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

NewsScan Daily, 28 August 2003 ("Above The Fold")
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"ABOVE THE FOLD"
        Earthlink Sues Spammers
        ISPs to Start Scanning Attachments
        RSA Security's Plans for RFID Blocking Technology
        The RIAA Hashes It Out
        California Gets New Privacy Law
        Update on the Digital Divide

FEATURES
        Flash Card
        Worth Thinking About: Teachers
        Modern Life: A Turtle Story (By Dr. Mike Litrel)

EARTHLINK SUES SPAMMERS
EarthLink, the third largest U.S. Internet service provider, has sued 100 
spammers located mostly in Alabama and Canada, alleging they used stolen 
credit cards, identity theft and banking fraud to pay for Internet accounts 
used to send out more than 250 million junk e-mails. The spammers eluded 
detection for about six months by creating bogus accounts and leasing phone 
lines that would automatically connect to EarthLink, even if the bogus 
users were kicked off. "Our investigation has been ongoing for a number of 
months, and this is a very tech-savvy spam ring which has made this a 
particularly challenging investigation," says Karen Cashion, lead counsel 
for EarthLink's lawsuit. The spam messages included ads for herbal 
impotence treatments, mortgage loans and fake company Web sites used for 
"phishing" personal and financial information from unsuspecting victims. 
EarthLink says it is still working to identify each spammer (the lawsuit 
lists the Alabama culprits as John Does 1-25), but plans to contact law 
enforcement officials once it can finger individuals. (AP 27 Aug 2003)
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20030827/D7T6H6483.html

ISPs TO START SCANNING ATTACHMENTS
Several large U.S. Internet service providers, including Cox 
Communications, EarthLink and BellSouth, say they are preparing to scan all 
e-mail attachments for computer viruses before they forward them on to 
subscribers' accounts. The policy change comes on the heels of a month of 
e-mail problems caused by the Sobig and Blaster worms, resulting in 
consumer demand for better security measures on ISP servers. "Virus 
filtering is quickly becoming one of the check marks for the big ISPs," 
says Todd Dean, director of data operations and support for Cox. However, 
the cost of filtering e-mail can be daunting, says Forrester Research 
analyst Michael Rasmussen. "With ISPs of those sizes, you're easily looking 
at ongoing costs of several million dollars -- not just the cost of 
purchasing the technology, but making it work with your existing systems, 
administrative costs and increased support costs associated with customers 
who are confused about what to do when their ISP tells them they have an 
e-mail with a virus inside." Several leading ISPs already scan mail, 
including AOL, Microsoft Network, Comcast, Covad and AOL Time Warner's 
RoadRunner network, forestalling the possibility of unwary subscribers 
becoming conduits for further viral infection. "Users should not be asked 
to protect themselves any more than they should be asked to go buy seat 
belts and airbags and install them in their own cars," says Alan Paller, 
research director for the SANS Institute, a security training facility. 
"That's got to come with their service, even if it comes with an added 
price." (Washington Post 28 Aug 2003)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56067-2003Aug27.html

RSA SECURITY's PLANS FOR RFID BLOCKING TECHNOLOGY
RSA Security has developed a blocking technique that disrupts the 
transmission of information contained in RFID tags and prohibits data 
collection. The technique is still in the drawing board stage, but the 
company plans to make prototype chips and see if any manufacturing groups 
are interested in making the processors, according to chief RSA researcher 
Ari Juels. Juels says the RSA technology would enable the RFID tags to be 
used, but that the blocking feature would allay the privacy concerns that 
have derailed recent deployment plans. "This is not meant to be a hostile 
tool. It balances consumer privacy and retail use in a profitable way. Tags 
are too useful to completely disable them." (CNet News.com 27 Aug 2003)
http://news.com.com/2100-1039-5068910.html

THE RIAA HASHES IT OUT
How is the RIAA tracking down music file-swappers? (RIAA is the Recording 
Industry Association of America, a music-industry trade association.) It 
uses a library of digital fingerprints (or "hashes") that uniquely identify 
MP3 music files traded as far back as May 2000, and compares the hashes of 
music files on a person's computer against those in the library. Finding 
MP3 music files that precisely match copies that have been traded online 
provides evidence that a person may have participated in file-sharing 
services. One lawyer for a person already charged with illegal 
file-swapping protests: "You cannot bypass people's constitutional rights 
to privacy, due process and anonymous association to identify an alleged 
infringer." (AP/San Jose Mercury News 27 Aug 2003)
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/6633326.htm

CALIFORNIA GETS NEW PRIVACY LAW
California has just passed privacy legislation aimed at preventing banks, 
insurance companies and other institutions from sharing their personal 
information, and Gov. Gray Davis said: "Most Californians are stunned to 
learn that financial corporations trade their names for money. That is 
wrong, and when I sign this bill, that practice will stop." The law will 
require permission from a customer before financial institutions share any 
information on that customer with an unaffiliated company or an affiliated 
firm in a different line of business. (AP/USA Today 28 Aug 2003)
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2003-08-28-davis-privacy-bill_x 
htm

UPDATE ON THE DIGITAL DIVIDE
A study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project reports that in the 
Washington, D.C. area, African Americans make up a higher proportion of 
Internet users than in any other part of the country. Tom Spooner, the 
principal author of the study, explains:  "You have a lot of highly 
educated, well-off African Americans living here and those two factors -- 
wealth and education -- are the primary drivers of Internet use." One out 
of four African Americans in the Washington area holds a college degree, 
though only 42% of blacks in the District and its suburbs are Internet 
users (compared with 63% of white residents). Janet Latham, educational 
director of a nonprofit organization for training underemployed adults, 
says: "Anybody's crazy if they don't think there is a digital divide. I 
think there are more opportunities around than there were. But until you 
have computers in people's homes, I don't think you're going to close the 
digital divide. I think it's going to be like the difference between having 
a bathroom in your home or not having a bathroom in your home." Celia 
Najera-DiNicola, of a group called Hispanics in Information Technology & 
Telecommunications, says of the digital divide: "I think it's not widening, 
but it's still there." (Washington Post 28 Aug 2003)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56643-2003Aug27.html

*****

FLASH CARD
      "Perpetual devotion to what a man calls his business, is only to be 
sustained by perpetual neglect of many other things." (Robert Louis Stevenson)

WORTH THINKING ABOUT: TEACHERS
      Well-known columnist Thomas L. Friedman pays this tribute to the 
teacher who set him on the path to his successful career in journalism.
      "Someone who made the most important difference in my life died last 
year -- my high school journalism teacher, Hattie M. Steinberg. Hattie was 
a woman who believed that the secret for success in life was getting the 
fundamentals right. And boy, she pounded the fundamentals of journalism 
into her students -- not simply how to write a lead or accurately 
transcribe a quote, but, more important, how to comport yourself in a 
professional way and to always do quality work. To this day, when I forget 
to wear a tie on assignment, I think of Hattie scolding me. Hattie was the 
toughest teacher I ever had.
      "Those of us on the paper, and the yearbook that she also supervised, 
lived in Hattie's classroom. We hung out there before and after school. 
Now, you have to understand, Hattie was a single woman, nearing 60 at the 
time, and this was the 1960s. She was the polar opposite of "cool," but we 
hung around her classroom like it was a malt shop and she was Wolfman Jack. 
None of us could have articulated it then, but it was because we enjoyed 
being harangued by her, disciplined by her, and taught by her. She was a 
woman of clarity in an age of uncertainty. That was my teacher! I sit up 
straight just thinkin' about her.
      "I have been thinking about Hattie a lot this year, not just because 
she died on July 31, but because the lessons she imparted to us seem so 
relevant now. We've just gone through this huge 
dotcom-Internet-globalization bubble--during which a lot of smart people 
got carried away and forgot the fundamentals of how you build a profitable 
company, a lasting portfolio, a nation-state, or a thriving student. It 
turns out that the real secret of success in the information age is what it 
always was: fundamentals -- reading, writing, and arithmetic; church, 
synagogue, and mosque; the rule of law and good governance. The Internet 
can make you smarter, but it can't make you smart. It can extend your 
reach, but it will never tell you what to say at a PTA meeting. These 
fundamentals cannot be downloaded. You can only upload them, the 
old-fashioned way, one by one, in places like Hattie's classroom. I only 
regret that I didn't write this column when the woman who taught me all 
that was still alive."
                                                     ***
See http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0374190666/newsscancom/ref=nosim 
for Thomas L. Friedman's "Longitudes And Attitudes: Exploring the World 
After September 11" -- or look for it in your favorite library. [We donate 
all revenue from our book recommendations to adult literacy programs.]

MODERN LIFE: A TURTLE STORY (BY DR. MIKE LITREL)
      Despite its lifetime warranty my bathroom scale is broken.  No matter 
how many times, or how gingerly, I step on it, the scale keeps telling me I 
weigh more than I do. Also, my clothes are all shrinking, despite labels 
which clearly state they are machine wash-and-wear.
      My problem is not weight gain. It's defective merchandise.
      The concept of weight loss is not difficult. Eat less. Exercise more. 
What's the big deal? I just want my weight to get back down to what I 
promised myself it would never get up to.
      So this past Father's Day, I made some changes. Despite Ann's 
assurances that it was "my day" and I could follow my heart's desire, I 
decided to end the "all the donuts I can eat" tradition passed down to me 
by my father.
      My father is pretty out of shape. "He looks just like a turtle," my 
mom complains. "Big round body and short stubby arms and legs!" I don't 
think my father enjoys this particular comparison, but that's my mom for 
you. I'm confident my wife Ann would never say anything so harsh about me.
      Still, I don't want her to think it, either.
      My mom has waged a one-sided war to get my father on a diet. One time 
she went out and bought him Slim Fast Chocolate Shakes. He loved them. 
"These things go great with a nice meal!" He gained another ten pounds.
      I realized I didn't want my own children inheriting a glutton for a 
role model. I resolved to start a new tradition: the invigorating Father's 
Day workout.
      Some time ago I had the unfortunate realization about myself that I 
am less a natural athlete and more a natural couch potato. So I got rid of 
my basement couch, and surrounded the television set with exercise 
equipment -- the best piece, by far, being my Schwinn Recumbent Cycle. The 
workout itself is not spectacular. But it's very comfortable to sit in and 
perfect for watching television -- like a lounge chair with pedals. So on 
the morning of my seventh Father's Day, with my boys sprawled on the floor 
before me, I got on my recumbent cycle and began to pedal. I had grabbed 
the television remote before I sat down. The boys fussed, but I explained 
the situation in a way they could understand: "My house, my TV, my remote 
-- be quiet."
      I chose something we would all enjoy -- the CNN news update. Then the 
fussing really began. Eventually I capitulated and put on the Cartoon Network.
      It was bad enough I had to watch silly cartoons, but the kids were 
soon arguing so loudly I was missing all the good jokes. Usually my 
children listen, somewhat. But when I work out they pretty much ignore me. 
Maybe because I'm short of breath and can't yell so loud. Anyway, their 
fighting escalated, and I had to halt my workout to get them in line.
      George Bernard Shaw had some words of wisdom on parenting: "Never hit 
a child -- except in anger." I was angry now -- enough to threaten them 
with bodily harm. But I've never been a big fan of corporal punishment. My 
father, if not a big fan, was at least fairly enthusiastic. He didn't own 
any exercise equipment, and I think his major cardiovascular workouts came 
from spanking my bottom. Parenthetically, as I write about this, I no 
longer feel guilty that this year I forgot to send him a Father's Day card.
      Ann and I administer "Time Out." We learned from a parenting tape we 
listened to years ago that the bathroom is "the most boring room in the 
house and the ideal place for a child's quiet reflection." Now I don't know 
about that, but my boys cry and complain so much when we put them in there 
I suspect it must be working.
      Even if it's not, it's very satisfying. As I closed the bathroom door 
on my battling boys, a warm feeling came over me. "Fight as much as you 
want -- I'm not listening. You can come out when you're adults." An expert 
might have suggested I put them in separate bathrooms. But that particular 
nuance was not covered in the parenting tapes and I was too lazy to walk 
upstairs.
      After a while they quieted down, and I let them rejoin me. But before 
long they had launched into another fight. Just at that moment I noticed 
that the pulleys on my Joe Weider weight set had been broken. Again. This 
weight-lifting contraption is really a hunk of junk, but when it's working 
you can sit in one spot and do four or five different exercises -- right in 
front of the television. Indeed, it's my second favorite. Unfortunately, 
despite repeated discussions, my boys find it irresistible to play on. And 
to break.
      That was it. I'd had it! I turned off the television. "Stand up!" I 
ordered my boys. My face was dripping with perspiration, my teeth clenched. 
"HOW MANY TIMES do I have to tell you not to play on my weight set?!?" I 
demanded rhetorically.
      Joseph, my four-year-old, took me literally. "A million times," he 
replied meekly. "You have to tell us a million times."
      I smothered a smile and kicked them both out into the backyard. 
Despite their protests, my decision was final. I was going to spend this 
Father's Day as far away as possible from the two people who had made me a 
father. I told them in no uncertain terms not to interrupt my workout again 
-- unless it was an emergency.
      Twenty minutes later, Joseph came running back into the basement. 
"It's an emergency, it's an emergency!" He pulled me into the backyard, and 
there, at the bottom of the hill, were Tyler and his friend Sami Leonard, 
lying on the ground. They weren't moving.
      But when I got closer, I saw the boys were not hurt. Their faces 
shone with wonder. They had found a turtle. This is not an emergency, I 
told them in no uncertain terms. They wholeheartedly disagreed.
      So I studied the turtle. I think I was inspecting him for a family 
resemblance. And I watched the boys. Despite my bad mood, I was enjoying 
this moment with the children. Be the turtle -- slow and steady.  When I 
finally got up to leave, Sami turned and whispered conspiratorially to 
Tyler. They wanted something else but were hesitant to ask. Tyler mustered 
up his courage. "Can you write a story about this?"
      "What?"
      Sami was more enthusiastic. "Can you write a story about us finding 
the turtle? And put all our names in it -- our last names, too?" asked Sami 
Leonard. That's L-E-O-N-A-R-D.
      Their faces were so hopeful, I couldn't say no, and they cheered 
wildly when I acquiesced. So on the way back to the basement, I thought 
about fatherhood, its challenges and rewards, the boys finding a turtle -- 
and my own father, shaped like a turtle.
      It was eight years ago that we discovered Ann's unexpected first 
pregnancy. I brought her downtown to Grady Hospital for an ultrasound. 
There in her uterus was a fetus smaller than a fingernail, the beginnings 
of my son Tyler. I was stunned. Although I was a physician specializing in 
women's health, some part of me hadn't quite believed that the miracle of 
creation could come into our lives as well.
      For the past seven years, as I have watched my children grow, I must 
admit sometimes I forget about the miracle part. I just wasn't prepared for 
all the screaming and whining, and their apparent vendetta against my 
personal property -- especially, my Joe Weider weight set.
      But fatherhood has been a wonderful privilege, more important to me 
than anything I could have imagined. And as I undergo the challenges of 
fatherhood, I think I better understand my own Dad. He's not perfect. But 
he's been a good father -- and a great friend.
      And just to set the record straight, he looks nothing like a turtle.
      [Dr. Mike Litrel is in practice at Cherokee Women's OB/GYN in 
Woodstock and Canton, Georgia, and is a Clinical Assistant Professor at 
Emory University School of Medicine. He and his wife Ann have two sons. His 
e-mail address is [email protected]]

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