Court yanks down FCC's broadcast flag [CNET News.com 5/6/2005, 9:52AM PDT] In a stunning victory for hardware makers and television buffs, a federal appeals court has tossed out government rules that would have outlawed many digital TV receivers and tuner cards starting July 1. "The broadcast flag regulations exceed the agency's delegated authority under the statute," a three-judge panel unanimously concluded. "The FCC has no authority to regulate consumer electronic devices that can be used for receipt of wire or radio communication when those devices are not engaged in the process of radio or wire transmission." (Click here for a PDF of the decision.) During oral arguments in February, the three judges suggesed the FCC had overstepped what the law permits. "You're out there in the whole world, regulating. Are washing machines next?" asked Judge Harry Edwards. Quipped Judge David Sentelle: "You can't regulate washing machines. You can't rule the world." 5/6/2005 8:12:30 PM    

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Criminal Enterprise Moves Into Net [TechWeb 4/27/2005 via W2Knews 5/6/2005] Malware, spam, phishing, spyware, bots and root kits are raking in big bucks and fighting them effectively is a huge challenge. David Aucsmith, Microsoft's Security CTO, said, "We've seen an explosion of criminal enterprise moving onto the Net in the last 18 months or so... It's no longer just for kicks. It is for making money... 70 to 80 percent of all spam comes from bots. These are your moms' machines, compromised by a bot. They're fairly sophisticated now." The "herders" who operate bot networks offer to rent out their bot networks. "People are making a lot of money with spam," he said flatly. The Wall Street Journal had an article on May 5 about true Mafia tactics where e-commerce sites were sent extortion emails, and told to pay up 10 grand protection money, or else be attacked. Looks like true crime has arrived in the neighborhood. 5/6/2005 7:51:29 PM    

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Interview with James Gosling: "The Man Who Brewed Up Java" [Business Week 5/4/2005 via Boing Boing 5/6/2005] Business Week has a good interview with James Gosling. "The really lucky thing was we ended up reading the tea leaves correctly and guessing the direction things were going to take. "
Q: How has becoming known as "the father of Java" changed your life, personally?
A: In some sense, it kind of ruined my life. I'm absolutely an engineer, a scientist kind of guy. I've kind of learned how to have a public presence. But it doesn't give me the same kind of job satisfaction that building something does. 5/6/2005 7:31:44 PM    

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