ACM TechNews - Wednesday, August 9, 2000

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ACM TechNews
Volume 2, Number 91
Date: August 9, 2000
Site Sponsored by Gateway (http://www.gateway.com)

Top Stories for Wednesday, August 9, 2000:
http://www.acm.org/technews/current/homepage.html

"Gore's Running Mate a High-Tech Favorite"
"Putting Napster's Technology to Other Uses"
"Study: Achilles' Heel Leaves Net Vulnerable"
"Germany Aims to Ban Nazi Web Addresses"
"Chasing Hollywood 'Pirates'"
"China Closes First Locally Based Dissident Web Site"
"No Such Thing as a Free PC"
"Recruits Ask for the Moon--and Sometimes Get It"
"World to Privacy Sites: Now or Never"
"E-Business Gets Dynamic"
"Don't Squat on My Name"
"Wild About Wireless?"
"Molecular Electronics Will Change Everything"
"Is the 'Digital Divide' a Virtual Reality?"
"RSA: Time's Up"

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

"Gore's Running Mate a High-Tech Favorite"
The high-tech industry will welcome Vice President Al Gore's new
running mate, Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman, industry
observers predicted yesterday.  The tech industry considers
Lieberman a champion of many of its causes, including an . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0809w.html#item1

"Putting Napster's Technology to Other Uses"
Although most observers are concerned with what Napster means for
the future of copyright-protection laws, the technology behind
the music-exchange service offers intriguing possibilities for
other uses.  Napster and similar services such as Gnutella work . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0809w.html#item2

"Study: Achilles' Heel Leaves Net Vulnerable"
The Internet's infrastructure could allow hackers to launch
potentially devastating terrorist attacks, a study by Nature
magazine concluded.  The study found that the Internet operates
as a network of nodes, almost all of which are end users.  . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0809w.html#item3

"Germany Aims to Ban Nazi Web Addresses"
The German government is attempting to stem a rising tide of
neo-Nazi activity, and with the number of German neo-Nazi Web
sites having risen from 32 in 1996 to 330 as of today, a
crackdown on hate sites on the Internet has become a government . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0809w.html#item4

"Chasing Hollywood 'Pirates'"
Legal observers believe that a case involving the movie and DVD
industries may determine the extent of online copyright
protection.  Several major Hollywood studios recently filed suit
against a Norwegian teenager who discovered how to crack the . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0809w.html#item5

"China Closes First Locally Based Dissident Web Site"
Chinese authorities last week shut down the country's first
locally-based Web site that criticized the government, marking
the latest chapter in China's ongoing struggle to control
political expression on the Internet.  The New Culture Forum . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0809w.html#item6

"No Such Thing as a Free PC"
The downward slope of PC prices in recent years coupled with
recent rebate offers led to speculation that PCs would become a
free commodity sold with Internet service, but PC makers are
finding that prices cannot fall much below $400.  Even eMachines, . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0809w.html#item7

"Recruits Ask for the Moon--and Sometimes Get It"
High-tech job seekers expect certain conveniences when looking
for a new position, and high-tech companies often are successful
at meeting these requests.  One company that has proven to be
accommodating in order to hire desired recruits is Network . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0809w.html#item8

"World to Privacy Sites: Now or Never"
TrustE, a non-profit privacy seal Web site, drew fire from
critics upon discovery that TrustE members Microsoft and
RealNetworks were collecting private information about people
that had downloaded software from those companies and that this . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0809w.html#item9

"E-Business Gets Dynamic"
Outsourcing is at the root of prosperity, says Ed Yardeni, chief
economist at Deutsche Bank in New York, adding that outsourcing
is merely a new term for what economist Adam Smith labeled the
division of labor.  Many companies apparently agree, based on the . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0809w.html#item10

"Don't Squat on My Name"
Both the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act and ICANN's
Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) can be successful at
preventing cybersquatting or at stopping businesses or
individuals from using a domain name based on another company's . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0809w.html#item11

"Wild About Wireless?"
Although Europeans are typically credited with having been the
pioneers of wireless technology, statistics from Forrester
Research indicate that consumers there have been slow to embrace
the Internet.   Forrester says only 6.1 million people in Europe . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0809w.html#item12

"Molecular Electronics Will Change Everything"
Research by Rice University chemist Jim Tour and Yale engineer
Mark Reed may be able to push forward the science of molecular
electronics, or moletronics.  For 10 years, Tour and Reed have
been creating and testing molecules with unique properties, with . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0809w.html#item13

"Is the 'Digital Divide' a Virtual Reality?"
The current market for personal computers and Internet access
should reveal that there is no digital divide.  The continued
decline in computer prices is evidence that some Americans will
not be left behind.  PC Data says the average cost of a new PC . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0809w.html#item14

"RSA: Time's Up"
The U.S. patent for the RSA algorithm, one of the most commonly
installed components of software in computing history, will
expire on September 20, 2000, leaving RSA Security, the patent
holder, without the control once held by the company over when, . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0809w.html#item15


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