Saturday, September 21, 2002

Consumer groups state DRM case. But will US govt policies change? [The Register] The Electronic Frontier Foundation was represented in a group of about 20 people representing consumer interests at a meeting this week with government - putting forward their position on digital rights management. Listening to them is one thing, paying any heed to what they say is another for the current US administration - it's sad but it's true that things are looking grim for our future privacy. 11:08:32 AM

Child email tracking - Does it work?. Kid-e-mail [The Register] The British West Midlands police are endorsing and testing a mail tracking product designed to deliver all sorts of information about recipients of emails. The kid e-mail service is due to come available in November and has obvious appeal for anxious parents wound up to ninety by scare stories in the media. How the system works and its implications for personal privacy are up in the air and should be a matter of concern to anybody that values their privacy. However I'm not going into that here - rather I have a related anecdote. Some 5 or 6 years ago, controversy was raging on Irish radio phone in programme, Liveline (or madline as it was known), about the dangers of the Internet. From all corners of the country callers were denouncing the medium as the devil's work. The debate focused in on a story from the remote west of Ireland where a married man in his 40s up and left his family for some harlot he'd met in a chat room. Pandemonium ensued until a voice of reason joined the debate. A retired civil engineer questioned how many of the callers had actually used the internet. And, she continued, men have been leaving their families in the lurch since time immemorial - the internet doesn't cause people to do this, people do. Her remarks struck a chord in the nation and started the caller, Katcha, on an exciting third life experience with and about the internet. Read about the cybersisters story on her website - blow your mind. 10:37:04 AM