Claria's Chief Privacy Officer Appointed to Advise Dept. of Homeland Security on Data Privacy and Integrity. Libya was named to chair the U.N. Human Rights Commission, Iraq was named to chair the U.N. Disarmament Commission, Hitler and Arafat were given Nobel Peace Prizes, and now, despite publishers' expressed outrage at Claria, formerly Gator, for its support of customer hijacking with pop-ups, and its latest most insidious incarnation called the BehaviorLink Network, D. Reed Freeman has been appointed to the Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee of the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security.

"This committee will provide the department with important recommendations on how to further the department's mission while protecting the privacy of personally identifiable information of citizens and visitors if [sic] the United States," said Nuala O'Connor Kelly, chief privacy officer of the DHS .... (McGann, Rob. "Claria's CPO Named to Federal Privacy Committee." http://www.clickz.com/news/article.php/3485541(24 Feb. 2005).)

SPN wonders how the field now known as International Law, which first emerged from the recommendations of committees of noted legal authorities formed to deal with the problem of piracy on the high seas, might have developed had they appointed Blackbeard to their membership because of his expertise in the area.

Market Research Software Anti-Spyware Programs Also Snag Some Market Research Software. Market research software is detected by popular anti-spyware programs and deleted, prompting companies such as comScore, to call for a new term, "researchware" to distinguish their purportedly legitimate products from the more disruptive adware and spyware programs. Instead, the anti-spyware industry is leaning toward "trackware" as a term more descriptive of software that tracks an Internet user's search history without the user's permission, acknowledging that "trackware" and other variants fall into the category of yet another term, "greyware", used by security software vendors to collect for deletion any software of a suspicious nature. (McGann, Rob. "'Spyware' Label Slapped on Legit Research Software." http://www.clickz.com/news/article.php/3484236 (18 Feb. 2005).).

Claria Launches Advertising Alternative to Pop-Ups. Formerly known as Gator, infamous for its pop-up advertising, Claria appears to have come around to the notion that publishers ought to be paid for hosting advertising, not subverted by pop-ups.

"Where we have insight into consumer behaviors, we will place a relevant ad," said Scott Eagle, Claria's chief marketing officer. "People don't like pop-ups. There are publishers and others who object. We will not get all the industry support we need if they don't share the benefits."
(Rodgers, Zachary. "Claria Reveals Details of BehaviorLink Network." http://www.clickz.com/news/article.php/3483206 (15 Feb. 2005).)

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ISP's Knowingly Aid Spam Gangs. The non-profit group Spamhaus Project has accused MCI of knowingly hosting Spam Gangs for significant profit, and has charged that MCI is the only Western company that defends its profitable spam-tolerant posture on free speech grounds.

Spamhaus said "pink contracts," which have been around for many years in the anti-spam community, are at the root of the problem. Defined as agreements between ISPs and spammers in which the Internet host agrees to exempt the spammer from the company's normal terms of service in exchange for a hefty fee, the practice held myth status until anti-spam groups were able to prove financial relationships between ISPs and spam groups. (Wagner, Jim. "Spamhaus Accuses MCI of Hosting Spam Gangs." http://www.internetnews.com/xSP/article.php/3469091 (4 Feb. 2005).)

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Click Fraud Threatens the Search Engline Advertising Boom. One merchant recently "spent about 200 hours documenting the mischief that drained her budget and diverted customers to a competitor, costing her an estimated $100,000 in sales." Search engines may find themselves defendants in class action suits brought by businesses having lost significant revenue to click fraud. Michael Liedtke, "So Many Clicks, So Little Business: Scam Threatens To Squelch Ad Business That Has Enriched Google, Yahoo!" http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/local/sfl-sbclickfraud20feb20,0,3400170.story (20 Feb. 2005).)

Wi-Fi Falls Victim to the 'Evil Twin'. The security of wireless hot spots is under increasing threat from a new kind of attack. For a fascinating description of how 'Evil Twin' works and how your security may be compromised, read: Adam Stone, "Meeting the "Evil Twin"." http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/columns/article.php/3482021 (9 Feb. 2005).)

Is Microsoft's Antispyware beta program enough to protect your
company's PCs against the intrusion of threatening malware? For an interesting account of the genesis of Microsoft AntiSpyware and the future of antispyware and adware program marketing, read: Brian Livingston, "Microsoft AntiSpyware: Separated at Birth." http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/columns/executive_tech/article.php/3481661 (8 Feb. 2005).)

Added new term to the SPN Glossary. IDN Spoofing, also called "homographic attack" is the act of exploiting a security flaw in the International Domain Name resolution system found now in most web browsers. The term appears in a recent article about Firefox, Mozilla and other browsers with this flaw. (Sean Michael Kerner, "Firefox, Others At Phishing Risk." http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3481651 (14 Feb. 2005).).

Legislation Is Needed When Corporations Eschew Responsibility for Victimized Customers. SPN has maintained that digital piracy not only victimizes its targeted parties but also poisons the e-commerce environment generally. In the recent case regarding $90K stolen by a Latvian entity who intercepted a wire transfer directed to a Miami business's bank, the Bank of America rejected liability on the grounds that the responsible worm resided in the customer's computer and not in their state of the art security system. The Miami business has filed a lawsuit against Bank of America, which could produce a landmark decision. A recent editorial in the Sun-Sentinel noted the growing reluctance of businesses to operate via the Internet:

If civil suits like this one are the only way to settle online theft disputes, we're all in trouble and Internet commerce could be doomed. Justice can't be achieved by pitting American businesses against each other while the true culprits run away with the loot. (Sun-Sentinel Editorial Board. "Government Needs To Act." http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/editorial/sfl-editafonlinetheftfeb14,0,5678024.story (14 Jan. 2005).)

Banks and other businesses must take the responsibility for protecting their customers from security pitfalls like third party worms, of which they have been well aware for a long time, or suspend Internet commerce until they can do so.

Pirating Corporate Names Is OK At Microsoft? Although Microsoft said that it "regretted the confusion," and despite his high anti-priacy profile, Bill Gates' use of a registered corporate name for one of Microsoft's new programs displays either a remarkable blind spot, or the latest in sheep fashion for wolves. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4243321.stm

Tsunami Charitable Contributors Beware. Last month's tsunami tragedy in India, Southeast Asia and Africa has prompted an outpouring of charitable support from people worldwide. Unfortunately, such natural disasters are also fodder for fraudsters seeking to capitalize on the public's generosity, as the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has warned http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2005/01/charitychecklist.htm.


Consumer Reports WebWatch urges consumers to use caution when giving online to organizations claiming to provide aid for tsunami victims. These tips http://64.78.25.46/dynamic/non-profit-consumer-tip-giving-to-charities.cfm also apply for charitable giving year-round.

Spam Slams E-Mail and Even Web Use. According to a recent survey, almost half of computer users have reduced their use of email and the Internet because of spam, spyware and related issues. Rob McGann. "Spam Slams E-Mail and Even Web Use," in ClickZ Stats http://www.clickz.com/stats/sectors/email/article.php/3462311
(20 Jan. 2005).).

Hollywood: P2P is Not About Technology. Attorneys for the Motion Picture Association of America have filed a brief to be reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court at the end of March, in which they ask the Court to overturn a Ninth Circuit opinion that permitted file-sharing companies using P2P technology to escape liability for copyright infringement by their customers. (Roy Mark. "Hollywood: P2P is Not About Technology," in InternetNews.com http://www.internetnews.com/xSP/article.php/3464081
(25 Jan. 2005).).

How to avoid click fraud. One form of digital piracy is Click Fraud, which is estimated to account for up to 50% of all pay-per-click business. The article discusses the fraudulent technique of clicking on a competitor's links to drive up the cost of doing business, a practice of which SPN's sister sites have been frequent victims (Andre Vogét, Johannes Selbach. "Facts of the week: How to avoid click fraud," section 1 of The Axandra Newsletter Archive http://www.axandra.com/news/newsletter143.htm#facts (18 Jan. 2005).).