Friday, November 1, 2002

More Great Art. Japan's Growing Mac 'Mod' Squad. Mac owners in Japan love to modify their Macs, from painting the lids of laptops to replacing the entire shell with custom-made transparent plastic. It's all in fun. By Leander Kahney. [Wired News] 10:13:02 PM    comment []

You're not going to find these at CompUSA or your local Apple Store. 'Modders' Can't Leave Macs Alone. Tinkering with computer hardware is an old hobby popular with PC owners. Still, some Apple users can't help but get into the act. By Leander Kahney. [Wired News] 10:10:29 PM    comment []

The Nation - More Surveillance on the Way. The USA Patriot Act was passed with much fanfare last October, but it was soon clear that lawmakers passed the package without examining all the parts. Today, we're still struggling to determine how new law enforcement powers granted by Patriot are being used. In June, the House Judiciary Committee asked the Attorney General for specifics on this issue. On October 17, the committee released the DOJ's answers. Much of what was learned was troubling. For example, Patriot opened loopholes that let electronic communications service providers give customer records to law enforcement officials without a warrant. In lay terms, the folks that provide your email account are an electronic service provider, and your actual emails could fall into the category of customer records. In a letter to the House Judiciary Committee, the Attorney General's office confirmed that they have received anecdotal accounts of providers turning over records without a warrant but "there are no statistics detailing the number of times that disclosures have occurred or the basis for such disclosures." In this context, a recent amendment to the Senate's Homeland Security bill seems all the more ominous. The amendment, offered by Orrin Hatch, was based on a bill passed in the House on July 15 just before the August recess called the Cyber Security Enhancement Act, or CSEA. Introduced by Rep. Lamar Smith, who brought us Patriot's computer surveillance language, CSEA, if passed, would make it even easier for government agents to get your electronic records, without a warrant and without telling you. [Privacy Digest] 10:06:56 PM    comment []

Broadband Migration III: New Directions in Wireless Policy.. Michael Powell: Broadband Migration III: New Directions in Wireless Policy. Thanks to Dave for linking the actual speech. [Hack the Planet] 10:04:14 PM    comment []

Freenet Project 0.5. Here is an interesting concept; a peer-to-peer publishing system, where anyone can publish anonymously and all of the content is hosted by everyone involved. Content is distributed and cached based on its popularity. However, the system is dynamic, so content that does not get called often enough eventually gets removed.... [Lockergnome's Bits and Bytes] 10:01:32 PM    comment []

IP Addressing. Here is more than you probably ever wanted to know about IP address formatting. But it is a very interesting read for those of you who are curious about the subject; very readable, even for those without extensive background.... [Lockergnome's Bits and Bytes] 8:44:41 PM    comment []

CNN.com - Telecoms play both sides. They charge to block calls, sell dialing gadgets to marketers [ ... ] For regional phone companies like Verizon, Qwest, SBC and BellSouth, privacy services like Caller ID and Security Screen are a growing revenue source. But the phone companies aren't just trying to thwart sales calls. They're also helping telemarketers make them. Telecoms sell telemarketers high-capacity lines and sophisticated "predictive dialing" machines that have helped unleash a stampede of automated sales calls. Some, including Qwest and Verizon, even sell home numbers of the same customers who buy their privacy services -- unless they pay a fee to have their numbers unlisted. "The phone companies are like arms merchants in a technological war between telemarketers and phone subscribers," said privacy advocate "Jason Catlett". "They profit from both sides." [ ... ] Verizon spokeswoman Catherine Lewis says the company isn't playing telemarketers and consumers against each other. "I don't think it's a case of we should pick one side over the other," she said. "We do serve both sides." [ ... ] An FCC memo says telemarketers attempt 104 million calls a day to U.S. businesses and consumers. Sales revenue has risen from about $435 billion in 1990 to around $660 billion last year. [ ... ] Phone companies offer their own blocking and screening solutions, like SBC's Privacy Manager, Sprint's Privacy ID and Qwest's No Solicitation, which intercept calls without ID and ask solicitors to hang up. For those who don't like the idea of paying for privacy, the FTC and FCC may soon offer some relief. Advocates believe both agencies will create a nationwide list of residents whom telemarketers may not call. "The stars are in alignment here," said Chris Hoofnagle, legislative counsel with the Electronic Privacy Information Center. "This is one of those areas where it's safe for the government to tackle a big industry because the public is so fed up." Charities and political campaigns will get loopholes, Hoofnagle predicts. "Politicians, they'll always be able to do it," he said. "I guarantee you." [Privacy Digest] 5:38:25 AM    comment []