BROADCASTING=20
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 Groups Ask Powell to Extend Debate
INTERNET=20
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 More Than One Internet Attack Occurred Monday
GROUPS ASK POWELL TO EXTEND MEDIA DEBATE=20
The Consumer Federation of America and the Center for Digital Democracy
joined several other groups Wednesday in filing a motion to extend =
public
comment time on the FCC's review of its media ownership rules. Though =
set to
end on December 2, 2002, the groups are asking for a four-month =
extension
following the release of report datasets. Currently, no date has been
established. "The question here is does FCC Chairman Michael Powell =
really
want a serious debate on this issue or not. If so, he will grant the
additional time extension, release the additional research information, =
and
hold field hearings," said Jeff Chester, executive director of the =
Center
for Digital Democracy. "If he doesn't grant this reasonable request, he
clearly isn't interested in ensuring meaningful discourse on these very
serious issues."=20
[SOURCE: Center for Digital Democracy]=20
(http://www.democraticmedia.org/news/washingtonwatch/ownershipExtension.=
html
)=20
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MORE THAN ONE INTERNET ATTACK OCCURED MONDAY
A coordinated Denial of Service attack on the Internet's 13 root =
servers
Monday was followed by another large-scale assault a few hours later,
according to reports from affected companies. The primary attack =
targeted
the heart of the worldwide Domain Name System, which converts numeric =
IP
addresses into words and names. The second attack struck "name" servers =
that
direct Internet users to locations such as the dot-com, dot-biz and =
dot-info
domains. If the servers for any domain were disabled long enough, users
would have difficulty reaching addresses within them. Fortunately, most =
name
and root servers have sufficient back-up capacity to minimize the =
likelihood
of such an attack. The Office of Homeland Security and the FBI are
investigating these incidents, noting that at this time it is unclear
whether the same source is to blame for the separate attacks.
[SOURCE: The Washington Post, AUTHORS: Brian Krebs and David McGuire]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6894-2002Oct23.html)
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