NewsBits for January 5, 2004 sponsored by, Southeast Cybercrime Institute - www.cybercrime.kennesaw.edu ************************************************************ Police say they won't appeal second acquittal of 'DVD Jon' Norwegian police, who twice failed to convict a Norwegian man of piracy after he released a program that could crack DVD codes, said Monday they won't appeal the case to the supreme court. Chief prosecutor Inge Marie Sunde told The Associated Press that she would not pursue an appeal of the Dec. 22 decision to uphold Jon Lech Johansen's acquittal last year. http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/7637245.htm http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105_2-5134835.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55972-2004Jan5.html http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/34706.html iTunes DRM cracked wide open for GNU/Linux. Seriously. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/34712.html Consumer group sues over copy-protected CDs http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-5134830.html http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/34695.html Industry crackdown appears to be slowing music downloading http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/7636886.htm http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55687-2004Jan5.html http://www.vnunet.com/News/1151791 - - - - - - - - - - IBM execs, S. Korea officials accused of bribery Some 48 South Korean government officials and corporate executives, mainly from IBM ventures, have been charged with bribery in a case involving state contracts for computer parts and servers, prosecutors said Monday. Fourteen government officials were bribed a total of $240,000 (290 million won) and an IBM Korea executive received golf memberships worth $82,000 from a subcontractor, prosecutors said. IBM Korea, a unit of IBM, said it did not condone the activities and that it had fired some staff involved in the case. http://zdnet.com.com/2110-1105_2-5135018.html http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/7/34710.html - - - - - - - - - - Supreme Court upholds convictions for child pornography John B. Martin, 64, argued that state laws in effect at the time of his arrest were unconstitutional because they were vague and too broad. Those laws have since been changed by the Legislature. The Supreme Court unanimously said the laws did not violate the U.S. Constitution, did not improperly restrict free speech and gave Martin adequate notice of what activities were illegal. Martin was convicted last year on 20 counts of having banned pornography on his office computer at a Spearfish appliance repair business and on 10 counts for illegal images on his home computer in Belle Fourche. http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1302&dept_id=181981&newsid=10738256&PAG=461&rfi=9 - - - - - - - - - - Appeals court rules child-porn term unjustified The state Court of Appeals vacated the sentence of a man convicted in an Internet child-porn case, ruling his term of 25 years to life was not warranted. The court said Wednesday there wasn't enough evidence to justify an indeterminate sentence for Roger Jacobs, convicted of two counts of soliciting for child prostitution. Jacobs was convicted after a California detective set up an Internet site offering "very young, very attractive escorts," and Jacobs, who lived in Westminster, responded. The detective sent Jacobs a picture of a girl and told Jacobs she was 12 years old. Jacobs sent the detective a picture of himself and the type of girl with whom he would like to have sex. http://rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_2547407,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Fort Worth man makes plea deal in sex case A 36-year-old Fort Worth man suspected of having sex with underage girls he met through the Internet has struck a deal with Tarrant County prosecutors that includes an eight-year prison sentence. Alfred Wayne Velasquez pleaded guilty last month to sexual assault of a child for having sex with a 14-year-old Arlington girl in September 2001 at her house while her parents were away. Mr. Velasquez has been indicted on similar charges in Johnson and Collin counties. Plea agreements are likely in those jurisdictions, but nothing has been finalized, officials said. Mr. Velasquez was being held in the Tarrant County jail in lieu of $225,000 bail. http://www.wfaa.com/localnews/stories/010104dnmetvelasquez.4b50f.html - - - - - - - - - - Man held on sex charge A North College Hill man has been arrested and charged with unlawful sexual contact after authorities said he tried to solicit sex from a 14-year-old female on the Internet. The minor was in fact a detective with the Regional Electronic and Computer Investigations, which is made up of deputies, officers and detectives from the Cincinnati police department and Hamilton County Sheriff's Department. David Gipson Jr., 32, was arrested in Sycamore Township on Monday and charged with one count of attempted unlawful sexual contact with a minor and one count of importuning. Authorities arrested Gipson at the location he designated to meet the girl. http://www.cincypost.com/2004/01/03/briefs01-03-2004.html - - - - - - - - - - Identity theft often begins with Social Security number A young clerk at a busy Hollywood Video store in this Portland suburb was apologetic when a customer recently asked why a Social Security number was required on an application form to rent videos and DVDs. She said it was just a formality, and if a customer refuses, the clerks enter a string of ones or zeroes on the electronic version of the form, one line above the entry carrying the driver's license number of the customer. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2004-01-05-ssn-id-theft_x.htm - - - - - - - - - - Fraud crackdown highlights fears over booking trips on Web Internet-related crime is a large and growing problem. More than a third of the 218,000 fraud complaints the Federal Trade Commission received in 2002 were Web-related. In October, the FBI implemented Operation Cyber Sweep, a coordinated nationwide enforcement operation designed to crack down on the leading types of online economic crime. By November, it announced the arrests or convictions of more than 125 people. Investigators discovered more than 125,000 victims, with estimated losses totaling more than $100 million. (LA Times article, free registration required) http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-tr-internet4jan04,1,4364631.story - - - - - - - - - - Arab interior ministers mull measures to rein in terrorism Interior ministers from Arab countries met here yesterday to draw up guidelines for a document designed to rein in cross-border organised crime and terrorism. Representing the Sultanate of Oman, Interior Minister Sayyid Saud bin Ibrahim Al Busaidi is attending the 21st session of the Arab interior ministers council. The ministers were also expected to work on a draft law to address the new offenses of cybercrime. http://www.timesofoman.com/newsdetails.asp?newsid=48287&pn=local - - - - - - - - - - Aussie spam watchdog investigates itself An Australia anti-spam watchdog is investigating its own workers following complaints about the alleged distribution of pornographic and racist emails within the organisation. The Sydney-based Daily Telegraph reports the Australian Communications Authority began the investigation after staff reported receiving lewd emails from a manager. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/34707.html - - - - - - - - - - Security flaws force Linux kernel upgrade Open-source developers released a new version of the Linux kernel Monday in a move aimed at quickly fixing several bugs--among them two serious security flaws. The 2.4.24 upgrade to the Linux kernel comes a month after the release of the previous version of the core system software and only includes patches for six software issues, including the two flaws. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105_2-5135129.html http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,88763,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Pentagon failed to study privacy issues in data-mining effort, IG says A December report by the Defense Department's independent watchdog on the now-defunct Terrorism Information Awareness (TIA) data-mining project has begun the new year with a discussion of privacy issues. http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0104/010504tdpm1.htm - - - - - - - - - - Songwriters Say Piracy Eats Into Their Pay They think of themselves as the unsung victims of Internet music piracy. Much of the publicity in the battle over illicit Internet music downloading has gone to artists and record labels. But songwriters say they are also being hurt financially. Unless they are also performers, most songwriters are typically neither rich nor famous, and their names may be known only to those who bother to read album credits or liner notes. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/05/business/media/05song.html - - - - - - - - - - Secure Electronic Transfer Makes the Difference There is a question every person who has ever lost an important file is asked: "You mean you didn't back it up?" The answer, invariably, is an audible sigh and a shaking head. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54829-2004Jan4.html - - - - - - - - - - Webcams keep suspended students on track Cameras record every minute of Beverly Pearson's day as a high school English teacher. When she strides to the blackboard, a lens swivels to track her movements. A microphone captures each word. It's all piped electronically to a nearby building at Coffeeville High School where students stuck in suspension can follow Pearson's lesson on the Internet. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/internetlife/2004-01-05-class-webcams_x.htm - - - - - - - - - - Alabama workers clock in with their fingerprints Jefferson County, Alabama is calling time on fraudulent overtime claims by making non-salaried employees clock in with their fingerprints. The County Commission last week placed a $460,000 order for 30 biometric time clocks, doubling numbers in use by the administation. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/34704.html - - - - - - - - - - U.S. starts fingerprint program Up to 28 million visitors to the United States now have to stop for photographs and fingerprinting under a new government program launched Monday and intended to make it harder for terrorists to enter the country. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said the new US-VISIT program applies to any visitors who must have a visa to enter the United States. http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/01/05/fingerprint.program/index.html *********************************************************** Computer Forensics Training - Online. An intense, 150 hour, instructor lead program that teaches you computer forensics and helps prepare you for the Certified Computer Examiner exam. For more information see; www.cybercrime.kennesaw.edu *********************************************************** Search the NewsBits.net Archive at: http://www.newsbits.net/search.html *********************************************************** The source material may be copyrighted and all rights are retained by the original author/publisher. The information is provided to you for non-profit research and educational purposes. 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