Clips September 10, 2002

[Lillie Coney <lillie.coney@xxxxxxx>]

Clips September 10, 2002

ARTICLES

Will Florida flub it again? Tuesday's primary in national spotlight 
[Election Reform]
INS to begin fingerprinting 'suspicious' tourists [Privacy]
LePore scrambles after 100 poll workers quit in Palm Beach County [Election 
Reform]
Administration Pares Cyber-Security Plan
War Room's Eyes Out for Terror [Linking Data]
Surveillance Society Don't look you're being watched [Privacy]
A Driver's License Debate in Calif
Americans favor homeland agency even as trust in government drops
Los Alamos lab creates homeland security office
IT watchfulness rises, but budgets limit change
All-in-one war-driving kit now available [Computer Security]
IT watchfulness rises, but budgets limit change
Corporate America now on front lines of war on terror
File-Sharing Networks Relying on VCR Ruling
Satellite Nets Used To Fight Terror
Microsoft says Win 2000 hacking outbreak subsides

**************************
Sun-Sntinel
Will Florida flub it again? Tuesday's primary in national spotlight
By William E. Gibson
Washington Bureau Chief
Posted September 9 2002

WASHINGTON -- For better or worse, Florida's performance at the polls on 
Tuesday will be held up to the nation as the leading test case for election 
reform.

Will this mean ridicule, recounts and confusion -- more fodder for 
talk-show comedians? Or will Florida's party primaries, carried out on the 
cutting edge of voting technology, show other states and federal officials 
how to conduct an election in the 21st century?

While political observers await the results of a suspenseful Democrat 
primary for governor, election reformers will be more interested in whether 
the state's new voting machines work without a hitch, whether new 
provisional balloting resolves voter-registration disputes, whether poll 
workers seem to know what they are doing and whether swarms of voters can 
operate new equipment for the first time.

Florida, in other words, will be the model or the goat of election reform.

The much-maligned Sunshine State, stung by the electoral debacle of 2000, 
has surged ahead with reforms and new equipment while other states and the 
federal government continue to dither. Congress appears on the verge of 
approving a federal election-reform package, complete with money for 
states, but it has missed its self-imposed deadline of putting national 
standards in place for this year's elections.

"Washington has benefited by watching states that have moved forward, for 
positive and negative lessons. Florida is a year or two ahead of other 
states in taking action and suffering the growing pains that go with it," 
said Doug Chapin, a former Senate counsel and now project director of 
Electionline.org, a nonpartisan research group that tracks election reform.

"This primary and the general election [in November] will show how 
effective reform has been," Chapin said. "If not a model, Florida is a 
window on the near- to mid-term future, giving other states and the federal 
government an idea of what elections will look like in 2003 and beyond."

Expect some problems, Chapin and other experts warned.

"When using new technology on a broad scale, you are going to see 
programming errors and misunderstandings in how it is tabulated," he said. 
"Any time there's lots of new technology, there is going to be a gap 
between how it is supposed to work and how it actually works on election 
night."

Cost of reform

Other states are waiting for the federal government to spell out guidelines 
and dispense millions of dollars to help pay the cost of reform. Many 
states, strapped by budget deficits, simply don't have the resources to 
transform their voting systems without federal help.

The House and Senate have each passed election-reform bills, and both 
versions would send money to states that upgrade their systems, expand 
voter education and improve poll-worker training any time after 2000. Rep. 
Jim Davis, D-Tampa, injected language in the House bill to ensure the money 
can be applied retroactively so that Florida will get funds for reforms 
already in the works.

But many states are waiting to see whether the House and Senate can resolve 
their remaining differences -- mainly over how to enforce national 
guidelines -- before taking up state reforms. Those negotiating the federal 
legislation appear to be headed for a bottom line of about $3.5 billion 
over three years for election reform.

President Bush, meanwhile, vetoed a supplemental spending bill for this 
fiscal year that contained $400 million for states as a down payment on 
election reform. While vetoing that bill for other reasons, Bush has 
indicated he would support the pending reform bill.

"I am terribly disappointed in the failure to get this law passed sooner," 
Rep. Davis, one of the negotiators, said last week. "I think Congress is 
getting close. There is bipartisan support for election reform."

Florida moves ahead

While Congress debated, the Florida Legislature approved a reform package 
last year to replace the notorious punch-card machines of 2000 with 
touch-screen or optical-scan devices. The state also will experiment with a 
"provisional ballot." That will allow a voter whose registration is 
questioned to go ahead and cast a ballot, which then would be counted once 
eligibility is established.

"My attitude has always been: `I wouldn't wait on them [federal 
legislators]. Florida is a big sophisticated state. We had better go ahead 
and fix our thing as best as a possible,'" Florida Secretary of State Jim 
Smith said last week.

"It's ridiculous that we are in the 2002 primary season and the feds are 
still screwing around," Smith said. "Many states don't have resources like 
Florida. For them, it's extremely difficult."

Florida officials remain concerned about getting voters acquainted with 
unaccustomed machinery and making sure they are situated in their proper 
polling places, especially after congressional and legislative districts 
were redrawn.

Already problems have flared in South Florida. Thousands of Broward County 
residents received two sets of voting cards in the past week, telling them 
to vote in two separate locations. Officials in Boward and Palm Beach 
counties also have had to struggle to find enough poll workers.

State officials have prepared public-service announcements warning voters 
that their polling places may have changed, while encouraging them to check 
out the new equipment before election day. And they are urging people to 
vote early in the days leading up to the primary -- in essence casting an 
absentee ballots -- to diminish the crush of voters on election day.

"I'm not guaranteeing a perfect election," Smith said. "We've done about 
the best we can. I do think Florida now is truly a model that other states 
should follow."

William E. Gibson can be reached at wgibson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx or 
202-824-8256 in Washington.
**************************
Sun-Sentinel
INS to begin fingerprinting 'suspicious' tourists
By Susan Sachs
The New York Times
Posted September 9 2002

Immigration agents at the nation's border crossings, airports and seaports 
will begin this week to fingerprint foreigners they suspect may pose 
security risks and will require those visitors regularly to report where 
they are staying and what they are doing in the United States.

The new procedures, intended to improve the monitoring of certain 
foreigners, will apply to anyone arriving with a student, business or 
tourist visa and who is thought to fit the criteria of a potential terrorist.

Justice Department officials said they would not disclose the criteria that 
the agents would use in determining who will be required to submit to 
fingerprinting, as well as photographing, for fear of jeopardizing 
intelligence-gathering.

Still, the widespread assumption among civil liberties groups and Muslim 
Americans is that visitors from Arab and Islamic nations will receive the 
closest scrutiny. Arab nations have drawn the same conclusion and the 
22-member Arab League has denounced the new effort as discriminatory.

The new measures are supposed to go into effect on a trial basis at some 
ports of entry on Wednesday and to be in operation at all border crossings 
by Oct. 1. The Justice Department would not identify the ports that will 
start the monitoring this week.

Many Muslim visa applicants already are singled out for additional 
investigation before they leave home. In line with a post-Sept. 11 rule, 
applicants from 26 countries, a list that is dominated by Islamic nations, 
must be cleared by the FBI before their requests are reviewed at U.S. 
consulates. That policy, put into place two months after the terrorist 
attacks on New York and Washington last year, affects men between the ages 
of 26 and 45.

A spokesman for the Justice Department, Jorge Martínez said fingerprints 
and photographs automatically would be taken of any citizen of Iran, Iraq, 
Syria, Sudan and Libya.
***************************
LePore scrambles after 100 poll workers quit in Palm Beach County
By KATHY BUSHOUSE
Posted September 9 2002, 11:25 AM EDT

Roughly 100 Palm Beach County elections poll workers quit the weekend 
before Tuesday's primary election, leaving county elections officials 
scrambling to find replacements.

County elections supervisor Theresa LePore said the poll workers quit 
because they didn't like their new precinct locations. Many of the county's 
polling places changed after the state went through its mandatory, 
once-every-decade reapportionment of voting districts.

Even though LePore said it was explained to the poll workers during eight 
hours of training and orientation classes that their poll locations could 
change this year, many decided to simply quit.

"It's just mind-boggling," LePore said.

Some called and faxed to let the elections office know they wouldn't show 
up Tuesday. Others didn't leave their names, phone numbers or even their 
polling places  they just called and left messages on the elections office 
voice mail, LePore said.

"We've been on the phone literally all weekend, calling people that we've 
got on our list," LePore said. "We've used up our contingency list, calling 
others to see if they'll work."

LePore said they're talking with the county's school district about using 
substitute teachers as poll workers. She is also coordinating with the 
county government to put 50 county employees through poll worker training 
today, so those people can be used as back-up.

"We'll use them one way or the other," LePore said. "We're just afraid 
people are not going to show up in the morning."

Polls open at 7 Tuesday morning and close at 7 in the evening.
********************************
Washington Post
Administration Pares Cyber-Security Plan
Firms Fight Some Recommendations

By Ariana Eunjung Cha
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 10, 2002; Page A04



As the White House moves to finalize a national plan to better secure 
cyberspace, high-tech firms and other companies are continuing a furious 
campaign to have some recommendations struck from the document.

The administration no longer plans to recommend that Internet service 
providers such as America Online, MSN and EarthLink bundle firewall and 
other security technology with their software. Instead, it will ask ISPs to 
"make it easier" for home users to get access to such protections.

It also does not plan to recommend that a privacy czar be appointed to 
oversee how companies make use of their customers' personal information, 
according to several people involved in drafting the document.

A government official said the changes were made in hopes the plan would be 
adopted voluntarily by industry and not necessitate another layer of 
government regulation.

Several companies have argued that if the government tells people what to 
buy and dictates how they should run their businesses, innovation will be 
squelched. But others said private industry was more concerned about the 
costs involved in carrying out the recommendations. Businesses also worry 
about taking on new legal liability.

"I've been really shocked at how companies have been acting in their own 
interest rather than in the national interest," said Allan Paller, director 
of the SANS Institute, a computer-security think tank and education center.

Harris Miller, president of the Information Technology Association of 
America, which represents 500 companies, said the private sector is in no 
way trying to dilute the plan. It was the industry, in fact, that first 
suggested a plan be developed, he said.

"The idea that industry is somehow a reluctant partner is inaccurate," 
Miller said.

At about 150 pages, the National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace, which is 
scheduled to be released Sept. 18, remains a weighty document outlining 
about 80 new obligations for the government, companies, universities and 
even home computer users.

The most extensive recommendations are for the government. The plan would 
restrict federal workers from using certain wireless technologies and 
mandate that agencies only purchase software that has been certified to be 
secure.

One of the top priorities, according to one draft, is for the government 
and the private sector is to make sure computers that control major systems 
such as subways, nuclear reactors and dams are secure.

Also under consideration are recommendations calling for the establishment 
of a center that would study computer viruses, worms and other security 
threats; an accreditation board that would certify security personnel; and 
a private-public program that would help pay for security enhancements for 
critical parts of the Internet, including the routers that direct traffic, 
as well as operating systems such as Windows, Linux and the Mac OS.

Some drafts also outline plans for the collection and analysis of network 
data that pass through universities -- places often used as jumping-off 
points for cyber-attacks. The draft also includes a plan to educate home 
users on how to secure their computers.

The national strategy is being compiled and analyzed by Richard A. Clarke, 
director of the Office of Cyberspace Security, with input from a cross 
section of industry representatives, computer science experts and others.

It is scheduled to be delivered to President Bush for his signature in the 
next week.
***************************
Washington Post
War Room's Eyes Out for Terror
Safety: Data center links the intelligence gathering of police agencies 
statewide.
By WILLIAM OVEREND
TIMES STAFF WRITER
September 10 2002

Hidden away in an industrial park in the City of Commerce is the California 
Anti-Terrorism Information Center for Los Angeles County. The sign near the 
entrance says it all: "War Room."

Inside, on the walls, are four large screens, pinpointing major law 
enforcement operations in progress. On a busy day, about a dozen computer 
operators are needed to track it all.

This isn't something out of a Tom Clancy book, where high-level officials 
watch secret operations as they unfold via satellite feed. At least not 
yet. The technology is limited: the computers, a couple of TVs, the large 
locator screens.

But officials say this is a crucial part of California's post-9/11 
anti-terror network, intended to link 100,000 law enforcement officers 
around the state. If a terrorist network in California is ever to be found, 
state officials think the break might come at this grass-roots level. And 
the California Anti-Terrorism Information Center, or CATIC, could provide 
intelligence that paves the way.

"It's probably the one element in the whole anti-terror structure that's 
going to give us the one nugget we need someday, that final piece of the 
puzzle," said George Vinson, chief anti-terror advisor to Gov. Gray Davis. 
"That's because the information coming into CATIC is coming from street 
cops who are out there. While the FBI may end up putting 80% of the puzzle 
together with the high-level intelligence it gathers, I think it's going to 
ultimately come down to the cop on the street who notices something strange 
one day."

In addition to the Los Angeles County center, there are now special state 
Department of Justice task force operations scattered throughout the state. 
There is another room like this in Sacramento, and there are offices in 
Fresno, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose and Shasta 
counties.

The California Anti-Terrorism Information Center system is one of three 
components in the state's homeland defense network, Vinson said.

At the highest level are Joint Terrorism Task Forces run by the FBI, 
involving the CIA and all major urban police agencies. Those groups are 
deluged daily with secret global, national and local intelligence.

Then come regional response teams known as Terrorist Early Warning Groups, 
often headed by local sheriffs. These are assigned the job of coordinating 
the immediate response to any terrorist incident.

"We become the intelligence arm at the street level for everybody else," 
said Ed Manavian, chief of the criminal intelligence bureau for the state 
Department of Justice. "We work anything, and once we find something we 
pass it along."

The California Anti-Terrorism Information Center links them all. Right 
after Sept. 11, state Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer gave Manavian responsibility 
for putting the center together. To move fast, he borrowed from existing 
law enforcement systems whenever possible.

Area police chiefs already had a drug-tracking system available through the 
Los Angeles County Regional Criminal Information Clearinghouse, and the 
California Anti-Terrorism Information Center was allowed to share one of 
its rooms in the City of Commerce.

On any given day, symbols flashing on the room's large screens show 
hundreds of drug raids and stakeouts in progress just in the Los Angeles 
County area. The screens might locate one or two anti-terrorist 
investigations. Officials expect it will pretty much stay that way.

Manavian sees drug dealing and terrorism as a natural pairing. He believes 
that Al Qaeda terrorists entering California would have to, at some point, 
hook up with local drug dealers linked to the Middle East or possibly to 
East European crime groups that would have the kind of money needed to help 
hide and protect the terrorists.

At the moment, a particular interest is the Middle Eastern dominance in the 
smuggling of pseudoephedrine, a main ingredient of methamphetamine, into 
the United States from Canada, where it is not illegal.

A couple of major busts in that area could help produce an important 
informant or two down the line, Manavian said. That's often how secret 
organizations are ultimately penetrated.

Meanwhile, a major preoccupation for Manavian and other top state and 
federal anti-terror officials is keeping communication lines open and 
avoiding the kind of turf problems that arise frequently among rival law 
enforcement agencies.

At all levels, officials say, there has been so much intelligence to 
process this year that they have suffered from information overload at 
times. But they are still at a stage where almost all tips must be checked. 
A major goal for this year is improving analysis capabilities.

"It's as important that we get our information out as it is for them to get 
their information to us," said FBI Assistant Director Ron Iden, head of the 
Los Angeles division.

"When anything strikes me as potentially important, I'm on the phone 
personally to the top people in the LAPD and the Orange County and Los 
Angeles [County] sheriff's departments. We all have to share on this one."

Still, at least some of the top-secret information received by the FBI can 
be passed along only in general form for reasons of national security.

That was one reason for another decision made by Manavian and top officials 
immediately after Sept. 11: They refused to accept any information that 
could not also be legally passed on to the public.

"We don't want people in the dark," said Vinson, the governor's chief 
anti-terrorism advisor. "If there is a threat anywhere, law enforcement 
will know about it. We will give it to them if they ask or not."
*******************************
San Francisco Chronicle
Surveillance Society Don't look you're being watched

These days, if you feel like somebody's watching you, you might be right.

One year after the Sept. 11 attacks, security experts and privacy advocates 
say there has been a surge in the number of video cameras installed around 
the country. The electronic eyes keep an unwavering gaze on everything from 
the Golden Gate Bridge to the Washington Monument.

And biometric facial recognition technology is being tested with video 
surveillance systems in a handful of places such as the Fresno airport and 
the resort area of Virginia Beach, Va.

"Our business is booming," said Ron Cadle, an executive with Pelco, the 
Fresno-area firm that is the biggest supplier of video security equipment.

"Since the terrorist attacks, people are not only using video surveillance 
to protect their property and inventory," Cadle said. For example, "a lot 
of people are now using video to make sure someone who walks into a 
department store isn't a known terrorist or felon."

Privacy rights advocates say that the increase in video surveillance has 
not turned the United States into a "Big Brother state" yet, but they fear 
Sept. 11 has opened the door to creating a "surveillance society."

"It definitely could become widespread," said Jay Stanley of the American 
Civil Liberties Union. "Everybody's using the threat of terrorism to 
justify a lot of things that don't have a lot to do with terrorism."

Video surveillance cameras began appearing in banks and other commercial 
buildings in the 1960s, but began to proliferate in the last decade as 
digital technology produced cameras with higher resolution at cheaper prices.

Even before Sept. 11, the security industry conservatively estimated that 
there were more than 2 million surveillance cameras in the United States, 
and video equipment purchases made up the biggest slice of a $40 
billion-a-year industry.

Although there are no current estimates, a group of anti-surveillance 
activists who have mapped the location of cameras in Manhattan since 1998 
say they've seen a 40 percent increase in new cameras in New York's 
financial district since last September.

The terrorist attacks have led to a "rapidly expanding use" of closed- 
circuit video cameras and related technology, according to a March 2002 
report by the research bureau of the California State Library.

And studies show that a majority of people support the expanded use of 
video surveillance of public areas and of facial recognition technology to 
pick out suspected terrorists, said Marcus Nieto, the report's co-author. 
Nieto has been monitoring video surveillance since 1997, the year public 
opposition forced the Oakland City Council to withdraw its plans to set up 
a video surveillance system.

"Before 9/11, cameras were something people didn't give much thought about, 
" he said. "Post 9/11, people are more accepting of cameras. There used to 
be vocal opposition. It's now passive."

Potential terrorist targets such as bridges and airports are beefing up 
video security. Oakland International Airport, for example, has already 
begun replacing 60 older surveillance cameras with higher-resolution 
digital color cameras, new color monitors and digital video recorders.

Earlier this year, Washington officials activated a state-of-the art 
command center that can monitor 12 cameras throughout the Capitol Mall area 
and has the capability to tap a network of other video surveillance cameras 
throughout the city.

The ACLU and EPIC, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, argue that 
the system can be used to infringe on citizens' rights and are pushing for 
regulations and public oversight of its use.

"It's open-ended surveillance," said EPIC President Marc Rotenberg. "It's 
the digital electronic equivalent of allowing police to go through your 
home without a warrant."

Stanley, public education coordinator of the ACLU's newly-created 
Technology and Liberty program, said numerous studies have documented the 
misuse of surveillance video.

The studies found that minorities were more likely to be targets of video 
surveillance and that one in 10 women were targeted by the predominantly 
male security monitors for "voyeuristic reasons," he said.

Technology now being developed will make video surveillance equipment even 
more powerful. High-definition television, or HDTV, equipment makes it 
possible for surveillance cameras to capture an image of a person 3,000 
feet away with as much detail as one taken by an older analog camera at 30 
feet, said John Burwell, an executive with SGI.

The Mountain View firm known for high-tech computer graphics developed an 
HDTV surveillance system with the Naval Research Laboratory that gives 
equally high resolution.

"If you watch 'America's Most Wanted,' you get clips of (surveillance) 
video that are fuzzy," said Burwell, SGI's senior director for government 
and industry. With HDTV, "you can get crystal clear data," he said

And a small Reston, Va., firm called ObjectVideo has created "video content 
analysis" technology that can, for example, automatically alert security 
officials whenever a surveillance camera detects a truck that has moved 
into an unauthorized area.

"There are increasingly more cameras being installed and fewer people to 
watch them," said John Clark, an ObjectVideo vice president. "The ratio of 
security video feeds to eyeballs is going the wrong way."

But the most controversial video surveillance technology has been biometric 
facial recognition, which can identify individuals using the unique 
distances between specific points on a person's face. Critics maintain the 
technology is inaccurate and intrusive.

So far, facial recognition systems from makers such as Identix Inc. and 
Imagis Technologies Inc. have only been installed in a handful of systems, 
mainly for test purposes.

For example, passengers moving through the security checkpoint at Fresno 
Yosemite International Airport are scanned by a system called PelcoMatch, 
which uses Pelco's cameras and Identix's Visionics facial identification 
technology.

Facial scanning is voluntary for the passengers, who still pass through 
metal detectors and undergo other security checks.

"We're trying to get testing done and get the Transportation Security 
Administration to buy into it," said Cadle, the PelcoMatch project leader. 
"Then every airport in the U.S. will have it."

And this past weekend, police in Virginia Beach, Va., began formally using 
a Visionics system that's plugged into a 10-camera surveillance network 
that has been used since 1993. Police use the cameras to control traffic 
and crime in a 42-block area filled with hotels, restaurants and bars.

Police added three of Pelco's most advanced digital cameras to help scan a 
database of 2,500 people wanted on various warrants, said Deputy Chief Greg 
Mullen.

In preliminary tests, the system correctly identified nearly nine of 10 
people, Mullen said. Mullen said citizen groups like the NAACP and local 
Hispanic and Filipino organizations are part of the design and oversight of 
the system.

"We know it's not going to be perfect," Mullen said. "But from my 
perspective, if I'm looking for a criminal or looking for a runaway or 
missing child, I'd rather have a seven- or eight-out-of-ten chance of 
finding that person than a zero-out-of-ten chance."

E-mail Benny Evangelista at bevangelista@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
*****************************
Washington Post
A Driver's License Debate in Calif.
Controversial Legislation Would Let Undocumented Workers Apply for Permits
By William Booth
Tuesday, September 10, 2002; Page A03

LOS ANGELES -- Ramon Hernandez waited patiently for his bus and 
contemplated the question. "A driver's license," said the janitor from 
Mexico, "makes everything better."

Naturally, he would covet one, even though he does not own a car or drive. 
But Hernandez shrugs. Like millions of his countrymen, he is in the country 
illegally.

For the past several years, advocates have been waging a campaign in state 
legislatures to allow undocumented immigrants to obtain a driver's license 
-- the ubiquitous piece of plastic infinitely useful for life's 
transactions and proof of legitimate residency. But any progress they were 
making ended on Sept. 11.

Now the California Legislature has sent to Gov. Gray Davis (D) a hotly 
debated measure that would make it easier for as many 1 million 
undocumented immigrants to get a state driver's license.

Proponents say that making a driver's license available to undocumented 
immigrants simply acknowledges reality -- that there are millions of such 
people living and working in America -- while making the roads safer by 
ensuring more drivers are properly licensed, tested and insured.

"It's good public policy," said state assembly member Gil Cedillo, a 
Democrat from Los Angeles who sponsored the legislation. "When you're 
involved in an auto accident, nobody is going to ask for your immigration 
status. They want to see your driver's license and insurance."

The governor, however, is under pressure not to sign the bill. Initially, 
Davis threatened a veto, but Cedillo and state Senator Richard Polanco (D) 
added provisions to require that undocumented immigrants who seek licenses 
undergo criminal background checks and fingerprinting.

Also, the pending law requires applicants to have lived in the United 
States for 15 months of the past three years, and they must show that they 
have sent paperwork to the Immigration and Naturalization Service applying 
for legal residency.

The measure still faces opposition from critics who say it rewards people 
who entered the United States illegally or have overstayed their visas.

"They broke the law to come here, and so they are not entitled to drive," 
said Dan Stein, executive director of the Federation for American 
Immigration Reform, which advocates tougher controls against illegal entry 
and work in the United States.

"A license just allows them to stay longer," Stein said, "whether or not 
they sent some piece of paper into the INS." Stein also warned: "This 
represents a massive security breach."

Issuing a driver's license is a matter left to the states, though many 
require applicants to have a Social Security number, which means they are 
either citizens or possess work papers. There is, however, a thriving 
industry churning out bogus Social Security cards and numbers.

Congress has taken an interest after it was discovered that at least four 
of the 19 hijackers on Sept. 11 held Virginia driver's licenses, which 
eased their travel around the United States. There are proposals to set 
federal standards for the kinds of documents and background checks required 
for a license.

The California measure is indeed moving against a tide of tighter restrictions.

Following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, 21 states enacted new regulations 
to make it harder to get licenses, and legislation has been introduced in 
another 22 states, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The laws are designed to allow states to more thoroughly check the 
backgrounds of applicants, and to make it harder to counterfeit licenses.

Michele Waslin, a senior immigration policy analyst at National Council of 
La Raza in Washington, a Hispanic advocacy group, said that when she 
travels around the country, the desire for a driver's license "is one of 
the biggest issues in the Latino immigrant community. This is really very 
important to people."

But, Waslin said, "We've seen a lot of trouble since Sept. 11. We've had 
some very hard-fought battles."

Just as discussion of offering "amnesty" to undocumented workers came to an 
abrupt halt, despite high-level support from Mexican President Vicente Fox 
and his friend President Bush, the ground has shifted too on the license 
debate.

Waslin said 61 bills were introduced in state legislatures in the last year 
that dealt with immigrants and licenses, and 46 of those attempted to 
restrict privileges. Only seven measures passed, she said, though many 
states tightened their laws by executive order or agency regulations.

Virginia has tightened its procedures and no longer accepts sworn 
affidavits from individuals as proof of residency. In addition, a new 
Virginia law requires its motor vehicle department to develop procedures to 
check noncitizen applicants for driver's licenses with federal law 
enforcement agencies.

Other states have enacted or considered laws to that would tie immigrants' 
driver's license expiration dates to their INS documents, meaning that when 
a visa or an extension to remain in the country ends, so would the license.

Cedillo of the California Assembly says he understands the need for 
heightened security, but he feels the more restrictive laws are 
disproportionately targeting the ordinary immigrant, undocumented or not. 
"Getting a driver's license is to ensure safe highways," he said. 
"Immigration is a whole different topic."
**************************
Government Executive
Americans favor homeland agency even as trust in government drops
By Tom Shoop
tshoop@xxxxxxxxxxx

While Americans' overall trust in government has fallen from the very high 
levels reported after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, they still favor 
creation of a new Cabinet-level Department of Homeland Security to prevent 
future attacks.


In a CNN/Gallup/USA Today poll conducted last week, 60 percent of 
respondents said Congress should pass legislation to create the new 
department. Just 29 percent opposed the idea.


Eighty percent of the respondents said they had a "fair amount" or a "great 
deal" of confidence that the federal government can protect citizens from 
future attacks.


But only 46 percent said they trust the government in Washington to do what 
is right "just about always" or "most of the time." Fifty-four percent said 
they trusted government "only some of the time" or "never."


Surveys conducted shortly after Sept. 11 by the Gallup Organization and the 
University of Michigan showed that 60 percent of Americans said they 
trusted government to do what is right "just about always" or most of the 
time," compared to just 39 percent who indicated a low level of trust.

Those numbers were nearly reversed from polls taken prior to the attacks, 
and showed the highest level of support for the federal government since 
before the Watergate scandal.
**************************
Reuters
Manila Cracks Phone Hacking Ring
Mon Sep 9, 7:18 AM ET

MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines said Monday it had cracked a $1.9 
million computer hacking ring that had gained access to telephone company 
lines and sold off cheap phone calls.



President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ( news - web sites), to show she is tough 
on crime, paraded three arrested men, including two Jordanian brothers, 
before the media at the national police headquarters in Manila.

The arrests were made under the Philippines' E-Commerce Law enacted after a 
Filipino allegedly released the so-called "Love Bug" computer virus in 2000.

That virus caused damage estimated at $10 billion as it shut down computer 
systems throughout the world, including at the Pentagon ( news - web sites) 
and the British Parliament, but the Philippines had no computer crime law 
under which it could make an arrest.

The hacking ring was cracked after the country's main phone company, 
Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co, asked for help to stop the scam, 
police said.

The hackers tapped into computers controlling long-distance phone calls, 
then sold calls to their clients at prices around half the normal rate.

Immigration officials said two of those arrested were Jordanians and the 
third was a Filipino. The ring had amassed about $1.9 million from their 
hacking operations since last year.

If convicted, those arrested face up to six years in jail and a fine of up 
to $1,923 each.

Arroyo has been leading a high-profile anti-crime campaign that has seen 
her regularly appear in newspaper photographs with arrested suspects.
*************************
Government Executive
Los Alamos lab creates homeland security office
From Global Security Newswire

Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico has created an internal 
Homeland Security Organization to better coordinate the facility's 
counter-terrorism research, the laboratory announced last week.


"This new organization will allow us to better focus longstanding efforts 
toward evolving national needs," said Don Cobb, the laboratory's associate 
director for threat reduction.


Also on Thursday, Los Alamos officials demonstrated current and developing 
technologies for use in the war on terrorism, the Albuquerque Journal 
reported. One of the technologies on display was a self-evolving computer 
program called GENIE. The program can tailor itself to examine a wide array 
of sources for information.


"The computer learns to how to find what you want," said Steven Brumby, a 
Los Alamos scientist working on GENIE. "It's kind of freaky technology. A 
lot of people think it sounds too much like science fiction."


GENIE, which stands for Genetic Imagery Exploitation, was first used to 
track the path of a wildfire in Los Alamos in 2000, according to the 
Journal. The program could be used to scan luggage for weapons and to alert 
security officials to potential threats, Brumby said.
********************************
Computerworld
IT watchfulness rises, but budgets limit change
By MARK HALL
SEPTEMBER 09, 2002

Though IT professionals are now alert to the threat of terrorism, that 
threat generally hasn't pushed IT organizations to radically revamp their 
business continuity or data security plans, according to the results of an 
exclusive Computerworld online survey.

"I worry more about the Russians and script kiddies than al-Qaeda," said 
Alan Weber, senior systems analyst at Austin, Texas-based DS Associates, 
which manages human resources data for other firms.

His remarks reflect the findings of an online poll conducted the last week 
of August by 2,620 IT professionals, barely half of whom said their 
organizations have launched projects to improve data security in response 
to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon a year ago 
this week.

Many users said their existing plans to protect their IT assets are 
adequate. "If you're already connected to the Internet, you already have a 
security issue, and 9/11 should not have made a difference," Weber said.

He added that his company had disaster preparedness and recovery plans in 
place already because of the threat of tornados and fire, "where the odds 
of them happening are far higher."

Jim Prevo, CIO at Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. in Waterbury, Vt., 
said that his company is simply continuing with the disaster preparedness 
plan it had in place before Sept. 11.

Like most companies in the survey, Green Mountain didn't boost spending to 
take on new projects for business continuity and security, because funding 
for those areas is already addressed in the budget process. The 
installation of a new firewall was in the budget before last September, 
Prevo said.

Standard Reponse

Mark Shainman, an analyst at Meta Group Inc. in Stamford, Conn., said he 
isn't surprised by the survey's findings.

"Initially, there was a great fervor about security and business 
[continuity]," he said. But with IT budget constraints and existing 
protections in place, most companies left things alone, Shainman said.

"Everyone agrees it's a big issue," said David Nessl, a senior systems 
administrator at American Systems Consulting Inc. in Dublin, Ohio. "But 
there's no budget for it, and you still have to deal with it."

Nessl said his department is now taking "snapshots of the data twice a day 
to make sure we're no more than a half-day out of sync." The company also 
used previously budgeted dollars to buy mass storage technology from EMC 
Corp. that can mirror data to a remote site.

Still, many firms did take the 9/11 tragedy as a wake-up call to improve 
data security.

At Stanley Aviation Corp. in Denver, MIS director David Edwards said backup 
was the company's only disaster recovery plan before 9/11. Stanley Aviation 
is working out plans with a sister company to use each other's data centers 
for business continuity operations, he said, and it has added a hardware 
firewall and new proxy servers to improve security.

Some firms even changed their management structures in response to the 
attacks. Charlie Orndorff, CIO at Crossmark Inc. in Plano, Texas, said that 
although his overall budget hasn't increased, there has been a shift in 
priorities. "Most significant is the creation of a new position for manager 
of infrastructure security," he said. He added that while the company had 
already been evaluating a 72-hour business continuity program with Wayne, 
Pa.-based SunGard Data Systems Inc., "Sept. 11 expedited the process."

In some markets, the shift has been dramatic. According to John Hall, 
president of call center designer Televerity LLC in Indianapolis, his 
clients are now demanding business continuity options.

"Disaster recovery is now 40% of our revenues," he said. "Last year, it was 
zero."

Computerworld's survey was conducted in collaboration with Perseus 
Development Corp., a market research firm in Braintree, Mass. 
(www.perseus.com).
****************************
Computerworld
All-in-one war-driving kit now available
By BOB BREWIN
SEPTEMBER 09, 2002

A Chester, N.J.-based start-up has introduced an all-in-one war-driving kit 
designed to help even the technology-challenged sniff wireless LANs.
Airtouch Networks Inc. has developed war-driving kits that make it easy for 
inexperienced "sniffers," or even companies, to look for wireless networks, 
according to Umut Bitlisli, a consultant for the company.

Airtouch has bundled a wireless LAN network interface card and a high-gain 
antenna -- which users previously had to buy separately -- into a kit that 
also includes pointers to NetStumbler freeware and 30 days of technical 
support, Bitlisli said.

The company now offers two kits: a $299 "war-walking" model, which features 
a wand-type antenna and network interface card, and a $399 kit that offers 
the same card as well as a roof-mount magnetic antenna for a car or truck.

When asked if Airtouch has any ethical qualms about encouraging people to 
sniff someone else's network, Bitlisli pointed out that war driving is 
legal and that the products also have other legitimate uses, including 
locating wireless LAN freenets and allowing companies to conduct enterprise 
wireless LAN site surveys.
************************
Computerworld
Corporate America now on front lines of war on terror
By DAN VERTON
SEPTEMBER 09, 2002

A year ago this week, America was attacked by a global enemy that has 
demonstrated its determination to use any means at its disposal to wreak 
havoc and fear, damage the economy and compel the nation to withdraw from 
the international community (see story).

In that regard, Sept. 11, 2001, will be remembered as a colossal failure 
for international terrorism, say government and private-sector security 
experts.

Rather than leaving the country in a state of stunned inaction, the attacks 
triggered what many security experts say was long overdue: a nationwide 
effort to bolster homeland security and critical infrastructure protectiona 
concept that has placed private companies on the front lines of national 
defense.

"It's never been done before," said Steve Cooper, CIO at the White House's 
Office of Homeland Security, referring to the massive integration effort 
now under way to help improve security information sharing among government 
agencies and the hundreds of private companies that own and operate 90% of 
the nation's critical systems. "We must do it, and we can do it," said 
Cooper, speaking Aug. 19 at a government symposium on homeland security.

Perception Game

However, proponents of critical-infrastructure protection, particularly in 
the area of cybersecurity, face many of the same challenges that terrorism 
experts encountered prior to Sept. 11: Few in the private sector perceive 
that there's an imminent threat to the digital homeland, and fewer still 
acknowledge terrorists' ability to and willingness to adapt their tactics 
to take advantage of America's digital Achilles' heelits information networks.

Every so-called critical infrastructure in the U.S., from 
telecommunications to transportation, banking and energy, relies on 
computers and computer networks, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice 
said in March last year during her first major policy address on the topic 
(see story).

"Corrupt those networks, and you disrupt this nation," she said. "Today, 
the cybereconomy is the economy."

"The terrorists in the Sept. 11 event had the patience to plan [and] the 
foresight and the understanding of the infrastructure that could be used to 
simultaneously or sequentially disrupt the infrastructure electronically," 
said Paula Scalingi, former director of critical infrastructure protection 
at the U.S. Department of Energy. "That could cause a major regional 
failure in this country. There's no question that that's doable."

Game of Dominoes

The reality of the threat to the nation's critical infrastructure, 
particularly in the areas of power, telecommunications and emergency 
services, was demonstrated in June when the federal government co-sponsored 
an exercise known as Blue Cascades. Dozens of government and private-sector 
representatives from five U.S. states in the Pacific Northwest and three 
Canadian provinces confronted the very real potential for cascading 
infrastructure failures resulting from combined physical and cyberterrorist 
incidents.

The results were chilling (see story). Simulated terrorist attacks 
disrupted the region's electric power grid, causing power outages that 
spread quickly to other Western states and lasted for more than a week, 
according to exercise coordinators. The exercise also included simultaneous 
physical and cyberdisruptions of the region's telecommunications and 
natural gas distribution systems, as well as a threat to a major municipal 
water system and the region's ports.

Once the electric grid is disrupted, the other infrastructures that 
businesses and government agencies rely on for their day-to-day operations, 
including telecommunications, transportation, emergency services, hospitals 
and law enforcement, begin to fall like dominoes, according to the final 
report on the lessons learned from the exercise.

A year after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, has anything changed? What has 
your company done to better protect its assets? Should the government get 
more involved in preventing a cyber 9/11 in the future? Have your say in 
our Computerworld forum, 9/11 One year later.
*************************
Los Angeles Times
File-Sharing Networks Relying on VCR Ruling
By JON HEALEY
September 10 2002

As entertainment companies struggle in court to defend their music and 
movies against a new generation of digital pirates, one of their biggest 
challenges is an 18-year-old Supreme Court ruling on a defunct technology.

The major record companies and Hollywood studios have sued a series of 
online file-sharing companies, accusing them of fueling rampant piracy of 
songs and videos on the Internet. In response, the file-sharing networks 
have relied on the Supreme Court's 1984 ruling in the Sony Betamax case, 
which held that Sony Corp. wasn't liable for copyright infringement because 
its videocassette recorders had "substantial" legitimate uses as well as 
illegal ones.

Two file-sharing networks--Napster Inc. and Aimster (later renamed 
Madster)--sought refuge in the Betamax case with no great success. Now, 
three popular successors--Morpheus, Kazaa and Grokster--are relying on 
Betamax in a critical pretrial skirmish.

If the file-sharing companies win, the music and movie companies would be 
forced to turn their legal guns directly onto consumers who make pirate 
copies. That's a step the entertainment industry has been loath to take 
because it's expensive and might alienate customers. But if the 
file-sharing companies lose, some advocates say, the shrinking scope of the 
Betamax ruling could put a damper on new technology.

"If the Betamax doctrine is eroded, you end up in a situation where 
innovation generally suffers, and you're limited to whatever technology 
Hollywood thinks we deserve," said Fred von Lohmann of the Electronic 
Frontier Foundation, which is helping to defend Morpheus. "It's just an 
untenable situation if in fact copyright law makes it impossible for 
innovators to do what they do."

Matthew J. Oppenheim, senior vice president of business and legal affairs 
at the Recording Industry Assn. of America, agreed that the file-sharing 
cases are refining the scope of Betamax. But as the judge in the Madster 
case ruled, there's a fundamental difference between a VCR that works in a 
consumer's home and an online network that distributes files around the globe.

"There's nothing in the Sony decision that says it extends to 
distribution," Oppenheim said.

The lawsuit against Morpheus, Kazaa and Grokster is being heard by U.S. 
District Judge Stephen V. Wilson in Los Angeles. Lawyers for the 
entertainment companies, Morpheus and Grokster filed briefs Monday urging 
Wilson to decide the case without a trial, but no ruling is expected for 
several months.

Napster and Madster went into bankruptcy before the copyright infringement 
lawsuits against them were decided. Still, the record companies and music 
publishers won pretrial injunctions against both companies, and those 
rulings could prove influential in the Morpheus case.

In particular, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which considered the 
injunction against Napster, and U.S. District Judge Marvin E. Aspen, who 
heard the case against Madster, declared that consumers don't have the 
right to copy music from strangers over the Internet, even when no money 
changes hands.

Based on that reasoning, copyright lawyers say, an online file-sharing 
company could be liable for "contributory" infringement if it knew of the 
copying but still assisted it, or "vicarious" infringement if it benefited 
financially from the copying and could have stopped it.

The 9th Circuit held that Napster couldn't be held liable simply because 
its technology enabled people to pirate music, but it also ruled that the 
company wasn't protected by Betamax because it knew what its users were doing.

The record companies and music publishers alerted Napster to more than 
12,000 infringing song files available on its network, and the company 
failed to purge those files from its system, the court held.

The main difference between Napster and the three file-sharing networks now 
being sued is that Napster kept central directories of the files on users' 
computers. Like most of the file-sharing companies that emerged in 
Napster's wake, Morpheus, Kazaa and Grokster don't have central 
directories. And as a consequence, their lawyers say, they have no way to 
monitor or control what their users do.

The courts are trying to determine how much a file-sharing company must 
know about and participate in its users' piracy to be held liable, said 
attorney Neil J. Rosini, a copyright expert at Franklin Weinrib Rudell & 
Vassallo in New York.

"Grokster and the like take the position that 'It's not us. We're just dumb 
pipes through which other people act.' And copyright owners are attempting 
to take the position that they're more than dumb pipes, that they're 
encouraging members to infringe ... and they're doing that for the purpose 
of making money," Rosini said.

In his ruling against Madster, Aspen held that the Betamax decision 
wouldn't apply unless Madster demonstrated that its primary use was 
legitimate. But the 9th Circuit appears to disagree, saying the issue is 
simply whether a file-sharing network is capable of substantial legitimate 
uses.

That means the courts must weigh not only the current uses of a network but 
also the potential future benefits of the technology, said Charles S. 
Baker, an attorney for StreamCast Networks Inc., the company that 
distributes Morpheus' software.

Michael Page, an attorney for Grokster, agreed, saying one of the issues is 
"how significant do [the legitimate uses] have to be."

Said Von Lohmann of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, "The Supreme Court 
got the answer right in the Betamax case. You don't measure [the amount of 
legitimate use] at all. So long as it is capable of a legitimate use, you 
let it go."

With this thinking in mind, the companies behind Morpheus, Kazaa and 
Grokster have tried to encourage copyright owners to use file-sharing as a 
legitimate promotional or distribution tool. Examples include offering 
independent musicians and game developers tools to disperse sample songs or 
copy-protected versions of games.

Oppenheim of the RIAA said the rulings in the Napster and Madster cases 
make clear why Betamax doesn't apply to file-sharing networks, even if the 
decisions don't necessarily bind Wilson in the Morpheus, Kazaa and Grokster 
case. For example, he said, Aspen held that the Betamax ruling applies only 
to discrete products, such as a VCR, that are used by customers as they see 
fit, and Madster doesn't fit that definition.

Aspen also pointed out the many ways Madster knew or should have known 
about the piracy enabled by its software. Although some of his arguments 
applied only to Madster, others also could apply to Morpheus, Kazaa and 
Grokster.

In a joint brief filed Monday, the major record companies, music publishers 
and movie studios argued that the three file-sharing companies are well 
aware of the piracy on their networks, and that they could prevent it. They 
also argue that unlike Sony, the companies do more than just distribute a 
product--they also actively sustain the file-sharing networks.

To Rosini, it's just too great a stretch to think the Betamax decision 
extends to online file-sharing networks that consumers use to copy billions 
of songs, videos and other files from one another's computers free.

"The Supreme Court in deciding the Sony case couldn't have intended to 
permit a massive system of infringement to be called exempt from the 
copyright law," Rosini said.

"It just defies reason to think otherwise."
****************************
News Factor
Satellite Nets Used To Fight Terror

Satellite-based communications networks can help combat terrorism, 
according to a new report issued by Datacomm Research. These networks were 
originally built for ordinary civilian communications, but they failed to 
compete effectively with land-based cellular networks. However, some are 
proving to have significant military and security applications. Of the four 
networks discussed in the Datacomm report, three use low Earth orbit (LEO) 
satellites and one uses geosynchronous satellites. [Full Story 
http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/19351.html]
************************
Info World
Microsoft says Win 2000 hacking outbreak subsides
By Matt Berger
September 9, 2002 5:34 pm PT

 SAN FRANCISCO - Microsoft has apparently gotten to the bottom of a rash 
of hacking attacks against computer systems running its Windows 2000 
operating system, according to a security advisory posted late Friday on 
its Web site.

On Aug. 30 Microsoft warned customers of an increase in reported hacker 
attacks against the software but offered few details about the root of the 
problem. The company Friday modified its original advisory and now says the 
malicious activity has "lessened significantly."

The software maker said the outbreak of attacks probably did not result 
from new vulnerabilities in its operating system, but rather from 
administrators not following standard procedures to secure their servers.

"By analyzing computers that have been compromised, Microsoft has 
determined that these attacks do not appear to exploit any new 
product-related security vulnerabilities and do not appear to be viral or 
worm-like in nature," the company stated in its advisory, available online 
at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;q328691.

"Instead, the attacks seek to take advantage of situations where standard 
precautions have not been taken," the advisory said. "The activity appears 
to be associated with a coordinated series of individual attempts to 
compromise Windows 2000-based servers."

The Redmond, Washington, software maker is urging customer to take 
preventive measures to protect themselves against future attacks. Customers 
should eliminate blank or weak administrator passwords, disable guest 
accounts, run up-to-date antivirus software, use firewalls to protect 
internal servers and stay up to date on all security patches.

The malicious activity has affected only Windows 2000 and not earlier 
versions of the software, the company said.
*************************
Reuters Internet Reports
Domain Firm Sets Rules for Children Internet Zone
Mon Sep 9, 3:00 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sex, violence and the "seven dirty words" prohibited 
by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission ( news - web sites) would be 
banned from a children's Internet domain, according to preliminary 
guidelines released on Monday by the domain manager.



Washington-based NeuStar Inc., which plans to set up the kid-friendly 
Internet zone, said it would rely on existing guidelines for television and 
advertising to determine what material would be appropriate for the ". 
kids.us" domain.

Developers would have to follow FCC ( news - web sites) rules for radio and 
television, which bar profanity and require some educational content, the 
privately held company said, while advertisements would have to comply with 
guidelines set up by a Better Business Bureau panel.

Illegal drug use, alcohol or tobacco use, gambling and skimpy clothing also 
would be prohibited, the company said. Exceptions could be made if the 
material had educational, literary or scientific merit, the company said.

While explicit violence and weapons use would be prohibited, determining 
exactly where to draw the line could be problematic, NeuStar said.

"We invite commenters to suggest means of defining a bright-line test for 
determining when violent content, or any other inappropriate content, might 
be inappropriate for a 12-year-old," the company said in comments published 
on its Web site.

The company, which also manages the new ".biz" domain, said it was seeking 
public input until October 11.

Congress has for years tried to prevent children from being exposed to 
pornography, hate speech and other "adult" content on the Internet.

After several attempts to ban content outright were struck down by the 
courts, lawmakers have proposed setting up a kids-only area within the 
United States' ".us" domain.

The House of Representatives passed the bill in May, and a similar version 
has been introduced in the Senate.
************************


Lillie Coney
Public Policy Coordinator
U.S. Association for Computing Machinery
Suite 510
2120 L Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20037
202-478-6124
lillie.coney@xxxxxxx


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Dear ACM TechNews Subscriber:

Welcome to the September 18, 2002 edition of ACM TechNews,
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ACM TechNews
Volume 4, Number 340
Date: September 18, 2002

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Top Stories for Wednesday, September 18, 2002:
http://www.acm.org/technews/current/homepage.html

"Czar of Cyber Security Defends Easing of Rules"
"Who's Running the Digital Show?"
"Nanotech Bill: Big Money for Tiny Tech"
"State Lags in High-Tech Education"
"Intel Unfurls Experimental 3D Transistors"
"Neutron Beam Reveals New Spin on Magnetism"
"The Supercomputing Speed Barrier"
"MIPS: Measuring Environmental Impact of IT"
"Linux Worm Hits the Network"
"Big Trouble in the World of "Big Physics""
"Dan Gillmor: Issues That Will Shape the Internet"
"U.S. Will Renew ICANN's Authority"
"When Software Patents Go Bad"
"Radio ID Locks Lost Laptops"
"Accessibility Breakthroughs Broaden Web Horizons"
"A New Way to Compute"
"Real Time"
"They Might Be Giants"
"ACM Professional Development Centre Offers Free Courses"
"Printing Meets Lithography"

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

"Czar of Cyber Security Defends Easing of Rules"
White House cybersecurity adviser Richard Clarke answered critics
of his national cybersecurity plan yesterday by declaring that
federal regulation would only exacerbate the situation--instead,
the report recommends that industries voluntarily help secure ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0918w.html#item1

"Who's Running the Digital Show?"
Consumers are losing more and more ground in terms of what they
can do with electronic devices as hardware vendors and even the
government espouse the media and software industries' vision of a
controlled digital media environment.  A draft report from the ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0918w.html#item2

"Nanotech Bill: Big Money for Tiny Tech"
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) intends to propose a bill today calling
for a National Nanotechnology Research Program that would involve
further government funding for early-stage nanotech research.
"This is a field with almost unlimited potential, and America ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0918w.html#item3

"State Lags in High-Tech Education"
A study from the Milken Institute indicates that California is
producing less home-grown high-tech employees and investing less
venture capital than many other states, and its educational
system is identified as the primary culprit.  California ranked ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0918w.html#item4

"Intel Unfurls Experimental 3D Transistors"
Intel intends to disclose more details about its experimental
Tri-Gate transistor this week at the International Solid State
Device and Materials Conference in Japan.  By featuring two
additional gates, the transistor exhibits more three-dimensional ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0918w.html#item5

"Neutron Beam Reveals New Spin on Magnetism"
Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and
Technology's (NIST) Center for Neutron Research, working in
conjunction with physicists from Rutgers University and Johns
Hopkins University, have discovered a new form of magnetism in ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0918w.html#item6

"The Supercomputing Speed Barrier"
Joel Tendler of IBM's technology assessment and server group says
that the limits of supercomputing speed will be bypassed in the
short term, but this will only set up thresholds that will have
to be dealt with later on.  He adds that economic barriers such ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0918w.html#item7

"MIPS: Measuring Environmental Impact of IT"
Hewlett-Packard, EMI, and other major companies are trying to
measure the environmental impact of their products and services
by studying Material Input Per Service (MIPS) ratings.  When
interpreted as a measurement of computing power, MIPS means the ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0918w.html#item8

"Linux Worm Hits the Network"
A new worm called Linux.Slapper is targeting Linux Web servers
and creating a network of tens of thousands of drone machines
that can be used in a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS)
attack.  The worm can be used to remotely scan for and recover ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0918w.html#item9

"Big Trouble in the World of "Big Physics""
Reports from Bell Labs physicist Jan Hendrik Schon claiming that
nonconducting molecules can be converted into semiconductors,
lasers, and light-absorbing devices were questioned when
Princeton researchers noticed that the published outcomes of ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0918w.html#item10

"Dan Gillmor: Issues That Will Shape the Internet"
SiliconValley.com technology columnist Dan Gillmor writes that
legislation currently under consideration threatens the freedom
and openness of the Internet.  For instance, Congress has already
passed copyright laws that grant the entertainment industry ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0918w.html#item11

"U.S. Will Renew ICANN's Authority"
Commerce Department undersecretary Nancy Victory says that she is
pleased with the progress of ICANN reform and that "at this point
we do anticipate that there will be an extension" of ICANN's
contract for managing the DNS.  Victory adds that the extension ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0918w.html#item12

"When Software Patents Go Bad"
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has come
under fire for approving bad software patents.  "People who are
spending a lot of time and money innovating need to know they are
not going to be copied as soon as they get into the marketplace," ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0918w.html#item13

"Radio ID Locks Lost Laptops"
Researchers from the University of Michigan have developed a
laptop security system that does not even require the user to be
aware of it.  The system involves users wearing a hardware
token--such as a watch or piece of jewelry--that communicates to ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0918w.html#item14

"Accessibility Breakthroughs Broaden Web Horizons"
Web sites are supposed to be accessible to users with
disabilities per federal and international regulations, but
accessibility consultant Mike Paciello says that this quality
offers advantages for both handicapped and non-handicapped users. ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0918w.html#item15

"A New Way to Compute"
The evolution of the Internet into the grid--an architecture in
which computer tasks are distributed over a network of servers,
enabling computing power to be tapped like electricity--will mark
the beginning of "the post-technology era," according to Tom Hawk ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0918w.html#item16

"Real Time"
Many businesses have only just begun to take full advantage of
the speed offered by cutting-edge computer systems, and success
in this area involves a dramatic restructuring of business
processes and corporate culture so that they can support a ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0918w.html#item17

"They Might Be Giants"
High-tech companies are investing heavily in research and
development as a matter of survival, and five technologies in
particular are seen as essential to the growth of
well-established markets and the development of new ones within ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0918w.html#item18

"ACM Professional Development Centre Offers Free Courses"
ACM has introduced an education program to help professionals
advance their technical knowledge in their current specialties or
learn new skills in related fields. The association's new
Professional Development Centre offers professional members ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0918w.html#item19

"Printing Meets Lithography"
An IBM team has developed a new soft lithography method based on
classic flexography printing that could serve as a low-cost,
high-resolution alternative to optical lithography.  Almost every
classical printing scheme--relief, gravure, screen/stencil, ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0918w.html#item20


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Dear ACM TechNews Subscriber:

Welcome to the June 21, 2002 edition of ACM TechNews,
providing timely information for IT professionals three times a
week.  For instructions on how to unsubscribe from this
service, please see below.

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ACM TechNews
Volume 4, Number 364
Date: June 21, 2002

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Top Stories for Friday, June 21, 2002:
http://www.acm.org/technews/current/homepage.html

"Tech Firms Bemoan Bush Talk"
"Study: Equal Security in All Software"
"Fears of Misuse of Encryption System Are Voiced"
"Tech Access Law: Slow Progress"
"Web Thinkers Warn of Culture Clash"
"Hard Lessons in Learning a Common Tongue"
"A Chip That Mimics Neurons, Firing Up the Memory"
"New Method to Make Faster, Smaller Computer Chips"
"Bush Urges Private Sector to Shore up Networks"
"Tiny 'Whiskers' May Advance Nanoelectronics"
"Silicon Quantum Computer"
"Taking Security Concerns Private: U.S. Appeals to IT Firms"
"Scientist Studies Robot Conversation Skills"
"The End of the Revolution"
"Whose Domain Is It Anyway?"
"Schools Turn to Slumping Tech Sector to Recruit Teachers"
"Why the Future Belongs to the Small-Minded"
"Living on the Grid"
"Quantum Superbrains"

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

"Tech Firms Bemoan Bush Talk"
Leaders in the technology industry are largely disappointed with
President Bush's speech on national broadband rollout.  Although
they welcome the high-level attention paid to the topic, they say
the Bush administration is weak on details, shuffling off the ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0621f.html#item1

"Study: Equal Security in All Software"
At a technical conference in Toulouse, France, Cambridge
University researcher Ross Anderson presented a paper concluding
that idealized open-source programs have the same level of
security as closed-source programs.  Anderson says the key ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0621f.html#item2

"Fears of Misuse of Encryption System Are Voiced"
A prominent European technologist and University of Cambridge
computer scientist has released a paper that points out the
possible misuses of the encryption technology supported by the
Trusted Computing Platform Alliance, a group which includes tech ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0621f.html#item3

"Tech Access Law: Slow Progress"
Significant progress has been made since Section 508 of the
Rehabilitation Act was signed into law a year ago, but the full
impact of the mandate to make government Web sites and major
hardware and software products accessible to disabled users has ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0621f.html#item4

"Web Thinkers Warn of Culture Clash"
Engineers and policymakers met this week at the annual meeting of
the nonprofit Internet Society to discuss how corporate and
government initiatives could curtail the Internet's democratic
aspects.  Government efforts, which are motivated by control, and ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0621f.html#item5

"Hard Lessons in Learning a Common Tongue"
Web services, which will allow companies to take full advantage
of the Internet, need a standardized way to communicate industry
jargon and definitions between computer systems.  XML, or
extensible markup language, is now the accepted platform for ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0621f.html#item6

"A Chip That Mimics Neurons, Firing Up the Memory"
Dr. Theodore W. Berger, director of UCLA's Center for Neural
Engineering, envisions a computer chip that can be implanted in
people's brains and mirror the functions of neurons.  Such a
device could be particularly beneficial for persons whose ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0621f.html#item7

"New Method to Make Faster, Smaller Computer Chips"
Princeton University researchers led by Stephen Chou have hit
upon a technique for printing nanoscale chip patterns faster,
which could lead to more efficient production of computer chips
with a concentration of transistors that is 100 times denser than ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0621f.html#item8

"Bush Urges Private Sector to Shore up Networks"
The federal government is seeking the cooperation of the private
sector to safeguard the nation's critical infrastructure.  Of key
importance are the IT networks that facilitate infrastructure
operation, which are managed and protected by business, not the ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0621f.html#item9

"Tiny 'Whiskers' May Advance Nanoelectronics"
Boron nanowhiskers produced by a collaboration between Washington
University in St. Louis, Miss., the Semiconductor Research
Corporation, and others may bring the dream of nanoelectronic
circuitry one step closer.  Washington University graduate ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0621f.html#item10

"Silicon Quantum Computer"
The architecture for a silicon-based quantum computer that can be
constructed using current methods has been outlined by Thaddeus
Ladd and associates at Stanford University.  The microelectronics
industry has an advantage over other quantum computer efforts ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0621f.html#item11

"Taking Security Concerns Private: U.S. Appeals to IT Firms"
Hobbled by a lack of expertise and staff, government
administrators believe that the only way to develop technologies
to help secure federal IT systems and defend the nation's
critical infrastructure is to turn to the private sector.  The ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0621f.html#item12

"Scientist Studies Robot Conversation Skills"
Several experiments focus on teaching robots language skills,
which will be an essential capability of machines designed to
function as humanoid aides.  SONY Computer Science Laboratory
artificial intelligence expert Luc Steels proclaims that ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0621f.html#item13

"The End of the Revolution"
In Milton L. Mueller's new book "Ruling the Root," Mueller traces
how the DNS and the Internet have evolved from the time when Jon
Postal allocated domain names himself while being funded by the
Defense Department, to a utopia ideal of decentralized free ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0621f.html#item14

"Whose Domain Is It Anyway?"
What is at stake in ICANN reform is who should oversee ICANN: the
Internet community, the U.S. government as Sen. Conrad Burns
(R-Mont.) advocates, or a polyglot of national governments,
writes Esther Dyson.  Today ICANN provides a crucial role as the ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0621f.html#item15

"Schools Turn to Slumping Tech Sector to Recruit Teachers"
California is bringing in unemployed technology professionals to
fill the void left by a shortage of quality math and science
teachers.  "What we are trying to do is take a talent pool that
has dried up and redirect it," says Larry Rios, director of the ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0621f.html#item16

"Why the Future Belongs to the Small-Minded"
Nanotechnology research could lead to significant breakthroughs
in the next two decades, according to advocates.  Recent
developments include an Idaho National Engineering and
Environmental Laboratory project that has yielded a "super-hard" ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0621f.html#item17

"Living on the Grid"
Grid computing enables enterprises to harness the raw computing
power of many machines to process data, solve complex problems,
run simulations, and perform other functions too large for single
computers to handle, boosting efficiency and cost savings.  For ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0621f.html#item18

"Quantum Superbrains"
The speed and performance of a quantum computer would make
current supercomputer models seem like pocket calculators in
comparison, but the various interests racing to build one face
significant hurdles.  One challenge involves solving the problem ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0621f.html#item19


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Dear ACM TechNews Subscriber:

Welcome to the July 22, 2002 edition of ACM TechNews,
providing timely information for IT professionals three times a
week.  For instructions on how to unsubscribe from this
service, please see below.

ACM's MemberNet is now online. For discussion (and voting)
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ACM TechNews
Volume 4, Number 376
Date: July 22, 2002

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Top Stories for Monday, July 22, 2002:
http://www.acm.org/technews/current/homepage.html


"Lawmakers Propose Volunteer Corps to Guard Nation's Technology"
"Federal Bill Targets E-Waste"
"Do We Need a National ID Plan?"
"With 'Old' Design, Japanese Supercomputer Beats Top U.S. Machine"
"Alloy With Shape Memory May Be Ready For Broad Use"
"Raising the Accessibility Bar"
"Second Law of Thermodynamics "Broken""
"Higher Learning at Warp Speed"
"Scientists Create Smallest Ever Laser-Like Light Beam"
"A Conversation With the Inventor of Email"
"With False Numbers, Data Crunchers Try to Mine the Truth"
"Taking Programming to the Extreme"
"Another Dimension"
"How Colleges Get More Bang (or Less) From Technology Transfer"
"Last Mile by Laser"
"Inside the Invention Factory"
"Lawrence Lessig: The Thought Leader Interview"


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

"Lawmakers Propose Volunteer Corps to Guard Nation's Technology"
On July 19, the U.S. Senate passed the Science and Technology
Emergency Mobilization Act, which calls for the formation of a
National Emergency Technology Guard.  The guard would be composed
of scientists and technology experts volunteering to help . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0722m.html#item1


"Federal Bill Targets E-Waste"
Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) on Thursday introduced legislation
to create a national program for the recycling of computer waste
funded by a $10 fee levied on retail sales of desktop and laptop
computers, as well as monitors.  Thompson's Computer Hazardous . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0722m.html#item2


"Do We Need a National ID Plan?"
Free Congress Foundation analyst Brad Jansen, one of the key
members of an ad hoc coalition that vehemently opposes the
creation of a national ID standard, is advocating a White House
proposal submitted last week suggesting federal agencies help set . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0722m.html#item3


"With 'Old' Design, Japanese Supercomputer Beats Top U.S. Machine"
NEC's new Earth Simulator, built in Japan, can process 35.9
calculations per second, faster than the combined computational
power of the 15 fastest machines based in the United States,
according to Jack Dongarra of the University of Tennessee.  The . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0722m.html#item4


"Alloy With Shape Memory May Be Ready For Broad Use"
Nanomuscle is working to mass-produce small actuators that
replace motors in small devices.  The Nanomuscle devices use
nickel-titanium alloy wires that contain "shape memory"
properties in which its molecules change their shape depending on . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0722m.html#item5


"Raising the Accessibility Bar"
Stanford University's Archimedes Project is an initiative to
develop information interfaces that disabled people as well as
the general population can use.  Attracting this wide range of
users depends on creating a system designed to last decades . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0722m.html#item6


"Second Law of Thermodynamics "Broken""
Chemical physicists at the Australian National University (ANU)
have discovered through experimentation that the second law of
thermodynamics--which states that a closed system becomes more
disorganized as time passes--can be consistently violated on the . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0722m.html#item7


"Higher Learning at Warp Speed"
Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland is setting up a $27
million fiber-optic network that will connect 16,000 computers
and boast a top data delivery speed of 1 Gbps, which surpasses
the speed of the average home broadband link about a thousand . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0722m.html#item8


"Scientists Create Smallest Ever Laser-Like Light Beam"
A report in the current issue of Science magazine details how
scientists created laser-like light beams emanating extremely
small wavelengths that enable the viewing of nanoscale
technology.  The viewing of nanoscale technology has become a . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0722m.html#item9


"A Conversation With the Inventor of Email"
In an interview with Internet.com's Sharon Gaudin, email creator
Ray Tomlinson of BBN Technologies says the invention of email was
not very complicated, and its impact was not immediately apparent
because there were few computers.  He acknowledges that email has . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0722m.html#item10


"With False Numbers, Data Crunchers Try to Mine the Truth"
Consumers are often reluctant to answer truthfully to personal
questions online--such as their age and how much money they
earn--and will often substitute false answers, which complicates
companies' business.  "People are lying, and vendors don't know . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0722m.html#item11


"Taking Programming to the Extreme"
So that they can churn out quality software in a market clamoring
for fast rollouts of new products and features, software
companies are increasingly adopting development tactics that
emphasize collaborative engineering.  "Agile development" . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0722m.html#item12


"Another Dimension"
Chip designers are rapidly running out of space for additional
computing power, and many efforts to build a 3D chip solution
have been dropped in favor of nanotechnology.  However, two
chipmakers have continued to pursue a 3D chip, and claim that . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0722m.html#item13


"How Colleges Get More Bang (or Less) From Technology Transfer"
Colleges are implementing policies to commercialize the fruits of
their research, but measuring the success of this technology
transfer is difficult.  The University of Michigan has had to
retool its technology-transfer effort to shore up a flagging . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0722m.html#item14


"Last Mile by Laser"
Nine out of 10 U.S. businesses with more than 100 employees
cannot avail themselves of the nation's multibillion-dollar
optical-fiber network because they are separated by just one
mile, but many experts believe that free-space optics (FSO) . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0722m.html#item15


"Inside the Invention Factory"
Bell Labs channels the ingenuity of 1,850 researchers who average
four patents each day, and has paved the way for many innovative
products--phones, VCRs, televisions, remote controls, CD players,
stereos, and computers among them.  But this has not made the . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0722m.html#item16


"Lawrence Lessig: The Thought Leader Interview"
Stanford University law professor Lawrence Lessig says the
Internet's freedom, growth potential, and  innovation potential
are being threatened by a slew of legislation, technology, and
monopolization that would cede control of the medium to a few . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0722m.html#item17


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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