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Wednesday, April 03, 2002

Consensus At LawyerpointPosted by michael on Wednesday April 03, @05:07AM
from the send-lawyers-guns-money-and-blogs dept.
Seth Schoen writes "The EFF has started a weblog about the Broadcast Protection Discussion Group (BPDG), called "Consensus At Lawyerpoint". This is the EFF's first-ever blog, the brainchild of new EFF staffer Cory Doctorow of Boing Boing blogging fame. Consensus At Lawyerpoint covers the efforts of Hollywood -- with the complicity of consumer electronics and computer companies -- to impose a new government mandate for copy controls in digital TV devices. This mandate would outlaw tuner cards for digital HDTV, unless they included DRM (and prevented the end-user from getting a cleartext recording). PVRs and VCRs might be allowed, but only if all their outputs were encrypted. Since all TV broadcasting in the U.S. is supposed to be digital by 2006, this could have an enormous effect on technology and on the competition for video standards in the marketplace. We hope that the blog format will help us get the word out and let interested people see what this group is up to." Interesting for a couple of reasons, both the subject matter (the beloved SSSCA/CBDTPA) and the method. [Slashdot: News for nerds, stuff that matters]

1:51:43 PM

Linux in Education Report #67
1:48:39 PM

myLoudcloud 3.0 portal puts users in driver's seat Loudcloud's client-facing portal has been beefed up to include four new ease-of-use features, highlighted by an automated code deployment capability through which customers can easily and securely deploy new code to their Web site and restore "safe" original settings should an error occur, said Matt Prevost, product manager for myLoudcloud.
[IDG InfoWorld]
1:48:02 PM

FileNet to buy eGrail FileNet announced Tuesday plans to acquire eGrail, a Web content management vendor in a $10 million-deal designed to round out the company's content management offerings. Bethesda, Md.-based eGrail has focused on providing Web administrators with a set of tools designed to provide reliable management and control of an enterprise's entire collaborative content management process. FileNet plans to sell the eGrail software as a standalone product and will integrate it into its own content management and business process management product lines, according to company officials.
[IDG InfoWorld]
1:42:36 PM

Executive Fearful of Microsoft in Interactive TV Software. The chief executive of Liberate Technologies said that Microsoft probably would stifle new software that posed a threat to its Windows monopoly unless stiffer restrictions were imposed. By Amy Harmon. [New York Times: Technology]
9:46:00 AM

F.C.C. Rules on Ownership Under Review. The consolidation of television station ownership that has swept through big cities in recent years may soon extend to many smaller cities and towns. By Seth Schiesel. [New York Times: Technology]
9:45:47 AM

In Free Music Software, a Hidden Fee-Based Service. Users of Kazaa, a popular Internet network that lets people freely exchange music files online, have unknowingly received software that could make them participants in a second pay network. By Matt Richtel. [New York Times: Technology]
9:45:33 AM

Man Pleads Guilty in EBay Bat Fraud. SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- A man who impersonated major league shortstops Derek Jeter and Nomar Garciaparra to obtain baseball bats, and then sold them on eBay claiming they had been used by the stars, pleaded guilty to six counts of mail and wire fraud. By The Associated Press. [New York Times: Technology]
9:45:19 AM

The Law Is Going After Spam. Law enforcement agencies in the United States and Canada launch a joint effort to crack down on junk e-mail and Internet fraud. By Joanna Glasner. [Wired News]
9:44:55 AM

eBay closes password option to plug hole. The online auction site disables a password function on its site to close a "very serious" security hole that could allow hackers access to users' accounts. [CNET News.com]
9:44:35 AM

Anti-Unix Web site on the fritz?. As of midday Tuesday, the anti-Unix "We have the way out" Web site launched by Microsoft and Unisys was displaying either an all-white screen or an authorization error message. [CNET News.com]
9:44:11 AM

eBay listings plummet in France. French auction sellers are pulling their products from the Web site after the online auction giant tells them to pay up or pack up. [CNET News.com]
9:43:57 AM

Baseball site benches some online fans. Major League Baseball's Web unit acknowledges "minor glitches" in some opening-day broadcasts that caused some fans to be shut out of games. [CNET News.com]
9:43:36 AM

PeopleSoft, peers sing earnings blues. The business software maker, blaming its first-quarter miss on a "cautious economic environment," joins a chorus of companies with earnings woes. [CNET News.com]
9:39:13 AM

The man CEOs love to hate. And that's just jiffy with Phil Kaplan. Thanks to his F***edCompany Web site's skewering of countless failing Internet companies, he has emerged as the accidental champion of the dot-com detritus. [CNET News.com]
9:38:58 AM

ZDNet: Sharp Zaurus SL-5500 First Take:"Sharp's new Linux-powered Zaurus SL-5500 may be one of the few PDAs that is able to challenge Pocket PC devices in terms of power, speed, and features. We've only just received a final production model for review and are deep in the midst of testing it. We'll have a complete review ready shortly, but here are our initial impressions."
9:38:37 AM

Mozilla: What's the Hold Up?. Sources inside AOL and Mozilla seem to indicate that the long awaited final Mozilla release may hinge on completion of the controversial MRML implementation. Our XML expert investigates. By Michael Classen. 0401 [WebReference News]
9:37:56 AM