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Atari Online News, Etc. Volume 04 Issue 07
Volume 4, Issue 7 Atari Online News, Etc. February 15, 2002
Published and Copyright (c) 1999 - 2002
All Rights Reserved
Atari Online News, Etc.
A-ONE Online Magazine
Dana P. Jacobson, Publisher/Managing Editor
Joseph Mirando, Managing Editor
Rob Mahlert, Associate Editor
Atari Online News, Etc. Staff
Dana P. Jacobson -- Editor
Joe Mirando -- "People Are Talking"
Michael Burkley -- "Unabashed Atariophile"
Albert Dayes -- "CC: Classic Chips"
Rob Mahlert -- Web site
Thomas J. Andrews -- "Keeper of the Flame"
With Contributions by:
Rodolphe Czuba
Tim Conrardy
Kevin Savetz
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=~=~=~=
A-ONE #0406 02/15/02
~ E-mail Chain Letters! ~ People Are Talking! ~ CT60 Update!
~ Cybercrime Bill Posed! ~ Bar More MS Witnesses! ~ Spam Clampdown!?
~ Klez Worm Is Reborn! ~ Netsurfer Goes Pay! ~ PayPal IPO Explodes!
~ States Want WinOS Code ~ Security Patch Useless ~ Yahoo! Gets HotJobs!
-* XTOS Publishes Schematics! *-
-* Hybrid Arts Source Code Is Released *-
-* EU To Endorse New Law For Digital Sales Tax *-
=~=~=~=
->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Last week I mentioned that I was heading north to visit my father, who
hasn't been feeling too well lately. It was an enjoyable time. My brother
and I spent some time with him all weekend - went out to eat a few times,
hit his various computer haunts looking for bargains, had a few beers, and
just relaxed a bit! It's obvious that he's in a lot of pain due to back
problems, but I think we managed to get him out of his other doldrums - at
least for now. And I saw the "monster" puppy, who is already a year old now
and getting big! I can understand why pit bull terriers get a bad rep, but
you wouldn't know it by my father's! A very affectionate and playful dog!
So it was a long week after that! I didn't get much rest over that weekend;
the sofa just wasn't as comfortable as I remember it! And after a hectic
week at work with a bunch of projects getting closer to finish, I'm beat.
So, unless some earth-shattering news comes by, I think I'll be extremely
brief this week and give you all a break!
Until next time...
=~=~=~=
CT60 News !!
STATUS : February 11th 2002
The CT60 is running at 66 MHz and the SDRAM controller is running at 66 and
80 MHz (!). The 100 MHz boot is a success but the 060 stops after the white
screen (videl initialization). It seems that the caches of the 060 can't
run at 100 MHz (internal timing problems)...
It seems too that we have some internal problems at 80 MHz, even with a 60
MHz model... Other tests coming soon...
CT60 at 66 MHz
SDRAM : READ (page Hit) : 133 MB/s - WRITE (page Hit) : 176 MB/s
People who have not yet order or pre-order should now wake up because the
production of the CT60 is now being planned for the end of this month !
:-))))
I will produce a quantity = to the number of orders I received (122) + a
little (not enough for all late people !).
--
Rodolphe CZUBA
4, Allée du Laurier
F-60290 AUVILLERS
FRANCE
email : rczuba@free.fr
WEB : www.czuba-tech.com
Hybrid Arts Source Code Released
Good news!
Calling Programmers!!
Got a BIG package in the mail with LOTS of discs from Tom Bajoras,
ex-programmer for Hybrid Arts. He has released all the source code for
his programs, and found the discs and sent them to me.
Go here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/atari-midi-archives/files/SOURCE/HybridArt/
For now, this includes:
CZ Android
DX Android ( 2 discs)
Ludwig
GenEdit ( 2 discs)
I still have to zip up about 4 to 5 discs of Easy Score Plus Source
Code. This will come later.
Also included in his package are many templates and configurations for
GenEdit. I still have to sort and Zip them up. I will post about it
when I have completed this part.
I am pretty sure Tom Bajoras used magamax C to compile the source.
What we really need is:
1. A unprotected version of DX Android, as we do not have a
downloadable version even though Tom Bajoras has released it as
freeware.
2. Unprotected Copies of ALL the programs, as the versions we have are
all "libed" versions. The MCA dialogs have been removed, but a real
version is much more preferable.Tom Bajoras has approved of these as
downloads (of course)
3.Better versions of the programs...for example, a new version of
Ludwig would be very nice!
I have also uploaded to the web master at Orphaned projects at
Atari-source.com. Perhaps we will get some response there as well.
I think it is great that Tom Bajoras has decided to release the source
code. It gives us another opportunity to make things even better.If
any programmers here can help, please contact me. We especially need
#1 on the list above.
Tim Conrardy
tconrardy@hotmail.com
Tims Atari MIDI World
http://tamw.atari-users.net
XTOS Publishes Schematics
Schematics if the XTOS computer have been published.
http://www.xtos.de/
=~=~=~=
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
compiled by Joe Mirando
joe@atarinews.org
Hidi ho friends and neighbors. Boy are you guys lucky! Last night I
wrote about three pages for this column about how the human race is
becoming dumber and dumber, and how our intelligence is what has made
it possible.
Upon re-reading it tonight, I decided to scrap the whole thing. Not
because it wasn't true, or because I didn't believe it, but because if
you were going to agree with it, you wouldn't need to read it, and if
you were going to disagree with it, it wouldn't do any good anyway.
Let's just say that I think that we need to add some chlorine to the
gene pool and leave it at that.
Anyway... this is going to be a short column, so let's get to it, shall
we?
From the comp.sys.atari.st NewsGroup
====================================
Piotr Mietniowski asks:
"I'm looking for screenblaster (external or internal). Is it still
possibility to buy it."
Jo Even Skarstein tells Piotr:
"I don't know if it's still available, but instead of buying an internal
Screenblaster, you should instead buy a cheap oscillator and use Videlity.
The oscillator is just as easy to install, and much, much cheaper.
Also, you have a much wider variety of clocks to choose from. Take a
look in the hardware-section on http://atari.nvg.org/"
John Garone asks about a using Cubase:
"Anyone know how to maximize the volume of an audio waveform (not the
MIDI velocity but the sound on an Audio track) using Cubase 2.06?
P.S. Is 2.06 the latest for Atari?"
Tony Keramidas tells John:
"Yeah CAF 2.06 is the latest version (back in 1996)!
You can use the normalize function in Offline mode but go for
a cup of coffee,then...another option is...
...You can use in the audio mixer the AUX controls to maximize the
volume but it will not be a part of the final audio file.You must do a
"mixdown" but it's a little complicated..."
John tells Tony:
"To answer my own question (in case someone else needs the info) it
looks like the "Normalize" selection is similar to maximize.
For some reason my NG list didn't group your response but I
found out what you stated by experimenting, hence my follow-up to my
own question! And thanks for the extra info..."
Chris Thorley asks about using a PC mouse on an ST:
"I have heard its possible, with suitable driver software, to use a
PC mouse on an STe. Can anyone tell me if the driver software is still
available?"
Hallvard Tangeraas asks for help in locating an old standard:
"I'm trying to find *complete* Xcontrol distributions, but all I find is
either re-arranged setups with various parts missing (docs etc.) or just
the ACCessory without anything else.
I'm looking for versions 1.0 and 1.31 of the German, UK and USA language
versions (yes, there's a difference between the UK and USA versions in
the way dates are shown).
They're for my TOS 2.06 documentation project as I plan to make related
files available as well.
Anyone know where I can download these from? I've tried loads of FTP and
websites, but was hoping that someone with the original floppies they
got with their machines might be able to help.
PS. please don't send me attachments right away before asking if
someone else has beat you to it! I pay for my online time by the minute
so I'd rather not have ten copies of the same files. Thanks."
Edward Baiz tells Hallvard:
"I have seen them on various sites, but cannot remember where. I use
the accessary COPS which I like better. It works well on my Hades and
my STe. You might want to give that a try if you cannot find what you
want."
Hallvard tells Edward:
"Yes, I have both Cops and Zcontrol.
The main reason for asking for these complete versions is that I want to
make them available to anyone who reads my TOS 2.06 user-guide (still
not complete, but getting there=.
I was hoping that someone had gotten their together with their computers
(I guess Mega STe and Falcon users must have received them for sure).
I've already received version 1.0 of the German version, and probably
soon version 1.31 (Germany) as well.
Anyone got 1.0 and 1.31 of the UK and USA versions?"
Phil 'Puffin' asks about problems he's having with HD Driver:
"Hi everyone. I'm having a problem with HD Driver 7.55.
I just formatted a new Syquest 270MB cart and I can't get it to boot
with HD Driver. When I first boot up my MegaST4 w/TOS 1.4 and Link 97,
it loads from disk first as normal. However, when it starts detecting
drives attached, it displays the following:
IDE 0: ~--~--~[[--]] (other garbage characters)
ACSI 0: Syquest SQ270S
It looks like HD Driver is trying to find an IDE drive and trying to
boot from it. However, I have no IDE drive connected. I only have my
Syquest 270 is connected. It's ID0 and has been terminated.
To add to this, I also cannot access drive C:. When I try to install
HD Driver on the Syquest, it only lists drive D:. I tried installing
HD Driver on drive D and set it to boot from drive D under the General
dialog box, but that didn't work. (I've ticked "ICD Compatible Host
Adapter" too) Then I tried unselecting all the devices except ACSI 0
in the "Device Assignments" dialog box to no avail.
I even checked "IDE Drives" under Options, and the dialog box lists 2
IDE drives with negative sectors! Somehow the IDE drive checking in
this version isn't working.
The funny thing is that I had this happen before, and I actually fixed
it myself, but now I forgot what I did! Can anyone help?"
Dr. Uwe Seimet, author of HD Driver, tells Phil:
"This is a strange problem, but you can simply ignore it and disable any
IDE devices. Please refer to the manual for details."
Dennis Bishop asks for help with substituting power supplies:
"OK, today a guy here in the trailer park cleaned out his work space, I
collected all of the computer junk he had. I tore apart an old (1984)
8088 machine and got a good working power supply out of it, and it has
a whole bunch of leans from it. I'll have to get me a multi-meter for
sorting out the leads some time next month, now what I need is the
order of the leads from the Falcon030 power supply, Mine is packed in a
box, but I believe there's at lest 5 wires from it, I need to know their
order and what power rating they are supposed to be.
I also got a ST-251-1, and a bunch of small 3.5 hard drives too.
Also, on my 1040ST I've got a useable KX-P1124 printer hooked up, but I
don't know what all the function buttons are for or the other controls
either. I have a 2nd one of those printers that will be put onto my
TT030 so that once I have a keyboard for it I can use it too. But does
anyone have a manual for this printer or knows the control keys order?
I've got to monitors I need to test and two tower cases with power
supplies too."
Joshua Kaijankoski tells Dennis:
"I can help you on the PSU. Falcon needs +12v +5v and GND. The blue
wire on the Falcon is +12v and the black ones are GND and the 2 red
ones are +5v. You'll have to check the PC's with a multimeter."
'Sam F' asks about moving his Falcon030 to a new case:
"I have a C-Lab Falcon. What would I need and how difficult would it
be, to re-case my unit in a tower case? Also, it has an internal 2.5"
scsi drive, and also has what I believe is a bus for an ide drive. So,
what do need to do to place an ide drive in place of the scsi drive?
Any and all suggestions/ideas will be welcome."
Joshua Kaijankoski tells Sam:
"Here are some helpful links:
http://freespace.virgin.net/asteroid.76/tbird/
http://www.myatari.net/issues/dec2001/casemod.htm "
Ben Gainey asks for Atari info:
"I come from the world of pcs so please forgive me if i make some awful
assumptions...
How does the atari boot?
Is its OS code kept all in rom, or does the rom load the os from a
floppy?
Linux works on the atari right?
How does linux boot on the atari so that it can take over the machine?
How would I go about making an atari boot my own code from, say, a
floppy disk?
The reason I ask is since I am working on a hobby os, mostly for the
PC, but I want to make it easily portable, so i intend to also write a
basic functionality to boot on different architecture (M68k processor
with MMU)."
Laurent Vogel tells Ben:
"Very old versions of the OS were on floppy, with a simple boot loader
in ROM. Now the OS is in ROM. However on bootup it
- checks for some hardware cartridge and jump into them at some point
- after reset it checks and in some conditions it jumps to a
reset-resident programs
- it loads the floppy bootsector, and if this bootsector is
executable, it jumps in
- it then try to execute an executable boot sector found on hard
disks.
- finally programs found in the X:\AUTO folder are executed one
after another (where X: stands for the letter of the boot drive,
either the floppy or a partition in a hard disk)
- at last the desktop appears.
It is said that Linux works on some Atari computers (ones with at least
a 68030), but I never checked, as I only have a bare 68000
atari or emulators.
I suppose it (Linux) is run from the auto folder, or perhaps launched
by boot loaders that can be installed on the MBR of the first hard
disk, (like LILO?)
Simply ensure that the first sector of your floppy has the right
checksum. For details, just have a look at the source code for
EmuTOS, a re-writing of the Atari ST OS covered in GPL, at
http://emutos.sf.net
especially the files bios/floppy.c and bios/blkdev.c (for the
floppy). As EmuTOS is self-contained, and runs currently on actual
and emulated hardware from 68000 to 68040, I think you might
find other valuable info there."
Well folks, that's it for this week. Tune in again next week, same
time, same station, and be ready to listen to what they are saying
when...
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
=~=~=~=
->In This Week's Gaming Section - Immersion Sues Microsoft, Sony!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Georgia Goes After Violent Games!
New James Bond!
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Immersion Sues Sony, Microsoft Over Game Consoles
Immersion Corp. , which develops technology that makes joysticks and video
game pads vibrate and rumble, on Monday filed suit against Microsoft Corp.
and Sony Corp., claiming that elements of their video game consoles violate
Immersion's patents.
The company said Sony's use of feedback in controllers for its PlayStation
and PlayStation 2 console, and Microsoft's use of the same for its Xbox,
violate Immersion's patents on its "haptic feedback" technology.
A Sony spokesman was not immediately available for comment. A spokesman
for Microsoft had not seen the suit and could not immediately comment.
The Sony and Microsoft video game consoles all have controllers that
rumble and vibrate in conjunction with certain events, like explosions, in
some of their video games.
San Jose, California-based Immersion said the suit was filed in federal
court for Northern California after negotiations with Sony and Microsoft
failed.
According to Immersion's Web site, at least five companies currently
license its feedback technology for game controllers.
Separately, the company said it has promoted Vic Viegas, its chief
financial officer, to president and chief operating officer.
The company also said its quarterly burn rate had dropped under $500,000.
Besides video and PC gaming, the company also has operations in the
automotive and medical industries.
Bond Adventure Has All The Right Ingredients
If the James Bond franchise didn't take itself so seriously, the latest 007
adventure game could have been subtitled ``Send in the Clones."
``James Bond 007: Agent Under Fire" features the British secret service
agent in a quest to unravel the mystery behind a biological research firm
run by a man with a criminal past. What he eventually uncovers is a plan to
clone and replace key world leaders, and it's up to 007 to thwart the plot.
Because ``Agent Under Fire" has all the right ingredients for a Bond
adventure -- guns, gadgets and girls -- this first-person shooter should
please most 007 fans.
``Agent Under Fire" has three levels of difficulty and a dozen "missions,"
a word that's often misused in computer games where the ``missions" are
sequential and no different from chapters in a book.
The tale begins in Hong Kong, where a beautiful CPA operative has been
captured by the research firm. Armed with a handgun and some gadgets, your
first task as Bond is to invade the laboratory and rescue the agent, who
(a.) never seems to find the time to button the top half of her white
blouse and (b.) is tied to the mast of a submarine that's about to
submerge.
From there, you have to battle the bad guys in a car careening through
Hong Kong; invade the British Embassy in Romania, twice; spy on a Swiss
company where you meet the heart-stopping twins, Bebe and Bella; sneak
around aboard an aircraft carrier, and fly back to the Swiss Alps for a
final rendezvous with the villains.
As in the movies, much of the sex and violence is only suggested, which is
why ``Agent Under Fire" carries a teen rating. There's no blood and the
preternaturally-pretty women don't do much more than dress provocatively.
One nice feature about the game is that it offers several options for
defeating the baddies. For example, there are places where you can take
out a shooter by squeezing off a round at the rope that holds a dangling
crate, or wipe out a half dozen nasties by targeting the propane tank in
the forklift just behind them. In some chapters, stealth is more important
than marksmanship.
My only real problem with the game was the setup for the controls, which I
found confusing and counter-intuitive. I'd frantically try to call up a
weapon and, instead, get a useless gadget. Personally, I think it's more
logical to have one thumbstick guiding the direction you're facing and the
other controlling motion. But in this game, each thumbstick does a little
of each.
Also, the controls vary a bit from chapter to chapter, depending on
whether your main task is to shoot or drive. Then there are the stupid
little things that plague too many of these games, like the bodies that
vanish into the ether after you kill them, and the sniper who has his
sights trained on the CIA agent even though it's obvious she's not going
anywhere because she's tied to the sinking sub.
``Agent Under Fire" also has a multiplayer option that works well and can
accommodate up to 4 players with a multitap. One fun feature is the ``low
gravity" option, which lets you hop around the terrain as if you were on
the moon. Unfortunately, it's not true ``low gravity." If it were, the
recoil of the guns would send you flying. That would really be
interesting.
Electronic Arts is releasing ``Agent Under Fire" for the GameCube in
mid-March.
Georgia Targets Violent Video Games
State lawmakers this week introduced a bill that would make it a crime in
Georgia to provide games that depict graphic violence to minors.
The bill, dubbed the "Violent Video Game Protection Act," would make it a
criminal misdemeanor if a person "sells, rents, or otherwise provides for
use for a charge" any video games to those under the age of 18 that depict
"decapitation, bloodshedding, dismemberment, and grotesque cruelty."
The bill's authors said improvements in technology and increasing access
to such games necessitate stricter regulation.
"Video games are available to children not only at traditional places of
business specializing in amusement but also through a variety of retail
outlets and magazine sales for home use and by communication on the
Internet," the bill reads. "Improvements to the picture, speed, and
resolution of the new age of video games have made the depiction of
characters, places, and events contained in the games amazingly
realistic."
State and local governments are increasingly trying to regulate access to
violent video games.
In January, the City Council of Garden Grove in Southern California
imposed restrictions on cybercafes, hoping to stop virtual brutality from
exploding into real-life violence because of charged emotions of the
children playing video games. Other California cities have enacted similar
or more stringent restrictions.
The proposed bill in Georgia would use the Entertainment Software Rating
Board's independent ratings system. The rating's body was established in
1994 by the Interactive Digital Software Associations.
=~=~=~=
A-ONE's Headline News
The Latest in Computer Technology News
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
FTC's Working For a Spam Clampdown
The Federal Trade Commission is training its legal guns on spam.
On Tuesday, the agency plans to unveil an aggressive three-point program
to crack down on unwanted commercial e-mail.
The agency receives about 10,000 e-mails a day in a database it set up for
consumers to forward their unsolicited mail. Since the database was
launched in 1998, it has amassed 8 million pieces of purported spam,
according to an FTC spokeswoman.
The spokeswoman would not comment on the specifics of the plan, but she
did say it would involve "taking legal action" against those sending spam.
FTC attorneys also have investigated the problem, replicating a scenario
nearly every e-mail user has experienced. In one case, an FTC attorney set
up six new e-mail accounts and within days had received dozens of unwanted
e-mails.
Crackdowns on spam have been largely unsuccessful, partly because they pit
concerns about privacy against free-speech issues. In addition, although
many states have adopted anti-spam measures, spammers have argued that
there is usually no way for them to know an e-mail recipient lives in a
certain state where some types of junk e-mail are illegal.
Some anti-spam advocates have urged angry junk e-mail recipients to turn
to small-claims court. Last year, Ellen Spertus of California won a $50
judgment against Kozmo.com; the now-defunct online delivery service sent
her spam even though she had asked to be removed from its contact list.
Feds Launch 'Spam' E-Mail Crackdown
Federal regulators kicked off a crackdown on the junk e-mail known as
"spam" on Tuesday with an announcement that they had settled charges
against seven people accused of running an e-mail pyramid scheme.
The Federal Trade Commission said that the seven defendants had
participated in a chain-letter scam that promised returns of up to
$46,000 for a $5 payment. Such chain letters are illegal in the United
States.
The chain letter eventually drew in more than 2,000 participants from
nearly 60 countries, the FTC said.
While the consumer-protection agency has targeted some 200 Internet-based
scams over the past several years, it has not until now gone after spam.
That's changed, said FTC Chairman Timothy Muris.
"We're going after deceptive spam and the people who send it. We want it
off the Net," Muris said at a press conference.
The agency will not seek to limit the flood of pornography, fake diploma
offers and get-rich-quick schemes that clog Internet users' inboxes, FTC
officials said.
Rather, FTC agents will concentrate on spam that violates existing laws
prohibiting false or deceptive trade practices.
In addition to chain letters, pyramid schemes and other scams, the agency
will target spammers who use deceptive return addresses or do not respond
to consumer requests to be taken off their contact lists, officials said.
The agency plans to settle several more cases within six months, said
Eileen Harrington, assistant director of marketing practices.
Internet users received an average of 571 pieces of unsolicited commercial
e-mail in 2001, a number expected to rise to nearly 1,500 by 2006,
according to Jupiter Media Metrix.
Attempts in Congress to pass an anti-spam law have stumbled over opposition
from direct marketers who say their activities would be unfairly limited.
Nineteen states have passed anti-spam laws, but they have by and large
failed to turn back the tide of spam, said David Sorkin, a professor at
the John Marshall Law School in Chicago.
Most state laws have little teeth, and few states devote the resources
to enforcing them thoroughly, Sorkin said. Consumers who sue spammers in
small-claims court often have trouble tracking them down or collecting
damages, he said.
"I think it's probably just a drop in the bucket," Sorkin said.
Spammers are not likely to face jail time or large fines from FTC actions.
In deceptive-trade cases, the agency can usually only force companies to
give back profits and pursue "structural" remedies that modify future
behavior.
The seven spammers, who had been sent letters of warning by the FTC in
September 2000, agreed to refrain from participating in deceptive schemes
in the future, or lying about the legality or potential earnings from any
such schemes.
In addition, the defendants must return any money they take in from the
chain letter in the future, cannot share their lists of recruits, and must
submit to FTC oversight of their actions.
Some 2,000 other participants in the chain letter received a warning letter
from the consumer-protection agency.
While the FTC is preparing a national "do not call" list for telemarketers,
a "do not spam" list would probably not be effective, Harrington said.
Harrington said Web users should forward spam to the FTC for analysis,
using the e-mail address http://www.uce@ftc.gov. The agency has amassed
a database of 8.5 million spam messages, and takes in an additional
10,000 per day, she said.
E-Mail Chain Letters Illegal
More than 2,000 people involved in an Internet chain letter that promises
"$46,000 or more in the next 90 days" are receiving government warnings
that the scheme is illegal, the Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday.
"This is the kind of activity that somebody's grandmother could be
engaging in without fully appreciating that it's illegal," said Eileen
Harrington, a director with the FTC's division of marketing practices.
"The vast majority of participants will lose money."
The warnings say the FTC has already sued people for being involved with
the chain e-mail. Recipients of the warning are told that, to avoid a
similar fate, they should stop promoting the chain and return any money
they have received.
The scheme promises extravagant amounts of money in exchange for consumers
sending $5 in cash to each of four or five people on a list. Recruits add
their own names to the top of the list before sending it on.
The chain e-mails even suggest that skeptical recipients contact
Harrington's office at the FTC to confirm that the scheme is legal.
FTC Chairman Timothy J. Muris said the warnings are part of a larger
campaign against junk e-mail that he announced in October.
"We're going after deceptive spam and the people who send it," Muris said.
"We want it off the Net."
In September 2000, the FTC sent a first round of warning letters to 1,000
people involved with the chain e-mails. The agency received responses from
many people who confessed, apologized or said they did not know the letters
were illegal.
But a follow-up probe, including a sting operation in which investigators
posed as chain letter participants, found others who kept sending the chain
e-mails despite the warning.
The FTC said it sued and settled charges against seven of the worst
offenders who sent out mass mailings. The seven people could face fines
or imprisonment if they are ever again involved in deceptive marketing
schemes, Harrington said.
The identities of those involved with the chain e-mail were culled from a
government database that each day collects about 15,000 unsolicited junk
e-mails passed along by consumers. The FTC said it has collected more than
8 million spam messages since 1998.
E-mail scams often involve business opportunities that turn out to be
illegal pyramid schemes; work-at-home jobs, such as envelope stuffing
and craft assembly; and bogus weight-loss products that promise to melt
away fat cells.
Harrington said more lawsuits against deceptive spammers will be coming
soon, including possible actions against those who break promises to remove
consumers from junk e-mail lists.
Addressing e-mail con artists, Harrington added, "Be warned that if you
are using e-mail to perpetrate a deception, the Federal Trade Commission
is watching and we may come after you."
Congress Considers Cybercrime Bill
A House bill that could give life imprisonment to some computer hackers
received support from administration officials and technology executives
Tuesday.
Microsoft lawyer Susan Kelley Koeppen, a former Justice Department
prosecutor, said courts should take hackers more seriously.
"Cybercrime will never be effectively curbed if society continues to treat
it merely as pranksterism," she said.
The government is increasingly concerned about the well-being of
government and business computer systems in the face of teen hackers and
foreign threats.
"As we increase individuals' physical safety at our airports, borders and
even sporting events, we should not forget to strengthen cybersecurity as
well," said Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, the bill's sponsor.
The bill would give judges greater flexibility in imposing sentences for
computer crimes. Current law ties the severity of the crime to the cost of
damage done and limits jail terms to 10 years.
Smith's legislation would require judges to take other factors into
account, including the sophistication of the offense, intent and violations
of the victim's privacy.
If the criminal "knowingly causes or attempts to cause death or serious
bodily injury," the judge could impose up to a life sentence.
The Justice Department, Microsoft and Internet service providers supported
the change in testimony to the House Judiciary subcommittee on crime.
John G. Malcolm, of Justice's criminal division, described a hypothetical
situation in which a hacker shut down a town's phone service, including
emergency 911 calls.
"It is easy to envision in such a situation that somebody might die or
suffer serious injury as a result of this conduct," Malcolm said.
"Although the hacker might not have known that his conduct would cause
death or serious bodily injury, such reckless conduct would seem to merit
punishment greater than the 10 years permitted by the current statute."
Microsoft's Koeppen suggested that convicted hackers have their computer
gear confiscated by the authorities, a practice similar to that used in
drug cases.
Another portion of the bill would protect Internet providers from lawsuits
if, believing someone is in danger, they give records of communications to
a government entity.
Koeppen said she believes the term "government entity" could be applied to
firefighters or even school principals.
"We believe that such emergency situations will be rare, but that law
enforcement personnel may not always be reachable or even the best prepared
to take action," she said.
Privacy advocates said the language is too broad and would encourage
Internet providers to hand over information too often.
"At the same time that they're expanding the number of people that can get
this information, they're bringing down the standard in which they can get
it," said Ari Schwartz of the Center for Democracy and Technology.
Schwartz dismissed the idea mentioned by several supporters that the
information sharing would be useful to combat terrorism. Some of the
suspected terrorists in the Sept. 11 attacks communicated over the
Internet.
It's not as though law enforcement agencies knew about that information
and wanted to get it, Schwartz said. "It was not the standards that failed
us, it was the intelligence-gathering that failed us."
EU to Endorse New Law for Digital Sales Tax
European Union ministers will on Tuesday back a law obliging non-EU
suppliers to impose a higher tax on digital sales to European consumers,
removing a competitive handicap for EU companies, the EU Commission said.
The planned law applies to online sales of software and computer games as
well as some radio and television services.
The law, which has prompted the United States to accuse the EU of
unilaterally trying to impose its own standards, helps close a loophole
which allowed Europeans to avoid paying value added tax (VAT) on products
and services bought from non-EU sites.
So far, governments around the world have been slow to tax business done
over the Internet in an effort to promote a potentially lucrative new
market arena for retailers and software developers. But this protective
stance is being eroded as politicians seek to redress this imbalance.
The European Commission, which drafted the law, said new rules were needed
to eliminate competitive distortions and that they would affect only a
small share of total sales.
"The new rules will affect less than 10 percent of sales from non-EU
suppliers," European Commission spokesman Jonathan Todd told a press
briefing on Monday.
European business had mixed reactions to the directive. Software vendors
expressed concerns that it could add layers of cost to digital
transactions, a rapidly growing business segment, particularly for firms
that sell computer security software and software upgrades to handheld
devices.
But British Internet service provider Freeserve, a unit of French-owned
Wanadoo , welcomed the directive, saying it would foster fair competition
in Europe.
"We are pleased to see it because it will create a more level playing field
between EU ISPs and non-EU ISPs," said David Melville, company secretary
and general counsel for Freeserve.
For the past six months, Freeserve has been lobbying the UK government to
impose VAT on its largest UK competitor AOL Time Warner. Melville estimated
that AOL saves 30 million pounds ($42.74 million) per year because of its
VAT exemption.
The new law will not affect digital sales to business customers, which
account for around 90 percent of total sales, the EU's executive said.
EU finance ministers will rubber stamp the new law at a meeting in Brussels
on Tuesday, which is due to focus on the sensitive issue of a potentia
budget warning to Germany.
The ministers' green light will pave the way for the law to come into
effect once the Parliament has been consulted.
The ministers will also adopt a proposal to raise the taxation of
cigarettes and fine-cut tobacco to reduce existing gaps in EU excise rates.
Under the new law, non-EU suppliers of digitally delivered goods and
services will have to register with a VAT authority of an EU state of their
choice and levy VAT at the rate applicable in the state of residence of the
customer.
This could mean levying an additional charge of up to 15-25 percent for
products sold to EU customers.
The country of registration would then reallocate the VAT revenue to the
country of residence of the customer.
Kenneth Dam, United States Deputy Treasury Secretary said in a statement on
Friday the Bush administration had serious concerns about the EU's tax
plans.
"Unilateral proposals such as the EU's may encourage others to take
unilateral measures, rather than waiting for the global consensus that can
be developed through a more deliberative and inclusive process," Dam said
in a statement.
He criticized Brussels for moving ahead with the proposal while work on
taxation of e-commerce was still underway in the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development.
The Information Technology Association of America, representing 500 IT
firms, said the rules were putting a heavy administrative burden on U.S.
companies and risked flattening U.S. online sales to the EU.
"There is the risk that the EU may prescribe rules of compliance that, in
effect, will close the European market to U.S. and other non-EU businesses
for certain transactions," ITAA said in statement late in January.
States Ask Judge to Bar New Microsoft Witnesses
The nine state attorneys general still pressing an antitrust case against
Microsoft Corp. told a federal judge on Monday she should bar more than a
dozen last-minute witnesses Microsoft plans to call to argue against more
severe sanctions against the company.
Attorneys for California, Connecticut, Massachusetts and six other states
told U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly that Microsoft had used a
"hide-the-ball" tactic by naming 23 new witnesses in the case on Friday,
only hours before the deadline.
The states accused Microsoft of trying to delay the proceedings and argued
that the judge should not allow Microsoft to present 16 of the witnesses
because the company had shown a "blatant disregard for this court's
schedule and for the reasonable and appropriate conduct of litigation."
"By adding 23 previously undisclosed witnesses to its final witness list
(at the last minute), Microsoft is obviously trying yet again to derail
this remedy proceeding to the detriment of consumers and competitors who
continue to be harmed by Microsoft's monopolistic conduct," the states
said in their motion filed on Monday.
Microsoft said the company needed many witnesses because the states have
proposed drastic sanctions, including forcing the company to sell a
stripped-down version of its Windows operating system.
"It is important that the court hear from consumer and industry witnesses
on the harms they would suffer under the state proposals. The non-settling
states are seeking remedies that go far beyond the appeals court rulings
and they don't want the court to hear about the negative impact their
proposals will have on consumers, on the industry and on the economy," the
company said in a statement.
The list includes witnesses from computer manufacturer Compaq, chip maker
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and retailer Best Buy Inc., as well as
executives from the telecommunications and cable television industries.
"With a decision this important, the judge needs to hear from the entire
industry not just (Microsoft's competitors)," said Jonathan Zuck, head of a
pro-Microsoft trade group called the Association for Competitive
Technology.
An appeals court in June dismissed parts of the landmark case against
Microsoft, but upheld the original trial court's ruling that the company
violated antitrust law by illegally maintaining its monopoly in personal
computer operating systems.
The Justice Department and nine states in the case have signed on to a
settlement that would, among other things, give computer makers more
freedom to feature rival software.
But the nine other states have refused to sign on to the settlement and are
pressing for more severe remedies in court.
In addition to the hearings on sanctions, Kollar-Kotelly must also decide
in separate proceedings whether the Justice Department settlement is in the
public interest. Legal analysts have said that the company could strengthen
its case if the judge endorses the settlement before remedy hearings begin.
Kollar-Kotelly has scheduled hearings on whether to endorse the settlement
for the week of March 4. Hearings on sanctions are slated to start on
March 11.
States Request Microsoft Windows Code
The state attorneys general still pursuing the antitrust case against
Microsoft Corp. have asked a federal judge to force the company to show
them the inner workings of the Windows operating system.
In a bid to pry open one of the world's most valuable pieces of
intellectual property, the states argued they need to see the Windows
source code in order to verify Microsoft's claim that it is not technically
feasible for the company to offer a stripped-down version of the operating
system.
"Microsoft cannot base its defense on the design of its source code and
simultaneously deny the litigating states the opportunity to test those
arguments by interrogating the code," the states said in their filing.
The motion was filed with U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly on
Tuesday and made available on Wednesday.
As part of their proposed sanctions against Microsoft, the states have
told Kollar-Kotelly that she should order the company to offer a
stripped-down version of Windows, without any additional features such as
its Internet Explorer browser.
In demanding to see the Windows source code, the states said the legal
questions in the case "cannot be fairly resolved when the very subject
matter in dispute is hidden from all but Microsoft's own employees."
Andrew Gavil, a professor of antitrust law at Howard University, said
Microsoft could have a hard time refuting that argument.
"This is the equivalent of demanding of Coke that they turn over the
formula," Gavil said. "This is exactly what Microsoft wanted to avoid."
In Tuesday's motion, the states also asked the judge to appoint a
technical expert to help provide "impartial opinions on the complex,
highly technical issues raised by the parties."
Microsoft has rejected both requests when approached directly by the
states.
Microsoft spokesman Jim Desler said the company had proved during the
trial that it is impossible to remove software features from Windows
without damaging the operating system.
"They're trying to relitigate issues that they did not prevail upon in the
court of appeals," Desler said. "And, in doing so, they're trying to
complicate this case unnecessarily."
Desler said state attorneys general are working "hand-in-hand" with
Microsoft competitors, who "will stop at nothing to get access to our
intellectual property."
Microsoft reached a deal with Justice in November to settle the
long-running case. Nine of the 18 states in the lawsuit agreed to sign on
to the deal, but nine others are pressing ahead and asking the judge to
impose stricter sanctions.
During the trial, the government accused Microsoft of using its Windows
monopoly to snuff out competitors who make add-on "middleware" products,
such as Netscape Communications Corp.'s Navigator browser.
In a landmark ruling on the case in June, a federal appeals court
dismissed parts of the government's case, but upheld a lower court's
conclusion that Microsoft had used illegal tactics to maintain the Windows
monopoly.
Among the illegal tactics cited by the court was the "commingling" of
Windows source code with add-on middleware.
The dissenting states -- including California, Massachusetts, and
Connecticut -- say the availability of a stripped-down browser, without
additional features, would help restore competition to the software
business.
Later in the day, lawyers for the two sides said in a joint legal filing
that they cannot agree on how much time each should have to bring
witnesses before the judge.
The dissenting states want each side to be limited to 20 witnesses and no
more than 85 hours of testimony. They said that would amount to about
three weeks of courtroom time.
Microsoft proposed that each side be allowed up to 150 hours worth of
testimony, nearly double the states' proposal.
The states have in the past accused Microsoft of using legal maneuvers to
drag out the proceedings and delay the outcome of the case.
But Desler said Microsoft is not stalling.
"We'd like nothing better than a short process. However, given the breadth
of the states proposals, and their potential harm on industry and
consumers our recommendations on time and witnesses are entirely
appropriate."
Yahoo's HotJobs Purchase a Done Deal
Yahoo! announced it has acquired more than 98 percent of all outstanding
shares of HotJobs stock and will move quickly to fold the job board into
its network of sites.
When a tender offer expired at midnight Friday, Yahoo! had acquired 32.9
million shares of HotJobs stock, with another 5.4 million pledged to be
sold, according to the company. Taken together, that is 98.6 percent of
all outstanding stock in New York-based HotJobs.
The deal closed less than two months after Yahoo! surprised many observers
by making an unsolicited US$436 million offer for HotJobs, which at the
time was awaiting clearance from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to
move forward with a planned merger with Monster.com parent company TMP
Worldwide.
But that deal had been bogged down for six months in the governmental
review process -- a process that Yahoo! said in its offer letter it could
shorten considerably. Despite Monster's claims that the Yahoo! deal had
negative tax implications, HotJobs said just after Christmas that it would
accept the portal's offer.
Yahoo! delivered on its promise of a fast closing in late January, when
the DOJ granted the merger a shortened waiting period.
By acquiring HotJobs through a tender offer, Yahoo! did not have to put
the deal to a shareholder vote, which also helped shorten the process.
According to analysts, Yahoo! now must figure out how best to leverage
HotJobs' and its own strengths to compete in a hotly contested market
space.
Morningstar.com analyst George Nichols told the E-Commerce Times that
while HotJobs will reduce Yahoo's reliance on ad revenue, questions remain
about the price the portal paid.
"I think this will virtually ensure [Yahoo!] will meet its stated goal of
reducing ad exposure from roughly 76 percent of sales in 2001 to 50 to 60
percent by 2004," Nichols said.
Still, he added, "It may take a while for the acquisition to earn a good
return on the purchase price. After all, Yahoo! paid a sizable 60 percent
premium to HotJobs' market value."
A larger question, however, may be whether Yahoo's purchase can turn it
into a market leader in the online jobs space, Nichols said. While Yahoo!
has been actively diversifying and exploring new markets, many of the
company's moves have made it a player but not a leader.
"For example, its purchase of Launch.com still does not make it a market
leader in music services. And its forays in auctions and personals have
met with limited success relative to EBay and Match.com," Nichols said.
"Even with the latest acquisition, it will trail far behind market leader
Monster.com, and Careerbuilder ... will not be too far behind."
That feeling seems to be shared by other analysts as well.
"I see a number of positives," Derek Brown, an analyst with W.R. Hambrecht
& Co., said in a report. In addition to providing non-advertising revenue
for Yahoo!, HotJobs will give its acquirer access to nearly 8,000
corporate customers, which then will become potential clients for the
portal's growing menu of enterprise services.
Brown added, however, that he maintains a neutral rating on Yahoo! because
its valuation remains high relative to earnings.
Forrester Research analyst Charlene Li, meanwhile, said the deal has the
power to "supercharge the online recruitment business."
"While still well behind Monster.com, Yahoo! can leverage its strong user
relationships and HotJobs' recruiter sales force to quickly close the
gap," Li said.
Yahoo! said it will move quickly to merge HotJobs into its subsidiary, HJ
Acquisition Corp.
Holders of outstanding HotJobs shares will be eligible to convert them
into a fraction of a Yahoo! share plus $5.25 in cash, according to the
company.
PayPal Reschedules IPO
Derailed from its original schedule because of a patent lawsuit, PayPal's
initial public offering is now back on track.
The company, which allows consumers to make and accept online payments, is
now expected to price its shares Thursday and begin trading Friday,
according to a representative from Salomon Smith Barney, the lead
underwriter of the offering.
A PayPal representative declined to comment.
Wall Street has been anticipating PayPal's IPO because it will be one of
the first by an Internet company since the economic downturn. Internet
companies and investors have been awaiting a rebound of the IPO market.
Online security firm CertCo sued PayPal last week, and PayPal responded to
the suit Monday, charging CertCo with deliberately attempting to delay its
IPO.
CertCo representatives did not return calls seeking comment.
PayPal moved to get its IPO back on track Thursday, filing documents with
the Securities and Exchange Commission addressing the CertCo suit and
another potential patent dispute by Tumbleweed Communications.
PayPal has not changed the terms of the offering, according to the Salomon
Smith Barney representative and a regulatory document filed Monday. The
online payments company still plans to sell 5.4 million shares for between
$12 and $14 a share.
Although the company offers a popular service among online auction users,
with some 8.5 million personal accounts, PayPal has never posted a profit.
In its most recent quarter, PayPal lost $18.54 million on $40.4 million in
revenue.
PayPal IPO Could Be Delayed Further
Troubled online payment service PayPal Inc. warned Thursday that a company
suing for patent infringement will seek a court order to shut it down; a
threat that could further delay its much-anticipated initial public
offering of stock.
Palo Alto-based PayPal said Thursday in a Securities and Exchange
Commission filing that CertCo Inc. intends to seek a preliminary injunction
to block the widely used e-mail service for making e-commerce payments.
PayPal had 12.8 million accountholders as of Dec. 31.
If New York-based CertCo files for an injunction, PayPal has vowed to
fight the request. In its defense, PayPal said it will point out that
CertCo obtained its patent two years ago without raising an objection to
the payment service, which launched with 24 users in October 1999.
PayPal has denied it is violating the patent and filed a counterclaim
alleging CertCo's suit is designed to disrupt its IPO, widely viewed as
a litmus test of the stock market's interest in unprofitable Internet
companies.
The CertCo suit, filed in Delaware on Feb. 4, forced PayPal to postpone
its plans to sell 5.4 million shares of stock last week.
PayPal still hoped to set its IPO price at $12 to $14 per share Thursday
evening, but industry analysts predicted CertCo's injunction plans will
force the company to table the offering again.
"When everyone in the market is focused on being cautious, why would anyone
want to take a risk on PayPal until the company cleans up the litigation
risks?" asked Kyle Huske of IPO.com.
Besides the CertCo suit, PayPal is wrangling with banking regulators
nationwide over whether its payment service should be licensed.
Regulators in both Louisiana and New York have concluded PayPal is
operating an unlicensed banking business.
Louisiana has ordered PayPal to stop providing its service there until
the licensing issue is resolved.
California regulators forced PayPal to stop transferring money abroad
until the company receives a state license a process expected to take at
least four months, the company said.
The uncertainties raised by the possible CertCo injunction and the
regulatory haggling prompted IPO analyst David Menlow to downgrade PayPal's
IPO to "risky" Thursday. Before the recent problems arose, Menlow had rated
PayPal as the first quarter's most promising IPO.
The timing of CertCo's legal maneuvers has raised questions about its
motives, given the company is asserting its rights under a patent issued
two years ago.
"It's clear CertCo doesn't want PayPal to go public in any shape or form,"
Huske said.
CertCo officials didn't return calls Thursday.
The company has ties to the banking industry; a sector that stands to
suffer if PayPal's online payment service continues gaining popularity.
Executives from Bank One and Deutsche Bank sit on CertCo's board, according
to the company's Web site.
PayPal Makes Strong Market Debut
Online payment company PayPal got off to a wild start on its first day as
a public company, rising as much as 53 percent Friday.
The 5.4 million share offering opened at $15.41, more than 18 percent
above the $13 price set by underwriters Thursday night. The stock had
risen as high as $19.99 in early morning trading.
PayPal had been scheduled to go public earlier this month, but was forced
to delay the offering after it was hit by a lawsuit over patents.
PayPal's service allows consumers to make payments to one another over the
Internet. A payer deposits money in a PayPal account using a credit card,
bank account or existing PayPal account. PayPal can then cut the recipient
a check for the amount or transfer the money to another bank account. The
recipient can also leave the money in the PayPal account, where it earns
interest.
The service is extremely popular for person-to-person transactions such as
auctions, and eBay customers make up the bulk of PayPal's users. According
to the company's prospectus, 63 percent of dollar volume for transactions
in the first nine months of 2001 came from settling auction purchases,
particularly on eBay.
Although PayPal is popular, it isn't yet profitable. In the quarter ended
Dec. 31, PayPal lost $18.54 million on sales of $40.4 million, compared
with year-ago losses of $41.9 million on revenue of $8.8 million.
While the opening price may seem like an incredible boom, the stock could
have gone even higher had it not been for the bad news that emerged in the
past week, according to David Menlow, president of IPOfinancial.com.
"We could have seen this opening with a double-digit premium," he said.
PayPal tried to dismiss concerns about the lawsuit last week, saying it
was a deliberate attempt to disrupt its initial public offering. The suit,
filed by privately held online security company CertCo, alleges that
PayPal's technology violates a CertCo patent.
PayPal said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that
CertCo's patent was issued two years ago, and PayPal started offering its
service for more than two years ago.
But the lawsuit wasn't the only troubling sign for investors. PayPal also
disclosed in SEC filings that Louisiana had asked the company to stop
offering its service to state residents until it gets a license to do
business there. PayPal said it has a license to transmit money only in
Oregon and West Virginia and is applying for similar licenses in 14 other
states, including its home state of California.
Menlow said the disclosures could cause some investors to be cautious on
the stock.
"I was a fan and I still believe all problems listed in the prospectus
were being addressed or will be addressed by company," he said. "But until
such time as there is clearer resolution to these issues to where they no
longer look as explosive or detrimental, the stock could be a train wreck
waiting to happen."
Microsoft Security Patch Said Ineffective
A Microsoft Corp. program designed to plug a common security hole is
vulnerable to the very attack it was designed to prevent, the Wall Street
Journal alleged in a report on Thursday, citing a prominent security
consulting firm.
Last month Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates announced a company-wide
initiative to improve the security features of its products.
Microsoft on Wednesday unveiled a collection of programming tools,
including a new version of a special-purpose program that it modified to
try to prevent a common hacker attack called buffer overflows, the Journal
said.
Researchers at Cigital, of Dulles, Va., found that Microsoft apparently
adopted a technique that has been used with the Linux operating system and
shown to be vulnerable to attack, the Journal said.
As a result, the program, called Visual C++.NET, could lead programmers to
write even more programs that are vulnerable to buffer-overflow attacks,
the Journal alleged.
Microsoft was not immediately available to comment.
End of a Free Era For Web Surfing Site
Netsurfer Digest, a site that's been pointing Web browsers to notable
sites since before the Internet was big business, has started charging an
annual subscription fee.
Netsurfer Communications began the free newsletter in 1994, the year
before Netscape Communications held its initial public offering and helped
ignite the Internet wildfire that burned out in 2000. Plunging ad rates
and intrusive ad methods are now forcing the company to revise is
financial strategy.
In a note to subscribers Sunday, Netsurfer Digest said it has started
charging $20 a year for its three weekly lists of links: Netsurfer Digest,
Netsurfer Science and Netsurfer Education. The move marks the end of a
more sharing era for the modest site, which strove to give readers a guide
to the Web with "more signal, less noise."
Ad rates have plunged for Internet sites, the company said. Netsurfer
Communications received only $200 a month for its ads, about a million of
which it delivered each month.
The subscription plan is typical of Web sites' efforts to cope with a
dismal Internet ad market. Yahoo, long dependent on ads, has been trying
to emphasize premium services, while advertisers have been moving to more
aggressive ad formats.
But Netsurfer Communications, mirroring the decision of search site
Google, wanted no part of these new in-your-face ads.
"Online ad technology had become so annoying that we no longer wished to
be associated with this industry," the company said on its site. "Having
seen the direction in which all these new ad-delivery technologies are
heading, it is painfully obvious that the ultimate destination is that
special circle of hell which has heretofore been reserved exclusively for
dinnertime telemarketers."
Klez Worm Reborn As Nastier Version
A new variant of the destructive Klez worm has had moderate success,
prompting one antivirus company this past weekend to release free tools to
deal with its spread.
The variant, carried by e-mail and known as Klez.e, overwrites victims'
files with random content on the sixth day of odd-numbered months. It can
spread automatically on Windows systems that use an unpatched version of
Microsoft's Internet Explorer.
"The latest version, Klez.e, (poses) the most serious threat to computer
safety," said Moscow-based antivirus company Kaspersky Labs.
Though antivirus companies discovered the Klez.e variant in late January,
its tenacity has prompted Kaspersky Labs to release an antivirus tool to
remove it.
Based on how many instances of each worm and virus the company has
intercepted in the past 24 hours, U.K.-headquartered mail service provider
MessageLabs ranks Klez.e fourth on its top 10 list, behind Sircam,
BadTrans and Magistr--old worms that continue to plague the Internet.
However, the company has intercepted fewer than 400 copies of Klez.e.
In the same 24 hours, BadTrans popped up about 750 times, and Sircam made
about 1,600 appearances.
Klez.e arrives in an e-mail message with a subject heading generated from
a list of more than 20 keywords
or forged to look like the heading on an
undelivered message. The body of the message is empty or has random text.
"That's the way it runs automatically, but it still could come onto your
system," said Vincent Weafer, senior director of antivirus firm Symantec's
security response team. In that instance, a dialog box would appear,
asking computer users if they want to run a program called Klez.e. Users
should, of course, click no.
Microsoft patched the IE hole last March, so any Windows system that has
been recently updated should be immune to the worm's auto-infecting
function. Weafer said Klez is in the top 10 but has caused only one-eighth
as many reports as BadTrans.
The worm infects Windows archive files with a copy of itself. It also
attempts to circumvent antivirus programs and defeat some competing worms
by shutting them down if they're found running.
"It tends to attack the user-interface component, but in most cases the
real-time scanner is still active," Weafer said. Antivirus software
consists of two basic components: the real-time scanner, which catches
viruses that attempt to run, and an application with an interface that
allows PC users to scan their machine for infections.
Hence, Klez.e "becomes a pain more than a real threat," Weafer said.
Symantec has updated virus definitions that are available to protect
against the worm.
Microsoft Windows users should run Windows Update to ensure they are
protected against the auto-executing features of this worm.
=~=~=~=
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