Dale Gardner: Politics

UCITA Update - Going Nowhere, Fast?

A review of the situation surrounding the adoption (or lack of) of UCITA. Morass is the word I think we're looking for... A Battle Over Software Licensing. The battle lines are drawn in the struggle for a uniform standard in software licensing for all 50 states. By Laurie J. Flynn. [New York Times: Technology]

Will 2004 Be Like 1984?

Who's watching you? A surveillance society [CNN - Technology]

Kangaroo Kourt? Or Just Klumsy Kops?

At best, this sounds like a case of incredibly inept law enforcement officials who allowed evidence to be manipulated and damaged. At worst, they're railroading this guy. News.Com: Electronic evidence anchors porn case. A Rochester, N.Y., federal judge on Thursday sentenced a former Xerox engineer accused of trafficking in child pornography to nearly four years in prison. The government's prosecution of Larry Benedict, 45, is unusual because all the evidence in the case is electronic, and all of the evidence appears to have been allegedly tampered with or otherwise altered after it was in government custody. [Tomalak's Realm]

Why The DMCA Sucks - Reason #637

Astounding. Apple is using the DMCA as a club in a case that has about as much to do with copyright as my big toe does. News.Com: Apple: Burn DVDs--and we'll burn you. At issue in the legal threat is Apple's well-received iDVD application, which permits users to burn DVDs only on internal drives manufactured by Apple. In unmodified form, it does not permit writing to external drives manufactured by third parties. [Tomalak's Realm]

What's Good For The Goose?

A couple of interesting debates intersect. On the one hand, the argument is made that it should be ok to attack machines that are responsible for propagating worms and viruses such as Nimda. There is much to be said for this - the worms affect the entire Internet, and - especially with attacks such as Nimda - it's not like the administrators, using the term loosely, of the offending systems have not been both warned of the existence of the worm, as well as an easily applied patch to cure the problem. On the other hand, the entertainment industry wants the right to hack into computers that are exchanging files. Governmental sources interviewed for this piece seem to believe that the 'defensive' hacking is wrong and inappropriate. We'll see if the same attitude applies to the 'offensive' hacking proposed by the representative from Disneyland. Computers Under Attack Can Hack Back, Expert Says. A security researcher says people should be allowed to neutralize a computer that is unwittingly spreading destructive Internet worms like Nimda. By Reuters. [New York Times: Technology]

Biometric Vendors Still Hoping To Cash In on Death and Suffering

And it's still not working. The technology that is - the effort to cash in seems to be going pretty well. Face recognition fails in Boston airport. The patriotic scam goes on [The Register]

Can we trust Microsoft's Palladium?

Open Source advocate Bruce Perens believes Palladium will spell the end for open source software, claiming "If Microsoft has its way, there just won't be any open-source software." The reason is that unsigned code won't be executed by the system. If Microsoft controls signing, then they control what runs on the system. They maintain they'll let others sign code. One imagines just like others can build browsers. They also maintain that Palladium isn't about DRM. But as the article points out, "(Microsoft's) arguments about DRM are also somewhat muddied by the fact that late last year Microsoft was quietly granted a patent for just what he says it's not building: 'The Digital Rights Management Operating System,' protected by U.S. patent numbers 6,330,670 and 6,327,652." Just coincidence, I'm sure. "Critics say Redmond's new security initiative will imprison users. But why would Bill Gates want to do that? "

The Humans Writing Press Releases

Jay's been feeling a bit cynical as of late. But as they say, no matter how cynical you get, it's hard to keep up. The Devil is in the Detail. The SCREWTAPE Letters [The Register]

Yangfan v1.0 To Dash Microsoft's China Hopes?

Right from the pages of the People's Daily - China has announced plans to break the foreign monopoly over office software (that would be Microsoft) by introducing it's own software. Not at all clear what's actually happening here, but most interesting to watch. China to build own version of Windows 98. Compatible with Office 2000 and Word, says here [The Register]

Bye Bye BugTraq?

For years, individuals have contributed information to the BugTraq mailing list strictly for the good of the community - and their resumes. But, with Symantec's purchase of BugTraq creator Security Focus, the community that created the list wonders if they'll enjoy it for much longer. Symantec's SecurityFocus buyout met with pessimism. Bug trackers fear BugTraq death [The Register]

NPR Misses The Boat On Security

A two part story from NPR's All Things Considered. In Part One, Larry Abrahmson reports on a government program to better secure computers and completely misses the boat. First, he talks about patches in a way that suggests they actually fight off intruders - never pointing out the pieces of code are meant to close holes in poorly written software. Then, he focuses on the tension between tight security and ease-of-use, using the Plug and Play vulnerability as an example. Again, he never seems to get that it wasn't so much the feature that caused a problem, as the error made in implementing the feature. Not a helpful report. Part Two, on Logan's failing facial recognition software trial, does a better job. Software, Facial Recognition Used to Fight Terrorism [NPR News (Audio)]

The Large Print Giveth...

...and the small print taketh away. Roundup of analyst's advice to customers offers insights into common software license hangups. Software deals--what's in the fine print? [ZDNet Tech News]

Cue The Firestorm of Protest

A thought-provoking article slams the security industry's self-serving hackers who are alleged to generate FUD only to promote their own aims and careers. Security industry's hacker-pipming slammed. Somebody had to say it [The Register]

Pssst!! Sildenafil Citrate, No Doctors!

eMail newsletters, once a hot marketing vehicle, have seen reduced effectiveness. Part of the reason is that the mails never arrive, having been caught in the heavy-handed filters administrators are establishing to try and stem the flood of spam. It's not only a problem for senders, but for recipients as well since they may not be receiving material they want - and in some cases have paid to to receive. Smelling Spam, Software Rejects Newsletter. Recently a legitimate newsletter contained the word "Viagra," which resulted in the newsletter itself being tagged as spam by e-mail filters. By Jennifer 8. Lee. [New York Times: Technology]

CEOs see salary cuts

I'm sure we can all come up with our own little lists of CEOs that we'd like to see face a pay cut - but we'll have to satisfy ourselves with knowing that average CEO compensation has dropped from $13 million to only $11 million. Some CEO pay cuts [Christian Science Monitor: SciTech]

Congress: No Rights In Copyright

Options Expense Sleight Of Hand Lives - For Now

Senate Blocks Attempt to Make Stock Options an Expense on Company Accounts [Bloomberg World News]

Another Gartner piece in the Register, pointing to expectations that China and India will generate $27B in software and application development revenue by 2006. Maybe. But it's not all smooth sailing, as recent tensions in South Asia demonstrate. As India and Pakistan stood toe to toe and threatened war, software developers fled India. The country now finds itself trying to woo those companies back. China will face similar problems - business rules are more liberal, but political concerns remain very near the surface. Software in China, India to top $27bn by 2006. And China to pass India, says Gartner [The Register]

Erosion of Fair Use Rights

A nice quick summary of the issues in the ongoing elimination of rights to use content in ways you see fit. "Fair Use" Is Getting Unfair Treatment. Two recent federal court rulings in Hollywood's favor could undermine consumers' historical rights to use the content they buy [Business Week: Technology]

The Cookie Crumbles?

New Web spyware eschews cookies. Scottish scientists are working on developing Web monitoring software that will gather huge amounts of surfer data without leaving much trace--and without using cookies. [ZDNet Tech News]

Oops. Smart Cards Fall To Physical Attacks

Smart cards - essentially a microprocessor embedded in a laminated piece of plastic - have long been viewed as a secure implementation of PKI technology for applications such as identity cards or cell phone authentication. While the underlying PKI technology remains secure, researchers have discovered a new means of defeating the systems: physical attacks on the cards themselves. Vulnerability Is Discovered in Security for Smart Cards. Two computer security researchers have discovered an ingenious system that can extract information contained in widely used smart cards. [New York Times: Technology]

All Over But The Screaming?

Testimony in Microsoft's antitrust case has wrapped up and now the waiting begins. This aspect of the trial is meant to determine what punishment will eventually be meted out to the company for violations of antitrust law. Two key questions will drive the answer. First, can the judge consider the risk of damage to future markets? Microsoft argues that sanctions should be limited to past actions - and markets it now owns - while the states want a more forward looking settlement. Secondly, do the states have standing to pursue the case? Microsoft is unlikely to make much headway on this latter point, since even the DOJ has asserted the states have the right to bring their own action. But a loss here for the states would bring a quick halt to proceedings, and would clear the way for the DOJ-MS negotiated settlement. After Crash Course, Judge Must Solve Microsoft Case. After eight weeks of hearings, several key questions in the Microsoft antitrust case remain unresolved. [New York Times: Technology]

Gates Defense Flawed Say Legal Experts

Microsoft has pointed to the threat posed by fragmentation of the operating system if the states remedy is put in place. Beyond the fact that it's not a relevant legal defense, lawyers, analysts, and even Microsoft itself point out a simple fact - Windows is already fragmented. A worthwhile read. Battering down Gates' defense. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates' argument that a modular version of Windows would "turn back the clock" on development and damage the PC industry is flawed, legal experts say. [CNET News.com]

Will The Digital Media Device Association Fare Better Than SDMI

SDMI isn't just MIA - it has pretty well assumed room temperature. Where's SDMI? Code to battle piracy is MIA [CNN - Technology]

Not To Worry - Stolen FAA Data Not "Really" Sensitive

Those people still concerned about the state of security surrounding air travel will be disquieted to learn that a pair of hackers defaced an FAA website and stole a database containing information on security screener activities. But not to worry - a government spokesperson explains that the stolen data wasn't really sensitive. The article doesn't offer any comments from the spokesperson as to how the agency has ensured that further hacks - sensitive or not - will be avoided. FAA Confirms Hack Attack. Self-styled patriotic intruders deface a government airline security siteand download a detailed screener database [Business Week: Technology]