INTERNET
Conference highlights Net security concerns (USA)
EU Ministers Adopt Copyright Rules (NYT)
Legal Victory for Internet Advertising Industry (CyberTimes)
FCC
FCC Budget Of $248,545,000 Proposed For Fiscal Year 2002 (FCC)
INTERNET
CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS NET SECURITY CONCERNS
Issue: Security
With the Internet becoming a pervasive part of life, a platform where $657
billion worth of commerce was transacted last year, according to Forrester
Research, and with that figure expected to increase 10 times by 2004, online
security has become a mainstream concern. A conference that is expected to
bring more than 10,000 people to a San Francisco convention center this week
will peruse exhibits by 250 security companies, chatter at a
"cryptographers' gala" and gather for a closing ceremony featuring comedian
Dana Carvey. Lecture topics range from the arcane - one is titled "On the
Strength of Simply Iterated Feistel Ciphers with Whitening Keys" - to the
straightforward, like "Authenticity in e-Business." The most immediate
challenge for Internet security and cryptography is online fraud, which by
some estimates takes place eight to 12 times as much as it does in the real
world. "The anonymity and ubiquity of the Internet that make it so
attractive to users and the market place are the same qualities that make it
difficult to secure," said Mike Houlahan, a vice president of Arcot Systems,
a Silicon Valley company that makes software designed to limit access to
computer files and networks.
[SOURCE: USA Today, AUTHOR: Associated Press]
(http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2001-04-09-net-conference.htm)
EU MINISTERS ADOPT COPYRIGHT RULES
Issue: Copyright
Ministers from the 15 European Union nations adopted a directive Monday that
updates copyright laws to cover Internet song-swapping and other types of
digital copying. The new EU rules tighten the definition of "private copy"
and ban commercial use of copied material taken from the Internet. Adoption
and implementation of the directive will enable the EU to ratify the 1996
World Intellectual Property Treaties, giving the treaties more than the
minimum number of countries needed to come into force around the world. The
United States ratified them in 1998 through its Digital Millennium Copyright
Act.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Associated Press]
(http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-EU-Copyright.html)
(requires subscription)
LEGAL VICTORY FOR INTERNET ADVERTISING INDUSTRY
Issue: Privacy
A federal judge has ruled that an advertising company's conduct in gathering
detailed information about consumers through the use of "cookies" -- small
files containing identification numbers -- and other technology for the
purpose of targeting online ads does not violate federal laws. The ruling
last week, by United States District Court Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald, in
Manhattan dismissed at an early stage a consolidated class-action lawsuit
against DoubleClick, the largest provider of Internet advertising products
and services in the world. Lawyers say the decision is significant because
it represents an important victory for the Internet advertising industry and
some Web publishers, whose data-collection practices have been denounced by
privacy advocates as an intrusive monitoring of consumer behavior online. In
addition, the case represents the first time a federal court has addressed
the applicability of federal laws to Internet advertising.
[SOURCE: CyberTimes, AUTHOR: Carl S. Kaplan]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/06/technology/06CYBERLAW.html)
(requires subscription)
FCC
FCC BUDGET OF $248,545,000 PROPOSED FOR FISCAL YEAR 2002
Issue: FCC
The President has submitted a budget to Congress that proposes fiscal year
2002 funding for the Federal Communications Commission of $248,545,000 and a
proposed staffing level of 1,975 full-time equivalents (FTEs). This budget
represents an increase of $18,545,000 over the FY 2001 appropriation level
of $230,000,000.
[SOURCE: FCC]
(http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/OMD/News_Releases/2001/nrmd0101.html)
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