August 22, 2002

Dude, Where's My Pain?. Marijuana-derived drugs could be powerful painkillers, but experts say research is just starting to reach critical mass. Randy Dotinga reports from the World Pain Congress in San Diego. [Wired News] 2:28:02 PM

Faced with intense pressure from Congress, the U.S. Justice Department yesterday recorded its first fraud conviction of a former Enron Corp. executive in connection with the collapse of the once high-flying Houston energy trader. Michael Kopper, an Enron finance executive and former employee of Toronto-Dominion Bank, pleaded guilty to money laundering and fraud in a Houston court yesterday in a deal that will see him provide investigators with key information about the off-book partnerships that were designed to boost Enron's profits and hide US$1-billion in debt. "nationalpost" 11:26:26 AM

AOL Time Warner has inked a deal that calls for AT&T and Comcast to relinquish their minority interest in its Time Warner Entertainment division for as much as $9 billion, according to published reports. The agreement paves the way for a possible IPO of AOL's cable arm in 2003, and ends speculation about the unit's immediate future.  "newsfactor"  11:23:53 AM

A California company said on Monday it plans to fight Internet e-mail spam using a new system that relies on U.S. copyright and trademark law. Palo Alto, California-based Habeas Inc. provides a system that allows people to easily differentiate between acceptable e-mail and spam, said Chief Executive Anne P. Mitchell. "We're letting you separate the wheat from the chafe," Mitchell said. 7:17:26 AM

PayPal to Limit Online Gaming, Pay Fine NEW YORK (Reuters) - PayPal, the electronic payment service, has agreed to limit online gambling merchants from using its transaction system and to pay a $200,000 penalty, the New York State Attorney General's office said on Wednesday. 7:15:53 AM