Commerce, Crime, Dave's Muse, Information, Security, Services, Software, Technical

FTC Offers Bounty to Name Spammers

The United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced, in a public report, that a system of monetary rewards would help improve the enforcement of the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2002 (CAN-SPAM Act.) That Act, which became effective on January 1, 2004, required the FTC to conduct a study and provide a report to Congress on a CAN-SPAM "bounty system." While the fact that bounties may be offered to those who help authorities in nabbing spammers doesn't unusual, what is very much out of the ordinary is the projected bounty amounts necessary to make them effective.

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Todd Cochrane
Commerce, Crime, Dave's Muse, Information, Operating Systems, Security, Software, Technical

$87 Million in Pirated Software Seized

A multi-state ring of software pirates was apprehended by U.S. law enforcement authorities, resulting in a seizure of possibly $87 million worth of pirated software. The raid followed a two-year investigation of 11 people from California, Texas, and Washington. The 11 defendants are charged with conspiring to distribute counterfeit computer software and documentation with a retail value of well over $30 million. according to a statement released by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California.

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Todd Cochrane
Commerce, Dave's Muse, Information, Operating Systems, Security, Services, Software, Technical

Linux Standards Set

The Free Standards Group announced this morning the availability of the Linux Standard Base (LSB) 2.0, an essential component for the long-term market success of Linux. By ensuring a common, agreed-upon standard from which Linux applications may be developed, the LSB supports Linux developer's competition with Microsoft and its Windows operating system.

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Todd Cochrane
Commerce

Yahoo buys Musicmatch

Yahoo’s could not do it on their own so they had to buy one of my most favored music vendors. I have always been a big fan of Musicmatch and now that Yahoo has just bought them out I am…

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Todd Cochrane