Subject: Edupage, 4 August 1999 (fwd)
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Date: Thu 05 Aug 1999 - 10:42:59 EET DST
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Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1999 17:11:00 -0600
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Subject: Edupage, 4 August 1999
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Edupage is a service of EDUCAUSE, an international nonprofit
association dedicated to transforming education through
information technologies.
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TOP STORIES for August 4, 1999
Scramble to Fix Computer Security Flaws
Bill Would Protect Trademarks, Names From Cybersquatters
Silicon Graphics Betting on Linux
ALSO
Net Searchers to Index All 800 Million Pages
A Tax Break for Snoopable Code
Mattel to Offer Barbie, Hot Wheels PCs
SCRAMBLE TO FIX COMPUTER SECURITY FLAWS
Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, and Compaq Computer are all working
to fix security flaws in software that configures Microsoft's
Internet Explorer Web browser to run certain programs without
alerting users. The flaws would allow a hacker to send
destructive programs to affected computers via e-mail or to draw a
user to a Web page that would place a virus on the user's hard
drive. Meanwhile, the victim would not be notified of the
security risk because Internet Explorer security controls and
antivirus software cannot detect this type of invasion.
Furthermore, users would not have to actively trigger these
harmful programs as with the Melissa virus. Users could activate
malicious programs simply by reading an e-mail message. One of
the security flaws is that Internet Explorer now loads Word,
Excel, and Powerpoint documents without warning users.
However, these Microsoft programs have the potential to launch
executable code that is destructive. In the future, Microsoft
says it will not allow documents written in these programs to
bypass security checks. Microsoft is working on a security patch,
which will be posted on the Web. The flaws were announced last
week, but no reports of hackers taking advantage of these flaws
had been reported as of Aug. 2. (New York Times 08/03/99)
BILL WOULD PROTECT TRADEMARKS, NAMES FROM CYBERSQUATTERS
Spurred to action by complaints from politicians and
corporations, the Senate Judiciary Committee last week gave the
green light to legislation that would give trademark protection
to Internet domain addresses. The legislation, which may be
approved by the full Senate this week, aims to keep
cybersquatters from registering domains that are similar to
trademarks and service names. The legislation would allow
trademark owners to sue cybersquatters who register company
domains for bad-faith purposes. Christopher Young, president of
Cyveillance, an electronic commerce research provider, claims
that nearly every major corporation has been victimized by
cybersquatters, who often register domain names and then sell
them at steep prices to politicians and companies.
(USA Today 08/03/99)
SILICON GRAPHICS BETTING ON LINUX
On Monday, Silicon Graphics Inc. reportedly will announce that it
will use the Linux operating system for its high-end computers.
Linux is seen as a competitor to Microsoft NT, and is seen by
many as a good value considering that the only costs involved
come from service and support. Silicon will continue to make
computers for the NT operating system ranging from $8,945 to
$14,000 but use only Linux for the more powerful Silicon
Graphics computers in the years to come.
(Investor's Business Daily 08/02/99)
=======================================
NET SEARCHERS TO INDEX ALL 800 MILLION PAGES
Internet search engines such as Excite and Fast are announcing
plans to use new technology to index all 800 million Web pages on
the Internet. The search firms are responding to recent
criticism following the publishing of studies indicating that
most search engines cover a miniscule amount of all Web pages
available online. Currently Excite has indexed about 50 million
Web pages using programs called spiders. Excite now deploys
around 10 spiders to search the Web but will add dozens more,
each capable of covering 50 million pages. Critics of the new
Excite venture claim that this is nothing more than a public
relations gimmick on the part of Excite. A study conducted by
the NEC Research Institute also points out that the most advanced
search engine can only find 16 percent of all Internet pages, and
the pages found are often irrelevant.
(Los Angeles Times 08/03/99)
A TAX BREAK FOR SNOOPABLE CODE
Rep. Porter Goss introduced last week the "Tax Relief for
Responsible Encryption Act", or HR 2616, which proposes that
companies producing encryption software receive a 15 percent tax
break should they make the software government-snoopable, or
accessible with a secret key. The argument made by Goss and his
supporters is that many criminals, such as pedophiles, drug
smugglers, and money launderers, conduct their illegal business
undetected over the Internet every day. (Wired News 07/30/99)
MATTEL TO OFFER BARBIE, HOT WHEELS PCS
Mattel announced that it has signed a deal with Patriot Computers
to start selling computers aimed towards children. The kid-PCs
will carry Barbie and Hot Wheels logos and will be loaded with,
among other things, software and games designed to be enjoyed by
children. The brightly-colored computers will run about $600,
and according to spokeswoman for Mattel Media, Dana Henry, the
PCs mark Mattel's first chance at making computers affordable and
accessible to families. Mattel may also see an opportunity to
boost the sales of Barbie dolls, which have been in decline for
several quarters now. (Reuters 08/03/99)
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UPCOMING EDUCAUSE CONFERENCES AND MEETINGS:
Seminars on Academic Computing (SAC)
Strategy, Technology, Organization, Relationships, and Mission (STORM!)
August 6-11, 1999, Snowmass Village, Colorado
http://www.educause.edu/sac/sac99/sac99.html
CAUDIT-EDUCAUSE Institute
August 8-12, 1999, Port Stephens, NSW, Australia
http://www.caudit.edu.au/caudit/institute/index.html
EDUCAUSE '99
"Celebrating New Beginnings"
EDUCAUSE Annual Conference
October 26-29, 1999, Long Beach, California
http://www.educause.edu/conference/e99/
For additional information on these conferences see
http://www.educause.edu/conference/conf.html
For information on other technology related
educational conferences see
http://www.educause.edu/ir/events.html
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