by Fred Hume

I'm sure you are all aware of the ongoing saga of Napster vs. the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) (the subject of last month's article). Well since then, Judge Judy, - sorry, couldn't resist - Judge Marilyn Hall Patel issued an injunction against Napster to cease and desist. The injunction was stayed within 48 hours by the 13th district Court of Appeals in San Francisco. So for now, Napster lives. The Appellate Court's take is that the ruling would in effect close the business.

If the parties don't come to an agreement, it will go to trial and Napster will most probably be gone. If not, in time it will dissolve into what it is trying to fight. It needs a profit somewhere.

Please go to this URL http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2000/06/14/love/index.html and read the article by Courtney Love. (Courtney does the Math). It's a very interesting take on the whole issue from a musician's point of view. Pardon the language. She's a bit outspoken. Read as much of the six pages as you need. Especially page two. While reading, keep this in mind: The FTC has already found that collusion exists between the RIAA and the five major recording companies to keep music CDs overpriced by at least five dollars. RIAA's response? Last month they raised the price another buck. The Government, FTC and court's response? " ."

Too-Smart Download

As long as we're in court, is everyone aware that AOL and Netscape have been slapped with another class action lawsuit? Seems that a Netscape product (Smart Download) has been doing a little spying on its users. What happens is this. The Smart Download and the Netzip file unzipper that goes with it have the ability to identify the computer that they are installed on with a unique identifying number and report back your machine name, i/p, your name (if available), and your e-mail id, plus any zip or exe files you download, the web address they came from, and the time and date. So, you say, "doesn't my firewall stop this?" Nope. You gave Smart Download permission to access the Internet through the firewall to get the file, remember? They gotcha.

I had Smart Download on my PC. I removed its Internet permission, then did an uninstall. With its dying breath, it tried to "phone home" one last time. How do I know? This time my firewall stopped it. Cute huh?

Next bit of excitement. Any HOTMAIL users out there? This one's for you.

Hotmail . . . or Spam-Mail?

On July 14, Microsoft acknowledged that Hotmail sends users' e-mail addresses to advertisers and related companies under certain circumstances. MS should have the problem fixed sometime in August. According to Richard Smith, an independent security consultant, "It happens when you read an e-mail or electronic newsletter that contains a banner advertisement. Your Hotmail log-in name appears in the address line of the Web browser and can be sent to advertisers or third-party services that distribute such ads." This has been going on since June and estimates are that at least a million names have been sent to 20 advertising companies. "HOTMAIL?" How about "SPAMMAIL."

Is Carnivore Watching You?

Now, about our friends in Washington, you know, the "to protect and to serve" guys. Right! Your friend and mine, the F.B.I. Seems that they have a new tool called "Carnivore" (take note of the name). Its purpose? Why, to protect us from the "Bad Guys" like hackers who would do us harm, to protect our "National Security" and catch criminals. How do they do this? Easy. Carnivore is basically a "packet sniffer." A packet sniffer is an Internet tool to monitor what passes over an Internet connection. Like what? Well, your e-mail, the web sites you visit, things you download, secured information to your bank or stockbroker, and any e-business you may do. That's all. Works much like a "wire tap" on a phone line with one small exception. It's not just catching the traffic from a suspect, it's catching everything from everyone on that ISP. It can search e-mail for "from" addresses, "to" addresses, "keywords, like your grandma's recipe for "Chocolate Bomb Cake." Oops. Guess what's gonna happen when it sees that middle word. Knock, knock, knock.

It can also monitor IRC. Everything that moves through that ISP.

Of course the A.C.L.U is having a stroke over this and has filed suit under the "Freedom of Information Act." This got Janet Reno involved saying she was "putting the system under review. The Justice Department would investigate the constitutional implications and make sure the F.B.I was using it in a consistent and balanced way."

That's cool. Send a cop to investigate a cop.

And, it goes without saying that the F.B.I doesn't see anything wrong with this. In fact they can monitor up to 48 hours before getting a warrant. The F.B.I states, "there is no law prohibiting Carnivore's use." And it has been used, twenty times since February. Wonder if they ever heard of the Fourth Amendment?

Care to guess what other country has a system like this in place? What? Did I hear Russia?

Care to guess what country is developing this type of system? England? Correct again.

Isn't it a comfort to know that owning a home computer means never having to be alone?