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ACM TechNews - Monday, December 11, 2000
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ACM TechNews
Volume 2, Number 140
Date: December 11, 2000
Site Sponsored by Gateway (http://www.gateway.com)
Top Stories for Monday, December 11, 2000:
http://www.acm.org/technews/current/homepage.html
"Slowdown Forces Tech Firms to Tighten Belts"
"'So, Fire Me!'"
"Privacy a Likely Loser in Treaty"
"The Uniting Geeks of America"
"So Far, 'Tis Season for E-Tailers to Be Jolly"
"Ranks of Privacy 'Pragmatists' Are Growing"
"Forrester Exec Injects Security Summit With Harsh Truths"
"Pentagon Barraged With More Than 22,000 Electronic Attacks in 1999"
"Federal Spending on E-Gov Efforts Expected to Grow"
"Hong Kong Govt Proposes New Laws to Tackle Cyber Crime"
"German Officials Warn of Net 'Big Brother'"
"Key Committee Faces Choices on Broadband, Privacy"
"Putting Russia's Democracy to the Test"
"Sleeping With the Enemy"
"Beware Prying E-Mails"
"Training and Retraining Stop the IT Brain Drain"
"UCITA Questions Could Lead to Purposefully Poor Design of
Ordinary Goods"
"Is Your PC Watching You?"
******************* News Stories ***********************
"Slowdown Forces Tech Firms to Tighten Belts"
High-tech heavyweights are reigning in their spending in response
to the fall in the stock market, slow PC sales, and signs of an
economic downturn. Companies are cutting back on travel and
equipment, research and development, and bonuses for executives. . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/1211m.html#item1
"'So, Fire Me!'"
The number of employees laid-off by struggling or failed dot-coms
continues to rise, but industry observers say many of those
laid-off employees, as well as those who survive the job cuts,
remain positive about the outlook for future employment and do . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/1211m.html#item2
"Privacy a Likely Loser in Treaty"
The Council of Europe is unlikely to add privacy provisions to
its controversial international cybercrime treaty, according to
Henrik Kaspersen, chairman of the council's cybercrime committee.
Kaspersen said that the council would like to include privacy . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/1211m.html#item3
"The Uniting Geeks of America"
Industry observers say an increasing number of high-tech workers
are dissatisfied with their jobs. Common complaints, especially
among call center and distribution center employees, include low
pay, stock options that have lost a large percentage of their . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/1211m.html#item4
"So Far, 'Tis Season for E-Tailers to Be Jolly"
E-tailers are enjoying a strong holiday season, according to
several economic indicators that show large gains in the number
of consumers buying online. The Economy.com/PC Data Index of
Online Shopping, which measures how many consumers purchase items . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/1211m.html#item5
"Ranks of Privacy 'Pragmatists' Are Growing"
Most Americans support the dissemination of data contained in
public records, but they also say that there must be a legitimate
legal or social reason for the extraction of this data, according
to a recent survey conducted by Privacy and American Business and . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/1211m.html#item6
"Forrester Exec Injects Security Summit With Harsh Truths"
Contradicting Bill Gates' optimistic tone at the recent Microsoft
SafeNet 2000 security summit, Forrester Research director of
politics and government John McCarthy cast a more negative pall,
raising the specter of government regulations to deal with . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/1211m.html#item7
"Pentagon Barraged With More Than 22,000 Electronic Attacks in 1999"
The Pentagon was hit by 22,000 electronic attacks on its computer
network in 1999, and so far this year that number has increased
by about 10 percent. Analysts contend that the huge majority of
the attacks were harmless pranks, but a few cases are believed to . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/1211m.html#item8
"Federal Spending on E-Gov Efforts Expected to Grow"
E-government spending in the federal IT budget will increase from
24 percent next year to 28 percent in 2005, according to a new
study by Input. Although Input forecasts federal IT spending
will increase 5 percent, e-government spending will rise 10 . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/1211m.html#item9
"Hong Kong Govt Proposes New Laws to Tackle Cyber Crime"
The Hong Kong government's Working Group on Computer Related
Crime has released a report calling for changes to the SAR's laws
on cybercrime, noting that "certain legal concepts" have been
unable to keep pace with the information age. The group called . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/1211m.html#item10
"German Officials Warn of Net 'Big Brother'"
German commissioners in charge of ensuring personal data freedom
are warning of new legislation proposed by the German Conference
of Interior Ministers that would require ISPs to track and store
data on Net surfing. The Interior Ministers requested . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/1211m.html#item11
"Key Committee Faces Choices on Broadband, Privacy"
Outgoing House Commerce Committee Chairman Tom Bliley (R-Va.)
says he has been lobbying the Chamber of Commerce to help develop
a privacy mark for the Internet industry that would effectively
eliminate the need for privacy legislation. However, if the . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/1211m.html#item12
"Putting Russia's Democracy to the Test"
Russian Premier Vladimir Putin has launched an assault on the
national media that is threatening the growth of the Internet
economy. Only 3 million Russian citizens have Internet access;
however, recent surveys show that 46 percent of the population is . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/1211m.html#item13
"Sleeping With the Enemy"
The old axiom of keeping one's friends and partners close but
one's competition even closer appears to be the guiding force
behind the New Economy, which sees companies partnering and
collaborating on one deal and competing on another. The alliance . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/1211m.html#item14
"Beware Prying E-Mails"
New technology that places invisible HTML "bugs" in recipients'
emails to track their usage is becoming increasingly common,
allowing marketers more access to consumer and company
information. The technology has code that tells how often and . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/1211m.html#item15
"Training and Retraining Stop the IT Brain Drain"
Companies could improve their retention of IT workers by offering
training and professional development opportunities, which many
workers say is the most important factor influencing whether they
stay at a job. Training is particularly attractive to networking . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/1211m.html#item16
"UCITA Questions Could Lead to Purposefully Poor Design of
Ordinary Goods"
The National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws
(NCCUSL) is pushing to exclude software from the law that governs
the sale of goods in the United States. Instead of remaining
under Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code, the NCCUSL wants . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/1211m.html#item17
"Is Your PC Watching You?"
After worrying that large-scale companies would abuse spyware,
privacy advocates are somewhat bewildered now that similar
software products are being targeted to small business owners,
spouses, and parents. Companies such as Dow Chemical and Xerox . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/1211m.html#item18
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