NewsBits for July 1, 2004 ************************************************************ Boy, 16, Is Arrested Under Film Piracy Law A 16-year-old boy was arrested at a Chatsworth movie theater early Wednesday after an employee wearing night-vision goggles caught him videotaping "Spider- Man 2," Los Angeles police said. The boy was booked under a state law enacted earlier this year that makes videotaping in a movie theater punishable by up to one year in jail, with a maximum fine of $2,500, according to police. (LA Times article, free registration required) http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-me-spiderman1jul01,1,2714754.story 'Fahrenheit' Web leaks add fuel to controversy http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/internet/07/01/fahrenheit.piracy.reut/index.html - - - - - - - - - - Students Allegedly Hack Into School Psychologist's Computer Two Long Island students were charged with illegally accessing a high school psychologist's computer and tampering with other students' psychological evaluations, officials said. Christopher Kabacinski, 18, and Ryan Webb, 16, both students at Carle Place High School, allegedly learned the psychologist's password and used it to log on to the school's computer network. http://www.wnbc.com/education/3476575/detail.html - - - - - - - - - - Man Admits Counterfeiting $100 Bills Made On Color Copier A Parsippany man admitted in federal court Tuesday to trying to pass off counterfeit $100 bills he produced using a color copier purchased at a computer store, the U.S. Attorney's office announced. Martin Siris, 58, was arrested Feb. 27 at Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford, after authorities said he placed an $800 bet with the photocopied bills. Secret Service agents found another $5,000 in bogus bills that Siris was carrying, and then $200,000 in photocopied fakes he had stashed in a safety deposit box, authorities said. http://www.wnbc.com/money/3476734/detail.html - - - - - - - - - - California man sentenced on child porn charges A California man convicted of e-mailing obscene messages and photos to a young girl in Jeff Davis Parish has been sentenced to five years in prison at hard labor. Stephen Anderson, 62, of Oceana, Calif. was convicted in the 31st Judicial District Court this week on three counts of pornography involving juveniles and one count of contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2004-07-01-old-pervert-goes-to-jail_x.htm - - - - - - - - - - Midland: Former officer sentenced A sobbing and contrite former Midland policeman, William Andrew "Andy" Glasscock, was sentenced to 15 1/2 years in federal prison Tuesday after pleading guilty to two charges stemming from his Christmas Eve 2003 arrest by Odessa police and Texas Rangers. Glasscock, 52, attributed his fall to "a sexual addiction" that led him to allegedly drug and rape women, spy on a pubescent girl in his bathroom and traffic in Internet child pornography. http://www.familybadge.org/index.cfm/act/newsletter.cfm/category/texas%20police%20news/menuitemid/112/MenuGroup/Home/NewsLetterID/6870/startrow/7.htm - - - - - - - - - - Web criminals hit Betfair with DDOS attack UK Internet betting site Betfair said on Wednesday afternoon that it had been attacked by Web-based criminals. In an statement posted on its site, Betfair told its users that it been the victim of a distributed denial of service (DDOS) attack. DDOS attacks are used by malicious Web users to prevent a server from functioning properly by flooding it with traffic. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/0,39020330,39159283,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - Nigeria failing to tackle 419ers Roughly 200 Nigerians are currently serving jail terms for advance fee or 419 fraud around the world, Malam Nuhu Ribadu, chairman of the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), told a seminar in Abuja this week. But in Nigeria itself not a single person has been sentenced yet. About 500 suspected fraudsters are currently detained by the commission in various detention centres across Nigeria, but they still await trial, according to afternoon daily P.M. News. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/07/01/nigeria_tackles_419ers_not/ - - - - - - - - - - Tracking of E-Mails Held Legal In an online eavesdropping case with potentially profound implications, a federal appeals court ruled it was acceptable for a company that offered e-mail service to surreptitiously track its subscribers' messages. The case involves a now-defunct online literary clearinghouse, Interloc Inc., which was acquired in 1998 by Alibris Inc., an Emeryville, Calif.-based online rare-book broker. Interloc made copies of the e-mails sent to its subscribers by rival Amazon.com Inc. An Interloc executive was subsequently indicted on an illegal wiretapping charge. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5336185/ http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-email1jul01,1,4243745.story http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,64043,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Net Firms Not Liable for Piracy in Canada The music industry suffered a legal defeat Wednesday when the Canadian Supreme Court rejected its contention that Internet companies should pay royalties for pirated music. The court rejected an argument that Internet service providers must pay royalties to musicians and their publishers to cover music their customers download. It concluded that the Internet companies were mere conduits of the information. http://www.globetechnology.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040630.w3scoc0630/BNStory/National/ http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-canada1jul01,1,7125052.story 'Controlled' music copying okay - record industry group http://news.zdnet.co.uk/business/legal/0,39020651,39159288,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - IP address fight in N.J. worries ISPs A New Jersey State Court ruling in a case involving the use of Internet Protocol addresses by a Web hosting firm is causing alarm among some network operators who believe it may create a dangerous precedent. University Communications Inc., a Parsipanny. N.J.-based Web hosting company, earlier this week secured a temporary restraining order that allows it to continue using its current IP addresses -- even after terminating its contract with the assigning service provider. http://computerworld.com/governmenttopics/government/legalissues/story/0,10801,94251,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Spam still presents technology and enforcement challenges In case you had not noticed it, spam has not disappeared in the six months that the CAN-SPAM Act has been in force. By various estimates, spam now accounts for well over 80 percent of all e-mail and still clogs servers and in boxes. According to the spam filtering company Commtouch Inc. of Mountain View, Calif., the number of spam outbreaks per day increased by 43 percent during the first half of 2004, from 350,000 each day to 500,000. http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/26459-1.html Junk mail host nations named and shamed http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/07/01/commtouch_spam_survey/ Appeals court upholds Washington state spam law http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2004-06-30-wash-spam-law_x.htm - - - - - - - - - - Auditors: DHS flunks wireless security The Homeland Security Departments failure to impose security controls on its wireless data exposes sensitive information to potential eavesdropping and misuse, the departments inspector general said. The department agreed to tighten its wireless security in accord with the IGs recommendations. As a department that is part of the governments intelligence community, many DHS agencies handle sensitive and classified information at various levels affecting counterterrorism and law enforcement functions. http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/homeland-security/26454-1.html - - - - - - - - - - FBI opens new computer crime lab The FBI opened a new lab Tuesday dedicated to detecting computer-related crimes and training federal, state and local police to catch Internet pedophiles, frauds and thieves. It is the second such lab the FBI has opened in the United States, and it will serve one of 50 computer crime task forces that have been set up around the country to increase cooperation among law enforcement agencies. http://www.crime-research.org/news/01.07.2004/464/ - - - - - - - - - - No nudes on .nu: official The operators of the .nu TLD have taken mighty exception to a recent report by Secure Computing which claimed that the tiny sun-kissed island of Niue was the repository for three million pages of Web depravity. .NU Domain Ltd - the US-based .nu custodian - is to take legal action against Secure for "making false claims that .NU Domain is hosting millions of pages of pornographic material". http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/07/01/no_nudes_on_nu/ - - - - - - - - - - Brightmail tackles zombies Brightmail, a maker of antispam tools, released this week a new version of its software, which now includes features designed to deal with zombie PCs. One way that Brightmail's new software, Anti-Spam 6.0, filters spam is through maintaining lists of spammers' IP addresses, which it calls a Reputation Service. It gathers information on spammers by setting up "honey pots"--fake e-mail accounts on the Web designed to attract spambots trawling for new addresses to spam. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105_2-5254157.html - - - - - - - - - - Microsoft security flaws renew calls to switch browsers It's been a bad week for many users of Microsoft Corp.'s nearly ubiquitous Internet Explorer browser. A pair of virus attacks exploiting its vulnerabilities has led security experts to recommend that Web surfers consider such alternatives as Mozilla and Opera. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/9058868.htm - - - - - - - - - - Usenix: Experts debate security through diversity Most of those on hand for a debate on OS and browser diversity like the idea. The sheer number of worms and viruses directed at Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system and Internet Explorer browser have many in the computer industry wondering whether the cyberworld would be more secure if more users relied on alternatives to Microsoft's products. http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,94250,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Third-generation security Today's security challenges call for a third-generation security strategy. Each week vnunet.com asks a different expert to give their views on recent security issues, with advice, warnings and information on the latest threats. This week Dave Roberts, co-founder and vice president of strategy, product management and marketing at Inkra, explores how virtualisation technology is making layered security a reality. http://www.vnunet.com/news/1156349 - - - - - - - - - - At Delta, tracking bags with radio tags Delta Air Lines says it will use radio frequency identification technology to end the problem of lost luggage for its customers and save itself up to $100 million annually. The company announced that it is to spend between $15 million and $25 million to launch an RFID system across its U.S. network. When the system is installed, it will be able to track bags from airport check-in counters, where the RFID tags will be attached, until they are dropped off at the baggage carousel at the customer's destination. http://news.com.com/At+Delta%2C+tracking+bags+with+radio+tags/2100-1012_3-5254118.html - - - - - - - - - - Lawmakers back full funding for data-sharing center The Homeland Security Department's nerve center for analyzing and sharing information about potential terrorist threats would receive significant funding next year under pending legislation. The House and Senate have proposed matching President Bush's request for $35 million to fund the Homeland Security Operations Center in fiscal 2005. The House passed its bill, H.R. 4567, on June 18 by a vote of 400-5; the Senate measure, S. 2537, is awaiting floor action. http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0704/070104tdpm1.htm - - - - - - - - - - Colorado to require microchip implants in dangerous dogs Colorado dog owners beware: A state law goes into effect today that requires implanting a microchip in dogs that injure someone. It's the latest use of the tiny device already inserted under the skin of millions of pets across the country. These microchips are commonly used for reuniting lost pets with their owners. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2004-06-30-dog-microchip-colo_x.htm - - - - - - - - - - Some military bases on alert for Coke's GPS promotion There's a new security threat at some of the nation's military bases -- and it looks uncannily like a can of Coke. Specially rigged Coke cans, part of a summer promotion, contain cell phones and global positioning chips. That has officials at some installations worried the cans could be used to eavesdrop, and they are instituting protective measures. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/9058778.htm *********************************************************** 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. Reproduction of this text is encouraged; however copies may not be sold, and NewsBits (www.newsbits.net) should be cited as the source of the information. Copyright 2000-2004, NewsBits.net, Campbell, CA.