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-
- Computer underground Digest Sun Nov 10, 1996 Volume 8 : Issue 79
- ISSN 1004-042X
-
- Editor: Jim Thomas (cudigest@sun.soci.niu.edu)
- News Editor: Gordon Meyer (gmeyer@sun.soci.niu.edu)
- Archivist: Brendan Kehoe
- Shadow Master: Stanton McCandlish
- Field Agent Extraordinaire: David Smith
- Shadow-Archivists: Dan Carosone / Paul Southworth
- Ralph Sims / Jyrki Kuoppala
- Ian Dickinson
- Cu Digest Homepage: http://www.soci.niu.edu/~cudigest
-
- CONTENTS, #8.79 (Sun, Nov 10, 1996)
- File 1--The Emperor's New Suit, from Balt City Paper, by Joab Jackson
- File 2--Taking Technology To The Street
- File 3--ACLU Files Supreme Court Motion Over CDA
- File 4--Free Speech. Literally.
- File 5--Another Point of view (in re: FLAMETHROWER Declan McCullagh)
- File 6--USENIX Annual Conference & USELINUX, January 6-10, 1997 (fwd)
- File 7--Blocking Web Censorship
- File 8--Press Release: second MIDS legal article
- File 9--Cu Digest Header Info (unchanged since 7 Nov, 1996)
-
-
- CuD ADMINISTRATIVE, EDITORIAL, AND SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION ApPEARS IN
- THE CONCLUDING FILE AT THE END OF EACH ISSUE.
-
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Date: Fri, 1 Nov 1996 01:13:03 -0500 (EST)
- From: Declan McCullagh <declan@vorlon.mit.edu>
- Subject: 1--The Emperor's New Suit, from Balt City Paper, by Joab Jackson
-
- From -- fight-censorship@vorlon.mit.edu
-
- ---------- Forwarded message ----------
- Date--Tue, 29 Oct 1996 20:15:31 -0500
- From--Joab Jackson <joabj@charm.net>
-
-
- The Emperor's New Suit
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-
- The Strange World of Tapu would make a grown crypto-anarchist, unabombin',
- cellular-phone crackin', antisocial cyberpunk weep in awe. This Web page is
- truly an achievement. It's the one-stop directory for all manner of shady
- business.
-
- I wish I could provide the address to the spot, but I can't. Not because it
- would be illegal. There's nothing even vaguely illegal on Tapu's site; it
- consists almost entirely of links to other Web sites. Yet if we printed that
- URL, City Paper and yours truly might find themselves on the receiving end
- of a lawsuit from the Software Publishers Association, the trade
- organization for the desktop business-software industry.
-
- Last week I wrote about the SPA's initiative aimed at cracking down on
- Internet piracy (Cyberpunk, 10/23). What is interesting about this approach
- is that the association is not going after those who post illegal copies of
- software, but rather those whose Web pages contain pointers to "warez"
- sites. Whether those pointers infringe on copyright laws is questionable.
-
- One of the SPA campaign's first targets was the Strange World page, which
- included such links. Tapu informed me by E-mail that on September 26 she
- received a call from Jeff McGough, president of Intergate, Tapu's Internet
- service provider (Tapu prefers not to give out her last name or where she
- lives). McGough said he was destroying all of Tapu's Web pages, even those
- unconnected to the Strange World page, at the behest of the SPA, which
- threatened a lawsuit if he didn't take action within 24 hours. "It was
- ludicrous," McGough says. "But neither I nor Tapu had the money to tell them
- to take a flying leap."
-
- "I was shocked," Tapu writes. "It was pretty confusing, because my page was
- pretty content-free, nothing but links.." (Ironically, once word got around
- that Tapu's page was removed, it mysteriously popped up in 23 other
- locations-in at least eight different countries-courtesy of on-line
- sympathizers. At least a few of these copies can be found pretty easily
- through a Yahoo search.)
-
- At first glance the SPA's actions may seem a bit tangential, like the FBI
- prosecuting the publishers of the telephone book which held the Ryder ad
- that Timothy McVeigh allegedly referred to when shopping for a truck to
- drive to Oklahoma in. Naturally this case has the civil libertarians up in
- arms. They see SPA's action as a serious threat to free speech.
-
- Robert Costner of Electronic Frontiers Georgia, an advocacy group for
- on-line civil liberties, notes that the decision to remove material "was
- made not on the merits of the case, but on the threat of civil action. . . .
- This is the most chilling aspect of the SPA's actions."
-
- However, Joshua Bauchner, SPA litigation coordinator, argues that using the
- right to free speech to defend the existence of warez sites is simply
- irrelevant. "Copyright infringement is not protected by the First Amendment,
- just like the First Amendment does not give anyone the right to sell drugs,"
- he tells me.
-
- This is a valid point. But here is the SPA's dirty little secret: There is
- no law forbidding the direct promotion of piracy. You can search the U.S.
- Code 17, chapter one-the section covering copyright law-but you won't find a
- trace of it. (The code can be found on the Web site of Cornell University's
- Legal Information Institute)
-
- Even the U.S. Supreme Court has noted, "The Copyright Act does not expressly
- render anyone liable for infringement committed by another" (Sony
- Corporation v. Universal City Studios, 464 U.S. 436).
-
- Which is not to say someone can't possibly lose their shirt over it. In the
- legal world, Bauchner says, there is a fairly well-known concept called
- "contributory infringement," and it's what SPA is basing its suit on.
-
- Contributory infringement, as defined by William Patry in the well-regarded
- Copyright Law and Practice, occurs when "the defendant induces, causes, or
- materially contributes to a third party's infringing activity." The SPA is
- arguing that the creation of sites that have pointers to sites with "warez,"
- "hacker," or "cracker" information is promoting or "materially contributing"
- to infringement.
-
- SPA is leaning heavily on Patry's definition, which was formed entirely in
- connection with cases dealing with older media forms, such as Supreme Court
- opinions on the legality of taping television shows at home and of record
- stores allowing in-house taping of music. Bauchner also sites a case in
- which a department-store chain was successfully sued for allowing an
- independent vendor to sell bootleg records in its stores.
-
- As much as Bauchner feels the SPA has a pretty strong case based on these
- precedents, he admits there hasn't been a defining case on the matter as it
- applies to cyberspace.
-
- How applicable the concept of contributory infringement is to the Web
- depends largely on how well it is accepted in the legal community in the
- next few years. So heads up.
-
- As for Tapu, she remains unable to put up her home page. "I guess I didn't
- realize that anybody can just threaten people with a frivolous lawsuit,"
- Tapu writes. "If the victim doesn't have any money, they pretty much have to
- do whatever the perpetrator wants."
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Thu, 10 Oct 1996 01:37:47 -0700 (PDT)
- From: Audrie Krause <akrause@igc.apc.org>
- Subject: 2--Taking Technology To The Street
-
- NetAction Notes
- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Published by NetAction Issue No. 5 October 10, 1996
- Repost where appropriate. See copyright information at end of message.
- * * * * * * *
-
- Taking Technology To The Street
-
- Last week NetAction sponsored a week-long experiment in making Internet
- technology more accessible. With the help of many volunteers, we literally
- took the Internet to the street. The unique event brought together people
- with technical expertise and non-profit groups focused on creating access to
- technology, teaching computer skills and/or advocating on technology policy.
- This all-volunteer effort would be easy for Internet activists to duplicate
- in other communities where there is interest in promoting more widespread
- access to technology and/or building coalitions around technology policy.
-
- For six days, volunteers staffed a storefront kiosk in San Francisco's Civic
- Center area that offered residents and visitors free demonstrations of the
- Internet and the opportunity for a hands-on lesson in accessing the World
- Wide Web, E-mail and news groups. By week's end, about 100 people had
- visited the kiosk, which was staffed from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily by a total
- of 26 volunteers. In addition to NetAction, 17 organizations and businesses
- participated as co-sponsors.
-
- While some visitors were already online and came with very specific
- questions, others had never operated a computer. Many visitors stayed for
- an hour or more, and had a real hands-on lesson in accessing the Internet.
- Many of the volunteers offered to help again if NetAction organizes another
- demo, which I certainly hope to do.
-
- The experience has me convinced that public demonstrations in locations with
- significant pedestrian traffic are a viable means of promoting access to
- information technology. The event also helped promote effective citizen
- action by linking people who have technical skills with organizations in the
- community that provide information technology access, training, and/or
- policy advocacy. Publicity about the Internet demo helped raise public
- awareness of the many organizations and businesses that participated, and
- the event provided a positive and meaningful volunteer experience for those
- who participated.
-
- Internet technology was put to use in organizing the event. A majority of
- the volunteers who staffed the demo were recruited by announcements sent to
- E-mail lists and posted on web sites. The event was publicized on the web
- as well as through more traditional media. Activists interested in
- organizing similar events in other communities are welcome to contact me for
- further advice at: akrause@igc.org.
-
- The Internet demo served serveral purposes:
-
- - People who were already are online were able to get answers to specific
- technical questions.
-
- - People who have computers but are not online were introduced to the web,
- E-mail, and news groups, and provided with referrals to organizations and
- businesses that could help with training, and with identifying and
- contacting Internet service providers.
-
- - People who had not previously used computers had a chance to see what the
- technology offered and learn about resources in the community that could
- help them get started.
-
- - People with technical expertise had opportunities to share their knowledge
- with others.
-
- - Community organizations working to promote technology access and/or
- advocate on technology policy received positive exposure.
-
- - Community groups seeking to incorporate technology into their work turned
- to NetAction for assistance. One volunteer with technical expertise was
- connected to a grassroots group seeking assistance in developing a web site,
- and a local business contacted NetAction about donating several used
- computers to a community technology center.
-
- The non-profit co-sponsors included:
- Berkeley Mac Users Group (http://www.bmug.org)
- California Voter Foundation (http://www.calvoter.org)
- Computers & You (http://www.glide.org)
- Digital Queers (http://www.planetout.com)
- Electronic Frontier Foundation (http://www.eff.org)
- Impact Online (http://www.impactonline.org)
- Institute for Global Communication (http://www.igc.org)
- Media Alliance (web site under development).
-
- Co-sponsoring businesses included:
- A Clean Well Lighted Place for Books (http://www.bookstore.com)
- America Online (http://www.aol.com)
- HotWired (http://www.hotwired.com)
- ManyMedia (http://www.manymedia.com)
- Pacific Bell (http://www.pacbell.com)
- Rosebowl Florist (http://www.rosebowlflorist.com)
- Upside Magazine (http://www.upside.com)
- Yahoo (http://www.yahoo.com)
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Mon, 04 Nov 1996 09:01:54 EST
- From: "J. Richard Wilson <usfmd97t@ibmmail.com>
- Subject: 3--ACLU Files Supreme Court Motion Over CDA
-
- WASHINGTON -- In an October 31 press release, the American Civil Liberties
- Union (ACLU) announced that it had filed a motion with the U.S. Supreme Court
- to affirm a lower court's decision that declared the Communications Decency
- Act (CDA) unconstitutional government censorship of the Internet.
-
- The ACLU's motion, which was in response to the Government's appeal of the
- District Court's June ruling, requests that the Supreme Court issue a "summary
- affirmation", which would mean that the Court upholds the lower court's
- decision without any further inquiry. Although such a decision by the Court
- is rare in instances where federal statutes are in question, the ACLU argues
- that the lower court's findings were not only extensive and undisputed by the
- Government, but that the Government has not raised "any legitimate argument
- against summary affirmance."
-
- A second brief was filed the same day by the American Library Association
- (ALA) on behalf of the nearly 30 organizations and more than 50,000 individual
- Internet users it is representing. The brief acknowledges that summary
- affirmance would be appropriate, but also notes that it would not oppose a
- review of the case by the Court. The ACLU also stated that it is fully
- prepared for such a hearing.
-
- After the court's decision, the Government had 30 days to file a Notice of
- Appeal with the District Court. Following that, the Goverment then had 60
- days to file its appeal, called a Jurisdictional Statement, with the Supreme
- Court. At the end of that period, the Government requested and was granted a
- 30 day extension.
-
- Interestingly enough, the Goverment does not contest the findings of the lower
- court or the constitutionality of its decision, nor does it request a "summary
- reversal", which would mean the Supreme Court reverses the lower court's
- ruling without further examination. Instead, the Government offers an
- entirely new argument not previously presented to the District Court: that the
- CDA only applies to individuals who "knowingly" transmit "indecent" material
- to minors.
-
- The Goverment's new interpretation of the CDA is inconsistent with previous
- arguments in which it had suggested that the use of site-rating software and
- age-verification could protect legitimate speakers from prosecution. The
- question raised is: if the CDA only applies to individuals who knowingly break
- the law, then why is there a need to protect "legitimate speakers"?
-
- As it was written, the Communications Decency Act makes it unlawful for
- individuals to transmit or make available material that is "indecent" or
- "patently offensive" on computer networks, most notably the Internet, if that
- material can be viewed by a minor. Punishment for violation of the CDA can
- result in up to two years in jail and/or fines up to $250,000.
-
- "The stakes in this case are undeniably high," said Christopher Hansen, the
- ACLU lawyer who argued the case before the three-judge court in Philadelphia.
- "Whatever the Supreme Court decides will determine the government's ability to
- regulate a technology that will undoubtedly serve as the basis for global
- communication into the 21st century."
-
- The ACLU's brief can be found at http://www.aclu.org/court/renoaffirm.html.
-
-
- -- J. Richard Wilson (an030@detroit.freenet.org)
-
-
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Fri, 18 Oct 1996 18:14:22 -0700 (PDT)
- From: HotWired Announcements <announce-info@hotwired.com>
- Subject: 4--Free Speech. Literally.
-
- Do you like to chat online?
- Do you prefer the easy-to-use interfaces of chat systems like AOL to
- the hassles of IRC, but hate paying by the minute?
-
- Come to Talk.com, a new, totally free Web chat space, open 24 hours a
- day for HotWired members only, at http://www.talk.com/
-
- Create your own rooms and nicknames. Hang out for as long as you
- like without having to keep an eye on the clock. Meet friends and
- pick up new ideas in live chat events with guests like Brian Eno,
- Ann Beeson, Nicholas Negroponte, Laurie Anderson, or Senator Patrick
- Leahy.
-
- And unlike AOL and other chaperoned pay-as-you-play systems, Talk.com
- is free of meddlesome "guides."
-
- But the best thing about Talk.com is you - HotWired members worldwide,
- half a million strong. Where else are you going to find a cooler
- group of people to schmooze with?
-
- (Talk.com's interface works on Java-capable browsers across all
- platforms. Members with 14.4 Kbps connections may experience 3-to-4
- minute loading times when they first visit. Talk.com can also be
- accessed through Marimba's Castanet tuner at http://trans.talk.com/)
-
- See you online!
-
- About this message:
- You're receiving this information because you've registered as a
- member of the HotWired Network. Periodically we send mail to our
- members to announce new sites and services we are offering. If
- you'd like to be removed from this mailing list, simply reply to
- this message with the words "unsubscribe hotwired announce" in the
- body of the message. Our Support Services Department will take your
- email address off the list and send a confirmation back to you.
-
- Sincerely,
-
- Marsha Hunter
- http://www.talk.com
- Membership Services
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Mon, 14 Oct 1996 11:23:01 -0600
- From: Jim Taylor <jtaylor@tcd.net>
- Subject: 5--Another Point of view (in re: FLAMETHROWER Declan McCullagh)
-
- Jim Taylor (jtaylor@tcd.net)
-
- Another Point of view on the message from
- "FLAMETHROWER Declan McCullagh (declan@well.com)"
-
- >Private businesses pose the more sinister threat to
- >free expression on-line.
- >Take America On-line (AOL), which now boasts over six million members.
- >In a move akin to the paranoid antics of a kindergarten schoolmarm,
- >AOL this summer started deleting messages posted in Spanish and
- >Portuguese since its monitors can't understand them. Undercover AOL
- >cops continue to yank accounts of mothers who talk about breast
- >feeding and mention the word "nipple." The company's gapingly broad
- >"terms of service" agreement allows it to boot anyone, anytime, for
- >any reason.
-
- To me I would interpret this as quit AOL, Compuserve, or any
- on-line service that censors its customers. Join up with any of
- the thousands of Internet Service Providers (ISP) that don't
- censor, but just give you a standard SLIP or PPP type account.
-
- >Don't forget net-filtering software. While busily touting itself as
- >anti-censorship, CyberSitter quietly blocks the National Organization
- >of Women and Queer Resources Directory web sites. CyberPatrol prevents
- >teen pornhounds from investigating animal and gun rights pages -- and,
- >inexplicably, the Electronic Frontier Foundation's censorship archive.
- >NetNanny cuts off AIDS resources including the sci.med.aids and
- >clari.tw.health.aids newsgroups. SurfWatch bans domestic partner web
- >pages and Columbia University's award-winning "Health Education and
- >Wellness" site.
-
- Yes, this is correct, for those that are controlled under
- net-filtering software. The majority of people affected are
- children and employees at some company. Since all of the above
- software come with a setable password, parents can set up what
- sites they want their children to see. It is not static, and can
- be setup with different degrees of restriction. Most companies
- don't provide net access for employees to "surf", but to gather
- pertinent information. It is the companies, or parents right to
- control access to information. As for employees, they can AND
- SHOULD get their own Internet accounts at home so they can see what
- is in cyberspace, on their own time, and in a non censored way.
-
- If we as netizens don't provide a way to control access to
- children, the government will do it for us, or at least try real
- hard, as they did with the Communications Decency Act (CDA).
-
- >If [censorship] happens, netizens will find their rosy vision of the Net as
- >the birthplace of a new form of democracy overwhelmed by the sad
- >reality of a new media oligarchy aborning.
-
- Yes I entirely agree, The net as a whole should be censor free, but
- filters should be in place to protect, those that need it, ie
- children. The same way I support Alcohol should be able to be
- purchased by an Adult, but we put restrictions on children from
- purchasing Alcohol, like it should be.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Mon, 14 Oct 1996 12:12:03 -0300
- From: Jeffrey Hinchey <jhinchey@navnet.net>
- To: "'cudigest@sun.soci.niu.edu'" <cudigest@sun.soci.niu.edu>
-
- Dear Sirs,
-
- In Cu Digest #8.73, you included a note from Slim Simpson, warning of
- a potential scam of some sort by a company by a Fastfoto of Pomano
- Beach, Florida. In the header the author suggested that he was
- unsure of whether it was appropriate for the CU-Digest or not, and
- personally I think it was not.
-
- Obviously Mr. or Ms. Simpson, was frustrated at the inability to lash
- out at the person who had spammed their mailbox. Lately, with more
- an more newcomers to the net, I have noticed that one thing they seem
- to find out quickly is their supposed right to be spamless, and their
- little private electronic domain, called their mailbox.
-
- Many of these same people invite advertising material like flyers,
- magazines, coupons, to their household door or mailbox on a daily
- basis, but never confront these advertisers. Advertising material
- created by the decimation of forests, pollution of the environment by
- the processing of such, and ending up as filler for our garbage
- dumps. Amazingly only 4% of the recipients will ever be interested
- in the message that these advertising materials contain.
-
- Yet this person will strike out from their armchair, in their little
- form of civil protest against an action they do not agree with, in
- relative obscurity. Mean while they sit passively while shots are
- fired outside their home, children are being abused, homeless people
- starve, and guard the sanctity of their mailbox.
-
- The bottom line is they could have just deleted the note, went on
- their merry way and ignored the invasion of privacy. Instead they
- chose to track this down, and highlight it in some sort of shroud of
- scam and sent it in to CU-Digest, after their inability to express
- their displeasure to the offending party.
-
- Personally I would accept my mailbox having a few useless nuisance
- messages, from recyclable electrons if it meant stopping the
- destructive process of our current advertising means. Maybe it was
- not a spam. Maybe they just left their email address off to protect
- themselves from individuals who want to stop this method of
- advertising Maybe they thought they might end up scanning material
- of a questionable nature, considering the way certain individuals are
- communicating with other individuals today. Maybe they should have
- added the word Adult, then their obscurity would make more sense
-
- There were people who did not like the introduction of the printing
- press at one time either, and of course they are no longer living. I
- just think that this message was NOT appropriate for the CU-Digest,
- but hopefully will spark debate.
- The thousands of people who regularly send a message to someone who
- has spammed them, just has to lighten up, and learn how to use some
- filtering software. Then maybe everyone can communicate without
- destroying our environment.
-
- This is just my opinion, on recyclable material I might add, :)).
-
- Jeffrey Hinchey
-
- ------------------------------
-
- From: Noah <noah@enabled.com>
- Date: Thu, 31 Oct 1996 23:45:11 -0600 (CST)
- Subject: 6--USENIX Annual Conference & USELINUX, January 6-10, 1997 (fwd)
-
- From -Noah
-
-
- ---------- Forwarded message ----------
- Date--Thu, 31 Oct 1996 12:05:54 -0500 (EST)
- From--The Professor <professr@netaxs.com>
-
- January 6-10, 1997
- USENIX 1997 TECHNICAL CONFERENCE
- Anaheim, California, Marriott Hotel
-
- USELINUX
- Linux Applications Development & Deployment Conference
- Co-located with USENIX 1997 Technical Conference
- Co-sponsored by Linux International
-
- Attendees may pay one fee and attend both conferences.
-
- There are 20 day-long tutorials offered on January 6-7.
- Topics include:
- IPv6 Kerberos Approach to Network Security
- Secure Java Programming Introduction to Java
- Windows NT and Windows 95 UNIX Network Programming
- How Networks Work Topics in System Administration
- Web Security System and Network Performance Tuning
- Inside the Linux 2.0 Kernel Java Applets and the AWT
- UNIX Security Tools CGI and WWW Programming in Perl
- Administering a Web Server Device Drivers under Linux
- Solaris System Administration Beginning Perl Programming
- Writing Secure Code Creating Effective User Interfaces
-
- Java, the Web, Intranets, Security, Windows NT are among the topics of the
- Technical Program which takes place January 8-10. It begins with a keynote
- address by James Gosling, a creator of Java. 23 refereed papers present
- up-to-the-minute research. A second track of invited talks cover cryptography,
- Inktomi and AltaVista Search Engines, IPv6, benchmarks, and a new networked
- operating system from Bell Labs that offers unprecedented portability for
- applications and services.
-
- Linux Torvalds speaking on the future of Linux, is one of the highlights at the
- Linux Applications Development and Deployment Conference. USELINUX will offer
- tutorials and technical presentations for developers. Concurrently, those
- interested in the Linux marketplace may attend case studies and expert
- presentations on how to create a Linux-based business.
-
- An Exhibition on January 8-9 offers presentations of the latest hardware,
- software, and networking products from 55 vendors.
- ADMISSION TO THE EXHIBITION IS FREE. If you cannot make it to the conference
- but would like to visit the exhibition, please contact Cynthia Deno at 408 335
- 9445 or cynthia@usenix.org.
-
- For more program and registration information:
-
- Access our Resource Center on the World Wide Web--http://www.usenix.org
-
- Email to: info@usenix.org. In the body of your message state "send usenix97
- conference"
-
-
-
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Sun, 27 Oct 1996 19:40:38 -0800
- From: "Glen L. Roberts" <glr@GLR.COM>
- Subject: 7--Blocking Web Censorship
-
- I have two items to block web censorship:
-
- 1) Web pages via email.
-
- Send a url (in body, not subject) to: web@glr.com. It returns the web
- page via email. Blank email for more info. Password protected pages can
- be accesses, as well as raw html or text can be returned.
-
- This was written up in cnet news and the Atlanta Jouranl & Constitution.
- The ACLU finds it a mixed blessing...
-
- 2) I have setup a web page with programs / instructions for defeating the
- client based blocking programs, Net Nanny, Cyber Patrol, etc.
-
- http://pages.ripco.com:8080/~glr/nurse.html
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Fri, 11 Oct 1996 08:05:58 -0500 (CDT)
- From: pr@mids.org
- Subject: 8--Press Release: second MIDS legal article
-
-
- _MIDS publishes second legal article, examining InterNIC
- domain dispute policy in detail.
-
- For Immediate Release
-
- _Matrix Information and Directory Services (MIDS) publishes
- second in a series of legal articles._
-
- 11 October 1996, Austin, Texas
-
- The TLD Problem
-
- Your domain, if it is under COM, ORG, or NET, can be taken away
- if anyone anywhere in the world claims a trademark on it. Top
- level domains (TLDs) are basic technical features of the Domain
- Name System (DNS), and they have recently become focusses of lots
- of money and big controversy
- <URL:http://www.mids.org/mn/608/tld.html>.
-
- The New Legal Article
-
- To help clarify this TLD problem, MIDS has just published the
- second article in its series of legal articles
- <URL:http://www.mids.org/legal/>.
-
- John S. Quarterman, President of MIDS, says, ``MIDS is
- frequently asked about the TLD problem, so we sought qualified
- legal counsel to produce opinions on aspects of it. We found
- Mikki Barry, who, with her Georgetown Law degree, experience as
- counsel for an Internet software company, and writing ability,
- has just the right qualifications for the task.''
-
- This second article is entitled: ``A detailed analysis on
- the InterNIC's dispute policy.'' It covers legal aspects of the
- InterNIC's domain registration policy in detail, with analysis.
- It is available for $250 from MIDS. The introductory article is
- still available for free, but this second article and the rest of
- the articles in the series are $250 each. Quarterman remarks,
- ``We like to give things to the Internet community, so we
- released the first article for free. However, we think the
- second one is very economically priced at $250.''
-
- Outline
-
- o What is at Stake?
- o The Domain Name Dispute Policies
- o Why is This Domain Dispute Policy a Bad Thing?
- o Use of "May" Instead of "Will"
- o Lack of Procedure
- o NSI Is Not the Arbiter of Disputes
- o Notice of Policy Changes
- o Indemnification
- o Trademarks and Domain Names
- o The InterNIC and Trademarks
- o International Issues
-
- o Who Wins?
- o What Does "On Hold" Mean?
- o How Do You Prevent Your Name From Going "On Hold?"
-
- o So, What is Your Best Defense?
-
- About the Author
-
- Mikki Barry <ooblick@mids.org> is an attorney with Internet
- Policy Consultants. She is a co-founder and former Vice President
- and Chief Counsel of InterCon Systems Corporation. Barry
- graduated from Georgetown University Law Center where she was
- Editor in Chief of the *Journal of Law and Technology*. Research
- thanks go to Lorelle Anderson of Georgetown University Law
- Center.
-
- Other MIDS Publications
-
- In addition to this new series, Matrix Information and Directory
- Services (MIDS) publishes *Matrix News*, *Matrix Maps Quarterly*
- and the *MIDS Internet Weather Report*. MIDS president John
- Quarterman is the author or co-author of six books, including
- *The Matrix* (1990), and has been featured in many periodicals,
- including *Newsweek*, *Internet World*, *MicroTimes*, *The Boston
- Globe*, *Internet Australia*, *The Economist*, *Boardwatch*, *The
- San Jose Mercury News*, *Communications of the Association for
- Computing Machinery*, and *The New York Times*.
-
- Press contact:
- Kristi Rudy
- <support@mids.org>
- 512-451-7602
- fax: 512-452-0127
-
- MIDS <http://www.mids.org>
-
- ------------------------------
-
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Thu, 21 Mar 1996 22:51:01 CST
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- Subject: 9--Cu Digest Header Info (unchanged since 7 Nov, 1996)
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- End of Computer Underground Digest #8.79
- ************************************
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