From steve at advocate.net Fri Nov 3 06:37:38 2000 From: steve at advocate.net (Steve) Date: Fri, 3 Nov 2000 06:37:38 -0800 Subject: SCN: DMCA Message-ID: <3A025D32.13144.157A994@localhost> x-no-archive: yes ====================== (Carl S. Kaplan, NY Times)---It's not every day that the federal government gives its blessing to hacking. But that's what happened last week when the U.S. Copyright Office issued a special rule clarifying a new federal law that governs copyright in the digital age. In a nutshell, the Copyright Office said that the new law, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, permits people in certain circumstances to break through the technological barriers that safeguard lists of blocked Web sites maintained by many types of filtering software. This means that critics of filtering software are free under the new law to hack their way past encryption schemes to get their hands on the so-called blacklist of banned sites. The loophole for censorware hackers is designed to further the public debate about the use and value of blocking software, according to the Copyright Office. "We are pleased by the decision," said Chris Hansen, a lawyer specializing in Internet issues with the American Civil Liberties Union. "We've always believed that one of the principal flaws [of filtering software] is the secrecy of the list of banned sites." Hansen added that Congress is poised to pass laws requiring the use of filtering programs in public schools and libraries. "It is hard to see how we can have a congressionally-mandated secret system of censorship," he said. Now, he predicted, the Copyright Office's ruling will help peel away the secrecy surrounding filtering software. Jamie McCarthy, a computer programmer and filtering software critic who has been involved in several projects designed to analyze the value of blocking products, said that he also welcomed the new rule. He said the decision ends the legal limbo that he and his cohorts had been in for the past few years. "The rule means it's finally legal to really start decrypting the banned lists and looking at them," McCarthy said. He said that since 1996, he had done at least six reports examining the value of filtering products. For some of those studies, he relied on anonymous informants who would decrypt a blacklist of banned sites and send them to him. Recently, he added, the advent of new copyright laws had made him and his fellow researchers "disinclined" to do more reports. "We didn't want to get into a protracted legal battle," he said. Some software products, such as filtering or blocking software, restrict users from visiting certain Web sites. These software programs often include lists of sites to which the software will deny access. These lists of sites, which are jealously guarded by the filtering companies, are often encrypted to thwart commercial competitors. In September, for example, a federal appeals panel affirmed an injunction against two authors of a program capable of decrypting the list of blocked Web sites for CyberPatrol, a popular filtering program. Anti-filtering organizations such as the Censorware Project and Peacefire have long charged that some filtering products block excessively by denying access to non-objectionable material. Representatives of filtering companies deny those claims. The narrow permission-to-hack rule, issued by the Librarian of Congress and published in the Federal Register on October 27, is one of two newly-recognized exemptions to a key section of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which generally prohibits anyone from acting to pierce the high-tech safeguards put in place by copyright holders to control access to their works, including computer software, DVDs, books and music in digital form. That provision of the law had been had been inactive for the past two years, pending a congressionally mandated study by the Registrar of Copyrights. As of Oct. 28, the law banning the act of circumvention became effective, in conjunction with the filtering software exception. A second exception recognized by the Copyright Office concerns the right to penetrate electronic barriers protecting copyrighted material when the barriers are erected as a result of a malfunction. The Copyright Office declined to issue other exemptions that might have otherwise allowed programmers to decrypt movies or music for the purpose of making fair use copies. A second key portion of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act prohibits creating and making available certain computer codes that defeat technological safeguards of copyrighted works. That separate provision, which became effective in 1998, was the focus of a recent federal case in New York brought by major Hollywood studios against Eric Corley, the publisher of an online magazine. In August, a federal judge ruled that Corley had violated the so-called "anti- trafficking" prong of the law by distributing a program capable of cracking the security code on DVDs. Irwin Schwartz, a lawyer who represents SurfControl, a California- based company that distributes CyberPatrol, said that he believed the Copyright Office rule would make little practical difference. He said that under the ruling, a person who circumvents the encryption code protecting a filtering software's so-called blacklist may not be sued under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. But, he said, the possibility exists that if a hacker published parts of the banned list, he could be sued by a filtering company under a host of other legal theories, such as violation of copyright or trade secret law. The act of circumvention itself could be subject to laws regarding trespass or breach of contract, he said. Whether such theories would prove successful remain to be seen, he acknowledged. "The Digital Millennium Copyright Act provides additional weaponry for the copyright holder to protect its rights," said Schwartz. Speaking of the exception, he said: "I'd say it remains to be seen whether it is effective. It's so early and the way the cases play out is hard to foresee." In its report, the Copyright Office did not conclude whether the reproduction or display of a list of banned sites for the purpose of criticism would be a copyright violation. But it did say that such a display "could constitute fair use" and thus might be permissible. 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 Tue Nov 7 14:56:02 2000 From: steve at advocate.net (Steve) Date: Tue, 7 Nov 2000 14:56:02 -0800 Subject: SCN: MSIE bug Message-ID: <3A081802.27157.1C31F38@localhost> x-no-archive: yes ======================= (Brian Livingston, InfoWorld)---A flaw that's been newly discovered in Microsoft's Internet Explorer 4 and 5 allows almost any Web site you visit to read all the files on your hard disk. And, because recent versions of Outlook and Outlook Express use IE's code base to display complex e-mail messages, even an e-mail you receive can read all about you. No attachment is required. This new problem was found by Georgi Guninski, who's made something of a sport of exposing Microsoft weaknesses. Guninski has even created a Web page that demonstrates the problem. It merrily lists all the file names in the root of your C: drive. But don't go to this Web site until you use Microsoft's patch (see below) or take the following steps to prevent other Web sites from viewing your files. My thanks go to Steve Fallin of WatchGuard Technologies (www.watchguard.com) for his work-around: Step 1. In Internet Explorer, pull down the Tools menu, and then click Internet Options. Step 2. Click the Security tab. Step 3. Select the Internet icon, and then click Custom Level. Step 4. Scroll down to Microsoft VM/Java Permissions, and then click Custom. Step 5. Click the Java Permissions Settings button. Step 6. Click the Edit Permissions tab. Step 7. Change the radio button under Run Unsigned Content to Disable. Change Signed Content to Prompt. Step 8. Click the Reset button. Step 9. Click OK or Yes all the way out to save your changes. These steps will disable Java applets and plug-ins from "unsigned" (anonymous) Web sources. If the creator has "signed" the applet, you will see a prompt asking you to accept (if you really trust the source) or reject. If you've made the changes outlined above, you're ready to visit Guninski's site and see how easily a mere Web page or e-mail can read your entire hard drive. Go to www.guninski.com/javacodebase1- desc.html . This text page links to the actual demonstration. In my tests, I found that once a machine has run Guninski's demo, the exploit still works later, even after you apply the work-around. However, if the change is made before a machine visits Guninski's site, his demo cannot automatically have its way. Instead, you are presented with the prompt I mentioned earlier: "Do you want to allow software such as ActiveX controls and plug-ins to run?" If in doubt, you should answer No to this question. In Guninski's case, it's safe to click Yes to see for yourself how a Web site or e-mail can read your entire hard drive. WatchGuard's Fallin says his company's firewall products can stop Java applets if you configure the hardware that way. "But we can't require one policy that works in all situations," he says. Instead, he says companies must judge for themselves "the trade-off between usability and security." For information and Microsoft's patch, go to www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/fq00-081.asp Copyright 2000 InfoWorld Media Group, 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 steve at advocate.net Wed Nov 8 12:55:55 2000 From: steve at advocate.net (Steve) Date: Wed, 8 Nov 2000 12:55:55 -0800 Subject: SCN: Spam Message-ID: <3A094D5B.1010.2D705F0@localhost> x-no-archive: yes ===================== (Ed Foster, InfoWorld)---Opting out of spam has never worked, but readers say it's getting harder to report spam abuse to the spammers' service providers. These readers say the service providers seem to agree with the spammers' point of view. Rule No. 1 of spam management is never to directly respond to a piece of junk e-mail asking to be removed or unsubscribed. Identifying your e-mail address as one that is active -- and one where unsolicited messages get read down to the removal instructions -- begs for more spam. Instead, report unsolicited commercial e-mail to the postmasters or abuse departments of the ISPs that were used to transmit it. One thing I'm seeing in the spam that readers forward me, however, is that Internet companies increasingly are taking the spammer's word over the word of those reporting the abuse. Even when presented with evidence to the contrary, the ISPs insist you must have opted in for the mail. One reader struggled in vain to convince officials of Doubleclick's Dartmail service that one of its clients had spammed him, even though the receiving address was one his company used only as a "mailto:" address for forms. "You know it was bad enough with classic spam," he wrote me after being told that Dartmail's clients are required to use opt-in lists. "Now they pretend that you have opted in and convince your ISPs that they are blameless and it is somehow your fault." Another reader forwarded a reply he received from a viral marketing Web site after he complained to them about one of its users promoting the services via spam. The viral marketing firm (which we won't name because the employees probably enjoy the publicity) admitted its user had gotten his mailing list from a notorious bulk e- mailer, but then went on to scold the reader for his abuse report. "Please contact the [bulk e-mail] list owners to get your e-mail address removed," wrote the viral marketing Web site's administrator. "I'm guessing you have gotten a lot of unwanted mail, but maybe you should work on contacting people to find out their source before going off. This method [of reporting spam abuse] just patches problems, it doesn't fix them." Part of the dilemma in reporting spam abuse is that it's getting more difficult to tell the legitimate Internet services from the sleazier dot- coms because they all use the same marketing tactics. When the Microsofts and AOLs keep looking for excuses to spam customers who've tried to opt out, when an IBM starts using viral marketing tactics, or when an Amazon.com structures its privacy policy to make sure it can sell your personal information to anyone it chooses, who is to say which Internet entities are legitimate and which aren't? Not knowing who to trust makes it harder to report a spammer to its service providers. That's particularly true if the service provider demands even more information about you to accept your abuse report. One reader who was getting a lot of junk e-mail with excite.com addresses tried to follow the reporting procedures outlined on Excite's Web site. "There is a page that says if one knows of abuse, they are to send e- mail to abuse.support at excitecorp.com," the reader wrote. "When one does this, two things immediately happen: The amount of spamming triples from five messages a day to 15 and you get a standard response back sending you to www.excite.com/feedback." But that Web page, the reader discovered, requires the abuse complainer to fill out a form with more personal information, including the Excite member's name. There's a marketing tactic for the new millennium: Join our service now, and maybe we'll ask our members to stop spamming you. Naturally, the real outlaw types on the Internet are looking for ways to exploit the uncertainty users may feel about getting their names off spamming lists. Several readers forwarded a message they'd received touting a Web site that provides up-to-date information on the "go-go bars and adult nightlife" of Bangkok. Although the main content was nasty enough, the sleaziest part of the message was the removal instruction: "To be removed from our mailing list you must call 1-900-xxx-xxxx," the spam read. "There will be a one-time, 75 cents charge on your phone bill to cover our administrative costs in removing your e-mail from our lists." Because very few folks who live where they can use a 900 number have an ongoing need for news on Bangkok nightlife, I suspect the whole point of the spam was to try to offend recipients into paying the removal fee. We can hope I'm not giving the more legitimate outfits any ideas by reporting these tactics, but you never know. It's easy to get the feeling that reporting spam abuse these days is a bit like having to report the crimes of small-time hoods to the big-time gangsters. Copyright 2000 InfoWorld Media Group, 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 aki at halcyon.com Tue Nov 14 10:04:05 2000 From: aki at halcyon.com (Aki Namioka) Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2000 10:04:05 -0800 (PST) Subject: SCN: Bill Gates, TechnoSkeptic (fwd) Message-ID: Interesting - I didn't see this before. Thanks, Aki Helen Namioka aki at cpsr.org ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Mon, 13 Nov 2000 23:27:45 -0800 From: Jeff Johnson To: cpsr-activists at cpsr.org Subject: Bill Gates, TechnoSkeptic Here's a very interesting story that might get lost in all the hoopla over the election. According to columnist Robert Scheer, who was actually summarizing a story by Sam Howe Verhovek in the NYTimes (http://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/03/technology/03GATE.html), Microsoft Chairmain Bill Gates spoke as closing keynote speaker at a recent conference titled "Creating Digital Dividends". Apparently, Gates shook up the conference and annoyed some of its organizers with an unexpected speech that was pessimistic about the benefits of information technology. You can follow the link above to Verhovek's NYT article, but hare are a few excerpts of Scheer's account, which was printed in the SF Examiner (11/13/00) and is not on the Web yet as far as I could determine: "Gates shocked [the] conference ... with the news that the billions of people who subsist on a dollar a day are not in a position to benefit from the Information Age. He charged that the hoopla over the digital revolution, which he pioneered, is now a dangerous distraction from the urgent need to deal seriously with the festering problem of world poverty. Gates ... also made the case that private donations alone will not solve the problem, and that massive government intervention is needed. 'Do people have a clear idea of what it is to live on $1 a day?' said Gates. The premise of the conference was that "market drivers" will "bring the benefits of connectivity and participation in the e-economy to all of the world's 6 billion people." ... Gates doused that hope by denying that the poor would become part of the wired world any time soon. In a follow-up interview, Gates amplified his view of what occurs when computers are suddenly donated to the poor: 'The mothers are going to walk right up to that computer and say, 'My children are dying, what can you do?' They're not going to sit there and, like, browse eBay.' Gates ... criticized himself for having been 'naive--very naive.' He has shifted the focus of the $21 billion ... Gates Foundation from donating Information Age technology, to meeting the health needs of the poorest, beginning with the widespread distribution of vaccines. ...Gates has lost much of the faith he once had that global capitalism would prove capable of solviing the most immediate catastrophes facing the world's poorest people, especially the 40K deaths a day from preventable diseases. ..." ===End excerpt=== The NYT article contains even more juicy quotes from other places Gates has spoken recently, so take a look at it too. Apparently, Gates is adopting this TechnoSkeptic role now with increasing frequency. My comment: Either Hell has frozen over or pigs can now fly, I'm not sure which. Jeff Johnson * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 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 61723744 at excite.com Wed Nov 15 09:33:04 2000 From: 61723744 at excite.com (61723744 at excite.com) Date: Wed, 15 Nov 00 12:33:04 EST Subject: SCN: The Net Detective. Spy on any.... Message-ID: <> READY TO KNOW? CONFIDENTIAL! The SOFTWARE They Want BANNED In all 50 STATES. Why? Because these secrets were never intended to reach your eyes... Get the facts on anyuone! Locate Missing Persons, find Lost Relatives, obtain Addresses and Phone Numbers of old school friends, even Skip Trace Dead Beat Spouses. This is not a Private Investigator, but a sophisticated SOFTWARE program DESIGNED to automatically CRACK YOUR CASE with links to thousands of Public Record databases. 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Only $24.95 We will RUSH YOU our Internet Spy and You SOFTWARE so you can begin discovering all the secrets you ever wanted to know! You can Know EVERYTHING about ANYONEwith our Internet Spy and You Software. Works with all browsers and all versions of AOL! ORDER TODAY. SEND ONLY $24.95 US CASH, CHECK, OR MONEY ORDER. (you may also send one of your own address labels for accuracy if you have one). Foreigh money orders must be payable on a US BANK AND IN US FUNDS! NO EXCEPTIONS! DON'T WAIT TO GET STARTED...It's as easy as 1, 2, 3. STEP 1 - Print the order form text below. STEP 2 - Type or print your order information into the order form section. STEP 3 - Mail order form and payment to the address below. Send to: Internet Services PO BOX 19382 Omaha, Ne 68119 U.S.A. Name: ________________________________________ Address: ________________________________________ City/State/Zip: ____________________________________ DISCLAIMER: The seller of this powerful software resource will not be held responsible for how the purchaser chooses to use it's resources. To be removed from our mailing list please send an email to m79841 at yahoo.com and put remove in the subject. Thank you * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From the Listowner * * * * * * * * * * * * . To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to: majordomo at scn.org In the body of the message, type: unsubscribe scn ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ==== * * * * * * * http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/ * * * * * * * From melissa at groupworks.org Wed Nov 15 13:13:34 2000 From: melissa at groupworks.org (Melissa Guest) Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2000 13:13:34 -0800 Subject: SCN: last minute Invitation to film screening - Me & Isaac Newton - today at 7pm Message-ID: <001401c04f48$ec6426c0$0100a8c0@dellxpsr350> We've just received this invitation we can share with all our volunteers. Please call Hannah Lidman directly if you are interested. > > A message from Hannah Lidman: > > > > I would like to extend to you an invitation for a opportunity to see an > > amazing new film that was a hit at the Seattle International Film Festival > > in May. It will released on November 17th in 5 cities including Seattle. > > > > The Screening for Me & Isaac Newton is > > Wednesday November 15th > > 7pm - please arrive early! > > The Varsity Theatre > > 4329 University Way SE > > Seattle, WA > > > > There will be a "will-call" at the entrance to the theatre handing out > > passes to those whose names are on the list. Please contact me at > > hlidman at wolfenet.com or at 206.935.3608 if you would like to attend the > > screening for this remarkable and inspirational film. I will only place > > your name on the will-call list if you confirm with me that you will be in > > attendance as space is limited and the passes are in demand. These > > screening passes are complementary and there is no catch, so come and > > enjoy. > > > > Please read the short description of the film at the end of this message. > > You can get additional information regarding Me & Isaac Newton, executive > > produced by Paul Allen and produced by Clear Blue Sky Studios at Clear > > Blue > > Sky's website: clearblueskyfilms.com. > > > > I hope to hear from you soon. > > > > Regards, > > > > Hannah Lidman > > Assistant Publicist > > Janet Wainwright Publicity and Promotion > > > > ********************************************************************** **** > > ** > > ****************** > > ME & ISAAC NEWTON is a feature length documentary about the creative side > > of > > the scientific endeavor. It is a journey into the hearts and minds of > > seven > > of the most distinguished scientists of our time, ages 38-81. ME & ISAAC > > NEWTON explores the motivation and thought processes of these remarkable > > individuals who have solved mysteries that are centuries old or have > > launched new worlds of research previously unknown. Scientists, like > > artists, think "outside the box." In Michael Apted's hands, the personal > > explorations of these brilliant thinkers become both accessible and > > intriguing. Whether discussing the lemurs of Madagascar, a unified theory > > of > > everything, language disorders, or robotic communities, the scientists > > talk > > about what really inspires them. From their earliest childhood memories to > > their innermost thoughts, these scientists reveal their personal evolution > > and how they hope their work will affect the world. > > > > With ME & ISAAC NEWTON, director Michael Apted continues his fascinating > > journey into the heart and soul of the creative impulse. An award-winning > > filmmaker, Apted is well known for his documentaries Moving The Mountain, > > Incident at Oglala and the Seven Up series, now at its 42 Up installment. > > A > > companion piece to Apted's Inspirations, which explored the creative > > impulses of artists, ME & ISAAC NEWTON reveals the inspirations of seven > > prominent scientists-the rarely discussed "creative side" of the > > scientific > > endeavor-through their own reflections on their lives and work. > > > > In ME & ISAAC NEWTON, Apted follows theoretical physicist Michio Kaku, > > co-founder of string theory and heir to the Einstein legacy in his quest > > to > > find a unified theory of everything; the late Gertrude Elion, > > pharmaceutical > > chemist who developed drugs to fight childhood leukemia and is one of only > > ten women to receive the Nobel Prize for medicine; Maja Mataric, > > Co-Director > > of Robotics Research Lab at USC, whose work in robotics is at the frontier > > of artificial intelligence; primatologist and conservationist Patricia > > Wright, who was awarded the MacArthur Genius Grant for her discovery of a > > new species of lemur and used much of those funds to save their rainforest > > habitat; cognitive scientist Steven Pinker, Director of MIT's > > McDonnell-Pew > > Center for Cognitive Neurosciences, an iconoclast who studies the human > > mind > > by examining how language is learned and used by children; Karol Sikora, > > professor of cancer medicine, whose research has led him into the cutting > > edge of gene therapy; and environmental physicist Ashok Gadgil, a native > > of > > India, who invented a device to disinfect water in villages of developing > > countries. ME & ISAAC NEWTON follow the scientists in various locations > > all > > over the world, including Madagascar, South Africa and England as well as > > Massachusetts, New York, New Mexico and North Carolina. > > > > As the scientists reveal their personal experiences with the creative > > process, Apted captures their voracious curiosity, their altruism and the > > pure joy they derive from figuring things out. ME & ISAAC NEWTON also > > explores the more challenging aspects of a life in science - the years of > > research and the failed experiments along the way. In describing their > > attitudes toward this process, the scientists demonstrate the patience and > > faith required to persevere in a field geared toward leaps in knowledge, > > yet > > based on small, intermediate steps in understanding. > > > > Beyond the individual pursuits of each scientist lies the broader > > perspective of the role science plays in society as a whole. Apted > > captures > > the ruminations of his subjects on the responsibilities that come with > > greater knowledge and advanced technology, the relationship of the > > scientist > > to the world and, ultimately, on the relationship of science to the > > future. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 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 Nov 17 14:54:38 2000 From: steve at advocate.net (Steve) Date: Fri, 17 Nov 2000 14:54:38 -0800 Subject: SCN: Andy Mueller-Maguhn Message-ID: <3A1546AE.27810.343BBB7@localhost> A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: text/enriched Size: 10346 bytes Desc: not available URL: From guests at scn.org Sun Nov 19 00:59:18 2000 From: guests at scn.org (Melissa Guest) Date: Sun, 19 Nov 2000 00:59:18 -0800 (PST) Subject: SCN: 12/9 - SCN @ KCTS for Pledge Drive Message-ID: Join your fellow SCNers in a rare face-to-face volunteer event! With motivator Wayne Dyer showing in the afternoon along with Welk (?) Folk songs, and concerts by Sting & The Moody Blues in the evening, you can come for whatever fits in your schedule. Shifts to signup for are 1:30-6:30 and/or 6:00-11:00 on Saturday, Dec. 9th. KCTS is located on the NE corner of the Seattle Center - 401 Mercer Ave. The volunteering is easy and fun - taking pledges from KCTS viewers calling in. There's usually a nice spread of nibbles and good chunks of time between "breaks" when viewers are calling in. If you can come, please RSVP to Julia at xx015 at scn.org, and tell her when you can be there! Thanks! Looking forward to seeing you there! - Julia Hahn-Gillgren, SCN Volunteer Coordinator & Steve & Melissa Guest, CoPresidents * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 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 Sun Nov 19 12:18:18 2000 From: bn890 at scn.org (Irene Mogol) Date: Sun, 19 Nov 2000 12:18:18 -0800 (PST) Subject: SCN: 12/9 - SCN @ KCTS for Pledge Drive In-Reply-To: Message-ID: I would like to volunteer for 1:30-6:30 shift on Saturday Dec. 9th. Contact me with details. Irene 328-7459 On Sun, 19 Nov 2000, Melissa Guest wrote: > Join your fellow SCNers in a rare face-to-face volunteer event! With > motivator Wayne Dyer showing in the afternoon along with Welk (?) Folk > songs, and concerts by Sting & The Moody Blues in the evening, you can > come for whatever fits in your schedule. Shifts to signup for are > 1:30-6:30 and/or 6:00-11:00 on Saturday, Dec. 9th. KCTS is located on the > NE corner of the Seattle Center - 401 Mercer Ave. > > The volunteering is easy and fun - taking pledges from KCTS viewers > calling in. There's usually a nice spread of nibbles and good chunks of > time between "breaks" when viewers are calling in. > > If you can come, please RSVP to Julia at xx015 at scn.org, and tell her when > you can be there! > > Thanks! Looking forward to seeing you there! > > - Julia Hahn-Gillgren, SCN Volunteer Coordinator > & Steve & Melissa Guest, CoPresidents > > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 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 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 Sun Nov 19 12:20:13 2000 From: bn890 at scn.org (Irene Mogol) Date: Sun, 19 Nov 2000 12:20:13 -0800 (PST) Subject: SCN: Re: VA 12/9 - SCN @ KCTS for Pledge Drive In-Reply-To: Message-ID: I would like to volunteer for the 1:30-6:30 shift Saturday Dec. 9th. Contact me with details, Irene Mogol, 328-7459 On Sun, 19 Nov 2000, Melissa Guest wrote: > Join your fellow SCNers in a rare face-to-face volunteer event! With > motivator Wayne Dyer showing in the afternoon along with Welk (?) Folk > songs, and concerts by Sting & The Moody Blues in the evening, you can > come for whatever fits in your schedule. Shifts to signup for are > 1:30-6:30 and/or 6:00-11:00 on Saturday, Dec. 9th. KCTS is located on the > NE corner of the Seattle Center - 401 Mercer Ave. > > The volunteering is easy and fun - taking pledges from KCTS viewers > calling in. There's usually a nice spread of nibbles and good chunks of > time between "breaks" when viewers are calling in. > > If you can come, please RSVP to Julia at xx015 at scn.org, and tell her when > you can be there! > > Thanks! Looking forward to seeing you there! > > - Julia Hahn-Gillgren, SCN Volunteer Coordinator > & Steve & Melissa Guest, CoPresidents > > > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From the Listowner * * * * * * * * * * * * * > is for distributing announcements and information to all > active SCN volunteers. It is closed and moderated. If you no longer > consider yourself to be an active volunteer for SCN, you can be > transferred to the mail list where you will still be "in > the pool" of SCN volunteers. The mail list is the preferred > list for general discussion of SCN issues and topics. > *** > : Not currently assigned or involved in tasks at SCN to help > fulfill SCN's mission, but interested in doing so in the future. > is closed and moderated. The mail list is > the preferred list for general discussion of SCN issues and topics. > *** > xx031 at scn.org > SCN Human Resources > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 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 Nov 24 09:40:45 2000 From: steve at advocate.net (Steve) Date: Fri, 24 Nov 2000 09:40:45 -0800 Subject: SCN: Yahoo Message-ID: <3A1E379D.2043.A7979D1@localhost> x-no-archive: yes ========================== (Carl S. Kaplan, NY Times)---A ruling by a Paris judge ordering Yahoo Inc. to block French citizens from auctions of Nazi artifacts on the company's English-language Web site has sparked a passionate debate among legal experts. Some lawyers say the decision earlier this week, rooted in a French anti-Nazi statute, is an alarming example of a foreign court's willingness to impose its national law on the activities of a United States-based Web site. Even worse, they say, is the ruling's implication. Under the Paris court's logic, any Web site with global reach could be subject to the jurisdiction of every nation on earth. Forced to comply with a patchwork of local laws, global e-commerce could grind to a halt. Rubbish -- the sky is not falling, other lawyers say with equal fervor. The Paris court's decision was perfectly reasonable under the circumstances, they claim. Indeed it is a welcome harbinger of things to come. One thing both camps seem to agree on is that the decision, handed down by Judge Jean-Jacques Gomez of the Superior Court of Paris, was a shot heard 'round the world. The Financial Times of London ran a story about the Yahoo case prominently on its front page the day after the ruling, as well as an op-ed column and an editorial, which criticized the court. In his decision on November 20, Judge Gomez gave Yahoo Inc., based in Santa Clara, Calif., three months to find a technological means to prevent Web surfers in France from gaining access to some web pages on its auction site that feature over 1,200 Nazi- related items -- everything from Nazi flags to belt buckles. After the deadline, Yahoo would be fined $13,000 for each day it did not comply with the order, the Judge said. Yahoo's France-based subsidiary, Yahoo France, does not host auctions for Nazi memorabilia. A representative of Yahoo Inc. declined to comment on the ruling. Michael Traynor, a lawyer in San Francisco who is acting as special counsel to Yahoo on some aspects of the lawsuit, said the company is weighing its legal options. He said the company could appeal to a higher court in France and challenge Judge Gomez's assertion of jurisdiction. He also predicted that any effort by French authorities to enforce Judge Gomez's judgment in a United States court against Yahoo's United States assets would fail because of the First Amendment, which protects hate speech. An open question, other lawyers said, is whether French authorities could seize assets of Yahoo France to pay for possible fines levied against Yahoo Inc. The Yahoo case first rose to public attention on May 22, when Judge Gomez ordered Yahoo Inc. to "render impossible" the ability of Web surfers in France to gain access to Nazi-related auctions hosted on the company's auction pages. In reaching his decision Judge Gomez held that the display of Nazi souvenirs on computer screens in France is a violation of a section of the French criminal code that bans the exhibition or sale of racist material. He also concluded that France was competent to assert jurisdiction over Yahoo because the harm -- the display of Nazi-era artifacts -- occurred on French territory. The suit was filed by two groups in France, the International League Against Racism and Anti-Semitism (LICRA) and the Union of French Jewish Students. Following the May 22 order, Yahoo said at a court hearing that it was technically impossible for it to block French Internet users. In August, the court appointed a panel of three experts -- one French, one American and one European -- to independently review the viability of filtering technologies that Yahoo might use. Earlier this month, the panel reported that a filtering system based on the geographical origin of online users could block up to 90 percent of French citizens seeking to participate in Nazi-related auctions hosted by Yahoo. One legal expert who hailed the court's final order this week is Jack Goldsmith, a law professor at the University of Chicago and an expert in Internet jurisdiction. Goldsmith said it was "too simplistic" for some lawyers to complain that the ruling threatens global e- commerce. "IBM, McDonald's and other international companies sell stuff into every country in the world and they have to comply with local laws," he said. The fact that real-space companies have to obey a patchwork of laws "hasn't brought real-space commerce to a halt," Goldsmith quipped. Goldsmith also noted that the Untied States routinely imposes its national laws on foreign enterprises, particularly offshore Internet companies. Yet American legal experts and Internet executives haven't complained about overreaching in those cases. Last year, for example, a local trial judge in Manhattan made headlines when he ruled that operators of an Internet gambling casino based in Antigua, where gambling is legal, violated New York State and federal anti-gambling laws because the Web site's content was available to New Yorkers. The key fact justifying the Paris court's decision, said Goldsmith, is that "a U.S. corporation is doing something that is causing harm" on French soil. A French court has the authority to take steps to try to stop it, he said. The court's order is a very good compromise, Goldsmith asserted. The court did not require that Yahoo purge all its Nazi-related auctions, thus censoring what Americans could see. Instead, the court in a sense urged Yahoo to use geographical filters, knowing full well that the technology would still allow 10 percent of the auctions to slip onto French-based computer screens. "This decision is significant because it shows that geographical filters, though not perfect, are feasible and that nations can take reasonable steps to keep content out," said Goldsmith. "I have no doubt that the Internet will become more geographically filtered. This ruling will enhance the trend." On the opposite side of the debate is Traynor, the Yahoo special counsel. He said that Judge Gomez's order is a significant negative development in the governance of the Internet. "One country is purporting to exercise and impose its standards on a worldwide conversation," Traynor said. "It's fundamentally an interference with freedom of speech and expression." Traynor asserted that filters, even geographical filters, are expensive, ineffective and may block excessively. "There's just a huge question over the efficacy of filters," he said. One American lawyer who admitted that the Yahoo ruling gives him a headache is David J. Loundy, who practices Internet law with D'Ancona & Pflaum, a Chicago law firm. Loundy said that he would not have ruled much differently from Judge Gomez. "Filters are a pretty good compromise solution," he said. "They work, mostly." But one thing he wants to know: where is it going to end? This week Yahoo was ordered to block out a class of people in France, Loundy said. "The next thing you know a court in the Middle East will order another U.S. Internet company to block Middle Eastern consumers from seeing soft-core pornography, which is legal here but illegal there. You can pick your country and pick your problem. Will every Internet company in the future have to put on 42 geographical filters to make everybody happy? Or 420 filters?" There are other questions, Loundy said with a sigh: Does an Internet company have an affirmative duty to figure out the laws of every nation in the world and put on the appropriate geographical filters, or do they just have to put on filters following a court order? And as the technology gets better, does a company have a duty to slap on the newest filtering gizmo? Taken in isolation, Judge Gomez's ruling is not objectionable, Loundy said. "But all the implications are starting to make me wonder." 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 Mon Nov 27 14:16:55 2000 From: steve at advocate.net (Steve) Date: Mon, 27 Nov 2000 14:16:55 -0800 Subject: SCN: Security Message-ID: <3A226CD7.23143.1A5F7D9@localhost> x-no-archive: yes ========================== (Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox, excerpts)---Summary: The big lie of computer security is that security improves by imposing complex passwords on users. In real life, people write down anything they can't remember. Security is increased by designing for the way humans actually behave. Usability advocates and security people have opposite goals: ...Make it easy to start using a system, ideally without going through any special access procedures. ...Make it hard to get into a system, at least for unauthorized users. We have a fundamental conflict here. How to resolve it? By recognizing that the real goal of security is to minimize the relative amount of unauthorized use. A system that nobody can use will have no unauthorized users, but it is not one anybody would want to build. The big lies of computer security: ...Random passwords are more secure. ...A password chosen by the system is more secure than one chosen by the user. ...Long passwords are more secure. ...Forcing the user to change passwords frequently increases security. ...Requiring different passwords for different systems increases security. All of these statements would be true if we did not have to consider the human factor. In real life, passwords that comply with the above list of "security-enhancing" principles lead to one outcome: Users write down their passwords. Take a walk around any office in the world, and you can collect as many passwords as you like from the following mechanisms: ...Look at the yellow stickies pasted onto the terminals. ...Look for the cheat sheet in the user's top drawer. ...Search the harddisk for the file containing all the passwords in one spot. Simpler passwords that users can remember increase the probability of being kept secret. Same for passwords chosen by the user and passwords that don't have to be changed too frequently. True, such passwords are easier to crack, but the vast majority of security breaks come from intruders (or insiders) who expose a human weakness; not ones that run code-breaking algorithms. Many websites have harsh requirements for the format of passwords. It is recommended to relax the rules as much as possible, given the nature of the system. Obviously, a system for trading millions of dollars must be more secure than one that allows people to read the newspaper. If the rules are too strict, many users will not be able to use names and passwords that make sense to them. This increases the likelihood of having users forget their login information the next time they visit. Forgotten passwords are the cause of countless repeated registrations across the Web: people often have 5-10 "accounts" on the same website. For sensitive systems, many users feel more comfortable when they see an explicit logout button. For most systems, assume that users will not log out but simply leave. That's the spirit of the Web and that's what the security system must support. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 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 Wed Nov 29 15:39:33 2000 From: guests at scn.org (Melissa Guest) Date: Wed, 29 Nov 2000 15:39:33 -0800 (PST) Subject: SCN: KCTS Pledge drives need your help urgently! Message-ID: Just got a phone call today - if anyone out there on these maillists can help out, KCTS is urgently in need of volunteers on Saturday 12/2 from 1:45-6:30 pm. We're also planning a more organized SCN @ KCTS on 12/9, from 1 - 11pm Details were in a previous message - and we'll resend them soon. Help out for both if you can! Please RSVP directly to Tom (as described below) for 12/2, and to our volunteer coordinator, Julia Hahn, for the 12/9 event. Thanks! - Melissa ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 29 Nov 2000 14:16:50 -0800 From: "Steele, Tom" To: "'guests at scn.org'" Subject: KCTS Pledge Lights, Camera, Action: Be on TV and help out a local charity drive - KCTS has a BIG need for volunteers to answer their pledge phones this Saturday, December 2, from 1:45 - 6:30 PM. The programming for this shift will be a rebroadcast of "KCTS Cooks: Appetizers," followed by a great new show about "The Lengendary Victor Borge." Each volunteer will enjoy a great lunch and a behind the scenes tour of the television station! Help support KCTS, your Public Television station! To volunteer for the pledge drive please call Tom Steele, KCTS Pledge Coordinator, at 206-443-6755 or E-mail him at tsteele at kcts.org Come on and be a star! KCTS has a few other dates and times where phone volunteers are also needed. Call Tom for more information. Directions to KCTS: KCTS is a brick building and is located on the NE corner of the Seattle Center grounds, on the corner of 5th Avenue N. and Mercer Street. The address is: 401 Mercer Street Seattle, WA 98109 Telephone Number: 206-728-6463 >From Southbound I-5: Take the Mercer Street/Fairview Ave Exit (Exit 167) >From Northbound I-5: Take the Mercer Street/Seattle Center Exit * Make a right onto Fairview Ave. N. (stay in the left lanes). You will be facing Burger King, as well as Lake Union. * Turn left onto Valley Street, which will eventually turn into Broad Street. As you continue on Broad, it will appear as if you are heading towards the Space Needle. * Once you have gone underneath the overpass (Highway 99), take the first right into Harrison Street. * You will now be facing the Seattle Center and the Experience Music Project. * Turn left onto 5th Avenue. * KCTS is on the left side, approximately one block ahead. (Please note: Mercer Street is one-way traffic only, heading east). Parking Back-in angle parking is available around KCTS on a two-hour maximum, first come-first serve basis. Pair parking is also available in the Mercer Street garage and in Lot #2 off of 5th Avenue, to the east of our building. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 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 Wed Nov 29 21:01:17 2000 From: bn890 at scn.org (Irene Mogol) Date: Wed, 29 Nov 2000 21:01:17 -0800 (PST) Subject: SCN: Radio Talk Show Message-ID: Hi Everyone, I would like to let you know of this evening's delightful adventure. Wade Englund and ME (big mouth) were invited to participate on the Evergreen Radio Talk Call-In Show. The subject of tonites discussion was E-Mail and specifically Seattle Community Network and the part we play in getting this info out to the public. The program was co-hosted by Mary Marloer (spelling?), and Randy Hayhurst, of STAR, from his home because he couldn't get to the studio at the Talking Books, Washington State Library for the Blind. We had several people calling in with questions and comments and hopefully we answered there questions satisfactorily, even with a great deal of kibitzing. We enjoyed it tremendously, and again, both Wade and I want to thank you Randy, again for inviting us. Hope you had as much fun as we did. And Mary, too. It would seem to me that if we could get the word out in a similar fashion on Radio NPR, or TV PBS, as some form of Public Service announcements, we might stimulate some interest in our program. Any ideas, connections, know-how???? So there you have it! See ya'all Irene PS - HOSS, Hope you're feeling better. Woof! * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 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 er-chan at scn.org Wed Nov 29 23:07:15 2000 From: er-chan at scn.org (er-chan) Date: Wed, 29 Nov 2000 23:07:15 -0800 (PST) Subject: SCN: Re: a web cam pointed at the SPD garage In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Hey is this a sight of the day or not! Hello owner-webeditors at scn.org (On 11/29/00,2:53pm,you wrote Re: a web cam... OB> Hi, OB> I work at a place downtown that happens to be across the street from the new OB> downtown precinct police building. I set up a web cam that is pointed at OB> their garage. Right now they have several vanpool vans lined up on the OB> street marked Platoon A, platoon B and so on. Earlier today there was a OB> large group of them inside the garage dressed in riot gear, probably getting OB> ready or checking equipment or something. OB> I thought that this may be of interest to you, if you watch the cam today OB> and tomorrow you may see something interesting. Feel free to put up a link OB> to our web cam, but after the WTO stuff this week is over we will move our OB> web cam back inside our office. OB> OB> Here's the link: OB> OB> http://www.newcoolmedia.com/index.html OB> OB> I hope you will put up a link for this on your page. If you do, will you OB> send me an email? OB> OB> PS We are not saving the images generated by the web cam. The image on the OB> server is overwritten every 30 seconds. OB> OB> Thanks, OB> OB> Odin Bettinger OB> Online Services Developer OB> Multimedia 2000 OB> http://www.m-2k.com OB> OB> OB> OB> _,--------, .-. \ o / (_er-chan |(- at scn.org \ / ((_)) | _| `----\--\' _-_ | at usa.net / \ \o _\__\---'---`---.___ /o\ ___.---'---`---.___ ( \ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 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/ * * * * * * *