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Used to be, the worst that could come from a kiss was a cold sore. Now with the web, we can toss identity theft and stolen internet access onto the pile. AOL and other ISPs are facing dozens of copycat InstaKiss sites, which mimic a service on America Online that lets AOL users send virtual kisses to loved ones. The hackers send an invitation to AOLers asking them to click on a link. The site then prompts the victims for their AOL usernames and passwords. Many of the counterfeit sites rely on web address redirection services like Russia's Da.ru, to which they affix a variation of InstaKiss. Analysts say that more users than normal have been ensnared by the schemes. The bogus sites often place AOL logos, tags and links on their pages; AOL users are generally web novices and not sufficiently web-savvy to know a scam when they see one. Experts have suggested that AOL post security information on the official InstaKiss site warning its users of the potential danger of fraudulent sites.
Burger King starts internet bucks program
Fast food chain Burger King has launched a web rewards program that lets dedicated Whopper chompers rack up points that can be redeemed online for merchandise. The deal is the result of the Miami-based burger chain’s partnership with auction site eBay. On a co-branded web site, customers can cash in their points, which work a lot like frequent flier miles, for goods such as CDs and event tickets. The deal was announced back in November but is just now taking off. Burger King, which is the No. 2 burger chain after McDonald’s, may very well be leading the way on the web among fast-food companies. The eatery also has a partnership with AOL Time Warner in which customers will be exposed to AOL Time Warner magazines and music in the restaurants.
Free side of search engine NorthernLight goes dark
Another once-great internet company has shut its doors to the general public. Northern Light.com, a search engine noted for the broad range of high-quality, scholarly internet content it combed, will no longer offer its services to non-paying users. The company says that advertising revenue alone was insufficient to keep the consumer service afloat. The company is still in business, but only for corporate clients that can pay for NorthernLight's highly specialized search results. Individual web surfers still can obtain Northern Light’s results, but they will have to pay. Many search engines like NorthernLight have been resorting to more obtrusive advertising as well as once-questionable tactics such as sponsored search results.
WB email blitz stirs confusion with faux summons
Quite a few New Jersey residents were taken aback recently when they received what looked like jury summons in their email inboxes. The messages were even on official-looking letterhead. But as with many official-seeming emails, the summons, which threatened recipients that they'd be fined $1,500 if they didn't show up, were not legitimate. The bogus summons were actually a promotion for a new comedy on the WB Network, "The Jamie Kennedy Experiment." While it may have seemed to WB execs like a benign exploit, the state of New Jersey doesn't quite see it that way. Until the WB 'fessed up, the state had been investigating the messages' source. The state has reminded its residents that only county clerks have the power to send out jury summons and never by email at that.
Colleges put the Nuremberg Files online
In a move that seems especially evocative, given the country’s current warlike situation, Rutgers University and Cornell University are posting documents from the Nuremberg trials on the internet. The material in question was used to convict more than 20 Nazis in the Nuremberg International Military Tribunal in 1945 and 1946. The papers, referred to as the “Donovan Collection,” are culled from the personal effects of General William J. Donovan, who assisted the U.S. Chief of Counsel during the tribunal. In all, there are some 150 bound volumes containing transcripts and other relevant content in the collection. New excerpts from the material, plus commentary, will be put online every six months at Lawandreligion.org, the web site of the Rutgers Journal of Law and Religion.
January 17, 2002 © 2002 Media Life
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