NewsScan Daily, 20 September 2004 ("Above The Fold")

NewsScan Daily, 20 September 2004 ("Above The Fold")
***********************************************************
NewsScan Daily is underwritten by RLG, a world-class organization
making significant and sustained contributions to the effective
management and appropriate use of information technology. NSD is
written by John Gehl and Suzanne Douglas, [email protected].
***********************************************************

"ABOVE THE FOLD"
        Internet Attacks Jump Significantly This Year
        Sasser Creator Hired by Security Firm
        Music Industry Should Charge Less, Sell More
        Steal This Music
        Patch Deals Favor Big Business
        McCain Pushes for $1B to Speed Up Digital TV

FEATURES
        Flash Card
        Honorary Subscriber: Commodore Matthew Perry

INTERNET ATTACKS JUMP SIGNIFICANTLY THIS YEAR
      The semiannual Internet Security Threat Report, which is based on 
monitoring by computer security firm Symantec, indicates that in the first 
six months of 2004 there were at least 1,237 newly discovered software 
vulnerabilities and almost 5,000 new Windows viruses and worms capable of 
compromising computer security. The numbers represent a dramatic increase 
over the same period in 2003. Even more troubling was the sharp rise in the 
number of "bot," or robot, networks, which comprise a large number of 
infected PCs that can then be used to distribute viruses, worms, spyware 
and spam to other computers. The survey notes that in the first half of 
2004, the number of monitored botnets rose from fewer than 2,000 to more 
than 30,000. The botnets, which range in size from 2,000 to 400,000 
"zombie" machines, are often "rented out" to commercial spammers who use 
them to distribute junk e-mail while concealing their identities. 
E-commerce was the industry most frequently targeted for attacks, 
accounting for 16% of the total, and report authors note that phishing 
scams are responsible for pushing up the numbers in that category. "We're 
seeing a professional hand in development that was pretty startling in 
terms of malicious code," says Alfred Huger, senior director of engineering 
for security response at Symantec. The report's findings mirror those of 
recent government-supported research. (New York Times 20 Sep 2004)
<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/20/technology/20secure.html>

SASSER CREATOR HIRED BY SECURITY FIRM
      A German teenager accused of creating the Sasser worm that infected 
millions of computers around the world is being trained as a security 
software programmer, the company that hired him said on Friday. 
Eighteen-year-old Sven Jaschan has been taken on by the Securepoint 
computer firm based in Lüneburg, in northern Germany, and is being trained 
to make firewalls to stop suspect files from entering computer systems. "He 
has a certain know-how in this field," a company spokesman said. Jaschan 
has been charged with computer sabotage, data manipulation and disruption 
of public systems for allegedly hatching the Sasser worm. (The Age 20 Sep 
2004) Rec'd from John Lamp, Deakin U.
<http://theage.com.au/articles/2004/09/20/1095532209897.html>

MUSIC INDUSTRY SHOULD CHARGE LESS, SELL MORE
      The music industry is fighting a losing battle, says Newsweek 
columnist Steven Levy, who says the RIAA's legal tactics make about as much 
sense as trying to sue a hurricane: "Technology generates its own form of 
nature, a set of conditions that enforce an artificial, yet equally 
unstoppable, reality… For the longest time, the labels viewed digital music 
as something that could hurt them with hurricane force but made no efforts 
to adjust to this new reality, let alone exploit it." Levy notes that Real 
Networks' experiment with sharply cutting prices for digital music -- to 49 
cents per song -- was a losing proposition because they still owed 70 cents 
in royalties for each song sold. But what's impressive is that Real sold 
six times as much music and took in three times as much money as when they 
had prices pegged at the industry's 99-cent standard. Levy says that if 
labels and artists would agree to smaller royalties, everyone could get 
richer quicker: "Behind Door One is the money you can make by selling a 
million copies of a tune. Behind the other door is the money to be reaped 
by selling 6 million copies at half the price. Do the math, guys!" Not only 
that, but lowering prices significantly might just stamp out the scourge of 
pirated music -- and that's what the labels say they want, right? (Newsweek 
27 Sep 2004)
<http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6037780/site/newsweek/>

STEAL THIS MUSIC
      The editors of Wired magazine have compiled a CD whose contents are 
meant to be shared, copied, remixed and sampled in an experiment aimed at 
supporting the Creative Commons concept of intellectual property licensing. 
About 750,000 copies of "The Wired CD: Rip. Sample. Mash. Share" will be 
mailed along with Wired's November issue and the disc will also be 
distributed to audience members at a benefit concert headlined by David 
Byrne, whose "My Fair Lady" appears on the CD. Other artists include the 
Beastie Boys, Zap Mama and Gilberto Gil. "The artists were relatively easy 
to get on board," says Wired editor-in-chief Chris Anderson. "The labels 
have different priorities. Some of them, once briefed, got it, and some of 
them never really saw the advantages." Anderson says he approached 50-60 
artists in order to come up with the 16 featured on the CD. (Wall Street 
Journal 20 Sep 2004)
<http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB109563044896921709,00.html> (sub req'd)

PATCH DEALS FAVOR BIG BUSINESS
      Microsoft has quietly begun giving some of its largest customers 
early warning of what types of security patches it will be releasing. Under 
the free program, some customers are receiving three business days' notice 
as to how many security fixes Microsoft plans to release in its regular 
monthly bulletins, and which Microsoft products are affected. Customers 
also can learn how severe a threat the flaws pose several days before the 
general public gets that information. Microsoft began testing the program 
last year, and expanded it in April. It has not been widely publicized, and 
Microsoft has been offering the service to some customers individually 
through sales representatives. (The Australian 17 Sep 2004) Rec'd from John 
Lamp, Deakin U.
<http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,10792467%5E15306%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html>

MCCAIN PUSHES FOR $1B TO SPEED UP DIGITAL TV
      U.S. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain has proposed 
setting up a $1-billion government fund that would assist consumers who 
hang onto their analog television sets past the deadline for switching all 
analog TV signals to digital format. "Consumers who rely on over-the-air 
television, particularly those of limited economic means, should be 
assisted," according to the draft proposal. Current law requires 
broadcasters to give up their analog airwaves by 2007, or when 85% of the 
country can receive the new digital signals, whichever comes later. Most 
people are predicting the timeline could be another decade or more. 
Meanwhile, Congress is anxious to regain the spectrum currently used for 
analog signals so that it can auction it for wireless communications use. 
McCain has proposed that the $1 billion in funding be taken out of the 
auction proceeds. (Reuters/CNet 20 Sep 2004)
<http://news.com.com/McCain+seeks+funds+to+speed+digital-TV+shift/2100-1041_3-5373984.html>

*****

FLASH CARD
      "Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will 
flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own 
freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off 
like autumn leaves."  (John Muir)

HONORARY SUBSCRIBER: COMMODORE MATTHEW PERRY
      Today's Honorary Subscriber is the U.S. naval officer Matthew 
Calbraith Perry (1794-1858), who gained lasting fame as the head of the 
American naval expedition that forced Japan in 1853-54 to enter into trade 
and diplomatic relations with the West after more than two centuries of 
isolation.
      In March 1852 President Millard Fillmore sent Perry with a small 
naval force to Japan with the mission of establishing diplomatic relations. 
The traditionally isolationist Japanese government rebuffed Perry, who 
reported back to the president that only a resolute show of force would 
open the Japanese shogunate to diplomatic negotiations. This cleared the 
way for Perry to enter the fortified harbor of Uraga with two frigates and 
two sailing vessels, and to refuse Japanese orders to leave their waters. 
Instead, Perry, calling himself an "admiral" (although his rank at the time 
was the honorary one of commodore), informed the Japanese authorities that 
if they did not delegate a suitable person to receive the diplomatic 
documents in his possession, he would deliver them by force. After some 
diplomatic delay, the Japanese accepted the documents requesting a treaty 
with the United States.
      The Japanese expected to stall for time, while they improved their 
defenses, but were foiled by Perry when in February 1854 he surprised them 
by entering Tokyo Bay with a fleet of nine warships. Within a month he 
succeeded in concluding a treaty that assured better treatment of 
shipwrecked seamen, permitted U.S. ships to obtain fuel and supplies, 
arranged for a U.S. consul to reside at Shimoda, and opened the way for 
further U.S. trading privileges. Perry's success set in motion Japan's 
acceptance of similar treaties with other Western nations and ultimately to 
its willingness to join the modern community of nations.
      Perry was born in South Kingston, Rhode Island. He was the younger 
brother of Oliver Hazard Perry, who gained fame during the War of 1812 for 
his report of the defeat of an entire British naval squadron on Lake Erie 
with the words: "We have met the enemy and they are ours." Matthew Perry 
also served in the War of 1812, having been commissioned a midshipman in 1809.
      During the 1830s he devised an apprentice-training system for 
enlisted men and organized the first corps of naval engineers. Second in 
command at the New York navy yard, he supervised the building of the 
innovative steam frigates Missouri and Mississippi. Made a captain in 1837, 
he commanded the first American steam warship, the USS Fulton. From 1843 to 
1846 he led a naval squadron to Africa to help suppress the slave trade and 
establish Liberia as a refuge for free American blacks.
      Beginning in 1847 he commanded the Home Squadron during the final 
years of the Mexican War. Following four years of shore duty in New York, 
he sailed for Japan aboard the USS Mississippi in 1852 to undertake his 
history-making expeditions to Japan. His report of the expeditions was 
published as "Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the 
China Seas and Japan."

[See 
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1557508127/newsscancom/ref=nosim> 
for a biography of Perry by John H. Schroeder -- or look for it in your 
favorite library. Note: We donate all revenue from our book and media 
recommendations to adult literacy programs.]

SUBSCRIPTION INFO FOR NEWSSCAN DAILY:
       To subscribe or unsubscribe to the text, html, or handheld versions 
of NewsScan Daily, send the appropriate subscribe or unsubscribe messages 
(i.e., with the word 'subscribe' or 'unsubscribe' in the subject line) to 
the addresses shown below:
       Text version: Send message to [email protected]
       HTML version: Send mail to [email protected]
       NewsScan-To-Go: <http://www.newsscan.com/handheld/current.html>

TELL YOUR FRIENDS ABOUT NEWSSCAN DAILY! Send them our little frog: 
<http://www.newsscan.com/newsscan/newscup.html

***********************************************************
Please visit the site of RLG, the great organization that makes NewsScan 
Daily possible. (RLG has no influence over, nor any responsibility for, our 
editorial content.) Created in 1974 as the Research Libraries Group, RLG is 
a not-for-profit membership corporation of more than 160 universities, 
national libraries, archives, museums -- and other institutions with 
remarkable collections for research and learning. Its major initiatives are 
long-term retention of digital materials, resource sharing among member 
institutions, and improvement of researcher access to primary source 
material. RLG supplies online research resources worldwide. Visit RLG at 
http://www.rlg.org.

*********

To subscribe or unsubscribe to the TEXT version of NewsScan Daily, send an 
e-mail message to [email protected] with 'subscribe' or 'unsubscribe' 
in the subject line. To subscribe or unsubscribe to the HTML version of 
NewsScan Daily, send mail to [email protected], with the word 
'subscribe' or 'unsubscribe' as the subject. (Subscribing to the HTML 
version won't automatically unsubscribe you from the text version; please 
unsubscribe yourself as explained above.) PLEASE NOTE: To unsubscribe from 
an account to which you no longer have access, send mail to at 
[email protected].

*********

We call our news section "Above The Fold" to honor the tradition of the 
great "broadsheet" newspapers in which editors must decide which news 
stories are of such importance that they should be placed "above the fold" 
on the front page. The NewsScan Credo: Be informative, have fun, and get to 
the point! See http://www.newsscan.com/, and send us mail: John Gehl 
([email protected]) and Suzanne Douglas ([email protected]), or call 
770-704-7517.

*********

Get a free 6-week trial subscription to Innovation Weekly, an executive 
summary of trends, strategies and innovations in business and technology. 
Send mail to [email protected] with the word 'subscribe' in the 
subject line.

What customized news and information services do you need for your company? 
Get in touch with us at [email protected] or call 770-704-7517 to talk 
over the possibilities.

Copyright 2004. NewsScan Daily (R) is a publication of NewsScan Inc.
***********************************************************