From steve at advocate.net Fri Dec 1 09:28:01 2000 From: steve at advocate.net (Steve) Date: Fri, 1 Dec 2000 09:28:01 -0800 Subject: SCN: Anonymity Message-ID: <3A276F21.26107.9679F9@localhost> x-no-archive: yes =========================== (Aaron Elstein, Wall Street Journal)---Two Internet users have successfully challenged a New Jersey company's efforts to unmask their identities for a defamation lawsuit, and free-speech advocates consider this ruling a major victory in protecting authors of unflattering online messages. The case appears to be the first time anonymous posters have succeeded in blocking a company's request for a subpoena that would have forced a message-board operator, in this instance, Yahoo! Inc., to turn over information that would divulge their identities. Dendrite International Inc., a Morristown, N.J., software company, had sought the subpoena as part of a cybersmear lawsuit it filed in the spring against its unknown online critics who, among other things, alleged it was cooking its books to inflate earnings. But in the ruling Tuesday, Judge Kenneth C. MacKenzie of New Jersey Superior Court in Morristown said the posters identities should remain secret because Dendrite "has failed to demonstrate that it was harmed by any of the posted messages." Judge MacKenzie had refused to automatically grant a subpoena to Dendrite as is usually routine in these cases. In an unusual twist, the judge had instructed Dendrite to publish a message on the board used by the posters to notify them of the case since their identities were unknown. Two of the four posters targeted by the company responded by hiring lawyers to represent them and contest the subpoena. Those two won their battle. However, Judge MacKenzie said Dendrite's efforts to identify the other two posters who weren't represented in court can proceed. "The company is pleased that it can continue its case against two of the defendants and plans to do so vigorously," says Bob Weigel, an attorney who represents Dendrite. However, the company is considering appealing the judge's decision to protect the identities of the other two. Dendrite believes the two posters whose identities it may uncover are employees. Attorneys at the American Civil Liberties Union and Public Citizen said they were pleased with the judge's decision. These groups have argued that anonymous expression on the Internet ought to be protected unless companies can first show they were economically damaged by what was said. "The ruling represents a great victory for free speech on the Internet," says Lyrissa Lidsky, a law professor at the University of Florida who wrote a friend-of-the-court brief for the ACLU in another cybersmear case. In his ruling, Judge MacKenzie cited a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that established a First Amendment basis for anonymous speech. While acknowledging that the Supreme Court case, which involved political leaflets, is "factually distinguishable" from the Dendrite matter, "Inherent in First Amendment protections is the right to speak anonymously in diverse contexts," Judge MacKenzie wrote. He said Dendrite had failed to make a case that would warrant revoking the defendants' constitutional protections. The ruling comes just six weeks after a Florida appeals court rejected efforts by anonymous online posters to protect their identities in a lawsuit brought by the former chief executive of Hvide Marine Inc. In that case, the former CEO blamed the online critiques for his ouster last autumn. Although Judge MacKenzie's ruling is binding only in New Jersey, it sends an important message to lawyers and judges across the country who are working on these cases, said Paul Levy, an attorney at Public Citizen. The Washington consumers group filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of the defense in the Dendrite case. "You better believe that other lawyers and myself will be presenting this as a precedent," he says. Companies have filed more than 100 suits against unknown parties who criticize them online, alleging that the messages have damaged their businesses. None of these suits has gone to trial and only a handful have been ruled on by a judge, a sign to public-interest groups that companies have used the lawsuits primarily to unmask the people who are publishing things on online message boards that they don't like. "Hopefully, this ruling means companies won't sue unless they are serious about proving defamation and other allegations they lay out," Mr. Levy said. Abby Notterman, counsel at Internet Crimes Group Inc., a Princeton, N.J., firm that investigates message-board postings for corporate clients, said the decision should demonstrate to companies that lawsuits are a poor way to root out online critics. "The suits are really about attacking a fly with a hammer," she says. "The judge is saying the courts shouldn't be used by corporations to unmask individuals, and I think that is a reasonable decision." In addition to citing the Supreme Court ruling in his decision, Judge MacKenzie also cited a California federal court case involving a domain name dispute over Seescandy.com, which "found some limiting principles should be applied to the determination of whether discovery to uncover the identity of a defendant is warranted." Copyright 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From the Listowner * * * * * * * * * * * * . To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to: majordomo at scn.org In the body of the message, type: unsubscribe scn ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ==== * * * * * * * http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/ * * * * * * * From HV at derfriseur.de Sun Dec 3 15:58:36 2000 From: HV at derfriseur.de (HV at derfriseur.de) Date: Mon, 4 Dec 2000 07:58:36 +0800 Subject: SCN: At Last, Herbal V, the All Natural Alternative is Available! Message-ID: <200012032358.HAA08797@bbs.ht.net.cn> Herbal V: An Incredible All-Natural Healthy Alternative To V----a Herbal V is the All Natural Approach to Male Virility, Vitality and Pleasure. Available N o w ! Welcome to the New Sexual Revolution. It's the all natural male potency and pleasure pill that men everywhere are buzzing about. Herbal V is safe, natural and specifically formulated to help support male sexual function and pleasure. You just take two easy-to-swallow tablets one hour before sex. And there's more great news - you can get Herbal V for less than $1 a pill. Amazing word of mouth praise on Herbal V has been spreading like wildfire-already over 1,500,000 men have chosen Herbal V. Since it is 100% natural you will never have to worry about safety. Try doctor-recommended Herbal V today and have the greatest night of your life! Herbal V... Bringing Back the Magic! 1,585,000 men can't be wrong. To date over 1 million men have tried the super supplement Herbal V. Here is why: No Doctor Visit Required Available Over the Counter Not a Drug 100% Natural Safe, No Worries Highest Quality Pharmaceutical-Grade Pure Nutriceuticals Guaranteed Potency & Purity Be a Real Man Again! Questions and Answers What is Herbal V? Herbal V is a proprietary blend that was specifically developed as a safe alternative for men who prefer an all-natural approach to address impotence and boost sexual performance. This amazing formula first became popular with Hollywood insiders and the wealthy elite. They were maximizing their sex lives, long before it was available to the general public. How does Herbal V work? Developed by a team whose goal was to create the perfect all-natural aphrodisiac. Herbal V is the result of that remarkable effort. The Herbal V formula contains a precise blend of cutting edge pro-sexual nutrients from around the world that provide nutritional support, making it possible for a man to have a pleasurable sexual experience. What can Herbal V do for me? Herbal V helps support male sexual function and pleasure in a safe and natural manner. Simply put, it can make your sex life incredible. Is Herbal V Safe? One of the great things about Herbal V is that it is not a drug. It is an incredible herbal dietary supplement that provides nutritional support for male sexual function and pleasure. One of the most comforting features of Herbal V is that you never have to worry about safety. Herbal V: Safe - Natural - Exciting Many have speculated that because Herbal V is so popular with men, it must contain prescription drugs or chemical components. Herbal V does not contain any elements or traces of any prescription drug. Herbal V is made using the world's most technologically advanced state-of-the-art cold processing equipment to ensure maximum purity. Herbal V has been independently analyzed by the nation's premier testing facility to ensure purity, quality and to end the rumors that, because it is so popular, it must somehow be chemical. It is not. Herbal V is natural - just as it says on the label. Herbal V is simply fantastic! Herbal V: Ingredients Yohimbe, saw palmetto, avena sativa, androstenedione, guarana, taurine, siberian ginseng, tribulus terrestris. Tribulus Terrestis is certified to enhanced testosterone levels by increasing Luteinzing hormone (LH) levels. Androstenedione which is a precursor to testosterone unlocks bound testosterone and makes it biologically active again quickly. This means a dramatic surge in desire. Avena Sativa Stimulates the neurotransmitter pleasure centers to maximum capacity. This greatly intensifies pleasure. Just listen to what Herbal V has done for the sex lives of people like you! �On a scale of 1 to 10, it's a 15. Electrifying. It's like a wonder pill!� � Justin Q B., New Haven, Texas �I haven't had sexual relations in 11 years. Then with Herbal V it was... wow! It works again!� � Sid R., Lakeland, Florida �I had sex four times in one night. It made me feel like a 19-year-old again.� � Chip S, Beech Mountain, North Carolina �Herbal V has turned my husband into a Sexual Superman! I like the fact that it's all natural and has no side effects. It's bringing back the good old days.� � Jennifer B, Beverly Hills, California The above testimonials are from product literature, and we have not independently verified them. However, the following testimonial is from a "senior" gentleman who has purchased his second bottle of Herbal V. When we heard his words with our own ears, we asked his permission to print them here. �Man! I'm wild as I can be! I feel like I'm 25 years old again! I'm not believing this!� � Mr. Murphy, age 64, Lampart, IL. Risk Free: Double Your Money Back Guarantee If Herbal V does not give the desired results as stated above, simply return the unused portion for a double-your money back refund. No questions asked ! Order Now: Safe, Fast, Secure, Private Herbal V with its DOUBLE YOUR MONEY BACK GUARANTEE is available only through this special promotional offer. Herbal V arrives in plain packaging for your privacy. Any and all information is kept strictly confidential. Payment Methods You may FAX or Postal Mail Checks, MasterCard, Visa, & American Express.payments. Money Orders are accepted only by Postal Mail. Each bottle of Herbal V contains 30 tablets, approximately a 1 month supply. Step 1: Place a check by your desired quanity. ______ 1 Bottle of Herbal V $28 ______ 2 Bottles of Herbal V $48 ______ 3 Bottles of Herbal V $59 Please add $6 shipping and handling for any size order. [ Total cost including shipping & handling, 1 bottle=$34, 2 bottles=$54, 3 bottles=$65 ] International Orders Please add $18 shipping and handling for any size order. [ Total cost including shipping & handling, 1 bottle=$46, 2 bottles=$66, 3 bottles=$77 ] We cannot accept foreign checks. International money orders or credit cards only. Step 2: Place a check by your desired payment method and complete fields if necessary. _____Check or CHECK-BY-FAX [details below] _____Money Order _____American Express Account Number__________________ Exp____/____ _____Visa Account Number__________________ Exp____/____ _____MasterCard Account Number__________________ Exp____/____ Step 3: Please complete and print the following fields clearly. Name ___________________________________________________ Address _________________________________________________ City ____________________________________________________ State ___________________________________________________ Zip _____________________________________________________ E-mail __________________________________________________ Signature _________________________________________________ [ required for check and credit card orders] Toll Free FAX Order Line: 1-800-940-6590 If faxing in your order, please state whether you require a fax, email, or no confirmation at all. Allow up to one day for confirmation, if requested. FAX orders are processed immediately. Or, print & mail to: LSN 273 S. State Rd. 7, #193 Margate, FL 33068-5727 ______________________________________________________ *CHECK BY FAX ORDERS: Complete the check as normal. Tape the check in the area below. Below the check, clearly write the check number, all numbers at the bottom of the check, & your name. Tape the check below and fax the check to the toll free FAX number above. Void the check. Our merchant will electronically debit your account for the amount of the check; your reference number for this transaction will be your check number. Nothing could be safer & easier ! TAPE CHECK BELOW _____________________________________________________________ This is a one time mailing: Removal is automatic and no further contact is necessary. Please Note: Herbal V is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. As individuals differ, so will results. Herbal V helps provide herbal and nutritional support for male sexual performance. The FDA has not evaluated these statements. For details about our double your money back guarantee, please write to the above address, attention consumer affairs department; enclose a self addressed stamped envelope for this and any requested contact information. Thank You. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From the Listowner * * * * * * * * * * * * . To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to: majordomo at scn.org In the body of the message, type: unsubscribe scn ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ==== * * * * * * * http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/ * * * * * * * From xx015 at scn.org Thu Dec 7 08:43:43 2000 From: xx015 at scn.org (SCNA Volunteer Coordinator) Date: Thu, 7 Dec 2000 08:43:43 -0800 (PST) Subject: SCN: Sad News About SCN Colleague Message-ID: We received word yesterday, that our colleague Nancy Kunitsugu suffered a heart attack the previous day and passed away. Her husband, John, indicated that this was completely unexpected - she had been experiencing problems with migraine headaches and asthma, but nothing indicated that there was something more serious going on. John wanted us to pass this sad news on to Nancy's friends at SCN. A memorial service is planned for this coming Sunday, Dec. 10, at the Arboretum from 1-3pm. If you can, please join with other SCN colleagues in this service to remember Nancy. Nancy was involved in SCN from the early days and contributed in many ways. She was currently helping to maintain the volunteer calendar, but helped with volunteer coordination and served on the Board, just to name a few of ways she was involved over the years. Her presence will be missed. Julia Hahn SCNA Volunteer Coordinator vpc at scn.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From the Listowner * * * * * * * * * * * * . To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to: majordomo at scn.org In the body of the message, type: unsubscribe scn ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ==== * * * * * * * http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/ * * * * * * * From anitra at speakeasy.org Thu Dec 7 13:59:43 2000 From: anitra at speakeasy.org (Anitra Freeman) Date: Thu, 7 Dec 2000 13:59:43 -0800 (PST) Subject: SCN: Nice news ... Message-ID: "The domain: www.scn.org, is ranked #1831 out of 951478 domains in the WebsMostLinked.com database." http://www.websmostlinked.com/ Write On! / Anitra L. Freeman / http://www.speakeasy.org/~anitra/ "We can't help everyone. We can't fix everything. It hurts. But it is better to live with pain than to live without caring." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From the Listowner * * * * * * * * * * * * . To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to: majordomo at scn.org In the body of the message, type: unsubscribe scn ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ==== * * * * * * * http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/ * * * * * * * From aki at halcyon.com Thu Dec 7 15:42:40 2000 From: aki at halcyon.com (Aki Namioka) Date: Thu, 7 Dec 2000 15:42:40 -0800 (PST) Subject: SCN: IRS Regulation of Speech on the Internet? (fwd) Message-ID: Hm, will this impact SCN? ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 7 Dec 2000 16:12:19 -0500 From: Christian Stalberg To: cpsr-activists at cpsr.org Subject: IRS Regulation of Speech on the Internet? Article by: CCHC Wednesday 29 Nov 2000 Email: Summary:The IRS is threatening to hold non-profit organizations liable for the comments made by visitors to their websites and by the actions of organizations to which the websites have links. [This seems to be aimed directly at Indymedia!!] \"Guilty\" organizations would be stripped of their tax-exempt status. The IRS is now seeking public comments on their intentions (see address below). Commenters may also send a copy of their comments to Senators and Representatives in Congress where concern has been expressed (see below). The deadline for public comments is February 13, 2001. Freedom of speech and the freedom of non- profit organizations to dispense valuable information depends on citizen response. Article: The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) acting on its own initiative, without legislative authorization, is considering \"the necessity of issuing guidance that would clarify the application of the Internal Revenue Code to use of the Internet by [tax] exempt organizations. In short, the IRS wants to monitor and regulate free speech on the Internet. Organizations may be held liable for the activities of other organizations over whom they have neither control or internal knowledge of operations. Organizations may also be held liable for the speech of individual comments made online at the website. Tax-exempt (non-profit) organizations are required by law to restrict lobbying activities to a minimum, or lose their tax-exempt status. Those that take the IRS (h) election are allowed to allocate a small percentage of their revenues to lobbying activities. Clarifying an intention to regulate speech, the IRS announcement includes many questions under consideration regarding regulation of the use of the Internet by non-profit, tax exempt organizations. These are a few: * To what extent are statements made by subscribers to a forum, such as a listserv or newsgroup, attributable to an exempt organization that maintains the forum? * Does providing a hyperlink on a charitable organization\'s website to another organization that engages in political campaign intervention result in per se prohibited political intervention? * Does providing a hyperlink to the website of another organization that engages in lobbying activity constitute lobbying by a charitable organization? * Unlike other publications of an exempt organization, a website may be modified on a daily basis. To what extent and by what means should an exempt organization maintain the information from prior versions of the organization\'s website? The effect of IRS regulation and monitoring of Internet sites--no doubt with the threat of hefty fines for infringements--will seriously limit public discourse and freedom of speech. Even if the website is eventually found to be innocent of an IRS charge, damage to the organization will be extensive: in lawyer fees, temporary or long- term loss of the website, and energy directed away from operations to focus on securing exoneration. Members of Congress are also concerned. Rep. Dick Armey chastised the IRS\' request for comments saying, \"The IRS has no business getting involved in whether a think tank has links on its website, or how often a charity\'s site is updated. The idea of turning the tax man into a net cop would have a chilling effect on free speech on the Internet\" (Tech Law Journal, 10/26/00) ---Citizens\' Council on Health Care November 28, 2000 ---------------------------------- TO COMMENT: Send public comments to: Internal Revenue Service 1111 Constitution Ave., NW Washington, DC 20224 Attn: Judith E. Kindell Regarding Document: IRS Announcement 2000-84, Dated October 16. DEADLINE: February 13, 2001. View IRS document at: http://www.techlawjournal.com/agencies/irs/internet/20001016.asp * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From the Listowner * * * * * * * * * * * * . To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to: majordomo at scn.org In the body of the message, type: unsubscribe scn ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ==== * * * * * * * http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/ * * * * * * * From steve at advocate.net Thu Dec 7 23:40:36 2000 From: steve at advocate.net (Steve) Date: Thu, 7 Dec 2000 23:40:36 -0800 Subject: SCN: Security Message-ID: <3A301FF4.30521.5333E19@localhost> x-no-archive: yes ======================= (John Schwartz, NY Times)---Trust us. Please? That is the message from leaders of high-technology businesses and advocacy groups at SafeNet 2000, a Microsoft-sponsored conference on computer security and privacy. The stated purpose of the conference, which opened here today, is to reach a consensus on issues like when and how to publicize vulnerabilities in a vendor's software — like, say, Microsoft's — that could compromise privacy or data security. But the freewheeling panel discussions today touched on all the major policy issues facing high technology companies. And it showed, as Microsoft's chairman, William H. Gates, said in a keynote address, that privacy and security "are tied together in a very deep way." Announcing a Microsoft initiative on consumer privacy, Mr. Gates said the next version of the company's Internet Explorer software for browsing the Internet would incorporate a technology that could make it easier to ascertain the privacy policies on Web sites. The conversation at the conference was remarkably frank, and sometimes quarrelsome. In a discussion of privacy issues, Nick Mansfield of Shell Services International, a computer services subsidiary of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group, praised consumer privacy rules passed by the European Union and said that in contrast, "I don't see anything intelligent in the privacy field in North America." The comment elicited a murmur of irritation in the packed meeting room, but a few minutes later, Microsoft's own chief privacy officer, Richard Purcell, said much the same thing. Consumers, he said, merely see an industry that is squabbling over position in the market, not one that is moving forward with any coherence on privacy issues. "How do we get to that vocabulary, that purpose and that channel of communication," he asked, "that assures consumers that we aren't a lot of evil-headed monsters?" It was notable, though little remarked by the attendees, that the conference's host has often been at the center of the privacy and security debate. Some of the most prominent computer virus attacks, including the "I Love You" program started early this year in the Philippines and the Melissa program last year, took advantage of the vulnerability of Microsoft's wares and their near- ubiquity around the globe. Some who did not attend the conference were not so gentle. "The irony of it is amazing," Jeff Bates, editor of the online technology news site known as Slashdot, said in an e- mail interview. He accused Microsoft of being "a company that leaves me vulnerable to security holes so that it can make my screen look prettier." Others at the conference noted that one of the meeting's goals — to come up with standard procedures for reporting software flaws — would serve Microsoft well, since it has long been the victim of "gotcha" announcements that describe bugs before the company has had a chance to fix them. A former hacker who goes solely by the name of Mudge, who now works as a security consultant, defended Microsoft for having changed since the days when he and his friends would gleefully publish examples of its software flaws on the Internet. "There was a time when they would treat an information release quite differently," he said, by trying to sweep the problem under a rug. In recent years, Microsoft has poured money and personnel into responding to bugs, and has improved its relations with those who publicize them, Mudge said. Describing the new privacy features in Internet Explorer, Mr. Gates said they would let consumers decide what level of privacy protection they need — whether, for example, the machine should accept cookies, the software deposited in consumers' PC's by Web sites to track visitors. The system, known as Platform for Privacy Preferences Project, or P3P, has long been under independent development. But the announcement means that Microsoft is pulling back from a simpler approach to giving consumers more control over their cookies by letting them block all "third party" cookies, those originating from sites other than the one that the Web surfer is visiting. Such cookies irk many privacy advocates, who say that they expose consumers to scrutiny by advertising firms, for example, without their knowledge or consent. On the security side, Mr. Gates said Microsoft, which suffered an embarrassing series of hacker intrusions in October, had been trying to act as a model for other companies by instituting a pilot program using "smart cards" to restrict access to the inner workings of the company's computer networks. The project put the cards into the hands of about 1,000 system administrators, who must insert them into special readers on their computers to make any changes on the company's networks. Barry Steinhardt of the American Civil Liberties Union said the example showed the frequent tension between privacy and security, since the technology allows a person's movements to be tracked when a door is opened or a PC used. Smart cards, he said, "have value as security technology, but they are very destructive of privacy — you're identified everywhere you go." Mr. Gates called for enhancing network security systems to help people get the information they want, block the mail they do not want and prevent computer intrusion. Moments after his speech, Microsoft's public relations firm sent out press releases announcing that the kinds of security software described by the Microsoft chairman were available from Microsoft. Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From the Listowner * * * * * * * * * * * * . To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to: majordomo at scn.org In the body of the message, type: unsubscribe scn ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ==== * * * * * * * http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/ * * * * * * * From dwriter at eplanet.ca Fri Dec 8 02:34:13 2000 From: dwriter at eplanet.ca (dwriter at eplanet.ca) Date: Fri, 8 Dec 2000 02:34:13 -0800 Subject: SCN: Attn: Corporate Training Coordinator - COURSEWARE Content for Windows2000, A+, Network+ and more Message-ID: <200012080027502.SM00131@eplanet.ca> How does a training center stay current with today�s ever-changing world of technology? Imagine first, the planning for development for any one course. The amount of production time after development and the high costs of labor. Unfortunately the advancements of this industry do not allow for time to be wasted. Now imagine eliminating all of the time spent on development \ production and replacing it with only reviewing pre-approved and ready to go courseware. No time wasted and a reduction in cost from 35 to 45%. As you imagine the best way of providing content for your courses, you'll find yourself appreciating course content that is already prepared and ready for immediate use in your curriculum. We design and develop books and curriculum that support Systems Engineering technologies and certifications including: � A+ � Network+ � i-Net+ � MCSE - Courses � MCDBA - Courses � Computer Forensics and other titles to choose from... (Full descriptions are available, ASK us for courseware SAMPLES) Some of our books have been top 10 best sellers through Amazon.com. All titles can be customized by you or you can ask us to modify content to your specifications. We can help you with your high-tech training needs including books, books on CD, Instructor led classes and distance learning products. We also create custom high-tech curriculum for companies. We are a one-stop solution for high-tech educational content, training and resources. We offer distance learning and instructor lead products for both individuals and groups and our education solutions meet typical corporate and learning center needs. We are a Microsoft Solution Provider (MSP), Microsoft Certified Technical Education Center (CTEC) and a Computer Technology Industry Association Certified Training Center (CompTIA). We partner with a major University, an international leader in adult instructor lead and distance learning, to offer graduate and undergraduate credit for many of our courses. Also, don't hesitate to inquire about our documentation and technical writing services. Please feel free to contact me in the meantime. I look forward to speaking with you further. Casey Lea, Creative Director or Domhnall Adams, CS DCGNA, CS and Associates 780-998-4066 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From the Listowner * * * * * * * * * * * * . To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to: majordomo at scn.org In the body of the message, type: unsubscribe scn ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ==== * * * * * * * http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/ * * * * * * * From guests at scn.org Fri Dec 8 15:27:41 2000 From: guests at scn.org (Melissa Guest) Date: Fri, 8 Dec 2000 15:27:41 -0800 (PST) Subject: SCN: Nancy's Memorial Service Message-ID: We've been given updated information about the memorial service - it will be happening this Sunday, 12/10, starting at 12:30. Check in at the Arboretum's Graham Visitor's Center for directions to the exact location. Thoughts & Memories about having volunteered with Nancy can be sent to feedback at scn.org. A web page commemorating her is under construction. Also, Nancy's family have established a memorial fund to donate books to the school Nancy was a librarian in. If you'd like to make a donation, checks should be sent to: The Nancy Kunitsugu Memorial Book Fund P.O. Box 3205, Renton WA 98056-3205 For anyone who knew her, this comes as quite a blow. We'll hope to see you on Sunday. - Melissa & Steve * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From the Listowner * * * * * * * * * * * * . To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to: majordomo at scn.org In the body of the message, type: unsubscribe scn ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ==== * * * * * * * http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/ * * * * * * * From steve at advocate.net Sat Dec 9 08:58:58 2000 From: steve at advocate.net (Steve) Date: Sat, 9 Dec 2000 08:58:58 -0800 Subject: SCN: Supervision Message-ID: <3A31F452.10926.36D2DA@localhost> x-no-archive: yes ========================= Are Parents Legally Responsible for Their Children's Internet Use? (Carl S. Kaplan, NY Times)---Most people would agree that it's a good idea for parents to supervise their children's use of computers and the Internet. But what happens if a mother or father fails to do so? According to a state judge in Illinois, that parent can face trial in court. In a controversial decision issued November 28, Judge Ward S. Arnold of McHenry County, Ill., ruled that the father of a high school student accused of digitally grafting the picture of a female classmate's face to a hard-core sexual image displayed on a Web site can be sued for damages. In the case, a woman referred in court papers as "Jane Doe" charged earlier this year that the young man who created the Web site with the faked picture committed various wrongful acts, including defamation. She also charged that the boy's father, J. Bowen Palenske, of Woodstock, Ill., was guilty of defamation, invasion of privacy and two forms of negligence: negligent supervision of a child and negligent entrustment to a child of a dangerous article. The woman sought damages of more than $50,000. The father moved to dismiss the claim against him, but after a one- hour oral argument Judge Arnold left the negligence claim in place. He dismissed the privacy and defamation counts. Lawyers for the father and Jane Doe said that the negligence case against the father will soon enter the pretrial discovery phase. A separate case against the son is also pending. Told of Judge Arnold's ruling, some lawyers applauded his decision, claiming that computers can be dangerous devices and that adults are too often lackadaisical about the mischief children can do online. But other lawyers criticized the ruling harshly, saying that a computer is no more dangerous an article than a pencil. Both objects may be abused to create a defamatory statement, but it would be silly to haul parents into court on charges of negligently supplying their children with writing instruments. In addition, critics said the decision places too much of a burden on parents to monitor and direct their children's computer activities, which are often hidden from view. "As a parent, this ruling scares the hell out of me," said Mitchell A. Orpett, chair of the tort and insurance practice section of the American Bar Association and a partner with Tribler Orpett & Crone, a Chicago-based law firm. "To suggest that a parent is going to be liable for anything and everything that a child may do on a computer is very tough," he added. "Computer use is a difficult thing for a parent to control." According to an amended complaint filed on July 31, Jane Doe is the fictional name of a child in McHenry who attends Marian Central Catholic High School in Woodstock, Ill. J. Bowen Palenske, a resident of Woodstock, is the father of a son who also attends Marian Central. On March 13, the son created an Internet Web site available to the general public, according to the papers. On the site, he placed a picture of Jane Doe's face carefully over the face of a nude woman who was engaged in a sexually explicit act. Under the composite image he wrote a caption identifying the subject as Jane Doe "in a porn gone horribly wrong." In addition, the son published on the Web site other allegedly defamatory statements about the woman, according to the complaint. In her papers, Jane Doe charged that the home computer and online connections used by the son were owned and controlled by the father. She also claimed that J. Bowen Palenske had notice prior to February that his other, older son had created a "negative and harmful" Web site that was eventually terminated at the behest school authorities. In arguing for dismissal of all counts against the father, Carol A. Hartline, Palenske's lawyer, wrote in court papers that under state law there could be no claim for negligent entrustment unless the item provided by the parent to the child was a "dangerous article," such as a gun. She suggested that a computer is benign. "There really isn't a case in Illinois that addresses whether a computer is a dangerous article," she said in an interview. Hartline also argued that for Jane Doe to state a legal claim under a theory of negligent supervision, she had to give facts that could lead a court to conclude that her client had notice that his son would likely engage in a harmful act, thereby imposing upon him a duty to step in. But, she asserted, there was no mention in the complaint that the father had any notice about the younger son's propensities. Jane Doe's attorney, Jeremiah P. Connolly, argued that Mr. Palenske had sufficient notice that his computer could be used by his young son to injure someone at the school, given the recent history of his other son's alleged use of the computer to create a harmful Web site. Connolly also said that the computer was used under the nose of the father, and that the Web site about Jane Doe was up for a few weeks before it was taken down. Finally, he asserted that the computer is not a cute and safe machine. "It's not inherently dangerous, like a lawn mower," he said in an interview. "But it has great potential to be dangerous. In my opinion, parents have a duty [to supervise] when they control an item, when they have notice that the item in the past has caused harm, and when that item is being continually used to cause harm." Some legal experts dispute Connolly's view about the dangerousness of a computer. Michael J. Polelle, a professor at John Marshall Law School in Chicago and co-author of "Illinois Tort Law," said that under state law a "dangerous article" is usually one that by its nature is dangerous to life or limb, like dynamite caps. He said he was aware of one case where a child whacked a victim over the head with a golf club. The negligence claim against the child's parent was thrown out because the court found that golf club was not inherently dangerous, he said. "I'm very surprised" by Judge Arnold's ruling, he added. Victor H. Polk, a partner at Boston-based Bingham Dana & Gould who in the past has litigated cases on behalf of celebrity clients whose names were used without authorization on X-rated Web sites, said that he believed it is vitally important for parents to supervise their children's Internet use. "But should parents have a legal duty to do so? That would be bad public policy," he said, adding that one of the virtues of the Internet is allowing children some level of freedom. Besides, added Polk, it is "truly outrageous" for a judge to draw an analogy between a computer and a really dangerous item such as a gun or a knife. "Yes, the pen is mightier than the sword, but we have never regulated the pen," he said. "A computer at some level is more dangerous then a pen but it really is the same type of instrument as a pen." Regardless of the outcome of the case, there will be more suits brought against parents for the online activities of children, predicted Bruce Taylor, president and chief counsel of the National Law Center for Children and Families, a pro-family group in Fairfax, Virginia. He said that online sexual misconduct by high school students was "rampant." Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From the Listowner * * * * * * * * * * * * . To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to: majordomo at scn.org In the body of the message, type: unsubscribe scn ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ==== * * * * * * * http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/ * * * * * * * From steve at advocate.net Sat Dec 9 17:51:03 2000 From: steve at advocate.net (Steve) Date: Sat, 9 Dec 2000 17:51:03 -0800 Subject: SCN: Grassroots Ethernet Message-ID: <3A327107.24381.21E098B@localhost> x-no-archive: yes ======================= Call it the "free-network movement" : Grass-roots hardware hackers are creating a wireless wonderland with megabits of connectivity for all. (Damien Cave, Salon.com)---Matt Westervelt and three of his friends had tinkering on their minds when they started building their own high-speed wireless network in June. Climbing on the roofs of their Seattle homes, building antennas and trying to make them work with Ethernet protocols sounded like fun. Plus, if the whole shebang actually worked, they figured they'd be able to access their home computer files from the local cafe, play Net-based games while sitting on each other's couches and stream video onto their personal data assistants -- all at speeds of up to 11 megabits per second, far faster than what cellphone operators or other wireless providers offered. "To be honest, we just thought it was pretty cool," says Westervelt, a 28-year-old systems administrator at RealNetworks who spearheaded the effort. Westervelt's crew isn't the only group of geeks who have caught the wireless Ethernet infrastructure bug, who are, as the Wall Street Journal put it, "taking indoor wireless technology outside." Community-based wireless efforts like Guerrilla.net of Cambridge, Mass., Consume.net of London and SFLan in San Francisco are steadily gathering grass-roots power. In Seattle, Westervelt's one- time summer hobby now has a name (Seattle Wireless), a Web site and over 30 participants. "It's taken on a momentum of its own," says James Stevens, founder of Consume.net. "There has been quite a rush toward what we're doing." Call it "the free-network movement" -- a bubbled-up-from-the- underground effort to spread high-bandwidth wireless connectivity everywhere. In their attempt to create a user-generated alternative to a top-down industry -- in this case, telecom -- initiatives like Seattle Wireless and Guerrilla.net look a lot like the original Napster, the Web itself or the world of free software. The free-software movement, in fact, is a working model for many wireless Ethernet pioneers. Many people involved -- including über-geek Brewster Kahle, founder of SFLan -- view it as free software's newfound twin: open-source development of operational antennas rather than operating systems. But building what Kahle calls "a citywide wireless LAN that grows from anarchistic cooperation" isn't as simple as contributing code to Linux. Participants must have not just time and patience, but also the soldering skills of an electrician, not to mention the ability to work on rooftops without falling. Ultimately, "it's all a bit dangerous," Stevens admits. It's also expensive. Although these networks send signals along the free public radio spectrum, Westervelt says that new users must have two computers to get started -- and then they still usually have to cough up about $800 to buy all the components needed to get hooked up. Even the fact that they use 802.11b protocols -- the wireless version of Ethernet, a standard used in most computers and almost all local-area networks or LANs -- hasn't managed to make the system all that cheap. And buying into the network is no guarantee of stellar service. The signals flow in the range of 2.4 gigahertz, a frequency that microwaves and other devices like X10 wireless webcams also use - - thus "dirtying" the spectrum and slowing down connection speeds. Rain and walls also clog the pipes. If you're not in the antennas' line of sight, you may not get service at all since the signals can't pass through concrete. But if the free-network movement is anything like the free-software movement, maybe these early obstacles are just bugs in the system that will be fixed by an ever-burgeoning community of wireless Ethernet enthusiasts. Wireless by the people, for the people. Guerrilla.net has been around since 1996 -- but the growth in interest in creating community-based telecom has, by all accounts, exploded over the past year and a half. Not surprisingly, the spark for all this activity lies with advances in the realm of bits and bytes. People are building wireless Ethernet networks because they finally can, says Bob Metcalfe, the creator of Ethernet and a founder of 3Com. "Until recently, wireless Ethernets have been technologically undoable," he says. This is no longer the case because Moore's Law -- the idea that processing speeds will double every 18 months -- has struck again, seeping beyond microchips and into networks. Specifically, Ethernet's rise set the stage for the present rooftop dramas. When Ethernet gained enough of a critical mass about two years ago to become the de facto standard for all local area networks, the prospects for the wireless world changed drastically. Businesses and colleges started to consider campus-wide wireless networks at the same time as wireless modems began appearing on the market. Then, in the summer of 1999, Apple started bundling an AirPort wireless antenna into a handful of its laptops and the G4 desktop. This decision to bundle, hackers say, changed everything. It legitimized wireless connectivity and made mainstream consumers aware for the first time that their laptops need not necessarily be tethered. It also gave hackers easy access to an otherwise hard-to-find piece of technology that they needed: the antenna connector. To date, the antenna connector remains the key ingredient to any successful wireless network, says Bob Keyes, a security consultant in Cambridge, Mass., who was one of the four founders who launched Guerrilla.net. It is the link between a home computer and the cable that runs to a roof antenna -- the glue that holds the network together. The 2.4 gigahertz antennas -- tree-and-branch wonders that resemble TV antennas but are small enough to fit in a backpack -- don't come with these little doohickeys, which meant that wireless- obsessed geeks had to dig them up at ham radio boutiques or commercial wireless providers. Now they just have to dig them out of an Apple computer. This is a significant change. Whereas the old connectors were expensive, hard to find and difficult to make work with a computer as opposed to, say, a television, the new Apple connectors require far less hassle. "We usually just get the computers from friends, open them up and just pull out the antenna and the connector," Keyes says. Tape it to a cable, solder that to a rooftop antenna (through a more generic connector called an SMA) and the network is up and running. Simply tweak the network configurations on a Palm VII or another Web-enabled device like a laptop with a wireless modem and your home-based files are accessible -- via air, which as Keyes notes "is very cool." The total cost: about $800, a third of what it would have run a few years ago. The Net is also available through these networks, in conjunction with an established ISP. Free-software model or not, wireless Ethernet enthusiasts may be building their own alternative infrastructure, but they are not aiming to completely reinvent the Net. Westervelt, for example, says that Seattle Wireless wants to "coexist with ISPs." He envisions being able to use the home-built network when he's in town, a hard-wired connection when he's at home and a traditional cellular uplink when he's traveling. "We're not trying to put ISPs out of business," he says. "We need them." Still, Jupiter Research broadband analyst Dylan Brooks sees wireless Ethernet activity as a wake-up call, a creative protest against today's telecom status quo, and the more militant participants agree. They talk not just of fun and AirPorts but also of present-day problems that they'd like to see fixed -- like the nagging irritation that cellphones don't work in some conference centers or the widespread dissatisfaction that it takes some consumers months to get DSL installation. Just give them the chance, they argue, and they could fix all these bugs by applying their open-source development model. Everything that these groups do is open to the public. It's a teach-and-be-taught ideal that mimics how free software is created, but runs completely counter to the telecom business model. "The Internet grew because millions of companies added infrastructure to the Net," Kahle says, yet "the telco model is that a single company adds all the infrastructure." This is the reason that you can't get faster data service on your cellphone or connect easily in an office building. It's not that these tasks are technologically impossible; it's just that "the monopoly system gets good enough and then the incumbent plays defense," Kahle says. In contrast, an open approach "allows hot spots to be improved organically." Choice is what matters most to these wireless gurus. The goal is to give users power over their own forms of communication, says Keyes of Guerrilla.net. "The free-software movement made it so you could control your computer," he says. "This movement -- the free- network movement -- gives you control over infrastructure. It gives you a choice of how you want to connect." And maybe someday, adds Westervelt, these networks will even be used as the model "so that if you live in a developing country and you want a network, you'll be able to build it yourself," he says. "All the information will be there." Of course, for now, these hopes are nothing but sci-fi fantasies. None of these initiatives has more than 30 antennas up and running, not nearly enough to cover their metropolitan areas. But people like Westervelt remain upbeat. Wireless notebook-size Web-pads using Ethernet connections will appear next year, and if the Federal Communications Commission allocated a specific part of the spectrum for nonprofit telecoms, the movement could take off. Plus, they argue, there are other, more subtle benefits. Setting up the network isn't just "cool" because of what it can offer in the virtual world, says Westervelt. Indeed, a large part of the fun derives from the fact that it's a healthy alternative to cyberspace's lack of a material reality. It's physical, a hands-on, "MacGyver"-like attempt to create giant brains, and thus, it's a lot of fun. "We sit behind screens all day," he says. "Getting up on a roof and sticking an antenna on is so great because it's a change. We're not just tinkering anymore, we're meeting new friends and getting some air." Copyright 2000 Salon.com * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From the Listowner * * * * * * * * * * * * . To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to: majordomo at scn.org In the body of the message, type: unsubscribe scn ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ==== * * * * * * * http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/ * * * * * * * From steve at advocate.net Sat Dec 9 17:55:26 2000 From: steve at advocate.net (Steve) Date: Sat, 9 Dec 2000 17:55:26 -0800 Subject: SCN: XCF Message-ID: <3A32720E.23612.2220CC6@localhost> x-no-archive: yes ======================== Berkeley's Experimental Computing Club has produced some of the Net's most cherished software. (Ed Frauenheim, Salon.com)---Not long after the infamous Internet Worm nearly crippled the Net in November 1988, a University of California at Berkeley student was called to a U.S. government hearing in Maryland. Phil Lapsley, co-founder of a student club at Berkeley called the eXperimental Computer Facility, had played an important part in the drama by helping to diagnose the worm and come up with a cure. The worm had taken advantage of a weakness in a popular version of the Unix operating system produced at Berkeley. Now officials from the National Computer Security Center and other government agencies were asking him about the episode -- and getting an earful. The young hacker blasted the federally funded Lawrence Livermore Lab for taking itself offline during the outbreak -- a move that didn't stop the infection but did cut the lab off from remedies sent from elsewhere on the Net. His criticism wasn't entirely welcome, says Lapsley. "This one woman from the Department of Energy said, 'Forgive me, but we're supposed to believe you? You're some undergraduate from Berkeley.'" "I said to her, 'Whose computer operating system do you run?'" recalls Lapsley, "and she said, "Well, Berkeley's.' She sat down and I sat down." The episode neatly captures the spirit of the XCF, an organization that has directly or indirectly produced some of the most powerful and innovative open-source software of the past 15 years. The confident -- some might say cocky -- XCF undergraduates helped slay the Internet Worm, produced one of the first-ever Web browsers and developed two programs essential to the ecology of free software -- the GTK tool kit (a set of tools useful for creating graphical user interfaces) and the GIMP, a Photoshop clone. Members of the XCF have also contributed code to the Gnutella file- trading project, a software program that many observers believe will be the successor to Napster. "It's almost like it's our duty to create cool things for the world," says Spencer Kimball, who co-wrote both the GIMP and the Unix versions of Gnutella. All these achievements fit within the broader Berkeley record of producing free software critical to the rise and expansion of the Internet. Students in the XCF have added to the legacy created by well-known pioneers like Bill Joy, Kirk McKusick, Eric Allman and Sam Leffler. The success of the XCF's lesser known hackers also offers some lessons worth considering. In contrast to the common perception that the act of programming is a solitary endeavor performed by lone cyber-cowboys, the XCF worked best when hackers were constantly poking their noses into each other's code. And not all that politely, either -- the XCF has a proud tradition of brutally honest peer review. However, there is some question as to the future of the XCF. All members but one will be graduating this year, and it's unclear whether future generations of Berkeley hackers will choose to gather in the hallowed XCF office. But the XCF has only its own success to blame. By helping to create software that made the virtual world rich and robust, it may have paved the way for its own real-world demise. The Internet now facilitates a vastly larger community of cooperating programmers than any single club can provide. And the open-source movement that so many XCF programmers have played a role in is now untethered to any geographic or physical limitation. The XCF office is located on the ground floor of Soda Hall, a jade green building housing UC-Berkeley's computer science department. It's roughly 20 by 30 feet, and computer guts spill out onto a series of cluttered tables that are also dotted with intact machines and monitors. Posters cover the walls, including one that reads: "Need Unix Help? Have Programming Questions? The Doctors Are In." A futon with a ratty orange blanket is crammed into one corner, next to a bathroom. The office, used now by about eight current XCF members, gives a visitor little room to move about. But that very lack of space is one clue to the origin and culture of the club. UC-Berkeley has long suffered a shortage of rooms. When the university reorganized its turf in the mid-1980s, the existing computer center available to undergraduate hackers was set to be shut down. So Phil Lapsley and nine other computer enthusiasts wrote a proposal to establish an undergraduate-run facility that would both offer computer help to campus members and produce useful software projects. The university agreed to the proposal, and in 1986 the XCF was born. Lapsley was the first director. He says his motivation for starting the club came from picking up coding tricks from other hackers at the earlier computer center. "It just dawned on me, 'My God, if you can just get all these people together in the same place, you can drastically increase how quickly people can learn,'" he says. University administrators gave the XCF a half-dozen Sun Microsystems workstations -- a coup at the time. The scarcity of powerful machines all but forced early XCFers to work together. Lapsley and Kurt Pires, another co-founder, came up with a course to teach fellow undergraduates the C computer language, which wasn't offered by the university. The XCFers also helped one another figure out how to make their programs tighter, more elegant and more efficient. The XCFers weren't just tinkering around for fun. They were also under the gun to come up with programs that improved computing at the university, if not the entire world. That translated into a club admissions policy requiring would-be XCFers to propose a significant project. The pressure to keep the office also contributed to the culture of frank feedback. Often, XCFers spent more time on club projects than class work, and those who slacked off on their XCF work were asked to move on. About one member a year would drop out, Lapsley recalls. "I was one of the ones who got slapped around a lot," says Jim Griffith, an early XCFer. "But it's really hard to complain about being slapped down like that when it's done in the pursuit of making you a better engineer." Griffith, 34, now works as a software engineer with Go.com, after spending five years with a map-related programming firm. That work drew on his XCF project, a graphical representation of U.S. Census data. He credits the XCF for significantly improving his skills. "By the time I left, I knew more about Unix than just about anybody at Berkeley who wasn't in the XCF," he says. It might not be a big stretch to say Griffith and other XCFers knew more about Unix than most people in the world in the late 1980s. Berkeley was ground zero for Unix expertise, having gained that distinction by spearheading the development of the BSD Unix operating system for the Defense Department. The Pentagon wanted a commonly accessible, free operating system for the research organizations linked together on Arpanet -- the Internet's predecessor. Berkeley professor Bob Fabry had secured the contract for the work in the mid-1970s. He set up the Computer Science Research Group, which was spearheaded by Bill Joy and later by another graduate student named Kirk McKusick. One of the hallmarks of the CSRG was welcoming coding improvements to Unix from a wide community of programmers throughout the world. McKusick says coders working together proved vital to the work. "That was one of CSRG's lasting legacies," he says. "We set up a model that showed you could get 300 to 400 people to work together." Lapsley was one of those people when he first got to Berkeley -- and the Internet Worm caper offered a perfect example of how cooperation could work. Lapsley and Pires were used to the occasional undergraduate trying to hack into their machines, and had set up the equivalent of trip-wire programs that would alert them to suspicious activity. So they noticed the worm hitting their machines at the beginning of the attack, the evening of Nov. 2. Peter Yee, another XCFer, quickly sent out an e-mail to the hardcore techies then on the pre-World Wide Web version of the Internet. Part of Yee's e-mail was later quoted in Life magazine's year-end issue: "We are under attack." But the XCF and the CSRG quickly went to battle stations. Members of both groups worked in concert to dissect the virus' code, analyze it and write patches to neutralize it. Over the course of a few days, those vaccines were zapped out to panicking system administrators nationwide. The Army, the Navy and the state of Florida all asked the XCFers for help. After staying up all night the evening of the attack, Lapsley walked back to his apartment dazed but proud. "I remember being aware how this really momentous thing had happened, and the XCF was at the heart of it," he says. The worm victory wasn't the only significant contribution by early XCFers. A club member named Pei Wei created Viola, one of the very first Web browsing programs. Lapsley also developed NNTP, a technology that still helps Internet users access Usenet newsgroups, and the hackers came up with some computer game advances, including an early multiuser Internet game called "xtrek" and an air-traffic control simulation. After the early years of the XCF, both the club's membership and production level ebbed and flowed. But another fertile period emerged in the mid- to late 1990s, when the XCF, led by Spencer Kimball and Peter Mattis, coauthors of the GIMP, proved that open- source software could compete with top-of-the-line proprietary applications. The impetus for creating the Unix-based image-manipulation program was partly necessity, Mattis recalls. "I wanted to make a Web page at the time, and I couldn't," says Mattis. "It was that simple." But the project was anything but easy. It took the pair about two years. In the middle of the effort, Mattis decided he needed a better set of user interface software tools. So he wrote the GTK program, which in turn became a vital piece of code for building GNOME, one of the leading contenders for the role of a user-friendly desktop environment for Linux-based operating systems. Both the GIMP and GTK are now included in the standard versions of the Linux-based operating system distributed by Red Hat, TurboLinux and other major Linux providers. By the late '90s, university pressure on the XCF to produce or perish lessened. But the tough-love atmosphere continued. "Even if you did the greatest work you've ever done, people still would point out why it sucked," says Kimball, who co-founded a Web portal- building firm called Wego with another XCFer. XCFer Alice Zheng says the critical culture didn't repel potential members. Instead, the harsh feedback helped feed the club's coding quality, just as it had in earlier years. "Having an environment where you get direct feedback is important, because you don't get that anywhere else" says Zheng, who is now getting her Ph.D. in artificial intelligence at Berkeley. Zheng, Kimball, Mattis and others would spend as much as 80 percent of their time in the XCF office. And they came to see themselves as an elite breed apart. "It had the highest concentration of motivated and capable individuals that I've ever seen," Zheng says. Excessive self-esteem? Perhaps. But XCFers from that era have an impressive track record. Of even greater significance, though, may be the role Gene Kan and Kimball have played in the success of file sharing software Gnutella. Gnutella, briefly released by AOL subsidiary NullSoft this spring and then yanked by corporate higher- ups, has been reverse-engineered by open-source programmers and disseminated throughout the Internet. As a potential example of the future of the Net -- distributed file-sharing that depends on no central server for its operation -- Gnutella could be hugely influential. Kimball and Kan wrote a version of Gnutella for Unix. They also maintain a major Gnutella Web site and Kan has served as the primary spokesman for the software. From this bully pulpit, Kan has called Gnutella a defense against excessive government or corporate censorship. "We're headed toward a world where corporations control our lives -- control the flow of ideas and the freedom to think," he says. Kan's statement provides a link between two strands of Berkeley history over the past four decades: free-speech political activism and computer programming advances. Of course, the XCF isn't as famous as Mario Savio's Free Speechers or Bill Joy's BSD Unix programmers. But the plucky student-run group does draw accolades from those who know its work. Chris DiBona, the "Linux community evangelist" for VA Linux Systems and head of the Silicon Valley Linux Users' Group, applauds both the GIMP and GTK. "Those are phenomenal projects with really great thinking behind them," he says. DiBono estimates that hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of copies of the programs are in circulation. XCF members "are a legend," says Christos Papadimitriou, who was acting chairman of Berkeley's electrical engineering and computer sciences department earlier this year. "They are forward-looking, activist and fiercely independent." On the other hand, the XCF's high opinion of itself can irk some students in the computer science department. "There's the XCF's pride," says Daniel Silverstein, of the broader Computer Science Undergraduate Association. "There's also, 'What's the XCF been doing since the GIMP?'" Not much, admits current XCFer Eric Wagner. In recent years, the club has focused on more personal projects, often having to do with hardware. Members built a special MP3 player used during a Las Vegas road trip and also hacked into the XCF office climate-control system. Wagner will be the only XCFer next year and is busy recruiting. That's hard to do, though. Wagner says one problem is the ease with which student coders can do all their programming work online from home. And those hardcore Berkeley computer heads wanting to share programming tricks can now turn to the Web for a ready-made community. Sourceforge.net, for example, is home to more than 81,000 programmers working on 11,000 projects. Those who turn to Sourceforge can join or launch software projects small and large. This type of online collaboration, of course, owes indirectly to XCF accomplishments: building trust in the Net by killing the Internet worm and reinforcing enthusiasm for the free-software movement with GTK, the GIMP and Gnutella. Yet it's quite possible the XCF's success may lead to its extinction. Still, Wagner is determined to preserve the club. "This has such a history," says the 20-year-old. "It'd be a shame if it dies just because I didn't work hard enough." Whatever happens next in the annals of the XCF, Lapsley looks back on his now-grown baby with a father's satisfaction. Currently the vice president of engineering of a Berkeley biometrics technology firm, the 34-year-old says he's glad the XCF has produced valuable open-source software and improved people's lives along the way. He got a particular kick from discovering that GIMP files end in the letters ".xcf." "It made me so proud," he says. "That's really cool." Copyright 2000 Salon.com * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From the Listowner * * * * * * * * * * * * . To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to: majordomo at scn.org In the body of the message, type: unsubscribe scn ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ==== * * * * * * * http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/ * * * * * * * From dave at china.com Thu Dec 14 01:36:13 2000 From: dave at china.com (dave at china.com) Date: Thu, 14 Dec 2000 01:36:13 -0800 Subject: SCN: Don't miss this $700 Give Away 5204 Message-ID: <000079c57280$000044c9$00001454@minet.marriott.com> Imagine surfing thru 500 channels of News, Weather, Sports, Learning, Family, Movies, and Pay Per View Channels. AMERICA'S TOP 100 Programming package Includes for just $34.99: Sports - ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Classic, ESPN News, Empire, Outdoor Life Network, Sunshine, Madison Square Garden, Speed Vision, Home Team Sports, TV Games Fox Sports Channels - Arizona, Bay Area, Chicago, Cincinnati, Detroit, Midwest, Florida, New England, New York, Ohio, Pittsburgh, Rocky Mountain, North West, West, South, South West, Midwest Sports, Altenative1, Altenative3 News - CNN, CNN Headline News, All-News Network, Bloomberg, NASA, C-Span, C-Span 2, Fox News, MSNBC, CNN FN, CNN International, Court TV Family/Kids - The Cartoon Network, The Disney Channel, The Disney Toon Channel, Nickelodeon, Noggin, Pax, PBS You, Angel One, TV Land, Good Samaritan Network, The Fox Family Channel, Trinity Broadcast Network, External Word Television Network Learning - Discovery Channel, Discovery Health Channel, The Learning Channel, History Channel, Food Network, Travel, E!, Animal Planet, America's Voice, HGTV, Free Speech, Link Media, Tech TV, DELLL, Research Variety - A&E, BET, ZDTV, Home Shopping, WGN, QVC, TNN, Weather Channel, TNT, USA, Bravo, Comedy Central, Game Show, FX, Sci-Fi Channel, TV Land, AMC, TCM, LMN, Lifetime, Romance Classics/Independant Film Channel, BBC, ValueVision Foreign - Univision, Galavision, HITN Music - MTV, VH1, MTV 2, Country Music Television AND Over 30 Music Channels! Supplies are going FAST!!! So place your order NOW! A FREE 3 Day 2 Night Vacation for 2 for the first 1,000 NEW subscribers! Choose from 20 destinations: Las Vegas, NV -- Laughlin, NV -- Reno, NV -- Lake Tahoe, NV -- Atlantic City, NJ Honolulu, HI -- Daytona Beach, FL -- Orlando, FL -- Myrtle Beach, SC Anaheim, CA - (Disneyland Area) -- Palm Springs, CA -- New Orleans, LA Gatlinburg, TN -- San Antonio, TX -- White Mountain, NH -- Pocono Mountains, PA Branson, MO -- Puerto Vallarta, MX -- Cancun, MX -- Mazatlan, MX Don't hesitate or you may miss out on this incredible OFFER! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To receive your FREE Satellite System & FREE 3 Day 2 Night Vacation for 2! Call 1-877-397-6731 and Mention Code: 122 Live Operators are standing by to take your order 24/7! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To UNSUBSCRIBE, Click Here Subject: Don't miss this $700 Give Away!! Looking for that special gift for the person who has everything? The answer is.... Free Satellite TV System, Free Installation and Free Vacation! * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From the Listowner * * * * * * * * * * * * . To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to: majordomo at scn.org In the body of the message, type: unsubscribe scn ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ==== * * * * * * * http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/ * * * * * * * From star at scn.org Thu Dec 14 12:02:24 2000 From: star at scn.org (Special Technology Access Resources) Date: Thu, 14 Dec 2000 12:02:24 -0800 (PST) Subject: SCN: Re: Radio Talk Show In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Irene/Wade, The talk-show on the 29th of November was one of the best we have ever had! It was wonderful with you and Wade. You were excellent! I usually end up getting someone from SCN on my show one or two times a year since I net the Guests. I am hoping to take my show to either regular radio or cable access TV. As I expand my broadcast audiences, I will certainly keep SCN on my list of guests! So, I may not be done with you yet, Irene! Hoss says Woof! and gives you 2 paws up! Take care, Randy Hayhurst Program Director STAR Center of Seattle (206) 325-4284 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From the Listowner * * * * * * * * * * * * . To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to: majordomo at scn.org In the body of the message, type: unsubscribe scn ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ==== * * * * * * * http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/ * * * * * * * From bn890 at scn.org Thu Dec 14 19:01:13 2000 From: bn890 at scn.org (Irene Mogol) Date: Thu, 14 Dec 2000 19:01:13 -0800 (PST) Subject: SCN: Re: Radio Talk Show In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Hi Randy, It was my pleasure and I would look forward to doing it again. Have a happy holiday, Hoss, have a happy holiday too! See ya, Irene On Thu, 14 Dec 2000, Special Technology Access Resources wrote: > Irene/Wade, > > The talk-show on the 29th of November was one of the best we have ever > had! It was wonderful with you and Wade. You were excellent! > > I usually end up getting someone from SCN on my show one or two times a > year since I net the Guests. > > I am hoping to take my show to either regular radio or cable access TV. > As I expand my broadcast audiences, I will certainly keep SCN on my list > of guests! So, I may not be done with you yet, Irene! > > Hoss says Woof! and gives you 2 paws up! > > Take care, > > > > Randy Hayhurst > Program Director > STAR Center of Seattle > (206) 325-4284 > > > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From the Listowner * * * * * * * * * * * * . To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to: majordomo at scn.org In the body of the message, type: unsubscribe scn ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ==== * * * * * * * http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/ * * * * * * * From steve at advocate.net Fri Dec 15 08:12:26 2000 From: steve at advocate.net (Steve) Date: Fri, 15 Dec 2000 08:12:26 -0800 Subject: SCN: Libel Message-ID: <3A39D26A.3013.257D5A5@localhost> x-no-archive: yes =========================== (Carl S. Kaplan, NY Times)---Last week Judge Richard L. Williams of the federal district court in Richmond, Va., rejected a series of motions and gave his seal of approval to a jury's verdict that awarded $675,000 in compensatory and punitive damages to Dr. Sam D. Graham Jr., a urologist in private practice in Virginia and former head of the department of urology at Emory University School of Medicine. According to evidence presented at the trial, Dr. Graham was the subject of statements published on a Yahoo message board accusing him of accepting illegal kickbacks while at Emory and of leaving the school under a cloud. The statements were written by an individual who went by the handle "fbiinformant" and who was later discovered to be Dr. Jonathan R. Oppenheimer, a pathologist based in Nashville. Following a two-day trial, a jury found on October 25 that by publishing the statements, Oppenheimer and a company that he operates were guilty of defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. In reaching its verdict, the jury necessarily concluded that statements penned by Oppenheimer were false and harmful to Graham's reputation and that Oppenheimer acted negligently and even recklessly in publishing them. Oppenheimer, a non-lawyer who represented himself at trial, said in an interview that he plans to appeal the judgment. He acknowledged that the factual statements he made are false, but he said that he believed they were true when he wrote them. "It's going to ruin me" if the award is not overturned, he said. Lawyers say the case may well represent the first time in the United States that a jury imposed a substantial libel award against a defendant who published an anonymous Internet message. The case also serves as an important reminder, experts said, that the rules of libel apply online much as they do in the world of newspapers and magazines. "What this case demonstrates is that people can be held accountable for what they post on the Net even though they posted anonymously," said Lyrissa Barnett Lidsky, a professor at the University of Florida's Levin College of Law and an expert on defamation in cyberspace. "People need to understand that if they make an allegation of fact about someone online that is damaging to that person's reputation, they better make sure that statement is true; otherwise they can be held liable for libel," she added. According to legal papers filed in the case, Dr. Graham resigned from his post at Emory in July 1998 to move to Richmond and enter private practice. Several months after his exit, on Feb. 7, 1999, the following message appeared on a Yahoo message board devoted to information about Urocor Inc., which operates a pathology lab in Oklahoma City: "Sam Graham, MD used to be the Department Chair of Urology at Emory Clinic in Atlanta. UroCor decided to underbid the Emory Pathology Department for pathology services and give Graham a cut of the money it got from doing the pathology. This worked well until the poor SOB got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Poor guy had to resign his prestigious position." The message was signed by "fbiinformant." Graham was "absolutely shocked" when a friend referred him to the Yahoo posting, he recalled in a recent interview. "This whole thing where you can impugn somebody's honor and think you can get away with it because you're doing it anonymously is a bunch of baloney," he said. Eventually he filed suit. Graham's lawyers first tried to unmask the anonymous author by serving legal papers on Yahoo and Internet service providers, but those efforts were unavailing, said D. Alan Rudlin, one of Graham's attorneys. After seven months of investigation, the legal team connected Oppenheimer's name to the pseudonym through deposition transcripts stemming from a previous, unrelated lawsuit, Rudlin said. In one of those transcripts, Oppenheimer, who once worked at Urocor, testified that he had posted under the name "fbiinformant." Oppenheimer was fired from Urocor in 1997, Rudlin said. Before the trial, Oppenheimer conceded that he wrote the February 7 message, that it pertained to Dr. Graham and that Dr. Graham was not forced to resign from Emory. During trial, Graham's attorneys presented evidence that the statements written by Oppenheimer regarding the illegal kickbacks were false and defamatory. They also sought to demonstrate that Oppenheimber acted unreasonably when he posted the information after hearing it from a third party, without making sufficient efforts to check its veracity. Last week, while denying the defendants' motions for a dismissal of the charges or a new trial, Judge Williams said in court that the messages were "despicable," according to Rudlin. The jury "very much did not like the defendant and very much liked Doctor Graham," said William V. Riggenbach, a lawyer who represented Oppenheimer's company, Prost-Data Inc., at the trial. He added that the gist of the defense, which the jury rejected, was that Oppenheimer's reliance on the false information relayed to him by the third party was neither negligent nor reckless, in light of Oppenheimer's belief that the information was true. Kurt A. Wimmer, a media lawyer at Covington & Burling, a law firm based in Washington, D.C., said that the Graham case was "rather unremarkable" aside from the fact that it's the first Net libel case of its kind. "There are a lot of areas in law where the offline and online worlds are treated similarly," he said. "Libel is one of those. If you libel someone anonymously and your ID is discovered, the law of libel is going to apply. It's that way on the Net and that way off the Net." Nor is anonymous speech, uttered on a wild and woolly online message board, subject to lesser standards of care than anonymous speech published in a newspaper, added Robert M. O'Neil, director of the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression and a law professor at the University of Virginia. "I don't think in this respect that the medium makes the slightest difference," he said. There's one big difference between defamatory speech in the online and offline worlds, however, said Professor Lidsky of the University of Florida. On the Internet, the ordinary person is a publisher, and thus the possibility that a small fry can become a defamation defendant is magnified. After all, if the Internet didn't exist, the defendant in the Graham case may have simply talked around a water cooler and no suit would have been brought, Lidsky explained. The conversation would have been "beneath notice," she said. But on the Internet, people who engage in "water cooler gossip" must appreciate that there is a possibility that they could be subject to a lawsuit if they defame someone, she said. Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From the Listowner * * * * * * * * * * * * . To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to: majordomo at scn.org In the body of the message, type: unsubscribe scn ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ==== * * * * * * * http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/ * * * * * * * From bn890 at scn.org Thu Dec 21 11:39:43 2000 From: bn890 at scn.org (Irene Mogol) Date: Thu, 21 Dec 2000 11:39:43 -0800 (PST) Subject: SCN: It's That Time of Year Message-ID: To wish you all a very joyous holiday season -- Chanukah, Christmas, Quanza, anything else that's around. See ya'll, Irene * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From the Listowner * * * * * * * * * * * * . To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to: majordomo at scn.org In the body of the message, type: unsubscribe scn ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ==== * * * * * * * http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/ * * * * * * * From douglas Thu Dec 21 13:17:56 2000 From: douglas (Doug Schuler) Date: Thu, 21 Dec 2000 13:17:56 -0800 (PST) Subject: SCN: fyi Message-ID: <200012212117.NAA13725@scn.org> FYI... Date: Thu, 21 Dec 2000 14:26:05 -0600 (CST) From: Ben Stallings To: afcn-members at lists.colorado.edu Subject: Job opening at Twin Cities Free-Net Twin Cities Free-Net (R) Coordinator of Individual Services APPLICATION DEADLINE: Wednesday, January 17, 2001. TITLE: Coordinator of Individual Services. PRIMARY PURPOSE: Oversee and manage Twin Cities Free-Net's services to individuals, including VT-100 dialup access to e-mail and the Web, online conferencing, and system administration. Look for more efficient ways to meet the information needs of low-income people and supervise the transition to these new ways. Work collaboratively with the Coordinator of Organization Services on key initiatives. REPORTS TO: TCFN board of directors. SUPERVISES: Volunteers, interns. HOURS: Approximately 20 per week, flexible schedule. SALARY: Starting at $15,000. RESPONSIBILITIES: + Coordinate system administration volunteers to keep the Free-Net server operational and up-to-date. + Supervise the maintenance (by volunteers) of the TCFN membership database, including registrations of new members, renewals of existing ones, and expirations of old ones. + Supervise the creation and distribution of training materials such as brochures, crib sheets and online help, as well as e-mail and telephone support. + Recruit and train additional volunteers as necessary, and cultivate an active volunteer culture where people help each other to learn. + Gauge the information needs of low-income people and how those needs are met by TCFN and by other agencies. Develop strategies of collaboration or competition to address those needs in an efficient and sustainable manner. + Market the services provided by TCFN to low-income people and the general public to promote awareness of our efforts. + Enforce the Free-Net's acceptable-use policy when it is violated. + Identify funding opportunities and help the board of directors apply for grants to supplement members' voluntary donations. KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES: + Proven experience in or knowledge of UNIX system administration and programming. + Experience in and knowledge of volunteer management a plus. + Demonstrated ability to delegate responsibility and to engender a team spirit in individuals supervised. + Ability to represent an organization through public speaking and in writing. + Ability to communicate effectively with volunteers, interns, board, staff, the media, and community representatives. + Ability to design and implement new strategies. + Excellent organizational skills. + Broad knowledge of computers and the Internet. QUALIFICATIONS: + Bachelor's degree in a relevant field desired, but a combination of experience and education will be considered. + Demonstrated familiarity and comfort with online communication, specifically E-mail and Web-based discussion forums. + Demonstrated ability to work as a team member and leader. + Experience in volunteer management/supervision a plus. + Demonstrated ability to present information both in person and in writing in a clear and compelling manner. + Minorities are encouraged to apply. TO APPLY: Submit a letter of intent, resume, and three references to Twin Cities Free-Net, PO Box 50503, Minneapolis, MN 55405-0503. Applications may also be faxed to 612-871-1653 or e-mailed as text or HTML to genmanager at tcfreenet.org. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From the Listowner * * * * * * * * * * * * . To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to: majordomo at scn.org In the body of the message, type: unsubscribe scn ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ==== * * * * * * * http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/ * * * * * * * From steve at advocate.net Fri Dec 22 08:03:53 2000 From: steve at advocate.net (Steve) Date: Fri, 22 Dec 2000 08:03:53 -0800 Subject: SCN: Cyberlaw Message-ID: <3A430AE9.6448.5758186@localhost> x-no-archive: yes ========================== (Carl S. Kaplan, NY Times)---Continuing a venerable three-year-old holiday tradition, Cyber Law Journal asked a variety of Internet legal mavens to weigh in with their nominations for the most significant or interesting cyberlaw developments in the year almost past. Here are some of their edited responses. Jack Balkin, Knight Professor of Constitutional Law and the First Amendment and director of the Information Society Project at Yale Law School: There were many significant cyberlaw stories this year, but here are three with important consequences for free expression. 1. Battles over intellectual property continued to rage. We saw court struggles over peer-to-peer file sharing technologies like Napster and reverse engineering as in the DeCSS litigation. The latter led to new controversies about whether courts can ban people from even linking to sites that might violate intellectual property law. Trademark battles proliferated and the patent space became increasingly clogged. It's becoming increasingly clear that freedom of speech and intellectual property are on a collision course. 2. In France, a court ordered Yahoo to block access to Nazi paraphernalia from web sites available to French citizens. France's objections to the memorabilia were ideological, based on its longstanding hate-crime laws. The Yahoo controversy starkly raises important questions about freedom of speech and globalization: How will the Internet coexist with different countries' different standards of free expression? What, if anything, can or will countries do to block speech that they don't like? 3. Finally, just as the year ended, Congress quietly tucked a First Amendment bomb inside an appropriations bill. It requires that public schools and libraries must install blocking software or lose federal funds. This looks like it will be one of the big First Amendment struggles of the next year. Lawrence Lessig, Professor of Law at Stanford Law School, columnist for The Industry Standard and author of "Code, and Other Laws of Cyberspace" (Basic Books): 1. The conditions imposed by the federal government on the America Online/Time Warner merger. 2. The conclusions of law drawn by Judge Jackson in the Microsoft antitrust case. 3. That Bill Gates saw that there was a reason for antitrust law to monitor the Internet economy (i.e., the telephone call from Bill Gates to the FCC to complain about the power of AOL's Instant Messaging service). Jessica Litman, Professor of Law at Wayne State University, editor of Web site "New Developments in Cyberspace Law" : In my view, the most important development was probably the rise of Napster. In a little over a year, a huge number of people have downloaded Napster software and used Napster to download music files. The last running count I read put the worldwide total at 44 million. When one considers that fewer than 49 million people voted for George W. Bush, that's a staggering number. In addition, the lawsuits filed by record companies, music publishers and artists against Napster drew almost unprecedented attention for what was, after all, a copyright infringement suit. With that many members of the public paying attention, the conversation about digital copyright law finally moved beyond a simplistic characterization of copyright as a vehicle protecting creative artists from pirates, and the mainstream press found ways to explain what had been considered esoteric concepts to a broad reading public. The year 2000 also saw the resolution (for now) of the dispute between the European Union and the United States over information privacy. The European Union favors strong personal data privacy rights, and had adopted a directive prohibiting member nations from transferring personal data to countries that don't offer comparable protection. The United States government, in contrast, favors a relatively unfettered market in personal data. Europe threatened to cut off the data stream to the U.S.; Congress refused to enact a data privacy law. Ultimately, Europe blinked and agreed to pretend that the U.S. proposal for industry self-regulation would offer adequate protection to Europeans' personal data. Barry Steinhardt, Associate Director and chair of the ACLU's cyber- liberties task force: One nominee has to be the decisions in Melvin v. Doe and Dendrite v. Doe, two ACLU cases brought on behalf of anonymous Internet speakers who were victims of "cyberslapp" suits -- the filing of defamation actions for the purpose of forcing the disclosure of the speaker's identity. In recognition of a right that goes back to the heroes of the American Revolution, two different courts protected the right to speak anonymously by ruling that a plaintiff can't force the disclosure of the identity of their online critic merely by filing a libel case. The courts held that before the unmasking process can be triggered, a plaintiff must show that there is a reasonable possibility he will prevail at trial. David G. Post, Associate Professor of Law at Temple University Law School, co-founder and co-director of the Cyberspace Law Institute and columnist for the American Lawyer: 1. I suppose United States v. Microsoft Corporation has to be on the list -- though I don't really have anything useful to say about that (other than noting that if the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit can just manage to hold the case for another year or so without issuing a judgment, the controversy will be a lot closer to being irrelevant than it is today). 2. A & M Records Inc. v. Napster Inc. The Napster controversy is extremely important and interesting on any number of levels. Peer- to-peer is a perfect illustration of how powerful real "networking" technologies can be. No copyright law that is completely out of touch with what people feel is reasonable can survive for too long. Our kids ultimately do get to write copyright law, and something tells me they'll choose to live under a scheme that permits sharing. 3. Universal City Studios Inc. et al. v. Reimerdes (part of the DeCSS litigation). Fascinating case. The first case showing how serious the anti-circumvention provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act might be. Judge Kaplan's opinion also confirms some of the worst fears of the anti-DMCA crowd that the concept of fair use will not protect decrypters. Question: If software is speech, why isn't an injunction prohibiting the distribution of DeCSS code an unconstitutional prior restraint? Pamela Samuelson, Professor of Law and Information Management and director of the Center for Law and Technology at the University of California at Berkeley: 1. The Napster case (not even an imaginative law professor could have dreamed this one up). Not just for itself, but also on account of its potential impact on the ability of copyright owners to exercise control over information technologies and potentially the architecture of the Internet. Obviously much depends on what the Ninth Circuit does on the appeal -- which may be one of the most significant events of next year, if the court doesn't rule in the next week or so. 2. The eBay v. Bidder's Edge case. Trespass to chattel is a very old legal doctrine that has gotten a whole new life in cyberspace. No one likes spam and so when this doctrine was used to challenge spam sent to Compuserve and AOL subscribers, there wasn't much of a fuss. But if the Ninth Circuit doesn't put some limits on this law, comparison pricing sites on the Internet may well become illegal. Eben Moglen, Professor of Law & Legal History at Columbia Law School and general counsel for the Free Software Foundation: No question that this year's most important development was the breakup remedy in Microsoft. The next most important developments all concerned lawsuits posing conflicts between freedom of speech in the making of software vs. the intellectual property rights of content distributors. The MP3.com and Napster cases, for example, showed that proprietary distribution of music can only be sustained by the elimination of new distribution technologies. The settlements represent (far too little too late) the music industry's decision to try joining rather than beating a force they in fact cannot control at all. The third most important development was the DeCSS cases, which posed even more clearly, thanks to Judge Lewis Kaplan's unprecedented first amendment analysis, just how much free speech would have to go to the wall if the Disneyfication of the world were allowed to proceed to its desired technical end: a leak-proof pipe from production studio to consumer's eyeball, in which no computer is ever allowed to be under the control of its user, in case the user should decide to give some content away. Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From the Listowner * * * * * * * * * * * * . To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to: majordomo at scn.org In the body of the message, type: unsubscribe scn ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ==== * * * * * * * http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/ * * * * * * * From dave at china.com Fri Dec 22 18:33:20 2000 From: dave at china.com (dave at china.com) Date: Fri, 22 Dec 2000 18:33:20 -0800 Subject: SCN: Free Satellite System and Free Installation 4580 Message-ID: <000054d50dfe$00005721$000011e4@ns.sbbsonline.com> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From steve at advocate.net Tue Dec 26 09:17:47 2000 From: steve at advocate.net (Steve) Date: Tue, 26 Dec 2000 09:17:47 -0800 Subject: SCN: Architecture of complexity Message-ID: <3A48623B.28711.3731C1@localhost> x-no-archive: yes ======================== (George Johnson, NY Times)---As the Internet continues to proliferate, it has become natural to think of it biologically - as a flourishing ecosystem of computers or a sprawling brain of Pentium- powered neurons. However you mix and match metaphors, it is hard to escape the eerie feeling that an alien presence has fallen to earth, confronting scientists with something new to prod and understand. The result has been an eruption of papers scrutinizing this artificial network and concluding, to many people's surprise, that it may be designed according to the same rules that nature uses to spin webs of its own. The networks of molecules in a cell, of species in an ecosystem, and of people in a social group may be woven on the same mathematical loom as the Internet and the World Wide Web. "We are getting to understand the architecture of complexity," said Dr. Albert-Laszlo Barabasi, a physicist at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana whose research group has recently published papers comparing such seemingly diverse systems as the Internet and the metabolic networks of life-sustaining chemical reactions inside cells. The similarities between these and other complex systems are so striking, he said, "it's as if the same person would have designed them." At the Polytechnic University of Catalonia in Barcelona, Dr. Ricard V. Sole and Jose M. Montoya, theoretical biologists in the Complex Systems Research Group, have recently found the same kind of patterns by studying computer models of three ecosystems: a freshwater lake, an estuary and a woods. "These results suggest that nature has some universal organizational principles that might finally allow us to formulate a general theory of complex systems," said Dr. Sole, who also works at the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico. In the past, scientists treated networks as though they were strung together at random, giving rise to a homogeneous web in which nodes tended to have roughly the same number of links. "Our work illustrates that in fact the real networks are far from being random," Dr. Barabasi said. "They display a high degree of order and universality that has been rather unexpected by any accounts." As they come together, many networks seem to organize themselves so that most nodes have very few links, and a tiny number of nodes, called hubs, have many links. The pattern can be described by what scientists call a power law. To calculate the probability that a node will have a certain number of links, you raise that number to some power, like 2 or 3, and then take the inverse. Suppose, for example, that you have a network with 100,000 nodes that obeys a power law of 2. To find out how many nodes have three links, you raise 3 to the second power, which is 9, and then take the inverse. Thus one-ninth of the nodes, or about 11,111, will be triple linked. How many will have 100 links? Raise 100 to the second power, and take the inverse: one ten-thousandth of the 100,000 nodes - a total of 10 - will be so richly connected. As the number of connections rises, the probability rapidly falls. This kind of structure may help explain why networks ranging from metabolisms to ecosystems to the Internet are generally very stable and resilient, yet prone to occasional catastrophic collapse. Since most nodes (molecules, species, computer servers) are sparsely connected, little depends on them: a large fraction can be plucked away and the network will endure. But if just a few of the highly connected nodes are eliminated, the whole system could crash. Not everyone believes that a universal law is at hand. A recent paper by Boston University physicists found deviations from the power-law pattern in a number of different networks, suggesting a more complicated story. But even so, the study found hidden orders that were far more interesting than the purely random patterns scientists have long used to analyze networks. "The important point is that the networks are very different from our familiar model systems," said Dr. Mark Newman, a mathematician at the Santa Fe Institute. "This means that all our previous theories have to be thrown out." It has only been in recent years that computer power has grown enough to gather and analyze data on such intricate systems. In a highly publicized paper in 1998, Dr. Duncan Watts, a sociologist at Columbia University, and Dr. Steven Strogatz, an applied mathematician at Cornell University, found that many networks exhibited what they called the small-world phenomenon, popularized in John Guare's play "Six Degrees of Separation." Just as any two people can be linked by a chain of no more than about six acquaintances, so can any node in a small-world network be reached from any other node with just a few hops. The two scientists found this hidden order in three networks that could hardly seem more different: the web of neurons forming the simple nervous system of the worm Caenorhabditis elegans, the web of power stations forming the electrical grid of the Western United States and (the finding that attracted the most attention) the web of actors who have appeared together in films. The phenomenon has been popularized by a Web site, the Oracle of Bacon, at the University of Virginia's computer science department (www.cs.virginia.edu/oracle/) that calculates how closely an actor is linked to the film star Kevin Bacon. Patrick Stewart of Star Trek fame, for example, has a "Bacon number" of 2: he was in "The Prince of Egypt" with Steve Martin, who was in "Novocaine" with Kevin Bacon. More recently Dr. Barabasi, working with a graduate student, Reka Albert, and a post-doctoral researcher, Dr. Hawoong Jeong, found that the World Wide Web is a small world - a phenomenon also noticed by two researchers at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center in California, Dr. Bernardo A. Huberman and his student Lada A. Adamic. Any two documents or sites on the Web are separated by only a small number of mouse clicks. The two teams also noted that the Web was structured according to a power law, with a handful of highly connected hubs and a steadily increasing number of less connected nodes — a fact noticed by other groups as well. Reaching further, Dr. Barabasi and Ms. Albert found, in a paper last fall in Science, that a variety of networks may be organized this way. Included in their list were the small worlds of Dr. Watts and Dr. Strogatz as well as the connections on a computer chip and a network of citations in scientific publications. The question is how this kind of order arises. In the same paper, the Barabasi group proposed a "rich get richer" effect: as new nodes are added to a network, they tend to form links with ones that are already well connected. New actors are more likely to be cast in films with well-known actors. New scientific papers are more likely to cite well-established ones. The result, according to their model, is a power-law distribution. Their most recent sighting of the pattern was described in the Oct. 5 issue of Nature. Dr. Barabasi and his team worked with two members of the Northwestern University Medical School department of pathology to study the shape of metabolisms, the networks of chemical reactions inside living cells. Small molecules are linked to form large molecules, which are in turn broken back down into small molecules. But complex as these networks can be, they seem to obey a power law. In a paper recently submitted to the Journal of Theoretical Biology, Dr. Solé and Dr. Montoya found a similar pattern in the ecosystems they studied. The implication is that all these networks are extremely robust, shrugging off most disturbances, but vulnerable to a well-planned assault. "A random knockout of even a high fraction of nodes will not damage the network," Dr. Barabasi said. "But malicious attacks can." Suggestive as the new theory is, other scientists are finding that the picture may not be so simple. In a paper published in October in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Dr. Luis A. Nunes Amaral and his colleagues at Boston University analyzed a number of networks, including some of those studied by the Barabasi group. The list also included the hubs and spokes of the world airport system and two small friendship networks formed by a group of Mormons and by junior high school students. They concluded that while some networks obey power laws, in many others the pattern is distorted or nonexistent. The deviations arise, the study proposed, because it is not always easy to add new nodes to a net: actors with more movie credits will attract more and more collaborators — until they get too old to act at all. Airports can only support so many new flights a day. Because of such complications, a network may fall somewhere on a spectrum between the extremes of randomness and order. Researchers are optimistic that they will sort out the details of a discipline that is still in its infancy. More important than any particular study, Dr. Watts said, is that scientists finally have the computer power to study real networks instead of just speculating about idealized ones. "The real point is not to establish that everything is a power law," he said, "but to start modeling complex networks in a way that is informed by the data." Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From the Listowner * * * * * * * * * * * * . To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to: majordomo at scn.org In the body of the message, type: unsubscribe scn ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ==== * * * * * * * http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/ * * * * * * * From steve at advocate.net Wed Dec 27 23:52:21 2000 From: steve at advocate.net (Steve) Date: Wed, 27 Dec 2000 23:52:21 -0800 Subject: SCN: Foraging Message-ID: <3A4A80B5.7909.64253@localhost> x-no-archive: yes ======================= Why Web designers could soon be asking anthropologists for advice (Rachel Chalmers, New Scientist)---Which of these activities occupies more of your time: foraging for food or surfing the Web? Probably the latter. We're all informavores now, hunting down and consuming data as our ancestors once sought woolly mammoths and witchetty grubs. You may even buy your groceries online. But in an odd sort of way, Internet shopping has brought us full circle. According to researchers in the US, the strategies you use when you surf the Web are exactly the same as the ones hunter- gatherers used to find food. You may be plugged into the information superhighway, but deep down you're still a caveman. At least that's the opinion of two researchers at Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center in California. Peter Pirolli and Stuart Card are using foraging theories from ecology and anthropology to understand how people find information in data-rich environments such as the Internet. They believe Web surfers rely on prehistoric instincts to maximise their yield when they hunt and gather morsels of information. If they're right, their results could help others design websites and search tools that are as alluring to informavores as flowers are to bees. Biologists came up with foraging theory in the 1970s as a way of explaining some puzzling aspects of animal behaviour. A hungry fox, for example, might have the choice between chasing a big, juicy rabbit or a tiny vole. Which should it choose? Foraging theory can decide. It states that as far as possible, animals make choices that maximise their "benefit per unit cost". In other words, they'll expend food-gathering energy in ways that yield the best energy returns. The rabbit might have a high energy value, but it costs a lot to catch. The vole is much easier prey. This cost-benefit analysis is complicated by the fact that food resources aren't evenly distributed around the world. They're patchy. The longer a forager exploits one patch, the lower the returns will be, until the patch is overgrazed and worthless. But time spent searching for a new patch is unprofitable--there's nothing to gain from a sterile space. So when is the best time to start looking for a new patch? It turns out that the optimal strategy is to move on when the rate of return from a particular patch falls below the average rate over the whole region. This is the marginal value theorem, a cornerstone of foraging theory formulated by the University of New Mexico biologist Eric Charnov in 1976. And it doesn't just apply to animals. The theorem has been widely used in anthropology to explain all sorts of human behaviours, from food preferences to patterns of land tenure. Pirolli and Card now believe the same idea can be used to understand information foraging. Imagine you're a financial analyst looking for data about an investment company. You've found a useful site on the Web, but it's starting to feel a bit stale. You'd like to move on, but you know that a search will take time and there's no guarantee that other sites will be any more useful. When should you abandon the dwindling supply? This, Pirolli and Card argue, is analogous to the problem faced by hunter-gatherers. And it can be solved in the same way. The first inkling that this was the case came in 1992. Pirolli and Card were studying the relationship between humans and information, looking for a theory that explained how people performing data- intensive tasks decide where and how to look for data. They had already conducted what they call "quick and dirty" field studies of information-gathering behaviour, one on a group of MBA students and another on the author of a business newsletter. Pirolli knew something of foraging theory, and he quickly noticed a correlation between the studies' findings and the behaviour you'd expect from animals searching for food. Like hungry foxes, information foragers try to maximise their benefit per unit cost--in this case, "benefit" meaning the relevance of the information and "cost" the time it takes to find it. They are also likely to move on from an information resource when it no longer yields a better-than- average return. It was a satisfying analogy, but they needed empirical findings to back it up. So they designed a computer model that obeyed the rules of optimal foraging theory and set it to work looking for information. The latest incarnation of Pirolli and Card's artificial forager is based on ACT, a theory of cognition developed by Carnegie Mellon computer scientist John Anderson. ACT stands for both Adaptive Character of Thought and Atomic Components of Thought, and is well suited to the research because it possesses human-like conceptual and problem-solving skills--things an information forager needs in abundance. On top of these, Pirolli and Card programmed in the rules of optimal foraging theory. To test whether the theory produces useful results, Pirolli and Card set their model to work looking for information on a database. The database they chose was the IR Test Collection, one of the ultimate challenges in information science. It's a huge reservoir of texts from The Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, the San Jose Mercury- News, the Associated Press newswire, the Department of Energy, the Federal Register, the US Patent Office, computer publisher Ziff- Davis and a handful of sources in Japanese, Spanish and Chinese. It contains more than a million documents. Pirolli and Card pinpointed target documents in the IR Test Collection and worked out the most efficient strategies for retrieving them. For this, they used an information retrieval system called Scatter/Gather designed for sifting through large databases. Scatter/Gather assigns each document to one of 10 groups according to its content, so documents that contain similar words end up in the same group. It presents these on screen as 10 boxes, each containing a collection of keywords. The user selects one or more of the groups. Scatter/Gather then discards the documents in the unselected boxes and scatters the remainder into ten more groups. It repeats the process until the user is satisfied that it's worth reading the gathered texts. To find the fastest retrieval routes--in other words, those using the smallest number of steps--Pirolli and Card worked backwards through Scatter/Gather, starting from the target documents. Then they asked their artificial forager to go find the same pieces of information within the IR Test Collection. It did so with little problem. When Pirolli and Card plotted the forager's track through the collection, it matched the ideal route almost perfectly. They then recruited eight human volunteers and asked them to perform the same task. Again, their routes closely matched the ideal one. It seems as though informavores really do employ optimal foraging strategies to sniff out rich information patches and avoid the arid plains. Experts in foraging theory agree. "It's likely Web users rely on problem-solving abilities with deep evolutionary roots," says Bruce Winterhalder, an anthropologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who has studied human foragers in great detail. "Foraging on the Web presents trade-offs analogous to those of hunter-gatherers. Different context, but similar cost-benefit problems." Biologist David Stephens of the University of Minnesota, who co-wrote the seminal 1986 book Foraging Theory, adds: "Animals have been solving search problems for millennia, and natural selection has made them good at it. It follows that we can learn something from them." What that means in practical terms is that database and Web designers could use foraging theory to help them create more productive information resources. The theory could prove particularly useful at that crucial moment when a forager starts thinking about leaving one patch in search of another. In this respect, one of the most useful ideas the research has produced is that of "information scent". Pirolli and Card guessed that information foragers--whether human or artificial--have some way of evaluating the likelihood of finding target information in a given Scatter/Gather box. This led them to the idea that associated concepts "rub off" on one another, leaving detectable traces, just as a watering hole frequented by woolly mammoths will smell of woolly mammoths. A hunter-gatherer seeking mammoths is likely to be drawn to the watering hole, if only to look for spoor. Information foragers do the same. Imagine you're looking for texts about foraging theory. If Scatter/Gather throws up a box containing the keyword "hunter- gatherer", you're likely to select that box. It just smells right. Xerox is now trying to capture the essence of information scent and infuse it into Web pages, giving surfers subtle come-ons as they sniff around for useful sites. "We are developing technologies that help designers make page layouts that give off good information scent--cues that allow users to assess the match of information to their needs and identify how to get to it," says Pirolli. The analogy between food and information looks like being a big help to Web designers. But at some point, Pirolli says, it's likely to break down. For one thing, there's the question of evaluating costs and benefits. Biologists and anthropologists can always draw up an energy balance sheet for a foraging behaviour in joules. The value of information isn't so easy to measure. Another problem is that foraging models tend to assume environments stay the same over time, whereas information ecologies are nothing if not dynamic. Ingen-ious informavores--and those who seek to provide them with information--can actively manipulate their environment. And even if information foraging theory works, there's no guarantee that it will be used to benefit the forager. Think of insectivorous flowers that lure flies with the scent of carrion. As Card points out: "The vendor's interests may not correspond with the searcher's. They may camouflage information to hide it or mimic something that they think you want. Banner ads, especially ones with fake buttons on them, are an example." So next time you're hunting down information on the Web, beware. It could smell like a juicy rabbit, but turn out to be a vole. Copyright 2000 New Scientist * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From the Listowner * * * * * * * * * * * * . To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to: majordomo at scn.org In the body of the message, type: unsubscribe scn ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ==== * * * * * * * http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/ * * * * * * * From steve at advocate.net Thu Dec 28 22:58:54 2000 From: steve at advocate.net (Steve) Date: Thu, 28 Dec 2000 22:58:54 -0800 Subject: SCN: Predictions Message-ID: <3A4BC5AE.30331.4FBE14D@localhost> x-no-archive: yes ========================= (Carl S. Kaplan, NY Times)---Cyberlaw Journal recently asked a panel of legal experts to predict the most significant or interesting developments in Internet law and policy for the year 2001. These are excerpts from their forecasts. Eben Moglen Professor of Law & Legal History at Columbia Law School and general counsel for the Free Software Foundation. There will be the Bush Administration's unceremonious exit from U.S. v. Microsoft, as it gives up on the most important antitrust action of the last three decades. The music industry meltdown will continue: by the end of 2001 Napster replacements that don't use a centralized distribution directory and that are distributed as free software without any owner will be taking over the market, leaving music companies no one to sue except their own listeners. The next year will also see the full ripening of the demand for legal protection for consumers' privacy on the Internet. The new Congress will face demands for legislation from all sides, which before the 2002 election it will honor with a more-show-than-substance Internet Privacy Act. Amazon.com's bankruptcy will bring the privacy furor to white heat, as the public sees the richest and most intimate data set on the most desirable and influential customers in the world recycled. Ian C. Ballon Partner in the Palo Alto and Los Angeles law offices of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, author and specialist in e-commerce and intellectual property litigation. This is a very tough question. To be honest, I have never been less certain about where things are going than I am at this time. An easy prediction is that we will have federal legislation governing Internet privacy that creates a national standard for consumer Web sites. The new law will be somewhat less restrictive than what some of the current staffers at the FTC would favor. There has been a significant uptick in Internet legislation in recent months . . . and I suspect this trend will continue. Several years ago companies were too uncertain about the technology and business models to file suit in most cases. Today, that hesitancy seems to have faded. The volume of new court opinions has become almost impossible to keep up with. Jack Balkin Knight Professor of Constitutional Law and the First Amendment and director of the Information Society Project at Yale Law School. What will be the big cyber law stories for the coming year? A lot will depend on the new Administration's technology policy. . . . The Bush Administration may have its greatest effect simply by doing nothing - - in particular by letting control of cyberspace and the communications infrastructure become increasingly concentrated. We need a Teddy Roosevelt for the Second Gilded Age. As of right now it doesn't look like we elected one. A second effect of the 2000 election may be the fate of comprehensive privacy legislation from Congress. Privacy was on the agenda of politicians of both parties before the Florida free-for- all. It will be interesting to see whether privacy protections will get stuck like a hanging chad or whether both parties see privacy legislation as something they can agree on. Finally, look for politicians to explore the Internet and high-tech solutions in the wake of the recent electoral debacle. . . . Without ironclad guarantees of security, electronic voting is an invitation to voter fraud on an unprecedented scale. But don't be surprised if the next election is a cyber election. Blake A. Bell Senior counsel at New York-based law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, author and publisher of CyberSecuritiesLaw.com, a Web site devoted to securities regulation and the Internet. Online privacy issues will be at the forefront of the most interesting developments in the new year. In 1999, a half dozen or so regulatory agencies enacted extraordinarily complex online privacy regulations . . . that apply to banks, insurance companies, securities firms, investment banks, mortgage companies, financial services firms and some holding companies. When the July, 2001 deadline for mandatory compliance with many of these laws begins to loom large . . . I expect to hear increasing complaints from the financial services industry over the scope of the regulatory strictures. I also foresee increasing consumer awareness of the importance of protecting private personal data from misuse or negligent revelation. Pamela Samuelson Professor of Law and Information Management and director of the Center for Law and Technology at the University of California at Berkeley. The United States Supreme Court may well take an appeal from the ACLU v. Reno decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Frankly I'd be surprised if they did not do so. In its decision earlier this year, the Third Circuit essentially struck down the Child Online Protection Act of 1998, legislation aimed at protecting minors from harmful materials online. The court said that local community standards [of what constitutes obscene materials for minors] couldn't be applied because the Internet is global. If the Supreme Court affirms the ruling, even if on other grounds, I'd expect Congress to try again to legislate on these issues. Jessica Litman Professor of Law at Wayne State University and editor of "New Developments in Cyberspace Law," a free news Web site. Several cases in 2000 raised the problems posed when different countries have different rules about the content that may be posted on the Internet. The Motion Picture Association of America shut down the Canadian site iCraveTV.com because its site, allegedly legal under Canadian law, could be viewed by people outside Canada. A French court held that Yahoo violated French law when it permitted auctions of Nazi memorabilia on a site accessible to people in France. The remedies contemplated by the courts deciding these cases are the use of technology to simulate national borders -- requiring sites to come up with a way to deny access to browsers originating in complaining countries. If the trend continues, we may see the end of the borderless Internet, with virtual customs agents demanding virtual passports as electronic bits cross virtual borders. In my view, that would be a terrible loss. Barry Steinhardt Associate Director and chair of the ACLU's cyber- liberties task force. 1. Keep your eye on the First Amendment challenge the ACLU will shortly bring to the provision adopted by Congress a few weeks ago that would mandate the use of blocking software on computers in public libraries. More than 100 years of local control of libraries and the strong tradition of allowing adults to decide for themselves what they want to read is being casually set aside. 2. Many civil liberties groups are awaiting the decision of the Counsel of Europe on whether to adopt the U.S.-backed Cyber Crime treaty. The treaty runs contrary to internationally accepted human rights norms and would infringe on the free speech and privacy rights of all Internet users. In the U.S., for example, it might become the basis for requiring Internet service providers to build surveillance capabilities directly into their networks -- a requirement the Congress previously rejected. Marc Rotenberg Director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center. 1. I'm looking forward to reading U.S. Supreme Court decisions in two pending privacy cases. In Bartnicki v. Voppers, the Court will be asked to determine whether the First Amendment precludes liability under the federal wiretap statute for publication of information obtained by means of an illegal wiretap. In Kyllo v. U.S., the Court must determine whether the warrentless use of thermal imaging devices that are used to detect marijuana grow lamps inside a home violates the Fourth Amendment. Both cases could have a big impact on the development of privacy law for the Internet. 2. The growth of electronic commerce and the global economy will increase the need for framework legislation to safeguard privacy and consumer protection. Jonathan Zittrain Assistant Professor of Law and faculty co-director of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Harvard Law School. Peering is the system by which different private pieces of the Internet backbone agree to carry the others' packets of information. Without a general practice or agreement of carrying others' packets, there'd be no Internet. So far packets are all treated roughly equally - - and without regard to their content. That need not remain true forever, however. I think the peering arrangements are up for grabs. We may see the beginnings of specialized information toll roads running parallel to the familiar Net we have now. Also look out for the possible re-emergence of online service providers -- the OSP. Local Internet service providers will seek not just to be an on-ramp to the undifferentiated Internet, but rather a preferred source of information and commerce for its customers, a model we thought went out of style with the decline of "proprietary" information malls like CompuServe and AOL. Last, look for the first serious attempt to provide the music industry- sanctioned alternative to Napster, Gnutella, et al., perhaps packaged as consumer electronics rather than information technology. Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From the Listowner * * * * * * * * * * * * . To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to: majordomo at scn.org In the body of the message, type: unsubscribe scn ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ==== * * * * * * * http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/ * * * * * * * From jrweis at earthlink.net Sat Dec 30 13:30:54 2000 From: jrweis at earthlink.net (jrweis at earthlink.net) Date: Sat, 30 Dec 2000 15:30:54 -0600 Subject: SCN: RE: HELLO! Message-ID: <200012302130.PAA09518@shell.acadiacom.net> Hello, It is important that you read this message as soon as possible. Again I urge you to read this message to its fullest! Last year 72% of bankruptcies could have been saved by an extra $200 a month. We are an International E-Commerce Mail Order Company looking for people with a Good Work Ethic and the Desire to Earn $500 - $1,500 per Month Part Time or $2,000 - $7,500+ per Month Full Time Working From Home or Office! The demand for our product line (over 150 different products) is so great we need to train more people to process the orders and service the growing customer base. To better assist you in the understanding E-Commerce and what the world is raving about with E-Commerce and the Internet, I URGE you to read this message for your own training and understanding on what it can do for you. Everyone is excited about E-Commerce. We recently opened our business in India and with that we are trying to help as many people start and generate foreign and local business in India as fast as possible. As the Economy in India is tested, this opportunity right now is the fastest growing industry in India, Panama, Cyprus, Korea, China and Japan. This is a U.S. Based Company so it is very exciting to be growing by doubling and tripling in over 50 Countries right now. Expected growth in the next three years is 80 % in each country with new countries opening every day. We are expected to reach the world in the next 4 years and with that you can imagine the internet and E-Commerce is currently growing by 200 % each Quarter. There will be a 2000 % increase in E-Commerce Business and revenues on the Internet in the next 18 Months. No special skills or experience is required. We will give you all the training and personal support you will need to ensure your success. You will be trained via Internet in the comfort of your own home and you will determine your work hours. A minimum commitment of 7-10 hours a week is required. The income you generate from your efforts can put you back in Control of your Time, Your Finances and Your Life! If you've tried other opportunities in the past that have failed to live up to their promises, this is different than anything else you are aware of! This is not a get rich scheme. You must work to earn income! Your financial past does not have to be your financial future. "There is no security on this earth. There is only opportunity." -Douglas Macarthur Do you feel like you are too busy earning a living to make any real money? Are you tired of living "paycheck to paycheck" like I was? Do you dream of a better lifestyle for yourself and your family? If so, then I urge you to take read on to better understand why I sent you this message. We provide the system, experience and hands on training. The only thing that we can not give you, but is required is that you, number one have the desire and number two, is that you are teachable. We know that you have some level of desire because you are reading this letter. Ask yourself if you are teachable. Everyone evolved in our business had three things in common when they got started: They saw an opportunity, they were teachable, and they applied what they learned. It's THAT simple. And it's THAT powerful. ************************************* Now imagine just for a moment that you had a home-based business that provided Spending more time with your family, Unlimited income based on YOUR efforts, Freedom from commuting, Not having your kids in day care, Affordable health care for your family, Significantly helping others with their lives, Loving what you do and doing what you love, Having your own business/being your own boss Sounds too good to be true? That's what we thought, but today our dreams are coming true and now we're here to help you, like others have helped us! ********************************************** We like to get right to the point...so here is what we have to offer you: A well established, financially stable company, 2 Billion dollar + sales / publicly traded, Patented, exclusive, high demand consumable products, Comprehensive, high-tech in home training, Phenomenal support system, Worldwide income opportunities (especially through E-Commerce), Exotic paid vacations and Minimal start up investment \\|// (o o) ------------oOOo-(_)-oOOo------------ ARE YOU GETTING A BIT CURIOUS? GREAT! That's fine... as long as you're serious! Because our business is bursting at the seams, we ONLY have time to work with serious, motivated people who are ready to make changes in their life NOW! And because of the time we spend with each of you as we help you get your business off the ground, we have limited number of openings available. Here is what you need to do... This business fell into my lap in September of 1997. I got started as a customer and woke up when my wife made an extra $500 in the first week. At the time I was an Active Duty Marine living paycheck to paycheck making less that $19,000 a year. I was attending college at a local University and had two children. $500 at the time was a dream come true. I got started and in the first month my wife and I made $19,000 profit in just the first 4 months. I had made more in 4 months than I made in an entire year as an active duty Marine. The average person can start earning any where from $25.00 - $75.00 an hour from their home or office computers without dedicating allot of time and effort. Most of us have been thinking it's about time we took advantage of this Internet Craze. Through out the Holidays and especially the last year, every thing that we have seen on Television and heard on the Radio has either started or ended with www. -----------. Com and the reason why is because the Internet has truly simplified shopping, convenience which frees up more time for all of us to turn that time into quality time. Security and convenience has been technologically advanced to give us all the piece of mind. E-Commerce is so rampant right now that most of Californians are buying their groceries over the Internet. This is your opportunity to take advantage of the E-commerce that is literally changing the way the world does business. The Work at Home Network will show you how you can work at home using your very own e-commerce storefront. Hand is leading the reform that puts the personal back in "personal computing". Our opportunity is the only business of its kind right now. It's growing by leaps and bounds and you can be a part of it while you work at home. The Work at Home Network with our company was reviewed and published Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Home PC, Forbes, Success, and Money, just to name a few. You can work at home and use the Internet to run your business. You can market our high demand consumable products that are geared and driven by the needs of over eighty- percent of the world's population. Our products sell them selves, so there is no selling or need for out right sales techniques. Also because they are high demand consumable products, return bu! siness, on going business, and referral business is generated. By working at home, you reduce overhead, set your own schedule, be your own boss, and achieve your own goals. Be an entrepreneur, WORK AT HOME! The Market Opportunity is colossal. Over 1/2 of American homes have a computer, and E-Commerce sales are increasing month on month. America is looking for a better way to buy our products and now with this opportunity you can. The Work at Home Network a brand of e-commerce that is enabled and energized. The five top industries in the world are Medical - Health - Nutrition, Computer, Personal Care, Communication and the Burial Businesses due to the Baby Boomers. The Work at Home Network put them all into a package except for the Burial Business. Our industries are guaranteed to be the fastest growing industries for the next 18 years and each year sales have doubled almost tripled. If your country is listed here, you are eligible to start doing business immediately. (Argentina, India, Cyprus, Greece, Poland, Australia, Hong Kong, Russia, Austria, Indonesia, Portugal, Belgium, Israel, South Africa, Botswana, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Jamaica, Swaziland, Canada, Japan, Sweden, Chile, Korea, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Lesotho, Taiwan, Denmark, Mexico, Thailand, Dominican Republic, Namibia, Turkey, Finland, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, France, New Zealand, United States, Germany, Norway, Venezuela, Philippines, Ireland, Panama, and China) However, if your country is not listed here, it does not mean we won't be there very soon. Because our company is expanding into several countries a year, yours could be the next one to become available. This is an optimal position to be in, one that you will definitely want to take advantage of. Due to the fact that countries can "open" only once in our industry, if you are one of the first to receive this valuable information and one of the first to start softening your market, you will belong to an exclusive group of wealthy leaders. Our experience in 50 countries confirms this fact. One of the strongest aspects of our business is the on going training that is offered. We have International Training's on an ongoing basis in most major cities. Weekly conference calls are also available, as well as satellite television training programs, monthly magazine's and quarterly journals. Our company does over 1.5 billion US Dollars in business annually and you too can be a part of this growth. Maybe some of you have tried other businesses and failed. We welcome you with open arms. Here you will find success because we give you the blueprint to follow and support you need to develop your own profitable home-based business. All we ask of you is to be coachable and be willing to learn. We have no need for tire-kickers or window shoppers. Please do not request our "decision package" if you are not serious about changing the course in your life right now. By ordering your "decision package", you will receive all you need to get yourself moving towards financial indepen! dence. So, if you are tired of worrying about money and tired of choosing what you can live without, come join the thousands of us working from home, setting our own schedules, making a fortune and living out our dreams. We invite you to explore how the "Work From Home" Internet Program capitalizes on today's advancements in technology to help you build a successful home-based business. Have you noticed the surge of people looking to start home-based businesses? Did you know that 32 million households now have home-based businesses and that number grows every day? Have you asked yourself, "Why?" Why are so many people, including yourself, interested in working from home? Our parents never searched for a business to operate from home nor did their friends. So, why now and why is it suddenly so popular? Americans are "cocooning". We want to spend less time on the busy freeways commuting, and in over-crowded shopping malls and replace that with spending more time at home with our families where it is warm and safe. Apparently, we trust society less and want to protect ourselves and our families from the "cruel" outside world. This is the wave of the future and we are beginning to realize with the advancement in technology, we do not need to be in an office environment in order to access the marketplace and make money. In today's world, the quickest way to build a home-based business is to take advantage of the Internet craze that has hit the United States and is quickly spreading around the world. Like how the Gutenberg Press radically changed the communication world in 16th Century Europe, the Internet is revolutionizing how we communicate, distribute information and the manner in how and where we spend our money. It has been said that those who pursue electronic commerce (b! usiness over the Internet) have the opportunity to build an explosive business. While a conventional business can cost thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars to set up and run successfully, an Internet business costs dramatically less and has the potential to attract international business for just a fraction of what the traditional company would spend. On average, 30% of all U.S. web traffic is already international and 5% to 20% of all web sales originate from outside the United States. Everyday, these percentages are radically increasing. Consumers worldwide are spending 6.6 billion U.S. dollars a year in transactions over the Internet. The awareness level and need for users, buyers, advertisers and merchants to get onto the Web, and to set-up shop, has dramatically changed even from one year ago. This medium of doing business is skyrocketing, and we are reaping the benefits, daily. If you combine the Internet craze with people's desire to work from home and set ! their own schedule, you have a powerful team, and here is why. Many people have heard of SOHO, and no, we don't mean that hip section of New York City, rather the S.O.H.O. which refers to "Small Office/Home Office." One of today's biggest explosions in the economy. The home-based business has been born out of necessity. In an era where large corporations can only think of downsizing, what are your options? There is no security in Corporate America any more! Not only are tens of thousands of workers and managers being downsized out of their companies, but also thousands of men and women are tired of the corporate "rat race" and want to retreat to a home-based business. If you decide to "stick it out" in Corporate America or the Corporate World, your choices could boil down to finding a lucrative niche in the small business world, standing in line at the unemployment office, or accepting a cut in pay and benefits. We were all raised to give 9 hours work for 8 hours pay, and we are not backing away from that. Today's large companies have no loyalty to the employees. Their only loyalty is to the bottom line. And the bottom line is exactly where most of us are when it's time to cut back. Your life is suddenly turned upside down because you have no control over your future. Someone who has no idea of the quality of your work makes these decisions behind closed doors or the extra time you gave the company without requesting overtime. They don't know about your family's life: they don't understand that you just put braces on your child's teeth and now have to pay for them. These "decision makers" job is to be impersonal and unbiased in all areas ex! cept for the company's "best interests." In other words: TO THEM, YOU REALLY DON'T MATTER. The Great American Dream is gone. Official U.S. government reports indicate that more than 3.5 million jobs have been eliminated in the past 10 years - including over 2000 jobs per day last year alone - and an estimated 55% of all jobs created in the next 10 years will be near minimum wage in stores, restaurants, and bars. 90% of all the people in North America earn less than $40,000 a year and today's two-income family are not living as well as their parents did. So what is the alternative to the to the Great American Job? Richard Poe, former senior editor for "Success Magazine," describes in his recent book that a shift in thinking has resulted in over 14 million people working from home full-time, and another 13 million part-time. This number is increasing by almost 600,000 per year. And the average work from home income is $50,250 per year, about twice the average income of wage earners working for someone else. By the end of the decade over 44% of us will be working fro! m home. Home based business wage earner's success rate is over 85% compared with small businesses like retail shops and restaurants, at about 95% failure rate after 5 years. Couple that with the flexibility we have to change our schedules and set our hours and then those of us who are parents are now available when our children need us, plus we no longer have the need for the "foster homes" we call day cares, where the care-givers get to see all the "firsts" your child performs. There's no wonder the number of people looking to work from home has skyrocketed. This "New Era" of financial growth is largely due to the latest technologies that are now available to those who desire to work from home. Imagine what it would be like to run an international operation if you so choose, right from the comfort of your own home. Well, this is exactly what we offer! We offer a "freedom" that is available through a constant flow of income that does not depend on the whims of a boss, bonuses or the ! economy. Take a look at some of these statistics: At age 50, 75% of the population has less than $5,000 in the bank for retirement. At age 65, 45% of Americans depend on relatives, 30% depend on charities, 23% are still working (most can't afford to quit and work until they are no longer physically capable) and Only 2% are self-sustaining. At the present time, it is impossible to support a family of two working full time at minimum wage! For the first time in history, the current generation is averaging a lower standard of living then their parents! Automation is taking layoffs to record highs! The Bureau of Labor Statistics says that Out of 100 people that start working at the age of 25, by the age of 65... - 1 is wealthy - 4 have enough money to retire - 63 depend on social security or charity - 29 are deceased 95% of people, age 65 and over cannot afford to retire and work until they die!! What Happened to Safety & Security? Why we no longer put our trust & faith in "Big Business". In J. Paul Getty's book "How To Get Rich", his first rule for success is, "You must be in business for yourself. You will never get rich working for someone else." This partly explains why someone starts a new home-based business in the United States every 10 seconds. In the past 14 years alone, the numbers of home-based businesses have grown from 6 million to 32 million with no slow - down in sight. In fact, an estimated 8,493 new home businesses open every day. The United States is now driven by an information and service economy. Over the past decade, Fortune 500 companies have l! aid off 4.4 million workers while smaller companies steadily continue to reduce their work forces. As companies continue to downsize and re-organize, many professionals will seek out and search for new ways to take control of their careers. Many of these individuals have forsworn traditional "nine to five" office jobs and are making their homes pay off in more ways than one. For the entrepreneur, home-based businesses have become the bridge between work- crazed big cities and easy- paced family-oriented small towns. Link Resources Corp. reports that market research shows more than 29 million people run either full-time or part-time businesses from their homes. People used to believe that their livelihood depended on living in big cities near big corporations. That is no longer true, thanks to personal computers, increased phone services, fax machines, and the Internet, it is no longer necessary to live in close proximity to "Big Business". You can now operate that "Big Business" right from your home office. Within the last five to seven years, technology has been brought to an affordable level so that almost everyone has an equal playing field in the work-from-home industry. Check out these Statistics: 11% of the US market is now on the Internet 1,092,000 new people get Internet access each week, while approximately 38% of the US adult populati! on, or 68 million US citizens' currently use the Internet, according to the fall 1999 Cyber Status reports from Mediamark Research Inc. This is an increase of 49% from the prior quarter, and this study only counts people who have used the Internet in the last 30 days. Ziff-Davis's Technology User Profile reported that there are 60 million PC's connected to the Internet in the US, but home PC's still represent the lion's share of the market, with 68 million consumers hooked up to the Internet. They predict that up to $54 billion US dollars will change hands from business transactions online by year 2001. Most people are ready to do some sort of business online, they just don't know where to start. This is why we are so successful. We link-up our marketing techniques with something people need, and most of all, something people want. If you add strong work ethics, a powerful support system, along with personal business coaching, you can't help but be successful. We provide not only the vehicle that puts you on the road to success, but we also provide the road map. All you have to do is be teachable, have the desire for a better life and be willing to change what you're doing now. 94% of home-based business owners are happier running their own business versus working for someone else. 92% recommend working from home to others. 94% plan to still be running their own business in five years. 20% of home entrepreneurs reported that their businesses grossed between $100,000 and $500,000 last year. 23% paid themselves annual salaries of $65,000 to $350,000. 41% work at home wit! h other family members. 71% think their businesses are doing as well or better than they expected. 79% expect their home-based business revenues to grow this year. Your search for the ideal work environment and for the ideal vehicle to wealth is over. You will be able to work more flexible hours while increasing your productivity, not to mention drastically cutting your commute time, and increasing your most precious commodity-quality of life. We have developed one of the most exciting, technologically advanced home-based businesses that will take you through the new millennium. We don't expect you to come to us with tremendous business knowledge or a successful track record. We have already figured out how to make this work; all you need to do is copy what we're already doing. Since you've gotten this far, we know you are serious about working from home. Your next step will help you make some changes and learn some new skills. So, let's go! As you know, this is not a lay-on-the-couch, get-rich-quick scheme. This is a REAL business and a real opportunity- one that has drawn so much interest from people that we had to put this screening process in place to help us determine who to work with. Our company has been in business for 20 years, is publicly held and traded on the NASDAQ. It is important that you realize that we can help you build a powerful and profitable business. We have an explosive, start to finish, proven Internet Marketing system. And we are offering you this simple easy method where you can make money working for yourself, over the Internet, from the comfort of your home or office. You can earn $1,000 to $7,000 per month working around your current job and your family's schedule. Our system works regardless of your background or computer knowledge. We provide the system, experience and hands on training. The only thing that we cannot give you, but is required is that you have the desire, and that ! you are teachable. We know that you have some level of desire because you got this far. Are you teachable? STEP 1. You must call our toll free "International Internet Business hotline and listen to some of the members of our team talk about the success of their new home based businesses. EVEN IF YOU ARE CALLING THIS NUMBER FROM AN INTERNATIONAL COUTRY, I URGE YOU TO CALL RIGHT NOW. This is part of our job-to introduce you to many others who took a step of faith (like you're ready to), and whose lives have changed because of it. This call is for everyone. I.E. former Military Service Members, Executive Professionals and Laborers Doctors and Nurses 1-800-708-RICH Enter Access Code is 6100 or 2001 This10-minute calls is a 24-hour toll free for all that are in the United States; however if you are International I urge you to dial this number now and listen to this short message and take some notes. ********************************************** CAUTION! This Access Code expires on January 12th, 2001 (So call right now!) ********************************************** IMPORTANT! DO NOT PROCEED TO STEP 2 UNTIL YOU HAVE LISTENED TO THE CALL MENTIONED IN STEP 1 ********************************************** If you are unsure and need more information, we have put together a "How to do business over the Internet" decision package that will help you determine whether our business is for you or not. This step is only for individuals who have the desire to control their own future and who want to work from their homes and earn the kind of income that will give you the life you deserve. This decision package contains approximately three hours of information about our explosive Internet business and it also begins your training. You will receive a manual that explains how, why and what we are doing, a video where you'll meet us and see exactly how our business works and an audiotape to further help you with your decision. Your package also contains the name and telephone number of your personal coach who will be working with you on a daily basis, helping you make money in your first week. In other words, you will receive all of the information you will need to make a decision to deter! mine if this is for you. After you request your "International Decision Package", and go through all the materials, we will call you and your personal training program will begin. At that point, we will also be happy to locate the nearest training to you, which are available in numerous translations. We have training being conducted in over 27 different languages worldwide! This package acts only as a way for you to review information about our business and begins your training without risk. This step eliminates the people who are not serious and allows us to work with those of you who are. Please recognize the importance of this step. We simply do not have the time to spend with people who are merely curious, which is why we designed this package to provide you with all of the information you will need to make a decision and determine if this is for you. If we spent our time answering e-mail requests for additional information, we'd not only be duplicating the effort we put into developing the deci! sion package, but we'd also be taking valuable time away from running our business and training new people. Once you start working with us, we're sure you will appreciate our spending time training you instead of responding to curious e-mails all day long. Since we don't spend countless hours answering the tireless questions of the curiosity-seekers, you benefit, because it frees us up in order to dedicate ourselves to your success. When we spend time with you, we know we are working with someone who, like us, is committed to a better lifestyle. What is Your Future Worth? Decide for yourself and for your family what it is you want and by when you want to achieve it. Only you can determine how dedicated you are to achieving your dreams. Hopefully, you won't find yourself relying on your friends and family for direction and salvation. They cannot provide that for you - only you can do that. You need to make a decision to either give this a shot or to continue down the path you're on. Most likely, if you have read this far, you have already made the decision to make some healthy changes in your life. When we were looking at this "Work From Home" Opportunity for the first time, just like you, we were nervous and thought that may! be this wouldn't work. Like you, we doubted we could really achieve our dreams. We went for it any way and now we are making incredible incomes, working from home, and for most of us- it's a dream come true. We don't have a boss to answer to or a clock to punch. Remember though, we didn't start off full-time. For most of us we did this part-time until our part-time incomes surpassed our full-time incomes. We don't recommend you quit your present job until you have at least doubled your present income. Another item that might be hanging in the back of your mind is the fear that you will have to invest thousands of dollars. So let me put that to rest right now. You don't need to dig up thousands of dollars to get started with us. Right now, all you need to do is get your "Decision Package" so you can get started. Why give up your dreams? We know you are the kind of person we are looking to work with, because you have given up this much of your time to read about us. You have already displayed exactly what one needs in order to be successful in our business- that high degree of curiosity coupled with an intense desire to succeed. All you need to do now is take action. Take action by ordering your "Decision Package" and we'll be th! ere to help you through your questions and then to work with you to build your own "Work From Home" Internet Business. But please don't request more information unless you are committed to improving your life. If you are ready to learn and you are serious about achieving a brighter future and a better life, then we are committed to you. We are ready to give you the same step-by-step plan we used to build our fortune. There will be no surprises. We know exactly what to do and how to coach others be successful within the same system. Our Program works. It's already happening for hundreds of people. Why not you? Right now, take the next step, and get started on your way to a brighter lifestyle. STEP 2: To get started or request your decision package only after you have completed STEP 1 please call our international 24 hour order hotline at 1-206-222-2826. International callers and for United States, Canada, and Mexico callers please also dial 1-206-222-2826. We are willing to train you and work with you, as others have done with us, to help secure your financial future. But, remember, we only work with those that truly have the desire and ambitions to work-we don't have time to work with couch potatoes! Successful people do what unsuccessful people won't. So develop a sense of urgency and give your desires value! Procrastination is the biggest killer of success and you can now break that cycle! REMEMBER, for things to change, you have to change and for things to get better, you have to get better. Order your materials today, and when they arrive, review everything thoroughly BEFORE calling your personal coach. Remember the importance of following directions- we are looking for people who are teachable and willing to work. We're very excited about our future and we know you will be, too!! Until we speak personally, thank you and have a great day! Again please follow STEP 2: To get started or request your decision package only after you have completed STEP 1 please call our international 24 hour order hotline at 1-206-222-2826. International callers and for United States, Canada, and Mexico callers please also dial 1-206-222-2826. _______________________________________________________________________ This is not SPAM. You have Opted-In for information on this World-Wide Business Opportunity. This ad is being sent in compliance with Senate bill 1618, Title 3, section 301. http://www.senate.gov Further transmissions to you by the sender of this email may be stopped at no cost to you by sending a reply to this email address with the word "remove" in the subject line. Note that you must stop posting, visiting, or OPT - IN any and all FFA , Classified, or Information Sites in order to not receive further confirmations or other promotional messages. Thank you. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From the Listowner * * * * * * * * * * * * . To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to: majordomo at scn.org In the body of the message, type: unsubscribe scn ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ==== * * * * * * * http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/ * * * * * * * From steve at advocate.net Sat Dec 30 20:40:50 2000 From: steve at advocate.net (Steve) Date: Sat, 30 Dec 2000 20:40:50 -0800 Subject: SCN: Spam Message-ID: <3A4E4852.10616.27680D4@localhost> x-no-archive: yes ======================= (Ed Foster, InfoWorld)---In November I wrote that readers were increasingly meeting resistance when reporting spam abuse to Internet services. By coincidence, the same week that column appeared, readers reported being dismayed by several reports about known spammers being given safe haven by major ISPs. And one of the biggest backbone providers, WorldCom subsidiary UUNet, appears to be the safest haven of all. Several major ISPs have been caught red-handed (or perhaps pink- handed) making agreements with known spammers. In November, the Britain-based Spamhaus Project (www.spamhaus.org) revealed two examples of what it calls pink contracts, one signed by AT&T and one by PSINet. The pink contracts were essentially addendums to each ISP's standard terms of use contract, granting their customer permission to send bulk e-mail despite prohibitions against spam by both AT&T and PSINet. Both companies later acknowledged the contracts had been signed but said it had been done by mistake. But spam watchdogs wonder just how prevalent such agreements may truly be. "I think the ISP community as a whole needs to re-examine its ethics," says Steve Linford of the Spamhaus Project. "The contracts we're finding show that far from regulating themselves some U.S. backbones are colluding with spammers to profit off the spam problem." Although AT&T and PSINet were at least contrite, that doesn't seem to be the case with UUNet. Linford says he can't prove UUNet has any current pink contracts, but he does know they've hosted some of the same bulk e-mailers as AT&T and PSINet. He also is concerned that UUNet, whose customers he estimates are responsible for some 12 billion spam messages each year, so far refuses to follow most other ISPs in banning spam "services" - sites that sell bulk e- mail tools. "This isn't a case of not knowing they're doing it - UUNet has now made a policy decision that it will continue to host and hence profit from the supply of spam services," Linford says. "This is extraordinary, because it is well-known that spam services are the root and cause of the whole spam problem. Seventy percent of all Internet spam is currently bulked from the UUNet network, and the volumes increase daily as more and more spammers arm themselves with yet more spamware from UUNet sites." The Spamhaus Project isn't the only watchdog that believes UUNet customers are responsible for large volumes of spam. Statistics for abuse complaints logged at SpamCop.net have in recent months seen UUNet with 10 times more complaints than any other source. Julian Haight, SpamCop's owner and administrator, says in the last year UUNet has taken over the top of the charts since previous leader America Online got serious about implementing anti-spam technology. "As soon as one service cracks down, all these people have to find someplace else to go, so that's one of the things that's been happening here," according to Haight, who says UUNet officials have promised to get themselves off his list. "AOL has done it, they can too. UUNet has a good abuse team that can take care of this if their hands aren't tied behind their backs by management and if the company makes their resellers step in line." UUNet's response to all this is rather predictable. "This is an industrywide problem, and UUNet is one of the largest networks carrying a lot of traffic, including some for AOL, Microsoft Network, and Earthlink," said a UUNet spokeswoman. "So if you look at absolute numbers, you are going to see some spam that originates with our customers, or with our customers' customers. But the bottom line is that WorldCom has a very specific, acceptable use policy against spam, and we vigorously enforce that policy with 41 full-time staff members dedicated to the effort." OK. But I must say I'm feeling a sense of deja vu here. Several years ago I wrote about Apex Global Information Services (AGIS), another of the original Internet backbone providers. At the time, AGIS also seemed to be harboring more than its share of spammers, and its responses to questions from the press were much the same as we're hearing now from UUNet. AGIS is no longer with us. Perhaps WorldCom and UUNet officials should bear that in mind. Copyright 2000 InfoWorld Media Group, Inc., a subsidiary of IDG Communications, Inc. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From the Listowner * * * * * * * * * * * * . To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to: majordomo at scn.org In the body of the message, type: unsubscribe scn ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ==== * * * * * * * http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/ * * * * * * * From jj at scn.org Sat Dec 30 21:56:02 2000 From: jj at scn.org (J. Johnson) Date: Sat, 30 Dec 2000 21:56:02 -0800 (PST) Subject: SCN: The "HELLO!" spam. Message-ID: I don't know if anyone noticed, but this 33 KB "HELLO!" spam that hit the 'scn' list today has both an 800 number (which has to cost someone money), and a _local_ 206 number. For anyone that has ever felt frustrated at the spammers being out of reach--not this time!! This could be a wonderful opportunity to dig out this particular jerk, and I encourage anyone interested to investigate. The numbers are: 800-708-7424, access code 6100 or 2001. 206-222-2826 I have a copy of the spam if you need it. === JJ ================================================================= * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From the Listowner * * * * * * * * * * * * . To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to: majordomo at scn.org In the body of the message, type: unsubscribe scn ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ==== * * * * * * * http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/ * * * * * * * From jrweis at earthlink.net Sun Dec 31 08:12:00 2000 From: jrweis at earthlink.net (jrweis at earthlink.net) Date: Sun, 31 Dec 2000 09:12:00 -0700 (MST) Subject: SCN: RE: HELLO! Message-ID: <200012311612.JAA05813@pearl.montana.com> Hello, It is important that you read this message as soon as possible. Again I urge you to read this message to its fullest! Last year 72% of bankruptcies could have been saved by an extra $200 a month. We are an International E-Commerce Mail Order Company looking for people with a Good Work Ethic and the Desire to Earn $500 - $1,500 per Month Part Time or $2,000 - $7,500+ per Month Full Time Working From Home or Office! The demand for our product line (over 150 different products) is so great we need to train more people to process the orders and service the growing customer base. To better assist you in the understanding E-Commerce and what the world is raving about with E-Commerce and the Internet, I URGE you to read this message for your own training and understanding on what it can do for you. Everyone is excited about E-Commerce. We recently opened our business in India and with that we are trying to help as many people start and generate foreign and local business in India as fast as possible. As the Economy in India is tested, this opportunity right now is the fastest growing industry in India, Panama, Cyprus, Korea, China and Japan. This is a U.S. Based Company so it is very exciting to be growing by doubling and tripling in over 50 Countries right now. Expected growth in the next three years is 80 % in each country with new countries opening every day. We are expected to reach the world in the next 4 years and with that you can imagine the internet and E-Commerce is currently growing by 200 % each Quarter. There will be a 2000 % increase in E-Commerce Business and revenues on the Internet in the next 18 Months. No special skills or experience is required. We will give you all the training and personal support you will need to ensure your success. You will be trained via Internet in the comfort of your own home and you will determine your work hours. A minimum commitment of 7-10 hours a week is required. The income you generate from your efforts can put you back in Control of your Time, Your Finances and Your Life! If you've tried other opportunities in the past that have failed to live up to their promises, this is different than anything else you are aware of! This is not a get rich scheme. You must work to earn income! Your financial past does not have to be your financial future. "There is no security on this earth. There is only opportunity." -Douglas Macarthur Do you feel like you are too busy earning a living to make any real money? Are you tired of living "paycheck to paycheck" like I was? Do you dream of a better lifestyle for yourself and your family? If so, then I urge you to take read on to better understand why I sent you this message. We provide the system, experience and hands on training. The only thing that we can not give you, but is required is that you, number one have the desire and number two, is that you are teachable. We know that you have some level of desire because you are reading this letter. Ask yourself if you are teachable. Everyone evolved in our business had three things in common when they got started: They saw an opportunity, they were teachable, and they applied what they learned. It's THAT simple. And it's THAT powerful. ************************************* Now imagine just for a moment that you had a home-based business that provided Spending more time with your family, Unlimited income based on YOUR efforts, Freedom from commuting, Not having your kids in day care, Affordable health care for your family, Significantly helping others with their lives, Loving what you do and doing what you love, Having your own business/being your own boss Sounds too good to be true? That's what we thought, but today our dreams are coming true and now we're here to help you, like others have helped us! ********************************************** We like to get right to the point...so here is what we have to offer you: A well established, financially stable company, 2 Billion dollar + sales / publicly traded, Patented, exclusive, high demand consumable products, Comprehensive, high-tech in home training, Phenomenal support system, Worldwide income opportunities (especially through E-Commerce), Exotic paid vacations and Minimal start up investment \\|// (o o) ------------oOOo-(_)-oOOo------------ ARE YOU GETTING A BIT CURIOUS? GREAT! That's fine... as long as you're serious! Because our business is bursting at the seams, we ONLY have time to work with serious, motivated people who are ready to make changes in their life NOW! And because of the time we spend with each of you as we help you get your business off the ground, we have limited number of openings available. Here is what you need to do... This business fell into my lap in September of 1997. I got started as a customer and woke up when my wife made an extra $500 in the first week. At the time I was an Active Duty Marine living paycheck to paycheck making less that $19,000 a year. I was attending college at a local University and had two children. $500 at the time was a dream come true. I got started and in the first month my wife and I made $19,000 profit in just the first 4 months. I had made more in 4 months than I made in an entire year as an active duty Marine. The average person can start earning any where from $25.00 - $75.00 an hour from their home or office computers without dedicating allot of time and effort. Most of us have been thinking it's about time we took advantage of this Internet Craze. Through out the Holidays and especially the last year, every thing that we have seen on Television and heard on the Radio has either started or ended with www. -----------. Com and the reason why is because the Internet has truly simplified shopping, convenience which frees up more time for all of us to turn that time into quality time. Security and convenience has been technologically advanced to give us all the piece of mind. E-Commerce is so rampant right now that most of Californians are buying their groceries over the Internet. This is your opportunity to take advantage of the E-commerce that is literally changing the way the world does business. The Work at Home Network will show you how you can work at home using your very own e-commerce storefront. Hand is leading the reform that puts the personal back in "personal computing". Our opportunity is the only business of its kind right now. It's growing by leaps and bounds and you can be a part of it while you work at home. The Work at Home Network with our company was reviewed and published Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Home PC, Forbes, Success, and Money, just to name a few. You can work at home and use the Internet to run your business. You can market our high demand consumable products that are geared and driven by the needs of over eighty- percent of the world's population. Our products sell them selves, so there is no selling or need for out right sales techniques. Also because they are high demand consumable products, return bu! siness, on going business, and referral business is generated. By working at home, you reduce overhead, set your own schedule, be your own boss, and achieve your own goals. Be an entrepreneur, WORK AT HOME! The Market Opportunity is colossal. Over 1/2 of American homes have a computer, and E-Commerce sales are increasing month on month. America is looking for a better way to buy our products and now with this opportunity you can. The Work at Home Network a brand of e-commerce that is enabled and energized. The five top industries in the world are Medical - Health - Nutrition, Computer, Personal Care, Communication and the Burial Businesses due to the Baby Boomers. The Work at Home Network put them all into a package except for the Burial Business. Our industries are guaranteed to be the fastest growing industries for the next 18 years and each year sales have doubled almost tripled. If your country is listed here, you are eligible to start doing business immediately. (Argentina, India, Cyprus, Greece, Poland, Australia, Hong Kong, Russia, Austria, Indonesia, Portugal, Belgium, Israel, South Africa, Botswana, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Jamaica, Swaziland, Canada, Japan, Sweden, Chile, Korea, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Lesotho, Taiwan, Denmark, Mexico, Thailand, Dominican Republic, Namibia, Turkey, Finland, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, France, New Zealand, United States, Germany, Norway, Venezuela, Philippines, Ireland, Panama, and China) However, if your country is not listed here, it does not mean we won't be there very soon. Because our company is expanding into several countries a year, yours could be the next one to become available. This is an optimal position to be in, one that you will definitely want to take advantage of. Due to the fact that countries can "open" only once in our industry, if you are one of the first to receive this valuable information and one of the first to start softening your market, you will belong to an exclusive group of wealthy leaders. Our experience in 50 countries confirms this fact. One of the strongest aspects of our business is the on going training that is offered. We have International Training's on an ongoing basis in most major cities. Weekly conference calls are also available, as well as satellite television training programs, monthly magazine's and quarterly journals. Our company does over 1.5 billion US Dollars in business annually and you too can be a part of this growth. Maybe some of you have tried other businesses and failed. We welcome you with open arms. Here you will find success because we give you the blueprint to follow and support you need to develop your own profitable home-based business. All we ask of you is to be coachable and be willing to learn. We have no need for tire-kickers or window shoppers. Please do not request our "decision package" if you are not serious about changing the course in your life right now. By ordering your "decision package", you will receive all you need to get yourself moving towards financial indepen! dence. So, if you are tired of worrying about money and tired of choosing what you can live without, come join the thousands of us working from home, setting our own schedules, making a fortune and living out our dreams. We invite you to explore how the "Work From Home" Internet Program capitalizes on today's advancements in technology to help you build a successful home-based business. Have you noticed the surge of people looking to start home-based businesses? Did you know that 32 million households now have home-based businesses and that number grows every day? Have you asked yourself, "Why?" Why are so many people, including yourself, interested in working from home? Our parents never searched for a business to operate from home nor did their friends. So, why now and why is it suddenly so popular? Americans are "cocooning". We want to spend less time on the busy freeways commuting, and in over-crowded shopping malls and replace that with spending more time at home with our families where it is warm and safe. Apparently, we trust society less and want to protect ourselves and our families from the "cruel" outside world. This is the wave of the future and we are beginning to realize with the advancement in technology, we do not need to be in an office environment in order to access the marketplace and make money. In today's world, the quickest way to build a home-based business is to take advantage of the Internet craze that has hit the United States and is quickly spreading around the world. Like how the Gutenberg Press radically changed the communication world in 16th Century Europe, the Internet is revolutionizing how we communicate, distribute information and the manner in how and where we spend our money. It has been said that those who pursue electronic commerce (b! usiness over the Internet) have the opportunity to build an explosive business. While a conventional business can cost thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars to set up and run successfully, an Internet business costs dramatically less and has the potential to attract international business for just a fraction of what the traditional company would spend. On average, 30% of all U.S. web traffic is already international and 5% to 20% of all web sales originate from outside the United States. Everyday, these percentages are radically increasing. Consumers worldwide are spending 6.6 billion U.S. dollars a year in transactions over the Internet. The awareness level and need for users, buyers, advertisers and merchants to get onto the Web, and to set-up shop, has dramatically changed even from one year ago. This medium of doing business is skyrocketing, and we are reaping the benefits, daily. If you combine the Internet craze with people's desire to work from home and set ! their own schedule, you have a powerful team, and here is why. Many people have heard of SOHO, and no, we don't mean that hip section of New York City, rather the S.O.H.O. which refers to "Small Office/Home Office." One of today's biggest explosions in the economy. The home-based business has been born out of necessity. In an era where large corporations can only think of downsizing, what are your options? There is no security in Corporate America any more! Not only are tens of thousands of workers and managers being downsized out of their companies, but also thousands of men and women are tired of the corporate "rat race" and want to retreat to a home-based business. If you decide to "stick it out" in Corporate America or the Corporate World, your choices could boil down to finding a lucrative niche in the small business world, standing in line at the unemployment office, or accepting a cut in pay and benefits. We were all raised to give 9 hours work for 8 hours pay, and we are not backing away from that. Today's large companies have no loyalty to the employees. Their only loyalty is to the bottom line. And the bottom line is exactly where most of us are when it's time to cut back. Your life is suddenly turned upside down because you have no control over your future. Someone who has no idea of the quality of your work makes these decisions behind closed doors or the extra time you gave the company without requesting overtime. They don't know about your family's life: they don't understand that you just put braces on your child's teeth and now have to pay for them. These "decision makers" job is to be impersonal and unbiased in all areas ex! cept for the company's "best interests." In other words: TO THEM, YOU REALLY DON'T MATTER. The Great American Dream is gone. Official U.S. government reports indicate that more than 3.5 million jobs have been eliminated in the past 10 years - including over 2000 jobs per day last year alone - and an estimated 55% of all jobs created in the next 10 years will be near minimum wage in stores, restaurants, and bars. 90% of all the people in North America earn less than $40,000 a year and today's two-income family are not living as well as their parents did. So what is the alternative to the to the Great American Job? Richard Poe, former senior editor for "Success Magazine," describes in his recent book that a shift in thinking has resulted in over 14 million people working from home full-time, and another 13 million part-time. This number is increasing by almost 600,000 per year. And the average work from home income is $50,250 per year, about twice the average income of wage earners working for someone else. By the end of the decade over 44% of us will be working fro! m home. Home based business wage earner's success rate is over 85% compared with small businesses like retail shops and restaurants, at about 95% failure rate after 5 years. Couple that with the flexibility we have to change our schedules and set our hours and then those of us who are parents are now available when our children need us, plus we no longer have the need for the "foster homes" we call day cares, where the care-givers get to see all the "firsts" your child performs. There's no wonder the number of people looking to work from home has skyrocketed. This "New Era" of financial growth is largely due to the latest technologies that are now available to those who desire to work from home. Imagine what it would be like to run an international operation if you so choose, right from the comfort of your own home. Well, this is exactly what we offer! We offer a "freedom" that is available through a constant flow of income that does not depend on the whims of a boss, bonuses or the ! economy. Take a look at some of these statistics: At age 50, 75% of the population has less than $5,000 in the bank for retirement. At age 65, 45% of Americans depend on relatives, 30% depend on charities, 23% are still working (most can't afford to quit and work until they are no longer physically capable) and Only 2% are self-sustaining. At the present time, it is impossible to support a family of two working full time at minimum wage! For the first time in history, the current generation is averaging a lower standard of living then their parents! Automation is taking layoffs to record highs! The Bureau of Labor Statistics says that Out of 100 people that start working at the age of 25, by the age of 65... - 1 is wealthy - 4 have enough money to retire - 63 depend on social security or charity - 29 are deceased 95% of people, age 65 and over cannot afford to retire and work until they die!! What Happened to Safety & Security? Why we no longer put our trust & faith in "Big Business". In J. Paul Getty's book "How To Get Rich", his first rule for success is, "You must be in business for yourself. You will never get rich working for someone else." This partly explains why someone starts a new home-based business in the United States every 10 seconds. In the past 14 years alone, the numbers of home-based businesses have grown from 6 million to 32 million with no slow - down in sight. In fact, an estimated 8,493 new home businesses open every day. The United States is now driven by an information and service economy. Over the past decade, Fortune 500 companies have l! aid off 4.4 million workers while smaller companies steadily continue to reduce their work forces. As companies continue to downsize and re-organize, many professionals will seek out and search for new ways to take control of their careers. Many of these individuals have forsworn traditional "nine to five" office jobs and are making their homes pay off in more ways than one. For the entrepreneur, home-based businesses have become the bridge between work- crazed big cities and easy- paced family-oriented small towns. Link Resources Corp. reports that market research shows more than 29 million people run either full-time or part-time businesses from their homes. People used to believe that their livelihood depended on living in big cities near big corporations. That is no longer true, thanks to personal computers, increased phone services, fax machines, and the Internet, it is no longer necessary to live in close proximity to "Big Business". You can now operate that "Big Business" right from your home office. Within the last five to seven years, technology has been brought to an affordable level so that almost everyone has an equal playing field in the work-from-home industry. Check out these Statistics: 11% of the US market is now on the Internet 1,092,000 new people get Internet access each week, while approximately 38% of the US adult populati! on, or 68 million US citizens' currently use the Internet, according to the fall 1999 Cyber Status reports from Mediamark Research Inc. This is an increase of 49% from the prior quarter, and this study only counts people who have used the Internet in the last 30 days. Ziff-Davis's Technology User Profile reported that there are 60 million PC's connected to the Internet in the US, but home PC's still represent the lion's share of the market, with 68 million consumers hooked up to the Internet. They predict that up to $54 billion US dollars will change hands from business transactions online by year 2001. Most people are ready to do some sort of business online, they just don't know where to start. This is why we are so successful. We link-up our marketing techniques with something people need, and most of all, something people want. If you add strong work ethics, a powerful support system, along with personal business coaching, you can't help but be successful. We provide not only the vehicle that puts you on the road to success, but we also provide the road map. All you have to do is be teachable, have the desire for a better life and be willing to change what you're doing now. 94% of home-based business owners are happier running their own business versus working for someone else. 92% recommend working from home to others. 94% plan to still be running their own business in five years. 20% of home entrepreneurs reported that their businesses grossed between $100,000 and $500,000 last year. 23% paid themselves annual salaries of $65,000 to $350,000. 41% work at home wit! h other family members. 71% think their businesses are doing as well or better than they expected. 79% expect their home-based business revenues to grow this year. Your search for the ideal work environment and for the ideal vehicle to wealth is over. You will be able to work more flexible hours while increasing your productivity, not to mention drastically cutting your commute time, and increasing your most precious commodity-quality of life. We have developed one of the most exciting, technologically advanced home-based businesses that will take you through the new millennium. We don't expect you to come to us with tremendous business knowledge or a successful track record. We have already figured out how to make this work; all you need to do is copy what we're already doing. Since you've gotten this far, we know you are serious about working from home. Your next step will help you make some changes and learn some new skills. So, let's go! As you know, this is not a lay-on-the-couch, get-rich-quick scheme. This is a REAL business and a real opportunity- one that has drawn so much interest from people that we had to put this screening process in place to help us determine who to work with. Our company has been in business for 20 years, is publicly held and traded on the NASDAQ. It is important that you realize that we can help you build a powerful and profitable business. We have an explosive, start to finish, proven Internet Marketing system. And we are offering you this simple easy method where you can make money working for yourself, over the Internet, from the comfort of your home or office. You can earn $1,000 to $7,000 per month working around your current job and your family's schedule. Our system works regardless of your background or computer knowledge. We provide the system, experience and hands on training. The only thing that we cannot give you, but is required is that you have the desire, and that ! you are teachable. We know that you have some level of desire because you got this far. Are you teachable? STEP 1. You must call our toll free "International Internet Business hotline and listen to some of the members of our team talk about the success of their new home based businesses. EVEN IF YOU ARE CALLING THIS NUMBER FROM AN INTERNATIONAL COUTRY, I URGE YOU TO CALL RIGHT NOW. This is part of our job-to introduce you to many others who took a step of faith (like you're ready to), and whose lives have changed because of it. This call is for everyone. I.E. former Military Service Members, Executive Professionals and Laborers Doctors and Nurses 1-800-708-RICH Enter Access Code is 6100 or 2001 This10-minute calls is a 24-hour toll free for all that are in the United States; however if you are International I urge you to dial this number now and listen to this short message and take some notes. ********************************************** CAUTION! This Access Code expires on January 12th, 2001 (So call right now!) ********************************************** IMPORTANT! DO NOT PROCEED TO STEP 2 UNTIL YOU HAVE LISTENED TO THE CALL MENTIONED IN STEP 1 ********************************************** If you are unsure and need more information, we have put together a "How to do business over the Internet" decision package that will help you determine whether our business is for you or not. This step is only for individuals who have the desire to control their own future and who want to work from their homes and earn the kind of income that will give you the life you deserve. This decision package contains approximately three hours of information about our explosive Internet business and it also begins your training. You will receive a manual that explains how, why and what we are doing, a video where you'll meet us and see exactly how our business works and an audiotape to further help you with your decision. Your package also contains the name and telephone number of your personal coach who will be working with you on a daily basis, helping you make money in your first week. In other words, you will receive all of the information you will need to make a decision to deter! mine if this is for you. After you request your "International Decision Package", and go through all the materials, we will call you and your personal training program will begin. At that point, we will also be happy to locate the nearest training to you, which are available in numerous translations. We have training being conducted in over 27 different languages worldwide! This package acts only as a way for you to review information about our business and begins your training without risk. This step eliminates the people who are not serious and allows us to work with those of you who are. Please recognize the importance of this step. We simply do not have the time to spend with people who are merely curious, which is why we designed this package to provide you with all of the information you will need to make a decision and determine if this is for you. If we spent our time answering e-mail requests for additional information, we'd not only be duplicating the effort we put into developing the deci! sion package, but we'd also be taking valuable time away from running our business and training new people. Once you start working with us, we're sure you will appreciate our spending time training you instead of responding to curious e-mails all day long. Since we don't spend countless hours answering the tireless questions of the curiosity-seekers, you benefit, because it frees us up in order to dedicate ourselves to your success. When we spend time with you, we know we are working with someone who, like us, is committed to a better lifestyle. What is Your Future Worth? Decide for yourself and for your family what it is you want and by when you want to achieve it. Only you can determine how dedicated you are to achieving your dreams. Hopefully, you won't find yourself relying on your friends and family for direction and salvation. They cannot provide that for you - only you can do that. You need to make a decision to either give this a shot or to continue down the path you're on. Most likely, if you have read this far, you have already made the decision to make some healthy changes in your life. When we were looking at this "Work From Home" Opportunity for the first time, just like you, we were nervous and thought that may! be this wouldn't work. Like you, we doubted we could really achieve our dreams. We went for it any way and now we are making incredible incomes, working from home, and for most of us- it's a dream come true. We don't have a boss to answer to or a clock to punch. Remember though, we didn't start off full-time. For most of us we did this part-time until our part-time incomes surpassed our full-time incomes. We don't recommend you quit your present job until you have at least doubled your present income. Another item that might be hanging in the back of your mind is the fear that you will have to invest thousands of dollars. So let me put that to rest right now. You don't need to dig up thousands of dollars to get started with us. Right now, all you need to do is get your "Decision Package" so you can get started. Why give up your dreams? We know you are the kind of person we are looking to work with, because you have given up this much of your time to read about us. You have already displayed exactly what one needs in order to be successful in our business- that high degree of curiosity coupled with an intense desire to succeed. All you need to do now is take action. Take action by ordering your "Decision Package" and we'll be th! ere to help you through your questions and then to work with you to build your own "Work From Home" Internet Business. But please don't request more information unless you are committed to improving your life. If you are ready to learn and you are serious about achieving a brighter future and a better life, then we are committed to you. We are ready to give you the same step-by-step plan we used to build our fortune. There will be no surprises. We know exactly what to do and how to coach others be successful within the same system. Our Program works. It's already happening for hundreds of people. Why not you? Right now, take the next step, and get started on your way to a brighter lifestyle. STEP 2: To get started or request your decision package only after you have completed STEP 1 please call our international 24 hour order hotline at 1-206-222-2826. International callers and for United States, Canada, and Mexico callers please also dial 1-206-222-2826. We are willing to train you and work with you, as others have done with us, to help secure your financial future. But, remember, we only work with those that truly have the desire and ambitions to work-we don't have time to work with couch potatoes! Successful people do what unsuccessful people won't. So develop a sense of urgency and give your desires value! Procrastination is the biggest killer of success and you can now break that cycle! REMEMBER, for things to change, you have to change and for things to get better, you have to get better. Order your materials today, and when they arrive, review everything thoroughly BEFORE calling your personal coach. Remember the importance of following directions- we are looking for people who are teachable and willing to work. We're very excited about our future and we know you will be, too!! Until we speak personally, thank you and have a great day! Again please follow STEP 2: To get started or request your decision package only after you have completed STEP 1 please call our international 24 hour order hotline at 1-206-222-2826. International callers and for United States, Canada, and Mexico callers please also dial 1-206-222-2826. _______________________________________________________________________ This is not SPAM. You have Opted-In for information on this World-Wide Business Opportunity. This ad is being sent in compliance with Senate bill 1618, Title 3, section 301. http://www.senate.gov Further transmissions to you by the sender of this email may be stopped at no cost to you by sending a reply to this email address with the word "remove" in the subject line. Note that you must stop posting, visiting, or OPT - IN any and all FFA , Classified, or Information Sites in order to not receive further confirmations or other promotional messages. Thank you. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From the Listowner * * * * * * * * * * * * . To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to: majordomo at scn.org In the body of the message, type: unsubscribe scn ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ==== * * * * * * * http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/ * * * * * * *