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ACM TechNews - Wednesday, June 28, 2000



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ACM TechNews
Volume 2, Number 74
Date: June 28, 2000
Site Sponsored by Gateway (http://www.gateway.com)

Top Stories for Wednesday, June 28, 2000:
http://www.acm.org/technews/current/homepage.html


"Oracle Hired Firm to Probe Microsoft Allies"
"Protection From Cyber-Attack Sought"
"Hand-Held Devices Steal Spotlight at PC Expo"
"House Approves Budget Bill That Curbs Clinton's Spending on
 Technology, U.N."
"Firms Crack Down on E-Mail"
"Study Predicts Huge Growth in Business-to-Business Web Sector"
"Americans Rule the Web--for Now"
"Amazon's Hottest Product: Skepticism"
"Germany Wants Hate Crackdown"
"Who Wins in the New Economy?"
"Industry Group Opposes New Internet Tax Legislation"
"Embassies to Test Worldwide Net"
"Bermuda Changes Taxes, Laws to Promote E-Commerce"
"Six Political Issues That IT Professionals Need to Help
 Politicians Understand"
"Basically Uncrackable"

******************* News Stories ***********************

"Oracle Hired Firm to Probe Microsoft Allies"
Oracle yesterday publicly admitted that it employed detective
agency Investigative Group International (IGI) to investigate
trade associations it claims were used by Microsoft as "front
groups" to sway public opinion about the company during its . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0628w.html#item1

"Protection From Cyber-Attack Sought"
The United States is seeking ways to defend itself from
cyber-attacks that could wreak havoc on the nation's
technological infrastructure.  The problem is particularly
daunting because these attacks could come from any number of . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0628w.html#item2

"Hand-Held Devices Steal Spotlight at PC Expo"
The PC Expo kicked off yesterday in New York, focusing more on
the growing handheld market than on PCs.  Jeff Hawkins, who
helped develop the original Palm Pilot and went on to found
Handspring, delivered the keynote address.  Rather than . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0628w.html#item3

"House Approves Budget Bill That Curbs Clinton's Spending on
 Technology, U.N."
President Clinton's technology budget would be significantly
slashed by the $37.4 billion budget bill that the House passed
yesterday, which will now be sent to the Senate.  The measure
would cut heavily into the Commerce Department budget, reducing . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0628w.html#item4

"Firms Crack Down on E-Mail"
Employers are increasingly monitoring workers' email and Internet
use due to concerns about liability and lost productivity.
Roughly 45 percent of U.S. companies monitor employees'
electronic activities such as email, Internet use, and voice . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0628w.html#item5

"Study Predicts Huge Growth in Business-to-Business Web Sector"
Business-to-business e-commerce will grow from $336 million today
to $6 trillion by 2005, Jupiter Communications predicts.  By
2005, 42 percent of all product transactions among businesses
will occur online, up from 3 percent currently, says Jupiter.  . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0628w.html#item6

"Americans Rule the Web--for Now"
The U.S. military and academic establishments built the Internet,
and American technology and investment capital caused it to
flourish, but now the rest of the world is catching up.  More
than half of the people now online live outside of the United . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0628w.html#item7

"Amazon's Hottest Product: Skepticism"
Amazon's meteoric rise is being followed by an equally dramatic
fall, investors believe.  Six months after Time magazine dubbed
Amazon chief Jeff Bezos "Person of the Year," stock in the online
company has fallen more than 66 percent.  Although Amazon.com . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0628w.html#item8

"Germany Wants Hate Crackdown"
Germany, which has seen its extreme right-wing political faction
increase its online presence tenfold since 1996, recently hosted
an international conference on Internet extremism.  Germany's
justice minister, Herta Daubler-Gmelin, said Tuesday that both . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0628w.html#item9

"Who Wins in the New Economy?"
The computer age has been called both a centralizing and
democratizing agent, according to Alan Murray's The Wealth of
Choices.  Murray writes that opinion appears to be split among
two camps: one ascribing to the Monopolist myth, and the other to . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0628w.html#item10

"Industry Group Opposes New Internet Tax Legislation"
The Internet Tax Fairness Coalition (ITFC) is criticizing a bill
introduced last week by Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) that would
restrict federal lawmakers' voice in the Internet tax debate.
Dorgan's bill gives states the power to determine what parties . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0628w.html#item11

"Embassies to Test Worldwide Net"
Following a recommendation from the Overseas Presence Advisory
Panel, the State Department intends to test a program that would
connect via the Internet U.S. diplomatic missions around the
world and all federal agencies with an international presence.  . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0628w.html#item12

"Bermuda Changes Taxes, Laws to Promote E-Commerce"
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has
concluded its investigation into the tax practices of most of the
world's offshore jurisdictions, and has decided that Bermuda, San
Marino, the Cayman Islands, Mauritius, Cyprus, and Malta are not . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0628w.html#item13

"Six Political Issues That IT Professionals Need to Help
 Politicians Understand"
Politicians with a limited understanding of technology will be
legislating on six major IT-related issues over the next two
years, and IT workers need to provide some input on these issues,
writes Michael Vizard.  In terms of privacy, IT workers need to . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0628w.html#item14

"Basically Uncrackable"
Several research organizations around the globe, including a team
of scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory, are using the
laws of quantum physics to create what could be unbreakable data
encryption systems.  Called quantum cryptography, the new systems . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0628w.html#item15


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