eBay punishes users posting false positives
Wayward users are getting a thrashing from eBay. The online auction powerhouse has suspended several sellers for using a special program to remove negative feedback left by customers who were less than satisfied with their previous transactions. Hani Durzy, eBay spokesman, said the naughty behavior was limited to only a few accounts, and the company checks all auction listings to make sure sellers and buyers do not violate auction rules. The sellers altered their feedback profiles using Javascript, a web programming language, which Durzy said eBay is aware of and thus looks for suspicious scripts in their listings. While Javascript can be a good tool to track customer behavior and prevent web content from being stolen, it can also provide a way for sellers to upload a specific script inside an eBay web page and replace negative feedback with positive. Durzy said eBay is working to technically ensure the problem gets solved. 

European legit download sites snared in red tape
Europeans holding their breath for iTunes and Napster to launch could well pass out. The highly anticipated European debuts of the popular online music stores are being delayed due to licensing contracts, country-specific music release dates and incompatible billing processes. However, many record executives hope the song-downloading services will launch in the first half of 2004. These online music stores are the industry’s legal saviors from downloading songs on the internet. File-sharing networks such as Kazaa and Grokster have allowed millions of unauthorized music files to be available for free download, creating an industry slump in CD sales. However, if the music industry continues to play by old rules, such as staggered release dates, these services may not make it to Europe because of all the red tape.

Great screener mystery solved: Electrician did it
So that's how those screeners keep getting on the internet. Carmine Caridi, a 69-year-old actor who appeared in “The Godfather: Part II” and is a 22-year member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, has been supplying Russell Sprague, whom Caridi thought to be a movie expert, with screener copies of popular movies for years. But this time when Caridi’s copies surfaced on the net, Sprague got caught. Sprague, an electrician from Homewood, Ill., was charged with two counts of violating copyright laws and illegally obtaining satellite television signals. The 51-year-old was set free pending a Monday hearing at which he is required to post $25,000 as his get-out-of-jail card. Caridi received videocassettes of nominated films as an Oscar voter, so-called screeners, to assist his decision. Oscar voters, including Caridi, signed a contract saying they would not copy or share the screeners, yet he has not been charged.