VeriSign's antitrust suit against ICANN dismissed
source: CNet News

Internet domain name registry VeriSign just cant seem to convince anyone that redirecting misspelled Web addresses to its own site is a good thing. A federal district court judge on Thursday threw out VeriSigns legal arguments that a ban on the tactic by the group responsible for managing the Internets infrastructure amounted to a violation of United States antitrust law. The Internet registry and services company had argued that competitors that are part of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) succeeded in stymieing VeriSigns plans for its Site Finder service by providing advice to the groups board of directors. That does not compute, according to Judge A. Howard Matz of the Central District Court of California. "VeriSigns contentions are deficient," Matz stated in a 16-page opinion. "There is nothing inherently conspiratorial about a bottom-up policy development process that considers or even solicits input from advisory groups." The courts ruling is the latest blow to VeriSigns attempts to gain support for its plan to parlay its government-granted monopoly over the administration of the databases for the .com and .net domains into better profits. VeriSign could not immediately be reached for comment.

Dozens may be listening to your phonecalls

source: IOL

Next time you have a cellphone conversation, be careful what you say - chances are someone could be listening. This startling discovery was made during a joint investigation by the Pretoria News and Talk Radio 702 on Thursday. The investigation proved that a person using the Vodacom network can eavesdrop on other peoples conversations by dialling a code via the cell companys customer care service. After dialling the code, the cellphone will randomly track conversations between people on the Vodacom network within a 15km radius. Shockingly, the people on the other end of the line will not know that their conversations are being listened to. In addition, the eavesdropper is not charged for the call. This was apparently discovered by schoolchildren who regularly tap into peoples conversations during their lunch break. It was brought to the attention of the Pretoria News and 702 by a person who wants to be identified only as Glen. "On Tuesday, a youngster whom I know told me to be careful of what I say on the cellphone, because it is easy to tap into calls. "At first I thought it was an urban legend so I asked him to prove it to me - and he did. I could not believe it and decided to let the media know about it," he said. Initially, Vodacom spokesperson Ivan Booth denied it was possible.

U.S. Says Over 100 Arrested in Internet Crime Sweep

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than 100 people have been arrested in the largest global crackdown to date on identity theft, hacking and other Internet-based crimes, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft said on Thursday.

The arrests followed a three-month investigation into a range of crimes from reselling co-workers' Social Security numbers to disabling Web sites, Ashcroft said.

"The common thread here is the Internet," he told a news conference. "We do not believe the Internet to be off base for law enforcement. We will be there with as much intensity and presence as we can muster."

Officials from the Justice Department, the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service said the crackdown is designed to deter cyber-criminals and reassure consumers and businesses that the Internet is safe.

The Internet is stimulating the development of innovative products and services that were barely imaginable only a few years ago," said FTC chairwoman Deborah Majoras. "There is a risk, however, that these benefits will not be fully realized if consumers associate the Internet with fraudulent operators."

The crackdown, dubbed "Operation Web Snare," involved some 150,000 victims who lost more than $215 million, Ashcroft said, adding that 53 people had already been convicted.

Nevertheless, officials acknowledged that the operation represents only a fraction of the crimes being committed on the Internet. Identity theft alone costs the U.S. businesses more than $50 billion a year, Ashcroft said.

Law enforcement officials in Romania, Nigeria and Cyprus helped track down people involved in fraudulent auctions, trafficking in stolen credit card numbers and other crimes, Ashcroft said.

In all, authorities have opened more than 160 investigations and filed 117 criminal complaints, indictments and other court papers, according to the Justice Department.

As a result of one investigation, for example, a grand jury on Wednesday indicted the chief executive of a Massachusetts communications company and five other people suspected of launching an Internet attack against competing companies.

The indictment against Jay Echouafni accuses him of using computer hackers in the United States and Britain to disable the Web sites of three competitors.

The episode cost Echouafni's rivals more than $2 million in lost revenue and extra costs, Ashcroft said.

In another case, federal prosecutors in Los Angeles filed charges Aug. 20 against a man who they say stole almost $800,000 over the Internet by conducting more than 5,000 fraudulent sales through the online auction site eBay Inc .

Ashcroft also said he was ordering prosecutors to put into effect new, stiffer penalties against identity theft that were recently enacted by Congress.

Sprint backs Apple tech for video streaming
source: CNET

Cell carrier certifies QuickTime format for delivering video to handsets.

Apple Computer, making headway for its media player technology in the mobile industry, will help content creators make streaming multimedia available over Sprint's cellular network.

The companies announced on Thursday the certification of Apple's Xserve G5 server and QuickTime software to deliver multimedia content over Sprint's streaming video and audio service, called PCS Vision Multimedia Services. The service starts at $9.99 per month. Content from sources such as CNN, NBC Universal, Fox Sports, The Weather Channel, E Entertainment, mFlix, Twentieth Century Fox, AccuWeather and 1KTV is made available to certain Sprint-supported handsets.

The agreement means that content providers can use Apple's QuickTime technology to encode audio and video for Sprint's media service, which was announced earlier this month.

"We chose to certify Apple because of their focus on simplicity," said Jeff Hallock, Sprint's vice president of product marketing and strategy. "We are interested in continuing media progress and are open to offering flexibility to content providers," by certifying other media technologies.

RealNetworks and Microsoft have similar media player products. After making progress on the desktop, they, along with Apple, are looking to make their players available on cell phones.

RealNetworks has made the deepest inroads, but Apple has been making progress. Apple has also signed a deal with Japan's NTT DoCoMo to support QuickTime.

Apple announced a deal with Motorola in late July to let customers of the iTunes music store transfer songs onto the next generation of MP3-enabled phones from the handset maker.

Apple and Real have been embroiled in controversy over Apple's digital audio service, iTunes.

Naked Protestors Arrested Outside Madison Square Garden

If there's going to be a protest, might as well be a naked one...
A dozen AIDS activists were arrested outside Madison Square Garden Thursday afternoon after they stripped off their clothes and blocked traffic.

The men and women, members of ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) said they staged the demonstration in front of the site of next weekâ??s Republican National Convention in order to protest the Bush administrationâ??s policies on AIDS.

â??This protest is to tell the naked truth to President Bush and the Republican Party,â?? said ACT UP member Robert Dabney, who kept his clothes on to talk to reporters. â??Our protestors are demanding number one that the president support full debt cancellation for the poorest nations in the world.â??

The protestors were standing naked in the street for almost 15 minutes before police put them in handcuffs. Traffic, already slowed by sporadic closures in the area for security preparations, stood at a standstill in the meantime.

Organizers said they were glad there was no confrontation with police.

â??We were not violent. ACT UP has a history of non-violence. Itâ??s in our mission statement," said Mark Milano of the group. "We have no intention of being violent. I hope the police respond appropriately. Let us get our message across and not escalate the situation.â??

ACT UP says it is planning more protests during the convention.

Meanwhile, two other people were arrested after hanging a large anti-Bush banner on the Plaza Hotel. The men apparently rented a room, climbed out the window and rappelled down the side of the building to hang the sign, which showed arrows with the words â??truthâ?? and â??Bushâ?? pointing in opposite directions.

Crews have since take it down.

There is no word yet on what the men will be charged with. The pair says they are not planning any other protests during the convention.

Amazon lists PlayStation 3
Source: CNET

Retailer's Japanese arm posts product page for hotly anticipated game console.

And the winner is--the Sony PlayStation.
While game console makers are still jockeying to beat each other to market with next-generation models, Sony achieved a dubious distinction recently by grabbing the first major retail notice for its upcoming machine.

The Japanese unit of online retail giant Amazon has posted a product page for the PlayStation 3, more than a year ahead of the console's expected debut.

The page has no photos or links for placing advance orders and appears to offer no significant new details on the console, expected to go on sale in late 2005 at the earliest. But that didn't stop several visitors from posting five-star reviews of the gadget.
Sony has slowly trickled out details on the PlayStation 3 over the past year, confirming that the console will use the high-powered "Cell" processor--jointly developed by Sony, Toshiba and IBM--and Sony's next-generation Blu-ray DVD technology.
Sony executive have also set broad target dates for the console, saying they'll have more details at a Japanese trade event in March and demonstration units at the E3 trade show in May. The company has yet to set a release date or price, however, nor to confirm details such as expected multimedia capabilities.

Rival console makers Microsoft and Nintendo are also working on next-generation consoles and hope to beat Sony to market. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer recently told CNET News.com that the company is hard at work on the next version of the Xbox, which he said he expects will outsell the PlayStation 3. Nintendo executives have made similar promises for their next console, code-named "Revolution."

Retailers have long tapped into the exuberance of hardcore gamers by taking orders for new hardware and games well in advance of their release. The Amazon PS3 page may set a record, however, for anticipatory retail zeal, rivaled only by an eBay auction offering supposedly exclusive details on how to get a pre-release version of the PS3.

SP2: Bad for your blood pressure?
source: CNET

That's what some IT managers say, a survey finds. Even more believe it'll be the toughest Windows update ever.

Most IT managers believe that upgrading systems to Microsoft's latest security patch for Windows XP could generate problems, according to a recent survey.

The InsightExpress study, which polled IT managers in the United States, found that 63 percent of respondents believed SP2 would prove the most difficult Windows update installation ever, with 3 percent noting their "blood pressure rises just thinking about it."
In addition, 66 percent said they expected calls for help from workers to increase with the update. And 30 percent did not know how the SP2 upgrade would affect their company's support desk.

These concerns come as Microsoft tries to iron out some of the glitches in SP2, its security-focused update for XP. For example, the service pack allows locally run programs to circumvent its firewall and can make it difficult for other applications to work with the XP operating system, researchers have found.

These concerns are leading to a world of "have and have nots" when it comes to installation of SP2 in business systems, according to recent survey of IT executives by U.K.-based security company Mi2g.
Only half of IT departments worldwide are choosing to use the automatic update feature in Windows to download the patch to company computers, Mi2G found in its July Security Intelligence Products and Systems report.

The other half--which includes IT managers at many large corporations, government organizations and academic institutions--plan to conduct a manual installation only after rigorous testing.

"Many CIOs view the SP2 update as a threat to their operations--a forced security upgrade--which can undermine reliability and availability of many critical business services as old software applications may randomly malfunction," D.K. Matai, Mi2g's executive chairman, said in a statement.

Mi2g cautions that the latter, cautious, approach may expose businesses to digital risks such as viruses.