Yahoo is pulling a good one on everyone. As a matter of some changes on their system, they have kindly reset everyone's marketing preferences. So,when you signed into Yahoo for a Yahoo ID, you were given a chance to set what sort of notices you wanted yahoo advertisers to send to you, well, they just set EVERYTHING to Yes for you.

Yup I just went to Yahoo Groups and every option in my marketing profile (except for one) was set to yes. They even turned on the options allowing contact via U.S. Mail and phone. So go reset your options now. Hey Even if you didn't mind one or two of them why not turn them ALL off in protest. I hate it when a somone claims to know my preferences better than what I said they were.

Yahoo! News - DoubleClick Agrees to Settle Privacy Litigation.

Internet advertiser DoubleClick Inc. on Friday said it had agreed to purge consumer information it had collected and adhere to an enhanced privacy policy, as part of a settlement of federal and state class action lawsuits filed against the firm.

Slashdot | DoubleClick Settles Privacy Lawsuit.

=-INFOWARRIOR.ORG-=.

InfoWarrior.org via The Register (UK) - Operation Enduring Valenti.

The most striking aspect of CBDTPA and its cousin, the still-controversial Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (DMCA) is that both automatically outlaw what might be done by someone, and not what actually is done. Both initiatives presume the citizen guilty until proven guiltier, not in the eyes of the court, but by the pre-emptive whims and desires of corporations seeking to maintain control over consumers and their crumbling Industrial Age business models. In essence, they pre-emptively criminalize what MIGHT happen, as opposed to what DOES happen (e.g., knowing how to kill someone is not by itself illegal; but committing murder is, and being proven to have done so carries harsh penalties).

Such a concept is not hard to believe. Reportedly, Microsoft is working with Intel and AMD to create a new feature for future processors that will work with Microsoft operating systems to enforce corporate copyright interests, something partially-completed in Windows XP's Media Player. Should this be completed, Microsoft would be in a position of considerable power - more than today - over the majority of electronic content processed by electronic devices and computers. It should be noted that Microsoft already holds a patent on a computer operating system that incorporates the copy-prevention technologies that the entertainment industry so desparately wants to inflict on Information Age citizen-consumers. Securing their software? Looks like the only thing Microsoft wants to secure are its corporate profits by aligning with Hollywood.

According to some reports, America's domestic spending on computing technology is over $600 billion a year, while Hollywood generates a measly $35 billion to the national economy. CBDTPA would effectively compell a huge, dynamic industry - composed of large and small companies, individuals, and academic researchers - to redefine itself simply to preserve the obsolete business models of the American entertainment industry.

MS-NBC - Truce called in Spyware wars. WinWhatWhere no longer breaks anti-spyware product

In the latest chapter of Spyware vs. Anti-spyware, the maker of snooping program WinWhatWhere backed away from evasive programming tactics Wednesday. Richard Eaton, president of WinWhatWhere Corp., said his software would no longer insert stray code into Anti-spyware program Who's Watching Me to break the program. The announcement comes after MSNBC.com revealed WinWhatWhere and competitor SpectorSoft Corp. both intentionally break the anti-Spyware program.

Salon.com Technology | U.S. prepares to invade your hard drive.

A bill before Congress would mandate built-in copy-protection on all digital devices. But even technology experts who really want to protect intellectual property think it's a lousy idea.

[ ... ]

Hollings' bill, formerly referred to as the SSSCA (Security Systems Standards and Certification Act) but now dubbed the Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act (CBDTPA), would require any device that can "retrieve or access copyrighted works in digital form" to include a federally mandated copy protection system.

That covers not just your next iPod or Windows Media Player, but just about every digital device with a screen, a printer, an audio jack, a disk drive, a memory stick, or several input/output devices yet to be invented. Your computer, your camera, your car stereo.

CBDTPA's goal is to force a powerful sector of U.S. industry -- makers and sellers of digital hardware and software -- to submit to the needs of the smaller but more established entertainment lobby. This legislative approach to copy protection has already riled consumers of digital entertainment who fear that hardware copy protection will make their lives more difficult. But it's also raising concern among standards experts who already support what is known as "digital rights management" -- strategies for protecting copyrighted intellectual property.

CNET NEWS.COM - eBay security draws scrutiny.

eBay, recently targeted by hackers, is drawing the attention of security experts.

Unlike most leading e-commerce sites, eBay does not automatically encrypt much of the data sent between customers' computers and eBay's servers, which means that when customers type their password into eBay's Web site, that information can be viewed by hackers.

Most e-commerce sites use Secure Socket Layer (SSL), a technology that encrypts sensitive information such as customer passwords and account activity while the data is in transit to another computer.

New York Times - free registration required Ex-Employee of Global Has Mixed Day in Court.

A judge dismissed a charge of identity fraud against a former employee of Global Crossing accused of posting the Social Security numbers of thousands of employees on the Internet.

ZDNet |UK| - Europe stumbles on Echelon spy network.

The European Parliament published its damning report on Echelon last summer, but public apathy and institutional bureaucracy are stifling further action

Nearly seven months after the European Parliament adopted a report that recognised the existence of Echelon, an international spy system designed to listen in on private and commercial communications, experts say that little has been accomplished towards dealing with the issue.

Privacy experts would like to see limits placed on systems like Echelon, or at least for such spy networks to be made accountable -- a need which has only been strengthened by the terrorist attacks of 11 September and the advent of the international "war on terror". But taking action is made difficult partly by the public's acclimatisation to a world where everyone, including the government, can be assumed to be listening in, say observers.

FindLaw's Writ - Ramasastry: The Cyber Security Enhancement Act's "Good Faith Disclosure" Exception: A Serious Threat To Individual Privacy .

In mid-February, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime held hearings on the Cyber Security Enhancement Act of 2001 (CSEA) - which includes many provisions designed to improve the federal government's ability to protect national infrastructure and computer systems. The Act was referred to the full Judiciary Committee on February 26.

The House should not allow the bill to become law without an important amendment. Although the Act's protections are valuable, it gives government agencies much broader authority than currently exists to obtain a citizen's email or electronic communications, and does so in a way that is far too destructive to individual privacy.

If the Act is passed in its current form, agencies will have the authority to obtain email or electronic communications without even having to establish "probable cause" that a crime has occurred or is about to occur.

Moreover, this authority will not be restricted to law enforcement agencies, but will belong to all government agencies - federal, state and local, and perhaps even foreign. A high school principal, tax assessor, or a local public utility might be able to request sensitive customer data from an Internet Service Provider.

Dallas Morning News Editorial Op-Ed - Medical privacy . I don't have a subscription so I can't provide any interesting pull quotes from the article.

Slashdot | Practical Quantum Cryptography.

Political News from Wired News - Another Punch for Copy Protection.

A political brawl over mandatory copy protection is about to spread to the U.S. House of Representatives.

A Democratic legislator from the home of the Walt Disney and Warner Bros. studios is drafting a bill to reduce online piracy by implanting strict copy controls in digital devices.

Rep. Adam Schiff of Burbank, California, said in an interview Thursday that his bill would take a similar approach as the Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act (CBDTPA) that already has been introduced in the Senate.

Slashdot | Your Rights Online - CBDTPA Finds A Champion In the House.

Wired is reporting that House member Adam Schiff of Burbank is seeking a co-sponsor for his House version of Hollings' CBDTPA.

Slashdot | When Elephants Dance.

Mary Wehmeier's Radio Weblog - Dear Senator Hollings.

Obviously you have little knowledge about the technology you wish to regulate so tightly. This lack of understanding about the technology you are proposing to control will write off small business people like me and countless other film, video and music editors who work outside the corporate entertainment workplace.

An open letter from a private self employed video editor and producer about the: Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act (CBDTPA) .