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Atari Online News, Etc. Volume 05 Issue 38
Volume 5, Issue 38 Atari Online News, Etc. September 19, 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:
Paul Caillet
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=~=~=~=
A-ONE #0538 09/19/03
~ HighWire News Update! ~ People Are Talking! ~ Time-Warner Drops
~ Brits Spam Crackdown! ~ Regulate the Internet? ~ Steem Update News!
~ Time-Warner Drops AOL! ~ Spam Bill Watered Down ~ HP Wins Ink Lawsuit!
~ Phisher Pleads Guilty! ~ Hard Drive Capacity?? ~ Anti-Piracy Setback!
-* New Bill Could Aid Swapping! *-
-* Internet Privacy Issues Intensify! *-
-* Internet Use Tax Could Become Permanent! *-
=~=~=~=
->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Having lived in the Northeast all of my life, it's hard to imagine a
hurricane that hits the east coast to have little effect on us up here. But
that's apparently the case with the one this week. I hope everyone rode the
storm out well, with little adverse effects. Just imagine had this storm
stayed as powerful as it started!
Speaking of hurricanes, it seems like one is rolling through my workplace
lately. Every year at about this time, budget woes take over and the
"insanity" accompanies it. Nerves are frayed all over the place, and highly
visible. Like a hurricane, people are told to just ride the storm out and
it will pass. Easily said, difficult to do when facing those rising tides
on the coastline! And on top of all of this, we all still have to perform
our many tasks with the typical every day stresses. Not a fun time of the
year!
I really don't want to bore you this week with my issues any more than I
already have! All of us has our share, for sure. There are also a number
of topics in this week's issue that deserve some kind of comment, but I'm
going to bow from that as well - sometimes it just seems pointless to
discuss some of the absurdities that we read about these days. It almost
makes reading entertainment news like the "Bennifer" fiasco a welcomed
treat! Okay, so not even almost!!
Until next time...
=~=~=~=
Steem 2.6
Hello,
Steem Engine:
http://www.blimey.strayduck.com/
12th September 2003,
Surprisingly Steem v2.5 didn't contain any major bugs but there were
quite a few minor ones, those have been fixed in this new version.
Emulation Bugs
. Improved accurate disk access time emulation
. Improved high frequency PSG envelope emulation (Auto 408 Menu)
. Changed length of floppy disk tracks (North and South)
. Improved PSG register write emulation (The Toyottes)
. Fixed hard drive quit with monitor running freeze up bug
. Fixed hard drive wildcard bugs
. Added hack for more programs affected by IKBD reset
Other Bugs
. XSTEEM: Fixed uppercase disk manager extension bug
. Fixed bordered monochrome to bordered colour when loading snapshot
crash
. Fixed change CPU speed when stopped freeze
. Fixed r/l control/alt disable bug
. Speeded up complex drawing under some drawing modes
. Fixed returning from fullscreen bugs that affected some video cards
. Stopped the auto-updater from crashing so much
. DEBUG: Toggle breakpoint in history doesn't make a mess any more
New Features
. 14Mb memory option
. Automatic extraction of files from archives to ST hard drive
. Added script to disk imager for Linux users
Best regards,
Paul CAILLET
New Screenshots of HighWire
Recently there have been a lot of work put into the caching capabilities
in HighWire, something that has now made it possible to look into support
for online graphics. As a result of this, the need for jpg/png support also
has become evident and hence the appropriate libraries have been ported and
added to the HighWire sources.
The experimental builds are now able to view online graphics, be it GIF,
JPG or PNG, and to give you a little demonstration of this we have now
uploaded 3 new screenshots to the HighWire website.
You might also notice that HighWire has been given dithering capabilities
too, resulting in surprisingly nice results. Finally, you should be aware
that there are no guarantees that all of the above mentioned features will
be present in the next public release, although that is obviously the aim.
HighWire website: http://highwire.atari-users.net
/Joakim
=~=~=~=
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
compiled by Joe Mirando
joe@atarinews.org
Hidi ho friends and neighbors. It's been yet another hectic week. It's
been crazy for quite a while now, but this past week has just been plain
INSANE.
While Isabel stomps around on North Carolina and Virginia, up here in the
North East, we are getting away with just some higher-than-average winds
and some rain. We tend to get a whopper of a storm every so-often in this
area, but we've been lucky so far this year. I've lived through one or
two "direct hits", but I don't think that they were the size of Isabel.
This storm is simply huge! If we could somehow harness the raw energy of
this one storm, we'd be set for quite a while. Mother Nature constantly
amazes me with her ability to conjure up titanic forces from nothing more
than sea, air, and sunshine. There's probably a lesson (or at least a
moral) in there somewhere, but I'm too damned tired to figure out what it
is. Or maybe we just really don't know what question to ask. My
grandmother used to tell me that it's easy to give an answer... that's
just knowledge... but knowing what question to ask... THAT'S
intelligence.
I used to think that this was just my grandmother's way of NOT answering a
question, but now I think that she may have been on to something. After
all, all the answers are here already. We just have to be smart enough to
know which questions to ask. Some of us seem to take the wrong avenue
when asking questions. They'll ask and ask and ask the same question over
and over again, as if repetition alone will change things. But quite
honestly, I've never seen that work... and I'll bet that you haven't
either. Sometimes, it's like... trying to reason with hurricane season.
<grin>
Well, let's get on with the news, hints, tips, and info from the UseNet.
>From the comp.sys.atari.st NewsGroup
====================================
David Galvez asks about adding accent marks to text:
"I'm looking for a tool to use accents with my atari text editors,
mailers, etc..
If it is possible, some software clean coded that doesn't give problems
under a Multitasking OS."
Derryck Croker answers:
"SMAK (Send Me A Key) from http://www.Diedering.de
It works 100%."
Dan Hall asks about recording with Cubase on a 1040:
"I need some help, I hope someone can point me in the right direction.
Have recently purchased an old Atari 1040, but have no idea how to get
cubase to work on it. It is to be part of a simple home studio. If
anyone knows what a dongle is and how to get hold of one for this
machine, that would be great.
I placed this question on a music makers group and the answers were
very very funny, but not that helpful until one guy suggested finding
this group. So here I am and would be grateful for any help and
advice that you could give me."
Barrie at Keychange tells Dan that he can acquire a dongle at...
"www.keychange.co.uk"
And as far as the funny posts are concerned, Barrie tells Dan:
"Post a few, we could do with a laugh....."
Dan obliges:
"This was one that made me laugh out loud, the ignorance and ego of
some people is incredible. I have not copied the guys email to
"protect" him and quite frankly his opinion is so blinkered that he
isn't worth bothering with. You ask for help and get this? Sad
really.
>> Okay.. listen closely,, here's what you need to do with the Atari 1040
>> I guarantee this will resolve all your problems..
>>
>> 1) Place Atari 1040 directly in front of the right rear tire of your
car
>> (unless you have posi-track then you can use left or right)
>> 2) Start the car
>> 3) Select 'D' for Drive
>> 4) Press accelerator (just for 1 second) then apply brake
>> 5) Now select 'R'
>> 6) Press accelerator for 1 second and again apply brake
>> 7) Repeat steps 3 to 6 at least three times.
>> 8) Grab the broom out of the garage and sweep remains into large green
>> plastic bag. (urinating on them first is optional, I'll leave that up
to you
>> to decide)
>>
>> Your Atari 1040 should now be prepared for modern PC based
recording...In
>> the trash can where it should have gone 10 years ago !!.
>>
>> If you paid more than the value of a pack of matches for this 1040,,,,
then
>> you've just been ripped off.. "
Greg Goodwin tells Dan:
"A dongle is the equivalent of a physical key (such as the one you use
to start your car). A little smaller than a deck of playing cards,
the dongle contains a small amount of code and is attached to one of
the ports of your computer. To run the program, the dongle must be
attached.
Cubase was a program that used a dongle, and it should have been
included with your copy. I'd contact the person from whom you
purchased it to see what happened."
Charles Stanley asks about his favorite word processor:
"Is no-one else using 'Protext' word processor? I see many references to
Word or Papyrus etc, with complaints about many bugs. Protext has very
few bugs. Though not officially supported, there is an URL where an
updated version is available (6.xx), which I have mislaid, unfortunately.
Protext was the preferred prog for journos. The prog is still able to
produce properly printed manuals.
Protext was available only for Atari, Amiga and PC, I believe."
Steve Sweet tells Charles:
"Blimey, I spent a fortune on that and found a few bugs on them beasties,
and also had a few scraps with the authors when they expected me to pay
for upgrades that fixed the bugs I found on their behalf.
I must dig it all out and try to get some money back on them one day!
I had Protext first of all and imported its docs into Papyrus when I
got it until I'd set up all my standard letters and forms for Papyrus."
Christian Potzinger asks about hooking a ZIP drive up to his Atari:
"Is it possible to connect a Iomega ZipDrive, 100MB-SCSI, with an Atari
520ST? "
Steve Sweet tells Christian:
"It is possible, you'd need something like a 'Link' and someway of
providing TrmPwr to the SCSI device. One way to do this is to chain in a
SCSI hard drive with the trmpwr link enabled, There are mod's available
to adapt the ZIP drive to provide its own TRMPWR, maybe a google search
will yield that info if someone doesn't pop along with it in a few mo's.
You'll also need hard disk driver software."
Karsten Ludersen adds:
"Yes it is, with a adapter for the ACSI-Port. Unfortunately I have
forgotten the name of the adapter (something like "the link") and I
don't know if it still is available anywhere."
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 - Most Teens Play Violent Video Games!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Intellivision Direct to TV
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Most Teens Play Violent Video Games, Study Says
More than 70 percent of American teenage boys have played the violent but
popular "Grand Theft Auto" video games, and they are more likely to have
been in a fight than those who have not played, according to a new Gallup
company poll released on Tuesday.
Although the study showed twice as many boys who had played the criminal
adventure game reported having been in a fight in the last year, the
survey's authors cautioned that did not prove a link between game violence
and real-life behavior.
The Gallup Poll Tuesday Briefing found in an online survey of 517 teenagers
aged 13 to 17 conducted in August that 71 percent of boys in that age group
have played "GTA," along with 34 percent of girls.
"Grand Theft Auto 3" was the best-selling video game of 2001, and "Grand
Theft Auto: Vice City" topped the charts in 2002. They have been decried
by parents and lawmakers, among others, for depictions of graphic violence
against women, law enforcement officers and the elderly.
Both games, published by Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., carry
"Mature" ratings from the Entertainment Software Rating Board, meaning
they are not intended for persons under age 17.
The survey found that 34 percent of boys who admitted to being in a
physical fight over the last year have played "GTA," while 17 percent who
were in a fight have not played the game.
The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.
"The data can't demonstrate causality - boys who are more prone to fighting
may simply be more attracted to violent video games," the Gallup editors
said.
"With regard to the likelihood to have been in a physical fight in the last
year, the difference between those who have played and not played is
greater for Grand Theft Auto than for any of the other games asked about,"
they said.
The poll found that 62 percent of teenagers play games at least one hour a
week, while 25 percent play six or more hours per week. More than one-third
of those surveyed reported spending no time playing video games.
"As a parent, I absolutely did expect what we found, that games are a big
part of kids' lives," Frank Newport, the poll's editor-in-chief, told
Reuters.
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE Gaming Online - Online Users Growl & Purr!
"""""""""""""""""""
Intellivision Direct to TV
Intellivision 10 and Intellivision 25. Just add batteries and a TV set!
Coming soon to a store near you worldwide!
Now you can play your favorite Intellivision games without a console or
computer! Just plug Intellivision 10 or Intellivision 25 into your TV set
and away you go!
Each unit is a complete video game system - with games - built into a hand
controller. An 8 foot cable from the controller plugs into the video and
audio jacks found on the front of most modern TV sets. A menu displayed on
your TV screen lets you choose from any of the games in the unit (see
lists at left).
The suggested retail price in the United States for Intellivision 10 is
only $14.99. Intellivision 25 is only $24.99! Each requires 4 AA batteries
(not included).
The game systems were designed and manufactured by Techno Source Ltd. The
Intellivision games were ported to the systems by the company's
programmers. Adapting to the systems required some games to be modified,
but the programmers worked with the original source code to keep them as
close as possible to the look and feel of the classic games. Blue Sky
Rangers Keith Robinson (TRON Solar Sailer) and Stephen Roney (Space
Spartans, B-17 Bomber) consulted on the porting of the games.
"While we think the longtime Intellivision fans will get a kick out of
these, they are really aimed at introducing a new generation to these fun,
addictive games," says Robinson. "We've always felt that the real strength
of Intellivision isn't nostalgia, but the timeless, high-quality game
play."
Reflecting this, the look of the controllers and packaging is
contemporary, aimed at young, active gamers. Early marketing response has
been enthusiastic; a heavy television ad campaign is planned for Europe.
Intellivision 10 and Intellivision 25 will be on the shelves in some
countries, including England and Italy, as early as mid-July. In other
countries it will be available after the beginning of the new year. In the
United States, it should begin appearing in stores around mid-August.
Games on Intellivision 10
* Astrosmash
* Baseball
* Football
* Motocross
* Night Stalker
* Shark! Shark!
* Skiing
* Snafu
* Space Armada
* Star Strike
Games on Intellivision 25
* Astrosmash
* Baseball
* Basketball
* Buzz Bombers
* Football
* Golf
* Hockey
* Hover Force
* Motocross
* Night Stalker
* Pinball
* Shark! Shark!
* Skiing
* Snafu
* Space Armada
* Space Battle
* Space Hawk
* Star Strike
* Sub Hunt
* Thin Ice
* Thunder Castle
* Tower of Doom
* Vectron
* Volleyball
* Wrestling
=~=~=~=
A-ONE's Headline News
The Latest in Computer Technology News
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
Verizon, Record Companies Duel Over 'Net Piracy
A legal battle over Internet privacy intensified today as Verizon Corp.
urged a panel of federal judges to overturn a lower-court decision that
required the company to hand over the names of its customers to the
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
The RIAA is employing special subpoena power granted in a controversial
1998 copyright law to force Internet service providers like Verizon to
reveal the identities of thousands of Internet subscribers suspected of
illegally trading music online. Earlier this month, the RIAA sued 261 of
those subscribers - most of them ordinary Internet users - for copyright
infringement.
For the recording industry, the subpoenas have proven the most effective
weapon in its war against music piracy. But ISPs and civil liberties
advocates say the subpoenas are unconstitutional and pose a grave threat
to the already precarious privacy protections Americans enjoy online.
"If this decision is not overturned by the courts or fixed by Congress,
this could undermine users' confidence in the privacy of their Internet
communications," Verizon Associate General Counsel Sarah Deutsch said. That
in turn could retard consumer interest in broadband - something the federal
government has expressly sought to boost, Deutsch added.
The stakes are just as high for record companies and their allies in the
entertainment and software industries that are convinced online piracy is
a serious threat to their very existence.
"The case is critical because being able to identify the actual infringers
is the linchpin of being able to do anything to protect our [songs]
online," RIAA President Cary Sherman said after today's hearing.
Last year, the RIAA subpoenaed Verizon to learn the name of an Internet
user suspected of using his Verizon broadband account to "share" thousands
of songs online. The RIAA invoked a passage of the Digital Millennium
Copyright Act of 1998 (DMCA) that permits copyright owners to directly
subpoena Internet service providers to learn the identities of suspected
copyright thieves on their networks.
The 1998 law allows copyright owners to request the subpoenas directly from
a court clerk without seeking a judge's approval. ISPs must respond to the
requests within 10 days, whether or not they're able to contact the
customer whose identity is being sought.
Verizon challenged the subpoena, arguing that the recording industry's
demands violated the Verizon customer's constitutional privacy rights and
that the RIAA was improperly interpreting the subpoena powers granted under
the DMCA.
In a January ruling, U.S. District Court Judge John Bates rejected
Verizon's arguments, and in April Bates denied Verizon's request for a
stay, ordering the company to comply with the RIAA subpoenas. Verizon
handed over the names but continued to appeal the matter, prompting today's
hearing before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
In a lively hearing that stretched a little over an hour, the three judges
interjected often, grilling attorneys for both sides about their sharply
divergent stances. Both the judges and the attorneys focused more on their
conflicting interpretations of the 1998 copyright law than on the
constitutional issues in the case.
The DMCA was written prior to the launch of Napster in 1999 and was never
intended to give copyright owners free access to the identities of ordinary
Internet customers who use file-sharing services, said Andrew McBride, who
argued the case on behalf of Verizon.
Although Congress made a clear distinction between copyrighted material
that an ISP hosts (in the form of a Web site or page) and material that
simply passes through an ISP's network (like Internet traffic), the RIAA
is improperly trying to expand the law to cover material ISPs have no
control over, McBride argued.
"Congress did not want to turn ISPs into Internet police," Verizon's
Deutsch said.
Don Verrilli, who argued on behalf of RIAA, said Congress knew exactly what
it was doing when it created the subpoena power. He said lawmakers
understood that copyright owners were "on the precipice" of a massive surge
in copyright infringement, fueled by new digital technologies. Thus they
wrote a law to provide copyright holders with the appropriate tools to
track down the digital thieves who are stealing their works.
"The only one who can tell us who they [music pirates] are is the service
provider," Verrilli said.
A victory for the RIAA would validate the legal offensive that has become
the centerpiece of the group's war against file sharing.
The immediate effect of a victory wouldn't be as profound for Verizon,
which stands to directly gain or lose only the money and manpower required
to process subpoenas from copyright owners. The long-term effects, however,
for Verizon and other ISPs, could reach very deep, Public Knowledge
President Gigi Sohn said.
"I think people have a level of trust" that phone companies aren't
releasing their personal information, Sohn said. "This is critical currency
for the phone companies." Customers could quickly lose faith in their
communications carriers if the feel their personal data is being put up for
grabs to anybody who owns a copyright, Sohn said.
The three-judge panel has not said when it will issue its opinion, though
a decision this fall is probable. Either side would likely appeal an
unfavorable decision to the full D.C. circuit and on to the Supreme Court.
Grokster, Morpheus File Briefs in Song-Swap Appeal
Two file-sharing services on Wednesday filed responses to a closely-watched
appeal by film and music studios of a court ruling that found the services
were not liable for massive copyright infringement.
"The appeal is just one of several assaults that we face from the Recording
Industry Association of America" (RIAA), said Michael Weiss, chief
executive of Streamcast Networks Inc, the developer of the popular Morpheus
peer-to-peer software, which filed its brief in response to the appeal.
Both Morpheus and Grokster, another peer-to-peer service, responded on
Wednesday to the appeal filed in August with the Ninth Circuit Court of
Appeals in San Francisco by the Motion Picture Association of America, the
RIAA, and the National Music Publishers' Association.
Back then, the copyrights holders said U.S. District Court Judge Stephen
Wilson in Los Angeles in April had dramatically departed from
well-established copyright law when he ruled the file-sharing services
should not be closed because they cannot control what songs are traded
over their systems.
"The plaintiff's seem to think that Judge Wilson's decision was a typo,"
said Wayne Rosso, president of Grokster.
"They also seem to want to outlaw any legal technology that is content
neutral," he said.
Wilson's ruling was the industries' first major setback in their ongoing
anti-piracy efforts. Last week, the recording industry took the
unprecedented step of suing 261 individuals for allegedly copying songs
without permission, sparking waves of criticism from peer-to-peer and
privacy advocates.
The RIAA, which represents record labels like AOL Time Warner's Warner
Music and Vivendi Universal's Universal Music Group, plans to file more
suits and is also in settlement talks with several of the individuals.
It reached its first settlement last week with the mother of a 12-year-old
girl targeted for song-swapping.
"Instead of asking the court to deputize every technology vendor to enforce
their copyrights for them, they should license the technology at a fair
price," Rosso said.
"Five bucks a month from each of 60 million filesharers beats the hell out
of filing a federal case to get $2,000 from a 12-year-old girl," he said.
The RIAA has said these businesses were built for the exclusive reason of
illegally exchanging copyrighted works and that the court of appeals should
hold them accountable.
The RIAA succeeded in legally shutting down song-swap pioneer Napster and
other networks, but millions still copy billions of songs, movies and other
files from each others' computers each month, according to industry
estimates.
The industry blames much of its steep slide in revenues since 1999 on
online piracy.
Weiss of Streamcast said his company expects to prevail. If not, they will
take it to the Supreme Court, he said.
New Bill Could Aid Music File Sharers
A bill has been introduced in the U.S. Senate that could significantly
curtail the Recording Industry Association of America's recent - and quite
successful - offensive against individuals who share music files over the
Internet. If passed, the legislation would end the RIAA's flood of subpoenas
to Internet service providers demanding the identities of their customers
who use such online file-sharing services as Morpheus and Kazaa.
Introduced by Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kansas), the "Consumers, Schools,
and Libraries Digital Rights Management (DRM) Awareness Act of 2003" would
prevent copyright holders from compelling an ISP to disclose the names or
other identifying information of its subscribers prior to the filing of a
suit - a tactic that critics and civil libertarians decry as
unconstitutional and an invasion of privacy.
This issue has been hashed out in court and, in fact, is being reviewed
again as Verizon argues before a panel of federal judges that the
lower-court decision that required it to turn over its customers' names was
incorrect. That decision acknowledged the right of the RIAA to subpoena
Verizon for the identity of an Internet user thought to be using Verizon
broadband to post thousands of songs online. The RIAA based its argument on
a provision contained in 1998's Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
The bill would not give ISPs a Hail Mary pass, though it does come close.
"Senator Brownback's bill ensures adequate court oversight is in place
before copyright holders can force ISPs to disclose the identities of
Internet users," said Electronic Frontier Foundation staff attorney Wendy
Seltzer.
Provisions include requirements for the "conspicuous" labeling of CDs, DVDs
and software that limits consumer uses with digital-rights management"
(DRM) restrictions and curtailing the Federal Communication Commission's
ability to impose federal regulations on digital-television innovators.
Thus far, the RIAA's use of subpoenas has been the one action that has
noticeably slowed activity on file-sharing sites. Depending on enforcement,
and perhaps even more on litigation filed, the bill would slow - but not
necessarily halt completely - the RIAA's attention-getting strategy.
Of course, this is a moot point if the bill does not become law. However,
there is a growing consumer backlash against the RIAA, which is being felt
in Congress, Mike McGuire, Media Research Director for GartnerG2 told
NewsFactor.
"Ultimately, this issue could have some serious political implications for
the music industry - especially if enough people get upset at the sight of
grandparents losing their house because their grandkids used their
computers to download music," he said.
"These issues have by no means been settled yet," EFT staff attorney Jason
Schultz told NewsFactor. "Sooner or later, Congress will have to step in
to protect consumers' rights."
Other bills making their way through Congress include those of Senator Ron
Wyden (D-Oregon), Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-California), and
Representative Rick Boucher (D-Virginia).
In separate news, StreamCast Networks, the developer of Morpheus, has filed
its brief in an appeal of a court decision that the P2P networks originally
hailed as a significant victory. Ruling on a suit filed by Grokster and
Morpheus against 28 entertainment companies, a federal court had declared
the music industry could not shut down P2P software makers for the
copyright infringements of their users when the software has significant
legitimate uses. The court ruled that the Morpheus software was no
different from a VCR or copy machine, citing the 1984 Supreme Court
decision that held that Sony was not responsible for copyright infringement
by Betamax VCR users.
The entertainment companies have appealed the case to the federal Ninth
Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. The court has not yet scheduled
oral argument on the case.
File Sharing Lawsuits Scared Few Users Away
Use of the most popular Internet file-sharing service declined only 5
percent last week despite a high-profile crackdown by the U.S. recording
industry on unauthorized music trading online, the latest data shows.
Around 4.23 million U.S. home users logged onto the KaZaa service, down
from 4.47 million the week before, Internet researcher Nielsen//Netratings
told Reuters on Friday. Usage on three other popular file-sharing services
- Morpheus, iMesh, and BearShare, stayed about the same from the previous
week.
Since the Recording Industry of America began its campaign against the file
sharing services in late June, the popularity of the online services has
been sharply reduced. KaZaa has lost more than 40 percent of its more than
7 million users it had at the start of June, according to
Nielsen//Netratings.
The recording industry's long-term goal is to move users of services like
KaZaa to industry-sanctioned services such as Apple's iTunes site, which
charges users a fee for downloading music, a spokesman said.
"This is a long-term campaign and we're going to continue until the message
gets out," RIAA spokesman Jonathan Lamy said. "We're not so much interested
in the day-to-day tick-tock."
House Backs Making Internet Tax Ban Permanent
The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to make permanent a
ban on Internet use taxes and to require nine states to repeal existing
taxes on access fees.
By a voice vote lawmakers agreed to a bill cementing the moratorium on
Internet access and traffic taxes due to expire in November, and removing
a provision that had allowed a handful of states to levy taxes that were
in place before the ban was first passed in 1998.
The tax ban would apply to all methods of Internet access, including
pricier high-speed links taxed by some states.
However, the ban would not apply to online sales taxes, which are already
prohibited under a Supreme Court decision unless the retailer has a
substantial in-state presence.
The legislation passed by the House is slightly different from the Internet
use tax bill being considered by the Senate. Lawmakers in both chambers
said the Senate would probably pass its bill within the next several weeks.
The bill's author, Republican Rep. Christopher Cox of California, predicted
it would be "short work" for House and Senate negotiators to reach a
compromise between the two bills.
Supporters said the permanent tax ban would remove a cloud of uncertainty
from the future of Internet commerce.
"Failure to make the moratorium permanent could result in the imposition
of a complex web of taxes that would create uncertainty for the information
technology industry, a sector of the economy which can ill afford further
setbacks," said House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner,
Republican from Wisconsin.
The bill would roll back Internet access taxes in nine states, with totals
ranging from $3.6 million and $45 million from the tax last year, according
to one estimate.
The nine states are New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, South
Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin.
Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee, of Texas complained the measure would
deprive states of much-needed revenue.
But other members said the loss of revenue is overshadowed by the benefits
to emerging e-commerce.
"Although this bill will necessarily result in the loss or potential loss
of revenue to some states, it will promote the continued development,
emergence and widespread access to the Internet. And it will do so in a
fair and technologically neutral manner," said Rep. Melvin Watt, a Democrat
from North Carolina.
Self-Policing Added to Spam Bill
One of the primary bills in Congress to crack down on spam e-mail contains
a new provision that would shield bulk e-mailers from penalties if they
agree to police themselves, raising new questions about the extent to which
industry is influencing the legislation.
According to a revised draft of a bill being circulated to members of the
House Energy and Commerce Committee, bulk mailers could form a
self-regulatory group that would maintain anti-spam standards of conduct
similar to those in the bill. Any member of the organization - which would
have to be approved by the Federal Trade Commission - would be exempt from
legal penalties that otherwise would apply to nonmembers.
The idea of a self-governing organization has been supported by several of
the big Internet e-mail account providers, most particularly Microsoft
Corp. The theory is that the group would employ an independent third party
that could issue an electronic seal of approval for "legitimate" senders
of commercial e-mail, thereby making it easier for computer users to filter
out mail from unsavory or fraudulent spammers.
Microsoft has been working with America Online Inc., Yahoo Inc. and
EarthLink Inc., all of which market to their members, on such a system.
"It's certainly something we've pushed for," said Microsoft spokesman Sean
Sundwall, though he declined to say whether the company had any direct
conversations with the bill's sponsors. The direct-marketing industry
already has a similar program in place for its members. Representatives of
the Direct Marketing Association did not return calls for comment.
But some consumer groups, anti-spam organizations, state prosecutors and
legislators were taken aback by the idea of making it law by adding it to
a bill sponsored by Reps. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), W.J. "Billy" Tauzin
(R-La.) and F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.).
"They are writing the law so that it places them where they think they
belong: above it," said Jason Catlett, head of Junkbusters Inc., an
anti-spam group
Ken Johnson, a Tauzin spokesman, responded that the self-regulation plan
improves the bill because it creates a grievance process for individual
consumers who might otherwise have trouble getting the attention of law
enforcement authorities when marketers are continuing to target them.
"The FTC does not have the resources to pursue individual, minor
complaints," Johnson said. The proposal establishes a complaint mechanism
that the self-policing group must follow.
The new provision is the latest twist for the bill, which is likely to be
the major piece of spam legislation to emerge from the House because of
the sponsors' powerful positions: Sensenbrenner is the chairman of the
Judiciary Committee; Tauzin, of the Energy and Commerce
Committee.
Revelations in May that lobbyists from the marketing, retailing and
Internet provider industries played a key role in drafting the original
bill forced its sponsors to reshape it after it was criticized as being
weak.
Since then, negotiations have been ongoing with legislators who want a
tougher bill, led in part by Rep. Heather A. Wilson (R-N.M.), who has a
competing bill that has the bipartisan co-sponsorship of 67
representatives.
Congressional negotiators had been finding some common ground, sources
said, adding a Wilson-backed provision that requires the labeling of
pornographic content in e-mail. But the inclusion of the self-regulation
idea has undermined that progress and put the bill in "purgatory,"
according to one congressional staffer.
"It's a step backward," said a Wilson spokesperson. "It continues to
protect spammers at the expense of consumers."
The bill requires bulk mailers to honor consumer requests to stop receiving
unsolicited e-mail and makes it illegal for spammers to disguise their
whereabouts. It also makes illegal the practice of electronic "harvesting"
of e-mail addresses, in which special software is used to find e-mail
addresses on Web pages, copy them and add them to bulk mailing lists.
Even before the addition of the self-regulation provision, anti-spam
activists said the bill was full of loopholes. Some consumer groups and
state lawmakers are especially concerned that the bill would supplant
stronger state anti-spam laws and prevent individual consumers from suing
spammers. Supporters argue that federal rules are the only way to ensure
that legitimate marketers have clear rules that don't change from state to
state.
In many respects, the House bill - minus the self-regulation plan - mirrors
a Senate bill that has passed through committee, though it is unclear when
it will be considered by the full Senate. The bill, sponsored by Conrad
Burns (R-Mont.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), is supported by the marketing and
Internet provider industries.
Another Senate bill, sponsored by Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), would
create a national do-not-spam list similar to the recently instituted
do-not-call list for telemarketers. But the FTC so far has opposed the
idea, and no similar bill has been introduced in the House.
Britain Cracks Down on Spammers with New Privacy Law
Britain Thursday became the second country in Europe to criminalize spam,
the unwanted barrage of e-mail and mobile phone text messages promising
riches, cheap home loans and a better sex life.
The unsolicited messages, which industry groups say account for more than
half of all e-mails sent, have become a time- and resource-wasting scourge
of Internet users everywhere.
Under the new British law, spammers face an $8,057 fine if convicted in a
magistrates court. The fine from a jury trial would be unlimited. Spammers
would not face prison, according to the new law, introduced by
Communications Minister Stephen Timms Thursday.
Spam is defined under the law as any messages sent to consumers without
having first established a consensual customer relationship.
"These regulations will help combat the global nuisance of unsolicited
e-mails and texts by enshrining in law rights that give consumers more say
over who can use their personal details," Timms said in a statement.
Britain's Office of the Information Commissioner will enforce the
regulations, which go into effect on Dec. 11.
The law does not however cover workplace e-mail addresses. Anti-spam
proponents had been calling for a blanket law that would criminalize all
forms of spam.
The European Union passed a directive last year and Italian lawmakers this
month imposed tough new regulations to fine spammers up to $101,600 and
impose a maximum prison term of three years.
UK Politicians to Join Capitol Hill Spam Debate
A team of British lawmakers will head to Washington D.C. next month to try
and resolve the EU-U.S. disagreement on how to tackle the deluge of e-mail
spam plaguing consumers and clogging the Internet.
"There seems to be some sort of philosophical issue here. We just want to
understand why they see things differently," said British MP Derek Wyatt.
Anti-spam advocates have called for tough laws, particularly in the U.S.
where most spam originates, that would entail criminal penalties to combat
the flood of unsolicited e-mail messages promoting everything from
pornographic Web sites to low-interest home mortgages.
By some industry estimates, spam accounts for nearly 60 percent of global
e-mail. Politicians agree that anti-spam laws should be harmonized across
national borders, making it easier to prosecute spammers who target
in-boxes across the planet.
But the U.S. and Europe are taking different paths. At the crux of the
matter is the issue of consent. An EU anti-spam directive calls for an
"opt-in" approach, which means a company must first obtain a user's
permission before sending a message.
U.S. politicians have devised more advertiser-friendly draft legislation
that would place the onus on the user to stop the flow of unsolicited
e-mail promotions. Until the user requests that the messages cease, a
spammer could continue to send unsolicited e-mail.
A series of anti-spam bills are under consideration on Capital Hill at the
moment.
Anti-spam advocates say the so-called "opt-out" rule favored by American
lawmakers shields unscrupulous spammers, who can mask their identity and
send e-mails with impunity.
Wyatt said he and Andrew Pinder, Prime Minister Tony Blair's appointed
e-envoy, are scheduled to appear before a Congressional hearing in October,
at which they will urge U.S. lawmakers to adopt a tough anti-spam law that
more closely reflects recent European legislation.
"Of course this is the sort of discussion we intend to have. Otherwise,
what's the point of going," Wyatt said.
Wyatt, chairman of the Associate Party Internet Group, a coalition of UK
lawmakers that have pushed for Internet reforms, said members of the group
will meet with American congressmen, senators, officials from the Federal
Trade Commission and business executives in a three-day tour between
October 14-16.
Talks Begin on Regulation of Internet
International negotiations have begun on how and whether to manage the
Internet, along with associated problems such as junk e-mail and
pornography.
Organizers said a two-week meeting, which began this week, aims to narrow
differences among countries ahead of the World Summit on the Information
Society in mid-December.
The summit, organized by the United Nations' International
Telecommunication Union, seeks common policy on using information
technology to create greater prosperity.
The current plan includes protecting minors from harmful content and
assuring confidentiality of personal information, while addressing
unsolicited e-mail, known as spam.
Wolfgang Kleinwaechter, a communications professor from Denmark's Aarhus
University, said many users are concerned that governments will impose
regulations that will stifle freedom of the Internet.
Kleinwaechter, one of the meeting's "civil society" representatives, said
controls should stem from the users, not governments.
New E-Mail Worm Targets Hole in Internet Explorer
Anti-virus companies warned on Thursday of a new computer worm circulating
through e-mail that purports to be security software from Microsoft Corp.
but actually tries to disable security programs that are already running.
The worm, dubbed "Swen" or "Gibe," takes advantage of a two-year-old hole
in Internet Explorer and affects systems that have not installed a patch
for that security hole, according to Internet security company Network
Associates Inc..
The malicious program arrives as an attachment to an e-mail pretending to
contain a patch for holes in Internet Explorer, Outlook and Outlook Express
and then mails itself off to addresses located on the victim's computer.
The worm also can spread over Internet relay chat and the KaZaa
peer-to-peer network, as well as copy itself over shared networks, Network
Associates said.
When it infects a computer it alerts a Web site that appears to be counting
the infections, according to Symantec Corp., another Internet security
outfit. The number of the counter was near 760,000 by Thursday afternoon.
Network Associates rated the worm a low risk for corporate users and a
medium risk for home users. The company and rival Symantec, among others,
were offering anti-virus updates that detects and removes the worm.
Microsoft has cautioned customers in the past against e-mail software
updates, saying it does not distribute patches that way but rather directs
them to its Web site.
N.C. Jury Clears HP in Printer Lawsuit
A state jury determined that Hewlett-Packard Co. did not try to fool
consumers into believing ink cartridges packed with its printers were full.
Similar class-action lawsuits have been filed in 34 states. In the first
to go to trial, jurors deliberated for 2 1/2 hours Thursday before
rejecting the lawsuit brought by a Chapel Hill man who claimed the company
cheated customers by selling half-filled inkjet cartridges.
Plaintiffs' attorneys accused the Palo Alto, Calif.-based computer maker
of a scheme that would force consumers to buy replacement cartridges
sooner. The lawsuit sought $11.5 million in damages on behalf of 223,706
North Carolinians who bought HP printers between Aug. 1, 1998, and Nov.
30, 2000.
The printer packaging did not mention the actual volume of ink included in
the starter cartridges. But attorneys for Hewlett-Packard showed the jury
brochures and packages that came inside the printer box that indicated the
"economy" cartridges contained half the ink.
"HP is pleased with the decision and is confident that it will succeed on
the merits in other states with copycat lawsuits on the same grounds," HP
spokeswoman Rebeca Robboy said.
HP, which no longer sells economy cartridges, sold three out of every five
printers in the United States last year. Although the company is the top
seller of notebook computers and servers, profit from printers and
peripheral equipment, such as ink, frequently surpass HP's overall
quarterly profit.
The Orange County jury found that HP disclosed adequate information about
the cartridges enclosed with the printers, and that consumers did not have
expectations that something else would be included.
During closing statements on Thursday, plaintiff's attorney Richard McCune
said since consumers only received half-filled cartridges, the true price
of the printers was $20 to $40 higher than was advertised, depending on
whether the printer contained one or two cartridges.
Bob Cooper, representing Hewlett-Packard, told jurors that HP was
responding to competition by lowering the prices of its printers and
including economy cartridges in the printer's box.
Computer Makers Sued Over Hard-Drive Size Claims
A group of computer owners has filed a lawsuit against some of the world's
biggest makers of personal computers, claiming that their advertising
deceptively overstates the true capacity of their hard drives.
The lawsuit, which seeks class action status, was filed earlier this week
in Los Angeles Superior Court against Apple Computer Inc., Dell Inc.,
Gateway Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co., IBM, Sharp Corp., Sony Corp. and Toshiba
Corp.
The lawsuit brought by Los Angeles residents Lanchau Dan, Adam Selkowitz,
Tim Swan and John Zahabian centers around the way that computer hard drives
are described by manufacturers.
Representatives of the eight defendants were not immediately available to
comment.
According to the lawsuit, computer hard drive capacities are described in
promotional material in decimal notation, but the computer reads and writes
data to the drives in a binary system.
The result is that a hard drive described as being 20 gigabytes would
actually have only 18.6 gigabytes of readable capacity, the lawsuit said.
The plaintiffs said this difference in convention is deceptive and leaves
buyers with less storage than they thought they were getting when they
purchased their computers.
For example, when a consumer buys what he thinks is a 150 gigabyte hard
drive, the plaintiffs said, he actually gets only 140 gigabytes of storage
space. That missing 10 gigabytes, they claim, could store an extra 2,000
digitized songs or 20,000 pictures.
The lawsuit asks for an injunction against the purportedly unfair marketing
practices, an order requiring the defendants to disclose their practices to
the public, restitution, disgorgement of ill-gotten profits and attorneys'
fees.
Developer Moves to Neutralize Web Helper
The developer of software that essentially guides Web surfers sought
Tuesday to neutralize a controversial service designed to help users who
mistype Internet addresses.
The Internet Software Consortium, the nonprofit organization that develops
BIND software for Internet domain name directories, is writing an "urgent
patch" for Internet service providers and others who want to block
customers from a new Site Finder service from VeriSign Inc.
VeriSign, which keeps the master lists of names ending in ".com" and
".net," launched Site Finder on Monday to steer users to likely
alternatives when they type addresses for which no Web site exists.
Though VeriSign gets unspecified revenues from search engine partners whose
technology powers Site Finder, company officials described the service as
primarily a navigation tool to help lost Internet users.
Critics, however, say the service eliminates user choice, gives a private
company too much control over online commerce and could violate
longstanding Internet standards.
VeriSign's service, which affects only ".com" and ".net" names, also
overrode similar services offered by several Internet service providers,
including America Online, and through Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer
browser.
The BIND patch allows AOL and others to restore control by identifying and
then ignoring data from Site Finder, said Paul Vixie, president of the
Internet Software Consortium.
When the patched software receives such data, it will instead pass along an
"address not found" message.
"We're making this patch available because our customers are screaming for
it," Vixie said.
Though running the software update is optional, Vixie expects many
customers will. The consortium was testing the patch Tuesday and planned to
release it by Wednesday.
VeriSign spokesman Brian O'Shaughnessy said Tuesday that individual service
providers were free to configure their systems so customers would bypass
Site Finder. But he questioned whether releasing a patch to do so would
violate Internet standards.
Vixie acknowledged that it could - standards call for operators like
VeriSign to have complete control over their directories - but he said not
releasing a patch would create greater chaos.
BIND, a free product, is used by most domain name servers at service
providers, corporations and other networks. Typically, those servers keep
temporary copies of the master directories obtained from VeriSign.
VeriSign estimates that people mistype ".com" and ".net" names some 20
million times daily and cites internal studies showing users prefer
navigational help over a generic error message.
Earlier this year, a suburban Washington company called Paxfire Inc. tested
a similar service for ".biz" and ".us" names, but the U.S. government and a
private oversight board asked Paxfire to suspend it after a few weeks
pending a review, Paxfire chairman Mark Lewyn said.
A similar feature exists with ".museum" names. People who type in
nonexistent addresses are offered an index of museum sites.
'Phisher' Pleads Guilty, Faces Jail
A Chicago man has pleaded guilty to wire fraud in connection with a scheme
that used a phony Web site to steal credit card and account information
from customers of Microsoft's MSN Internet service.
The plea agreement is the latest salvo in the government's stepped-up
efforts against identity theft and so-called phisher Web sites. Such sites
mimic legitimate Web sites and trick unsuspecting Internet users into
divulging sensitive personal and financial information.
As part of a plea agreement, 21-year-old Matthew Thomas Guevara
acknowledged that he set up a Web site, www.msnbilling.com, that was
designed to harvest personal financial and account information. Guevara
then sent e-mail from Hotmail accounts to MSN customers asking them to
visit the site and update their MSN account information, according to a
statement Friday from the U.S. Department of Justice.
Account and credit card information provided through msnbilling.com was
actually forwarded to one of the e-mail accounts Guevara set up, the DOJ
says.
Guevara will be sentenced on December 5 by a federal judge in U.S. District
Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle. He faces a maximum
penalty of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, the DOJ says.
The plea agreement comes amid increased attention from law enforcement to
the threat of online identity theft.
In July, the FBI and ISP EarthLink issued a joint statement that warned
consumers about an increase in phisher Web sites.
One month later, Atlanta-based EarthLink announced that it is suing a
Vancouver spam ring. EarthLink alleges the spammers were using EarthLink
e-mail accounts to support a phisher site targeted at America Online
members.
The FBI reports a "steady increase" in complaints to its Internet Fraud
Complaint Center about the phony Web sites. The Federal Trade Commission
said that identity theft has been the number one consumer complaint
reported to the agency for the last three years.
No More 'AOL' for Time Warner
AOL Time Warner plans to drop "AOL" from its name, symbolizing the giant
media company's effort to put the failings of the biggest merger in history
behind it and begin a new phase of its corporate identity, company
executives said yesterday.
The corporation's board of directors is scheduled to approve the name
change at its monthly meeting in New York tomorrow, people close to the
board said. Richard D. Parsons, chairman and chief executive, strongly
supports the change and intends to move quickly to implement it. The
company's logo will be changed and its stock-ticker symbol will revert to
"TWX," which Time Warner used before its $112 billion merger with America
Online in January 2001.
America Online Inc. was flying high when the Dulles-based firm co-founded
by Steve Case bought venerable Time Warner with what turned out to be
vastly inflated stock. But Case has been ousted, America Online is a mere
division of a media behemoth, and the online unit is struggling to keep
subscribers, many of whom have abandoned AOL dial-up service in favor of
faster Internet connections provided by cable television and telephone
companies.
The decision to drop "AOL" from the corporate name is not a precursor to a
sale or spinoff of the America Online division, sources said. It also is
not a sign that the company is close to settling an ongoing investigation
by the Securities and Exchange Commission into accounting problems at AOL,
before and after the merger, that artificially boosted revenue and profit,
sources said.
Despite its core business problems, America Online continues to generate
more than $1 billion a year in cash, making it of great value to Parsons,
who has made corporate debt reduction a top priority. The company, which
was nearly $30 billion in debt after the merger and related transactions,
has reduced debt to slightly more than $24 billion.
Parsons has said his goal is to slash debt to $20 billion by the end of
2004, but he is on track to reach that figure considerably sooner, sources
said, because of a combination of asset sales and strong cash flow.
Yesterday, the company took another step toward improving its financial
health by agreeing to sell the money-losing Atlanta Hawks basketball team
and Atlanta Thrashers hockey team to an investor group that includes CNN
founder Ted Turner's son-in-law, J. Rutherford Seydel II, and several
Washington area business executives.
The sports teams and Atlanta's Philips Arena, which is also part of the
pending deal, drained an estimated $50 million a year in cash from the
corporation. The sale, valued at $250 million including the assumption of
debt, does not include the most successful and valuable sports team owned
by AOL Time Warner, the Atlanta Braves.
Time Warner partisans have called for a corporate name change for more
than 18 months, since America Online's business and accounting troubles
dragged down the price of the parent company's stock and depressed the
value of their stock-based compensation and retirement accounts. Numerous
Time Warner officials, who resented AOL from the start, have made their
views about a name change known, both at an open meeting convened by
Parsons and in private sessions.
For months, Parsons resisted changing the name, in part because he thought
it would be better to resolve the SEC investigation first, and also because
he did not want to take action that would be viewed by AOL division
employees as punitive, according to sources familiar with Parsons's views.
A number of factors led Parsons to change his mind.
First, the SEC investigation dragged on, and Parsons realized that the best
thing for AOL Time Warner stockholders would be to get on with business by
changing the name and letting the probe run its course, sources said. Also,
the America Online brand and the corporate parent's name were confused, as
newspapers, magazines and Wall Street took to calling the corporation
"AOL."
Senior corporate officials devised a maneuver to bring about the name
change in a noncontroversial manner, just as Parsons had made other changes
since he rose to the top of the media firm that owns CNN, Time and People
magazines, HBO and Time Warner cable, and the Warner Bros. and New Line
Cinema movie studios.
Instead of having to order the name change, Parsons received a request for
it last month from America Online chief executive Jonathan F. Miller, who
stated that the confusion over "AOL" as both the online division's name and
an abbreviation for the corporate parent was hurting the brand name.
"Since the merger in early 2001, the three letters AOL have ceased to stand
for the Internet and the promise it entails, and instead have become the
shorthand for the world's largest media company," Miller wrote in an August
memo to America Online employees. "As AOL Time Warner became known as, for
all intents and purposes, 'AOL,' any controversy or criticism involving the
corporate entity has actually hit our consumer brand."
Miller also gave Parsons a way to deflect internal criticism.
"I recognize fully that it would seem to many that AOL is diminished if our
corporate parent reverts to the Time Warner name," Miller wrote. "Some will
think that this is a fate being forced upon us. And there is no question
this will provide the media yet another opportunity to write negatively
about the merger of AOL and Time Warner. But I want to emphasize that I
initiated the dialogue with Dick Parsons about the name change - no one
asked me to do this - because it would be the right thing for our
business."
Parsons, who had said he would change the name only if there was a business
reason to do so, finally had one. The company could once again tout its
Time Warner brands instead of having its endeavors identified by the
abbreviation for its online unit, such as when New York Mayor Michael R.
Bloomberg spoke recently of "AOL" sponsoring a Central Park concert, for
which the corporate parent is paying.
While a name change may be in order above the entrance to AOL Time Warner's
current corporate home at 75 Rockefeller Plaza, no costly signs will have
to be removed from the company's new headquarters, under construction at
One Columbus Circle in Manhattan. That property, scheduled to be complete
early next year, doesn't yet have a permanent sign.
=~=~=~=
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