NewsScan Daily, 28 Jul 2003 ("Above The Fold")

NewsScan Daily, 28 Jul 2003 ("Above The Fold")
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"ABOVE THE FOLD"
       EFF Sets Up Database of RIAA Subpoena Targets
       Network Solutions May Be Liable for Sex.Com Switch
       Wireless Sector Attracts New Players
       The Costs of Spam (Not Including Blood Pressure Meds)
       The Second-Order Costs of Terrorism
       VHS Making the Long Goodbye

FEATURES
       Flash Card
       Honorary Subscriber: Sir Thomas Elyot

EFF SETS UP DATABASE OF RIAA SUBPOENA TARGETS
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has stepped right into the middle of the
file-swapping fray, offering potential targets of the subpoenas recently
issued by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) a way to
check and see if they're on the list. "We hope that the EFF's subpoena
database will give people some peace of mind and the information they need
to challenge these subpoenas and protect their privacy," says EFF senior
counsel Fred Von Lohmann. The database allows people to check their
file-sharing "handle" (e.g., hottdude123) against a list of subpoenas
issued. If they see their name, they can access an electronic copy of the
subpoena, which includes the name of their ISP, a list of songs pirated and
the Internet address of the user. By the end of last week, nearly 900
subpoenas had been issued, with 75 additional being added every day. The
subpoenas are intended to force the ISPs to divulge the identity of the
alleged file-swappers and the RIAA is threatening lawsuits, claiming damages
ranging from $750 to $150,000. "The recording industry continues its futile
crusade to sue thousands of the more than 60 million people who use
file-sharing software in the U.S.," says Von Lohmann. The EFF has teamed
with the U.S. Internet Industry Association to set up a Web site called
subpoenadefense.org, which provides information on lawyers and other
resources for those facing legal action. (BBC News 28 Jul 2003)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3102261.stm#graphic
[For an interesting overview of the legal issues involved in the RIAA's
battle against file-swappers, see "Copying is Theft -- And Other Legal
Myths" by Mark Rasch, former head of the U.S. Justice Department's computer
crime unit, 28 Jul 2003, http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/32004.html]

NETWORK SOLUTIONS MAY BE LIABLE FOR SEX.COM SWITCH
A U.S. appellate court has ruled that Web registry Network Solutions may be
liable for damages for its part in transferring the domain name "sex.com"
from its rightful owner, Gary Kremen, to convicted forger Stephen Michael
Cohen. In his ruling, Judge Alex Kozinski said that domain names should be
treated as property, despite their virtual nature, comparing them to "a plot
of land." "Exposing Network Solutions to liability when it gives away a
registrant's domain name on the basis of a forged letter is no different
from holding a corporation liable when it gives away someone's shares under
the same circumstances. The common law does not stand idle while people give
away the property of others," wrote Kozinski, who returned the case to the
U.S. District Court in San Jose to be tried again. "This was a major
victory, no doubt about it," said Kremen, who won a $65 million judgment
against Cohen, but has been unable to collect because Cohen has fled the
country. The case, which may garner landmark status for equating domain
names with tangible property, likely will be retried within a year. (CNet
News.com 25 Jul 2003) http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-5055771.html

WIRELESS SECTOR ATTRACTS NEW PLAYERS
The U.S. wireless industry is getting more crowded as the potentially
lucrative field lures outsiders into the mix. Walt Disney is in early
discussions with several wireless firms and handset makers to offer cell
phone services under its own brand names, including ESPN. Disney is said to
be particularly interested in the newest cell phone models that enable users
to send video and audio clips. Meanwhile, Qwest is working on a deal with
Sprint PCS that would Qwest to offer its customers service over Sprint's
network. These latest deals are part of the trend toward "virtual wireless
networks" that started last year when Sprint and Virgin Group launched a
joint venture called Virgin Mobile USA, which targets the youth market. The
service, which runs over Sprint's network, boasts about 500,000 subscribers.
Virgin runs a similar operation in the UK, leasing space on Deutsche
Telekom's T-Mobile network. And Tesco, a giant UK supermarket chain, has
teamed up with British wireless operator mmO2 to create Tesco Mobile, a
50-50 joint venture to offer Tesco-branded cell phone service. (Wall Street
Journal 28 Jul 2003)
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB105914875491582800,00.html (sub req'd)\

THE COSTS OF SPAM (NOT INCLUDING BLOOD PRESSURE MEDS)
Spam costs senders almost nothing, but takes a heavy toll on those who
receive it. Ferris Research says the cost of spam is $10 billion in the
U.S.; Nucleus Research pegs the figure at $87 billion. Is the problem being
overblown?  Wharton School marketing professor Peter S. Fader says: "I am
deeply skeptical that these crude top-down methods are accurate. Hitting the
delete key is far more efficient than carrying your physical mail from the
mailbox over to the trash can." And he even sees an upside: "Spam, although
it is a bad thing per se, is fostering the growth of the e-mail
infrastructure." But that new infrastructure also comes with a price: Ferris
Research says corporations will spend $120 million this year on antispam
systems, and The Radicati Group claims the correct figure is closer to $635
million. Ah, what to do, what to do? America Online now discards, each day,
nearly 2 billion e-mail messages flagged as spam -- but then has to contend
with complaints [including NewsScan] about "false positives" (mail falsely
treated as spam). Ferris Research says: "We think companies lose $3 billion
dealing with false positives." (New York Times 28 Jul 2003)
http://partners.nytimes.com/2003/07/28/technology/28SPAM.html

THE SECOND-ORDER COSTS OF TERRORISM
Cisco and other high-tech companies are faced now with the problem of
monitoring charitable contributions made on behalf of their employees, to
make sure the money isn't being sent to terrorist organizations. Taylor
Griffin of the U.S. Treasury Department says: "It's the reality of a
post-Sept. 11th world. Glossy brochures say they are funding orphans and
people in need. But money is actually going to fund suicide bombings that
kill innocents." But Janne Gallagher of the Council on Foundations complains
that "adding a lot of other questions to due diligence increases the cost of
making each grant," and Brian Lehnen of the Village Enerprise Fund, which
has provided more than 100,000 small grants and loans to East African
business startups, asks hypothetically: "Let's say one of them decides to be
a terrorist... Suddenly, we support terrorism. It's on the minds of
foundations and other deep-pocket organizations that fund groups overseas
and don't know what they are liable for." (San Jose Mercury News 26 Jul
2003)
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/6390031.htm

VHS MAKING THE LONG GOODBYE
DVD now accounts for 70% of the overall home video market, whereas last year
the split between DVD and VHS was 50-50. But there are still almost 50
million U.S. homes with VHS players (and without DVD players), and Fox's
Steven Feldstein says: "It's not time to play taps for VHS... It will make a
graceful exit." Others, however, think the end is near, and Columbia TriStar
president Benjamin Feingold predicts, "I suspect in a year and a half it
will be tough to find (movies on tape)." VCR sales are down 46% in the first
six months this year compared with the same period in 2002, according to the
Consumer Electronics Association. (USA Today 27 Jul 2003)
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2003-07-27-vhs_x.htm

*****

FLASH CARD
     "You never know what is enough unless you know what is more than
enough." (William  Blake)

HONORARY SUBSCRIBER: SIR THOMAS ELYOT
     Today's Honorary Subscriber is the English diplomat and humanist author
Sir Thomas Elyot (1490-1546), who is remembered today for his sensible and
insightful treatise on the education of statesmen entitled "The Book Named
the Governor." 
     Elyot also wrote such works as "The Castle of Health," a hygienic
manual; the first Latin-English dictionary; two dialogues on the problem of
counsel; translations from Plutarch, Isocrates, Cyprian, and Pico della
Mirandola; and a biography of Alexander Severus.
     Born the son of a judge in the King's service, he received an excellent
education, first at home, then in the Middle Temple Court School, and later
at Oxford, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts and a Civil Law degree.
Important in his early development was his close association with Thomas
More -- from whom he acquired grounding in the classical humanistic studies
(that era's "New Learning," which had not yet fully entered the college
curriculum. 
     At More's home Elyot learned Greek and medicine from Thomas Linacre,
met such distinguished scholars as Erasmus, Colet, Vives and Lily, and had
his portrait drawn by Hans Holbein. He also met there Margaret Barrow, a
fellow student who would later become his wife.
     In 1511 Elyot's father took him on as his court clerk, a position he
held until 1528, when (having come to the attention of Cardinal Wolsey) he
was made clerk of the Privy Council. Wolsey also conferred a knighthood on
Elyot and settled a contested family inheritance in his favor.
Unfortunately, Wolsey soon fell from power, and Elyot never received the
monies due from the settlement.
     In 1531 King Henry VIII commissioned Elyot to attend the court of
Charles V to induce the emperor to take a more favorable view of Henry's
projected divorce from Catherine of Aragon. The appointment was probably due
to the popular acclaim accorded "The Book of the Governor," which had just
been published with a flattering dedication to the King.
     Elyot's ambassadorship proved ruinously expensive, and on his return he
sought to be excused from further government service for want of funds. The
request was not granted. Instead, the Chancellor, Thomas Cromwell, continued
to employ him on various assignments, one of which kept him out of the
country, preventing him from hearing about the execution of his mentor,
Thomas More. After serving in a number of minor posts, Elyot spent his final
years representing the borough of Cambridge in parliament. He made his
residence at Cambridgeshire, in the Carleton manor that he had purchased
from Cromwell and that became his burial site when he died in 1546.

See 
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0686173961/newsscancom/ref=nos
im for Thomas Elyot's "Of the Knowledge Which Maketh a Wise Man" -- or look
for it in your favorite library. (We donate all revenue from our book
recommendations to adult literacy programs.)

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