PGWeekly_June_05_2002.txt
***The Project Gutenberg Weekly Newsletter For Wednesday, June 5, 2002**
*eBooks Readable By Both Humans and Computers Since Before The Internet*
1,000 New eBooks IN THE FIRST 5 MONTHS OF 2002!!!
It took us more than 26 years for the first 1,000
That's 22 WEEKS as Compared to 26 YEARS!!!
Our 1,000th eBook was:
Aug 1997 La Divina Commedia di Dante in Italian, 7-bit text[0ddcdxxx.xxx]1000
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Today Is The 156th Day of 2002
209 Days/30 Weeks Left Until 2003
Ending our 22nd Week Of The Year
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However, things have slowed down a lot since we hit 5,000,
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1,779 New eBooks In The Last Year
3,531 eBooks This Week Last Year
5,310 Tree-Friendly Titles Now Online
41 New This Week [22nd week]
46 Weekly Average This Year
160 New This Month [5th month]
This includes the "found" Shakespeare files
At 1,000, We Have Averaged 200 Per Month in 2002
1010 New This Year!!! [31st year]
[Our eBook Counters Range from:
975 [Me] to 1005+10=1015 [George] to 1018 [Brett's Program]
So obviously we will be tidying up the accounting, more below]
20 New This Week Last Year
71 eBooks From Project Gutenberg of Australia
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*Here Are The New Files We Have Done In The Past Week*
***] CORRECTIONS, REVISIONS AND NEW FORMATS [***
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LAST WEEK -- TOTAL COUNT **as of Tue 05/29/02**: 5,266 (incl. 71 Aus.)
+ 40 New this week *SO FAR*!:
TOTAL COUNT **as of Mon 06/05/02 **: 5,309
Includes all of the postings below:
***] CORRECTIONS, REVISIONS AND NEW FORMATS [***
Corrected EDITIONS of our etexts get a new NUMBER, xxxxx11.txt.
VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, xxxxx10a.txt, as
well as a new Etext number.
Please note the following changes, corrections and improvements:
We have posted the following etexts in HTML format:
Apr 2001 The Ancient Regime, by Hippolyte A. Taine OCFV1[01ocfxxx.xxx]2577
Oct 2003 Poil De Carotte, By Jules Renard [?plcrxxx.xxx]4559
We have posted an improved 11th edition of the following:
May 1998 The Virginian, Horseman Of The Plains, Owen Wister[vrgnnxxx.xxx]1298
Jan 1996 The Crossing by Winston Churchill[US Churchill #1][tcrosxxx.xxx] 388
***] 41 NEW U.S. POSTS [***
Apr 2004 Serapis, by Georg Ebers, Complete [GE#68][ge68vxxx.xxx]5507
[Contains Project Gutenberg eBooks #5501-5506]
Apr 2004 Serapis, by Georg Ebers, v6 [GE#67][ge67vxxx.xxx]5506
Apr 2004 Serapis, by Georg Ebers, v5 [GE#66][ge66vxxx.xxx]5505
Apr 2004 Serapis, by Georg Ebers, v4 [GE#65][ge65vxxx.xxx]5504
Apr 2004 Serapis, by Georg Ebers, v3 [GE#64][ge64vxxx.xxx]5503
Apr 2004 Serapis, by Georg Ebers, v2 [GE#63][ge63vxxx.xxx]5502
Apr 2004 Serapis, by Georg Ebers, v1 [GE#62][ge62vxxx.xxx]5501
5500 is currently *reserved*
Apr 2004 Homo Sum, by Ebers, Complete [GE#61][ge61vxxx.xxx]5499
[Author: Georg Ebers] [Contains eBooks #5494-5498]
Apr 2004 Homo Sum, by Georg Ebers, v5 [GE#60][ge60vxxx.xxx]5498
Apr 2004 Homo Sum, by Georg Ebers, v4 [GE#59][ge59vxxx.xxx]5497
Apr 2004 Homo Sum, by Georg Ebers, v3 [GE#58][ge58vxxx.xxx]5496
Apr 2004 Homo Sum, by Georg Ebers, v2 [GE#57][ge57vxxx.xxx]5495
Apr 2004 Homo Sum, by Georg Ebers, v1 [GE#56][ge56vxxx.xxx]5494
Please Note: The Above eBooks Surround #5500, Those Below Surround 5200!!!!!
Mar 2004 The Parish Register, by George Crabbe [Crabbe#4][gcrdxxx.xxx]5208
Mar 2004 The Guns of Shiloh, by Joseph A. Altsheler [JAA#4][tgnshxxx.xxx]5207
Mar 2004 Fires and Firemen, Anon. [EM#1][firemxxx.xxx]5206
[Subtitle: From the Eclectic Magazine of Foreign Literature, Science and Art
Vol XXXV No. 1, May 1855]
Mar 2004 Speeches of the Honorable Jefferson Davis, 1858 [sphjdxxx.xxx]5205
[Full title: Speeches of the Hon. Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi,
Delivered During the Summer of 1858]
[Plain text version in sphjd10.txt/.zip, HTML in sphjd10h.htm/.zip]
Mar 2004 The Inns and Taverns of "Pickwick", by B.W. Matz [nspwkxxx.xxx]5204
Mar 2004 The Village and The Newspaper, by George Crabbe[#3][gcrcxxx.xxx]5203
Mar 2004 The Golden Lion of Granpere, by Trollope [#35][gldlxxx.xxx]5202
[Plain text version in gldlxxxx.txt/.zip, HTML in gldlxxhx.htm/.zip]
Mar 2004 Don Juan Tenorio, by Jose Zorrilla [8djtnxxx.xxx]5201C Feb 2004 The Library, George Crabbe [#2][gcrbxxx.xxx]5198
[Translated by N. K. Mayberry & A. S. Kline]
***
Feb 2004 My Life, Volume I, by Richard Wagner [wglf1xxx.xxx]5197
Feb 2004 Their Mariposa Legend, by Charlotte Herr [maripxxx.xxx]5196
[Subtitle: A Romance of Santa Catalina]
Feb 2004 Cape Cod Stories, by Joseph C. Lincoln[Lincoln#11][cacodxxx.xxx]5195
[Note: Also published under the title "The Old Home House"]
Feb 2004 The Ivory Trail, by Talbot Mundy [Mundy#3][ivtraxxx.xxx]5194
Feb 2004 The Double Widowing, R. Dufresny, Morlock tr. [#3][douwixxx.xxx]5193C
[Author's full name: Riviere Dufresny, translated by Frank Morlock]
Feb 2004 On a Dynamical Top, by James Clerk Maxwell [JCM#2][dytopxxx.xxx]5192
[Full title: On a Dynamical Top, for exhibiting the phenomena of the
motion of a system of invariable form about a fixed point, with some
suggestions as to the Earth's motion]
(Note: There is no plain text, due to the large number of equations
that do not display correctly in plain text. Files are in PDF,
TeX and HTML; they're all zipped, because each includes multiple
files:)
[PDF in dytop10p.zip; TeX in dytop10t.zip; HTML in dytop10h.zip]
Feb 2004 The Case of Summerfield, by William Henry Rhodes [casumxxx.xxx]5191
(Also note: We are working to make more eBooks with mathematics and
special symbols available, and appreciate any feedback you might have.)
Feb 2004 Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D Major, BWV 1050[2][jbbb5xxx.xxx]5190
[Author's Full Name: Johann Sebastian Bach]
[Musical score in Finale MUS format, zip file only in jbbb510.zip]
Feb 2004 String Quartet C minor, Op. 51 no. 1, J. Brahms[1][jb511xxx.xxx]5189
[Author's Full Name: Johannes Brahms]
[Musical score in Finale MUS format, zip file only in jb51110.zip]
Feb 2004 String Quarted in C Major, Op. 71 no. 1, Haydn[#2][fh741xxx.xxx]5188
[Author's Full Name: Franz Josef Haydn]
[Musical score in Finale MUS format, see README.TXT for instructions;]
[Zip file only in fh74110.zip]
Feb 2004 Miss Minerva and William Green Hill,by F.B.Calhoun[mmwghxxx.xxx]5187
[Full author: Frances Boyd Calhoun]
Feb 2004 The Kalevala (complete), John Crawford, trans. [kalecxxx.xxx]5186
Feb 2004 The Kalevala book 2, John Martin Crawford, trans. [kale2xxx.xxx]5185
Feb 2004 The Kalevala book 1, John Martin Crawford, trans. [kale1xxx.xxx]5184
[Subtitle: The Epic Poem of Finland]
Feb 2004 Unexpurgated Case Against Woman Suffrage, Wright [wsuffxxx.xxx]5183
[Full title: The Unexpurgated Case Against Woman Suffrage]
[Author's Full Name: Almroth E. Wright]
Feb 2004 The Old English Baron, by Clara Reeve [oebarxxx.xxx]5182
Feb 2004 Inebriety and the Candidate, George Crabbe [#1][gcraxxx.xxx]5181
[Plain text version in gcraxxxx.txt/.zip, HTML in gcraxxhx.htm/.zip]
Feb 2004 Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) Ruling [ciparxxx.xxx]5180
[Author: United States District Court for the Eastern District
[of Pennsylvania]
[Authors AKA: Judges Becker, Fullam and Bartle]
[Subtitle: Dated May 31, 2002]
[Plain text in cipar10.txt/.zip, RTF in cipar10r.rtf/.zip]
(Note: This is an important ruling for Project Gutenberg, in that is
removes the necessity for US libraries to run filtering software
as had been ordered by the CIPA legislation. PG doesn't usually
distribute legislation and rulings, but in this case it seemed
worthwhile. At 195 pages, the ruling is an extensive and informed
look at Internet use and censorship.)
Feb 2004 A Siren, by Thomas Adolphus Trollope [sirenxxx.xxx]5179
(Note: This is the brother to Anthony Trollope, who authored 34 books
in the PG collection.)
***
Total PG ebooks available online **AS OF 06/05/02**: 5,309
(This number includes the 71 etexts posted at the PG Australia web site)
In the first 22 weeks of the new year, we have produced 1,000 new eBooks.
Note: it took us from 1971 to 1997 to produce our *FIRST* 1,000 eBooks!!!
That's 22 WEEKS as Compared to 26 YEARS!!!
Aug 1997 La Divina Commedia di Dante in Italian, 7-bit text[0ddcdxxx.xxx]1000
My count is using "With 4,335 eTexts online as of January 9" from our first
Newsletter of this production year, and subtracting that from the 5309 we
have as our total now. . .I'm guessing the others might also be counting
the 33 eBooks listed in the January 2 Newsletter, about the difference.
5310-4335 = 975 My count
975 + 33 = 1008
1005 + 10 = 1015 George's Count
1018 Brett's Program
The production statistics are calculated based on full weeks of
production, each production-week starting/ending Wednesday noon,
starting with the first Wednesday in January. January 2nd was
was the first Wednesday of 2002, and thus ended the production
With 5,309 eTexts online as of June 5, 2002 it now takes an average
of 100,000,000 readers gaining a nominal value of $1.88 from each book,
for Project Gutenberg to have currently given away $1,000,000,000,000
[One Trillion Dollars] in books.
100,000,000 readers is only about 1.6 percent of the world's population!
This "cost" is down from $2.83 when we had 3531 Etexts A Year Ago
Can you imagine 5,000 books each costing $.95 less a year later???
Or. . .would this say it better?
Can you imagine 5,000 books each costing 33% less a year later???
***
Headlines From Newsscan
ENTERTAINMENT, TECH GROUPS TEAM ON PROTECTION STRATEGY
A group of entertainment, technology and consumer electronics companies has
proposed a new set of guidelines designed to allow consumers to copy
digital programming, but would block them from passing those copies on via
the Internet. The Broadcast Protection Discussion Group includes such
companies as Intel, Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America and the major
movie studios. The report didn't recommend a set of technical standards,
nor did it include any legislative or regulatory recommendations about how
solutions should be implemented. A separate group of companies is expected
to deal with those issues. (Wall Street Journal 5 Jun 2002)
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1023248936950557600.djm,00.html (sub req'd)
[Soap Opera's for Computers?]
DUAL MARKETING STRATEGY FOR HP, COMPAQ PCs
Hewlett-Packard is looking to Procter & Gamble for inspiration on how to
capitalize on its HP and Compaq brands. Like P&G, which sells different
brands of soap and detergent side-by-side on grocery store shelves, HP has
decided to continue selling both HP and Compaq computers in retail stores
such as Circuit City and Best Buy. Analysts say the key to success will lie
in HP's ability to differentiate the brands, and HP executives say they'll
begin to do just that in the new product lineups slated for rollout over
the next few months. For instance, one brand could be "fun" and the other
"understated," says an IDC analyst. The fun brand would have more colorful
and interesting designs and come with multimedia software, whereas the
other brand would be "all business" and would feature productivity
software. HP's dual-brand approach is a smart move, says Mohan Sawhney, a
professor at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. "The
reach of two brands is greater. And competition between the two brands is
healthy, despite the cannibalization of sales."
(Investor's Business Daily 5 Jun 2002)
http://www.investors.com/editorial/tech.asp?v=6/5
COURT TO SONY: "WALKMAN" IS JUST ANOTHER WORD
Austria's supreme court has ruled against Sony in a trademark case in which
the Japanese electronics company challenged a wholesaler from treating
"Walkman" as a generic name for portable music players. The wholesaler had
used "Walkman" to refer to products not made by Sony. The judges based
their decision partly on the fact that that they'd found a German
dictionary definition of "Walkman" that did not mention Sony; they took
this to mean that the word is now a common noun. Sony says it will use
other legal means to pursue its trademark rights.
(Reuters/San Jose Mercury News 5 Jun 2002)
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/3404471.htm
LIBERTY ALLIANCE SEEKS LIBERTY FROM WHOM?
The 43-member Liberty Alliance -- whose membership includes American
Express, AOL Time Warner, General Motors, Nokia, Sony, and United Airlines
-- is sometimes suspected of being simply an anti-Microsoft coalition,
because it seemed to be formed as a way of resisting Microsoft's plans to
use its ".Net Passport" technology to get a lock on Internet commerce. But
the Alliance denies that motivation, and has clarified its objectives. The
Liberty Alliance says its main goal is to develop open technical standards
to allow Web sites and companies to share data when they have customer
permission to do so. Different sets of credentials will be used for
different purposes (the way, by analogy, an individual's wallet might
contain a driver's license, credit cards, library cards, etc.).
(New York Times 3 Jun 2002)
http://partners.nytimes.com/2002/06/03/technology/03SOFT.html
COURT OVERTURNS LAW REQUIRING SOFTWARE FILTERS
A three-judge federal panel in Philadelphia struck down a provision of the
Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) requiring public libraries to
install software on library terminals to filter out pornographic material.
The law applied to libraries that received federal technology funding, and
supporters of the law had maintained that Congress has the right to decide
what it does or doesn't want to fund. But the Court ruled that the
legislation was fatally flawed because there currently exists no software
that can with complete precision filter only the targeted material -- and
nothing else by accident. The case is likely to be appealed to the U.S.
Supreme court. (San Jose Mercury-News 1 Jun 2002)
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/3379690.htm
BODY ARMOR PROTECTS BITS UNDER FIRE
Xybernaut, a specialist in "wearable" PCs, is teaming up with Second Chance
Body Armor, the leading U.S. manufacturer of protective body gear, to create
high-tech body armor that incorporates computing capability. "They've
created a version of their body armor that is not only protecting the
individual but includes support and protection for the computing device,"
says a Xybernaut spokesman. "It can stop a .44 Magnum round or a 9mm
full-metal jacket, which covers a good portion of what you might face if
you're a soldier or a police officer on patrol. For somebody in a tactical
role, having a full PC equivalent that's body worn and gives you a number of
options for accessing the data can be a huge advantage." The body suit
originally was commissioned by the U.S. Army, which uses it for field repair
technicians and other noncombat positions, but military and police officials
have indicated interest in using the systems to feed intelligence and other
data to personnel in combat or patrol situations.
(CNet News.com 30 May 2002)
http://news.com.com/2100-1040-929031.html?tag=fd_top
FOUR LINUX VENDORS (BUT NOT RED HAT) FORM ALLIANCE
Linux software vendors Caldera, Turbolinx, SuSE and Conective -- but not
Linux industry leader Red Hat -- have formed an alliance called UnitedLinux
for joint distribution and R&D, and will sell jointly developed products
under their own names. Although Linux is given out free as part of the "open
source" programming movement, individual companies charge for technical
support and other services. Why wasn't Red Hat included in the alliance? It
was invited to join, but a Red Hat executive said: "We are not sure what to
make of it, because they called us yesterday and have been working on it for
months. We cannot join anything we don't understand."
(AP/San Jose Mercury-News 30 May 2002)
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/3368020.htm
ACLU BLASTS USE OF FACE RECOGNITION SYSTEMS
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has issued a stinging criticism of
the use of computer-based face recognition systems to aid in the war against
terrorism. ACLU official Barry Steindardt says: "To have such a system in
place near the Statue of Liberty -- our nation9s beacon of liberty -- is
both ironic and disheartening. It may be a good sales stunt for the
manufacturer, but it is an insult to the American people and to those in law
enforcement who truly know how to keep us safe." The ACLU's position is that
the system has a high rate of "false positives" that wrongly match people
with photos of others, thereby subjecting people to "being pulled aside for
intrusive searches and security checks." (ACLU 24 May 2002)
http://www.aclu.org/news/2002/n052402a.html
CELL PHONES AS TEENAGE FASHION STATEMENTS
One Seattle teenager apparently sums up the spirit of a whole generation:
"Individuality is really important with phones. I don't want the same phone
as everyone else." Trying to rise to that challenge, manufacturers are now
producing cell phones designed specifically for the teenage market.
Wildseed, a small cell phone company in Washington, says the key to that
market is not smaller, lighter, sleeker phones, but pizzazz, because the
things teenagers want from their cell phones are music, messaging, games,
personality, and individuality. The company is customizing its new products
around fashion themes and giving them "smart skins" that will allow
teenagers to change a phone's functions as well as its appearance.
So the question of the day isn't
Where do you want to go?
But who do you want to be?
(New York Times 30 May 2002)
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/30/technology/circuits/30TEEN.html
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT CLOSE TO SPAM BAN
A bill that would outlaw unsolicited commercial e-mail and prohibit the
unauthorized placement of files (such as cookies) on people's computers is
close to passage in the European Parliament. In a nod to heightened
concerns over cybercrime and terrorist activities, the bill would also give
European law enforcement officials greater access to electronic records of
people's phone calls and Web visits by allowing the retention of such
records "for a limited period" to safeguard national security and aid the
"prevention, investigation, detection and prosecution of criminal
offenses." The proposed legislation is the result of two years of intense
lobbying by consumer groups, e-commerce firms, law-enforcement officials
and privacy advocates. "We'll get a good and delicate balance between the
needs of law-enforcement agencies and the respect of human rights," says a
spokesman for the European Commission. (Wall Street Journal 29 May 2002)
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1022615363371120040.djm,00.html (sub req'd)
XBOX 'MOD' CHIPS HIT THE MARKET
The first Xbox "mod chips" are now available, raising the possibility that
some Xbox owners could use the copy-protection disabling features to play
copy-protected CDs and DVDs. Buyers of the Xtender, the Enigma and the
Messiah mod chips are promised the ability to play games copied on
recordable CD and DVD discs, play otherwise inaccessible foreign titles,
and copy DVD movie discs otherwise protected by software from Macrovision.
Analysts say the new chips are unlikely to inspire a wave of Napster-like
file-swapping, however, mostly because installing the chips requires
disassembling the Xbox case and affixing the chip to the circuit board, a
task that could require more than 20 soldering connections. "I don't see
(illegal file-swapping) as a huge concern moving forward," says P.J.
McNealy, a Gartner research director. "This is pretty sophisticated stuff,
something the average consumer can't handle." (CNet News.com 28 May 2002)
http://news.com.com/2100-1040-924666.html
***
Headlines From Edupage:
REPORT SAYS DIGITAL DIVIDE STILL EXISTS
A new report from the Civil Rights Forum on Communications Policy, the
Consumer Federation of America, and the Consumers Union argues that the
Bush administration has ended its efforts to address the digital divide
before the gap is nearly closed. The report says that low-income groups
continue to lag significantly behind higher income people in terms of
Internet access and access to broadband services. According to the
report, U.S. households with annual incomes of $50,000 or more are
three times as likely to have Internet access as households with
incomes of less than $25,000. The groups that authored the report also
criticized the administration for eliminating the Technology
Opportunities Program and the Community Technology Centers program,
both of which have lost their funding in the 2003 budget.
Washington Post, 30 May 2002
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35195-2002May30.html
COURT THROWS OUT CIPA
A U.S. District Court in Pennsylvania found the Children's Internet
Protection Act (CIPA) to be unconstitutional, violating the First
Amendment. The law would have required libraries to install Internet
filters to block pornographic or other age-sensitive content. Those
that did not install filters risked losing federal funding. But the
court declared that filters block some content that is not
objectionable and is protected speech. The judges also noted that
filters cannot likely block all material that they try to restrict. The
ruling was supported by the American Civil Liberties Union and the
American Library Association, both of which have fought the law since
it was passed in 2000. A spokesman from N2H2, a maker of software
filters, said he thought the court would issue a more moderate ruling.
"[I]t seems like the court expects us to be 100 percent," he said.
CNET, 31 May 2002
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-929577.html
ELECTRONIC TRANSCRIPTS IN BRITISH COLUMBIA
A new service in British Columbia allows electronic transfer of student
transcripts. An arrangement in the province allows students to take
courses at different institutions. Because of that, the 27
postsecondary institutions in the province process approximately
250,000 transcript requests per year. The new system, which cost only
about $91,000 to develop, will pay for itself in postage alone. The
service also will speed up the processing of applications to higher
education programs in British Columbia. Initially, seven instititions
will participate, with most of the rest expected to join later this year.
Chronicle of Higher Education, 30 May 2002
http://chronicle.com/free/2002/05/2002053001t.htm
LIBERTY ALLIANCE ADDS MEMBERS
The Liberty Alliance, which was created to compete directly with
Microsoft's Passport program, has added five new members: Cingular
Wireless, i2 Technologies, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, SAP, and
Wave Systems. The Alliance contends that Passport presents a danger
to individuals' privacy because it aims to collect users' personal
information and store it in a single location. One goal of the Alliance
is to create standards for an open, authentication-sharing model,
which will allow applications from different vendors to interoperate.
The Alliance is attempting to garner support from private industry,
government, and nonprofit organizations. Its first specification is
due to be released this summer.
InfoWorld, 30 May 2002
http://www.idg.net/ic_868825_1794_9-10000.html
PASSPORT COMES UNDER SCRUTINY BY EU
The European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union (EU),
is investigating whether Microsoft's .NET system violates European
privacy regulations. EU rules allow companies to collect personal
information on customers only when those customers are notified and
when the company can demonstrate a legitimate purpose. Part of
Microsoft's .NET initiative is Passport, which collects and stores
personal data for users so that they only have to enter that
information one time. When a user visits a Web site that is part of the
Passport program, Microsoft releases the user's profile to the site's
owner. A spokesman from Microsoft said the company is aware of the
investigation but not of any specific concerns. He said Passport
complies with a "safe harbor" agreement, which guarantees adequate
protection of personal information, that Microsoft signed last year.
New York Times, 28 May 2002
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/28/technology/28SOFT.html
MONSTERHUT SUED FOR SPAMMING
The state of New York has filed a lawsuit against MonsterHut Inc.,
charging that the organization falsely represented its e-mail
advertising program as "opt-in" and sent more than 500 million
unsolicited spam e-mails. MonsterHut, whose messages promoted
businesses including Overstock.com and ProFlowers.com, came under
pressure recently from its ISP, PaeTec Communications, which tried to
discontinue service to MonsterHut in response to complaints PaeTec had
received. A court found that PaeTec's contract with MonsterHut did not
allow them to discontinue service. Now the state lawsuit aims to force
MonsterHut to end its unsolicited e-mails and to disclose the source of
e-mail addresses.
Newsbytes, 28 May 2002
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/176784.html
LIBRARY DEAL PUTS NEWSPAPER ARCHIVES ONLINE
An arrangement between the Online Computer Library Center, Inc. (OCLC)
and Olive Software will digitize libraries' archives of newspaper
content and put that content online. Libraries can use Olive Software
to build an electronic archive, including index, of newspaper content.
Under the new program, OCLC will be the sole distributor of the
software to the library market. The first stages of the project will
focus primarily on older newspapers, from the 18th and 19th centuries,
that are in the public domain. After collections have been digitized,
libraries can host them on their own servers or on OCLC's server.
Libraries maintain control of the content and its distribution,
and OCLC will offer a premium service where users can pay for
access to the full text of some content.
Information Today, 28 May 2002
http://www.infotoday.com/newsbreaks/nb020528-1.htm
HEAD OF ICANN TO STEP DOWN
Stuart Lynn, the president of the Internet Corporation for Assigned
Names and Numbers (ICANN), has announced that he will leave the
organization next March, at the end of his first two-year term. Lynn
cited the stress and "7-by-24" nature of the job as his reason for
leaving. He said he hopes to finalize a controversial reform of the
organization before his term expires. At issue is the method for
electing members of the ICANN board. Critics of ICANN have said that
the board must include some members who are chosen through public
elections. Lynn has opposed this process, saying that a more
appropriate mechanism is to have members elected by world governments.
Washington Post, 28 May 2002
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22416-2002May28.html
LINUX VENDORS TO TAKE ON RED HAT
A group of Linux vendors, representing different geographical markets,
is expected Thursday to announce a standardized Linux distribution, in
an attempt to take some of the market from Red Hat. Analysts said the
companies involved, Caldera, Conectiva, SuSE, and Turbolinux, will
likely establish a single distribution that contains the best that each
has to offer. Red Hat is the leading distributor in the Linux market,
and some anaylsts questioned whether the smaller vendors are offering
"too little, too late." Complicating matters is a new Linux
distribution from Sun Microsystems, expected later this year.
eWeek, 28 May 2002
http://www.eweek.com/article/0,3658,s=1884&a=27405,00.asp
NEW TOOL AIMS TO SKIRT ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE
In response to a new law in the UK giving law enforcement officials the
right to snoop into electronic communications, a group of computer
activists is developing a system called M-o-o-t, which keeps data out
of the hands of law enforcement. The new law, the Regulation of
Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA), allows government to demand the
encryption keys to decode electronic communications. M-o-o-t
circumvents that by storing data, as well as encryption keys, on
overseas servers, outside the jurisdiction of the UK. Critics said
M-o-o-t is unnecessary and potentially a dangerous tool for criminals.
Makers of M-o-o-t said the benefits of keeping the government out of
private data are far greater than the risks the tool creates.
New Scientist, 28 May 2002
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992335
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