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Atari Online News, Etc. Volume 06 Issue 22
Volume 6, Issue 22 Atari Online News, Etc. May 28, 2004
Published and Copyright (c) 1999 - 2004
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:
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=~=~=~=
A-ONE #0622 05/28/04
~ Find Gas Prices On Web ~ People Are Talking! ~ Waffles Get Kerry!
~ Spammer Gets Prison! ~ Web Suicide/Murder! ~ Yahoo Anti-Spyware!
~ Police Return to Class ~ Apple Patch Inadequate ~ NEC Cheated Schools!
~ PC Purchases Waning? ~ RIAA Lawsuits "Iffy"! ~ Spammers Snub FTC!
-* FBI Ready To Get Spammers! *-
-* Court Allows Lindows To Keep Name! *-
-* Art of Selling On eBay Takes Creativity! *-
=~=~=~=
->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Well, it seemed appropriate this week that it would rain once I went back to
work after a two-week vacation. That's the way it should be, if it's going
to rain! A little chilly for this time of year, but I was pleased that the
weather held out during my vacation.
It's been a rough week back, though. Two weeks of backlog to catch up on,
as well as new projects starting up. Add to that the fact that our next
year's budget planning deadline is rapidly approaching makes one yearn to be
back in vacation mode very quickly! However, I really can't complain too
much. It was great to get away from the daily headaches for awhile. You
can't escape them, but it's certainly possible to put some distance between
them for at least a short amount of time. Well, I survived the first week
back, so that's a good thing!
And to make it even less painful is the fact that this weekend is a long
holiday weekend for us here in the States. Unofficially, this Memorial Day
weekend is the start of summer. I'm looking forward to it! Remember to
celebrate responsibly!
Until next time...
=~=~=~=
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
compiled by Joe Mirando
joe@atarinews.org
Hidi ho friends and neighbors. Well, another week has come and gone and
it's time to take a look at what's been going on in the NewsGroups. To
be quite honest, the messages are getting more and more sparse, and a
lot of them are what I'd hoped we'd never see in our little corner of
cyberspace.
More and more often, people have been lashing out at one another. The
kind of flame-posts that've been thrown back and forth are the kind that
I've seen WinDOZE users bandying about. For a long time, we Atari users
refrained from dirtying up the NewsGroups with that kind of thing....
We used to reserve that for GEnie. <grin>
Anyway, I think it's a sign of the times. Good manners no longer seem to
count for anything, so you'd might as well be rude and downright nasty
to get your point across.
Well I'm sorry, but that kind of thing doesn't do anything for me. I
guess that I still see the UseNet as a community while others have grown
to see it only as a means to an end. In a community, you have to get
along because these peoples' opinions matter to you. It really
disappoints me to see it happening to our community, probably because
we're a small community and getting smaller all the time.
But that's not what I came to tell ya about. <grin>
I'm just going to mention registering to vote again and then we'll get
to the NewsGroup stuff.
I've gotten a couple more emails about 'the voting thing' that I'd like
to mention. A few people are still clinging to the idea that I should
come right out and tell you who I support in the upcoming election. My
question is, "Why"?
I really don't care who you vote for as long as you vote. Elections are
like busses... sooner or later, another one will come along. I'm a bit
jaded myself, but I think that the process itself is more important than
any individual outcome.
Our founding fathers must have been of the same opinion, since they
designed things so that no matter how big a mistake we might make, we
could always fix it the next time around.
Some might see this as a reason to refrain from voting, but the truth is
that the system is only going to go on working if we participate.
Otherwise, leaders could be selected by public opinion polls and
demographics. But polling and demographic research aren't voting. When
it comes right down to it, voting is 'the moment of truth'. So if you're
not registered to vote yet, get thee to ye ole town hall and register.
And when November rolls around, get out and vote.
Yes, you can 'get active' and volunteer your time to a particular party
or candidate, but that's still not as important as the simple act of
voting. Voting is a right, but it's also a responsibility. People in
other countries are proud to walk for hours or days across wasteland in
order to participate in elections. I don't know of any place in this
country where transit is that difficult, and yet voter turnout gets
lower and lower as we go along. If you're like me, bucking a trend makes
things all the more worthwhile. So buck the trend and get your butt out
there and vote! <grin>
Well, let's get to the news, hints, tips and info from the UseNet.
From the comp.sys.atari.st NewsGroup
====================================
Mark-Tim Junghanns asks about a favorite game from days-gone-by:
"Back in 1986, I owned my first Atari 520ST+ with TOS 1.0 . There was this
great game called "Bounce". Does anyone remember? Was this game freeware?
If so, where can it be found for download? If no, hmm, too bad..."
Brian Roland tells Mark-Tim:
"I'm not sure about your game.
If you're accessing the newsgroups from a windows PC I suggest you install
steem and browse the links in its info menu. It has tons of ST specific
game sites, often with disk images where you can actually grab the games.
I say install and see, because there's just so many links it would take me
an hour to pull the urls and post them here.
steem can be found at:
http://steem.atari.st
That web site might even provide a lot of those links without installing
STeem. Have a look-see."
Michel Jubault asks for help with one of the less familiar ST models:
"I explain my the problem to you: Wanting to start again my 260 ST, I had
the unpleasant one surprised to have a screen with multicoloured vertical
lines then a whole of multicoloured points!
With each time I starts again it I have same Pb exactly! I dismounted the
monster : a rapid overflight shows me that a condenser isn't well at one
end the face is completely black with a hole! (470 mF, 16v)
I put links to you towards the photographs of what I have (it is easier to
have an idea)!
Two screens:
http://lacantina.dyndns.org/sasfepu/images/260st/260st_ecran1.jpg
http://lacantina.dyndns.org/sasfepu/images/260st/260st_ecran2.jpg
The condenser:
http://lacantina.dyndns.org/sasfepu/images/260st/260st_in.jpg
It would be great someone could say to me if it is repairable or if it
definitively died!"
Stephen Moss tells Michel:
"Most Electrolytic capacitors (condensers) have one metal (negative)
end which is part of the can and a black plastic (positive) end cap
that is held in place due to the the top end of the can being folded
over it. Usually when a capacitor like this blows the end cap blows
off and a cotton wool type substance is ejected usually accompanied by
some silver foil.
Unfortunately I am unable to view the image of it at this time but it
does not sound like this has happened, however they can become short
circuit as well which could cause problems. The way to check this is
to remove one end of the capacitor from the circuit and measure its
resistance, if it is not short circuit the reading will increase (if
you have your meter probes connected the right way round) and should
decrease when you reverse the probe connections.
I'm not expert but it sounds like it could be a problem with the video
shifter, make sure it is in its socket correctly and check any
electrolytic capacitors that my be close to it.
General Note:
The electrolyte in electrolytic capacitors will dry out resulting in
the capacitors going short circuit if the equipment is not used for a
long time. If you have equipment that has not been used for a long
time (5 years +) the best thing to do is to connect it via a various
set to provide 50V AC output and leave it on for a day so that the
electrolytics get trickle charged which can reform the electrolyte as
opposed to turning them at full load.
I appreciate that not everyone has this facility therefore you should
disconnect the output from the main power supply (which has the most
susceptible capacitors) from the circuit board and leave it on for a
day. I recommend keeping an eye on it in case something start to burn
so you could do just an hour or two over several days."
Marius Diepenhorst adds:
"I have not much experience with the technical part of atari ST machines.
But I have lots of experience with the repair and maintenance of atari 8bit
computers. It looks like your atari does not reach the OS. The colour bars
are the first thing the atari shows in less then a second before the screen
turns white and then a disk-boot and desktop comes up.
In your case the white screen does not come ... so there must be a halt
somewhere. I think it is the OS_ROM (does an atari 260 st have OS in rom
btw.?) or in other case I think it is a fault in your ram-section.
By the way the capacitor in the corner is a piece that takes care of
in-disturbance, so I guess even if it is defect, the problem is not what
you have now.."
Jo Even Skarstein adds a bit of experience:
"If the ST hasn't been used for a while, you might want to remove and
reinstall the socketed chips before you do any more repairs. The symptoms
you describe might indicate some bad connections to the shifter or
GLUE-chip."
Nick Harlow muses about one of the bright sides of using an Atari computer:
"One advantage of Atari Computers is that I don't have to be so bloody
careful with virus....
ie in last 24 hours I have received over 11000 w/32-sober-G infected
spoofed emails... bloody annoying
and what is even more annoying is that the poor sod who is sending them has
a broadband connection and doesn't know he's or she is infected... I know
they have a broadband or always on connection because of the spread of
sending against the amount sent.
Thats what comes of having a free to use email address.. something for
scanners to pick up...
But if you have PC's or Macs you do regularly update your virus checking
don't you folks..??
By the way don't forget JagFest'UK http://www.uk.jagfest.org.uk/
and I will see some of you in France this weekend...enjoy the holiday guys
and gals...."
Steve Sweet tells Nick:
"But still have to be careful. Wait till they get short of windows exploits
then they'll turn their attention back on minority users.
I had a bit of a session like that in the new year, my mailbox filled and
was emptied about 15 times with only 3 useful emails remaining, the rest
being virii of various description. A good Antivirus stopped them all at the
door until i decided to kill them on the server. Kept me busy for almost
all weekend.
In your case a non-spoofed email address is included with this post for
yet another scanner to glean.
'Adam' asks about where he might find a graphics accelerator for his
Falcon:
"Can anyone tell me were I can buy some kind of graphics accel. for
Falcon? I'd like to have (as a minimum) 800x600 resolution (or better
1024x768) with 256 colors... and reasonable refresh rate.
Which one is the best - any quick comparison (including where to buy
and approx. price...)???"
Sam F. tells Adam:
"Wait for the new graphics card being developed. It's the SuperVidel, read
about here: http://www.dtek.chalmers.se/~d98gilda/"
Adam Klobukowski adds:
"800x600 with 256c if possible on plain stock Falcon - try Videlity, Videl
Inside, Blowup or any other program like this."
Well folks, that's it for this week. Enjoy the Memorial Day holiday, but
please, please, please don't drink and drive. The life you save may be
MINE! 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 - Everything Old Is New Again!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 'Killzone' Out This Fall!
Microsoft Xbox/PC Hybrid?!
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
In Video Games, Everything Old Is New Again
Hold on to something long enough, the theory goes - a car, a tie or even a
hairstyle - and eventually it will be cool again.
And so it goes with video games, where today's fans can't get enough of
games that were popular when their parents were kids, and quarter-a-game
arcade machines now sell for thousands of dollars each.
In a nod to the nostalgia boom for classic video games, the Electronic
Entertainment Expo - E3 - the industry's major trade show, a forum devoted
to hyping the latest in game technology, last week also organized a tribute
to old-school pixilated fun.
Featuring classic arcade cabinets like "Ms. Pac-Man," "Popeye," "Donkey
Kong," "Punch-Out" and "Space Age," and well-loved home consoles like the
Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Genesis and 3DO, this year's expo drew
fans nostalgic for the days when playing a game meant little more than
mashing one or two buttons over and over again.
"These games are designed to be addictive," said Keith Robinson, president
of Intellivision Productions, lamenting the fact that modern games are
designed more for sneaking around dark corners and exploring vast mostly
fictitious lands than the simple fun of trying to rack up high scores.
Robinson, one of the original programers for the 1980s' Intellivision game
system, is one of the "Blue Sky Rangers," a tight-knit group of former
Intellivision programers who continue to work together on various projects.
In fact, even as the modern games industry gets bigger and bigger, classic
gaming is very much in vogue.
Collections of throwback arcade games are available for consoles,
handhelds, personal digital assistants and cell phones, and Microsoft Corp.
has announced it will launch an arcade featuring some classics such as the
race favorite "Pole Position" on its Xbox Live online gaming service later
this year.
One of the organizers of the Los Angeles Classic Gaming Expo, Joe Santulli,
said the adults who own and play today's games grew up playing the kinds of
games he has on display.
"There's the memories," he said. "Naturally, a childhood should bring happy
thoughts of a simpler time."
And while new versions of old games are popular sellers, the originals are
worth more money than some ever imagined.
At the E3 event, the organizers offered a flyer from a southern California
shop selling pinball machines, redemption games and arcade cabinets from
about $400 to nearly $7,000.
On eBay, a brisk business in old consoles has some systems, bundled with
games and accessories, selling for well over $300, some of them even in
various stages of disrepair.
Commercially, games have come a long way from the early 1980s, when game
developers, like early underground hip-hop DJs, resorted to selling their
wares out of the trunks of their cars, often packaged in plastic baggies.
"We didn't have advertising - you found these things in a Laundromat,"
said George Sanger, a legend in video game history for his work on game
audio whose nickname "Fat Man" belies his slight frame.
"We started in Mom's basement," Sanger said. "We had nothing to work with
but two bits and a six-pack of Jolt."
But he said some of the creativity has been lost in modern games, vast and
expensive undertakings that involve dozens of people that can make or break
entire companies.
"It's impossible to do art under those conditions," Sanger said.
Though the Atari system and others like it are long gone, the names remain,
and the head of the company that now carries the Atari name said the old
games are an irresistible draw for some people, much like the child's sled
that is the object of a media mogul's yearning in the film classic "Citizen
Kane."
"It's like 'Rosebud,"' Bruno Bonnell, Atari's chief executive, said.
Microsoft Considering Xbox/PC Hybrid
Information on Xbox 2 has been hard to come by, but recent focus groups
suggest that Microsoft may be envisioning plans above and beyond their next
console, according to a CNN Money article. The company has recently been
studying the potential appeal of a hybrid machine with the potential to
play Xbox, Xbox 2, and PC titles.
Both Microsoft and its Xbox division are clients of California-based market
research company The B/R/S Group, which has been collecting feedback from
consumers regarding a product called "Xbox Next PC." The machine was
described as "a videogame console system with a hard drive and a built-in
fully functional PC" to focus groups, adding that the unit would require a
PC monitor (or HDTV) and would be fully backwards compatible with current
Xbox software as well as Xbox 2 games yet to come.
What's more, the "Xbox Next PC" would include a fully functional release of
Windows, a CD burner, DVD player with remote control, built-in access to
the company's Xbox Live service, and a hard drive. Concerning peripherals,
Microsoft would potentially package the system with a keyboard, mouse, and
a standard Xbox controller. The final price tag was estimated to be about
$599.
"We would be remiss if we didn't look at consumer scenarios that take
advantage of our strengths," said Peter Moore, corporate vice president of
worldwide marketing and publishing for Microsoft's home and entertainment
division. "[But] this is one amongst many, many other consumer scenarios
that we're looking at."
Microsoft's research on a potential market for the hypothetical machine is
in no way a confirmation of such a machine's development, but it is
certainly a point of interest and a way for the company to shape its
efforts accordingly. The "Xbox Next PC" would allow for cross-platform
integration to a degree that current consoles don't offer, but it remains
to be determined whether or not these are worth pursuing.
"If you put two and two together, there's no doubt there's a great
opportunity to put the two platforms together," said Moore. "Obviously with
a company like Microsoft this is something we have to look into and ask
about. Is it actionable today? Probably not, but it's something we need to
look at."
Killzone Out This Fall
Sony Computer Entertainment America announced the fall 2004 release of
Killzone, available exclusively for the PlayStation 2 computer
entertainment system. Developed by Guerrilla, in conjunction with Sony
Computer Entertainment Europe and Sony Computer Entertainment America's
Santa Monica Studios, Killzone is a squad-based, first-person shooter, set
in the near future during a period of planetary colonization. Drawing
inspiration from classical military conflicts of the 20th century, Killzone
demonstrates a unique graphical style that captures the grit and realism of
intense military warfare. Featuring online gameplay via the Network Adaptor
(Ethernet/modem) (for PlayStation 2) with voice-chat capabilities via the
USB Headset (for PlayStation 2), Killzone is based on classic military
altercations found in the history of warfare; players will battle through
trenches, endure city sieges, sweat through jungles and battle guerilla
combatants.
"Killzone will make fans of first-person shooters look at the genre in an
entirely different way," said Ami Blaire, director, product marketing, Sony
Computer Entertainment America. "Killzone is a game that delivers unique
off- and online gameplay through an engrossing storyline, unbelievable
graphics, great characters and an awesome array of weapons. As in every
epic war story, Killzone also delivers a bad guy that everyone is going to
love to hate: the Helghast."
The storyline behind Killzone occurs sometime in the near future on the
nearby colony of Vecta, one of the interplanetary colonies that humans have
established outside of Earth. An invading militaristic separatist faction
called the Helghast has set out to decimate the ISA forces and colonize the
planet. The only thing standing between the colony's survival and complete
destruction is an elite squad of human ISA forces. Players can select
between four ISA troops - each with special abilities and weaponry to
accommodate their playing style - and battle through 11 intricately
detailed environments that showcase the harsh setting of a war-ridden
planet. Additionally, players can visit the armory and equip themselves
with 27 different unique weapons. In particular, there are 21 first-person
weapons that the player can carry, five emplaced weapons, and hand
grenades.
Killzone employs a highly advanced artificial intelligence technology that
allows Helghast enemies to calculate threats, maintain squad directives and
adhere to self-preservation tactics to determine a unique course of action.
Killzone also features an original score performed by the Prague
Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus.
The independent Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) has not yet
rated Killzone.
=~=~=~=
A-ONE's Headline News
The Latest in Computer Technology News
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
Just in time for the long holiday weekend travelers...
Eagle-eyed Spotters Post Prices Online
Remember Paul Revere, who rode door to door tipping off colonists to the
approaching British troops?
Meet his spiritual descendents, the fuel-obsessed Gas Spotters.
Not a catchy name, granted, but they're a fired-up bunch who have hitched
indignation over high gasoline prices to the power of the Internet in order
to alert Americans to the best deals in (your town here).
The fruits of their labors, as well as a shortcut to a few dollars off your
next fill-up, are found on two Web sites - gasbuddy.com and
gaspricewatch.com - whose popularity is skyrocketing along with prices.
The concept is simple: Drivers register at the sites and log in gas prices
from around their neighborhoods. With more than 100,000 volunteer gas
spotters each, both sites manage to provide good coast-to-coast coverage.
"I guess we all share a passion for not wanting to get ripped off," says
gas spotter John Chauvin of Dixmont, Maine, whose wife and four daughters
- who live in Florida and Connecticut - all report in for gasbuddy.com.
"It's a great thing to know that if you get off at Exit 44 near me, you've
got a choice between $2.18 and $1.99," Chauvin says. "It's not much in a
car, but if you're filling a 150-gallon RV, you'll be plenty happy."
Gasbuddy.com kicked off in 2000, when co-founder Jason Toews, a
Minneapolis computer programmer, became fed up with seeing 10-cent
differences at stations around his home.
"It seemed like a logical way to use the Web," Toews says.
Others agree: Since January, site visits have shot up to 300,000 a day from
30,000. Even more impressive, traffic at gaspricewatch.com, which also
launched in 2000, has tripled since February to 2 million hits a day.
"Most people love this, but we've also gotten some strange hate mail from
folks who are convinced we're involved in price fixing," says
gaspricewatch.com founder Brad Proctor of Dayton, Ohio. "People get
passionate about this stuff, on both sides."
Proctor says his site is self-policing when it comes to bogus gas info;
once a member has been caught inventing a price, they're banned from the
site. Gasbuddy.com's Toews says most folks are pretty earnest in their
desire to help like-minded motorists.
"I use the site to save a few dollars, which is important to me, so I
figure if someone's taken the time, at least I can do likewise," says Joe
Morris, a gas spotter from Lake Los Angeles, Calif., a one-stoplight, two
gas station hamlet that is 20 minutes from the nearest shopping excursion.
Morris, a substitute teacher, has been dutifully tracking prices at
stations around this rural empire northeast of Los Angeles since 2001. He
used to jot prices and station addresses in a notepad. But a near accident
while writing persuaded him to memorize details until he can pull over.
Most of us are far more aware of gas price differences around our
neighborhoods these days. But it's good to know that when we're not paying
attention, Morris and his fellow gas spotters are in the saddle.
"I do it every day," Morris says. "Weekends, too."
FBI Ready To Get Spammers
Although no spammer has been criminally charged under the CAN-SPAM Act
since it went into effect nearly six months ago, on Thursday the Federal
Bureau of Investigation said it had scores in its sights.
In testimony before Congress, Jana Monroe, the assistant director of the
FBI's cyber division, said that the law enforcement agency has identified
over 100 significant spammers, and has targeted half of them for possible
prosecution.
Monroe didn't go into specifics, saying only that an investigative
"initiative is being projected for later this year in which it is
anticipated that criminal and civil actions under the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003
will be included."
She was one of several witnesses who spoke before the Senate Commerce,
Science & Transportation Committee, which held a hearing Thursday to
examine how CAN-SPAM has worked since it took effect Jan. 1, 2004.
"These cases may be investigated and prosecuted as computer intrusion
matters, or as on-line cyber frauds which may lend themselves to a variety
of existing state and/or federal statutes, including the recently passed
CAN-SPAM Act," said Monroe.
The CAN-SPAM Act lays out requirements for mass-mailers - including the
inclusion of opt-out links and postal addresses - and bans the use of
"zombies," hijacked computers that are used as spamming centers. Its
penalties include both fines and jail time of up to five years.
Spammer Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison
A man who sent 850 million junk e-mails through accounts he opened with
stolen identities was sentenced to up to seven years in prison on Thursday.
Atlanta-based Internet service provider Earthlink Inc. said it hoped the
sentence and an earlier $16.4 million civil judgment against Howard Carmack
will deter other spammers.
"Before spammers send one more spam e-mail, we think they should remember
that what happened to Howard Carmack can happen to them," said Karen
Casion, Earthlink's assistant general counsel.
Jurors sentenced Carmack to seven years for convictions in March of
forgery, identity theft and falsifying business records. He must serve a
minimum 3 1/2 years.
Earthlink said Carmack ran 343 illegal e-mail accounts under false names
from 2002 until his arrest last May, using them to send unsolicited e-mail
ads for things like get-rich-quick schemes and sexual enhancers.
Carmack told the judge he believed the case against him was overblown,
saying there were no victims. "I obviously regret this whole involvement,"
he said.
Carmack was convicted of defrauding EarthLink and eight men from New York,
Ohio and Washington, D.C. Last May, the company won a $16.4 million civil
judgment against Carmack.
Porn Spammers Thumb Noses At FTC, CAN-SPAM
Spammers pitching pornography are largely ignoring the Federal Trade
Commission's recent requirements, message-filtering firms said Thursday.
Fewer than one in six pornographic unsolicited e-mails scanned by MX Logic
complied with CAN-SPAM's new rules, said Scott Chasin, the Denver-based
company's chief technology officer.
As part of the implementation of the CAN-SPAM Act, which went into effect
Jan. 1, the FTC ruled last week that all pornographic e-mail must carry
the label "SEXUALLY-EXPLICIT" in the subject head. The notice is intended
to warn recipients that a message contains sexually-oriented material, as
well as to make it easier for users, businesses, and Internet providers to
block such messages.
"We're not seeing a huge compliance with the new rulings," said Chasin,
whose company scanned a sampling of 12,000 pornographic messages during
the seven days since the FTC began requiring the label. Only 15.3 percent
of the porn spam was properly labeled.
The result isn't surprising, said Chasin, since the porn industry makes
even more use of underground spamming techniques - including proxies and
zombies, hijacked computers that spew spam unbeknownst to their owners -
than the spam business overall.
"Porn spam is usually the dirtiest, no pun intended, from the distribution
method perspective," said Chasin.
What did make Chasin pause was that early compliance by the porn industry
was significantly higher than general compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act.
"What really was surprising was that we're seeing less compliance with
CAN-SPAM than with porn's new labeling."
In fact, compliance with CAN-SPAM slipped last month for the first time
since the act was made law at the beginning of 2004. After a slow ramp-up,
compliance with the anti-spam regulation plateaued around three percent,
said Chasin, but in April, it dipped to an even more disappointing one
percent.
"There's a decline in compliance across the board," he said, and added that
it was "stating the obvious" to call CAN-SPAM a failure in its effort to
stem spam. "Most consumers can recognize that just by looking in their
inboxes."
Although it's difficult to tell why porn spammers are following the rules
15 times more often than other spammers, Chasin put forward several
theories, ranging from the more specific FTC requirements for pornographic
e-mails to the porn industry's habit of trying to follow the law knowing
that if they don't, the hammer will fall.
Other messaging filtering firms have also done preliminary research into
porn spam compliance with CAN-SPAM, but have come up with different
results.
Brightmail, an acquisition target of security firm Symantec, reported that
its analysis of mail during a 40-hour post-FTC ruling period showed about
40 percent of pornographic e-mail used the SEXUALLY-EXPLICIT label, or a
variation of it. (MX Logic only counted those messages that used the exact
label required by the FTC.)
However, Brightmail pooh-poohed the idea that porn spammers were making a
sincere effort to comply. "This is an attempt by spammers to make their
messages look as though they are in compliance with the law, when in most
cases they are not," a Brightmail spokesperson said in an e-mail.
Whether more porn spammers, or spammers in general, will follow the letter
of the law is unclear, added MX Logic's Chasin, and will likely depend on
how aggressively the government continues its crackdown on spammers.
Last week, the FBI claimed it had identified over 100 significant spammers,
and would target half of them for possible prosecution after investigations
conclude.
"We've already seen some of the first prosecutions under CAN-SPAM, but I
don't see any real deterrence aftershock," said Chasin.
"Maybe if the FBI leads a more aggressive investigation and prosecution, we
might see some additional deterrence, but that's not likely until later in
the year."
Apple Patch 'Inadequate'
Apple issued a patch on Friday in response to the discovery of two OS X
holes that allow malicious code to travel from Internet sites to users'
computers. Apple's announcement of the patch included a statement that the
vulnerabilities created by the holes are "theoretical," and that users that
regularly download patches to their operating systems receive such fixes
routinely.
This specific patch, however, leaves users "just as vulnerable as they were
before," Niels Henrik Rasmussen, CEO of computer security firm Secunia,
told NewsFactor.
The two flaws allow malicious code to be transmitted through Internet
browsers - such as Internet Explorer - on which users have left the default
settings in place. Even after downloading the patch, though, "it is still
possible to execute arbitrary code on a vulnerable user's system," said
Rasmussen.
The first flaw exploits a vulnerability in the OSX "help" URI handler, and
the patch addresses that. However, by downplaying the critical nature of
the flaw, Apple is failing to convey to users the importance of downloading
the patch, according to Rasmussen.
Apple has yet to learn the lessons of operating-system competitor
Microsoft, which routinely describes the nature and impact of most
vulnerabilities, allowing customers to determine whether to fix a problem.
Network administrators routinely use the rating system to create a schedule
for implementing fixes or to group them into workable categories.
In addition, Rasmussen says, Apple did not address the second
vulnerability - "disk" URI - at all. This hole allows malicious code to be
placed on a PC without the user's knowledge.
Secunia has recommended a series of manual steps that users can follow to
eliminate the holes. By unchecking the "Open 'safe' files after
downloading" item in Internet preferences and adding a protocol helper
(application) for the "disk" and "disks" items, says a Secunia advisory,
users can protect their systems.
Police Go Back to Class to Catch Internet Crooks
Police are heading back to the classroom as a new breed of criminals turns
to the Internet to prey on unsuspecting victims. Across Europe and beyond,
cyber investigators are being trained in computer forensics - a
crime-fighting technique that is part science, part sleuthing.
Investigators comb through seized computer hard drives, looking amid
countless disguised files for evidence the machine was used in a crime.
The clues could be elaborate computer programs designed to hijack a
victim's PC, or e-mail and Web browsing logs revealing the identity of
conspirators.
"It's akin to auto mechanics," said Dan Haagman, head of training for 7Safe
Ltd, a Cambridge-based firm that instructs police and civilians in computer
forensics.
"You rule out things early on. You search for signs that give you a picture
of a particular security breach," he added.
The same techniques can be used to trace or at least build a profile of a
criminal suspect from a hacked PC or computer network, he said.
As criminals turn to high-tech gadgets and the Internet to commit crimes
ranging from extortion to drug dealing, computer forensics is rapidly
becoming as crucial to an investigation as DNA evidence, police say.
"I expect new staff to have an absolute minimum of computer and software
forensics before they even walk in the door," said Marc Kirby, detective
inspector for the computer forensics section at Britain's National Hi-Tech
Crime Unit.
In addition to training local police in cyber-sleuthing techniques, Kirby's
55 investigators also hunt criminals.
Earlier this month, the NHTCU arrested 12 people in a case in which a
Russian crime gang is accused of using an e-mail scam known as "phishing"
to defraud UK bank customers out of hundreds of thousands of pounds.
In another success, a string of globe-spanning pedophilia stings has
determined the identities of thousands of suspects who use the Internet to
trade and collect pornographic images.
But police forces around the world remain a step behind.
In the UK, home to some of Europe's most advanced cybercrime fighting
forces, just 1,000 of the country's 140,000 police officers are trained to
handle digital evidence. Fewer than 250 have high-level computer forensics
skills, says European information security lobby group EURIM.
Efforts have been ramped up across Europe to close the gap.
Earlier this month, British police toiled in the reflection of their
computer screens. They were hunting the deep recesses of a computer for
traces of an increasingly popular cybercrime weapon known as "malware" in
a 7Safe training session.
Malware is malicious computer code programmed by an underworld of hackers,
virus writers and sometimes spammers to commit all manners of crime.
In the training exercise, investigators discovered in a deep corner of the
hard drive a nasty piece of malware known as a "Trojan" installed on the
machine without the user's knowledge.
Criminals use "Trojans" and "backdoors" to infect PCs. An army of
vulnerable machines can then be programmed to execute a digital
denial-of-service attack on a Web retailer or flood the Internet with
dubious e-mail messages aiming to defraud users out of their bank details
in a typical phishing expedition.
The prospect of stopping zombie PC attacks from every corner of the globe
is a new criminal threat.
As always, the only way for an investigator to catch a cyber criminal is to
learn their tricks. "To truly understand malware they have to use it. To
understand hacking they have to do it," Haagman said.
Yahoo Adds Anti-Spyware Feature to Browser Toolbar
Internet media company Yahoo Inc. unveiled a feature on Wednesday for its
Web browser toolbar aimed at making it easier for users to remove unwanted
"spyware" programs that snoop on Web surfing habits and other activities.
Yahoo's move comes amid increasing competition for Web surfers against
rivals Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp., which also offer popular browser
toolbars, in the market for search and information services, along with
related advertising.
Anti-Spy for the Yahoo! Toolbar, which is being released as a beta, or
test, version, allows users to identify potentially unwanted software that
creeps into personal computers.
Spyware often monitors Web surfing habits and can also cause issues such
as displaying advertising and redirecting users to a particular home page.
Some spyware can creep onto PCs without a user's knowledge and others come
attached to other programs.
Julie Herendeen, vice president of Yahoo's networking products, said that
the anti-spyware features is the first offered by a major Web portal to a
broad Internet audience for free.
"Spyware is a serious issue, Herendeen said, but did not give a date when
the full release version of the toolbar with anti-spyware would be
released.
After scanning a PC, a user has the option to disable, remove or keep
spyware. Yahoo said its anti-spyware technology is based on Pest Patrol's
software.
Yahoo's toolbar also features other tools such as a search window, a pop-up
advertising blocker, bookmarks and other customizable features.
NEC Pleas Guilty to Cheating Schools
NEC-Business Network Solutions, a unit of NEC America, will plead guilty to
defrauding a U.S. government program to help needy schools use the
Internet.
Under a plea agreement, the company will pay $20.6 million in fines, civil
settlements, and restitution, the Department of Justice has announced.
Judge Charles Breyer of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District
of California is scheduled to hear the guilty plea and rule on the plea
agreement Thursday afternoon, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Jacobs.
NEC/BNS was charged with collusion and wire fraud in the U.S. Federal
Communications Commission's E-Rate program, which uses money from
telecommunications user fees to fund Internet use by schools. Under the
program, schools apply for funds to cover cabling, Internet equipment, and
monthly connectivity fees.
The company is charged with allocating contracts and rigging bids in
violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act at school districts in Michigan,
Wisconsin, Arkansas, and South Carolina, according to the DOJ.
It also has been charged with wire fraud in connection with a scheme to
defraud E-Rate and the San Francisco Unified School District. In the San
Francisco case, NEC/BNS inflated bids, agreed to submit false and
fraudulent documents to hide plans to install ineligible items, and agreed
to donate "free" items for which it planned to bill E-Rate, according to
the DOJ's statement. The company also filed false and fraudulent documents
to cut off inquiry into the legitimacy of the funding request, the DOJ
said. Under the plea agreement, NEC/BNS would pay a $4.7 million fine for
those crimes.
The company also entered into a civil settlement on Thursday to provide
restitution for the harm caused by its crimes. It will pay $10.3 million in
cash and provide $5.6 million in goods and services to designated school
districts as a condition of a three-year probation, the DOJ said.
NEC/BNS is cooperating in an ongoing government investigation, according to
the statement.
"When we realized we had an issue here, we cooperated with them, we
investigated ourselves, and we have taken all the appropriate actions to
make sure this can't happen again," said Tom Burger, president and chief
executive officer of NEC Unified Solutions and NEC/BNS.
RIAA Lawsuit Strategy Iffy at Best
Close to 3,000 music downloaders have been sued - the latest actions filed
in court Monday - at an ROI that could be in the negative strike zone for
the RIAA. Reportedly, some 486 cases have been settled at an average of
US$3,000 per case.
Of course, the lawsuits the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of
America) has been filing against users of P2P music Web sites never were
about getting money from them.
That being the case, what could the RIAA be thinking as it pushes these
suits forward? Studies show they have not made an appreciable dent in
music-piracy rates. Worse, the early tales of grandparents and young
children being hauled into court riled legitimate consumers. One has to
wonder what the RIAA's end goal is, exactly.
The last question is easy enough to answer, Gartner media research director
Mike McGuire tells NewsFactor. "I would not presume to speak for the
agency, but it is fairly clear their intent is to drive down the level of
online music piracy to a manageable level."
Fair enough, given the RIAA's constituency, which is record labels, and its
mission to protect the rights of copyright holders.
"I think they are realistic to know they can't totally eliminate piracy,"
McGuire says, "but they are trying to get it down to manageable level.
Another added plus, from the viewpoint of the RIAA, is that the suits have
raised awareness of the issue of piracy. When Napster first burst onto the
scene, very few people realized it was illegal to download music. Indeed,
the record industry had to establish that in court. Napster was shut down
as a result and eventually resurrected as a subscription service.
Today, most people are aware that downloading free music is illegal -
although whether that stops the majority of the users of file-sharing Web
sites is debatable. Certainly, some people have been frightened enough to
stay away from the Kazaas of the Internet. Others, though, have been
spurred to go further underground, using sites that disguise a user's
identity.
In short, the lawsuits are simply a stop-gap measure. Still, "whether or
not you or I think they are effective, I am sure the RIAA will continue
with them," says McGuire.
Court Allows Lindows to Keep Its Name
In a case that could have forced Linux vendor Lindows to change its
business name worldwide, a Netherlands court ruled this week that Lindows'
current limited use of the Lindows name does not violate Microsoft's
Windows trademark.
After it lost an earlier case in the same Amsterdam court over the use of
the Lindows name, Lindows changed the name of its operating system product
and corresponding Web site to Linspire. However, it kept Lindows as its
company name.
Microsoft sued Lindows again, charging that use of Lindows as its company
name also constitutes an infringement on its Windows trademark. The
Amsterdam District Court disagrees.
"Not every use of the business name Lindows infringes on the Windows
trademark," Judge Sj. A. Rullmann says in her ruling.
Lindows currently uses the Lindows name only in the small print on its Web
site and product documentation and clearly states that it is not affiliated
with Microsoft. That use is not in violation of the court's January ruling
that barred Lindows from using the name to sell its version of the Linux
operating system, according to the court.
Microsoft has aggressively been fighting Lindows over the similarity
between the Windows and Lindows names. The Redmond, Washington, software
vendor has had success in bringing actions against Lindows in the
Netherlands, Finland, and Sweden.
Microsoft has had less success in the U.S., where it lost two requests for
an injunction. Furthermore, last week a federal appeals court declined
Microsoft's request to review a key pretrial ruling against the company.
As a result, a jury reviewing the U.S. case would be instructed to consider
whether "windows" was a generic term before Microsoft introduced software
with that name in 1985.
Art of eBay Selling - Clear, Precise, Entertaining
Selling on eBay (http://www.ebay.com) may be as basic as taking out a
classified ad, but a little creativity can go a long way.
Take Larry Star, whose hilarious listing was headlined: "One slightly used
size 12 wedding gown. Only worn twice: once at the wedding and once for
these pictures."
The model was the bearded and tattooed software test designer himself, with
his face deleted "to protect me from my bar buddies and co-workers finding
out about it."
The aspiring comedy writer's listing, laced with resentment about his
ex-wife, drew more than 11 million hits and a $3,850 winning bid in April
for the "$1,200 shower curtain."
The bid turned out to be a prank, but Star got the notoriety that he really
wanted. Thanks to the listing, he has twice appeared on both MSNBC's
"Countdown" and NBC's "Today Show," made his stand-up comedy debut at the
Punchline Comedy Club in Atlanta, and now has his own Web site
(http://www.weddingdressguy.com).
Star was not available for an interview, but has admitted in news reports
to taking creative liberties about his life to make the sale.
"People might get a little creative occasionally, but (Star) didn't make up
a story about the merchandise," said Marsha Collier, whose book, "eBay for
Dummies" (Wiley), is now in its fourth edition (http://www.dummies.com).
The most successful eBay sellers list items clearly and accurately, with
photographs.
At least 430,000 individuals make a living buying and selling on the site,
eBay Chief Executive Meg Whitman said recently.
"A person could quit a job to do this," said Ken Tate, 81, who has listed
200 items at a time on eBay. In a business that relies on feedback ratings,
Tate has positive comments from 99.9 percent of his buyers, helped by his
guarantee on all products and bonus items that he throws in to surprise
them.
"You have to be totally honest," said Sherry Landow, a mother of four who
has sold two cars on eBay. "With a major purchase, I couldn't not give them
an entire description."
Last July, her 2001 model Ford Expedition, in excellent condition, sold for
$19,750 on eBay, based solely on her listing with photos, and an
independent inspection.
"A dealer would have given me $15,500," said Landow, who started selling on
eBay to clean out her house. "If I'd put an ad in the newspaper, I would
have got more than that, but certainly not more than what I got."
Specific descriptions help. For instance, a "Louis Vuitton" bag may attract
all sorts of buyers, but bids are likely to be higher for a "Louis Vuitton
multicolore pochette" - which describes the item's pattern and style.
AuctionDrop (http://www.auctiondrop.com), whose stores sell on eBay on
behalf of customers for a fee, has specialists in different fields who know
what to emphasize in a listing.
"When somebody brings in a bag, we can identify it correctly and list it
properly so that true LV fanatics can find them because we've put in the
appropriate keywords," said Drue Miller, director of research.
A listing in the right category also boosts sales. The sales rate for Palm
pilots listed as "handheld units" under "PDAs/handheld PCs" in the
"consumer electronics" category is about 69 percent, but less under other
slightly different headings, noted Jack Reynolds, founder of QuikDrop,
another eBay consignment store franchise (http://www.quikdrop.com).
Stores like AuctionDrop and QuikDrop charge 20 percent to 40 percent of
the sale price for taking on the hassle of listing the item on eBay. More
than 90 percent of eBay's 41.2 million active users are buyers only, with
many put off by the thought of taking digital photographs, writing
descriptions, handling feedback and shipping items to buyers.
Many Powersellers - who move more than $1,000 of merchandise on eBay each
month - also sell on behalf of others under eBay's Trading Assistant
program, and advertise their services on the auction site itself.
But the author of "eBay for Dummies" balks at the idea of paying someone to
do something so simple. "Nobody holds a big secret to eBay," Collier said.
"It's not difficult."
An eBay seller, as a business, can even order free U.S. Post Office
shipping supplies online (http://supplies.usps.gov), she pointed out.
Collier, who put her daughter through college by selling on eBay, said the
site can be a source of inexpensive merchandise that can be resold at a
much higher price.
Would-be eBay entrepreneurs should focus on their areas of expertise as
well as seek out poorly listed items, with misspellings or vague
descriptions, she advised.
A search under "lot of" or "pallet of" will turn up wholesale bargains or
imperfect items that, with an effective relisting and a little tender
loving care, can sell for a small fortune.
Will Users Pass on PC Purchases?
Obsolete operating systems are pushing the PC industry into its biggest
upgrade cycle since the Y2K bonanza, but in the longer term the industry's
model for continued growth is itself just about obsolete, according to
analysts.
Worldwide, PC makers will ship 186.4 million units this year, up 13.6
percent from last year, according to the latest projections from Gartner.
Out of those shipments more than half - nearly 100 million - will be
replacements, and next year the replacement shipments will hit 120 million,
Gartner says. Replacement shipments this year and next year will surpass
the record replacement numbers seen in 1998 and 1999, as companies rushed
to dump systems that might be vulnerable to the Millennium Bug, Gartner
said.
The optimistic figures are based on shipments so far this year, according
to the research firm. George Shiffler, principal analyst for Gartner's
client platforms research, says a major factor in driving replacements
isn't the need for better performance or a desire for new features, but the
expiration of Microsoft technical support for older operating systems.
"More than 30 percent of installed PCs are now at least three years old,"
Shiffler says. "Many, if not most of these PCs, are using older Windows
operating systems that are no longer supported or are about to lose full
technical support."
Traditionally, the PC industry has relied upon upgrades every three or four
years from businesses, which buy two-thirds of all PCs sold annually. That
cycle is now on its way out, because of market saturation and, ironically,
the fact that businesses are happy with what they have, according to
analysts.
Aside from obsolete technical support, there are few reasons to replace old
PCs, Gartner said. Shiffler argues a new upgrade cycle won't begin until
2008, when Longhorn - the codename for Windows XP's successor - becomes
mainstream. In the meantime, Microsoft's only announced product is XP
Service Pack 2, which will largely consist of improvements in security and
patch management, along with a possible "refresh" of XP known as XP
Reloaded. "The next really exciting wave of architecture is Longhorn," says
RedMonk LLC analyst James Governor.
But as far as businesses are concerned, Longhorn is less a product than a
term used to describe Microsoft's technology plans. "For enterprises it's
too early to plan around Longhorn. It will not be a reality for deployment
for some time - and nobody adopts the first release of an operating system
anyway," he says.
New security capabilities - now Microsoft's biggest priority - could drive
upgrades, but here the problem could be convincing buyers that new systems
such as Longhorn really will improve safety. "There is no assurance that
the new environment will be any more secure than the existing ones, despite
how it's advertised," says IDC analyst Roger Kay. "Security is a
weakest-link problem, and no matter how intimidating the facade of the
Maginot line, the Panzers can still sweep around them."
At its recent WinHEC hardware conference Microsoft convinced some that
64-bit computing will soon be a reality on the desktop, which could change
the upgrade game, industry observers said. However, the real problem is
that businesses don't want to be tied to a regular upgrade cycle, according
to analysts, and that means the PC industry will have to find new ways to
maintain its growth.
Microsoft, for example, is shifting away from the traditional model with
schemes such as the controversial Software Assurance plan, which champions
a subscription-style model. "Microsoft is moving from the old upgrade cycle
to promoting all their products as a coherent whole," says IDC group
consultant Chris Ingle. "They are pushing more server products and
subscription products."
IBM is attempting to change the game with an emphasis on middleware, which
would allow users to access the same data whether on a PC or on a mobile
device - a move which incidentally could erode Microsoft's traditional
desktop software stronghold. Red Hat is also pushing a different view of
the desktop with its new desktop Linux software, available only as an
enterprise service.
"The PC is now a mature market, and companies are going to go looking
elsewhere," says Shiffler. Gartner says in the longer term the industry
will see steady growth in the high single-digits, down substantially from
the double-digit growth upon which the industry was built.
Gartner sees the PC business continuing to look much as it has done, but on
a longer upgrade cycle - perhaps four years rather than three - and minus
the boost given by new market penetration. As a result, companies are
having to make radical shifts in their business models. Shiffler says,
"Companies are still adjusting to what's going on."
Linux vendors such as Red Hat have said they hope to capitalize on the
opportunity presented by the current replacement boom. "Now, with a major
hardware refresh cycle underway, this is a great opportunity," says Red
Hat president and CEO Matthew Szulik in a recent Techworld interview.
But getting Microsoft customers to switch to Linux desktops will be like
squeezing blood from a stone, Shiffler says. "Linux may be right for select
markets, but not generally," he said. Barriers include competing with
Microsoft's huge library of applications.
Customers may make a great show of studying Linux's cost benefits over
Windows, but this is mostly in order to get a better deal from Microsoft,
Shiffler argues. "People are definitely disgruntled over the prices
Microsoft is charging, but I'm not sure Linux is the answer to that," he
says.
'Waffles' Brings Up Kerry Site in Prank
With the presidential election approaching, computer geeks on a mission are
having fun playing spoofs on search engine Google.
Since Thursday, the top result on Google from typing in "waffles" has been
Democratic candidate John Kerry's official campaign site.
The phrase appears nowhere on Kerry's site. But conservative bloggers
skewed the search engine results by posting the phrase on their own Web
pages and linking it to the Kerry site, in a technique called
Google-bombing. (Google's search results are partly based on how many times
the searched-for word appears on sites around the Web.)
It was started by a 23-year-old first-year Pennsylvania law student Ken
Jacobson, who scattered the word "waffles" throughout his blog, Esoteric
Diatribe, back in April - all linking to Kerry's site. He contacted a few
other conservative bloggers and within 10 days, more than 50 other bloggers
had done the same on their home pages.
His conservative leanings were one motivation. But Jacobson said he also
wanted to call attention to how vulnerable Google is to special interest
groups wanting to control public opinion. "I see Google being exploitable
in a bad way," he said. "It's dangerous, even from a national security
point of view."
Other bloggers didn't waste time getting even. Liberal bloggers apparently
succeeded in making the Bush-Cheney campaign site come up as the third
result when "waffles" was entered on Yahoo's search site. Their efforts
weren't enough though: The conservatives created enough links to Kerry's
site that they kept him in first place even on Yahoo.
Even the Kerry campaign weighed in. It purchased Google AdWords, text ads
that come up beside Google search results when certain words are typed in.
The links referred to Kerry's Web site, and reportedly suggested that users
"read about President Bush's Waffles."
Google had no comment on the pranks. Experts say there is little the search
engine can do to combat such a concerted effort by many people to skew
results.
It's just the latest in a string of spoofs played by tricksters on a
political mission. After France refused to join the coalition forces
fighting Iraq, a Google search for "French military victories" brought up a
spoof page that said no documents were found and asked, "Did you mean
'French military defeats?' "
British Boy Cons Internet Friend In Suicide Bid
A British teenager posed as an espionage agent in an Internet chatroom to
persuade a friend to stab him to death in a complex and bizarre suicide
attempt, a court was told.
"Skilled writers of fiction would struggle to conjure up a plot such as
that which arises here," said the judge hearing the case at Manchester
Crown Court, northwest England.
The would-be victim, aged 14 - named only as Boy B - invented a complex
cast of fictional characters with which he communicated with his
16-year-old friend, Boy A, eventually exerting a huge degree of control
over him.
The older teenager was eventually persuaded that he had been recruited by
the British Secret Service to kill Boy B, after which he would be rewarded
with a job as well as a sexual relationship with the 39-year-old female
"spy".
In June last year, Boy A carried out his "orders" and stabbed his friend -
who, he had also been told, was suffering from a cancerous tumour - in the
chest and stomach, the court was told.
However Boy B did not die, and police later pieced together the astonishing
story from 56,000 lines of computer chatroom text between Boy A and his
various real and invented correspondents.
Boy A was given a two-year supervision order on Friday after pleading
guilty to attempted murder, while Boy B was given a three-year order for
perverting the course of justice and incitement to murder, and banned from
using Internet chatrooms.
"It was incitement to commit murder - his own murder," Detective Chief
Inspector Julian Ross, who led the investigation team, said of Boy B's
complicated plot. "I am not aware of any other cases where that has taken
place."
Judge David Maddison said "a number of extraordinary features (are)
associated with this case".
Under normal circumstances a charge of attempted murder would carry a long
jail term, he told Boy A, while adding: "But these could not be described
as any normal circumstances."
"I accept, fantastic though it seems when looked at now in the cold light
of day, that ... so convincingly were the
characters presented to you that
you really did believe you had been recruited by the Secret Service to kill
your co-accused and face the consequences if you did not do so."
The court had been told how Boy B first contacted Boy A in a chatroom in
early 2003 by posing as a teenage girl, who then "introduced" Boy B as her
step-brother. The boys became friends and later met in the flesh.
However the plot thickened as Boy B introduced a series of other characters
apart from the "spy", including someone who - to Boy A's increasing horror
- supposedly stalked Boy B and then killed the girl.
Detective Chief Inspector Ross said nothing in Boy B's background suggested
why he wanted to die.
"We have not come across any underlying things that would turn a child to
do this sort of thing," he said.
=~=~=~=
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