Doggone
virus: Rabid Beagle foams at inboxes
A
new computer virus named “Beagle” has security experts barking mad.
Also known as “Bagle,” the infection, which spread across the internet
Monday, can harvest millions of email addresses, according to experts. It
appears to be the brainchild of spammers eager to find email addresses
they can sell back to other spam e-mail marketers or use for themselves.
The virus also carries a code that could morph an infected computer into a
“spamming” machine. Fashioned after the recent “Sobig” and
“Mimail” viruses, which also had the ability to remotely control
infected computers and send unsolicited e-mails to other users, the virus
launches when a user opens the attachment. Once opened, the harvesting
program scans all documents on the computer and throughout the network.
Computer analysts say most corporate filters should catch the e-mail,
entitled “Hi,” but home users remain vulnerable.
Survey
says music swapping zooming up again
It’s up, it’s down, it’s way down. Now it may be up
again. New data shows internet song swapping is making a comeback. The
survey by the NPD Group showed a rise in peer-to-peer downloads in
October, which remained high during November. NPD analysts said the
numbers were a reversal of those following the lawsuits filed by the
Recording Industry Association of America against frequent uploaders last
year. That made last year’s summer decline welcome for the music
industry, but recent information shows more households and individuals are
downloading digital music files through peer to peer services. NPD’s
data reported a 14 percent increase in downloads from September to
November 2003. The change came after six consecutive months of declines in
digital file acquisition, since April 2003. However, the numbers have
remained below the peak of early last year.
U.S.
big offender in swell of online kiddie porn
The child porn problem on the internet has gotten way
worse, according to an Italian children’s rights association, which also
says the United States is the major problem. The Rome-based nonprofit
Rainbow Phone reported a shocking 70 percent rise in pedophilia web sites
in 2003. Of the 17,016 web sites featuring explicit child pornography
reported last year, 60 percent came from the United States. The report
said the numbers not only reflected a large increase in online pedophilia,
but also a lack of enforcement. Government-endorsed “Operation
Predator” was launched last year to protect children from pornographers,
internet predators and human traffickers. Since the program debuted, some
1,600 people have been apprehended. German police tracked down a global
pedophile ring in September that involved 26,500 computer users from 166
countries. Despite recent crackdowns, the Rainbow Phone group said many
countries are not doing enough.
Seneca
Nation wants NY to lift internet tobacco ban
New York is in a legal battle with the Seneca Indian Nation
over the state’s ban on internet tobacco sales. The Senecas claim the
law is unconstitutional and interferes with the nation’s sovereignty.
This marks the third suit contesting the 2000 law. Tobacco sellers are
licensed by the nation, and the license fees fund services for Senecas,
according to attorney Paul Cambria. The Senecas, comprised of
approximately 7,000
people in two western New York reservations, sell large
quantities of discounted cigarettes because they don’t charge state
sales tax. However, New York plans to begin taxing gasoline and cigarette
sales to non-Indian customers beginning March 1. The ban on internet and
mail-order sales of cigarettes was passed in an effort to limit
children’s access to cigarettes. Opponents of the ban say its true
agenda is to increase state revenues.
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