday because of a software error. [CNET News.com]
11:47:05 PM

Morpheus gives Web surfers a detour. StreamCast Networks, distributor of the popular software, is quietly counting the number of times its file swappers visit high-profile shopping sites. [CNET News.com]

StreamCast Networks, distributor of the popular Morpheus software, is quietly counting the number of times its file swappers visit high-profile shopping sites.

The company on Tuesday said it has begun installing a Web browser add-on that sends some Morpheus users on an invisible Web detour aimed at capturing data about file swappers' surfing habits.

Thus, when a file swapper visits a site such as Radioshack.com, eBay.com or a handful of others, their computer visits a separate site behind the scenes before loading the final destination site. Those separate servers, run by marketing companies including Be Free, count how many times Morpheus users stop by.

As more and more companies drift into spyware, you have to wonder where it will end. If you online, you are not alone.

11:46:13 PM

Red Hat posts profit before charges Linux operating system supplier Red Hat Inc. on Tuesday said its net loss widened in the latest quarter from a year earlier amid falling sales, but operations excluding charges showed a slight profit, meeting Wall Street expectations.

Red Hat, based near Raleigh, North Carolina, said its net loss widened to $41.9 million, or 25 cents a share, in the fiscal fourth quarter ended Feb. 28, from a net loss of $24.2 million, or 14 cents a share, a year earlier.

Excluding amortization of goodwill, stock-based compensation and restructuring charges, Red Hat said it turned an "adjusted" profit of $1 million, or 1 cent a share, compared to a profit of $340,000 or nil cents a share, a year earlier.

[IDG InfoWorld]
11:44:13 PM

StarOffice goes commercial, and stays open-source SUN MICROSYSTEMS'S STAROFFICE 6.0 will come with enhanced features and added support, but at a price, as Sun aims to attract a wider audience, such as businesses, towards the office-productivity software suite. A less sophisticated version of the product will still be available for free download from OpenOffice.org, the open-source community sponsored by Sun, the company announced Tuesday.

"We are positioning this product as a direct competitor to Microsoft's Office," said Mike Rogers, vice president and general manager of desktop and office productivity at Palo Alto, California-based Sun.

[IDG InfoWorld]
11:43:17 PM

TechTV shifts programming focus. The cable channel plans to trade high-tech visionaries and digital music trends for features on the technology behind food processing, football and other everyday phenomena. [CNET News.com]
11:41:23 PM

New PA Law Aims to Block Kiddie Porn
11:40:03 PM

Pennsylvania Law Requires ISPs to Block Child Porn "Salon has an article describing a new law in Pennsylvania which requires ISPs to prevent access to child pornography on the internet. Under this law, the government can give ISPs a list of websites to block. Failure to do so can result in fines from $5,000 to $30,000 + jailtime. While stopping child pornography sounds noble, it seems that these powers will do little to meet this goal and much to allow the government to decide what websites are suitable for public viewing." Reader lightspawn provided this link to the law itself as well as another story at freedomforum.org. [Slashdot: News for nerds, stuff that matters]
11:39:10 PM

Pennsylvania orders ISPs to censor the Net. It's finally started [The Register]

Child-protective mania has given State of Pennsylvania a pretext to indulge in Internet censorship. The legislature has passed a law requiring ISPs to block access to kiddie porn Web sites. Under the scheme, PA residents will have to be prevented from accessing the sites, which will be identified by the state attorney general's office.

The law is backed up with penalties ranging from $5,000 for a first offense to fines of $30,000 and seven years' imprisonment for a third offense. The PA legislature doesn't offer any guidance as to how the blocking is to be accomplished.

The legislative measure was brought to our attention by Richard M. Smith of ComputerBytesMan.com. "ISPs are going to have to filter by URLs. I think this is a hard technical problem. I'm not even sure what kind of software can deal with ISP traffic volumes," he noted during an e-mail exchange.

11:38:22 PM

Novell in talks to bundle eDirectory on Linux servers. Brainshare - we weren't there [The Register]

Novell is in talks with IBM and Red Hat about bundling its eDirectory services with Linux servers.

The network software and services firm already supports Linux, so the deal - which is still at the discussion stage - would involve expending Novell's commitment to the platform that boosts the availability of directory services for Linux, CRN reports.

11:31:05 PM