VERY,VERY HOT READS, I Would Read The News In This Thread This Thead Is To post Any Thing Ye Want About The News,,NEWS WAS MOVED,READ MY FIRST POST..CHEERS
mp3DirectCut is a non-destructive audio editor and recorder for MP3. You can directly cut, copy, paste or change the volume with no need to decompress your files into a pcm format. This saves encoding time and preserves the original audio quality, because absolutely nothing must be re-encoded.....(free).....GO THERE! http://mpesch3.de/
Fast mpeg audio editing
mp3DirectCut mp3DirectCut main 98
mp3DirectCut is a non-destructive audio editor and recorder for MP3. You can directly cut, copy, paste or change the volume with no need to decompress your files into a pcm format. This saves encoding time and preserves the original audio quality, because absolutely nothing must be re-encoded.
The built in recorder lets you create MP3s "on the fly" from every source. Using the Cue sheet support or the pause detection and the split function you can easily divide longer files, e.g. CD images.
mp3DirectCut is very fast and gives you extensive edit functionality:
MP3 visualisation and VU meter · Easy navigation · Fading, volume setting, normalizing · Pause detection · Direct recording of MP3 (ACM and Lame encoder supported) · Layer 2 support · ID3v1.1 support · Cue Sheet support
System requirements
· 200 MHz / Windows (9x, NT, 2K, XP) or Linux/Wine
· MP3 ACM system codec (present in XP) or mpglib.dll
· For MP3 recording: Lame encoder DLL or ACM
What's new
· Notifying of unsaved changes works again
· Reading old format project files
· Function for loading a Cue sheet over current file
· Easier or automatic cue flag setting
· More accurate one-frame-back-navigation
· Option for always closing the save window
· Some other corrections and enhancements
mpglib.dll
Decoding library for MPEG Layer III and Layer II. Required for cutting MP2 or if your system has no ACM for MP3 (XP does). Binary + source, Version 0.92, 2001-11-19 (58 KB). Distributed under LGPL, see 'readme.txt'. local http · funsync.de
http://mpesch3.de/
trojanA new keylogging trojan is racing around the world affecting thousands of new machines a day, warns security vendor PC Tools.
PC Tools' research team discovered the trojan and on Wednesday classified it as high risk. Called the 007 keylogger, it is a new variant of the Keylog-sters trojan released last February. It captures screenshots of Web pages with login fields such as usernames and passwords, records the stolen data into a text file and uploads it to a private FTP server in a folder named after the infected users country. PC World | New keylogging trojan races around the world
New keylogging trojan races around the world
Dahna McConnachie, PC World
18/01/2006 17:36:45
A new keylogging trojan is racing around the world affecting thousands of new machines a day, warns security vendor PC Tools.
PC Tools' research team discovered the trojan and on Wednesday classified it as high risk. Called the 007 keylogger, it is a new variant of the Keylog-sters trojan released last February. It captures screenshots of Web pages with login fields such as usernames and passwords, records the stolen data into a text file and uploads it to a private FTP server in a folder named after the infected users country.
Spokesperson for PC Tools Magida Ezzat said a large part of the problem with keylogging trojans is that desktop users receive no obvious indicators that they have been affected, leaving many unaware of the potential security breach.
"This is a regular keylogging trojan, but we have not seen one as wide spread as this. So far there have only been a few hundred cases in Australia, but thousands in the US and UK and other countries," Ezzat said.
Top banks, mobile phone companies, and airlines are among those already affected in over 50 countries, including Australia.
Email-Worm.Win32.VB.bi is a mass-mailing worm that also tries to spread using remote shares. It also tries to disable security-related software.
The e-mail subject is one the following:
The Best Videoclip Ever
School girl fantasies gone bad
A Great Video
F@@kin Kama Sutra pics
Arab sex DSC-00465.jpg
give me a kiss
*Hot Movie*
Fw: Funny :)
Fwd: Photo
Fwd: image.jpg
Fw: Sexy
Re:
Fw:
Part 1 of 6 Video clipe
You Must View This Videoclip!
Miss Lebanon 2006
Re: Sex Video
My photos
fsecureThe worm, named as Email Worm.Win32.VB.bi seems to be spreading quite aggressively, it is already 3rd in our Virus Statistics. It is a simple mass mailer written in Visual Basic. The size of the main executable is about 95 kilobytes. When executed, it first copies itself to several locations. The worm attempts to disable several security related programs. F-Secure : News from the Lab
KAVEugene Kaspersky, head of virus research at the Massachusetts-based Kaspersky Lab, said in "The Contemporary Antivirus Industry and its Problems" that software companies are on the losing end of the "virus arms race" against new malware.
Calling the internet "a breeding ground for criminal activity,'' Kaspersky estimated that hundreds of hacker groups are stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from PC users each year. Yet, anti-virus vendors are not keeping up, he said.
"Unfortunately, there are relatively few products available in shops or on the internet that offer even close to 100-percent protection," Kaspersky said in the piece, published late last year on his Viruslist.com website. Kaspersky: AV companies losing malware war - IT Security News - SC Magazine UK
Kaspersky: AV companies losing malware war
Dan Kaplan 16 Jan 2006 20:22
Anti-virus manufacturers are failing to keep up with malware creators, a leading IT security expert argued in a recently published paper.
Eugene Kaspersky, head of virus research at the Massachusetts-based Kaspersky Lab, said in "The Contemporary Antivirus Industry and its Problems" that software companies are on the losing end of the "virus arms race" against new malware.
Calling the internet "a breeding ground for criminal activity,'' Kaspersky estimated that hundreds of hacker groups are stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from PC users each year. Yet, anti-virus vendors are not keeping up, he said.
"Unfortunately, there are relatively few products available in shops or on the internet that offer even close to 100-percent protection," Kaspersky said in the piece, published late last year on his Viruslist.com website.
"The majority of products are unable even to guarantee 90 percent protection," he said, noting that his lab receives between 200 and 300 new samples each day.
Amrit Williams, research director for Gartner, agreed with Kaspersky that financially-motivated cybercrimes are jumping dramatically. But the solution lies not only in anti-virus capabilities, Williams said.
For full protection, desktop users require an integrated product that contains four pieces: anti-virus software, anti-spyware tools, host-based intrusion prevention and personal firewalls, Williams said.
Still, Kaspersky's analysis provided an in-depth overview of what faces the anti-virus industry and may serve as a wake-up call, says Shane Coursen, a senior technical consultant with Kaspersky Lab.
"There's nothing really revolutionary in Eugene's document," Coursen said. "It's a refreshing and honest look at what we're up against now. I think Eugene might be trying to rally the troops: 'This is what we're looking at in the future. Let's get our thinking caps on.'"
While Kaspersky offered no concrete recommendations for users, Coursen said they "can avoid most threats simply by following the best known practices of the day.
Individuals should be wary of opening unexpected emails and downloading material from an unknown source, he said.
"Policies need to be established inside companies," Coursen said.
But the industry may always be one step behind the criminal mind, Williams warned.
French copyright law could force changes in iTunes copy protections
Posted by Dan Bell on 18 January 2006 - 14:28 - Source: Globe Technology
DamnedIfIknow used our news submit to tell us the government of France is thinking of loosening restrictions on a proposed digital copyright bill. This has come about due to an outcry from politicians and consumers demanding the lightening of the proposed restrictions. A couple things are very important here in these amendments. One is, the new bill makes a distinction between those who use peer to peer technologies to download for profit and those who just add to their own music and movie collections. It's about time! The other result of these new laws with can be read below - this is surely to cause quite a stir!
The French bill would be at odds with many CDs and DVDs sold there that contain copy-protection management software, to digitally block efforts to copy them. If the bill becomes law, the copy-protection measures would have to be removed. Under the bill, Apple"s Music Store in France would also have to change its practices: the Journal du Dimanche says the government is looking at ensuring that all music sold on that site can be played on MP3 players other than Apple"s bestselling iPods, which is not currently the case.
If this law passes, it will really shake things up. We have to wonder what impact this would have on iTunes over there. It would seem that with the past track record of Apple, they would simply pull out. However, if these type laws would somehow magically spread...there would come a day that iTunes would have to open up it's store to all. DRM is bad enough, but there are simply too many proprietary "solutions" and it it has really become ridiculous.
Even a simpleton can see now that these restrictions and laws were passed around the world not to thwart piracy so much as to control the consumer, to create a brand loyalty through these restrictive measures. Apple could let others use their DRM if they were only concerned with piracy, what they are concerned with is market share for the iPod. We need for all consumers and politicians to wake up like the French did and demand that this situation be remedied. When we buy something it should work in whatever device we wish to own. Is that so much to ask?
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/12962
Microsoft drops WMP for Mac and offers WM QuickTime plugin
Posted by Seán Byrne on 18 January 2006 - 11:11 - Source: c|net news - Digital Life
Microsoft decided to put an end to its development of Windows Media Player for the Mac and has no plans to develop any alternative for the Mac. While the PC version has reached version 10 over a year back, the Mac OS X version has remained at version 9 since its launch in November 2003. Microsoft mentioned that they made this decision to give priority towards delivering the best experience towards Windows customers. Windows Media Player 9 will remain available for download, however Microsoft will no longer offer support for it.
In an aim to provide an alternative to Windows Media Player, Microsoft has announced a deal with Telestream to offer a free Flip4Mac plug-in for QuickTime. This will allow the playback of Windows Media 9 audio and video content as well as high definition content in QuickTime, however there are no plans to offer any DRM support, which means that it cannot be used with subscription content and music services such as Napster, Yahoo!, where the Windows Media tracks have copy protection, time limits, etc. The same goes with copy protected CDs that use DRM protected WMA tracks. Flip4Mac is only free for playback as the product costs $29 to allow the importing of non-protected WMA/WMV files and $49 for basic WMA/WMV encoding support.
Microsoft has officially halted development of its Windows Media Player for the Mac and plans no future Apple Computer versions of its music-playing software.
"We have no plans to provide future updates or product support for Windows Media Player for Mac," Adam Anderson, Microsoft public relations manager, said in an interview Thursday.
The company will continue to offer the current version for download. It also has announced a deal to offer for free the Flip4Mac plug-in from Telestream that will allow Mac OS X users to play Windows Media video and audio directly from Apple's QuickTime Player software.
By planning to drop DRM support for the Mac is a clear sign that Microsoft is trying to force Mac users to switch over to a PC with its OS if they want to use protected Windows Media services. While the Mac market is very small compared with the PC market, Microsoft is probably forgetting that iTunes became a major success when it started off as a Mac-only music service.
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/12961
UK National Consumer Council urges MP's for DRM safeguards
Posted by Dan Bell on 18 January 2006 - 18:26 - Source: ZDNet UK
More news on the DRM front. In a submission to the All Party Parliamentary Internet Group, or APIG, the UK NCC consumer group are saying that DRM is constricting legitimate use of digital content for consumers and they have little faith in companies policing the situation for us.
In particular, the NCC cited Sony's controversial use of rootkit-like software on some music CDs as evidence that self-regulation isn't working.
"Because of the current situation, consumers face security risks to their equipment, limitations on their use of products, poor information when purchasing products and unfair contract terms," said Jill Johnstone, director of policy at the NCC, in a statement.
"Whilst we recognise the value of intellectual-property rights, we have little confidence in self-regulation by the industry. We welcome this opportunity to present our concerns to MPs and hope that this will ultimately lead to an improvement the rights of consumers," Johnstone added.
The group will examine among other things, protections for the consumer if a DRM is discontinued and they also have under consideration what legal sanctions are in order for those who circumvent DRM systems. We should probably stay tuned to this debate!
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/12963
nVIDIA nForce Audio Driver for Windows 2000/XP 8.22
FYI, looks like this is for Intel Chipsets only.
nVIDIA nForce Audio Driver support nForce, nForce2, nForce3, nForce4 products including dual-processor systems.
- Betanews.com
__________________
Released: January 17, 2006
Publisher: NVIDIA Corp.
Homepage: nVIDIA nForce Audio Driver for Windows 2000/XP
Downloads: 4,993
License: Freeware
OS Support: Windows 2000/XP
THAY MUST BE TALKING ABOUT ME,
KING WARLORD IRELAND
Medieval Irish warlord boasts three million descendants
* 13:10 18 January 2006
* NewScientist.com news service
* AFP and NewScientist.com staff
Up to three million men around the world could be descended from a prolific medieval Irish king, according to a new genetic study.
It suggests that the 5th-century warlord known as "Niall of the Nine Hostages" may be the ancestor of about one in 12 Irishmen, say researchers at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. Niall established a dynasty of powerful chieftains that dominated the island for six centuries.
In a study of the Y chromosome - which is only passed down through the male line - scientists found a hotspot in northwest Ireland where 21.5% carry Niall?s genetic fingerprint, says Brian McEvoy, one of the team at Trinity. This was the main powerbase of the Ui Neills, which literally translated means "descendants of Niall".
McEvoy says the Y chromosome appeared to trace back to one person.
"There are certain surnames that seem to have come from Ui Neill. We studied if there was any association between those surnames and the genetic profile. It is his (Niall's) family."
Enduring dynasty
The study says that Niall "resided at the cusp of mythology and history but our results do seem to confirm the existence of a single early medieval progenitor to the most powerful and enduring Irish dynasty".
The results also lend support to surviving genealogical and oral traditions of Gaelic Ireland and are a "powerful illustration of the potential link between prolificacy and power".
The study says the chromosome has also been found in 16.7% of men in western and central Scotland and has turned up in multiple North American population samples, including in 2% of European-American New Yorkers.
"Given historically high rates of Irish emigration to North America and other parts of the world, it seems likely that the number of descendants worldwide runs to perhaps two to three million males," the study says.
Modern surnames
It compares the result with similar research that suggested that Mongol emperor Genghis Khan has 16 million descendants after conquering most of Asia in the 13th century.
Though medieval Ireland was Christian, divorce was allowed, people married earlier and concubinage was practised. Illegitimate sons were claimed and their rights protected by law.
"As in other polygynous societies, the siring of offspring was related to power and prestige." The study points out that one of the O'Neill dynasty chieftains who died in 1423 had 18 sons with 10 different women and counted 59 grandsons in the male line.
Niall of the Nine Hostages, who became high king of Ireland, got his name from using the taking of hostages as a strategy for subjugating his opponent chieftains. He is known in folklore as a raider of the British and French coasts. Supposedly slain in the English Channel or in Scotland, his descendants were the most powerful rulers of Ireland until the 11th century.
Modern surnames tracing their ancestry to Niall include (O')Neill, (O')Gallagher, (O')Boyle, (O')Doherty, O'Donnell, Connor, Cannon, Bradley, O'Reilly, Flynn, (Mc)Kee, Campbell, Devlin, Donnelly, Egan, Gormley, Hynes, McCaul, McGovern, McLoughlin, McManus, McMenamin, Molloy, O'Kane, O'Rourke and Quinn.
Intel, Burger King, HP, Catholic Church, Mormons sued for billions
The Old Legal Curiosity shop
By Adamson Rust over Rockall: Wednesday 18 January 2006, 15:37
HERE COMES Neilson Craig Conover who is suing Intel, Comfort Inn, Burger King, Techtronics, Nike, HP, Fred Meyer, the Later Day Saints (sic), and the Catholic Church in Portland, Oregon.
Mr Conover wants these people to stump up $40 billion apiece for the serious offence of staulking (sic).
In the filing, Mr Conover also said he demanded one million dollars per person that participated/conspired in the recognition/communication/mobilization and or actual staulking (sic).
The action started in a federal court for the district of Oregon. µ
p2p news / p2pnet: January 23, the date of the Canadian election, is close and we need to ensure that whoever's elected on Monday is aware that Digital Copyright and Internet issues are vitally important to constituents.
We also want to make sure candidates are able to easily contact people in their own constituencies to learn more
I want to make it easy for people to send letters to their member of parliament. So I've set up an automated tool on Digital-copyright.ca.
Step 1: Log into our Open Source Drupal based website. This allows us to confirm your email address is correct so we won't be sending anonymous SPAM to candidates.
Getting a new account involves telling the website what account name you want to use, and your email address. We'll then email you a temporary password which you can use to log in, confirming for us that your email address is correct.
Once you're logged in, there are variables which you can set to tell the system more about you. For instance, there's a "my account" option which allows you to type in your postal code and other contact information to be automatically be included in the footer information of letters you send.
Step 2: Identify your riding.
Whether we're talking about candidates during a federal election, or your MP between elections, this information is always keyed to your riding. You're asked to navigate to one of the riding specific areas and then click the "set as my electoral district" option. This will set a variable with the ID number of the riding and enable a "my electoral district" button which allows you to quickly return to this page each time you log in to check for new articles specific to your area.
Setting your riding also means the next time we post a letter, you won't have to tell the web site again what riding you're in.
Step 3: Send your letter.
I have a form letter set up which you can confirm or edit it any way you wish.
If you don't want to log in, you can still see the sample letter and send it from your own email account. If at all possible, add a carbon-copy to letters@digital-copyright.ca so we'll know which candidates or MPs are receiving letters. If you receive a reply, it would also be very helpful to receive copies so that we can add them to the web site so other constituents will know what's been said.
Please take this step and go beyond conversations on the blogs to engaging with politicians to ensure that we're heard during and between elections!
Thanks.
Sarmite Sam Bulte
And don't forget to make a note of the race between Peggy Nash and Sarmite Sam Bulte in Toronto's Parkdale-High Park.
Ms Bulte is a close friend of the incumbent foreign intermediaries and could become the next heritage minister if the Liberals form the next government.
She's seen by our community as one of the greatest threats to Canadian creativity, especially independents and creators using alternative methods of production, distribution and funding.
Anyone with ties to this riding should do what they can to support Peggy Nash and ensure that Sam Bulte doesn't win the seat.
Russell McOrmond - p2pnet contributing editor
[McOrmond is an independent author (software and non-software) who uses modern business models and licensing (Free/Libre and Open Source Software, Creative Commons).]
http://p2pnet.net/story/7641
p2p news / p2pnet: Sony BMG's catastrophic DRM spyware blunder continues to reverberate not only in on- and offline mainstream media publications, but also in the hallowed halls of the corporate music industry where the other three members of the Big Four record label cartel, EMI, Vivendi Universal and Warner Music, are also being heavily splattered.
The disaster is now being felt in Germany, BMG's home country. There, VUT (German Association of Independent Labels, Publishers and Producers - Verband unabhängiger Tonträgerunternehmen) has launched a web site to, "disassociate disassociate itself from the music industry's position" in a campaign it's calling Respect The Music.
Most of the record companies and publishers VUT represents aren't interested in, "prosecuting private individuals in the same way as professional pirates," it declares. "In this sense, VUT members support a more moderate policy. policy."
The campaign has three clear statements to make, says the site:
1. DRM and copy protection are [sic] not the answer to the problems of the music industry. They cause wariness in consumers which in turn drives them to piracy.
2. We need strong yet consumer-friendly copyright laws that support the new digital forms of music distribution and create a basis for modern compensation models. The amended laws must create fair terms for the creative industry and therefore require thorough revision.
3. The legal persecution of P2P users turns fans into criminals and does not solve the problem of piracy.
VUT says it plans to provide continuous information on the position of the independents, "concerning topics such as copy protection/DRM, new forms of distributing music, as well as copyright law".
Copy protection devices punish honest fans instead of rewarding them, "which is why most indies do not use copy protection," it states, going on:
"It's about time that the independent music business and its artists respond to the misguided policies of the music industry.
But that doesn't mean that the labels approve of the "illegal burning or free download of their productions," says VUT.
"The goal of this campaign is to inform people that the survival of a diversified music culture highly depends on its being respected. Just in the same way that most labels and artists respect the rights of their fans."
VUT campaign "Respect The Music ? Copy Protection Free"
As a result of the music industry's most recent attempts at fatal copy protection methods, the VUT ? German Association of Independent Labels, Publishers and Producers ? feels that it needs to disassociate itself from the music industry's position by starting its own campaign called 'Respect The Music'.
This campaign has three clear statements to make:
1. DRM and copy protection are not the answer to the problems of the music industry. They cause wariness in consumers which in turn drives them to piracy.
2. We need strong yet consumer-friendly copyright laws that support the new digital forms of music distribution and create a basis for modern compensation models. The amended laws must create fair terms for the creative industry and therefore require thorough revision.
3. The legal persecution of P2P users turns fans into criminals and does not solve the problem of piracy.
From this day on this website will provide continuous information on the position of the independent scene concerning topics such as copy protection/DRM, new forms of distributing music, as well as copyright law.
The use of copy protection devices punishes the honest fan instead of rewarding him, which is why most indies do not use copy protection.
The "Copy Protection Free" logo, designed by !K7 and in use since in 2004, can be downloaded here and printed on releases by every label that supports "Respect The Music". It's about time that the independent music business and its artists respond to the misguided policies of the music industry.
That doesn't mean that the labels approve of the illegal burning or free download of their productions. The goal of this campaign is to inform people that the survival of a diversified music culture highly depends on its being respected. Just in the same way that most labels and artists respect the rights of their fans.
Most of the record companies and publishers that VUT represents are not interested in prosecuting private individuals in the same way as professional pirates. In this sense, VUT members support a more moderate policy.
p2p news / p2pnet: Big Four record label cartel plans to stomp file sharing and file sharers in Korea are back-firing in a big way.
"The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office says it'll, "press charges against persons who downloaded music for resale, but not against those who copied it for their personal use," states the JoongAng Daily, going on to quote an SCDPO official as saying:
"We would have to investigate more than 10,000 people, and if prosecutors start investigating Internet users nationwide, it may start controversies about infringements of human rights."
That wasn't quite what Nofree, "a music industry organization," had in mind when it officially complained to the prosecutors' office, "about 13,000 persons and two Internet sites," says the story.
Nofree spokesman Kim Young-ki said the Big Four unit wanted to, "make the illegal downloading of music a social issue here," not, "put those 13,000 people in jail.
"We were hoping that prosecutors would impose some strong measures so that people would see the consequences of getting caught distributing illegal music files, but now they've announced that it's permissible to download music for private listening.
"People who didn't even think of doing so may start."
Also See:
JoongAng Daily - Anti-piracy body looks in horror at a plan gone awry, January 19, 2006
January 18, 2006
Many Internet users forgoing Security
Do you want to understand why millions of computers are being used as bots or have been over run with spyware checkout the reasons people are shutting off the firewall provide by Windows OneCare Live. This is from the teams blog.
Based on our investigation, there are four primary reasons people are turning off their firewall.
1. Do not think a software firewall is necessary
2. Do not like the (sometimes incessant) pop-up dialogs
3. An application failed to install with firewall turned on
4. An application fails to work with firewall turned on
It just goes to prove that either Windows has to get more secure default out of the box or these application have to help the novice understand shutting off a firewall is a bad idea. [www.edbott.com]
http://www.geeknewscentral.com/archives/005636.html
Microsoft® Windows® Malicious Software Removal Tool (KB890830)
Brief Description
This tool checks your computer for infection by specific, prevalent malicious software (including Blaster, Sasser, and Mydoom) and helps to remove the infection if it is found. Microsoft will release an updated version of this tool on the second Tuesday of each month.
Overview
The Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool checks Windows XP, Windows 2000, and Windows Server 2003 computers for and helps remove infections by specific, prevalent malicious software?including Blaster, Sasser, and Mydoom. When the detection and removal process is complete, the tool displays a report describing the outcome, including which, if any, malicious software was detected and removed. The tool creates a log file named mrt.log in the %WINDIR%\debug folder.
This tool is not a replacement for an anti-virus product. To help protect your computer, you should use an anti-virus product.
Microsoft will release an updated version of this tool on the second Tuesday of each month. New versions will be made available through this web page, Windows Update, and the Malicious Software Removal Tool Web site on Microsoft.com.
To have the newest versions automatically delivered and installed as soon as they are released, set the Automatic Updates feature to Automatic. The version of this tool delivered by Windows Update runs on your computer once a month, in the background. If an infection is found, the tool will display a status report the next time you start your computer. If you would like to run this tool more than once a month, run the version that is available from this Web page or use the version on the Malicious Software Removal Tool Web site.
Please review KB890830 for the list of malicious software that the current version of the tool is capable of removing as well as usage instructions. Also, please be aware that this tool reports anonymous information back to Microsoft in the event that an infection is found or an error is encountered. The above KB article contains information on how to disable this functionality and what specific information is sent to Microsoft.
It is strongly recommended that you review KB891716 before you consider deploying this tool in an enterprise environment.
The user must be an administrator to run this tool. This tool will not run on any version of Windows 98, Windows ME, or Windows NT 4.0.
System Requirements
Supported Operating Systems: Windows 2000; Windows Server 2003; Windows XP
Following a wave of privacy concerns last week, Apple Computer has begun prominently notifying customers about a new recommendation feature in its iTunes software, as well as spotlighting a simple way to turn it off.
The new feature, a "MiniStore" pane in the software, provides music recommendations to iTunes users based on the songs currently in the software's active playlist. To do so, it sends information about those songs back to Apple, even if the tracks weren't originally purchased from the iTunes Music Store.
The information exchange also includes a string of data linked to an iTunes customer's unique ID number, which is also used for other Apple accounts, such as the .Mac service and the Apple Developer Connection, computer experts found last week. An Apple representative said last week that the company did not store or archive any of the information from this MiniStore recommendation process.
Previously, that information exchange was not disclosed in any user agreement or in the software itself. However, an update posted late Tuesday now prominently adds a notification inside the iTunes software itself when the MiniStore is turned on for the first time.
"As you select items in your library, information about that item is sent to Apple, and the MiniStore will show you related songs or videos," the note says. "Apple does not keep any information related to the contents of your music library."
The notification also provides a prominent new pointer to a button that will turn off the MiniStore, which does not exchange any information while inactive. As before, the feature can also be turned off by going to the menu of commands at the top of the software or by selecting a keyboard command.
The change has satisfied some of the critics who had emerged, even among committed Apple supporters, after the iTunes software release.
"I feel that Apple, in clearly telling users what the iTunes MiniStore does, has met its obligations for informing users," said Kirk McElhearn, an author of several Apple technical books, who helped identify the issue last week. "The fact that they clearly state, in this 'warning', that they do not keep any information about the contents of users' iTunes music libraries is sufficient for me."
Apple said it made the changes to assuage any potential consumer concerns.
By Martin LaMonica
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Published: January 18, 2006, 11:55 AM PST
Tell us what you think about this storyTalkBack E-mail this story to a friendE-mail View this story formatted for printingPrint
Check back with CNET News.com later this week for a complete Q&A with Eben Moglen.
Cambridge, Mass.--New licensing terms for Linux and other open-source products take a "highly aggressive" stance against the digital rights management software that's widely favored in the entertainment industry, said Eben Moglen, general counsel for the Free Software Foundation.
At a two-day event to launch the General Public License version 3, which governs use of countless free and open-source programs, Moglen said the license includes anti-DRM provisions that could put it in conflict with movie studios and even digital video recorder maker On Monday, the Free Software Foundation published a draft of the GPL version 3, which is expected to be completed in about a year. The draft states that GPL software cannot use "digital restrictions" on copyrighted material unless users can control them.
Moglen said that DRM technology, which places limits on how users can play movies, music or other digital content, is "fundamentally incompatible" with the principles of the Free Software Foundation. Moglen and Free Software Foundation founder Richard Stallman are co-authors of the GPL version 3.
"Mr. Stallman made perfectly clear that his point of view is: It's enough. It's enough that the world has to pay attention to that (DRM) problem the way the world needed to pay attention to the patent problem 10 years ago," Moglen said in an interview with CNET News.com.
"I recognize that that's a highly aggressive position, but it's not an aggression which we thought up. It's a defense related to an aggression which was launched against the people whose rights are our primary concern," he added.
Moglen said DRM systems that take control out of users hands or violate their privacy do not respect free software users' rights and therefore are in conflict with the forthcoming GPL provisions.
The planned anti-DRM changes to the GPL are significant because the entertainment industry regularly uses Linux-powered computers in the production process, notably for special effects and animation. In general, movie studios support DRM technology to prevent piracy.
Moglen and Stallman have voiced concern specifically with TiVo, which uses Linux, because the company collects information on users' actions. Moglen said TiVo complied with version 2 of the GPL "by the skin of its teeth" and said the company will find more difficulty complying with GPL version 3's anti-DRM provisions.
"Having a personal video recorder which reports every button you push to headquarters when you use the remote control--and which won't run software if you modify the box so it snoops on you a little less--is not user-respecting conduct," he said.
"What TiVo needs to do--what everybody needs to do who makes electronic devices--is to stop injuring users to help movie companies. We don't want our software used in a way which batters the head of the user to please somebody else. Our goal is the protection of users' rights, not movies' rights," Moglen said.
He said Hollywood studios that use free software, namely Linux, to create animated movies yet deny users' freedoms are "flat unfair."
Separately, Moglen sought to allay concerns that the GPL version 3 requires application hosting companies to provide the source code for software delivered as a service over the Internet.
Microsoft, the Xbox 360, Blu-ray, and common sense
1/18/2006 1:21:42 PM, by Ken "Caesar" Fisher
Like so many stories, Peter Moore's comments about the Xbox 360 and possible support for Blu-ray morphed into something else entirely by the time it had traversed the blogosphere. Whether it's people only reading headlines, trolling, or coming off of acid trips, the story got spun upside-down and backwards, and suddenly certain sites were reporting that Microsoft is planning to add a Blu-ray drive to the Xbox 360. But they're not.
In my previous report on this topic, I wrote the following:
Microsoft would consider adding an external Blu-ray drive to the Xbox 360 in the future, should the right market conditions emerge. According to Peter Moore, corporate VP in charge of fun stuff at Microsoft, those conditions would be the emergence of Blu-ray as the clear winner in the next-generation optical disc format battles.
Moore had told Japanese-language website ITmedia that Microsoft could consider adding a Blu-ray drive to the Xbox 360, but it was clear that he was only speaking of a hypothetical situation in which HD DVD failed, Blu-ray became massively popular, and Microsoft decided to act. Moore was actually speaking to the possibilities that present themselves when the only option for expansion is an external drive. With the company not planning on adding a next-gen optical drive to the main Xbox 360, even in a future revision, any such addition would necessarily be external in nature, and this obviously affords Microsoft some choice in terms of hardware.
But the talk of Microsoft's Xbox 360 "getting Blu-ray" was apparently a little too much for the company, prompting them to make their allegiance to HD DVD even more clear than before (and let's face it, it was exceedingly clear already). In a statement, Microsoft said:
"It is important to understand the context in which that statement was made. Microsoft firmly stands behind the HD-DVD format as the best choice for our consumers. As we've said before, we're confident that HD-DVD will bring the excitement of high definition movies to the consumer faster and at a greater value. We believe that consumers have signalled [sic] what format they want to enjoy high definition DVD and we're going to follow them down that path."
At the same time, Microsoft took the opportunity to portray the Xbox 360 as a future-proof device.
"The question of whether Xbox 360 has the flexibility to adapt to consumers' needs is a different issue entirely. Xbox 360 is a future-proofed system - one that allows us to add features as consumers demand them - as evidenced by our offering of the HD-DVD drive as an accessory. Current reports indicating that we have a back-up plan, which includes Blu-ray support are incorrect. At this point, we're fully committed to HD-DVD and have absolutely no plans to support other optical formats."
In my previous coverage, I said that any move by Microsoft to back Blu-ray at a late stage would simply be a "me too" move, and I think this perspective is now more clear than ever. I know more than one of you took that as an insult to Microsoft, but I hope it's clear now that the company is not yet interested in showing signs of doubt in HD DVD.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060118-6003.html
Macrovision RipGuard DVD Copy Protection now available
By MacroVision
Nov 10, 2005, 7:03am
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 09, 2005
Macrovision RipGuard DVD Copy Protection now available to the Adult Video Industry.
Summary:
Full Monty Post has licensed with Macrovision Corporation to provide Authoring and Embedding Services for it?s recently launched flagship Anti-Ripping and DVD Copy Protection solution known as RipGuard DVD., to the Adult Video Industry.
Press Release Body:
November 09, 2005 - LOCKPORT, IL ? Full Monty Post, a full service Adult Video Post Production house located in Chicago, IL has licensed with Macrovision Corporation to provide Authoring and Embedding Services for it?s recently launched flagship Anti-Ripping and DVD Copy Protection solution known as RipGuard DVD.
RipGuard DVD is a unilateral content protection system that is applied to DVD discs and requires no additional software or hardware to be incorporated into PCs, DVD players or DVD recorders. The combination of Macrovision's analog copy protection technology (ACP) and RipGuard DVD provides comprehensive DVD protection for both major piracy threats faced by video content copyright owners -- the analog and digital holes. RipGuard DVD is a technological solution that effectively protects a copyright owner's rights. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) makes it illegal to attempt circumvention of such technological measures.
In support of the worldwide content protection ecosystem, Macrovision has developed extensive test and certification facilities used to validate both these products for seamless playability on nearly all manufacturer's DVD players, drives, and recorders prior to market release.
Full Monty Post is the first Adult Video Post Production house in the U.S. to be equipped to offer RipGuard. FMP provides both RipGuard DVD enabled Authoring for new content and RipGuard DVD Embedding Only services for those who have existing content which they desire to have protected by RipGuard. ?We have turned a corner in copy protection.? says Monty Rensselaer, Creative Director at Full Monty Post, ?Up until now, ripping was the easiest thing in the world to do, and while nothing is 100%, ripping has just become a whole lot harder with RipGuard DVD. We are now able to offer the highest level of protection available, even if a Producer or Studio authors their own DVDs in-house.?
p2p news / p2pnet: What's the Number One item on RIAA/ MPAA p2p scalp-hunter Bay TSP's mentioned-in-the-press list?
Number One with a Pirated Bullet, says BAY TSP, quoting FilmStew. And that's what FilmStew says, quoting Bay TSP.
It, "topped the list of most pirated TV shows for December of 2005 on peer-to-peer Internet networks," says FilmStew, going on:
"According to Bay:TSP, Top Gear is ahead of Desperate Housewives, Lost and other programs as far as files being downloaded on the FastTrack, eDonkey and BitTorrent networks. Over on the film side, Robert Rodriguez?s Sin City led the way, with a total of 52,973 different copies available at a computer screen near you.
Bay TSP's top ten worldwide online pirated movies in December were, says the story:
1. Sin City - Disney - 52,973
2. Elizabethtown - Paramount - 47,819
3. Batman Begins - Warner Bros. - 47,594
4. Mr. And Mrs. Smith - Fox - 46,435
5. The Interpreter - NBC Universal - 46,279
6. Flightplan - Disney - 46,090
7. Constantine - Warner Bros. - 45,656
8. The Skeleton Key - NBC Universal - 45,279
9. The Legend of Zorro - Sony Pictures - 43,951
10. The Transporter 2 - Fox - 43,050
p2pnet's top ten worldwide most downloaded movies last week were:
01 The Chronicles of Narnia - 1,020,650
02 King Kong (unchanged) - 1,004,540
03 Harry Potter and the Goblet Of Fire - 991,594
04 Mr & Mrs Smith - 956,307
05 Fantastic Four - 936,333
06 The 40 Year Old Virgin - 932,444
07 War Of The Worlds - 929,932
08 Four Brothers - 890,515
09 Batman Begins - 882,979
10 Fun with Dick and Jane - 880,491
Our unique Movies File Share Top Ten is compiled from statistics supplied by p2p research company Big Champagne.
p2p news / p2pnet: Big Four record label cartel member Universal Music Group International says it's digitizing previously deleted tracks from 10,000 European albums so it can sell them online.
"This program will offer material that, in some cases, goes back to the early days of recorded music," says Barney Wragg, senior vp of Universal's eLabs division.
The Net's unlimited storage capacity is increasingly seen as a way for record companies to reissue specialist, vintage or hard-to-find music from their archives, as well as chart and popular music, Universal, based in France and the world's largest music company, says in a statement.
The 'new' golden oldies will include songs from Marianne Faithfull, Fairport Convention, Nirvana and Jacques Brel.
Digitization will be ongoing and will involve, "substantial investment, particularly for the excavation and digitization of older, rare analogue material".
The tracks will be supplied to Universal online business partners, the first becoming available in February, says the company.
"Hopefully, the first round of recordings selected for this initiative will start to satisfy consumer demand, as more and more people buy their music online," says Bragg.
All Universal - not to mention the other three cartel members, EMI (UK), Warner Music (USA) and Sony BMG (Japan, Germany) - has to do really satisfy consumers is to stop trying to sue them into buying music, and start wholesaling product at reasonable, instead of extortionate, rates.
Also See:
statement - Universal Music Opens Archives For Downloads, January 18, 2005
StarForce has been checked. No root-kits found
Posted by Dan Bell on 19 January 2006 - 04:00 - Source: StarForce
Since the Sony rootkit fiasco, there have been rumors a flyin' that this software protection software uses rootkits as well. Therefore, to squelch the ignorance, the StarForce folks have had their wares independantly tested and given a clean bill of health. No malware. Well, actually a "well-known online magazine" asked Mark Russinovich, the guy that blew the whistle on Sony to take a peek and ?check-out? StarForce for root-kits or any other malwares. He ought to know!
Independent tests showed that StarForce copy protection contains no malware.
The international IT community will not quickly forget the incident with Sony BMG at the end of 2005. The root-kits discovered in music CDs? copy protection forced Sony to call back millions of discs and suffer serious losses.
Mark Russinovich was the main character of the story. It was him who one day discovered the root-kits and woke up famous the next morning.
Soon after the story with Sony calmed down a well-known online magazine asked Mark to ?check-out? StarForce for root-kits or any other malwares.
After detailed examination of copy-protection installed by StarForce Mark came to the conclusion that StarForce protection contains zero root-kits or malwares. While the fact that StarForce drivers have to be sometimes uninstalled separately from the protected application is a bit annoying, it is not the StarForce?s responsibility, but the developer?s.
This conclusion together with the online contest again show that accusations about StarForce protection damaging PCs or operation systems have absolutely no ground.
StarForce Technologies
On the other net rumor and resulting challenge from the protection company from Russia: Win a free trip to Moscow if you can be the first to show your rig was hosed by StarForce! There are also a lot of claims concerning DVD/CD writers malfunctioning after installation and start-up of StarForce protected applications. Prove your case to StarForce and you can take home $5000.00 plus expenses. So far, not one application has been filed at the StarForce web contest hangout, even after 43.000 views, so they upped the ante from 1000 dollars to 5000! Kinda funny that they started at $1000.00 and now they are thinking, "Hell, maybe it really doesn't screw over a PC! Let's raise the prize money!".
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/12970
West Virginia Capitol building site of pirate DVD operation
Posted by Dan Bell on 19 January 2006 - 00:42 - Source: Sunday Gazette Mail
The Associated press has aquired a memo through the Freedom of Information act, bringing to our attention a piracy operation located in the bowels of the West Virginia State Capitol building. According to this report, state investigators "stumbled" upon a basement office outfitted with computers, video and audio gear, along with software commonly used to pirate movies and music recordings. They also found computer hard discs with some 40 full length movies and also 3500 MP3s, amounting to about 14 gigs worth of intellectual property. In addition, they also found a stash of hundreds of blank DVDs, CDs and jacket covers, all purchased with tax dollars.
When you read this report, the fact that a piracy lab was running in the state capitol kind of makes you wonder how well your tax dollars are being monitored no matter where you live! Here is what (hopefully the soon to be replaced) Administration Secretary Robert Ferguson had to say about the situation.
Ferguson confirmed Tuesday that his staff found the makeshift audio-video studio amid his widening probe into spending and other abuses at the state General Services Division.
The review found that someone in General Services sidestepped state purchasing rules to buy more than $88,000 worth of computers and related equipment over the last three years, including the items discovered in the basement office. Not all the purchased computers and gear can be located, Ferguson said.
p2p news / p2pnet: Apple has virtually admitted a component in its latest iTunes upgrade was a form of spyware.
With the Sony BMG rootkit DRM debacle still drawing major media play, until yesterday, Apple's iTunes 6.0.2 had an element called the MiniStore which author and Apple aficionado Kirk McElhearn called "invasive".
It tracked songs being played and made suggestions about items uses might buy.
How did it know what to suggest? "Unbeknownst to users ... the software was reporting their clicks to Apple and Omniture, a company that analyzes customer data," says the Los Angeles Times, going on:
"Apple shrugged off the complaints at first, saying users could turn off the MiniStore if they didn't like it. Besides, Apple said, it didn't store any of the information it received."
Now, however, a "revised" iTunes, "warns users about data being collected and lets them switch off the recommendation system," says the BBC.
The loud public outcry forced to Apple rapidly pulling the offending sofware. Would it have done that left to its own resources?
You know the answer. But at least Apple was smart enough to take fast action to minimize the damage ? unlike Sony BMG which wriggled and writhed and consequently, is still taking hits.
Also See:
invasive - iTunes MiniStore spyware, January 14, 2006
Los Angeles Times - A big move by Apple, January 19, 2006
BBC - Apple addresses iTunes concerns, January 19, 2006
