Slashdot | Your Rights Online - Bernstein's Continued Progress in Crypto Suit.

corz writes "On October 18 Daniel J. Bernstein went back to court in his battle with the government over cryptography regulations. From his post to the export mailing list: 'Department of Justice attorney Tony Coppolino told the court that the government would not enforce the regulations against cryptographers working together at conferences. He also told the court that the government would treat "assembly language" as source code.' What does this mean for us? Wired News has more."

Slashdot | Your Rights Online - Canadian Bill C-234 to Require ISP licensing.

Matthew Skala writes "In Monday's House of Commons proceedings, Canadian Member of Parliament Peter Stoffer (NDP member for Sackville-Musquodoboit Valley-Eastern Shore) introduced Bill C-234, an anti-child-pornography Bill. It requires all Internet Service Providers to get licenses from the Government, specifically including non-profits and individuals. Licensed ISPs then must block Web sites named by the Government as containing child pornography, and must "report information [of the Government's choice] to the Commission for the purposes of this Act" - a requirement that neatly slips in spy-on-your-users requirements under the radar of the ongoing Industry Canada consultation on "Lawful Access" (wiretapping/CanCarnivore)."

The Register (UK) - PGP reborn makes its pitch for the mainstream.

Encryption products need to become as easy and transparent to use as AV software packages.

That's the goal of Phil Dunkelberger, President and CEO of PGP Corporation, who's over in London this week for the European launch of the newly-formed company.

PGP Corporation was created to market PGP Desktop and Wireless encryption products bought from Network Associates back in August. The deal ended month of speculation over the future of the technology following Network Associates' decision to mothball it back in March.

ZDNet |UK| - France battles on for data privacy.

Been wronged by your phone company? Concerned that your data isn't being kept securely? From January 2003, UK consumers can turn to Otelo for help

She may no longer be the UK's information commissioner, but Elizabeth France is still fighting to make sure that companies don't abuse the privacy of their customers.

France is now the UK's first telecommunications ombudsman, and on Thursday she warned that companies who fall foul of her organisation could be forced to pay compensation of £5,000.

PCWorld.com - Privacy Watch: A Little Bird That Guards Your Online Privacy. Free plug-in lets you specify Web privacy preferences.

[ ... ]

A free plug-in from AT&T for Internet Explorer 5 and later versions, Privacy Bird allows you to specify your privacy preferences regarding how a Web site stores and collects data about you. If a site's policies meet your requirements, a small green bird icon in the browser's title bar emits a happy tweet after you have loaded the page. But if the site does more with your information than you've said you'll accept, the bird icon turns red and chirps a shrill warning when you first load the page. The bird doesn't block the site; it only alerts you that you may not like what the site does with your information.

Wired News - Band Can't Sell Own Music on EBay.

People auction everything from stereo equipment to World Series tickets to used software on eBay. Why, then, did an indie musician who tried to hawk his own band's CD get fingered by the site as a copyright violator?

Business News from Wired News - No Easy Money Suing Spammers.

Think deleting junk e-mail is a pain? Try taking a spammer to court. Some activists are making money pursuing spam cases in small claims court, but few say the profits are worth the hassle.

Slashdot | Your Rights Online - Ebay vs. Musician.

evenprime writes "Ebay's Verified Rights Owner Program was designed to make sure the auction site doesn't let people sell things that violate copyright laws. Unfortunately, over-zealous ebay employees have been causing problems for independent musicians. George Ziemann has a detailed account of the difficulties he's faced when trying to sell copies of his CD on the auction site. Apparently ebay kept pulling his ads simply because he was selling a product recorded to CD-R! Ebay employees assume that all audio recordings on CD-R are the result of piracy, despite the fact that many indie bands burn their own music to CD-R to sell it. Wired has a nice summary of this story."

Slashdot | Direct Marketers Association Asks To Be Regulated.

alanjstr writes "Recognizing that with all the spam out there, the legitimate messages don't get through, the Direct Marketers Association (DMA) has decided that they will no longer oppose federal anti-spam legislation, but that forged headers should be illegal."

CNET NEWS.COM - Encryption method getting the picture.

Researchers have created a new way to encrypt information in a digital image and extract it later without any distortion or loss of information.

A team of scientists from Xerox and the University of Rochester said that the technique, called reversible data hiding, could be used in situations that require proof that an image has not been altered.

Its uses could range from sensitive military and medical diagnostic images to legal documents and photographs of crime scenes. The technique could also be used to encode information within the image itself for cataloging and retrieving from databases.

Slashdot | Encrypt Information In Images Without Distortion.

Nomikos writes "C|Net reports: Researchers have created a new way to encrypt information in a digital image and extract it later without any distortion or loss of information. A team of scientists from Xerox and the University of Rochester said that the technique, called reversible data hiding, could be used in situations that require proof that an image has not been altered."

Slashdot | U.S. Ranks 17th in Freedom of the Press.

reimero writes "According to this article on Yahoo! Germany the U.S. has experienced "serious restrictions" in freedom of the press, according to Reporters without borders' first worldwide press freedom index. Finland, Iceland, Norway and the Netherlands came in tops. An interesting study, to say the least."

boston.internet.com - Is Microsoft Licensing Forcing Banks to Break The Law?

Lester Warby is the kind of guy who reads the fine print. And the fine print for the latest updates to Microsoft Windows has him worried.

Warby -- who is the chief information officer at Seattle Metropolitan Credit Union -- believes that the terms for the end user license agreement (EULA) for Microsoft's Windows 2000 Service Pack 3 (SP3) and XP Service Pack 1, might well put the credit union in violation of new federal privacy laws.

At issue is Microsoft's "automatic update" feature, which allows users to automatically get upgrades and patches to their systems. To get the updates, users must agree to give Microsoft access to information on their systems.

That, says Warby, conflicts with federal regulations for financial institutions, such as the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 2001. The new law, which goes into effect next May, forbids financial service companies from giving third parties access to customer data without express consent from the customer. European countries generally have even stricter data privacy laws.

"We're forced into a position where we're either out of compliance with Microsoft's licensing, which is not acceptable, or we're out of compliance with the law, which is not acceptable either. Under these circumstances, we'll probably change our operating system," says Warby.

Slashdot | Financial Institutions Balk at MS Licensing.

mmol_6453 writes "Now, not only are hospitals groaning under the combination of Microsoft and the HIPAA, but banks are having issues relating to federal privacy laws. Favorite line: 'Microsoft has told...that it plans eventually to eliminate users' ability to disable Microsoft's access to their systems.'"