] we've heard confident assertions that there are really
] only a dozen or so "kingpins," and equally confident
] assertions of 200, or 1000. Frankly, I think the number
] is probably larger, because cases against allegedly large
] spammers don't seem to affect the overall volume of spam
] out there. If there were only a few, those cases should
] make a noticeable difference. Or, it could be true that
] there really are only 200 at any one time, but it's very
] easy for others spammers to enter the business.

The FTC is looking at authentication systems like SPF to address the spam problem. They don't believe law enforcement can do it.

The FTC's View on the Spam Problem (washingtonpost.com)

] An Arabic TV news network said Friday that American
] hostage Paul Johnson Jr. has been beheaded by his Saudi
] captors.

Echoing Nick's comments, I was afraid that this would happen. Saudi Arabia is obviously not going to release 1000 militants. The demands were simply used to attract attention.

My condolences to the Johnson family.

CNN.com - Report: U.S. hostage beheaded - Jun 18, 2004

] Last night Mr. Cheney, who was the administration's most
] forceful advocate of the Qaeda-Hussein links, was more
] pointed, repeating in detail his case for those ties and
] saying that The New York Times's coverage yesterday of
] the commission's findings "was outrageous."
]
] "They do a lot of outrageous things," Mr. Cheney,
] appearing on "Capital Report" on CNBC, said of the
] Times, referring specifically to a four-column front page
] headline that read "Panel Finds No Qaeda-Iraq Tie." Mr.
] Cheney added: "The press wants to run out and say there's
] a fundamental split here now between what the president
] said and what the commission said."
]
] He said that newspapers, including the Times, had
] confused the question of whether there was evidence of
] Iraqi participation in Sept. 11 with the issue of whether
] a relationship existed between Al Qaeda and Mr. Hussein's
] regime.

The New York Times - Bush and Cheney Talk Strongly of Qaeda Links With Hussein

This is not just a matter of the president's diminishing credibility, although that's disturbing enough.

This article is the focus of the top story on every news site this morning. It seems the Bush team feels there is a link between Al'Q and Iraq, and that the commission established as much, but not between Iraq and 9/11, and they say they never said Iraq was connected to 9/11. Quite a debate has ensued...

The Plain Truth (?)

] The origin of the video was traced to Silicon Valley Land
] Surveying Incorporated, a California land surveying and
] mapping company, said Spiegel online, the internet
] service for the respected German weekly.
]
] The magazine said that according to its research the move
] was the first time al-Qaeda had "hijacked" a website to
] broadcast its propaganda.
]
] The network usually spreads its message through Islamist
] sites but this time, Spiegel maintains, hackers created a
] special file at the company's web address at least an
] hour before global news agencies broke word of the video.

First report of Al'Q hackers

Hackers spread hostage video

A must-have for mad science laboratories everywhere.

Only you can prevent Gray Goo

] The Task Force recommendations include proposals ranging
] from a recommendation to notify those who may be included
] in the database of the possible uses of WHOIS data to one
] that recommends ICANN offer the Internet community
] "tiered access" to serve as a vague mechanism to balance
] privacy against the needs of public access. Too many of
] the recommendations seem to be framed by those who view
] Internet users with hostility, such as the recommendation
] to punish domain name users when a domain name is
] cancelled or suspended for "false contact data," by
] canceling all other registrations with identical contact
] data.

Unbelievable insantiy. WHOIS is a convenient place to publish contact information for a domain. That is what it ought to remain. There should be no requirement that information be accurate, and no tiered access system. If you want to find out who controls a computer on the internet, you traceroute the IP and subpoena the ISP. The COURT SYSTEM is your "tiered access control system."

Recent WHOIS Report Overlooking Fundamental Issue?

] Kahle v. Ashcroft is a lawsuit that challenges changes to
] U.S. copyright law that have created a large class of
] "orphan works." Orphan works are books, films, music,
] and other creative works which are out of print and no
] longer commercially available, but which are still
] regulated by copyright.

The first time I tried to read Erich Fromm's "Escape from Freedom" it was OOP and unavailable. Fortunately it is back in print. Furthermore, with the rise of the internet, used books are far far easier to find then they used to be. But, in any event, the fact remains that there are many orphaned works out there. Have you ever tried seriously to get access to one? If so, lessig needs you.

Kahle v. Ashcroft submission site (Kahle v. Ashcroft)

"Optical camouflage is a kind of active camouflage.

This idea is very simple. If you project background image onto the masked object, you can observe the masked object just as if it were virtually transparent."

Cool stuff

Optical Camouflage

] In the classic 1951 film, The Man in the White Suit, Alec
] Guinness played a scientist who invents a fabric that
] never gets dirty or wears out. A chemist's pipe dream
] perhaps, but the prospect of self-cleaning clothes might
] be getting closer.

[ Sign me up for some of that! -k]

Clothes launder own fabric: Catalytic cotton chows down on dirt.