Technology News from Wired News - The Internet's 'Living Treasure'. Whenever you read about an egregious invasion of consumer privacy on the Internet, one name keeps popping up: Richard Smith. Smith fingered the author of the Melissa virus. He uncovered Microsoft's suspicious registration practices, and he discovered the presence of unique identifying numbers in the majority of digital documents. This week, he revealed RealNetworks' sneaky data-gathering practices.

Technology News from Wired News - Web Doctors Push for Ethics. The heads of several medical Web sites are working to develop ethical guidelines designed to protect both consumers and the commercial interests of the online health industry.

Technology News from Wired News - How Much Is Your Playlist Worth?.

RealNetworks learned the hard way that folks who listen to music online really do care when companies stealthily collect personal information. So why would a music company dare to snoop on your listening habits? Because your personal data is very, very valuable.

After a privacy advocate revealed that the RealJukebox software could track the music files that people listen to without their consent, the company promised a software patch. But mailing lists and message boards continue to blaze with posts from ticked-off users pledging to delete Real software from their hard drives.

Political News from Wired News - Haiti Shuts Down Its Biggest ISP.

Francois Duvalier -- aka Papa Doc -- may be long dead, but critics say the current government of Haiti is just as intolerant of free speech.

An alliance of human rights and civil liberties groups this week published an alert criticising a decision by the Haitian government to pull the plug on one of the country's largest access providers.

Political News from Wired News - COPA Goes Before the Bench.

Free speech groups say a new court ruling should convince a panel of judges to strike down a federal anti-porn law on Thursday.

The American Civil Liberties Union and government attorneys will square off in Philadelphia before three appeals judges in a case arguing that a 1998 law restricting "harmful to minors" material online violates the First Amendment.

Political News from Wired News - BBC: Echelon Exists.

Echelon, the global spying network whose existence has been both vigorously claimed and airily denied, actually exists, according to a report by the British Broadcasting Corporation.

The BBC reported Tuesday that an Australian government official has confirmed what both the Americans and British have consistently denied -- that the super-secret spy network exists.

Political News from Wired News - Echelon 'Confirmation:' Not.

Spy and security experts yawned at reported comments by an Australian intelligence official that Project Echelon -- the name of a purported international surveillance network -- exists.

But the statements by Australia's inspector general of intelligence, Bill Blick, did fuel one US congressman's call for his government to investigate the possible existence of the secret project.

ZDNet: PC Week - Continuing the quest for e-mail privacy.

The RealJukeBox monitoring system.

As presented by an individual, Richard M. Smith. He goes into detail on his analysis of the software and the information sent back by RealJukebox. I am not sure but this may be the Richard M. Smith mentioned in the orginal New York Times article that started the flood of news stories.

Link to original article - New York Times - free registration required CD Software Is Said to Monitor Users' Listening Habits.