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New Apple Gets Shined Up
The Financial Times gave some background on the case, noting the "San Francisco appeals court ruled in October that the FCC should have classified cable broadband as a telecommunications service. It refused to reconsider its decision in April, setting the stage for a showdown with the Bush administration. The Supreme Court is expected to decide by the end of the year whether to hear the government's appeal."
• The Financial Times: Court Asked to Overturn Broadband Ruling
Government Spam Factories
File this away as ironic: While government regulators have been working fast and furiously to fight the scourge of unsolicited e-mail, some federal agency computers have become unwitting spam machines.
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"Hundreds of powerful computers at the Defense Department and U.S. Senate were hijacked by hackers who used them to send spam e-mail, federal authorities say. The use of government computers was uncovered during the Justice Department's recent cybercrime crackdown. It adds another wrinkle to the use of so-called zombie PCs, which number in the millions and have bedeviled consumers and universities the past year," USA Today reported. "Hackers gain secret control of the computers by sending e-mail viruses and worms or by planting software code on Web sites."
• USA Today: Hackers Hijack Federal Computers
Delegate Data Dump
Delegates are taking part in the GOP convention this week to enjoy the party, but now some might be worrying over news that their personal information seeped out onto the Internet. The data was published on a Web site that is critical of the Bush administration, and the Secret Service is investigating. The probe has led to "complaints from the American Civil Liberties Union that the government is infringing upon the free-speech rights of political dissidents," The Washington Post reported. The ACLU is representing the Web site's administrators, the Associated Press noted. "Federal authorities have subpoenaed Calyx Internet Access seeking to learn the Internet address of the person who posted a spreadsheet on Aug. 18 containing the names of about 1,600 delegates, along with their home addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses and the hotels at which they are staying in New York City. The probe is directed at possible criminal violations of the law that prohibits voter intimidation, according to a subpoena to the Internet service provider dated Aug. 19. ACLU officials said Calyx has provided the government with names of four administrative contacts who run nyc.indymedia.org, the Web site that published the delegate information."
The AP has more details: "The probe focuses on anonymous postings on a Web site operated by the Independent Media Center, which describes itself as 'a network of collectively run media outlets for the creation of radical, accurate and passionate tellings of the truth,'' the AP said. The ACLU "pointed out that they are not responsible for postings of lists of GOP delegates because the site guarantees anonymity to anyone who wants it," the AP said.
• The Washington Post: Publication of Personal Information Probed (Registration required)
• The Associated Press via Newsday: Posting of Delegate Data Investigated
Chipping Away at Each Other
First, chip maker Intel came out of the box this week with something tiny. "Intel Corp. announced it has achieved a milestone in shrinking the size of transistors that will power its next-generation chips. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company said Monday it has created a fully functional 70 megabit memory chip with transistor switches measuring just 35 nanometers -- about 30 percent smaller than those found on today's state-of-the-art chips," the Associated Press explained.
• The Associated Press via The San Jose Mercury News: Intel Announces Milestone in Shrinking Chips (Registration required)
Now rival Advanced Micro Devices is upping the ante with its own super chip feat. The company "today plans to demonstrate the equivalent of two of its microprocessors on a single chip, another step in the company's efforts to beat Intel Corp. to market with new technologies. AMD said it will show a Hewlett-Packard Co. computer running with four such chips, which are known as 'dual core' microprocessors," the Wall Street Journal reported.
• The Wall Street Journal: AMD Races Its Rivals to Market
Products With 'Dual Core' Chips (Subscription required)
The timing of AMD's announcement was not coincidental, the New York Times reported. "Advanced Micro, based in Sunnyvale, Calif., abruptly moved up the announcement of its demonstration on Monday, and several industry analysts said that the company appeared anxious to release its news before a major rival, the Intel Corporation, described future chips at the Intel Developer Forum next week."
• The New York Times: Advanced Micro Plans to Show New Chip Ahead of Intel (Registration required)
Talk Security With Microsoft
Tom Richey, head of Microsoft's homeland security efforts, will be online with me today at 11 a.m. ET to talk about the company's current homeland security work with government agencies and customers. You can submit questions now or during the chat. See you online!