ACM TechNews - Monday, August 28, 2000

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ACM TechNews
Volume 2, Number 99
Date: August 28, 2000
Site Sponsored by Gateway (http://www.gateway.com)

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

"Greenspan Upbeat on Technology"
"Visa Now, But Immigration Later"
"Silicon Valley Gets Revved Up for the Election"
"Republicans Work for Change With E-Commerce Site"
"Users' Rights Take Another Hit in Ruling"
"A Short Life for Ads at Top of Web Pages"
"DeCSS Trial Wrap Up"
"Security Flaw Discovered in Webmail System"
"Domain Name Reflection"
"Question of Internet Vulnerability Gets Researchers Clicking"
"UK Delays Work Email Legislation"
"Four Root Servers on Internet Failed for Brief Period"
"Profiteers Get Squat for Web Names"
"Tech Program Fights for Funds"
"Privacy and Personalization: Can They Meet on the 'Net?"
"What the Internet Cannot Do"
"Guys Have All the Fun"
"The Military's Lessons for Private Industry"
"The Top 10 Emerging Technologies"

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

"Greenspan Upbeat on Technology"
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, speaking Friday at an
economic conference in Jackson, Wyo., cited technology as the
main reason for the continued growth of productivity in the
United States.  Greenspan said, "The most recent wave of . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0828m.html#item1

"Visa Now, But Immigration Later"
Tech companies frustrated by the long application process for
H-1B visas and green cards can now turn to VisaNow.com, which
promises to speed up the process.  VisaNow coordinates the
distribution and collection of all necessary paperwork.  The . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0828m.html#item2

"Silicon Valley Gets Revved Up for the Election"
Silicon Valley is becoming increasingly political as the upcoming
presidential election draws closer and issues such as Internet
taxation, H-1B visas, and online privacy remain unresolved.  In
addition to traditional issues such as more funding for research . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0828m.html#item3

"Republicans Work for Change With E-Commerce Site"
The California Republican Party has opened a new e-commerce site,
RepublicanShopping.com, which donates a portion of each purchase
to the party's fundraising efforts.  Stuart DeVeaux, the
communications director for the California Republican Party, . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0828m.html#item4

"Users' Rights Take Another Hit in Ruling"
A recent decision by a federal judge in New York City has further
restricted what users may access and trade over the Internet,
writes Dan Gillmor.  Judge Lewis Kaplan ruled that a Web site
must take down its links to the source code for DeCSS, a software . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0828m.html#item5

"A Short Life for Ads at Top of Web Pages"
Most online ads run no more than three weeks before expiring,
according to a new study by Media Metrix's AdRelevance unit.  The
one-year study of banner ads on the 500 most popular Web sites
determines that 23.7 percent of all Web ads are pulled after only . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0828m.html#item6

"DeCSS Trial Wrap Up"
A federal judge concluded a lawsuit brought by the movie industry
with a ruling that outlaws the posting of the DeCSS code that
decrypts DVDs, but the trial failed to resolve issues such as
free speech, fair use, and reverse engineering.  The suit began . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0828m.html#item7

"Security Flaw Discovered in Webmail System"
A security flaw that could affect 100 million people or more,
including users at Network Solutions, CompuServe, ICQ, AltaVista,
US West, and others, was located in Critical Path's online email
service.  An attacker could simply steal a "session cookie" from . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0828m.html#item8

"Domain Name Reflection"
On Wednesday, ICANN's current chairperson Esther Dyson gave the
keynote speech at the Progress & Freedom Foundation's technology
policy conference in Aspen, Colo., where she discussed the issues
that arose during ICANN's development.  Since the start, ICANN . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0828m.html#item9

"Question of Internet Vulnerability Gets Researchers Clicking"
Researchers are starting to study the breaking point of the
Internet.  And although they believe that any random breakdown of
routers, the specialized computers that connect smaller regional
networks of the Internet, would not crash the Internet, an . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0828m.html#item10

"UK Delays Work Email Legislation"
The U.K. Department of Trade and Industry has pushed back by
three weeks the implementation date of new rules that permit
employers to monitor their employees' emails.  The controversial
rules, originally scheduled to take effect Oct. 2, will now . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0828m.html#item11

"Four Root Servers on Internet Failed for Brief Period"
Four of 13 root servers, the vital computers that support the
Internet, stopped working properly on Wednesday night because of
a technical glitch.  The servers that went down, labeled "B,"
"G," "J," and "M," were located in Tokyo, California, and . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0828m.html#item12

"Profiteers Get Squat for Web Names"
Cybersquatting is again making a stir in the Internet universe,
but this time the cybersquatters are taking a fall as the WIPO
has been ruling in favor of the plaintiffs in 80 percent of its
cases since December.  The rulings have sparked a wave of new . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0828m.html#item13

"Tech Program Fights for Funds"
The National Institute of Standards and Technology's Advanced
Technology Program (ATP) is again trying to fend off the efforts
of Republicans in the House of Representatives as they push to
eliminate all of the program's $270 million in funding.  The ATP . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0828m.html#item14

"Privacy and Personalization: Can They Meet on the 'Net?"
Companies are having a difficult time reconciling the public's
desire for both privacy and personalization on the Internet.
Recent studies by Odyssey show that 80 percent of Americans want
the government to force corporations to protect consumer privacy, . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0828m.html#item15

"What the Internet Cannot Do"
The Internet is one of the latest technologies to be hailed by
many as a cure for conflict, pollution, and inequality.  However,
it appears that the Internet will not bring about world peace,
nor will it raise all to the same level.  Many people assume that . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0828m.html#item16

"Guys Have All the Fun"
Online entertainment lacks programming that appeals to women,
despite the fact that women now account for slightly more than
half of the online population, according to a recent survey from
Media Metrix and Jupiter Communications.  Top entertainment sites . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0828m.html#item17

"The Military's Lessons for Private Industry"
The U.S. military's knowledge management efforts are far more
effective than those of private industry, according to Larry
Prusak, executive director of the IBM Institute for Knowledge
Management, and Paul Strassmann, professor of information warfare . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0828m.html#item18

"The Top 10 Emerging Technologies"
Portable information devices head George Washington University
Forecast's list of the Top 10 breakthroughs for the next 10
years.  The virtual think tank that conducts its research
electronically envisions a post-PC world by 2003 in which 30 . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/0828m.html#item19


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