The National Academies will hold a public symposium on the Webcasting portion of the World Intellectual Property Organization's (WIPO) proposed Treaty on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations.

The agenda includes an Executive Vice President of the MPAA, "speaking in his personal capacity."

You know it's significant when the President of the National Academy of Engineering decides to host a symposium on webcasting.

Join Webcast of Symposium on Proposed WIPO 'Webcasting Treaty'

"I believe with every bone in my body that free people, exposed to sufficient information, will, over time, find their way to right decisions," Rumsfeld said.

Every bone?

I found it interesting that the original headline for this article read, "U.S. Must Outdo Terrorists", but it was changed to "U.S. Must Adapt" for the link on the DefenseLink home page.

SOCOM Needs Ad Men [or, General Memetics Corporation]

The President has been waiting to get his fix ...

Senate Intelligence Chairman Pat Roberts said he has worked out an agreement with the White House to change US law regarding the National Security Agency's warrantless surveillance program and provide more information about it to Congress.

Without offering specifics, Roberts said the agreement with the White House provides "a fix" to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and offers more briefings to the Senate Intelligence Committee.

All gone!

White House Agrees to Spy Law Change

Me, too! Me, too!

Amazon.com is preparing to take on Apple Computer in digital music by introducing its own portable music player that would be linked to an online music service.

Upon seeing the headline, I just had to click through to the story, because "Amazon Will Take On iPod" seemed like a really stupid idea to me. It turns out the lead-in is borderline misreporting, because they're really taking on Creative Labs and the other manufacturers of the Microsoft-based players, and they're going to compete with Rhapsody and Napster, not iTunes Music Store.

Amazon really does have an opportunity here, and the collaborative filtering technology behind their recommendation agent would be nice to have integrated with a music player, not to mention the extensive music reviews, both of the professional and customer-submitted varieties.

I like having Rhapsody To Go, but quality really drops through the floor at the point in the product chain where Real's responsibilities end and Microsoft's begin.

Amazon has said it hopes to introduce the service by summer.

I have a hard time believing that timeline, unless they're already (secretly) pretty far along in their development of the player. If Amazon's hardware partner is going to rebuild Microsoft's DRM infrastructure from scratch, and do it well, it's going to take more time than they've allocated. If they push the schedule to get the product to market, it's unlikely to be successful.

Regardless, this is a positive development, because even if it ultimately fails as a product and service, it is likely to spur Microsoft to improve theirs. History seems to show that serious competitive threats are the best way to motivate Microsoft.

Amazon Will Take On iPod [Not Really...] With Its Own Music Player

Washington Post magazine profiles a botnet operator.

Hackers are hijacking thousands of PCs to spy on users, shake down online businesses, steal identities and send millions of pieces of spam. If you think your computer is safe, think again.

Invasion of the Computer Snatchers

Yelp is the fun and easy way to find, review and talk about what's great - and not so great - in your neighborhood and beyond. You already know that asking friends is the best way to find restaurants, dentists, hairstylists, and anything local. Now, Yelp makes it fast and easy to make and receive real reviews from real people.

You'll know if this site is for you when I tell you that the top-rated restaurant in Atlanta is R. Thomas.

Apparently, the database is strongest in SF, NYC, Boston, and other major cities.

I enjoyed the writeup for Ambient Airlines in SF:

"You walk down a hall lined with East Asian posters and then up a rickety staircase. There you enter what looks to be a guy's living room (perhaps it is?).

The friendly fellow offers you some wine. You oblige and browse his selection of 30 or so CDs in a shoebox. You tell him what you like (ambient, chill, electronic only please) and he puts some stuff on for you. You then purchase a CD by an artist you've never heard of for $16 and leave.

You chuckle to yourself on the way out about how much you love SF. Another Yelp classic is born."

The other review for this place mentions Dave Eggers' pirate shop.

In LA, you'll find the Magic Castle in the top five for nightlife -- highly recommended. And you'll find Amoeba Music and the Farmers Market on the shopping list -- ditto.

Enjoy the site, but always remember:

A recommendation from a friend, a neighbor or a hairdresser is not more important than a state license."

Yelp - Restaurant Reviews, Doctors, Bars, Salons, Dentists and More

This is a UPI story, but it's reporting directly on testimony at a recent House hearing, so it isn't entirely made up, although it might be egregiously extrapolated.

A former NSA employee said Tuesday there is another ongoing top-secret surveillance program that might have violated millions of Americans' Constitutional rights.

Russell D. Tice told the House Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations he has concerns about a "special access" electronic surveillance program that he characterized as far more wide-ranging than the warrentless wiretapping recently exposed by the New York Times but he is forbidden from discussing the program with Congress.

You might be interested in Tice's testimony. He seems to be a suffering whistleblower who characterizes his trials with NSA as a "Kofkesk journey" [sic]. This guy was called before Congress to talk about his experience as a whistleblower and the assessment of a government psychologist that he was paranoid. There is nothing in his prepared testimony about any special access program, so if the UPI story is even remotely valid, it must have come up during questioning. So perhaps there is less to this story than meets the eye, and my early skepticism about UPI was warranted.

In a recent thread about the recent review by Thomas Powers of James Risen's new book, State of War, I quoted Powers:

I believe that the Judiciary Committee will find, if it is willing to persist, that within the large pointless program there exists a small, sharply focused program that delivers something the White House really wants. This it will never confess willingly.

It's rather too early to tell, but it's possible this "additional program" is the "focused program" Powers was talking about. (It should be said that "focused" should not be read as "limited" or "legal".) I still think Powers is onto something, but having seen Tice's prepared testimony, I am not inclined to get particularly excited about his claims.

And, of course, any time I post something on this topic, I am inclined to quote Powers from last year, as well:

Is more what we really need?

In my opinion not.

But running spies is not the NSA's job. Listening is, and more listening is what the NSA knows how to organize, more is what Congress is ready to support and fund, more is what the President wants, and more is what we are going to get.

Here's a nugget from yesterday's Washington Post coverage of the hearings:

"We have lists that are having baby lists at this point; they're spawning faster than rabbits."

(The National Counterterrorism Center maintains a central repository of 325,000 names of international terrorism suspects or people who allegedly aid them, a number that has more than quadrupled since the fall of 2003.)

"Soon, those baby lists will be having babies of their own. And if 9/11 has taught us anything, it is that someday mankind must face and destroy the pregnant baby list menace."

You might also be interested in Babies Having Babies, a "hard look" at teenage pregnancy. (Survey Question: How many of you have ever seen a "soft look" at or a "lighthearted take" on teenage pregnancy?)

Whistleblower says NSA violations bigger

Brazilian federal police arrested 41 hackers today accused of using the internet to divert millions of dollars out of other people's bank accounts.

Some 200 federal police were deployed in the operation to serve 65 arrest warrants against a gang of hackers mostly operating in Campina Grande, some 1,800km north-east of Rio. Arrests also were made in six other states.

Police said the leader of the gang was a 19-year-old and five of those arrested so far were minors. Police were still looking for 24 other alleged gang members.

Brazilian police bust hacker gang

"They're like Tupperware parties." "It's an epidemic."

Plastic surgery goes P2P, ASPS is the new RIAA, and Hilary Rosen just found her new gig.

"A recommendation from a friend, a neighbor or a hairdresser is not more important than a state license."

Is your Reputation Agent properly licensed?

Beauty on the Black Market

Following on the heels of Panexa ...

"Can my ring tones make you sexy?"

Watch the video, then consider the Double Header:

For men who think fun comes better in pairs, this Pherotone is dynamically calibrated to attract two like-minded females simultaneously. We can’t promise your party of three will last forever. But in the morning, they’ll probably at least stay for coffee.

This final statement could as easily be about cartoons as ring tones:

"Even if you offend somebody, it seems to spread the gospel of the campaign."

Ring tones are so stupid! Can I get an amen?

Fakin' It: A Marketer Intends to Tease Consumers