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Atari Online News, Etc. Volume 10 Issue 31
Volume 10, Issue 31 Atari Online News, Etc. August 1, 2008
Published and Copyright (c) 1999 - 2008
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 #1031 08/01/08
~ Cuil Stumbles Early On ~ People Are Talking! ~ Norton Safe Web!
~ Extradition of Hacker! ~ China Spies on Web Use ~ Firefox Shiretoko!
~ China Blocking Sites! ~ IOC "Okays" Censorship ~ Seizures Approved!
~ Bypass Work Site Bans! ~ ISPs To Ban Kid Porn! ~ China Flip-Flops!
-* New Browsers Fight Malware! *-
-* Yahoo To Face Wrath of Shareholders *-
-* New Browsers Fight the Malware Scourge *-
=~=~=~=
->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Wow, it's August 1st already! The summer is halfway gone already! It
seems like just the other day that... Time flies...
Have you been paying attention to the on-again, off-again Chinese antics
regarding the Olympics and their censorship of various web sites. And
the spying of guests' hotel rooms, etc.? If I recall, part of the deal
that allowed China to get the Summer Olympics was no internet censorship.
Then China enacts all kinds of censorship, and now they've back-pedaled
a little bit. Personally, China should never have been allowed to host
the games. Their continued human rights violations is more than reason
enough to disqualify them. Add to that their continued tyranny and
oppression of its people. Sure, let's reward them by allowing them to be
the host country for the Olympics!
It's the internet censorship that surprises me. How difficult would that
be to enforce, and keep quiet? The world will be in China for the Games;
will there be a "secondary" purpose to report on Chinese politics and
domestic abuses? Possibly. If they're so concerned about what the world
will learn about the country, why bother putting yourself in the position
to entertain such possibilities?!
Anyway, the Olympics start next week, and I'll probably watch some of the
events. World competition, on an amateur basis, is enjoyable to watch.
Until next time...
=~=~=~=
->In This Week's Gaming Section - Virtual Gridiron Is Early!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Game Animals Will Attack!
Space Invaders Worldwar!
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Animals Attack in 'Hail to the Chimp'
The video-game universe is bursting with cuddly animals. Characters like
Sonic the Hedgehog, Crash Bandicoot, Ratchet, Daxter, Sly Cooper and the
entire Pokemon family have built solid careers on a mix of athleticism
and adorability. And they're all much cuter than their real-life
counterparts.
What happens, though, when animals attack? When they stop playing nice
and become the remorseless killing machines they really are?
Someday, perhaps, we'll see a video game in which the beasts overthrow
their human oppressors and take over the world. Until then, we can watch
them beat up on each other, and hope they aren't developing the skills
to turn the tables on us.
* "Hail to the Chimp" (Gamecock, for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3,
$39.99): The concept behind this satirical party game is perfect for
this political year. The lion has been dethroned as king of the jungle,
and the rest of the animals have decided to embrace democracy. The race
for the presidency involves dashing from one primary to the next,
beating up your opponents and trying to collect the most clams. Not too
different from the real thing.
In the game, however, you are literally beating on the competition -
which could be a lot more fun if the design of "Hail to the Chimp" was a
lot sharper. Four candidates are plopped into an arena, where they
scramble around and slug each other until one grabs a certain number of
clams. It's essentially a button-mashing festival, with little strategy
involved.
The battles are broken up by parody newscasts with an anchor who sounds
a bit like Dan Rather. The jokes are heavy-handed, though, and don't get
much funnier the second or 10th time you hear them. "Hail to the Chimp"
deserves credit for an original premise, but the execution is so sloppy
that it doesn't deserve your vote. One-half star out of four.
* "Happy Tree Friends: False Alarm" (Sega, for the Xbox 360, $10): "Happy
Tree Friends" has been one of the most popular cartoons on the Internet
since its debut in 2000. Don't let your children watch it, though: The
series' creators revel in the gruesome dismemberment of their winsome
woodland creatures.
In the PETA-baiting "False Alarm," you have to help Giggles the
chipmunk, Toothy the beaver and the rest of the cast navigate a series
of levels. If you slip up, though, they're likely to get crushed,
poisoned or ground into hamburger. You can burn the animals to make them
move faster or freeze them to make them stand still, and you can flip
switches or explode obstacles to clear the path.
Sure, it's more fun to watch one or two get disemboweled, but you can
still win if only a few of the creatures make it to the finish line. The
major drawbacks to "False Alarm" are that it's too easy and it's too
short; a decent gamer can get through it in a couple of hours. For those
with a sadistic sense of humor, it's probably worth the ten bucks. Two
stars.
* "Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon" (Square Enix, for the Wii,
$39.99): The chocobo - a sort of human-size chicken - is the unofficial
mascot of Square's long-running "Final Fantasy" series. While the birds
are generally benign, they do have a mean kick that can efficiently
shred monsters. Still, the chocobo in this kid-friendly game is so sweet
that you may start dreaming about seeing him turning on a spit.
In this adventure, Chocobo has landed in a town called Lostime where all
the residents are having their memories stolen. A baby savant can open
portals to the dungeons where the memories are being stored, so Chocobo
can rush in and recover them. Unfortunately, the dungeons, which are
randomly generated each time you enter one, are dull, without much
variety from one to the next.
On the plus side, Chocobo can learn new skills with experience and can
even switch between primary "jobs." For example, as a white mage he can
easily heal himself; as a black mage he can conjure powerful offensive
spells. "Chocobo's Dungeon" is far too cutesy to satisfy "FF" veterans,
but it does have more depth than you'd expect from an introductory
role-playing game. Two-and-a-half stars.
Gamers Hit The Virtual Gridiron Early
Although the future team colors of quarterback Brett Favre are unknown,
when the 20th Anniversary "Madden NFL 09" game is released in August he
will be wearing the Green Bay Packers' colors on the cover.
Football fans can put him on any team without having to wait for the
official season kickoff on September 4.
EA Sports is celebrating two decades of video game football with the
release of "Madden NFL 09: 20th Anniversary Special Collector's
Edition," which includes full versions of the new "Madden" game, as well
as the new "NFL Head Coach 09" strategy game and bonus video content.
"The launch of this year's title is of a magnitude that only the Rose
Bowl can accommodate," said Peter Moore, president of EA Sports.
"Maddenpalooza, a games and music festival, will take place on August
11th in Pasadena, and approximately 10,000 fans are expected at the
stadium to get their hands on the game and hear bands like Good
Charlotte play."
The "Madden" franchise has been the number one selling sports franchise
in North America for six years. Since its inception, Electronic Arts has
sold over 70 million units of the game worldwide. This year's version
has more than 85 new features, the most ever for the franchise in one year.
"It seems like every year Madden gets more and more realistic," said
Miami Dolphin Jake Long. "When I watch someone playing 'Madden,' it's
like I'm watching a real NFL game. The guys look so realistic and the
features keep getting better."
The football simulations are getting so realistic on consoles like
PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 that NFL rookies like Atlanta Falcons
quarterback Matt Ryan said players can use the game as part of their
preparation for the real sport.
"Madden does give you a feel for who some of the good players are," said
Ryan. "The ratings and the rankings are pretty accurate. You may know
from playing Madden that I need to watch out for that guy."
Each year, NFL players pick up a copy of the game to check out "Madden"
player ratings.
College players, who don't have the luxury of seeing their names or
likenesses in "NCAA Football 09" because of NCAA restrictions, use that
game franchise to keep their competitive edge.
"I know with Tennessee last year I'd actually play the video game before
going to the field," said Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Deshaun
Jackson. "It's good to be able to know the players you're going to be
playing against. Playing the video game was part of my preparation."
Indianapolis Colts Coach Tony Dungy, who guided his team to a Super Bowl
Championship in 2007, believes the new "NFL Head Coach 09" game will
appeal to the arm-chair quarterbacks who play fantasy football and
tracks the NFL all season long.
"They're going to really have fun with this game because they're going
to be able to explore the ins and outs and the behind-the-scenes stuff,"
said Dungy.
EA Sports is making sure fans who buy all versions of their new football
games can interact across titles. Players from the college game can be
imported to the NFL game. And gamers who play EA Sports Fantasy Football
can download their fantasy rosters into "Madden" and play with that team
in-game.
Those looking for a more mature-rated take on football can pick up
Midway Games "Blitz: The League II," an arcade-style game featuring
former New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor that explores the
grittier side of the sport - minus the NFL license. EA Sports has the
NFL license locked up through 2012.
Space Invaders Worldwar Pits USA Against Japan
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Space Invaders an online battle
between the US and Japan is brewing in a new game called Space Invaders
Worldwar. The game is very different from what you may have played on your
Atari back in the day.
Rather than a triangle, you move left and right across the bottom of the
screen, the new online version of the game has invaders flying at you from
different locations around the screen. You use the mouse to place a
crosshair on the invaders and blow them up. The goal is to reach a
specific amount of kills in 30 seconds to progress.
The Japan vs. US tournament is being held from July 30th to August 26th.
The game is free to play and requires no download. The game is Flash
based. Desktop wallpapers are also being offered that go along with the
game.
=~=~=~=
A-ONE's Headline News
The Latest in Computer Technology News
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
Cuil Stumbles Out of the Gate
Cuil, the latest search engine startup to come out swinging from its
corner with the hope of knocking out Google, is instead taking a beating
that could do it long-term damage as a credible contender.
The company received broad media coverage on Monday, primarily because
it has former Google engineers on its team and because of its claim to
have the world's largest search index, but Cuil is now facing an angry
backlash.
The site has had performance and availability problems throughout the
day, and a growing chorus of search market observers has declared the
engine's results to its queries unimpressive.
In addition, the site has launched with only a Web search engine, at a
time when it's considered a basic requirement for any search engine with
aspirations of competing against Google to have at least some basic
vertical search tabs for news articles, photos, maps and local business
information.
Without the ability to collate general search results with photos, news
articles, the increasingly popular video files and mapping information,
a search engine is effectively unable to provide the type of "universal"
search results that have become de riguer and that Google now
consistently does.
In short, what looked like a successfully architected public-relations
launch is backfiring because the product has failed to meet the lofty
expectations that were created.
Backed by reputable investors that have reportedly invested $33 million
in it, Cuil will now have to go into damage control instead of riding
the early momentum, and hope that end-users and industry observers will
give it another chance once it works out its kinks.
"First impressions count a lot," said industry analyst Greg Sterling of
Sterling Market Intelligence, who on Monday morning was unable to give
Cuil a thorough test because of the site's performance problems.
While Cuil could become an interesting alternative to Google and the
other major search engines, that will take some time. In hindsight, it
might have been wiser for Cuil's management to launch the site more
quietly and give themselves time to improve it, Sterling said.
Instead, by making a big, noisy media splash, they gave themselves
little room for error. "This much media coverage creates high
expectations," he said.
Indeed, Cuil came out with an in-your-face attitude, claiming to have
the largest Web index of any search engine: 120 billion Web pages, which
Cuil states is "three times more than any other search engine." It was a
point that its officials made in interviews with media outlets prior to
Monday's debut.
But the site seemed unable to handle some softball, straight-forward
queries. For example, a search for "barack obama" returned on the first
page of results mostly links to different pages of Obama's official
site, hardly useful if one is looking for a variety of sites on the
presidential candidate. A search for "St. Louis, MO" initially returned
zero results.
Among others, search engine expert Danny Sullivan criticized Cuil for
focusing on the size of its index - a practice that fell into disfavor
years ago, as engines focused on the quality of results - and questioned
the basic validity of the claim.
"Yes, size matters. You want to have a comprehensive collection of
documents from across the web. But having a lot of documents doesn't
mean you are most relevant," Sullivan wrote on his Search Engine Land
blog.
Sullivan also pointed out that Google hasn't publicly stated the size of
its Web index in years, and that even if Cuil's is indeed three times as
big, Google could quickly match that by simply becoming a bit less
selective. Last Friday, Google, likely anticipating Cuil's launch on
Monday, said its crawlers today "see" more than 1 trillion URLs on the
Web.
Google declined to comment about Cuil's claim and also declined to say
how many links are in its Web index.
Sullivan and other search market observers said they were underwhelmed
by the quality of Cuil's results.
"With the huge caveat that nine queries are far from letting anyone
conclude anything, I still didn't come away with a sense that Cuil has
Google-beating relevancy. Instead, it has some flaws though is better
than many start-up search engines appear out of the box," Sullivan wrote
in another post Monday.
"I played with the site a fair bit when it turned on this morning. So
far it doesn't do much for me," wrote Saul Hansell of The New York Times
in a blog post titled "Cuil's New Search Engine: Cheaper Than Google,
but Not Better."
Cuil, which is pronounced "cool," got a resounding thumbs-down from The
Wall Street Journal's John Paczkowski in an AllThingsD post titled
Totally UnCuil.
"If your mission is to beat Google in the search market, it's probably
wise to give your upstart search engine a name that people know how to
pronounce. It's also wise to make sure that it appears in the first page
of search results for its own name. Cuil, the upstart search engine that
debuted today with aspirations of unseating Google, has apparently done
neither," he wrote.
He's not alone in his dislike for the company's name. IDC analyst
Caroline Dangson flagged the name - she called it "terrible" - as one of
what she considers the company's main challenges.
"Cuil has an uphill battle in getting more consumers to search its site
instead of Google. Google wins hands down for brand recognition among
U.S. consumers," she said via e-mail, adding that using Google has
become a habit for a majority of search users.
According to a recent IDC survey, three-quarters of U.S. online
consumers know Google as an Internet brand and the majority like Google
and believe it offers quality services, she said.
"Furthermore, Google also already has an established business model
based on search advertising in which it excels. Even if Cuil offers
better search results, the company is not monetizing its service with
advertising at this point and will not be able to compete with Google in
terms of revenue," she said.
Of course, on Monday, Cuil's problems were much more serious than
offering better results, considering how shaky its performance has been.
At close to 5 p.m. Eastern Time the site was still returning error
results, saying it couldn't process queries because its servers were
overloaded.
Yahoo To Face Shareholder Wrath at Annual Meeting
Yahoo Inc.'s recent truce with investor Carl Icahn didn't pacify many
shareholders who remain on the war path heading into the Internet
company's annual meeting Friday.
The slings and arrows are expected to include a significant number of
votes opposing the re-election of the company's current board of
directors and a fusillade of criticism.
Yahoo Chief Executive Jerry Yang, in particular, will probably get an
earful after spurning a $47.5 billion takeover bid from Microsoft Corp.
in early May.
Since Microsoft withdrew that offer, Yahoo's stock price has plunged 30
percent to leave the company's market value nearly $20 billion below
what shareholders would have been paid if Yang and the rest of the board
had accepted the bid.
"The Microsoft negotiations were just the latest example of the
negligence by this board," said Eric Jackson, a Yahoo shareholder who
plans to confront Yang during Friday's meeting. "There is still a lot of
anger and frustration among shareholders right now."
Jackson, who represents a group of stockholders with about 3.2 million
shares, made an impression at Yahoo's meeting last year when he ripped
the performance of then-CEO Terry Semel. Just six days after that
skewering, Semel stepped down as CEO and surrendered the reins to Yang,
Yahoo's co-founder.
Yahoo shareholders were agitated even before the breakdown in Microsoft
talks because the company's profits and stock have been sinking for
several years, despite an Internet advertising boom.
Since 2005, Yahoo has lost nearly half its market value. Meanwhile, the
stock of rival Google Inc. has climbed 15 percent to create an
additional $20 billion in shareholder wealth.
Yahoo shares fell 14 cents Thursday to $19.89, slightly above their
price when Microsoft made its initial takeover bid six months ago.
If there's a loud enough outcry Friday, Yahoo shareholder Mark Nelson
thinks Yang may end his attempt to turn around the company that he and
David Filo began 14 years ago.
"I haven't spoken to anyone who thinks, `Hey, this is the right team to
lead Yahoo,'" said Nelson, a partner at Mithras Capital, which owns 1.7
million Yahoo shares. "I hope there will be enough shareholder pressure
at this meeting for the board to realize they need to bring in someone
else to run the company."
Icahn, a blunt billionaire who will join Yahoo's board next week as part
of his compromise with the company, already has said Yang, 39, should be
cast aside for a more seasoned CEO. That idea may get more support when
two Icahn allies join the Yahoo board by Aug. 15. (Shareholders won't be
able to vote on the merits of Icahn and his allies until next year's
meeting. Friday's vote will be confined to Yahoo's incumbent board.)
Before he decided to work with Yahoo, Icahn had been campaigning to
replace all nine of the company's directors with a slate of his own
candidates. But he changed his mind in July after concluding he didn't
have enough shareholder support to prevail.
Icahn remains highly motivated to boost Yahoo's stock price because he
paid about $25 per share to acquire a 5 percent stake in the company.
But he doesn't plan to show up at the annual meeting. And now he seems
willing to give Yang more time to prove he has the chops to be CEO -
although his peace pact with the company now prevents him from publicly
disparaging Yang or other Yahoo directors.
"While we still disagree on many points, I have great hope `this will be
the beginning of a beautiful friendship,'" Icahn wrote on his blog Thursday.
To round out its board, Yahoo must choose two Icahn-endorsed candidates
from a list of nine. Two of the choices have been mentioned as possible
successors to Yang - former AOL CEO Jonathan Miller and former Viacom
Inc. CEO Frank Biondi Jr.
But Yang still seems to believe he is the best man for the job.
"I am as excited as I have ever been to lead this company," Yang told
The Associated Press on July 22. "We have a sense of urgency to create
value." In his defense Friday, Yang is expected to highlight an
advertising partnership with Google that is supposed to boost Yahoo's
annual revenue by $800 million. That alliance still could be blocked by
antitrust regulators.
Yang also thinks Yahoo can get better at selling ads on its own.
Add it all up, and Yang believes Yahoo's net revenue will climb from a
projected $5.6 billion this year to more than $9 billion in 2010.
Industry analysts are highly skeptical: They predict Yahoo's 2010
revenue will be just slightly above $7 billion.
Yang won't be alone on the firing line Friday.
Roy Bostock, who became Yahoo's chairman on the same day Microsoft made
its initial bid, oversaw the failed negotiations that followed. Bostock
also sits on a compensation committee that approved an employee
severance plan that threatens to substantially increase the costs of a
takeover.
Two shareholder advisory firms - Glass, Lewis & Co. and Proxy Governance
- have recommended voting against Bostock as well as the two other
directors on the compensation committee, Ron Burkle and Arthur Kern.
However, RiskMetrics ISS, the most influential shareholder advisory
firm, supports re-electing the entire board.
A director opposed by a majority of shareholders is required to submit a
letter to resignation to Yahoo. But the company doesn't have to accept
the resignation, creating the possibility that a director could remain
on the board against shareholder wishes.
In an attempt to placate investors, Yahoo might announce a special
dividend or some other extraordinary measure, such as a spinoff of its
Asian assets. Microsoft proposed both ideas in July when the software
maker teamed with Icahn in an attempt to buy Yahoo's search engine and
break up the rest of the business.
Yahoo Board Emerges Unscathed from Annual Meeting
Yahoo Inc.'s board emerged largely unscathed from the Internet company's
annual meeting Friday as a subdued crowd of shareholders raised few
questions about the directors' rejection of Microsoft Corp.'s $47.5
billion takeover bid.
Some shareholders expressed displeasure by opposing the re-election of
Yahoo's current directors, but the resistance wasn't as intense as last
year, when three directors were rejected by more than 30 percent of the
vote.
In this year's balloting, only two directors - Chairman Roy Bostock and
Arthur Kern - were opposed on ballots representing at least 20 percent
of Yahoo shares. Yahoo Chief Executive Jerry Yang, who steered the
Microsoft negotiations with Bostock, was approved by 85 percent of the
shares cast.
Many investors had already made an emphatic statement about their
feelings by dumping their holdings in Yahoo shares. The company's stock
price has fallen by 31 percent since Microsoft withdrew a takeover offer
of $33 per share in early May.
Much of the drama was drained from Friday's meeting last month when
Yahoo reached a truce with activist investor Carl Icahn, who had been
campaigning to oust the company's entire board for spurning the
Microsoft bid. Icahn will join Yahoo's board next week and can't
criticize his fellow directors as part of a peace pact he made. He
didn't attend Friday's meeting.
Yahoo will add two other Icahn-endorsed candidates to the board by Aug.
15. Former AOL CEO Jonathan Miller had been considered one of the
leading candidates to fill the other seats, but he apparently will be
precluded from doing so as part of a noncompete agreement that AOL's
owner, Time Warner Inc., plans to enforce.
The provisions preventing Miller from joining an AOL rival remain in
effect through March 2009, Time Warner spokesman Keith Cocozza said
Friday.
Miller has been mentioned as a possible successor to Yang, who has been
unable to boost the company's market value during the first 13 months of
his reign.
Yahoo spokeswoman Diana Wong declined to comment on Miller's status.
Only two of the roughly 125 shareholders at Friday's meeting criticized
the Microsoft negotiations. Two other shareholders said they were happy
Yahoo didn't sell to Microsoft.
The rest of the shareholder remarks covered a wide range of topics,
including Yahoo's human rights policies in China and the scarcity of
women on its board.
Former Yahoo employee Martin Baker, who still owns 100 shares, was
mostly upset that the company didn't carve out more time for shareholder
questions. After Yahoo's leadership spent more than an hour defending
its handling of the now-withdrawn offer and management's optimistic
outlook, the company allotted about 35 minutes to field nine questions.
"It seemed like they were more interested in going to lunch than hearing
from shareholders," said Baker, a San Francisco resident. "I think they
controlled things pretty well."
Yahoo's biggest challenge is still ahead, given that its stock price is
just slightly above where it stood six months ago when Microsoft first
announced its unsolicited takeover offer.
Yang, who co-founded Yahoo 14 years ago, assured shareholders his
management team is pursuing a turnaround plan in "a very deliberate and
forceful manner." Yang has promised to increase Yahoo's net revenue by
at least 25 percent in each of the next two years.
Bostock staunchly defended the board's handling of the Microsoft
negotiations, saying the directors met more than 30 times to discuss the
bid as well as other ways to boost the company's stock.
"At no point did this board or management in any way ever resist
Microsoft's proposal," Bostock told shareholders. "We proactively
engaged with them and tried to reach a positive conclusion for
shareholders."
He also cast doubt about the validity of Microsoft's last offer, saying
it was made in an "offhand comment."
Microsoft has steadfastly maintained that its general counsel
specifically told a Yahoo lawyer that the company was prepared to pay
$33 per share.
In a statement Friday, Microsoft asserted that "Yahoo is attempting to
rewrite history yet again with statements that are not supported by the
facts."
Eric Jackson, a Yahoo shareholder representing a group of about 150
investors, called upon Bostock to step down, partly because he
"overplayed" his hand in the Microsoft negotiations.
Bostock gruffly refused.
Norton Safe Web Searches Sites for Malware
Symantec on Monday opened public beta testing of a new site-reputation
plug-in called Norton Safe Web.
Initially, NSW will integrate with the ongoing beta test of Norton
Internet Security 2009. Users of the final NIS 2009 release will also be
able to install the beta, and a winter update will add the final version
for NIS 2009 users. It will also appear as a built-in feature in Norton
360 version 3, which is expected in the first quarter of 2009.
Symantec felt a need to "expand our protection to everyday consumer
on-line activities," said Bill Rosenkrantz, director of product
management for NSW. He noted that these days there's a big risk in just
visiting a site as even good sites may be hacked. Eighty-one percent of
sites flagged as suspicious by NSW actually include drive-by downloads,
according to Rosenkrantz. NSW keeps users away from such sites during
their ordinary searching and surfing.
Instead of crawling the web and analyzing sites the way McAfee's
SiteAdvisor does, NSW relies on automatic reporting through the Norton
community. Symantec has over 19 million users of Norton products who
opted into the Norton Community reporting program. If one of these users
experiences a drive-by download at a site, Symantec knows it immediately
and NSW can warn other users.
Rosenkrantz also noted that threats can be fleeting. A site may be
hacked one day, fixed the next. Or the threat may be intermittent,
entering via a rotating banner ad. NSW's "intelligent aging" process
looks at a site's history to determine how quickly it should be
re-analyzed. A site that has been hosting known malware for a year won't
get checked frequently. A site that's been clean for years but suddenly
come up malicious will get priority. And the top 30,000 web sites are
subject to very frequent scrutiny by human analysts, to avoid false
positives.
NSW will offer green, yellow or red visual site ratings in popular
search engines (Google, Yahoo!, and MSN) and will also warn users if
they attempt to visit a malicious site. It will mark both "organic" and
sponsored links on search pages, with a pop-up summary and link to full
analysis of the site online. In addition to Symantec's analysis results
the site report will include user reviews and a spot for a statement by
the site owner. Symantec plans to offer a "superior dispute resolution
process" for owners who believe their sites have been erroneously
red-flagged.
New Browsers Fight the Malware Scourge
The latest browsers are fighting back against the never-ending assault
from online crooks who want to sneak malware infections through your
browser and onto your PC. Firefox 3, Opera 9.5, and, soon, Internet
Explorer 8 add new security features that block known malware sites.
Today's dirty trick of choice for Net thugs is to slip nearly invisible
code onto a vulnerable but benign Web site, forcing it to become an
unwitting foot soldier in the malware war. A successful hijacking in
July of a site for Sony PlayStation games demonstrates that sites both
large and small can fall victim to this tactic, which crooks like
because it can target even people who are careful about where they surf.
"The bad guys are putting a lot of effort into mass hacking," says Roger
Thompson, chief research officer with antivirus maker AVG Technologies.
"They routinely hack 20,000 to 40,000 sites in a day" with automated
tools, he says.
The browsers have their work cut out for them, to be sure. A May report
from security company ScanSafe that looked at data from its corporate
customers found that their risk of encountering exploits and hijacked
Web sites skyrocketed by 407 percent from May of last year. ScanSafe
also found that just over two-thirds of all Web-based malware attacks
came via compromised Web sites.
The new features in the latest browsers work much as existing
antiphishing filters do. In Firefox 2, Mozilla uses Google's blacklist
of known phishing sites. If you mistakenly click a link to a URL on that
list, you'll see a warning instead of the site. Firefox 3 also blocks
the display of pages on Google's list of known malware sites.
Firefox 3 grabs the most recent blacklist about every 30 minutes,
according to spokesperson Johnathan Nightingale, and checks the sites
you visit against that local list. Firefox 2 has an option to always
check sites you visit against Google's online list so as to catch the
very latest entries, but Firefox 3 provides no such option.
Opera 9.5 works in a similar fashion, but with some key differences. It
adds malware-site blacklists from Haute Secure, a Seattle-based security
company, to the phishing blacklists from Netcraft and Phishtank that the
previous version used. Haute's list includes sites on Google's list,
those the company discovers, and sites that Haute's users have submitted.
According to Christer Strand, an engineer at Opera who worked on the new
feature, when you first visit a domain, the browser pulls down a sublist
of any blacklisted pages or links within that domain from the latest
online-stored lists. It then checks pages you visit against that small
downloaded list. Opera doesn't save anything about who is visiting what
domains, Strand says.
Though you can find these features in the latest Opera and Firefox now,
you'll have to wait for Internet Explorer 8's similar feature. Austin
Wilson, director of Windows client product management, says that IE 8's
beta 2, due out in August, will employ a feature dubbed SmartScreen to
block malware sites.
Wilson says Microsoft will use lists of such sites from different
company partners, as it does now for the browser's antiphishing
protection, but he isn't yet saying who those partners will be.
Instead of downloading all or part of the blacklist to your PC, IE 8
will check every page you visit against the online malware blacklist,
Wilson says. Unlike IE 7's phishing protection--which checks for
blacklist matches and also attempts to identify phishing sites at the
time you visit based on a page's characteristics (such as whether it
sends log-ins off to another domain)--SmartScreen will only compare
against a blacklist for malware sites.
Wondering about Apple's Safari? The current browser doesn't block any
malicious sites, phishing or malware, and the company is tight-lipped
about whether it plans to add such features.
While these new features will help combat rampant site infections, they
won't single-handedly stomp out Web-based malware any more than
antiphishing measures do for that type of threat. For one thing,
blacklists are inherently reactive: A site must first be identified and
added to a list before it will be blocked. Even the fastest such process
can leave a window of opportunity for criminals to nail victims before
the blacklists catch up, just as with virus signatures. And of course,
crooks still have other methods, such as e-mail and IM, to ply their
nefarious trade.
"In most cases viruses spread so rapidly, and through so many methods,
it's not sufficient to only employ browser protection," says Opera's
Strand.
His advice for surfers? "You really need an antivirus [program] no
matter what browser you're using."
Top UK Court Allows Extradition of Hacker to US
Some call it the biggest hack of military computers; perhaps it was just
a big embarrassment. Gary McKinnon - accused of breaking into military
and NASA computers in what he claims was a search for UFOs, allegedly
causing nearly $1 million in damage - has lost his appeal against
extradition to the United States.
McKinnon, 42, an unemployed computer administrator, allegedly broke into
97 computers belonging to the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, and Department
of Defense from a bedroom in a north London home.
His attacks between 2001 and 2002 allegedly shut down the Army district
responsible for protecting Washington, and cleared logs from computers
at the Naval Weapons Station Earle in New Jersey that tracks the
location and battle-readiness of Navy ships.
That last attack, coming immediately after the Sept. 11, knocked out the
station's entire network of 300 computers. NASA and privately owned
computers also were damaged, prosecutors said, putting the total cost of
his online activities at $900,000.
At the time of his indictment, prosecutor Paul McNulty said McKinnon
pulled off "the biggest hack of military computers ever - at least ever
detected."
In his defense, McKinnon, known online as SOLO, said he was trying to
expose security weaknesses and uncover evidence of UFOs.
"I was a man obsessed," McKinnon wrote on The Guardian newspaper's Web
site last year, describing a year spent trying to break into U.S.
military systems: eight hours a day at a computer in his girlfriend's
aunt's house while unkempt, drinking beer and smoking marijuana.
In interviews, he claimed that his hacking uncovered photographic proof
of alien spacecraft and the names and ranks of "non-terrestrial officers."
Prosecutors accuse him of deliberately trying to intimidate the U.S.
government by tearing through their networks. They pointed to a note
written by McKinnon - and left on an Army computer - attacking U.S.
foreign policy as "akin to government-sponsored terrorism."
"It was not a mistake that there was a huge security stand down on
September 11 last year," he wrote. "I am SOLO. I will continue to
disrupt at the highest levels."
McKinnon was caught in 2002 after some of the software used in the
attacks was traced back to his girlfriend's e-mail account. The U.S.
sought his extradition, a move his lawyer Claire Anderson claimed
Wednesday was motivated by the government's desire to "make an example"
of a man who humbled officials in Washington by hacking into their
systems using off-the-shelf office software and a dial-up modem.
Aspects of American cyber-security had been shown up as "really
shameful," with some computers not even password-protected, said Graham
Cluley, a security consultant with Sophos PLC.
He said the United States appeared to be pursuing McKinnon in an effort
to flex its legal muscle before the hacking community, which has watched
the case with interest.
"The overriding message is: You shouldn't mess with American government
and military computers, particularly right after Sept. 11," Cluley said.
McKinnon's lawyers had hoped to hold any trial in Britain, saying he
could be dragged before a military tribunal or even end up at Guantanamo
Bay.
In their appeals, they said McKinnon was warned by U.S. officials that
he would not be allowed to serve any part of his sentence in Britain
unless he agreed to cooperate with his extradition. That, they argued,
amounted to an unlawful threat and abuse of process.
Not so, Britain's House of Lords said Wednesday. Lord Brown, writing for
Britain's highest court, said plea bargaining could only be called an
abuse of process "in a wholly extreme case."
"This is far from being such a case," he said.
While the decision exhausts McKinnon's legal options in Britain,
Anderson said she would appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in
Strasbourg, France. She said British authorities had agreed to keep
McKinnon in Britain for at least two weeks to allow his lawyers to
prepare their application.
"If that fails, then it's off to jail in America for 60 years," McKinnon
told the British Broadcasting Corp. "Rapists and murderers and real
terrorists get less."
Should McKinnon be extradited, he would face trial in Virginia and New
Jersey on eight charges of computer fraud.
Each charge potentially carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison
and $250,000 in fines. However, U.S. sentencing guidelines would likely
recommend a much lighter sentence.
A 60-year sentence is "extraordinarily unlikely," according to Scott
Christie, who was the lead prosecutor in the case in New Jersey before
going into private practice.
McKinnon is charged in New Jersey and Virginia with eight counts of
computer fraud. While each count potentially carries a sentence of up to
10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines, Christie said U.S. sentencing
guidelines would likely recommend a much lighter penalty.
"His general exposure would be in the range of between three and five
years," he said.
Firefox Alpha Improves the AwesomeBar
Though it's been less than a month since Firefox 3's blast-off into the
Internet and a software download record, Mozilla developers have already
distributed a very early preview of the next upgrade to the increasingly
popular browser, code-named Shiretoko.
The alpha version will be designated as Firefox 3.1 at final release and
at this point is strictly intended for developers and testers. The
underlying Gecko page-rendering engine is also being updated to version
1.9.1.
The most noticeable enhancements in the release involve the much lauded
Smart Location Bar, often referred to by Mozillaphiles as the
"AwesomeBar." Users will have more control over what links the bar
presents when they start typing in it. They'll be able to restrict
suggested sites to history (rather than including unvisited bookmarks)
and to specify whether to find URLs or page title text. Smart
keywords, for example, preceding text in the location bar with "g" to
perform a Google search on the term, will now get bookmarks that enable
more than one choice for the keyword (or key character).
Also implemented is a new tab-switching behavior, called Control-Tab.
This lets users view tabs in a filmstrip view, offering tab previews
similar to those in Opera. Formerly a Firefox add-on, Control-Tab will
be a built-in feature of the browser's next version.
Other enhancements have been implemented affecting improved Web
standards support in the Gecko layout engine, and support for CSS border
images and JavaScript query selectors. Though none of the changes is
massive, it's good to see the folks at Mozilla continually making a good
product better.
Versions of Firefox 3.1 Alpha 1 are available for Windows, Mac OS X, and
Linux. You can read more details about the changes on Mozilla.org.
Senator: China Spying on Internet Use in Hotels
Foreign-owned hotels in China face the prospect of "severe retaliation"
if they refuse to install government software that can spy on Internet
use by hotel guests coming to watch the summer Olympic games, a U.S.
lawmaker said Tuesday.
Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., produced a translated version of a document
from China's Public Security Bureau that requires hotels to use the
monitoring equipment.
"These hotels are justifiably outraged by this order, which puts them in
the awkward position of having to craft pop-up messages explaining to
their customers that their Web history, communications, searches and key
strokes are being spied on by the Chinese government," Brownback said at
a news conference.
A spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately
respond to a request for comment.
Brownback said several international hotel chains confirmed receiving
the order from China's Public Security Bureau. The hotels are in a bind,
he said, because they don't want to comply with the order, but also
don't want to jeopardize their investment of millions of dollars to
expand their businesses in China. The hotel chains that forwarded the
order to Brownback are declining to reveal their identities for fear of
reprisal.
Earlier this year, the U.S. State Department issued a fact sheet warning
travelers attending the Olympic games that "they have no reasonable
expectation of privacy in public or private locations" in China.
"All hotel rooms and offices are considered to be subject to on-site or
remote technical monitoring at all times," the agency states.
The Public Security Bureau order threatens that failure to comply could
result in financial penalties, suspending access to the Internet or the
loss of a license to operate a hotel in China.
"If you were a human rights advocate, if you're a journalist, you're in
room 1251 of a hotel, anything that you use, sending out over the
Internet is monitored in real time by the Chinese Public Security
bureau," Brownback said. "That's not right. It's not in the Olympic
spirit."
Brownback and other lawmakers have repeatedly denounced China's record
of human rights abuses and asked President Bush not to attend the
Olympic opening ceremonies in Beijing.
Brownback was introducing a resolution in the Senate on Tuesday that
urges China to reverse its actions.
Some Web Sites Blocked at China Olympic Press Center
Journalists connecting to the Internet at the Beijing International
Media Center (BIMC) are discovering that despite promises of an open
reporting environment, China is still blocking access to some Web sites.
"I was at the BIMC this morning and I was unable to access Amnesty
[International]'s site and a couple of others, including a Falun Gong
site and Human Rights Watch," said Jonathan Watts, president of the
Foreign Correspondents Club of China (FCCC) and a correspondent for U.K.
newspaper The Guardian.
"These Internet controls are contrary to the host's promises of a free
reporting environment, and they also contradict IOC assurances that
reporters who come to Beijing will be able to do their job just as they
were able to do so at previous Olympics. How can this be the case when
they are unable to access many sites that are critical of the
authorities," Watts said in an interview.
"Unfortunately this is an all too familiar experience for foreign
journalists and other Internet users in China. Now thousands of visiting
reporters will get to see first-hand the reality of Internet controls in
China," he said.
Another reporter, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that
those three sites were blocked, along with the Chinese-language sites
for the Voice of America and the British Broadcasting Corp., and Hong
Kong-based newspaper Apple Daily.
These observations confirm earlier reports that some sites were blocked
at the BIMC, the headquarters for accredited journalists for the Beijing
Olympics, which begin August 8. IDG News Service in Beijing achieved the
same results from a standard home Internet connection in another part of
Beijing.
A representative from China Netcom, the official provider of broadband
and other fixed-line telecommunications for the Olympics, including the
BIMC, could not immediately be reached for comment.
China issued new regulations for foreign reporters on January 1, 2007,
designed to create greater press freedom during the run-up to the
Olympics. However, the FCCC said that between that date and July 8, it
had logged 259 incidents of interference with reporting activities of
foreign journalists in China.
In April, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) received assurances
from the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad
(BOCOG) that it would allow unfettered Internet access. "We were
satisfied by the assurances we received across a number of areas-- media
service levels, including Internet access, brand protection,
environmental contingency plans for improved air quality, and the live
broadcast feed," IOC Coordination Commission Chairman Hein Verbruggen
said at the time.
China routinely blocks access to Web sites it deems inappropriate,
including those containing pornography, violence, magic and superstition
themes, and especially anti-government material, such as those critical
of the Chinese Communist Party or supporting independence for Taiwan,
Tibet, or Xinjiang.
China Will Censor Internet During Olympic Games
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Chinese government
confirmed Wednesday what free-speech advocates loathe to hear: Reporters
covering the Olympic Games won't be able to access Web sites that China
deems politically sensitive.
Internet censorship is standard for China's citizens, but China vowed
seven years ago to allow journalists unfettered access during the
Olympics. The backpedaling means about 20,000 reporters and technicians
that will flood Beijing next week for the Olympic Games will be working
with a handicap.
"The Olympic committee should have understood in the first place that
censorship is a core strategy the Chinese government uses to maintain
control. The IOC was naive to think China would relinquish that control,
if only for a week," said Leslie Harris, president and CEO of the Center
for Democracy and Technology. "It is very disappointing. I am as
disappointed in the IOC as I am in China."
Reporters Without Borders is condemning the IOC's acceptance of Chinese
authorities' decision to block access to certain Web sites at the
Olympic Games media center in Beijing. The organization also condemns
the IOC's inability to prevent this situation.
"Coming just nine days before the opening ceremony, this is yet another
provocation by the Chinese authorities. This situation increases our
concern that there will be many cases of censorship during the games,"
the organization said. "We condemn the IOC's failure to do anything
about this, and we are more than skeptical about its ability to 'ensure'
that the media are able to report freely."
Sun Weide, the chief spokesperson for the Beijing Organizing Committee
for the Olympic Games, said the authorities would only guarantee
"sufficient" Internet access for accredited media.
Beyond the Internet censorship, Chinese authorities have broken their
promise to improve the country's human-rights situation and betrayed the
core values of the Olympics, according to a new Amnesty International
report.
In the run-up to the Olympics, Chinese authorities have locked up, put
under house arrest, and forcibly removed individuals they believe may
threaten the image of stability and harmony they want to present to the
world, the group said.
"By continuing to persecute and punish those who speak out for human
rights, the Chinese authorities have lost sight of the promises they
made when they were granted the games seven years ago," said Roseann
Rife, Asia-Pacific deputy director of Amnesty International.
"The Chinese authorities are tarnishing the legacy of the games," Rife
said. "They must release all imprisoned peaceful activists, allow
foreign and national journalists to report freely, and make further
progress toward the elimination of the death penalty."
As Harris sees it, the world has not put adequate pressure on China
because so many nations want to be involved with the economic engine
that China has become. China is throwing its human-rights record in the
face of international guests who will experience what it's like to try
to communicate inside China, she said.
"I am hopeful that there will be some strong sentiments expressed by
democratic countries. If that does not happen at this important moment,
we will lose a critical opportunity to move China in a different
direction," Harris said. "Until and unless the democratic world makes
this a real issue and understands the connection between Internet
freedom and the realization of human rights more broadly, China has no
reason to back down."
China Lifts Some Internet Restrictions in Face of Pressure
China is once again agreeing to lift restrictions on Internet usage -
at least on some sites - for journalists covering the Olympic Games.
Human-rights group Amnesty International reports that its site is
accessible, but other politically sensitive sites are still blocked. The
Chinese government did not issue a formal statement explaining its
decision to open up access, and did not say whether such access is
permanent.
"Following discussions the IOC has held with the organizers of the
Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on the difficulties experienced this week in
accessing some Web sites, the IOC is pleased to see that the issues are
quickly being resolved," the International Olympic Committee said. "The
media should be seeing a noticeable difference in accessibility to Web
sites that they need to report on the Olympic Games."
Internet censorship is standard for China's citizens, but China vowed
seven years ago to allow journalists unfettered access during the
Olympics. On Wednesday, the IOC and the Chinese government confirmed
that reporters covering the Olympic Games would not be able to access
sites China deems politically sensitive.
The IOC and China both came under fire. On Friday, the IOC began to try
to repair the damage.
"The IOC has always encouraged the Beijing 2008 organizers to provide
media with the fullest access possible to report on the games, including
access to the Internet, knowing this is important for them to do their
job," the organization said. "This access has always been assured by
BOCOG [the Beijing Olympic organizing committee] and the Chinese
authorities, and the IOC is pleased to see these are assurances being
upheld."
Reporters Without Borders reported that its Web site, which has been
blocked in China since 2003, can now be accessed at the Olympic press
center in Beijing and in other parts of the capital, and in Shanghai.
"This is good news, of course, but it continues to be unacceptable that
the Chinese government can decide, according to its mood, which Web
sites are censored and which are accessible," Reporters Without Borders
said. "And how long will these sites be available to the 253 million
Chinese Internet users, who continue to be subject to massive online
censorship?"
Reporters Without Borders also noted that the partial lifting of the
censorship demonstrates the Chinese government is not completely
insensitive to pressure. Leslie Harris, president and CEO of the Center
for Democracy and Technology, agreed. The world, she said, needs to keep
the pressure on.
"I have no expectation that China is going to fully open up its
firewall, but this is an indication that if the world pays serious
attention to this issue on a regular basis, and governments incorporate
this issue into their trade negotiations and human-rights statements, we
might be able to make some progress," Harris said. "We just need to
focus on this beyond the Olympics. We can't just leave the Chinese
people behind."
DHS Stays Mum on New 'Cyber Security' Center
The Bush administration's newly created National Cyber Security Center
remains shrouded in secrecy, with officials refusing to release
information about its budget, what contractors will run it, and how its
mission relates to Internet surveillance.
In correspondence with the U.S. Senate posted on Thursday, the Bush
administration said it would not provide that information publicly. An
18-page, partially redacted letter from DHS said that disclosure could
affect "the conduct of federal programs, or other programs or operations
essential to the interests of our nation."
The censored letter - a nonredacted, "For Official Use Only" version was
provided to senators - came in response to queries from the top
Democratic and Republican members of the Senate's Homeland Security
committee.
Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, indicated that the nonredacted
version satisfied her, at least for now. "Increased information sharing
will benefit the department, Congress and the public, as well as the
private-sector, which controls the vast majority of the nation's cyber
infrastructure," Collins said in e-mail to CNET News. "It is my hope
that the release of this information will assist in improving security
in both the public and private sectors."
Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut who caucuses with
Democrats, did not respond to our queries on Thursday.
In March, DHS announced that Rod Beckstrom, 47, would be appointed as
director of the National Cyber Security Center. Secretary Michael
Chertoff said at the time that Beckstrom would "implement cyber security
strategies in a cohesive way" and contribute to the "protection of
federal networks and the security of our homeland."
Oddly, DHS seemed to change its mind about whether even the mere
existence of the National Cyber Security Center was classified or not.
"On March 20th, you announced that Rod Beckstrom would be the director
of the new National Cyber Security Center within DHS," Lieberman and
Collins said in a letter (PDF) to DHS in May. "Prior to this
announcement, committee staff had been instructed that the existence of
the NCSC was itself classified."
Their letter to DHS in May asked for a detailed account of the
department's role in the Comprehensive National Cyber Security
Initiative, noting a lack of information from the department, in spite
of the fact that the administration had claimed that cybersecurity was
one of Chertoff's "top four priorities for '08."
The DHS has requested an additional $83 million for National Cyber
Security Center for fiscal year 2009 (which begins in October 2009);
including the $115 million awarded for the initiative in 2008, that
would increase its budget by $200 million, tripling the amount the DHS
has spent on cyber security since 2007.
The department's new National Cyber Security Center is taking the lead
on the CNCI, a "multi-agency, multi-year plan to secure the federal
government's cyber networks" that was established in January by a
directive signed by President Bush. In the letter made public on
Thursday, DHS described the center as a way to "coordinate and integrate
information necessary to help secure U.S. cyber networks and systems and
help foster collaboration among federal cyber groups," and serve as a
"single location for all-source situational awareness about cyber
activity and security status of the U.S. networks and systems."
Though just made public Thursday, the letter was initially sent to the
senators on June 2. The subsequent redacted version eliminated the
department's response to questions such as: "Why was the determination
made that the contract will be for a 10-month period?" and "How will the
DHS provide appropriate oversight to ensure that the contractors support
efforts do not intrude on inherently governmental functions?"
One question left unanswered is how the National Cyber Security Center
will interact with DHS's so-called Einstein program, which is designed
to monitor Internet mischief and network disruptions aimed at federal
agencies. (Not much about Einstein is public, but a privacy impact
assessment offers some details.)
A Homeland Security spokeswoman told us in April that the primary focus
of Einstein at the time was protecting federal-government networks - not
monitoring the privately operated Internet, a move that would raise
unique legal, technical, and privacy challenges.
The DHS letter refused to divulge any information about Einstein. It
said: "Technological upgrades and planning activities are classified.
DHS will be happy to provide the committee with a briefing in the
appropriate (classified) setting."
U.S. Agents Can Seize Travelers' Laptops
U.S. federal agents have been given new powers to seize travelers'
laptops and other electronic devices at the border and hold them for
unspecified periods the Washington Post reported on Friday.
Under recently disclosed Department of Homeland Security policies, such
seizures may be carried out without suspicion of wrongdoing, the
newspaper said, quoting policies issued on July 16 by two DHS agencies.
Agents are empowered to share the contents of seized computers with
other agencies and private entities for data decryption and other
reasons, the newspaper said.
DHS officials said the policies applied to anyone entering the country,
including U.S. citizens, and were needed to prevent terrorism.
The measures have long been in place but were only disclosed in July,
under pressure from civil liberties and business travel groups acting on
reports that increasing numbers of international travelers had had their
laptops, cellphones and other digital devices removed and examined.
The policies cover hard drives, flash drives, cell phones, iPods,
pagers, beepers, and video and audio tapes - as well as books,
pamphlets and other written materials, the report said.
The policies require federal agents to take measures to protect business
information and attorney-client privileged material. They stipulate that
any copies of the data must be destroyed when a review is completed and
no probable cause exists to keep the information.
Web-to-mail Service Gets Around Work Site Bans
If your company blocks your favorite blog and you absolutely can't wait
to read the latest post (and you don't
have a smartphone capable of
browsing), then a new site has a free solution for you.
Send WebToMail an e-mail (at send@webtomail.co.cc) with a URL as the
subject, and a few minutes later you'll receive an HTML e-mail of that
page. The e-mail won't look the same as the page in a browser, as
it won't arrange menus and site navigation properly, but it includes
images and works fine to read the content on the page.
It's both a sneaky and novel approach to getting around workplace site
blocking - and WebToMail is entirely up-front about its goal. The first
line of text at the site reads "Are you at job and you can only check your
mails? This is your solution."
A whois lookup indicates that the co.cc domain is registered to someone
in South Korea. If you're curious about trying the service but
understandably leery about sending a site your e-mail address, try
signing up for a throwaway Gmail or Yahoo account. Unless, of course,
your workplace blocks those sites also.
As Killerstartups.com points out, if you want to view a link on the site
you requested, you have to send another request and wait another few
minutes, so this isn't a good option for any real surfing. I'd say it
would be best for keeping up with new entries on a blog or forum.
Now, if you're the party-pooper responsible for creating and maintaining
those site blocks and you want to close this particular loophole, simply
block incoming e-mail from webtomail.co.cc at your mail server.
Comcast, NetZero Agree To Block Internet Child Porn
Internet service providers (ISPs) Comcast Corp and United Online Inc's
NetZero have agreed to block access to child pornography, the New York
Attorney General's office said on Tuesday.
The announcement comes a week after New York Attorney General Andrew
Cuomo threatened to pursue legal action against Comcast Cable
Communications LLC if it did not agree to reforms.
Several other ISPs, such as Verizon Communications Inc and Sprint Nextel
Corp agreed in June to block Internet bulletin boards and websites
nationwide that disseminate child porn.
"I commend the companies for working with my office to aggressively
eradicate online child pornography and strongly urge all outstanding
Internet service providers across New York and the nation to get on
board," Cuomo said in a statement.
Other major ISPs that have signed on with Cuomo's initiatives include
Time Warner Inc's AOL unit, AT&T Inc and Time Warner Cable Inc.
The companies have agreed to completely block access to all child porn
news groups and said they will purge their servers of all child
pornography websites identified by the National Center for Missing &
Exploited Children.
United Online corporate counsel Brooke Squire said the company was
"dedicated to eradicating this serious problem."
=~=~=~=
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material herein is believed to be accurate at the time of publishing.
