Internet Controversies FYS News Page

Welcome to the FYS News Page. Please post your links and summaries to news stories relevant to the course syllabus, in the appropriate categories below.

Your posted item should include: the headline with a link, a short reference, a short summary, and your name, in parentheses. I give two examples below.

Open Source and software copyright

• Ballmer: In advertising and search, Microsoft's way behind Google. (NY Times, October 11, 2007). Ballmer is chief executive of Microsoft. He says: Microsoft's software model is under attack...we need to take control back. (C. McGeoch)
• Lawmaker blasts UK government on Microsoft policy. (NY Times, Oct 10, 2007). An MP thinks the UK government has favored Microsoft too much. (C. McGeoch).
• Red Hat voices concerns over Microsoft Patent Model (NYT Oct 25, 2007). The open-source software company Red Hat exposes its concerns that Microsoft software patent will not be compatible with open source models. (A. Ciccone)
• Open Source's Future: More Microsoft, Bigger Talent Shortages (Network World Nov 27, 2007). An analyst speaks of open source's future in 2008 from a technical and economic perspective.
• Apple to Open iPhone to Developers (NYT Oct 17,2007). Apple has decided to make the iPhone an open-source product.
• OSI Approves Microsoft License Submission (OSI, October 12, 2007). the Open Source Initiative recently approved two Microsoft Public Licenses, the Ms-PL and the Ms-RL. (O. Davis)

Wikinomics: Wiki- style social and business ventures on the Web

• Crunchless Credit (The Economist 25 Oct. 2007)- New online social lending networks offer low interest rate loans to prospective borrowers and begin to pose a challenge to traditional lenders. (R. Colby)
• Digital library surpasses 1 million books (The Boston Globe, November 28, 2007) Nearly a decade ago, computer scientists at Carnegie Mellon University embarked on a project with an astonishingly lofty goal: Digitize the published works of humankind and make them freely available online. (C. Temerson)

Internet and music / video downloads

• AT&T Offers Music Downloads from Napster Catalog (NYT Oct 22, 2007). AT&T proposes a new plan to utilize Napster’s extensive music catalog for profit online. Using AT&T as a provider not only boosts Napster by expanding its outreach, but also allows AT&T to be a bigger competitor for Internet rivals, Verizon and Sprint. (A. Ciccone)
• Sharing Is Never Easy (NY Times 27 Oct. 2007)- Comcast answers allegations of delaying and even blocking internet traffic intended for file sharing. The article delves into the issue of net-neutrality and preferential treatment of some activity. (R. Colby)
• Piracy and Copyright: an Ethics Lesson (The Chronicle of Higher Education May 19, 2006). Colleges are taking an educational approach to fighting illegal downloading on campus. (C. Ferrari)
• Mourning TV (NY Times 11 Nov. 2007) Op-Ed writer Damon Lindelof argues that the accessibility and increase of television programs on the Internet could lead to the end of television. (E. Johansson-Lebron)
• Imeem Pioneers Free Music With Ads (29 Oct. 2007) Imeem is a social network site with a heavy emphasis on music, that is getting the music labels to agree to license songs in a new way. (E. Vasilev)

• Bill Would Make Colleges Copyright Cops (NY Times 13 Nov. 2007) An education bill would cut off aid to colleges and universities that don’t actively help movie studios and record labels prevent trading in copyrighted works. (E.Vasilev)

Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA), anticircumvention

• Penguin Audio Ends EMusic Deal. (NY Times, October 22 2007) Penguin Audio won't sell audiobooks on eMusic because it lacks DRM (digital rights management) technology. (O.Davis)

How the Web is used by protest / advocacy groups

Laws and policies about privacy

• Intelligence Deputy to America: Rethink Privacy . Donald Kerr, principle deputy director of national intelligence , says that it is time for people in the U.S. to change their definition of privacy.

Privacy and spam: the right to be left alone

• Privacy For People Who Don't Show Their Navels. (NY Times 25 January 2006) Internet users have had a surge in wanting to maintain anonymity in the web. New techonologies and software aid them in this mission... ( C. Alegria) http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/25/technology/techspecial2/25privacy.html
• Ask.com Puts a Bet on Privacy. (NY Times, 10 December 2007) Major search engine offers a novel service to internet users, allowing them to increase their privacy while browsing by giving them the option to discard any data collected connecting search terms to their IP address. (T. Lamkin-Carughi) http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/11/technology/11ask.html?_r=1&ref=technology&oref=slogin

Privacy and public databases: control of personal information

• Google Balances Privacy, reach. ( 14 July 2005) The google record: the search engine keeps records of websites visited, log ins and more... ( C. Alegria) <http://www.news.com/Google-balances-privacy,-reach/2100-1032_3-5787483.html>

• Tracking of Web use by Marketers Gains favor. (NY Times,November 5 2007) Large Social Networks are using"Hypertargeting" ad program that will search peoples profiles and look for specific interests.(R.Fugett)

• Encrypted E-Mail Company Hushmail Spills to Feds. (7 November 2007) Privacy, Security, Politics, and Crime Online (blog.wired.com)http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/11/encrypted-e-mai.html (W. Yochum)
• In ID Theft, Some Victims See Opportunity (Nov 16, 2007) An article about the rise of businesses that work to prevent ID theft (T McClintock).
• Insuring against e-security breaches ( NJ Law Journal 16 Nov. 2007) Unlike with other mediums, a typical insurance policy cannot protect groups from liability in cases of computer security breaches. Instead, "cyberinsurance" is a viable, different option for entities dealing with computers and private information. (E. Johansson-Lebron)
• Hackers Infect Alicia Keys’s MySpace Page ( NY Times 8 Nov. 2007) The MySpace page of singer Alicia Keys has become the latest vehicle for malware on the Web. (E. Vasilev)
• Facebook Retreats on Online Tracking (NY Times, November 30, 2007). As a result of mass-protest against Facebook's new "Beacon" advertising system, which lets Facebook users know what their friends are buying on other websites (Travelocity, Fandango, etc.), Facebook has made changes that will allow users to make the choice for each individual purchase whether or not to share the information. However, the company still refuses to add a setting that will allow users to unilaterally refuse the program for all purchases. (D. Vaimberg)

Government Regulation:

• Senators Want Probe on Content Blocking (finance.myway.com) (27 October, 2007) Two Senators on Friday called for a congressional hearing to investigate reports that phone and cable companies are unfairly stifling communications over the Internet and on cell phones. (W. Yochum)
• Ban on Internet Gaming Violates Americans' Liberty and U.S. World Treaty Obligations, Say Experts at House Judiciary Committee Hearing (14 Nov. 2007) Experts who testified before the House Judiciary Committee called for a reversal of U.S. policies regarding internet gambling because they said it violates individual liberty and because there is effective software that already deals with compulsive and underage gambling. (E. Johansson-Lebron)
  

Privacy and surveillance: monitoring Internet traffic

• F.T.C. Member Vows Tighter Controls of Online Ads (NY Times November 2, 2007). Should Internet users uknowingly provide information to online advertisers that they would not provide in a "real-world" setting? This article discusses why these online advertisements need to be regulated. (C. Ferrari)
• Apologetic, Facebook Changes Ad Program. (NY Times, 6 December 2007) CEO of Facebook apologizes for the way the site launched program Beacon, which sold information about users' internet activities to ad agencies. Discussion of how users should be given choice to opt out of such programs. (T. Lamkin-Carughi) http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/06/technology/06facebook.html

Miscellaneous (Don't know where to put it, but it seems relevant)

• Microsoft Posts Strong Profit as Tech Thrives (Wall Street Journal, Oct 26 2007). While recent Internet and software developments have created a minor road-block in Microsoft’s corporate and financial development, the company’s success thrives in stock market and still proves to be one of the biggest Internet competitors. (A. Ciccone)

• NSA to defend against hackers<http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-te.nsa20sep20,0,7906814.story>(Baltimore Sun Sept 20 2007) In a major shift, the National Security Agency is drawing up plans for a new domestic assignment: helping protect government and private communications networks from cyberattacks and infiltration by terrorists and hackers (R. Fugett)
• F.B.I. Investigates Rockies' Claims (NY Times 27 Oct. 2007)- The Colorado Rockies have requested and received an F.B.I. investigation into suspicion that an "external, malicious attack" on their ticketing technology crashed the server allowing fans to buy tickets to the 2007 World Series. (R. Colby)

• Northeastern sues Google over patent. (The Boston Globe November 10, 2007). Northeastern University and a professor at the college claim to have a patent on database technology used by Google. (K.Holmes) http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2007/11/10/northeastern_sues_google_over_patent/
• Client-Side Vulnerabilities Loom Large (NY Times, November 28, 2007). Hackers have begun to attack applications downloaded by Inernet users more often than particular flaws in operating systems. This is causing significant problems for companies, whose employees may unwittingly download something that could take down the company's entire security structure. (D. Vaimberg)
• Appeals Court Voids Agreement to Pay Freelancers for Work Published on the Web (NY Times, November 30, 2007). A federal appeals court yesterday threw out a hard-fought agreement between publishers and freelance writers to pay the writers for electronic reproduction of their work. (C. Temerson)

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F01E0DA1F3DF931A3575BC0A9629C8B63 (G. Carson)