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

Hear Me, I Want to Listen

Digital Rights Management (DRM)is a tool that doesn't reflect the general preference of legal music downloaders. Before you read on, hoping that I will advocate for the free distribution of music, let me warn you: I'm a strong supporter of copyright and the protection of intellectual property; I want artists and distributors to make a decent living, but I'm frustrated by the current misuse of digital technology that attempts to thwart illegal distribution. In practice, DRM makes creates compatibility problems that make it excessively difficult, and in most cases, impossible, to listen to music that has been purchased online.

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

Pew Report States That 27 Percent of Users Download Digital Music and Video

The Pew Internet & American Life Project reported this week that 36 million Americans, 27 percent of internet users, report having downloaded music or video files. Half of this group have skirted the traditional peer-to-peer (P2P) networks and commercial online distribution services (i.e. Napster, iTunes). This is a significant number of digital media users whose sharing of digital media is untraceable by the recording industry and copyright holders.

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

Internet Explorer Unsafe 98 Percent of the Time

ScanIT, an Internet security consultancy, reports Microsoft's Internet Explorer was unsafe 98 percent of the time, during 2004. The data were collected from 195,000 internet users who used ScanIT's online security checker. The reported 98 percent unsafe rating is based on security holes being found in fully-patched installations of Internet Explorer on every day of the year 2004, except the week between October 12 and 19.

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Todd Cochrane
1 Comment on Internet Explorer Unsafe 98 Percent of the Time
Security

Cyberterrorism Lecture

I had the chance to attend a lecture last night by Marcus Ranum on the subject of cyberterrorism. Ranum is the author of the book The Myth of Homeland Security. Upon my arrival I quickly realized that I was entering…

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Todd Cochrane
Security

DRM in iTunes On, Off, Now On Again

Jon Johansen’s PyMusique application which allowed purchasing and downloading of music from iTunes Music Store without the normal DRM attached was shut down by Apple, and now is back working again. PyMusique does not write out DRM to the song,…

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Todd Cochrane
Security

The Top Ten Spyware

According to Webroot Inc. and listed in the Inquirer, here are the top ten spyware and adware threats based on detection as well as potential impact. 1. CoolWebSearch2. Gator3. 180 search asst.4. ISTbar/AUpdate5. Transponder6. Internet optimizer7. BlazeFind 8. Hot as Hell9. Advance…

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Todd Cochrane