INTERNET
Hacker Assaults Expose Internet's Weaknesses (WP)
For Extra Cheese, Ctrl+Pizza (NYT)
E-Communities Build New Ties, but Ties That Bind (NYT)
PRIVACY
Businesses Target State Privacy Initiatives(WSJ)
CABLE
Cable Waits For NAACP Kudos (USA)
INTERNATIONAL
EU Launches Antitrust Probe of Microsoft's Windows 2000 (WSJ)
India Again is Alluring to Foreign Telecoms (WSJ)
INTERNET
HACKER ASSAULTS EXPOSE INTERNET'S WEAKNESSES
Issue: Internet
Hackers disrupted services on more of the Web's most popular sites
yesterday, even as the FBI hunted for the culprits and Websites worked to
shore up their defenses. ZDNet, a popular tech news site was down for more
than two hours and trading was stopped on Etrade, the No. 2 online broker,
for more than an hour, thanks to another round of "denial of service
attacks." These attacks involve a single hacker gaining control of several
computers and using them to send messages to many more computers,
instructing them, in turn, to send thousands of bogus requests to the target
site, overwhelming their systems. The Justice Department admitted yesterday
that it was at a loss to explain either the source of the attacks or the
motives behind them. The head of the FBI's computer crimes unit, Ron Dick,
said yesterday that the hacks were serious federal crimes and would be fully
investigated.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (A1), AUTHOR: John Schwartz, Ariana Eunjung Cha and
David A. Vise]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/business/A32445-2000Feb9.html)
See Also:
HACKERS' WEAPON EXPLOITS INTERNET'S OPEN NATURE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B1), AUTHOR: Lee Gomes and Thomas Weber]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB950140309420788348.htm)
THE STRENGTH OF THE INTERNET PROVES TO BE ITS WEAKNESS
[SOURCE: New York Times (C1), AUTHOR: John Markoff]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/yr/mo/biztech/articles/10net.html)
E-COMMUNITIES BUILD NEW TIES, BUT TIES THAT BIND
Issue: Internet
"The current primitive virtual communities," claims Amitai Etzioni "are
stronger in several ways than the real thing." Etzioni argues with the
notion that only real communities can be self-policing, and foster trust and
intimacy. The auction site Ebay.com achieves virtual self-policing, for
example, by asking both sellers and buyers to rate one another. Intimacy and
trust is built in other types of e-communities when the number of
participants is limited, admission is controlled to foster affinity, and
members voluntarily surrender their anonymity. "But even if one or two of
these elements are missing," says Etzioni, "online communities can still
allow people to build reputations and trust and foster intimacy, much like
offline groups. However, they do so in different ways and, above all, can
reach many more people, day or night, rain or shine.
[SOURCE: New York Times (E7), AUTHOR: Amitai Etzioni (sociologist at George
Washington University)]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/02/circuits/articles/10comm.html)
FOR EXTRA CHEESE, CTRL+PIZZA
Issue: Internet
Net appliances, a new class of down computers are being positioned to allow
the 52 percent of American homes without a PC to surf the web: and to do it
inexpensively. The first such device to hit the market, the i-opener, which
retails for around $299, even features a function key that automatically
calls up a Website allowing the consumer to order online for delivery. Other
features include function buttons for weather and news. Intel, Microsoft,
Compaq and Acer are all set to launch their own "netpliances" by summer in
an effort to capture a part of what is a very large, and largely untapped,
market. The devices are set to cost between $200 and $400. Early users of
the machines say that they are impressed with the speed and ease of use that
the new devices provide. "If I want to just send e-mail, check someone on
the Web, order tickets, call out for pizza, I do it on the i-opener. . . I
don't have to sit down and wait for it to boot up, get the right program and
wait for a few windows to open up," said Chuck Martin, of Austin Texas who,
along with his wife and two children, has been using the device to augment
their aging computer since last December. Still, despite the warm reception,
the devices are not perfect, they are highly specialized, allowing their
users only Web access and email: no word processing or gaming programs are
available, and because the machines lack CD-ROMs and disk drives, none will
be. Also, while the i-opener is capable of handling streamming audio, it
can't access streamed video, shutting users out of one of the most popular
new Internet functions.
[SOURCE: New York Times (E1), AUTHOR: Michel Marriott ]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/02/circuits/articles/10nett.htm)
CABLE
CABLE WAITS FOR NAACP KUDOS
Issue: Cable/Diversity
As NAACP blasts the broadcast networks for their lack of racial diversity,
the cable networks wait for praise for their inclusive programming. "Cable
is leading the (broadcast) networks in a number of arenas," says Tavis
Smiley, talk-show host of BET Tonight with Tavis Smiley. "Not the least of
which is understanding, appreciating and embracing diversity in its
programming." HBO has won two best-movie Emmys and a Golden Globe for recent
black-teamed movies: _Miss Evers' Boys_ and _A Lesson Before Dying_, and
_Introducing Dorothy Dandridge_. ShowTime is the home of _Linc's_, a weekly
series with a mostly black cast set in Washington, D.C., and this summer
will be adding a weekly series _Soul Food_, based on the 1997 film about a
black family. s Showtime programming chief Jerry Offsay says the pay-TV
network has included black issues because it's good business. Some 23% of
Showtime subscribers are black, he reports
[SOURCE: USAToday (4D), AUTHOR: Jefferson Graham]
(http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20000210/1925163s.htm)
PRIVACY
BUSINESSES TARGET STATE PRIVACY INITIATIVES
Issue: Privacy
At least 17 states are choosing to adopt stricter privacy laws than the
broad privacy laws being completed by federal regulators as part of last
year's financial services overhaul legislation. In response, businesses have
formed a coalition in an attempt to blunt the states' initiatives and push
Congress to pre-empt the states' actions. "The worst thing to happen would
be for each state to pass legislation and have a patchwork of rules to
follow," said Allen Caskie of the American Council of Life Insurers. The
coalition's members include General Electric, Fidelity Investments, Visa,
and others. Under the new federal laws, firms that share customers' personal
data with independent third parties must mail copies of their privacy
policies to the customers and inform them that they have the option of not
having their personal data shared. The states want to put the onus on the
companies to seek the permission of customers prior to sharing their
personal data with third parties. When the financial services legislation
was nearing completion last year, 26 state attorneys general signed a letter
to the Clinton administration objecting that the bill's privacy laws didn't
go far enough. They are part of the group of state officials spearheading
tougher state statues. Congress has indicated that it doesn't want to
rewrite last year's hard-fought overhaul law, which hasn't been implemented
yet.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A2), AUTHOR: Michael Schroeder]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB950137172974913438.htm)
INTERNATIONAL
EU LAUNCHES ANTITRUST PROBE OF MICROSOFT'S WINDOWS 2000
Issue: Antitrust/International
As if Microsoft doesn't have enough regulatory problems here at home, the
European Commission has started a broad investigation into the allegations
that Microsoft's Windows 2000 software could allow the company to dominate
electronic commerce. Complaints have arisen that Windows 2000 products
Active Directory and Intellimirror are only fully functional when Windows
2000 is running on both ends of the network connection, making it impossible
for a PC running Windows 2000 to interact with a server not running
Microsoft software. Any incompatibility with servers that host Web sites
could allow Microsoft to leverage its dominance into the server market and
"ultimately e-commerce" says Mario Monti, the European commissioner
responsible for antitrust affairs. One of the complainants that prompted
this investigation is Sun Microsystems. Microsoft accused Sun of using EU
authorities as pawns in a battle for supremacy in server software.
Microsoft's world-wide rollout of Windows 2000 is scheduled for Feb. 17th.
There are no plans to postpone the rollout.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A13), AUTHOR: Brandon Mitchener and Kevin
Delaney]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB950105444581029623.htm)
INDIA AGAIN IS ALLURING TO FOREIGN TELECOMS
Issue: International
Indian telecom regulators took an important step this week by allowing eight
private Internet providers to build their own international
satellite-transmission facilities -- a move that breaks the state's monopoly
on overseas telecommunications. "This sends a strong political message that
the hostility between the government and industry must be reduced," says the
local head of a Western telephone company, who asked not to be identified.
Several foreign telecommunications firms, including AT&T, British
Telecommunications and Motorola say that recent government steps to clarify
the powers of the industry regulator and new opportunities in services such
as Internet access are nudging India's telecommunications market toward
recovery. In an other recent step towards reform, the newly elected
government has also revamped the regulator to give the body jurisdiction
over all pricing issues and created a separate tribunal to settle industry
disputes.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A13), AUTHOR: Jonathan Karp]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB950126755645094751.htm)
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