April 26, 2024

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Archives for September 2002

Schneier's CryptoGram Misclassified as Spam

September 24, 2002 by

Seth Schoen reports that Bruce Schneier’s CryptoGram email newsletter is misclassified as spam by SpamAssassin and Razor. Seth Finkelstein explains why SpamAssassin gets it wrong.

Schneier’s worst offense, according to SpamAssassin, is using the phrase “100% free”. Second worst: using the same all-caps word twice on the same line. (The offending word is “BES,” which is the name of an encryption algorithm.)

I’m amazed at the number of people who scoff at the feasibility of automated Web-porn filtering, while simultaneously putting their faith in automated spam filtering.

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Fritz's Hit List #2

September 24, 2002 by

Today on Fritz’s Hit List: the Amana Messenger refrigerator.

This appliance, with its audio message feature, qualifies for regulation as a “digital media device” under the Hollings CBDTPA. If the CBDTPA passes, any newly manufactured Amana Messenger refrigerators will have to incorporate government-approved copy restriction technology.

Fight piracy – regulate kitchen appliances!

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What Color Is My Hat?

September 24, 2002 by

An article by Rob Lemos at news.com discusses the differences between “white hat,” “gray hat,” and “black hat” hackers. The article lists me as a gray hat.

In my book, there is no such thing as a gray hat. If you break into a computer system without the owner’s permission, or if you infringe a copyright, then your hat is black. Otherwise your hat is white.

This article, like so many others, tries to pin the “gray hat” image on anyone whose actions make a technology vendor unhappy. That’s why the article classifies me as a gray hat – because my research made the RIAA unhappy.

As a researcher, my job is not to make vendors happy. My job is to discover the truth and report it. If the truth makes a vendor look good, that’s great. If the truth makes a vendor look bad, so be it.

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Miller on DMCA and DVD Reviews

September 23, 2002 by

Ernest Miller at LawMeme explains why there is so little fair use in DVD reviews.

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Crackdown on Greek Gamers

September 23, 2002 by

According to a BBC story, Greek police have stepped up the pace of arrests in enforcing a new Greek law banning all computer games. Many Internet cafes have been shut down.

[Link credit: disLEXia]

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