InfoWorld: Users reject notion of 'parasitic grid'. Although some deride the implications of the term "parasitic," at the center of the debate is the impact that so-called free wireless access points based on the 802.11b standards will have on the rollout of third-generation networks. [Tomalak's Realm]   3:23:32 PM

C|NET TV: Open Source, is it good for competition?

On C|NET TV today, is a short video clip of Brian Behlendorf, founder, Apache, and Linus Torvalds, discussing whether Open-source promotes competition?

While the video is relatively short, the best part is when Linus explains that organisation is over rated.

Requires Real Video, or Windows Media Player.    2:44:42 PM

Expert Hacks Hotmail in One Line of Code

A new Internet security concern called "cross-site scripting" piggybacks invasive code on tiny programs that run live on Web pages to make them more interactive. Twice this month, Internet security consultant Jeremiah Grossman, 24, poked gaping security holes in Hotmail and Passport, Microsoft's free Web-based e-mail and identity-authentication services.

It took just three lines of code for Grossman to breach Hotmail filters and access Passport ID and credit card data. The second time it took just one line. And the former Yahoo security auditor says he could do it again given 8 hours.

The Full Story on OSopinion.com   11:53:53 AM

Regulating Minors' Access to the Internet Backfires

When Chris Manley, a high school senior in South Carolina, started thinking about applying for college, his teachers recommended he use the school library computer to research universities like Duke and Stanford. But he couldn't reach their Web sites. This was hardly a case of computer illiteracy. "At my school they have filtering software," Manley says simply, "and I can't get to these sites, because they've been blocked."

From the San Francisco Chronicle.   11:39:47 AM

 Some Thoughts on Pop-Under Ads

New MS Security Tool: So Bad it's Convincing Users to buy Apple Macs

Warned that her system had a too-low "Restrict Anonymous" setting, Helen Carter, a graphic artist, clicked on the link she hoped would explain how to correct the problem.

Instead, she said, the link led her to a long advisory that said, in part, "Setting the Restrict Anonymous registry value to 2 should only be considered in Windows 2000 environments only, and after sufficient quality assurance tests have verified that appropriate service levels and program functionality is maintained."

"I haven't a clue how to run quality assurance and service tests -- I just want to know whether my computer is secure or not," Carter said. "This tool seems real friendly and easy to work with on the surface, but it soon drags you down into Microsoft hell, just like all Microsoft programs do."

Carter said the MPSA tool convinced her of only one thing: "It's time to buy a Mac."

Read the original Wired article or if you're really game, download the security tool.    1:37:05 AM

Campus Music Trades Continue. Napster's been shut down and the courts have ruled sharing copyrighted music illegal. Yet college students will face fewer restrictions this year on college campuses when it comes to swapping music. By Brad King. [Wired News]   12:38:56 AM

Make Your Own DSL

Posted on Slashdot by michael from the send-me-some-while-you're-at-it dept.
Logic Bomb writes: "Robert Cringley's latest is a striking set of instructions on how to create your own DSL service, or even your own "socialist Internet Service Provider". A cookie goes to whomever manages to implement this first! :-D" Cringley is on a roll.

Two nuggets from the thread relate to the use of an Alarm System's wiring for DSL service, and the comparison between the subscription cost of an Alarm System, and more expensive telco provided Data Services.

darkPHi3er says,

" Cringely got it right, in my last business, the area was out of dedicated "Data Lines", so Pacific Bell had to send out an install tech who really knew what he was doing, i was looking over his shoulder and noticed that he was using our alarm lines...the tech told me almost exactly the same story as Cringely, including that if you called PB and asked for a pair of "guard lines" you'd be told they didn't exist or that they were all assigned in your area. "

Caballero says,

"He's shown us how to get a circuit established cheaply. Actually doing it may be made difficult by your phone company, but it shows how they are trying to rape data services for so much more money than than things like security systems.

The real problem is that you want connectivity to the internet. Even if you find someone who's willing to piggy back you on their circuit, chances are they're violating their terms of service by doing it. That may get them cut off if they're caught. If they're doing NAT it would be hard for their ISP to find out."

Australian ISP Snoops on Downloads

From Slashdot: Your-data-is-not-safe dept.

Steve Nakhla writes: "According to this article, Excite @ Home has begun snooping users' downloads in order to find copyrighted or pirated material. Violators have their access cut off. As an Excite @ home user, this alarms me. What exactly is their definition of copyrighted? Doesn't the New York Times copyright their online articles? Can I not view them any more for fear of violating Excite's policies?"

HTH eloquently adds,

"This was an issue circa 1996 when ISPs were wrestling with weather or not they are responsible for the actions of their users ans as such should attempt to keep track of activities on their network. I though the general concensus was that ISPs were not liable for the infringing activities of their users, unless they state that they will attempt to prevent such activity in socuments such as 'Acceptable Use Policies'. It sounds like Excite @ Home screwed up their acceptable use policy and some content provider threatened to force them to make good on their statements that they would monitor the network for 'unacceptable uses'. Reharding the acceptable use policy, they say:

A spokesperson from Excite @ Home said, "we are not watching every bit and byte, but we would randomly check from time to time." The US AUP [home.com] for their service describes illegal acticity but doesn't seem to describe how it will be observed. I was unable to locate the Australian policy. Presumably is't different in this regard. Also this statement, supports my theiry that some content provider called them on a badly written AUP that they have to make good on:

"I wouldn't call it policing, we're just trying to comply with the law and by highlighting the issue to customers, its putting us in a better position as acting as a responsible Netizen on the Internet," the spokesperson said. I've written a couple AUPs in my day and one has to be vary careful about what one says will be done to keep track of user behavior, because any knowlege of illegal activity must be acted upon, whereas simply providing bandwidth does not usually create so many legal obsticles, no matter how many threatening letters you may get from the RIAA and other such organizations.

Read the Slashdot Post on this subject here.   1:22:49 AM