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Issue no. 3, 2002 Published: Jan 18, 2002
European net groups demand guarantee about root server stability
Report calls for software security law
Adobe threatens to abandon Asia over piracy
Killer text message found
New web suffix '.name' kicks off
Philips says copy-protected CDs have no future
Analysts debunk web porn myth
Exploding chips could foil laptop thieves
Virtual stunt artists take first tumbles
Non-military satellite views Earth
Email from namesake is more likely to get a reply
Hi-tech wristwatch promises pub guidance

European net groups demand guarantee about root server stability
A row is brewing over the reliability and security of the servers that direct much of the net's traffic. The row centres on the 'root servers' that hold the master list of where the database for each domain can be found. Currently there are 13 root servers dotted around the world. Organisations that look after the top level domains are asking the internet's ruling body, ICANN, to give guarantees about root server stability given that billions of dollars of e-commerce now depend on the safe running of these key servers. They are threatening to withhold cash demanded by ICANN saying the fees it is levying amount to a 'tax' on domains and they get little in return for their money. Concerns about the control ICANN has over the root servers are now being expressed by the EU and some national governments who also want guarantees about their stability.
BBC News Jan 15, 2002	back to top

Report calls for software security law
An influential body of researchers is calling on the US Government to draft laws that would punish software firms that do not do enough to make their products secure. The US National Academy of Sciences (NAS) has released drafts of a report commissioned after 11 September to look at the state of America's computer systems. If the report is acted on the subsequent laws could hurt monopolies like Microsoft, which many say does not do enough to ensure its software is secure. Almost all of the serious virus outbreaks of the last two years can be traced to vulnerabilities in Microsoft products. The report by the NAS said that currently software makers do not have enough incentive to ensure their products are secure. It recommended that the US Government consider amending laws so that software makers can be held liable if their products put the public and businesses at risk. The report will probably be passed to the US Congress for debate.
BBC News Jan 16, 2002	back to top

Adobe threatens to abandon Asia over piracy
Adobe Systems last week threatened to stop supporting Chinese language versions of its software because of persistent pirating of its products in China and other Asian markets. The threat was made by Adobe's CEO Bruce Chizen in an interview with the South China Morning Post. Chizen said piracy was causing Adobe to lose money in some Asian markets. Other western software companies have suffered at the hands of Chinese software pirates. According to the Business Software Alliance, a copyright protection group, pirates were responsible for producing 94 per cent of all software distributed in China in 2000. Microsoft in particular has suffered, and estimates to have lost $4.1bn in revenue in 2000.
The Register / ComputerWire.com Jan 14, 2002	back to top

Killer text message found
Dutch Security researchers have found a way to crash some Nokia mobile phones using a malformed text message. The pernicious message exploits a bug in the phone's software and, if received, will render some handsets completely unusable. The troublesome SMS message was discovered by a researcher at Dutch security firm ITSX who created the malicious message by tinkering with the parts of SMS that users do not see but tell a phone what to do with incoming text messages. It affects Nokia 3310, 3330 and 6210 handsets. Nokia claims it closed the loophole in its software late last year to ensure new phones could not be crashed by such messages.
BBC News Jan 17, 2002	back to top

New web suffix '.name' kicks off
Joining the familiar '.com' and '.org' domain names, the first internet address suffixes created exclusively for individuals - '.name' - debuted Tuesday. Operators of '.name' are hoping individuals will be lured by e-mail and web addresses featuring their own names. The London-based Global Name Registry, which in 2000 proposed and won rights to administer the suffix, is also exploring expanding '.name' to mobile phones and other personal devices later this year. The '.name' suffix was one of seven approved in November 2000 by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), an internet oversight body. They are the first major additions to the domain name system since its creation in the mid-1980s.
Nando Times / AP Jan 14, 2002	back to top

Philips says copy-protected CDs have no future
Philips, the inventor of the Compact Disc, does not expect controversial attempts by the music industry to introduce CD 'copy protection' technologies to last very long, because of consumer complaints. The technology is designed to stop CDs playing or being copied on PCs but it can also prevent them from playing on many normal systems. As inventor of the CD standard and the industry's licensing body, Philips could refuse to license such copy protected discs as genuine CDs, or pursue some other legal obstruction to the practice. But Gary Wirtz, general manager of the Philips Copyright Office, believes that copy protection technology will fail all by itself. Wirtz believes that consumer complaints should put music companies off the technique. He says: 'It's not going to work, because any hacker can still make copies. It's only going to effect legitimate consumers and we know there have already been considerable complaints.'
New Scientist Jan 14, 2002	back to top

Analysts debunk web porn myth
Analysts at Jupiter MMXI have debunked the idea that porn sites are the most popular on the internet and put them twelfth in a run down of the most visited site categories. They say surfing for porn has given way to more far more respectable surfing habits. Unsurprisingly the most popular sites are portals - not least because they remain set as many users' default home pages. Retail sites also feature highly, behind corporate and entertainment sites. Lucy Green, marketing director for Jupiter MMXI, says the idea that porn surfing is the online world's top pastime is something of an anachronism. 'In the early days it may have been the number one perhaps because there was not much else to do online,' she said. These days 'people have way more important things to do'.
Ananova / BBC News Jan 14, 2002	back to top

Exploding chips could foil laptop thieves
A new way of making silicon explode could mean anyone trying to use a stolen laptop or mobile will be confronted by this message: 'This machine is stolen and will self-destruct in ten seconds ... '. Until now scientists have only managed to destroy silicon by mixing it with liquid oxygen or nitric acid. But researchers at the University of California in San Diego have stumbled upon a way to blow up silicon chips using an electrical signal. The researchers found the new method when they applied the oxidising chemical gadolinium nitrate to a porous silicon wafer. When a colleague used a diamond scribe to split the wafer it exploded. The gadolinium nitrate used the energy from the scribe to oxidise the silicon fuel. In a stolen mobile phone or laptop, the network would send a trigger signal to the part of the chip containing the gadolinium nitrate 'detonator', triggering the explosion.
New Scientist Jan 16, 2002	back to top

Virtual stunt artists take first tumbles
Researchers at the University of California in Los Angeles are developing virtual stunt artists that could ultimately leave the genuine article looking for a new career. Unlike previous computer-generated characters, which have to be generated frame by frame, these virtual actors respond to the physics of the real world with virtual 'sensors'. The virtual actor takes the form of a properly jointed skeleton figure that responds to forces produced by gravity, friction and impact with other objects in its virtual environment. The motion is governed by a set of controllers programmes that govern the different types of behaviour. But the big breakthrough is the design for a program that supervises the individual controllers and make them work in concert. The programme also looks at the effects of the virtual environment on each of the character's joints and limbs, and the effects they have on each other. It even performs instinctive reactions, like extending the hands to protect itself while falling.
New Scientist / Ananova Jan 16, 2002	back to top

Non-military satellite views Earth
A private satellite has started returning the most detailed, freely available pictures ever taken of our planet. Quickbird is the world's highest-resolution, commercial, imaging satellite and its first images show details never before seen by a non-military satellite. The satellite, run by DigitalGlobe, was launched last October into a 450-kilometre-high orbit. It will begin full commercial operations in July. Applications for this imagery include detailed mapping, resource management, urban planning, telecommunications, and agriculture. Following its orbital checkout, Quickbird began producing black-and- white pictures showing objects down to 61 centimetres across. Quickbird is also able to produce colour images down to 2.4 metres in size. Buildings, bridges and cars are clearly seen showing details that have only previously been seen by highly-classified spy satellites.
BBC News Jan 14, 2002	back to top

Email from namesake is more likely to get a reply
An email sent from an unknown person with the same name as the recipient is more likely to receive a reply, say Canadian researchers. The finding indicates that perceived family ties may still be important in modern communications, they say. The researchers at McMaster University in Ontario sent emails to 2,960 people, containing questions about the recipient's local sports team. Some people received a message apparently from a 'stranger' with the same first and second name. Others received the same message from someone with only the same first or second name. A fourth group received the message from a sender with a completely different name. When sender and recipient shared both first and last name, an email was 10.33 per cent more likely to elicit a reply. An email from someone with the same second name alone was 9.7 per cent more likely to receive a reply. But far fewer people replied to messages from people with the same first name alone.
New Scientist Jan 15, 2002	back to top

Hi-tech wristwatch promises pub guidance
Researchers at Bristol University are developing a wearable computer that guides drinkers to the nearest pub. The scientists are working on the HandPC which uses global positioning technology. The watch-sized device even gives a short description of the pub and the exact distance the wearer is from it. The HandPC is part of a wearable computing project backed by Hewlett Packard. According to the Western Daily Press a more respectable gadget is in the works. They say the Bristol University team is also working on a jacket that leads tourists on a guided tour of the city.
Ananova Jan 16, 2002	back to top