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Atari Online News, Etc. Volume 05 Issue 37
Volume 5, Issue 37 Atari Online News, Etc. September 12, 2003
Published and Copyright (c) 1999 - 2003
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:
Pierre Tonthat
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=~=~=~=
A-ONE #0537 09/12/03
~ Be Lawsuit Is Settled! ~ People Are Talking! ~ Meg Update News!
~ More Flaws In Windows! ~ "Really Cool" Notes! ~ SCO Whines: "Stop"!
~ Norton Upgrade Launch! ~ No Force To Block Porn ~ New, Faster iMacs!
~ NY Times Hacker Busted ~ RIAA Crusade Too Much? ~ 9/11 Worms Appear!
-* Bailing Out The 12-Year Old! *-
-* Major File-Sharers Being Targeted! *-
-* Apple Sues Apple Computers Over Contract! *-
=~=~=~=
->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
As we pass the 2-year anniversary of the attack on America, I don't think
that anyone get get the memory of the sights of planes striking the World
Trade Center out of their mind. The world has become much smaller, and
certainly less safe. Just look in any newspaper and you'll see that this is
true. Osama is still taunting us from somewhere in the world. No one knows
the fate of Saddam. A man can still successfully mail himself, in a crate,
halfway across the country, and people in the Middle East continue to play a
deadly game of "Tag! You're It!"
As technology becomes more and more advanced, problems escalate within it.
There are programs out there that bring PCs to their knees. Programs exist
that tie up the internet. The largest software maker in the world can't put
together an operating system that is secure. Programs exist that allow
millions of users to trade software with each other with just a few clicks
of the mouse. Spam e-mail invades our in-boxes like the plague. Identity
theft is running rampant, further fueled by inadequacies of the web.
Pedophiles prey on the unsuspecting youth on the internet. So, this is good
technology? Technology may have evolved, but people certainly have not.
Do I sound bitter? You betcha! It's been a really depressing week for me.
I recently learned that a good friend of mine - the wife of one of my
supervisors - has just been diagnosed with cancer. I know all too well from
recent experience within my own family that she's potentially in for a rough
time. We're also going through some layoffs (or "reduction in force") at my
workplace. I know of numerous longtime friends who will shortly be losing
their jobs, including at least one in my own area. The world is full of
tragedy, but that world seems to get very small when it hits close to home.
Life is too short to not enjoy it to its fullest while you can.
Until next time...
=~=~=~=
Meg 1.1
Bonsoir :)
Small update of Meg (mailboxes checker and anti-spam filter).
Download at http://rajah.atari.org or directly on
http://membres.lycos.fr/nef/files/ -> meg11_uk.zip (220 Kb)
new features:
- bug fix of 'To' and 'Reply-To' field confusion
- bug fix of several lines field detection (both tab and space)
+ new parameter : number of lines of mail body to retrieve for analyse
+ accessory mode (with no guarantee on stability, prefer APP mode in
multitasking environment)
+ new filter : mail size
+ new notification type : in AtarICQ window
+ new notification type : system bell
Thanks to Jean-Marc, Pascal & John.
Bye
Rajah Lone / Renaissance
=~=~=~=
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
compiled by Joe Mirando
joe@atarinews.org
Hidi ho friends and neighbors. This is the evening of the second
anniversary of what will forever be known as the "nine-eleven attacks".
I doubt that there is anyone in this country that has not had the scenes
from two years ago burned into their memory. Whether you are of the
opinion that it was a totally uncalled-for attack, or that America
needed or deserved the attacks, you must agree that the loss of life was
simply staggering. It's hard to either imagine or justify the carnage
that took place, and even harder to imagine the mind that conceived it
in the first place.
To change the subject a bit, I'm a member of a little group that gets
together online every so-often and discusses whatever subject strikes
our fancy. For the past few weeks, someone was taken with the idea that
we might all really be living in "The Matrix". Yes, that's right, just
like the movie.
At first I thought it was a silly idea. Or at least that we might
actually be able to come to any supportable conclusion seemed silly.
But I was quite surprised to see some of the arguments that came out
during the discussion. No, I haven't been converted to the idea that
we're living inside The Matrix, but the arguments and logical constructs
that were presented were quite impressive on their own.
I'm not going to spend a lot of time relaying every point, but I think
you'll find it interesting if I present one or two points.
First of all, on the basis of statistics and probabilities, there's a
50/50 chance that we're living in The Matrix. The argument goes like
this...
The timeline of human existence had a finite (although unknown, and
probably unknowable) beginning, but no end that we know of. Therefore,
it's much more likely that we're living in the age of being able to
digitally simulate an environment than before that age. In other words,
it's more likely that we're living in a simulation of what used to be.
Since there's infinitely more time ahead of where we think we are than
behind it, we're statistically more likely to be farther along the
timeline. Got it? <grin>
My only contribution to this conversation was the observation that the
actions of others which often seem to be totally contrary to logic or
common sense might actually be due to either "data collection and
dissemination" or "programming" differences.
No, none of us taking this very seriously, but the list of logical
points made was quite interesting and, truth be told, quite impressive.
It's always amazed me that mankind has such a capacity for intellectual
pursuits and yet we move (as a society) in such counter-productive ways.
Of course, "The Matrix model" WOULD explain how a computer like the
venerable 1040 got left behind so quickly... the agent programs just
couldn't infiltrate them. <grin>
Let's get to the news, hints, tips, and info from the UseNet.
From the comp.sys.atari.st NewsGroup
====================================
'Jon' asks about his 'new' hard drive:
"I just acquired an ICD FA*ST hard drive from ebay. It did not have a
drive in it, but, the power supply and controller are there. I installed
an IBM 2 gig scsi drive in it and it seemed to work fine. Now I get random
drive restarts and other drive not found errors. Is there a limit to the
drive size I can use?
Since I don't have the docs to this unit, I am stuck. Is there anyone
out there who might have the docs that came with this unit? ICD's web
page is of no help. A search of the web couldn't find them either.
I'm assuming that I don't have something set right on the drive itself."
Jim DeClercq tells Jon:
"Maybe it is not a setting. I got four identical drives on E-bay, made
by Honeywell. I am now on the fourth one, and it seems to be working OK.
The first three apparently started losing speed randomly, and the
symptom was files not found. Finally each of them died by stopping,
restarting, and finally not restarting.
But, every disk checking program I had showed nothing wrong with the
drives, until they refused to do anything.
I would suggest trying another SCSI drive."
Jon tells Jim:
"It turned out to be a drive problem. It decided to spin up tonight and
not finish initializing. Oh well, thanks for the input on this. I
guess I'll be looking for a replacement."
Jim replies:
"Me too. The "good" drive just lost its file system, will not keep
partition type, and announces its name twice, with variations, on a bus
rescan. So I need another drive too.
Have not seen the dual announce of name before, which HDDriver
interpreted as master and slave, I think.
Probably a bearing problem, but very hard to get apart."
Greg Goodwin asks about his Falcon's floppy drive:
"Since I hadn't played with my spare Falcon for a month or so I thought
I'd test it before I installed my CT60 into it. It worked fine, save
that the floppy light refused to go off (at least most of the time) and
upon the first attempt to access any floppy the computer gave a "this
disk cannot be read" error. Any ideas what might be ailing the floppy?"
Wayne Martz asks Greg:
"Have you updated the ABE & SDR chips? The software and schematics for
the cable required are at Rudolphe's site. Andreas Pettersson is making
Atari versions of the cable necessary for this. The price will be EUR25
plus shipping. It seems to me that it might be related, but I'm not
sure."
'Bob' adds a question to the mix:
"Has the drive/cable been removed before? possibly its cable was
reinstalled upside down. By 'cable' I mean data ribbon cable, not the
power cable."
Angel Shamshel asks about monitor choices for 520STs:
"Can standard Multisync monitors be adapted to the standard 520 and 520
STFM series of computers inexpensively?"
Tom McEwan tells Angel:
"The ST 13-pin video port outputs analogue RGB, together with separate
vertical and horizontal synch pulses (it also SUPPOSEDLY outputs
composite synch, but in actual fact it outputs composite video)
If your monitor has a composite synch pin only (such as the microvitec
"cub" series) you'll need to combine the vertical and horizontal synch
pulses - I think this can be done with just a discrete OR gate, which
you can make with two diodes and a resistor.
The hardest part is getting hold of a 13-pin DIN plug. I haven't found
anyone in the UK that still has them in stock, though I don't know how
hard they are to get overseas. Of course, if you don't mind cutting an
extra port hole in the case, you could remove the 13-pin din socket from
the PCB, solder some flying leads into the holes it leaves, and replace
it with a 15-pin D or scart connector or something.
All these possibilities are relatively inexpensive. Most connectors and
cables that you need can be acquired for under a fiver."
Djordje Vukovic adds:
"To my amazement, very recently I saw those connectors in several shops
around here. It seems that they have became fashionable again- something
related to CD players (or some other audio equipment) for cars."
Stephen Moss adds his thoughts:
"If you thinking about VGA or SVGA then adaptors are available for
purchase however due to the higher Sync frequencies for these monitors
the only resolution that gives a stable and usable output is ST High
(monochrome) which is ok for most applications but no good for most
games.
Try B&C (www.myatari.com) in the US or Atari Workshop
(www.atari-workshop.co.uk) in the UK if you want to purchase them
although I'm sure other good Atari retailers stock them so trawl the
net."
Ermans Ermit adds his experience:
"These are in the Maplin catalog but that said I asked this question a
while ago and was told only the monochrome signal could be handled by a
standard multisync, some older ones like the microvitec could handle all
three rez's."
Tom McEwan jumps back in and posts:
"Oh bugger. I was confusing multisync with something else. Sorry.
Still, if you've got a scart capable TV, you can always use that..."
Ernest Odgen gets philosophical about it:
"Yes for the lower two rez's but not the hi rez monochrome, ain't life a
bitch? or if you are 40ish or more you probably have a bitch of your
own to torment you."
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 - PS2 Sales Hit A Snag?!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" GBA As A Videophone?
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
PlayStation 2 Sales Hit a Snag
Total shipments worldwide of Sony Computer Entertainment's PlayStation 2
console hit 60 million at the weekend, the company said in a statement on
Tuesday.
The mark was reached on Saturday, September 6, and came almost exactly 3
years and 6 months after the console first hit the streets of Japan at
midnight on March 4, 2000. The PlayStation 2 console reached that mark
around 1 year and 1 month quicker than its predecessor, the PlayStation.
While total shipments continue to rise, the pace at which units are leaving
the company's factories is falling. It took four months for total shipments
to rise from 40 million to 50 million but it took almost twice as long to
ship the next 10 million units.
Earlier this year SCEI's parent, Sony, said it expects annual shipments in
fiscal year 2003 to be 20 million units, against 22.5 million units last
year.
This reduction in demand is forcing SCEI to come up with innovations on
the basic console to push sales. Earlier this year the company gave the
PlayStation 2 its first major overhaul since it went on sale and added
read-support for DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, and DVD+RW recordable and rewritable
optical discs and progressive scan video output. The console was also made
quieter and a power button was added to the remote control, making a trip
from the couch to switch off the unit an option.
There have also been peripherals like a hard drive and broadband adapter,
which together with the updated console are all intended to keep the
PlayStation 2 looking fresh until the company's PlayStation 3 is ready. At
present it looks like the new console won't hit the market until at least
2004 - a three year investment plan for semiconductor lines that will
manufacture its central processor was only formalized in April this year.
The largest PlayStation 2 market for SCEI has proved to be North America.
Around 26.4 million units have been shipped to the U.S. and Canada. Europe
has been the destination for around 19.4 million consoles while the vast
majority of the remaining 14.2 million consoles have been shipped
domestically in Japan. A small number of this final group have also gone to
South Korea and other Asian countries where the console is sold, the
company said.
Game Boy Advance Can Work As Videophone
Nintendo Co.'s Game Boy Advance hand-held machine will work as a videophone
with an attachment that comes with a digital camera, earphone and
microphone and is expected to go on sale in December only in Japan.
The Campho Advance from Kyoto-based Digital Act Co., which makes mobile and
Internet equipment, slips into the top of the Game Boy Advance just like
any video-game cassette.
When connected to an analog telephone outlet, the display shows live video
of the person on the other end of the line, who must also own both the Game
Boy Advance and the Campho Advance. Your own image will show up in the
corner of the display.
Campho Advance, which will be priced at 13,000 yen ($110), requires no
Internet service provider. Developers, who are also working on a broadband
device, have no plans to sell them outside Japan so far, Digital Act
spokesman Kazuhisa Saito said Friday.
=~=~=~=
A-ONE's Headline News
The Latest in Computer Technology News
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
Season's First 9/11 Anniversary Worm Appears
Security firms have detected the first of the season's 9/11 anniversary
worms this week, and more are likely to follow.
The worm, dubbed W32/Neroma@MM and Worm/Icebut.A by security vendors,
typically shows 'Nice butt, baby!' in the e-mail message's body, displays
the subject heading 'It's Near 911!', and disguises its payload as an
attachment with the .jpg extension. Although the extension may fool some
people into thinking it's a digital image - and launching the file - it's
actually an executable that installs on the infected machine.
If recipients open this attachment, Neroma will try to delete files on the
1st, 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th, 20th, 24th, and 28th day of each month. Neroma
propagates by mailing itself to addresses it culls from an infected
system's Microsoft Outlook address book.
Although Neroma has been characterized as a minor threat by security
firms - Sophos on Friday noted in a statement that "it poses a low threat
to customers who practice safe computing" - it's likely only the first of
several viruses and worms that will try to spread using 9/11 as an
enticement to get recipients to open attachments.
Anti-virus companies have urged users to update their definition files to
protect themselves against the worm.
New York Times Hacker Surrenders
A 22-year-old who admits to hacking into corporate computer networks turned
himself in to federal authorities in California on Tuesday to face charges
related to breaking into the internal network of The New York Times
newspaper.
Adrian Lamo, who has won praise from some companies for locating and
helping fix security holes in corporate networks, drew a complaint instead
from the New York Times Co. He could face fines and prison time under the
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986, which outlaws unauthorized access to
computer networks.
Lamo, who has no permanent address, surrendered to the U.S. Marshall's
Service at federal court in Sacramento, where he was booked and ordered to
appear before a federal magistrate, according to Patty Pontello, a
spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office.
His case will likely be transferred to New York where the complaint was
initiated, she said.
Lamo told Reuters in a telephone interview on Monday that he faces
computer-trespass charges for hacking into the New York Times network in
February 2002 and accessing employee records and phone numbers and Social
Security numbers of editorial page contributors.
Lamo discovered holes in corporate networks of Excite@Home Corp., Yahoo
Inc. and WorldCom, among others, often through laser printers and other
unlikely entry points.
Lamo often offered to help fix the holes for free, but also sought
publicity by notifying the media. While WorldCom, now known as MCI,
expressed gratitude for his work, the New York Times lodged a complaint, he
said.
The newspaper has declined to comment other than to say it is cooperating
with law enforcement authorities.
"I don't think that what I have done is wrong, but I understand that my
actions have consequences," Lamo said on Monday.
Lamo's defense is likely to be the "white-hat hacker" defense, said Mark
Rasch, former head of the computer crime unit at the U.S. Department of
Justice.
White-hat hacker is a term used for people who work to protect computers
from attack while "black-hat hackers" are those who attempt to break into
them.
However, the law focuses on the intent to break into the computer, not the
motive, said Rasch, who is chief security counsel for Solutionary, a
computer security company.
"It's like a guy who sees the keys in the car in a parking lot, opens the
door, takes the keys out and hides them under a mat and leaves a note," he
said. "It's not a valid defense."
Microsoft Admits New Windows Problem
Moments before a top Microsoft executive told Congress about efforts to
improve security, the company warned on Wednesday of new flaws that leave
its flagship Windows software vulnerable to Internet attacks similar to the
Blaster virus that infected hundreds of millions of computers last month.
Microsoft urged customers to immediately apply a free repairing patch from
its Web site, www.microsoft.com
The company cautioned that hackers could seize control over a victim's
computer by attacking these flaws, which affect Windows technology that
allows computers to communicate with others across a network.
"We definitely want people to apply this one," said Jeff Jones, Microsoft's
senior director for trustworthy computing. Outside researchers and
Microsoft's own internal reviews discovered the new flaws after the Blaster
infection, he said.
Outside experts said some flaws were nearly identical to problems exploited
by the Blaster worm, which spread last month with devastating damage.
Computer users who applied an earlier patch in July to protect themselves
still must install the new patch from Microsoft.
"They're as close as you can be without being the same," said Marc
Maiffret, an executive at eEye Digital Security Inc. of Aliso Viejo,
Calif., one of three research groups credited with discovering some of the
new problems. "It's definitely a big oversight on Microsoft's part that
they missed these."
Maiffret speculated that because of the similarities, hackers could launch
attacks against unprotected systems as early as day's end. "It's going to
be trivial," he said. "This is an instant replay of a few weeks ago."
A vice president at Network Associates Inc., Robin Matlock, agreed that
corporations, government agencies and home users will race the clock before
the next attack. "Without a doubt, this is a nasty vulnerability. It could
easily be exploited," she said. "Administrators are under more pressure
here to move quickly."
The disclosure by Microsoft came just moments before its senior security
strategist, Phil Reitinger, told lawmakers on the House Government Reform
technology subcommittee about the company's efforts to help consumers
defend themselves against viruses and other Internet attacks.
"Microsoft is committed to continuing to strengthen our software to make
it less vulnerable to attack," said Reitinger, a former deputy chief in
the Justice Department's cybercrime division. Still, he acknowledged, "There
is no such thing as completely secure software."
Reitinger told lawmakers about the new flaws and said that Microsoft is
considering changing Windows to install software repairs automatically;
currently, computer users are notified when updates are available and
reminded to manually click to install them.
Microsoft said Windows users who follow the company's new security
guidelines it published on its Web site at www.microsoft.com/protect should
be safe until they install the latest patch. The company plans a Webcast on
Friday to discuss the latest threat.
The July announcement from Microsoft about the earlier software flaw in the
same Windows technology was deemed so serious it led to separate warnings
from the FBI and Homeland Security Department. About three weeks later,
unidentified hackers unleashed the earliest version of the Blaster
infection.
"The damage done was real," said Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-Mo., adding that
the attacks disrupted computers at the Federal Reserve in Atlanta,
Maryland's motor vehicle agency and the Minnesota transportation
department.
Rep. Candice Miller, R-Mich., said the attacks in August nearly crippled
the House of Representatives' e-mail system and "likely inhibited our
nation's ability to adequately respond to the vast power outage" this
summer.
Also during Wednesday's hearing, a deputy assistant U.S. attorney general
bristled over suggestions by Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Fla., that the
government's lackluster record making arrests after major Internet attacks
indicates it does not consider them serious threats.
Such investigations are enormously complicated and frequently point
overseas at sophisticated hackers skilled at covering their digital
footprints, John Malcolm said.
Recording Industry Puts Major File Sharers Square in Its Sights
After years of denial, the recording industry has finally begun to deal
with the file-sharing situation in a realistic, mature way.
No, the major labels aren't selling their entire catalogues online for a
dollar or less a track, free of pointless usage restrictions. The news
isn't that good.
But after years of trying to criminalize hardware and software that can be
used to steal music - never mind other, legal uses - the Recording Industry
Association of America is going after the people who actually publish
copyrighted work online.
Over the past few months, the RIAA and its hires have been logging onto
peer-to-peer networks to identify users sharing large collections of MP3
music files. Sometime in the next few days, the D.C.-based trade
association will start suing these people.
Many MP3 listeners are shocked, shocked about this strategy. They shouldn't
be. The RIAA is doing what many observers have asked it to - use
established laws to defend its interests instead of lobbying for special
treatment and new legislation to elevate its rights above those of mere
citizens.
(Granted, the RIAA is exploiting some dubious provisions of the Digital
Millennium Copyright Act to force Internet providers to reveal file
sharers' identities, allowing it to see who makes the best lawsuit bait
before going to court. But it could get by without this shortcut; "John
Doe" lawsuits would just take longer and run the risk of occasionally
nailing a senator's or judge's kid.)
Cary Sherman, the RIAA's outgoing president, said Thursday that the
association's objective is deterrence.
"This is not a program that's intended to inflict vengeance. It's intended
to send a message," he said.
Copyright law provides for a wide spectrum of awards, from actual monetary
loss to $150,000 per copyrighted work infringed. Sherman said the RIAA
"will just ask the court to assess appropriate damages."
Half the people who download MP3s wind up buying as many or more CDs as
before, according to Forrester Research, so "actual monetary loss" could
equate to zero. But how many users want to take their chances on a judge
comprehending how peer-to-peer services can be like what FM radio once
was?
In the modern American legal system, of course, damages are somewhat
irrelevant: The cost of legal representation makes it cheaper for many
defendants to accept whatever settlement a plaintiff offers.
"We expect that we will be reaching a lot of settlements," Sherman said.
"We do not intend to be unreasonable or vindictive."
Reportedly, the association will also pledge not to sue users it hasn't
yet identified who admit their guilt and delete illicit downloads.
The RIAA's lawsuit strategy focuses on the easiest part of the problem -
the users who offer MP3 collections on public networks for strangers to
download, instead of the people downloading these files. As a result, the
lawsuits will probably work in one important way - even if users don't stop
downloading music, many will be scared out of sharing their own MP3s, which
will then constrict the inventory of songs available on these networks.
"If you're not going to uninstall the [file-sharing] software, at least
check the box that says do not share," said Sherman.
One user has already drawn that conclusion.
"I do not share," said Michael Weiss, chief executive of StreamCast
Networks, the Woodland Hills, Calif., developer of the Morpheus
file-sharing program. He said it would be foolish to be such an obvious
target: "We can't compromise our position in this battle."
Weiss did not answer a question about the ethics of file sharing.
But it's not enough for the major labels to be feared by music fans. They
also need to give people a reason to like them after the legal bloodletting
is done.
Here, the RIAA is wrong to say paid music services offer convenience
comparable to peer-to-peer networks.
Consider the example of a music listener who recently bought a song on the
one site to let Windows users buy major-label songs without a subscription.
"I'm trying to make my kids legal, really I am," wrote Ashburn resident
Jane Ellis in an e-mail. But after going to BuyMusic.com, installing the
required Windows Media Player 9 software (which left her PC half-crippled)
and making her purchase, she found that it wouldn't play on her Rio
digital-music player.
So what did Ellis do? The RIAA won't like this: "I read somewhere [that]
my son could now go to Kazaa legally and download the song we paid for,
since I now owned its license, so he ended up doing that."
It's nuts that legitimate music services force users back to file-sharing
networks to get a usable download. But too often, that's easier than
playing by the rules.
Even Apple's generally well-done iTunes Music Store doesn't let you convert
purchases directly to MP3 format, a necessary step to play them on a
non-iPod player or stream them to any of the wireless digital-music
receivers now entering the market.
There's one exception, and its parent company actually owns one of the
major record labels. Vivendi Universal's Emusic.com Web site lets users
download all the MP3s they want, with zero usage restrictions, for $9.99 a
month on a one-year subscription.
But neither Vivendi's Universal Music Group nor any other major label sells
music on this site, leaving it to independent and minor labels. If these
operations, with far fewer resources than any of the majors, can make a go
of selling unrestricted downloads, why should it be so hard for their
larger competitors? How much longer will it take these companies to listen
to what their customers are trying to tell them?
Students Scared, Angry Over Piracy Lawsuits
Anger, defiance and fear were the main reactions of college students on
Tuesday after the music industry said it was suing 261 individuals for
swapping illegal copies of songs over the Internet.
The Recording Industry Association of America said on Monday it sued
individuals across the United States for as much as $150,000 per song
distributed online, targeting the biggest users, those with large libraries
of pirated music.
"If kids start getting arrested and dragged out of dorms and fined, other
kids will definitely think twice before doing it," Eric Cioe, a biology
student at New York University, told Reuters outside the university's
library.
But other students at NYU, located in the city where 70 of the 261 lawsuits
were filed, were outraged.
Many college students upload music and make it available to others on the
Internet through file-sharing programs such as Kazaa and iMesh. The new
lawsuits switch the record industry's focus from those file-sharing
companies to the users of file-sharing programs instead.
"This is insane, they can't just hack into our systems and track our
activities. It's our property," said Lucy Chen, a sociology student who
thinks downloading free music is fair because compact discs are overpriced.
RIAA members include the "Big Six" record companies: Vivendi Universal's
Universal Music Group; Sony Corp.'s Sony Music; AOL Time Warner Inc.'s
Warner Music; Bertelsmann AG'sBMG; and EMI Group Plc.
The companies have promised to file thousands more lawsuits in the coming
months against individuals who swap music. The industry believes minimizing
file-sharing will stem the three-year decline in global recorded music
sales.
Music companies and national trade bodies are pursuing individual lawsuits
in Denmark, Germany, Italy and elsewhere. But the blanket region-wide
lawsuit strategy, for now, will play out only in the United States where
the music industry estimates roughly 90 percent of all file-sharers reside.
"I'm very worried about my brother at Johns Hopkins University. He's very
involved in file-sharing and would have to get a lawyer if he gets into
trouble," said one pre-law student at NYU.
Four university students who were sued earlier this year for operating
campuswide music-sharing programs reached settlements under which they will
pay between $12,000 and $17,500 to the recording industry.
College students have access to "peer-to-peer" networks on university
computer systems which enable them to swap music with thousands of people.
"When we want to check our e-mail, we can barely connect because people
are using up bandwidth to share music with 15,000 people. It's annoying,"
Cioe said.
Another student who refused to be identified said he uploads music and
shares files, but is not concerned by the new lawsuits. "I consider myself
technologically savvy, and I know how to erase my tracks," he said.
RIAA also unveiled an amnesty program for individuals not currently under
investigation which would remove the threat of prosecution from those who
promise to refrain from such activity in the future and erase all
copyrighted music they have downloaded.
Still, law student Erica Olsen said downloading music is her best option.
"Often, I just want one song from a CD, and I don't want to pay 22 bucks
for it. I don't think any amount of legislation is going to force us to buy
CDs."
Senator Questions RIAA Crusade
The music labels may have to find another way of getting the names of
suspected file-swappers than wresting them from ISPs.
Invoking the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to get customer names from
ISPs doesn't even require a judge's supervision, notes Orrin Hatch
(R-Utah), who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee. He suggests
copyright-holders and ISPs come up with another way to protect songs and
movies online.
The comment comes a day after the music industry announced lawsuits against
261 U.S. residents accused of uploading thousands of songs.
Hatch says he agrees with many of the concerns raised by in a Tuesday
committee hearing by William Barr, general counsel of Verizon
Communications. The ISP has fought subpoenas from the Recording Industry
Association of America (RIAA) as the music labels sought out copyright
violations. After losing two court rulings, Verizon handed over the names
of four customers accused of heavy song swapping over peer-to-peer
networks.
The latitude under the DMCA is so broad, government prosecutors don't have
the same freedom to subpoena criminals that the RIAA has to subpoena
suspected copyright violators, Barr told the Senate Judiciary committee.
Any copyright holder can request DMCA subpoenas through a court clerk and
without a hearing before a judge.
Without a judge to oversee the subpoena, nothing stops stalkers or
pedophiles from claiming to be copyright-holders and getting the names of
Internet users, Barr says.
"Given the sweeping nature of this power, deputizing commercially
interested individuals to go out and do this kind of thing, abuses aren't
just possible, abuses are inevitable," Barr told the committee.
After Barr's testimony, Hatch asked for bimonthly updates over the next
six months from the RIAA, Verizon, and other interested groups on whether
the subpoenas are being abused and what alternatives Congress might
consider. The issue has not "ripened enough" for Congress to decide whether
the DMCA went too far, Hatch added.
But Hatch also said he agrees with much of Barr's testimony.
"We need both of your ideas on how to solve this, because much of what
(Barr) says I agree with," he told RIAA and Verizon representatives. "But
the RIAA should not have to put up with wholesale pirating of its content."
Both sides have good points, and Congress should be able to come up with a
compromise solution to protect copyrights, Hatch added.
"I have no doubt that (the DMCA) is not perfect," Hatch said. "On the other
hand, I think we may be able to resolve some of these problems in a way
that would be mutually beneficial."
RIAA President Cary Sherman and Marybeth Peters, register of copyrights of
the U.S. Copyright Office, both defend the DMCA subpoenas.
Peters calls the DMCA provision "appropriate and constitutional," and
Sherman says the subpoenas are part of a compromise when the DMCA was
drafted, intended to protect ISPs from being sued by copyright-holders.
Peer-to-peer users should not expect privacy because they commit "privacy
suicide" by opening their hard drives to millions of other users, Sherman
says.
"No one has a privacy right to engage on copyright infringement on the
Internet, and illegally sharing or downloading copyrighted music online is
not a form of free speech or civil disobedience protected by the First
Amendment," he says.
On Monday, the RIAA announced it had filed copyright infringement lawsuits
against 261 U.S. residents, each suspected of uploading an average of 1000
songs to peer-to-peer sites.
On Tuesday, the RIAA announced it has settled with the first of those 261
accused pirates. It reached a deal with the mother of a 12-year-old girl
who had allegedly offered more than 1000 songs to a peer-to-peer network
from the family's PC. The New York woman agreed to pay the RIAA $2000,
according to Amy Weiss, an RIAA spokesperson.
Music Firms, DJ Offer to Pay 12-Year-Old's Fine
Several Internet music services and a disc jockey have offered to reimburse
a New York woman who paid $2,000 to settle charges that her 12-year-old
daughter illegally copied music online.
A coalition of several "peer to peer" song-swapping networks said on
Thursday it trying to locate Sylvia Torres so it could pay the legal
settlement she reached with the Recording Industry Association of America
on Tuesday.
Rochester, New York radio disc jockey Brother Wease also offered to pay
Torres' legal bill, and online music retailer MusicRebellion.com said it
would allow Torres' daughter, Brianna Lahara, to download $2,000 worth of
free music from its industry-sanctioned site.
However, the would-be benefactors all said they would not extend their
offers to the 260 other individuals who face RIAA lawsuits for copying
music through Kazaa, Grokster and other peer-to-peer networks.
An RIAA spokesman declined to comment on the offers.
Lahara, a Manhattan honor student who offered Madonna's "Material Girl" and
some 1,000 other songs through Kazaa, has emerged as something of a poster
girl for those who denounce the RIAA's legal campaign as heavy-handed.
"Out of all the millions of people who have downloaded, some girl in a
housing project in New York City has got to come up with two grand?" said
Wease, who offered to help through his charitable children's fund.
"I just feel that these people are bullies," said Grokster President Wayne
Rosso, a member of the P2P United trade group, which offered to pay Torres'
bill. "They're like the show-business version of the Taliban."
RIAA spokesman Jonathan Lamy said the recording industry was not targeting
12-year-olds. The only information it had when it filed the suits was the
name and address of the Internet account holder, he added.
"The objective of this campaign is not to win a popularity contest, but to
communicate a message of deterrence so people realize there can be
consequences to this illegal behavior," Lamy said.
Rosso said the industry should try to work out a solution with Grokster
and other peer-to-peer networks so record labels can be paid for the
billions of songs downloaded monthly. One solution could be a flat,
per-song royalty rate similar to that paid by radio stations and
Webcasters, he said.
Lamy said a flat-fee approach would be impossible because it would have to
encompass movies, books and other copyrighted material traded online, as
well as take foreign users into account.
Traffic has remained steady on peer-to-peer networks since the lawsuits
were filed, officials at the networks said.
Microsoft Settles Be Antitrust Suit
Microsoft will pay Be more than $23 million after attorneys' fees to settle
an antitrust lawsuit that the maker of the Be operating system filed
against in February 2002, the companies have announced.
Microsoft admitted no wrongdoing in the mediated settlement in which all
other terms remained confidential, the companies say in a statement. The
case is currently pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of
Maryland, in Baltimore.
The suit by Be, which developed a PC operating system, charged Microsoft
with "exclusionary and anticompetitive acts designed to maintain its
monopoly in the Intel-compatible PC operating system market," according to
Be's statement when the suit was filed.
Be emerged as a developer of operating system software in 1997. The company
sold its operating system and most of its assets to Palm in 2001.
Be's case is one of several vendor suits filed in the wake of the federal
antitrust case against Microsoft. A federal judge declared in 2000 first
that Microsoft enjoys a monopoly in the operating system business, and then
that it had abused that status. The ruling was later upheld by a U.S.
Court of Appeals.
Be originally marketed its software as a Windows alternative that was
better suited than Microsoft Windows for digital video and other multimedia
applications. The company tried to cut deals with vendors of Intel-based
PCs to load the BeOS along with Windows through a dual-boot configuration.
Be claims it was unsuccessful at closing such contracts because Microsoft
had signed anticompetitive contracts with its industry partners.
One provision in the settlement of the federal antitrust case against
Microsoft was that the software company had to loosen its licensing
provisions with PC vendors. Microsoft is also prohibited from retaliating
against vendors that work with competing software vendors.
In May, Microsoft settled a similar claim with Netscape, now owned by
America Online Time Warner. Netscape also cited the federal antitrust case,
and argued that Microsoft had bundled its competing Internet Explorer
browser with Windows a way that harmed Netscape's Navigator Web browser
business.
Since the federal case was settled, Microsoft has also been working to
settle dozens of similar complaints, including class-action suits.
Apple Sued by The Beatles Over iPod, ITMS
Apple Computer Inc. is being sued by Apple Corps. The parent company for
music legends, The Beatles, has begun legal proceedings against Apple
Computer, citing breach of contract for the suit, according to Fox News.
Apparently when Apple Computer first started, The Beatles sued them for the
use of the corporate name. In addition to a hefty cash settlement, Apple
agreed to only use the corporate name for computer products and not enter
the music markeplace.
Years later, The Beatles sued and won another lawsuit when Apple shipped
computers that allowed music to be played through attachable speakers. That
lawsuit charged breach of a trademark agreement since Apple had agreed to
steer clear of the music business. Fox News estimates Apple has paid US$50
million in the lost suits so far.
The latest round of legal proceedings surround Apple's popular MP3 player,
the iPod and the iTunes Music Store, which just sold its 10 millionth song
online.
"When it first happened with the iPod, we said, "What could they be
thinking?" said a Beatles legal insider, who agreed that posters announcing
the iPod from "AppleMusic" were among the most egregious violations. "They
knew we had the agreement, and that we'd won a lot of money from them
already."
Pennsylvania Won't Force Providers to Block Porn
Facing a federal lawsuit filed by two civil liberties groups,
Pennsylvania's attorney general agreed Tuesday to stop sending notices that
forced Internet providers to block access to hundreds of child porn Web
sites, but vowed to use the state courts to achieve the same result.
Sean Connolly, a spokesman for state Attorney General Mike Fisher, said the
"informal" notices are part of a policy developed in concert with the
providers.
"We are perfectly willing to obtain a court order to stop child
pornography," Connolly said after U.S. District Judge Jan E. DuBois in
Philadelphia approved the agreement.
The lawsuit filed Tuesday by the Washington-based Center for Democracy &
Technology and the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania contends
that forcing Internet providers to block access to child porn Web sites
also cuts off access to legitimate sites for subscribers across the
country. It said Fisher's notice policy constituted a "system of secret
censorship" that went unchecked by state courts.
"Child pornography has no place in a civilized society. Unfortunately,
Pennsylvania's Web-blocking law does little to stop child pornography but
does a great deal to violate the protections of the First Amendment," said
Alan Davidson, associate director of the Center for Democracy & Technology.
The civil liberties groups and a third plaintiff - Doylestown, Pa.-based
Internet provider Plantagenet Inc. - asked the court to declare both the
notice policy and the law unconstitutional because they interfere with free
speech and interstate commerce.
The lawsuit challenges a system of notices Fisher's office sends to
providers to block access to sites it considers child pornography.
If a provider does not respond to the notice, the office can then seek a
court order under a 2002 state law that authorizes the blocks and imposes
a first-offense fine of $5,000 for noncompliance.
The lawsuit asks the court to invalidate both the policy and the law,
saying they interfere with free speech and interstate commerce. It also
seeks to invalidate the notices that Connolly said have resulted in
blocking 725 sites as of Tuesday.
Under the agreement approved at a hearing Tuesday, the attorney general's
office agreed to notify the plaintiffs five days before requesting a court
order to block a Web site.
Among the companies that have received such orders are Comcast
Communications Inc., EarthLink Inc. and Microsoft Corp. Only one - WorldCom
Inc. - has protested the notice, and a county judge subsequently ordered it
to comply.
According to the lawsuit, the only way most Internet providers can block
access to a particular Web site is to block its server computer, which may
be shared with unrelated Web sites - preventing subscribers from viewing
any of those sites. And such blocks can apply to all of a provider's
subscribers, not just Pennsylvanians covered by the law.
A study by Harvard University researcher Benjamin Edelman found that more
than 85 percent of Web addresses ending in ".com," ".net" or ".org" share
computer resources behind the scenes at Internet companies with one or more
other Web sites. The number of non-pornographic sites affected by Fisher's
actions remains unknown.
Fisher's office has turned down requests for a list of the blocked sites on
grounds that such a disclosure would itself be disseminating child
pornography, which is illegal under federal law.
SCO Letter: 'Stop Hack Attacks'
After a brief lull, the battle between SCO Group and the Linux community
over software copyrights and intellectual property resumed Tuesday when SCO
Group CEO Darl McBride wrote an open letter to open-source software users.
In the letter, McBride says the SCO Group's Web site has been hit with
three denial-of-service attacks within the past four months. The attacks
prevented Web users from accessing the company's Web site and doing
business with SCO Group. McBride's letter says, "There is no question about
the affiliation of the attacker - Open Source leader Eric Raymond was
quoted as saying that he was contacted by the perpetrator and that 'he's
one of us.' To Mr. Raymond's partial credit, he asked the attacker to stop.
However, he has yet to disclose the identity of the perpetrator so that
justice can be done."
While some accuse McBride of using the Web and the media to perpetuate his
company's claim that its Unix System V source was illegally used to enhance
the Linux kernel in the absence of any court ruling, others say McBride's
letter made several good points.
One point not to be overlooked, analysts say, is that the Linux community
may be pushing its luck by attacking SCO Group's Web site and resorting to
other forms of cyberterrorism. "This is an issue that's not going away for
the open-source community," says Bill Claybrook, the Aberdeen Group's
open-source research director. "I'm not a big fan of the way SCO Group is
doing what they're doing, but I thought Darl did a good job of outlining
things in the GPL model that people have been concerned about."
This includes a lack of protection that Linux providers such as Red Hat
and IBM offer their customers against intellectual-property infringement
claims and lawsuits. If a company is selling someone else's intellectual
property, the customer should know that, Claybrook says. "This is something
that should be considered by the open-source community as Linux moves into
enterprises."
SCO Group's lawsuits against IBM and Red Hat have helped the company incur
the wrath of an entire IT movement, and no letter or justification will
change everyone's mind at this point, says Laura DiDio, a Yankee Group
senior analyst. "I think all of the different participants have made up
their minds and gone to their respective corners."
Some wonder if the Linux community is damaging its cause through such
aggressive behavior. "This is going to hurt the open-source community's
credibility as a whole," DiDio says. "I can't attest to SCO's claims, but
they have the right to file a lawsuit."
Symantec Launches Norton Upgrade
Security authority Symantec has launched a new collection of products based
on the company's well-known Norton Utilities line, with an emphasis on
tools for protecting users against Internet-based attacks from the outside,
along with safeguards for internal hardware.
Among the products is Norton Internet Security 2004, a software package
scheduled for release in mid-September that includes Symantec's latest
antivirus, firewall, intrusion-detection, privacy-protection and
spam-filtering applications.
The bundle's main component is Norton AntiVirus 2004, with improved
threat-detection technology that identifies emerging non-virus attacks,
such as spyware, adware and keystroke-logging programs. It scans both
incoming and outgoing e-mail and automatically removes viruses, worms and
Trojan-horse infections, as well as viruses hidden in message attachments
- all of which have become major headaches in recent months.
The latest Internet Security offering features a new Norton AntiSpam
application that automatically detects and filters out unwanted commercial
e-mail, or spam, at the desktop. Also offered as a stand-alone, this
application offers full integration with Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express
and Eudora.
A programmable filtering engine is able to "learn" what is and is not spam
by analyzing the user's outgoing e-mail messages.
Symantec's Norton Personal Firewall has been upgraded to guard laptop users
from online threats, regardless of the network being used. When a user
connects to a new or previously saved network, the software automatically
adjusts the firewall settings accordingly.
The Internet Security suite represents a response to the emergence of
blended threats, with viruses like SoBig spreading through e-mail, and
others being contracted through infected Web sites or servers. Intrusion
detection, especially, adds a layer of protection inside the firewall by
searching for malicious code that can penetrate the wall.
Norton SystemWorks 2004, the latest iteration of Symantec's software
package for internal security, features the new version of Norton
AntiVirus, a new Norton Password Manager, Norton Utilities and Norton
CleanSweep.
It is becoming more difficult to determine where threats are coming from,
with the Internet now generating a lot of damaging traffic, said Yankee
Group analyst Matthew Kovar. "This may be a move by Symantec to become
more targeted with their security components," he told NewsFactor.
The anti-spam product is a good idea since most companies are inundated
with spam messages and they are now causing some serious problems, he
added.
"Spam is not something that you can write a signature for," said Kovar.
"In that sense, it's different than a virus and requires a solution that
is more intelligent and can do an analysis of the message content."
While most people can comprehend antivirus applications, the analyst said,
Symantec has prioritized its security components to address particular
threats. "Marketing to spam is a good idea now, and combining a spam
filter with perimeter security offers a greater measure of protection."
Apple Announces New, Faster iMacs
Apple on Monday announced new, faster iMac desktop computers with PowerPC
G4 processors running up to 1.25 GHz, faster 333 MHz DDR memory, faster
NVIDIA graphics and the move to the faster USB 2.0 standard.
"The theme is to take the ultimate computer for working with digital hub
applications and make it even faster," Greg Joswiak, vice president of
hardware product marketing, told MacCentral.
The 15-inch model is equipped with a 1GHz G4, while the 17-inch will have
the 1.25GHz G4 processor. Both models include 256MB of faster DDR SDRAM
running at 333 MHz and an 80GB Ultra ATA/100 hard disk drive. The 17-inch
model also includes NVIDIA's GeForce FX 5200 Ultra graphics processor with
64MB of DDR video memory.
The iMac also supports AirPort Extreme 802.11g wireless networking and
optional built-in Bluetooth for wireless connectivity.
Even though Apple upgraded the iMac with the newer USB 2.0 standard, they
did not included FireWire 800, opting instead to equip the machines with
the older FireWire 400.
"We view FireWire 800 primarily as a pro feature," said Joswiak.
Software included on the new iMacs include Mac OS X "Jaguar," Apple's iLife
applications, Quicken 2003 Deluxe, World Book 2003 Edition and Tony Hawk's
Pro Skater 4.
The iMacs are available immediately in the following configurations:
The 15-inch flat panel iMac, for a suggested retail price of US$1,299,
includes:
1 GHz PowerPC G4 processor with Velocity Engine;
* 256MB of 333 MHz DDR SDRAM;
* 32x Combo DVD-ROM/CD-RW optical drive;
* NVIDIA GeForce4 MX graphics processor with 32MB video memory;
* two FireWire 400 and three USB 2.0 ports;
* internal support for AirPort Extreme wireless networking and
Bluetooth;
* 80GB Ultra ATA/100 hard drive running at 7200 rpm; and
* Apple Pro Speakers.
The 17-inch widescreen flat-panel iMac, for a suggested retail price of
$1,799 includes:
* 1.25 GHz PowerPC G4 processor with Velocity Engine;
* 256MB of 333 MHz DDR SDRAM;
* 4x SuperDrive DVD-R/CD-RW optical drive;
* NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra graphics processor with 64MB video
memory;
* two FireWire 400 and three USB 2.0 ports;
* internal support for AirPort Extreme wireless networking and
Bluetooth;
* 80GB Ultra ATA/100 hard drive running at 7200 rpm; and
* Apple Pro Speakers.
Lotus Readies 'Really Cool' New Notes
Later this month IBM Lotus will release the latest version of the Notes
client featuring what it describes as some "really cool" usability
additions.
The major enhancement in Lotus Notes 6.5 is embedded instant messaging
capabilities for users of Lotus Instant Messaging (formerly called
Sametime). They will no longer need to launch a standalone Lotus Instant
Messaging client but can initiate a meeting, chat or manage their buddy
lists directly within Notes.
The integration will let users do the following:
--Dynamically chat with people not entered on their static buddy list by
performing a directory name search from within Notes.
--Dynamically update their buddy lists from a selected object. For example,
users can add the sender and other recipients' name from within an e-mail.
--See who is online and their current status from within inboxes and
individual e-mails.
Domino developers will also have the ability to tap the new integration
capabilities.
"You can build any of this functionality into your own Domino application
in as easy as three clicks of the mouse," said Alan Lepofsky, IBM Lotus
senior technical marketing manager.
The integration benefits a relatively small, but growing, segment of the
roughly 100 million Notes clients deployed today. About 10 million users
are running Lotus Instant Messaging, executives said. But Lotus hopes
closer IM ties in the Notes client will give organizations a compelling
reason to deploy Lotus Instant Messaging.
Among the other changes to the new Notes is an enhanced welcome page. The
top screen will now contain multiple, customizable information tabs,
allowing users to toggle back and forth to different screens. One view
could contain "quick glance information" like important e-mails and
calendar items, another might include key collaboration tools like the
e-mail inbox and address book, and a third may feature team activities
such as bookmarks to discussion boards, collaborative workspaces or
databases.
Users can configure individual welcome pages or administrators can
standardize on a single page for their entire organization. Admins can
then lock down that page using the policy-based admin capabilities included
in Notes/Domino 6.
Notes 6.5 also delivers search capabilities from within the client,
allowing users to search the Web or a Notes database. A "launcher" feature
lets users drag and drop frequently used applications, links or documents
into a designated area where they can quickly activate those items.
Also new:
--Reply and forward tabs in the inbox
--Follow-up functionality in e-mails, with the ability to set an alarm or
gain a "mini-view" of follow-up items
--The ability to filter for unread e-mails
--Capabilities that let users populate a calendar entry by dragging and
dropping an e-mail into the calendar icon
Lotus considers Notes 6.5 part of its Workplace product line. The first
Workplace offering, Lotus Workplace Messaging, shipped in May.
Judge Rebuffs Legal Challenge to Pop-Up Ads
A federal judge has rejected a legal challenge by truck and trailer rental
company U-Haul to pop-up Internet advertisements, in a ruling that could
embolden providers of the ads.
U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee, in a ruling handed down on Friday,
dismissed U-Haul's lawsuit, which sought to ban software by Internet
advertising company WhenU that launched rival pop-up ads when customers
access U-Haul's Web site.
Lee said the ads don't violate the law because WhenU's software didn't
copy or use U-Haul's trademark or copyright material, and because computer
users themselves had chosen to download the pop-up software.
"While at first blush this detour in the user's Web search seems like a
siphon-off of a business opportunity, the fact is that the computer user
consented to this detour when the user downloaded WhenU's computer
software from the Internet," Lee said.
Arizona-based U-Haul, a unit of AMERCO Inc., filed the lawsuit against
WhenU in October last year in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia,
claiming the ads were a violation of its trademarks and copyrights and also
violated unfair competition laws.
If other courts reach the same conclusion as Lee, it would remove a
potential obstacle for companies like WhenU and Gator Corp., which also
offers software that triggers pop-up ads related to Internet addresses a
user visits.
The pop-up software comes packaged with free software such as screen
savers. It monitors the addresses a user is visiting. When it detects a
Web site like U-Haul's, the software may interrupt by displaying an offer
from a rival company.
U-Haul's lawsuit sought both monetary damages and an injunction barring
the pop-up ads running on its Web sites.
WhenU described Lee's ruling as "very favorable."
"This is a victory for consumer choice - it ultimately protects consumers'
right to control what they see on their computer screens," WhenU chief
executive Avi Naider said in a statement.
U-Haul issued a statement expressing disappointment about the ruling, but
insisting that Web site owners "have the right to display their Web sites
without having their sites hidden behind such invasive advertisements.
"We are
currently evaluating our options for appeal," the company's
statement says.
Judge Lee acknowledged that pop-up ads are often troublesome and annoying.
"Alas, we computer users must endure pop-up advertising along with her ugly
brother unsolicited bulk e-mail, 'spam', as a burden of using the
Internet," he wrote.
=~=~=~=
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