Court tosses alleged
AOL spammer's conviction
Half of the sibling duo convicted on felony spamming
charges in North Carolina was exonerated yesterday. Circuit
judge Thomas D. Horne yesterday said there was insufficient evidence to
uphold the conviction of Jessica DeGroot for sending unsolicited
bulk advertisements to thousands of America Online email accounts but
upheld the conviction against her brother, Jeremy Jaynes. DeGroot’s
previous conviction was based largely on a credit card issued in her
maiden name, Jessica Jaynes, which was used to buy internet domain names.
DeGroot attorney Thomas V. Mulrine argued that another Jessica Jaynes
could have gotten the credit card, revealing a photo of a hockey player in
Mississippi with the same name that he said he found online. Mulrine said
the jury had convicted a name, not a person. DeGroot was to pay a $7,500
fine; her brother still faces nine years in prison.
CBS shows go interactive, starting with 'Survivor'
Now enthusiastic TV viewers
will have more options than just talking to--sometimes yelling at--the
characters on their favorite programs. CBS is adding interactive
components to some of its shows, starting tomorrow with "Survivor:
Palau." The new features will be available through televisions with
any sufficiently sophisticated set-top box from cable and satellite
operators. "Survivor" knowledge challenges about the island, the
players and the strategy will be timed in such a way that does not
distract from the program. There also will be poll questions and other
activities. The specific interactive elements will vary based on the
program. There is no word yet as to what other CBS shows will have
interactive elements. CBS teamed up with Los Angeles-based GoldPocket
Interactive on the project.
When WiFi won't do, it's WiMax to the rescue
As
an improvement on the Wi-Fi technology, WiMAX is grabbing more spotlight
as the best way for folks to get online when they are on the go. WiMAX has
a high-frequency wireless broadband technology designed to be used
outdoors and has more bandwidth, greater range and tighter security than
Wi-Fi. WiMAX signals can beam data at speeds as high as 75 megabits per
second over areas as large as 10 miles or more. Wi-Fi signals, on the
other hand, typically send data at much slower speeds over just a few
hundred feet. WiMAX mobile products will be available toward the end of
2006. Electronics manufacturers will routinely embed WiMAX in laptops,
notebooks and other devices by 2007, just as Wi-Fi is installed in
equipment today. Market researchers forecast that WiMAX could have
anywhere from 8 million to 20 million subscribers by 2008.
For
free publicity, Hilton's hacked Sidekick rules
T-Mobile
didn’t have to spend major advertising dollars for the hype it is
getting lately. All the buzz is coming free of charge thanks to heiress
Paris Hilton‘s mishap with her Sidekick. Last week celebrity phone
numbers and naughty pictures were stolen off Hilton’s portable
communication gadget. Instead of being leery of the apparently
hacker-enabled device, shoppers are flocking to buy the Sidekick. T-Mobile
stores in New York report unusually high demand for it. Hilton currently
appears as a celebrity endorser in TV commercials for the Sidekick along
with Snoop Dogg, Wayne Newton and others. Experts have suggested T-Mobile
spoof the incident in future commercials. More free publicity comes from
an X-rated video of rocker Fred Durst that may have come from a Sidekick.
The flick, from an unknown source, was posted online Friday.
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