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Monday, March 25, 2002

Law Limiting Internet in Libraries Challenged. Librarians and their allies are trying to overturn a law passed by Congress requiring schools and libraries to use Internet filtering software. By John Schwartz. [New York Times: Education]
10:41:38 PM

Cuba Bans PC Sales to Public. Individuals and nonprofits can no longer purchase personal computers in Cuba, according to a government decree. Dissidents claim it's another example of the restriction of information flow. By Julia Scheeres. [Wired News]

Why don't they try giving everyone a PC and see what happens?

10:37:07 PM

Court to hear Net filtering challenge. Civil rights advocates will argue that a law requiring schools and libraries to filter Web content or forgo federal funding is unconstitutional. [CNET News.com]
10:36:27 PM

Sharp's Linux PDA debuts in US SHARP THIS WEEK put on sale its Linux-based Zaurus handheld computer and included one unexpected feature: a $50 price cut.

While showing the device to developers at various trade shows since it was detailed in June, the electronics maker had said it would charge $550 for the product. When it goes on sale this week through Sharp's Web site and several online retailers, the Zaurus will cost $499 [IDG InfoWorld]
10:29:23 PM

'Beautiful Mind' Wins; Best Actress Goes to Halle Berry. "A Beautiful Mind" won the Oscar for best picture in ceremonies that also included the first Oscar for a black actress in a lead role in Academy Award history. By Rick Lyman. [New York Times: Movies]
10:22:48 PM

Proposed anti-piracy bill draws fire. Government and industry leaders say lawmakers would in effect decide the tech industry's "winners and losers" if proposed government controls on digital media devices become reality. [CNET News.com]
10:22:21 PM

Clinton worm eats files. A destructive new worm continues to spread in the guise of an e-mail message containing a caricature of former President Bill Clinton. [CNET News.com]
10:15:42 PM

BBC: "Financier George Soros announced in February that he was giving a $3m grant to the Budapest Open Access Initiative to set up open-archiving systems." [Scripting News]

This story seems to miss the point to BOAI, which is not to undermine existing, peer-reviewed journals, or even replace them, but to provide open online access to the work of academia. This can be accomplished in a number of ways, including to provide for peer-review of materials.

10:15:12 PM

Court to Napster: Remain Offline. A federal appeals court said Monday that Napster may not resume its free online file-swapping service. By The Associated Press. [New York Times: Technology]
10:09:55 PM

Porn-Filter Judge Boots Public. The judge hearing the Children's Internet Protection Act appeals trial abruptly tells onlookers and media to leave, acquiescing to a vendor's request that testimony could leak proprietary info. Declan McCullagh reports from Philadelphia. [Wired News]
10:09:17 PM

Hackers find new way to bilk eBay users. Some eBay customers are finding themselves victims of a popular scam: Hackers are taking over their accounts and setting up fraudulent auctions to make a quick buck. [CNET News.com]

Someone other than Gloria Geary had access to the Washington artist's eBay account last week.

Using Geary's user ID, the person set up an auction for an Intel Pentium computer chip. Not only that, but the person changed Geary's password so she could no longer access her own account--or cancel the bogus auction.

10:06:26 PM

Spammers lose in small-claims court. A free-speech group takes its spam complaints to a small-claims court in Washington state and comes out with a $1,000 judgment in each case. [CNET News.com]
10:02:53 PM