NIH Revises Open Access Plan

"An ambitious proposal to make the results of federally funded medical research available to the public quickly and for free has been scaled back by the National Institutes of Health under pressure from scientific publishers, who argued that the plan would eat into their profits and harm the scientific enterprise they support.

"The initial plan, encouraged by Congress and hailed by patient advocacy groups, called for the results of NIH-funded research to be posted on a publicly accessible Web site within six months after they are published in a scientific journal. Most research results now are available only by subscription to the journal -- at a cost that often reaches into the thousands of dollars -- or on a pay-per-article basis that can cost $100 or more for two or three articles.

"In the final version of the plan, however, the recommended six-month deadline for posting results has been stretched to a year. That change has angered many advocates of public access, who have argued it isn't fair that taxpayers must either wait or ante up to see the results of research they have already paid for."

Rick Weiss. NIH Revises Plan for Quick, Free Access to Study Results. WashingtonPost.com. Jan. 18, 2005.

(Editor’s Note: The Post allows free access to their stories on the Web for 14 days before sending the stories to the paper’s fee-based Archives.)

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Yahoo, Verizon to Offer Broadband Service

"Yahoo and Verizon Communications on Monday inked a multi-year agreement to package the Web portal into the nation's largest phone company's broadband Internet services.

"The deal represents a competitive win for Yahoo because it replaces Microsoft's MSN as the default Web portal for new Verizon customers. MSN and Verizon struck their original agreement in June 2002, but the combined service was slow to get off the ground.

"Verizon will package a Yahoo-branded Web browser and default home page to its broadband users. The deal spans beyond Verizon's DSL (digital subscriber line) service and into its upcoming fiber-to-the-home offering called Fios. In a bid against its cable rivals, Verizon is spending billions of dollars stretching fiber, which is significantly faster than DSL, into customers' homes. The phone giants plans to sell video programming through its fiber lines on top of speedier Internet access."

Jim Hu. Yahoo, Verizon Ink Web Tie-In. News.com. Jan. 17, 2005.

See also:
Matthew Fordahl. Verizon Teams up with Yahoo for Content. USA Today. Jan. 17, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

A Roundup of Photo Sharing Services

"These days, nearly everyone has a digital camera or camera phone. And many new online services offer varying features for people who want to share their pictures, post them to blogs, or tag or comment on others' photos.

"Here's a roundup of four of the best of these services."

Daniel Terdiman. Photo Sites Share and Share Alike. Wired News. Jan. 17, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Roadmap Proposed to Improve Patient Care

"Few dispute the need to move America's costly, fragmented health system from paper records and prescriptions into the computer age. Converting to digital records, health authorities agree, would reduce medical errors and improve efficiency, saving both lives and dollars.

"But what has been missing is a national road map that would encourage doctors, hospitals and insurers to invest in modern information technology.

"On Tuesday, a group of 13 health and information technology organizations gave the Bush administration its recommendations for just such a road map for a national health information network."

Steve Lohr. Prescription for Digitized Health Records. News.com. Jan. 19, 2005.

See also:
Leading Health Care and Information Technology Groups Endorse Common Framework for Health Information Exchange to Support Improvements in Health and Healthcare. (Press Release.) Jan. 18, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

NFL Game Broadcasts Coming to IPods

"Audio content provider Audible on Tuesday struck a deal with the National Football League to offer recordings of games on portable music players.

"Under terms of the agreement, Audible.com will offer MP3-compatible audio broadcasts of the Super Bowl and conference championship games. Listeners can download the entire broadcast, or selected highlights, the morning after the game.

"Consumers can download the games, from NFL.com, Audible.com and other online retailers, onto their MP3 players, including Apple Computer's iPod, Audible a said."

CNET Staff. NFL Games Heading to Your iPod. News.com. Jan. 18, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Current State of Copyright Framework

As reported in SNTReport.com recently, BayTSP announced FirstSource, an automated system that identifies the first users to upload copyright or trademark-protected content to P2P file sharing networks.

SNTReport.com also reported the legal and monetary issues surrounding documentary filmmaker's inability to broadcast or sell copies of Eyes on the Prize.

"The two news items offer a nice pair of brackets in which to frame the current state of copyright affairs. On the one hand, the public is denied the opportunity to view one of the most compelling histories of modern American life produced in the last 30 years because copyright restrictions make it financially unfeasible to broadcast it. On the other hand, actual copyright violation continues unabated, giving rise to an entire market niche devoted to the task of stamping it out. Is there any way to look at this situation in which it is not a complete mess?"

"The tragedy that a socially enriching documentary series like 'Eyes on the Prize' might fall victim to a copyright snafu seems like the kind of thing that could be addressed by selective tweaking of copyright laws. Perhaps a waiver for materials deemed 'educational' or a weakening of restrictions on the protections granted to archival footage. When do the benefits to society from increased access to information outweigh the financial interests of those who own the copyrights? In an ideal world, this is the kind of question that a democratic society could debate and answer to its own satisfaction."

"But we do not live in an ideal world. We live in a world where lobbyists for entertainment corporations routinely get the laws rewritten to serve their own profit-seeking special interests, and where trend lines reveal that copyright protections are only increased, never weakened."

Andrew Leonard. Eyes on Your Copyrighted Prize. Salon. Jan. 5, 2005.

(Editor’s Note: Salon.com normally requires a paid subscription, but you can view articles if you register for a free day pass.)

SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Electronic Arts Teams With ESPN for Games

"Electronic Arts, hoping to shore up its eroding dominance in the sports video game market, said yesterday that it had signed a 15-year deal giving it the exclusive right to use the ESPN brand in games.

"Under the agreement, Electronic Arts, the largest independent video game publisher, will pay $750 million to $850 million for the right to use the ESPN brand for games based on at least nine sports, including baseball, basketball and football, according to people briefed on the contract's terms. Some of that money will pay for commercials promoting the games on ESPN channels, they said.

"Beyond the deal's length, which is substantial by industry standards, it comes at a significant juncture in the video game business. In the last year, Electronic Arts' long-dominant position selling sports games has come under assault amid heavy price competition."

Matt Richtel.
Electronic Arts and ESPN Sign 15-Year Deal to Sell Games. The New York Times. Jan. 18, 2005.

See also:
Reuters. Electronic Arts Signs Licensing Deal with ESPN. News.com. Jan. 17, 2005.

David Becker. Electronic Arts Plays Hardball. News.com. Jan. 18, 2005.

(Editor’s Note: The Times allows free access to their stories on the Web for seven days before sending the stories to the paper’s fee-based Archive.)

SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.

FexIT: Icelandic Business Search Engine

"On January 6 2005 Sigridur Kristjansdottir and Sigurdur Arnorsson issued a press release about their new search service FexIT. It is a specialized search service targeted at the business sector.

"FexIT has several different points of entry on the start page and it seems a lot of time and effort has gone into making a good user interface."

Lars Våge. FexIT -- Business Oriented Search Service from Iceland. Pandia. Jan. 11, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Google Uses Services to Promote Services

"A new version of Picasa, Google Inc.'s digital photo software, is due for release today, offering additional ways to edit, print and share pictures. It also has a feature that Web surfers have come to expect from Google: It's free.

"Google acquired the company behind Picasa in July and immediately slashed the price of its software from $30 to nothing. When Picasa co-founder Lars Perkins asked Google executives how the software would make money, he recalled, they told him, 'Don't worry about it.'

"In fact, Google has eliminated or slashed the price of every service it has acquired, including Web log software Blogger and online mapping program Keyhole. And many of the services its own engineers created feature no ads or subscriptions; these include social-networking software, a program for conducting queries through text messaging on cellphones, and services for searching through computer hard drives, scholarly material and university websites."

Chris Gaither. Free-for-All Could Pay Off for Google. LA Times. Jan. 18, 2005.

See also:
Matt Hicks. Google Updates Picasa Photo Software. eWeek. Jan. 18, 2005.

Reuters. Google Touches up Photo Service. News.com. Jan. 18, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

SBC Readies Web-Based Phone Service

"SBC inched closer this week to launching an Internet phone service for homes by signing a two-year deal with New York-based deltathree to provide much of the service's nuts and bolts.

"Under the terms of the agreement, deltathree will provide SBC with virtually all the crucial elements for offering and managing a residential Internet phone service, from billing to application development. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"This wraps it up for the vendor work," SBC spokeswoman Sue McCain said. She added that SBC expects to have the service ready for public consumption as early as February."

Ben Charny. SBC Readies Net Phone Service. News.com. Jan. 12, 2005.

See also:
Antone Gonsalves. HP, SBC Combine IT, Communication Services. Information Week. Jan. 12, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Web Portal Connects College Students

"A new website offering the chance to rate professors, exchange textbooks, and post events was launched Monday at Harvard and three other college campuses.

"Creator and webmaster Avishai Shraga also debuted the site at Stanford, New York University and the University of California at San Diego.

"Shraga, who graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) last year, said thecampusbook.com is based on a website he created during his undergraduate years at UCLA. That site, uclaprofessors.com, polarized the UCLA campus and received opposition from the school's administration, he said."

Matthew S. Lebowitz. Online Forum Connects Students. The Harvard Crimson. Jan. 14, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Comcast to Roll Out Higher Broadband Speed

"Comcast will raise its broadband Internet speeds by at least a third later this year--part of its effort to fend off DSL rivals.

"With Baby Bell local phone providers making inroads with cheaper but slower DSL service, Comcast and other cable companies hope to fight on speed rather than price. Comcast's faster service, added at no extra cost to customers, will begin rolling out this quarter, the company announced on Sunday.

"As previously reported, the nation's largest cable and broadband provider's current download speed of up to 3mbps (megabits per second) will jump to 4mbps. Upload rates of 256kbps (kilobits per second) will reach 384kbps, the company said. Customers of Comcast's more expensive 4mbps service will see a 50 percent increase to 6mbps downstream and 768kbps upstream."

Jim Hu. Comcast Raises Broadband Speed. News.com. Jan. 16, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Pew Survey Evaluates Future of Internet

"Technology experts and scholars foresee a bigger role for the internet in people's personal and work lives in the next decade.

"A wide-ranging survey of technology leaders, scholars, industry officials, and analysts finds that most internet experts expect attacks on the network infrastructure in the coming decade as the internet becomes more embedded in everyday and commercial life.

"In addition, there was notable agreement among the 1,286 experts in this survey that in the next 10 years the internet will be more deeply integrated in our physical environments and high-speed connections will proliferate – with mixed results. They believe the dawning of the blog era will bring radical change to the news and publishing industry and they think the internet will have the least impact on religious institutions.

Pew Internet and American Life Project. Internet Evolution. Jan. 9, 2005.

Susannah Fox, et al. The Future of the Internet. (.pdf) Pew Internet and American Life Project. Jan. 9, 2005.

Pew Internet and American Life Project.Technology Experts and Scholars Foresee a Bigger Role for the Internet in People's Personal and Work Lives in the Next Decade. (Press Release) Jan. 9, 2005.

See also:
Princeton Survey Research Associates. Internet Experts Web Survey. (.pdf) Dec. 6, 2004.

Elon University/Pew Internet and American Life Project. Predictions Database. Imagining the Internet. Jan. 9, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.

New Test to Measure Digital Literacy

"There was a time when researching a high school or college term paper was a far simpler thing. A student writing about, say, Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, might have checked out a book on the history of aviation from the local library or tucked into the family's dog-eared Britannica. An ambitious college freshman might have augmented the research by looking up some old newspaper clips on microfilm or picking up a monograph in the stacks.

"Today, in a matter of minutes, students can identify these and thousands of other potential resources on the Internet - and, as any teacher will attest, they are not always adept at sorting the wheat from the chaff.

"Now the Educational Testing Service, the nonprofit group behind the SAT, Graduate Record Examination and other college tests, has developed a new test that it says can assess students' ability to make good critical evaluations of the vast amount of material available to them.

"The Information and Communications Technology literacy assessment, which will be introduced at about two dozen colleges and universities later this month, is intended to measure students' ability to manage exercises like sorting e-mail messages or manipulating tables and charts, and to assess how well they organize and interpret information from many sources and in myriad forms."

Tom Zeller Jr. Measuring Literacy in a World Gone Digital. The New York Times. Jan. 17, 2005.

See also:
Educational Testing Service. ETS Launches ICT Literacy Assessment, an Online Measure of Student Information and Communication Technology Proficiency. Nov. 8, 2004.

American Library Association. Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. Jan. 4, 2005.

(Editor’s Note: The Times allows free access to their stories on the Web for seven days before sending the stories to the paper’s fee-based Archive.)

SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Craigslist Expands Globally

"A motor scooter in Manchester, an apartment in Amsterdam, a poster in Paris. All are available via Craigslist, an online bulletin board that presents a new challenge to the established players in the estimated $100 billion global market for classified advertising.

"Craigslist was started 10 years ago by Craig Newmark, an Internet pioneer in San Francisco, as a way of keeping friends up to date on events in the Bay Area. It spread through the United States before going international in 2003, with sites in London and Toronto. The expansion accelerated in late 2004 with a flurry of sites, including ones for Paris, Berlin, Tokyo and Sydney. About a dozen other international start-ups are planned in the next few months.

"Craigslist, which bills itself as a community-based operation in the techno-utopian spirit of the early Internet, accepts advertising for just about anything, from jobs to apartments to electronics to 'erotic services.' What it generally will not accept is money. The sites let users post most classified advertisements free. Only job ads posted in three United States cities require a fee."

Eric Pfanner. Craigslist Circles the Globe With Online Classifieds, One City at a Time. The New York Times. Jan. 17, 2005.

(Editor’s Note: The Times allows free access to their stories on the Web for seven days before sending the stories to the paper’s fee-based Archive.)

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Enterprise Blogging

"Weblogs can take many different forms, any of which might be appropriate for enterprise blogging. They may be a one-way form of communication, where users simply read the 'posts' of the blog owners.

"Alternatively, blogs can be a two-way medium of communication (between
owners and their readers) or they can be the basis of a community in which all readers of the blog can contribute on an equal footing. Each of these options has its place.

"There is very little research related to enterprise blogging; the commercial applications of blogging are mostly unproven as yet. There are, on the other hand, many articles and papers written by enthusiasts or early adopters. While this literature contains many useful ideas, there is little evaluative material, so though we know that enterprises have used blogs for various purposes, we don't
necessarily know whether or not those blogs achieved the purposes for which they were created."

Laurel A. Clyde. Enterprise Blogging. FreePint. Jan. 13, 2005.

Attribution: SNTReport.com first discovered news of Enterprise Blogging through a posting in Library Stuff, edited by Steven M. Cohen.

SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Streamload Offers 10GB of Storage, Free

"A company called Streamload is offering consumers a free 10 gigabyte online storage locker for multimedia files, potentially raising the stakes for larger companies such as Yahoo and America Online.

"Streamload typically provides online storage space for a price, making it one of the few companies to survive in that business through the dot-com shakeout. However, it is increasingly competing with larger companies that offer online homes for digital photographs, and even the huge archive space provided by Google's Gmail service.

"Company executives say the offer of big online storage lockers, once used only by advanced computer users, is now more relevant to a broader public that has large collections of digital photographs and MP3 files."

John Borland. Company Offers 10GB of Net Storage, for Free. News.com. Jan. 14, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

MSN Readies Full Service Search

"Microsoft's MSN is slowly turning up the dial on its Web search beta, sending more and more visitors home-baked results over results from partner Yahoo.

"While the lion's share of MSN search results come from Yahoo technology, the Internet portal is increasingly testing its own legs in the Web search race as it gets readies to introduce a full service sometime this year.

"The coming switch-over will be significant not only because Microsoft will no longer be reliant on an outsider, but also because it will likely begin a fierce campaign by MSN to win users away from Google and Yahoo."

Stefanie Olsen. MSN's Web Search Picks Up Steam. News.com. Jan. 14, 2005.

See also:
Oshoma Momoh. Beta Ramp-Up. MSN Search Weblog. Jan. 8, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

IRS Requires Corporate E-Filing By 2006

"Officials at large companies and tax-exempt organizations must electronically file their Internal Revenue Service forms starting in 2006, tax agency officials announced today.

"The new regulations will first apply to corporations worth more than $50 million and tax-exempt organizations with assets of at least $100 million.

"The threshold lowers in 2007 to businesses and tax-exempt organizations worth $10 million. IRS officials expect that by then at least 20,000 large corporate taxpayers and up to 10,000 tax-exempt entities will be covered by the electronic filing requirement."

David Perera. IRS Mandates E-filing. FCW. Jan. 11, 2005.

See also:
Internal Revenue Service. IRS Introduces e-file for Corporations, Exempt Organizations. March 30, 2004.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

PC World Reviews Six VoIP Providers

"For Voice over IP (VoIP) 2004 was a trailblazing year, as consumers got a first peek at home broadband's next big thing. Promising lower phone bills and enhanced phone features, the technology caught on quickly, garnering close to 1 million paid subscribers in the U.S. by year's end, according to The Yankee Group.

"This year, things will get even more interesting, as more choices—from providers to plans to hardware to offerings from free PC-based services—will fuel VoIP's explosive growth. So how does one wade through all of the dizzying options to find the right VoIP replacement for your home phone service?

"In this story, we explore the offerings of six fee-based providers in the home market—AT&T;, Broadvox, Lingo, Verizon, VoicePulse, and Vonage—and unveil a new battery of labs-based tests to analyze voice quality and service reliability as never before. We also compare three free services (one in beta)."

Craig Ellison. Talk Is Cheaper. PC Magazine. Jan. 12, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Report Examines Copyright Implications & Digital Business Models

"New digital technologies and the online environment pose significant challenges to the traditional business models of the music and film industries. The digital era threatens current revenue models by changing the environment in which copyright operates.

"To prevent unauthorized copying of their works, copyright holders have traditionally relied on practical barriers as well as their legal exclusive rights to control reproduction and distribution. The new technologies vitiating those practical barriers - peer-to-peer (P2P) services, digital compression technologies, and others - are demonstrating just how empty those legal rights may be and how poorly matched they may be with cultural norms and practice.

"Consumers are exploiting the exciting potential for greater interactivity and involvement with content, but also the opportunity to acquire content illicitly, and are thus finding themselves in conflict with many of those who make content possible."

Digital Media Project, Berkman Center for Internet & Society. Assessing the Impact of Policy Choices on Potential Online Business Models in the Music and Film Industries. (.pdf) Jan. 7, 2005.

Attribution: SNTReport.com first discovered news of this report which examines copyright implications for digital business models through a posting in beSpacific, edited by Sabrina I. Pacifici.

SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.

New Service Identifies First P2P Uploads

"File traders who seed peer-to-peer networks with copyrighted material can be identified and traced, according to a US company.

"BayTSP, based in California, US, monitors peer-to-peer (P2P) trading networks using a technique called software 'spidering'. The new software, called FirstSource, allows it to determine which user first uploaded a particular file for trading. It does this by mimicking the behaviour of a user on a massive scale - sending out multiple requests for a file extremely quickly. It deduces the culprits by assuming that only they will have the full 100% of the file, having uploaded the original."

Will Knight. Peer-to-Peer 'Seeders' Could be Targeted. New Scientist.com. Jan. 14, 2005.

No author. BayTSP Launches New Service That Identifies First Uploads To EDonkey, Bit Torrent P2P File-Sharing Networks. Mi2N.com. Jan. 11, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Travelers: More 'Hotspots' in 2005

"While business travelers have quickly become fans of wireless Internet services, leisure travelers have largely ignored the trend and for good reason, since so-called wireless Internet connection locations, known as 'hot spots,' can be both hard to find and expensive.

"That's changing quickly, though, as hotels, rental car companies and travel suppliers of all types have discovered that it costs relatively little to offer wireless Internet services to customers. While travel companies have done little to eliminate the inconsistent array of pricing options available, they are at least making it less painful to log on when you do stumble on a hot spot.

"Many experts say there is little demonstrable difference between wireless providers. Those interested in finding Wi-Fi hot spots should consider checking www.jiwire.com before traveling."

Bob Tedeschi. Filling in the Blanks in the Hot-Spot Map. The New York Times. Jan. 16, 2005.

(Editor’s Note: The Times allows free access to their stories on the Web for seven days before sending the stories to the paper’s fee-based Archive.)

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Does California's Anti-Spware Law Include Libraries?

"The Consumer Protection Against Computer Spyware Act (.pdf) went into effect in California on January 1st. Although this is already being proclaimed as a model for the country, it was signed by Governor Schwarzenegger in spite of objections raised by privacy advocates.

"Beth Givens (Director, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse -- and former librarian) and Pam Dixon (Exec. Director, World Privacy Forum) say that the law sets such high standards regarding actual knowledge that it could actually undermine existing statutes that protect privacy and prohibit deceptive practices.

Mary Minow. How Does California's New Anti-Spyware Law Affect Libraries?. Library Law Blog. Jan. 5, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Keynote Study Examines Leading Search Engines

"Google remains the favorite of search consumers, but Yahoo and Microsoft are closing the gap, according to a new survey.

"The survey of 2,000 consumers conducted by market researcher Keynote Systems ranked Ask Jeeves in the fourth place and Lycos in the fifth spot.

"Keynote ranked search engines based on consumer opinion and brand affinity, as well as on qualitative and behavioral data monitored as people performed tasks on these Web sites.

"However, Keynote said it found that actual search results returned by the five search engines do not differ significantly. Actual consumer success in doing complex searches showed that the performance of Lycos, Ask Jeeves and Microsoft's MSN was as good as Google and Yahoo."

Dinesh C. Sharma. Yahoo, Microsoft Gaining Ground on Google. News.com. Jan. 13, 2005.

See also:
Keynote Systems. Yahoo! Search and MSN Search Close the Gap with Google, Says Keynote. (Press release.) Jan. 13, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

AirPlay Brings iPod Music to FM Radio

"XtremeMac on Tuesday released a gadget designed to let users listen to music stored on their iPods via any FM radio.

"The transmitter, dubbed the AirPlay, also works with the iPod Mini, Xtreme Mac said. The device transfers audio wirelessly from the music player to any FM radio, making it an attractive add-on, the company said, for people who don't have casette or CD players in their cars.

"The gadget features a digital display that shows which frequency you'll be transmitting on, and it does not require navigation of iPod menus. The display turns off after tuning to conserve the iPod battery, XtremeMac said. When the iPod begins to play, AirPlay automatically transmits on the last used radio frequency. The device costs $39.95, the company said."

Dinesh C. Sharma. Device Brings Your iPod Music to Any Radio. News.com. Jan. 12, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

MSN India Partners for Mobile IM & E-Mail

"Microsoft on Thursday signed deals with two Indian cell phone companies to deliver e-mail and instant messages via SMS.

"BPL Mobile, owned by Indian electronics maker BPL, offers cell phone services in five Southern and Western Indian states, and has around 2.4 million subscribers. Airtel, which has a presence in 20 Indian states, has around 9.5 million subscribers.

"The companies, together with mobile data services firm Mobile 365, on Thursday launched two new services-–Mobile-mail and MSN Messenger over SMS. However, they did not say whether the service will carry a fee or be offered for free."

CNET Staff. Hotmail Goes Mobile in India. News.com. Jan. 13, 2005.

Copyright Could Be Killing Culture

"As Americans commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. and his legacy today, no television channel will be broadcasting the documentary series Eyes on the Prize. Produced in the 1980s and widely considered the most important encapsulation of the American civil-rights movement on video, the documentary series can no longer be broadcast or sold anywhere.

"Why?

"The makers of the series no longer have permission for the archival footage they previously used of such key events as the historic protest marches or the confrontations with Southern police. Given Eyes on the Prize's tight budget, typical of any documentary, its filmmakers could barely afford the minimum five-year rights for use of the clips. That permission has long since expired, and the $250,000 to $500,000 needed to clear the numerous copyrights involved is proving too expensive.

"This is particularly dire now, because VHS copies of the series used in countless school curriculums are deteriorating beyond rehabilitation. With no new copies allowed to go on sale, 'the whole thing, for all practical purposes, no longer exists,' says Jon Else, a California-based filmmaker who helped produce and shoot the series and who also teaches at the Graduate School of Journalism of the University of California, Berkeley."

Guy Dixon. How Copyright Could be Killing Culture. The Globe & Mail. Jan. 17, 2005.

See also:
Katie Dean. Bleary Days for Eyes on the Prize. Wired News. Dec. 22, 2004.

SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.

FBI May Scrap Virtual Case File System

"A new FBI computer program designed to help agents share information to ward off terrorist attacks may have to be scrapped, the agency has concluded, forcing a further delay in a four-year, half-billion-dollar overhaul of its antiquated computer system.

"The bureau is so convinced that the software, known as Virtual Case File, will not work as planned that it has taken steps to begin soliciting proposals from outside contractors for new software, officials said.

"'Because the software program is large and complex, we are modularizing VCF capabilities and then testing them, deploying them to subset user groups, evaluating performance and then building upon them,' said an FBI official whom the agency would not allow to be identified."

Richard B. Schmitt. New FBI Software May Be Unusable. LATimes.com. Jan. 13, 2005.

See also:

Reuters. Report: FBI May Scrap New Computer Program. News.com. Jan. 13, 2005.

David Perera. Virtual Case File a Virtual Bust. FCW. Jan. 14, 2005.

Jonathan Krim. FBI Rejects Its New Case File Software. WashingtonPost.com. Jan. 14, 2005.

Toni Locy. FBI Expects to Dump Information-Sharing Software. USA Today. Jan. 13, 2005.

Wilson P. Dizard III. Draft Report Suggests End for FBI’s Case Management App. GCN.com. Jan. 10, 2005.

(Editor’s Note: The Post allows free access to their stories on the Web for 14 days before sending the stories to the paper’s fee-based Archives.)

SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Apple Sues Harvard Student Over Leaks

"Nicholas M. Ciarelli was not even old enough to shave when he started getting under Apple Computer Inc.'s skin. As a 13-year-old middle-schooler, the New Woodstock, N.Y., native built a Web site in 1998 and began publishing insider news and rumors about Apple, using the alias Nick dePlume.

"Three years later, ThinkSecret.com was first to report that the company would debut a G4 version of the PowerBook laptop series. The product launched soon thereafter, along with ThinkSecret's reputation among Apple's legendarily zealous fans, generating millions of page views per month.

"But after a series of letters warning the Web site to stop publishing proprietary information, Apple decided enough was enough. When Ciarelli scored yet another scoop in late December, by predicting the arrival of a new software package and a sub-$500 computer rolled out at this week's MacWorld Conference and Expo in San Francisco, the computer maker filed a lawsuit accusing him of illegally misappropriating trade secrets."

Jonathan Finer. Teen Web Editor Drives Apple to Court Action. WashingtonPost.com. Jan. 14, 2005.

See also:
Joseph M. Tartakoff. Apple Sues Student. The Harvard Crimson. Jan. 12, 2005.

Associated Press. Blogger Facing Apple Lawsuit Seeks Legal Aid. San Jose Mercury News. Jan. 14, 2005.

(Editor’s Note: The Times allows free access to their stories on the Web for seven days before sending the stories to the paper’s fee-based Archive.)

SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Google Settles SEC Charges

"Google has settled with federal and state regulators over allegations the company violated securities laws in the handling of its stock options.

"The Securities and Exchange Commission also confirmed Thursday that it will not proceed with any enforcement action against Google over a high-profile interview with company co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin in Playboy magazine before they filed for their initial public offering. Companies are prohibited from promoting their companies before going public.

"The Playboy article and stock options inquiry both had threatened to delay Google's IPO."

Dawn Kawamoto. Google: No Penalty for Stock Options, Playboy Chat. News.com. Jan. 13, 2005.

Editor's note: See also SNTReport.com's prior story on Google's high profile interview.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Advances In Video/Multimedia Search

"Searching the internet for images or videos often leads down a blind alley or worse -- to deceitful advertisers or unsuitable content. Researchers are developing visualization technologies that can 'see' inside images, reducing search engines' reliance on text-based image tags that are easily manipulated.

"Search companies testing the waters of image retrieval see it as a lucrative method of connecting advertisers with customers, according to Chris Sherman, editor of the SearchDay newsletter. Yahoo, Google and MSN, as well as AOL's Singingfish have launched websites for searching static images and video.

"But these websites' reliance on searching text descriptions of images significantly limits their ability to deliver the correct pictures, according to Sherman. Very few content creators take the time to add text descriptions (metadata) to visual content while it is being created, Sherman said, so many images can be missed by search engines."

John Gartner. Search Looks at the Big Picture. Wired News. Jan. 6, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Altnet Seeks Licensing Fees From P2P Competitors

"A software company and its parent are claiming they hold patent rights to widely used Internet song-swapping technology, and they are demanding that several file-sharing networks obtain licenses in order to continue operating.

"Attorneys for Altnet Inc. and its parent company, Sherman Oaks, Calif.-based Brilliant Digital Entertainment Inc., sent letters to several U.S.-based file-swapping firms -- including Lime Wire LLC, BearShare operator Free Peers Inc. and Mashboxx -- claiming that the companies were using patented technology in their products. The letter doesn't explicitly threaten a lawsuit but does invite the firms to 'discuss licensing opportunities.'

"'You could call it a warning. We call it an offer to license our technology,' said Lawrence M. Hadley, counsel for Altnet and Brilliant Digital.

"A valid patent would give the firm a tight hold on a popular means of identifying and trading digital copies of music, movies and software, just as a fledgling industry has sprung up to turn file sharing into a commercial enterprise."

David McGuire. Patents Pressed Against File-Sharing Networks. WashingtonPost.com. Jan. 13, 2005.

See also:
John Borland. Altnet Seeks Patent Royalties From P2P. News.com. Jan. 12, 2005.

(Editor’s Note: The Post allows free access to their stories on the Web for 14 days before sending the stories to the paper’s fee-based Archives.)

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

MSN Tests New Blog and Search Features

"MSN on Tuesday evening is expected to quietly begin testing new features for searching and syndicating blogs, in a nod to the online publishing format.

"In partnership with Moreover Technologies, Microsoft's Internet division will add features to MyMSN, its personalized Web service, that will let users find blogs and syndicate content using the RSS (Really Simple Syndication) format, according to company representatives.

"People will be able to add content feeds to their MyMSN pages so they can view snippets of news and information in one place, without surfing to each individual page. Another feature will let people search for specific content contained within blogs."

Stefanie Olsen. MSN Tests New Blog, Search Features. News.com. Jan. 11, 2005.

See also:
Matt Hicks. MSN Gets Ready to Expand RSS Support. eWeek. Jan. 12, 2005.

Michael Connolly. 1.5 Million, Baby!. MSN Spaces. Jan. 11, 2005.

Brady Forrest. RSS Feeds for Search Results. MSN Search Weblog. Jan. 11, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Amazon Reveals Sony PSP Launch Date

"Sony won't say for sure when the rest of the world will get its hands on the PlayStation Portable, but Amazon will.

"The British arm of the online retail giant has begun taking advance orders for the handheld game machine, citing a delivery date of March 18.

"Questioned Thursday, a Sony Computer Entertainment America representative said that the PSP was on track for a March launch in North America, with a specific date and price to be announced later."

David Becker. Amazon Sets Delivery Date for PSP. News.com. Jan. 13, 2005.

See also:
Peter Rojas. Sony Planning PlayStation Portable Upgrades?. Engadget. Jan. 15, 2005.

Reuters. Samsung to Supply Chips for Sony's PSP. News.com. Jan. 13, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Comcast to Offer VoIP Services

"Comcast, the nation's largest cable company, on Monday began selling its version of Internet phone service in three markets, kicking off one of the most significant challenges traditional local phone companies have ever faced.

"Initially launching its Digital Voice service in three cities--Indianapolis, Philadelphia and Springfield, Mass.--Comcast plans to reach 20 markets by year's end. The Philadelphia-based company says it intends to make the service available to all its 21 million customers six months after that."

Ben Charny. Comcast Pushes VoIP to Prime Time. News.com. Jan. 10, 2005.

See also:
Colin C. Haley. Comcast Answers VoIP Call. InternetNews.com. Jan. 10, 2005.

Mary Claire Dale. Comcast to Offer Web-Based Phone Service. SeattlePI.com. Jan. 11, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Is That A Bunny in Your Pocket?

"'Call Girl' is getting a whole new meaning.

"Playboy has found a new way to peddle its nudie pictures to gawkers on the go: over their cell phones. Last month Playboy joined the growing legion of porn purveyors marketing to handheld devices when it launched iBod, nude photos sized for the iPod Photo.

"The company won't say when the cellular centerfolds will be available or how customers will be charged, only that they're on the case."

David Epstein. Playboy Goes for Hard Cell. Daily News. Jan. 12, 2005.

See also:
Richard Shim. Playboy's Free Come-on Turns iPod into iBod. News.com. Dec. 17, 2004.

Ben Charny. Barely Legal? Strip Poker Hits Cingular Phones. News.com. Jan. 6, 2005.

Evan Hansen. XXX, on a Small Screen Near You. News.com. Dec. 30, 2004.

SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Google, Libraries & Privacy Issues

"As you have no doubt heard by now, five major libraries have agreed to let Google digitize all or part of their collections.

"Nowhere in the press have any librarians or academics expressed concerns about privacy issues. Google has the capacity, the history, and the intention of tracking the browsing habits of anyone and everyone who visits any of their sites. Since its inception, Google has used a cookie with a unique ID in it that expires in 2038. They record this ID, along with the IP address, the search terms, and a time/date stamp, for everyone who searches at Google.

"To make matters worse, Google never comments on their relations with officials in the dozens of countries where they operate. Google even required the libraries to sign nondisclosure agreements."

Daniel Brandt. Google, Libraries, And Privacy. Webpronews.com. Jan. 12, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Corporate Library Weblogs

The latest isssue , the newsletter of the Information Technology Division of the Special Libraries Association features an article on Corporate library blogging.

An overview of points are provided to consider when starting a corporate library weblog.

"Does your library need one? And, if so, what type of content is your library going to be placing on the blog?

"What sense is there to having a blog, especially those that are for public consumption, if there is no one to read it?"

Steven Cohen. Corporate Library Blogs. (.pdf) B/iTE. Nov./Dec. 2004.

Attribution: SNTReport.com first discovered news of these points to consider for a corporate library blog through a posting in Library Stuff, edited by Steven M. Cohen.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

The Emergence of Advanced Wireless Services

"Ever since cellphones rang their way into the American mainstream in the late 1990's, consumers have heard snippets about a technology called 3G, so-called third-generation wireless systems that are supposed to do everything short of mix the perfect martini.

"As with Bigfoot and the Loch Ness monster, the intermittent sightings of 3G have made it difficult to cull the reality from the hype. Since at least 1997, wireless carriers and manufacturers have generally delivered the same song and dance: a test demonstration here, perhaps a disappointing service there, and promises always capped by the same refrain: 'Next year.'

"Finally, next year is now."

Seth Schissel. For Wireless, the Beginnings of a Breakout. The New York Times. Jan. 13, 2005.

(Editor’s Note: The Times allows free access to their stories on the Web for seven days before sending the stories to the paper’s fee-based Archive.)

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Lay Uses Web-Savvy Marketing Tool

"Ken Lay is a 21st century defendant, and he's willing to pay up to 12 cents every time somebody figures that out.

"Not only is he telling his side of things on his own Web site, but he's paying to make sure major search engines such as Google, Yahoo and AOL list his site first when you search for his name, Enron and related terms.

"The former chairman's computer-literate litigation team is making use of 'sponsored links,' which appear prominently in searches for a word or name in an Internet search engine. It's one of the ways the search engines make money and one of the ways Web sites can be sure they'll be noticed."

Mary Flood. Lay is Paying to Tell His Side of the Story. Houston Chronicle. Jan. 10, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Google's AdWords Cares About Grammer & Style

"In the haphazard world of instant messaging and dashed-off e-mail messages, where 'kk' isn't a typographical mistake but just the latest bit of Internet slang (it stands for kays, or O.K.), does anyone really care about style and grammar anymore?

"Google does. Taking the stance that unorthodox usage and punctuation and slang create a less straightforward searching experience, Google's AdWords division, which is responsible for the contextual ads that appear alongside search results, insists on standard English and punctilious punctuation. Cater to teenagers hooked on text messaging? This is a world with no 'dealz 4 u.' To those who say, 'Grammar schmammar, this is advertising, after all,' Google might suggest: 'Schmammar is not a word. Try 'Forget about grammar' instead.'

"David Fischer, director for AdWords, said: 'We really focus on creating ads that at the most basic level have proper spelling and grammar so that they're clear to users. We really encourage clear, effective, to-the-point communication to searchers.'"

Sarah Lefton. Advertisers on Google Are Told to Keep It Proper. The New York Times. Jan. 13, 2005.

(Editor’s Note: The Times allows free access to their stories on the Web for seven days before sending the stories to the paper’s fee-based Archive.)

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Research Group Surveys Online Customer Service Policies

"Major retailers are doing a good job at explaining their privacy policies to online customers, but many of those same companies are sharing customer data with affiliates or partners without seeking permission, a research firm said Wednesday.

Only a quarter of the companies surveyed in the fourth quarter of 2004 by the Customer Respect Group had a clear 'opt-in' policy whereby customers must give their permission to have personal data shared with others. Almost half of the retailers shared personal data received by customers without seeking permission, the CRG said.

Antone Gonsalves. Major Retailers Get Mixed Reviews For Online Customer Respect. InternetWeek.com. Jan. 5, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Slides from K. Matthew Dames' Lecture on Fair Use

As reported in SNTReport.com on Wednesday, executive editor K. Matthew Dames gave a lecture to information professionals at the AeA David Packard Conference Center in Washington, DC on the fair use doctrine of copyright law. The lecture, entitled "Fair Use in the Digital Age," was the first in a series sponsored by the Washington, DC chapter of SLA, among others, that addresses some of the most important legal and policy issues that information professionals face today.

Dames will also give the lecture for the next presentation in the series, "Licensing Digital Resources," on Wednesday, February 9, 2005, also at the AeA David Packard Center in Washington, DC. Those interested in attending the February 9 lecture may register online at the AIIM National Capitol Chapter website.

An electronic copy of the lecture notes, as well as additional resources, are posted below.

Lecture Notes
K. Matthew Dames, "Fair Use in the Digital Age." (.pdf). Jan. 12, 2005.

Additional Fair Use Resources
Laura "Lolly" Gasaway. When Works Pass into the Public Domain.

Peter Hirtle. Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States.

United States Copyright Office.

United States Copyright Office. Copyright Law.

Stanford University Libraries. Copyright & Fair Use.

University of Texas. Fair Use of Copyrighted Materials.

SNTReport.com. Copyright Archives.

Copyright Management Center. Fair Use Issues.

Copyright Management Center. Fair Use Checklist.

Clean Up the Copyright System

"Last month, Google announced a partnership with major research libraries to scan 20 million books for inclusion in Google's search database. For those works in the public domain, the full text will be available. For those works still possibly under copyright, only snippets will be seen.

"But the excitement around Google's extraordinary plan has obscured a dirty little secret: It is not at all clear that Google and these libraries have the legal right to do what is proposed.

"If lawsuits were filed, and if Google and its partner libraries were found to have violated the law, their legal exposure could reach into the billions."

Lawrence Lessig. Let a Thousand Googles Bloom. Los Angeles Times. Jan. 12, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.

IBM Pledges 500 Patents for Open Source

"IBM has decided to let open-source developers use 500 software patents without fear of an infringement lawsuit, a new step in its encouragement of the collaborative programming philosophy.

"It is a small but significant measure for a company with major efforts to patent its research, then license those patents. Still, the vast majority of IBM's 10,000 software patents in the United States aren't being shared so freely.

"The move follows that of Linux seller Red Hat, a comparatively small company that objects to software patents but allows unfettered use of its own smaller portfolio in open-source software. And Novell, the second-largest Linux seller, has vowed to use its own patent portfolio to deter and counter legal attacks against open-source software."

Stephen Shankland. IBM Offers 500 Patents for Open-Source Use. News.com. Jan. 10, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.

LOC Posts Civil War Maps Online

"Civil War buffs are getting access to a trove of information: thousands of original maps and diagrams of battles and campaigns between 1861 and 1865, all posted on the Internet.

"The Library of Congress is posting 2,240 maps and charts and 76 atlases and sketchbooks, while the Virginia Historical Society and the Library of Virginia are adding about 600 items. Much of the collection is online now; the rest will be posted by spring.

"The documents depict troop positions and movements, as well as fortifications. There also are reconnaissance maps, sketches and coastal charts and theater-of-war maps."

Carl Hartman. Civil War Maps Posted Online. Seattle Times. Jan. 11, 2004.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Lawmakers Push Bills for Library Filters

"Two Virginia lawmakers are pushing bills that would require any public library that receives state funds to install filtering software on its computers.

"The legislation is necessary to protect children from unwittingly stumbling across pornography while using the Internet at their local libraries, said the House bill's sponsor, Del. Samuel Nixon, Jr., R-Chesterfield. Nixon said his bill would be identical to one already filed by Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg.

"Nixon introduced his plans for the bill at a Monday press conference for the Family Foundation, which unveiled its legislative agenda for the upcoming General Assembly session that also backs a state constitutional ban on same-sex civil unions."

Kristen Gelineau. Bill Aims to Filter Internet Content at State Libraries. dailypress.com. Jan. 10, 2005.

See also:
Christina Bellantoni. Virginia Considers Requiring Library Computer Filters. Washingtontimes.com. Jan. 11, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

PLoS to Launch Additional Open-Access Journals

"The Public Library of Science, a pioneering U.S. non-profit publisher of open access journals, will launch three new journals this year.

" Part of an ambitious plan to transform scientific publishing, PLoS launched PLoS Biology in 2003 and PLoS Medicine in 2004, both with the support of the Gordon and Bettie Moore Foundation. Next up are PLoS Computational Biology, PLoS Genetics, and PLoS Pathogens.

"PLoS is partnering with the International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB) to publish PLoS Computational Biology. The journal, now accepting submissions, is scheduled to launch in June 2005. PLoS Genetics, also now accepting submissions, will launch in July 2005. PLoS Pathogens will begin accepting submissions in March 2005 and begin publishing in autumn of 2005."

No author. PLoS to Launch New Journals. Library Journal. Jan. 11, 2005.

See also:
Public Library of Science. Public Library of Science to Launch Additional Open-Access Journals. (Press Release.) Jan. 6, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Hackers Steal ID Info From University

"George Mason University confirmed on Monday that the personal information of more than 30,000 students, faculty and staff had been nabbed by online intruders.

"The attackers broke into a server that held details used on campus identity cards, the university said. Joy Hughes, the school's vice president for information technology, said in an internal e-mail sent over the weekend and seen by CNET News.com that 'the server contained the names, photos, Social Security numbers and (campus ID) numbers of all members of the Mason community who have identification cards.'

"Hughes warned that campus community members should contact the major credit bureaus to flag their accounts for possible identity fraud."

Declan McCullagh. Hackers Steal ID Info From Virginia University. News.com. Jan. 10, 2005.

See also:
No author. FBI Joins George Mason ID Theft Investigation. nbc4.com. Jan. 11, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Wiki Co-founder Discusses Open Source Journalism

"Can Internet volunteers improve journalism? Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy 'Jimbo' Wales is out to find out.

"Wikipedia is a very successful online encyclopedia written and edited by thousands of volunteers. Now they are trying the collaborative wiki process on news. The project, called Wikinews, is in its early stages and faces clear challenges, from the difficulty of doing original reporting to delivering news quickly in a peer review model.

"Wikinews is just one of several wiki-related efforts--from an online dictionary to freely available textbooks--being run by the nonprofit Wiki Media Foundation. But Wikinews appears to be the project in development getting the most attention--at least from journalists.

"Wales spoke to CNET News.com about Wikinews and the 'burgeoning culture' around wikis."

Martin LaMonica. Open-Sourcing the News. News.com. Jan. 7, 2004.

SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Yahoo Launches Desktop Search in Beta

"Yahoo has become the latest major Internet company to introduce consumer software for searching e-mail and other desktop files.

"In December, the Internet portal announced it would soon begin testing desktop search technology, which it has licensed from Pasadena, Calif.-based X1 Technologies. On Tuesday, the company officially entered the market with a free download of the beta at Desktop.Yahoo.com.

"Yahoo has put its stake in the desktop-search ground following rivals Google and Ask Jeeves, which all did so late last year. The market has become a hot field of innovation, promising to engender new consumer loyalty on the PC and pave a new road for delivering personalized advertising."

Stefanie Olsen. Yahoo Joins Desktop Search Fray. News.com. Jan. 11, 2005.

See also:
Matt Hicks. Yahoo Tests Desktop Search Client. eWeek. Jan. 11, 2005.

Neil J. Rubenking. Yahoo! Desktop Search. PC Magazine. Jan. 11, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.

World's Smallest P2P Application

"In a bid to demonstrate the futility of trying to ban peer-to-peer file-sharing networks, a computer scientist has written the shortest P2P program ever.

"Like all P2P applications, Tiny P2P, written by Edward Felten of Princeton University in New Jersey, establishes a network between PCs on which files can be transferred without using a central server. Members of the network make content on their hard drives available to everyone else.

"Felten is concerned that Congress might revive a piece of legislation called the Induce Act, which would outlaw file-sharing networks, and he wrote Tiny P2P to make a point."

No author. Simple Programs Make File Sharing Inevitable. NewScientist.com. Jan. 8, 2005.

See also:
Iain Thomson. Boffin Writes World's Smallest P2P Application. IT Week. Jan. 7, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

A Clash Between Free-Speech and IP Rights

"Apple Computer's lawsuit against a Web site that published details of forthcoming Mac products raises troubling First Amendment questions, media experts say.

"In its court action last week, Apple sued not only the unnamed individuals who revealed Apple's inside information, but also those at Mac enthusiast site Think Secret who helped publish it.

"'To me, it is very disturbing that Apple, or anybody frankly, would try to invoke trade secrets to go after a media publication or, for that matter, even a blog,' said Paul Grabowicz, director of the New Media Program at the University of California at Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism. 'If they think somebody inside is leaking information, then they should be going after them directly.'"

Ina Fried. Apple Suit Tests First Amendment. News.com. Jan. 10, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Deletion of Government E-Mail Raises Concern

"Government agencies generally support a proposal to let federal agencies delete mountains of saved e-mails that have been marked as having no long-term value, but some public advocacy groups and others have expressed concern.

"In public comments submitted to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), seven agencies agreed with the basic premise of the rule, which would let agencies permanently delete e-mails that 'have minimal or no documentary or evidential value.'

"The proposal states that agencies should be permitted to delete e-mails under staggered retention periods, such as 90, 120 or 180 days. E-mails that have been requested under the Freedom of Information Act or that are involved in any litigation would be 'frozen' until the matter is resolved, the rule states."

Danielle Belopotosky. Agencies Back Plan to Delete Old E-mails. GovExec.com. Jan. 7, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

VeriSign to Acquire LightSurf

"VeriSign on Monday announced it plans to acquire multimedia messaging company LightSurf Technologies in a $270 million stock deal designed to bolster its wireless efforts.

"With the acquisition, VeriSign plans to offer carriers a range of wireless data and content technology, from picture messaging capabilities to interoperable messaging.

"LightSurf was one of the first companies to offer picture messaging on cell phones, debuting the service with Sprint in mid-2002. Initially derided as just another useless cell phone feature, photo messaging has proven to be a success over the last two years."

Dawn Kawamoto and Ben Charny. VeriSign to Buy Messaging Firm LightSurf. News.com. Jan. 10, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Verizon to Offer TV-on-Demand Service

"Verizon Wireless has expanded its wireless broadband network to a dozen more cities and next month will begin selling a TV-on-demand service featuring content from Fox, Comedy Central and NBC--moves meant to re-establish the carrier as the largest U.S. cell phone operator.

"Verizon's BroadbandAccess wireless Web service, whose performance matches a slow wireline broadband connection, is now available in 32 markets, having been expanded Friday to Chicago, Boston and 10 other cities. By year's end, the operator expects the network to be available to 150 million Americans, making it the largest third-generation, or 3G, network in the United States.

"Verizon's new service will challenge one offered by rival Sprint, the nation's third-largest carrier, which recently announced its intention to merge with Nextel Communications. Sprint began selling a mobile TV service a year ago."

Ben Charny. Stay Tuned for Verizon Wireless TV. News.com. Jan. 7, 2005.

See also:
Colin C. Haley. Verizon Wireless Flicks Content Switch. InternetNews.com. Jan. 7, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

K. Matthew Dames Gives Presentation on Fair Use

K. Matthew Dames, executive editor of SNTReport.com, is presenting a talk in Washington, DC this afternoon entitled "Fair Use in the Digital Age." The talk will analyze Section 107 of the copyright law, including where fair use falls within the copyright landscape, how information professionals can properly analyze the law, and how the nature of fair use has changed as the dominant information format has evolved from analog to digital. Today's presentation is part of a brown bag lecture series on information law and policy issues that Dames will be moderating throughout the winter and early spring of 2005.

Series Description: Once a legal backwater that interested only specialists, information law issues are now considered central to the nation’s communications, legal and economic infrastructure. While information law is more important than ever, information professionals often lack the necessary knowledge and tools to navigate the thicket of laws, regulations, treaties and policies.

This brown bag luncheon series will address some of the most important legal and policy issues that information professionals face today. Sponsored by the DC Chapter of SLA, National Capitol Chapter (NCC) of AIIM, the Washington DC Chapter of SCIP, Northern Virginia Chapter of ARMA, Federal Law Librarians’ SIS, Adobe Systems Inc., and STG International, this series will identify information professionals’ responsibilities, providing a forum for discussing and resolving some of the profession’s most important issues, sharing resources for further research and problem-solving.

The sessions will be moderated by K. Matthew Dames, JD, MLS, an information policy expert who teaches information law at Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies. A comprehensive set of handouts will be created for each topic and posted to the DC/SLA website and SNTReport.com.

Schedule: Join us on the second Wednesday of each month, January through April 2005, as we explore copyright, fair use, licensing digital resources, digital rights management, and open access.
Session 1, January 12, 2005: Copyright & Fair Use
The copyright doctrine of fair use has become critically important in the digital age, yet it remains one of copyright law’s most misunderstood and misapplied doctrines. During this first luncheon meeting, we will analyze what fair use means, including:
- Translating the law into plain English
- Establishing a system for determining whether fair use applies
- Discussing whether fair use remains viable given the changes in the law over the last decade.

Session 2, February 9, 2005: Licensing Digital Resources

Session 3, March 9, 2005: Digital Rights Management

Session 4, April 13, 2005: Open Access

Site & Registration Details:The brown-bags will begin promptly at 12 noon (12:00 pm – 2:00 pm) at the AeA David Packard Conference Center, 601 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, North Bldg - Suite 600 (Metro: Archives/Navy Memorial) in Washington, DC. Space is limited, so register early at the AIIM National Capitol Chapter website.

Commonists, Not Communists, Bill

"When Bill Gates referred to copyright reformers as modern-day communists in an interview at the Consumer Electronics Show, it didn't take long for the web community to respond with a big 'nyah-nyah-nyah.'

"Bloggers and designers were quick to dream up 'creative communist' symbols, a play on one of the best-known groups working for copyright reform, Creative Commons.

"The images were instantly passed around and added to websites, T-shirts and buttons."

Katie Dean. We're Creative Commonists, Bill. Wired News. Jan. 8, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.

A Violation of Shrink Wrap License?

"A thought suddenly struck me yesterday when I was reading the press release for Microsoft's new Windows AntiSpyware product. If Microsoft's product is really going to clean up spyware effectively, how will it do so without violating the licensing agreement of Claria's Gator and other spyware/adware?

"An increasingly common provision in the adware EULAs is a prohibition against using third party software to remove the program. As spyware researcher Ben Edelman reported in November,, Claria's EULA only allows removal of Gator and related software through a cumbersome process using the Windows Add/Remove Programs menu. Removing it through the use of spyware detection programs, presumably including Microsoft's new offering, is a violation of the EULA."

Ed Foster. Is Microsoft Violating the Gator EULA?. The Gripe Line Weblog. Jan. 7, 2004.

SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Bio Med Central Responds to Open Access Myths

"In the evidence presented to the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee Inquiry into Scientific Publications, many dubious arguments have been used by traditional publishers to attack the new Open Access publishing model.

"Below, BioMed Central responds to some of the most prevalent and most misleading anti-Open Access arguments."

Jonathan B Weitzman. (Mis)Leading Open Access Myths. Open Access Now. No date.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Blinkx Unveils Mac Desktop Search

"Blinkx will introduce a version of its desktop-search software for the Macintosh next week, making it one of the first specialists to cater to Apple Computer's loyalist audience.

"Still, the San Francisco-based company must compete with Apple itself, which already offers tools to find files on the desktop and plans improved search features in its upcoming Tiger OS release in the next several months.

"The Apple update, says Blinkx co-founder and CTO Suranga Chandratillake, proves that search on the Mac is still a problem. Blinkx's free downloadable software can be a valuable answer for Mac users, Chandratillake said."

Stefanie Olsen. Blinkx Launches Desktop Search for Mac. News.com. Jan. 6, 2005.

See also:
Susan Kuchinskas. Blinkx Brings Desktop Search to Macs. InternetNews.com. Jan. 6, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

ITunes User Sues Apple Over iPod

"Lawyers filed a 10-count lawsuit against Apple earlier this week, claiming the ties between the company's iTunes music download service and its iPod violate state and federal antitrust law.

"Slattery v. Apple, filed Monday in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California in San Jose, is a plea to allow the case to become a class action lawsuit on behalf of anyone who has used the iTunes service or bought an iPod from Apple since April 28, 2003, the day iTunes first opened shop.

"The suit claims Apple broke the law when it altered the industry standard Advanced Audio Codec (AAC) file format and used it to restrict the music's usage outside the iPod. Songs sold to the public on iTunes use the AAC with Fairplay Digital Rights Management (DRM), called AAC Protected."

Jim Wagner. Apple Hit by Lawsuit. InternetNews.com. Jan. 6, 2005.

See also:
Andrew Orlowski. Apple Music Store Smacked With Antitrust Suit. The Register. Jan. 7, 2005.

Peter Cohen. ITunes User Sues Apple Over FairPlay. PC World. Jan. 7, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group&153; Venture.

Clinical Drug Trial Info to be Posted on Web

"The prescription drug industry's main trade group announced Thursday that its member companies will begin voluntarily posting information about ongoing clinical trials for all diseases this summer on a government Web site.

"Drug companies have come under fire in recent months for allegedly withholding unfavorable research findings, and the American Medical Association as well as some members of Congress have called for mandatory reporting of all clinical-trial results."

Under current law, drug companies are required to post information at www.clinicaltrials.gov only about trials of drugs for serious or life-threatening diseases or conditions.

Rita Rubin. Drugmakers to Voluntarily Post Info Online About Clinical Trials. USA Today. Jan. 6, 2005.

See also:
No author. Drug Industry’s Plan to Voluntarily Report Clinical Trials Falls Short of Ensuring Drug Safety for Consumers. Pharmalive.com. Jan. 6, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

E-Gov Spending to Increase 38 Percent Over 5 Years

"Federal spending on e-government-related initiatives will continue to grow through 2009, according to new analysis from Input.

"A report released today by the market research firm projects an annual compound growth rate of 6.9 percent during the next five fiscal years, from slightly more than $4 billion in fiscal 2004 to nearly $6 billion by fiscal 2009.

"The report defines e-government as any mission-oriented information system classifiable under four customer segments outlined by the Office of Management and Budget: government-to-citizen, government-to-business, government-to-government, and internal efficiency and effectiveness. That definition includes more than the 24 e-government projects OMB initiated in 2002."

David Perera. Input: E-gov Budget to Grow. FCW. Jan. 6, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

PC World's Legislative Year in Review

"For good or ill, Congress kept to its usual snail's pace on a number of controversial issues ranging from digital copyright to spyware; other government agencies, however, made up for some of the slack.

"Congress tried. It really did. And it came so close on several issues--spyware and digital copyright most prominently. But though a number of bills were proposed, and some were even passed by the House or the Senate, very few actually became law. The Federal Communications Commission, the Supreme Court, and the Department of Justice, however, were all busy bees.

"Below, I run through six of the year's major topics, what's been decided, the considerable amount still left on the to-do list for 2005--and my guess as to how much of that list Congress will actually get to this year."

Anush Yegyazarian. Legislative Year in Review: All Talk, Little Action. PC World. Jan. 6, 2005.

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Six Apart Buys LiveJournal

"Six Apart said on Thursday it had acquired Danga Interactive Inc., bringing together two pioneers of online journals known as blogs and creating a stronger rival to Google Inc.'s Blogger.com service.

"Terms of the stock and cash transaction were not disclosed, said closely held San Francisco-based Six Apart, which developed the popular Movable Type online publishing software and the TypePad blogging service.

"Danga, which is based in Portland, Oregon and also privately held, operates the blogging service LiveJournal, which is popular among adolescents and teenagers."

Duncan Martell. Six Apart Acquires Maker of LiveJournal Weblogs. Reuters. Jan. 6, 2005.

See also:
Michael Bazeley. Six Apart Interview. SiliconBeat. Jan. 6, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Creative Commons Launches Science Commons

"On Saturday, Creative Commons, a nonprofit dedicated to offering flexible copyrights for creative works, launched Science Commons, designed to ease the sharing of scientific research and datasets.

"Stanford Law Prof. Lawrence Lessig, who now serves as the current chairman of the Board of Directors of Creative Commons, and a group of Internet law and intellectual property experts launched the nonprofit in 2002 to provide authors of creative works a way to share their efforts online while still protecting their intellectual property. Having created licenses for Web sites, photos, music, films, works of literature and scholarly works, the organization is now ready to tackle the tricky arena of scientific intellectual property.

"Science Commons will help authors publish work online with licenses based on the Creative Commons copyright licenses, allowing researchers to publish in multiple journals, post up their work on their own Web site and share raw datasets."

Michelle Keller. Profit, Patents and Progress. The Stanford Daily. Jan. 4, 2005.

See also:
Jonathan B Weitzman. Science Commons Makes Sharing Easier. Open Access Now. Dec. 20, 2004.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Text-Messaging Teens Rack Up Debt

"In the last two years, text messages - which cell carriers generally limit to 160 characters - have become a rage among teenagers, who embrace the technology as yet another way to escape a boring class or stay in touch with friends.

"But text-messaging, or texting for short, has a downside. It can be expensive. Although phone companies offer relatively inexpensive packages - like Verizon Wireless's $9.99 for 1,000 messages a month - industry experts say that carriers sometimes fail to draw customers' attention to the cost-saving deals, and that customers themselves, especially young people, often exceed the number of messages allowed. In those cases, sending a text message usually costs 10 cents; the cost of receiving one ranges from 2 to 10 cents.

"But text-messaging, or texting for short, has a downside. It can be expensive. Although phone companies offer relatively inexpensive packages - like Verizon Wireless's $9.99 for 1,000 messages a month - industry experts say that carriers sometimes fail to draw customers' attention to the cost-saving deals, and that customers themselves, especially young people, often exceed the number of messages allowed. In those cases, sending a text message usually costs 10 cents; the cost of receiving one ranges from 2 to 10 cents."

Lisa W. Foderaro. Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, a Message at a Time. The New York Times. Jan. 9, 2005.

(Editor’s Note: The Times allows free access to their stories on the Web for seven days before sending the stories to the paper’s fee-based Archive.)

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Microsoft Offers Free Anti-Spyware Tool

"Microsoft Corp. announced yesterday that it is giving away software designed to help protect Windows users from spyware, one of the fastest-growing of Internet annoyances.

"The release marked a new foray for the software giant and prompted several analysts to suggest that the company would eventually enter the market for computer security software.

"Microsoft's anti-spyware technology comes from Giant Company Software Inc., a New York-based computer security company that Microsoft acquired in December. Now dubbed Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware, Giant's former product is being released as a free download at Microsoft's Web site (www.microsoft.com/athome/security)."

Mike Musgrove. Microsoft Offers Anti-Spyware Software. WashingtonPost.com. Jan. 7, 2005.

See also:
Tim Gray. Microsoft Launches Anti-Spyware Beta. InternetNews.com. Jan. 6, 2005.

Paul Roberts. Microsoft Sends Shivers Through Antivirus Market. PC World. Jan. 6, 2005.

Kelly Martin. Microsoft Anti-Spyware?. The Register. Jan. 7, 2005.

(Editor’s Note: The Post allows free access to their stories on the Web for 14 days before sending the stories to the paper’s fee-based Archives.)

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

States Battle VoIP Ruling

"Minnesota utility regulators will try to overturn a recent federal decision barring states from imposing many of their telecommunications regulations on Internet phone providers, a sign states haven't backed down from their fight to lord over this new, cheaper breed of phone service.

"Burl Haar, executive secretary of the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, said Tuesday the commission is acting chiefly out of concern over whether Vonage and others Net phone providers can offer emergency 911 calling, which only a few elite operators are capable of providing. "There is a lot of uncertainty about how that will be resolved," Haar said.

"Minnesota is the second state, so far, to decide to appeal the Federal Communications Commission's November decision, which was hailed as a victory for providers of the relatively new commercial phone service using voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). In late December, California utility regulators filed an appeal of the decision in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The Minnesota filing will take place within the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals."

Ben Charny. States Battle FCC Internet Phone Ruling. News.com. Jan. 4, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Video54 Unveils Video Over Wi-Fi Technology

"A new start-up says it has developed antenna technology that can steer signals around obstacles, improving reliability in wireless home networks.

"Video54 Technologies, based in Mountain View, Calif., will be showcasing its BeamFlex technology at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week. On Wednesday, the company announced that Netgear, a maker of home networking gear, will be the first company to integrate the BeamFlex antenna into a new line of wireless-access products. Netgear is branding the products under the name RangeMax.

"Video54's technology uses software to adjust signal paths of wireless devices to steer them around obstacles. The product is composed of antenna arrays that generate hundreds of unique beam patterns. The software continuously learns the environment and reconfigures the antenna to adapt to changing radio frequency, network and user conditions."

Marguerite Reardon. Start-up Pictures Video-Ready Wireless Networks. News.com. Jan. 5, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Google's Future

"For Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO, 2004 was a very good year. His firm led the search industry, the fastest-growing major sector in technology; it went public, raising $1.67 billion; its stock price soared; and its revenues more than doubled, to $3 billion. But as the search market ripens into something worthy of Microsoft’s attention, those familiar with the software business have been wondering whether Google, apparently triumphant, is in fact headed off the cliff.

"Google now faces choices as fundamental as those Netscape faced in 1995. Google, whose headquarters in Mountain View, CA—familiarly called the Googleplex—is only five kilometers from Netscape’s former home, needn’t perish as Netscape did, but it could."

Charles H. Ferguson. What’s Next for Google. Technology Review. Jan. 2005.

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A Decade of Federal Web Content

"At just over ten years of age, the U.S. federal government’s external web presence is maturing, if not yet mature. Federal government agencies are using their websites as serious, central communications channels rather than as showy supplements to older channels such as printed publications, paper correspondence, or telephone hotlines.

"Gone are the exciting 'Information Highway' days of the 1990s when researchers watched anxiously for news of agencies coming online one by one, each with a small chunk of content, often on a pilot basis. It was a bumpy road, with some agencies speeding away, others stalling, and all generally headed in different directions.

"Today, researchers travel a relatively more predictable route. We assume that a federal agency has a web site, that certain categories of information will be available, and that certain tools for finding that information will be provided. It is a good time to take stock of exactly what these sites have to offer. What follows is an alphabetical list of content that researchers can expect to find on federal, executive branch websites, and where on the site they can expect to find it."

Peggy Garvin. The Federal Web: Content at the Ten-year Mark. LLRX.com. Dec. 27, 2004.

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Vulnerability in Mozilla Firefox

"A vulnerability in Firefox could expose users of the open-source browser to the risk of phishing scams, security experts have warned.

"The flaw in Mozilla Firefox 1.0, details of which were published by security company Secunia on Tuesday, could allow hackers to spoof the URL in the download dialog box that pops up when a Firefox user tries to download an item from a Web site. This flaw is caused by the dialog box incorrectly displaying long sub-domains and paths, which can be exploited to conceal the actual source of the download.

"Mikko Hypponen, director of antivirus research at software maker F-Secure, said this bug could make Firefox users vulnerable to cybercriminals. 'The most likely way we could see this exploited would be in phishing scams,' he said."

Ingrid Marson. Firefox Flaw Raises Phishing Fears. News.com. Jan. 7, 2005.

See also:
Staff ZDNet UK. Firefox: When Is A Flaw Not A Flaw?. News.com. Jan. 7, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Fujitsu-Siemens Ordered to Pay Copyright Tax

"Fujitsu-Siemens has been ordered by a German court to pay a levy every time one of its computers is sold in the country, as part of a 'tax on piracy.'

"The judge ruled in December that because the company's PCs could be used for copying material--and denying rights holders their due royalties--Fujitsu-Siemens should make it up by way of a contribution of about $16 (12 euros) per machine."

Jo Best. Fujitsu-Siemens to Pay Per-Machine Fee for Piracy. News.com. Jan. 4, 2005.

See also:
Jan Libbenga. Fujitsu Siemens Loses German PC Levy Case. The Register. Jan. 3, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Virtual Family Gatherings

"Jesus L., a 42-year-old construction worker and illegal immigrant from the southern highlands of Ecuador, had not seen the three children he left behind for 11 years. But there they were just before the New Year, conjured up on a wall-mounted television screen by the hocus-pocus of the Internet in real time in a storefront in Jackson Heights, Queens.

"Their conversation took place the way it did because of the wizardry of videoconferencing, a technology first devised for chief executives to communicate with their far-flung underlings. The format is slowly becoming popular with the city's poor immigrants as the most vivid way to communicate with their families back home.

"Videoconferencing is another one of the bridges that have narrowed the chasm between immigrants and their home cultures. While coming to America a century ago usually meant saying goodbye to relatives and homeland forever, today's families keep in touch regularly through cheap flights and phone calls, satellite television and the Internet."

Joseph Berger. What's on TV? A View of Loved Ones From Afar. The New York Times. Jan. 8, 2005.

(Editor’s Note: The Times allows free access to their stories on the Web for seven days before sending the stories to the paper’s fee-based Archive.)

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Sony, Matsushita Release Electronic Book

"They have fought over DVDs, digital cameras, MP3 players and flat-screen televisions. Now Japan's gadget makers have chosen a new battleground for 2005: the electronic book.

"Technology companies and science-fiction writers have been predicting the death of paper for decades, and they have always been wrong. Until now, people have happily stuck to books despite the digital age because books still represent the cheapest and easiest-to-read medium for words.

"But Sony and Matsushita, the two largest consumer electronic companies, believe they may have turned the corner in driving the humble book to extinction."

Leo Lewis. Latest Thing in Hi-Tech: A Book. Times Online. Jan. 1, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

iPods as Storage Device for Images

"Radiologists are turning to iPods to deal with the hassles of managing medical images. They're not listening to music, though; they're looking at pictures.

"Medical images are increasingly important in diagnosing everything from cancer to heart disease to sports injuries. And they are used extensively for research, including brain function and experimental treatments, but they also require large data sets, making storing and transferring images problematic.

"Two radiologists recently developed open-source software, called OsiriX, to display and manipulate complex medical images on the popular portable devices called iPods. The most current version of OsiriX, which speeds up some processes and fixes crash-causing bugs, was released on Tuesday."

M.L. Baker. iPods Store Medical Images. eWeek. Jan. 5, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Gates Speaks on Search, Blogs, Games

"Microsoft's chairman is setting the company on a course to provide software and tools that will allow different forms of entertainment to blend. Messaging will become a crucial part of Xenon, the code name for the next Xbox. Microsoft will also work with television outlets like the Discovery Channel and MTV Networks to create tools for delivering content, as well as advertising, into the home.

"Its eyes ever set on the competition, Microsoft will continue to raise the stakes against Apple Computer in the music industry and against Google and Yahoo in search.

"Gates spoke with CNET News.com on the eve of his keynote speech at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas about Microsoft's consumer plans, the convergence of entertainment technologies--and why he hasn't done a blog yet."

Michael Kanellos. Gates Taking a Seat in Your Den. News.com. Jan. 5, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Exeem to Launch Decentralized, Searchable Network

"Just weeks after legal attacks crippled the popular BitTorrent file-swapping community, an underground programmer from its ranks has stepped forward to announce new software designed to withstand future onslaughts from Hollywood.

"Dubbed Exeem, the software has already been distributed in a closed beta, or early test format, by the creators of the SuprNova.org Web site, which was until late last month the most popular hub for the BitTorrent file-swapping community.

"Last week, the head of that now-defunct site, a man known as 'Sloncek,' officially announced the Exeem project in an interview on the NovaStream Webcasting network. He said that it would be a modified version of the popular BitTorrent technology, but transformed into a decentralized, searchable network similar to Kazaa or eDonkey."

John Borland. A New Hope for BitTorrent?. News.com. Jan. 5, 2005.

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Polese Details Open Source Plans

"SpikeSource, a start-up headed by computing industry veteran Kim Polese, has revealed more details of its plan to tap into the growing popularity of open-source software at corporations.

"When it launched earlier this year, SpikeSource said it was working toward offering maintenance and support services for packaged open-source components to businesses. In an interview with CNET News.com, Polese fleshed out the company's planned lineup, which includes automated delivery of software and services for a 'hybrid' of infrastructure software, both open source and proprietary.

"'Our focus is software as a service--it's delivering a stream of updates and remote management of open-source stacks,' Polese said. 'We're going from do-it-yourself software to fully integrated and supported.'"

Martin LaMonica. Polese Opens Up on Open-Source Plans. News.com. Jan. 4, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Federal Web Sites to Include Search Engines

"Search engines on federal Web sites will become mandatory by the end of 2005, according to a Dec. 17 memo (.pdf) from the Office of Management and Budget.

"In some circumstances, mostly for small Web sites, agency officials may still rely on site maps or subject indexes, the memo states. In addition, it collates nine other requirements agencies should already be complaint with under various acts of Congress or OMB circulars."

David Perera. OMB: Set Up Search. FCW.coM. Dec. 21, 2004.

Macworld Conference to Feature New Products

"IDG World Expo, the leading producer of world-class tradeshows, conferences and events for technology markets, today provided a preview of Macworld Conference & Expo(R) in San Francisco, to be held next week at the Moscone Center. Hundreds of new products are expected to debut at next week's event, which will feature an exhibit hall filled with over 275 of the most innovative companies serving the Mac community.

"Macworld will also include five days of world-class educational content, with conference sessions appropriate for Mac users of all levels and backgrounds. In addition, concerts by six different music stars will take place during the week.

"The Macworld exhibit hall will feature the newest products and applications for the Mac platform from companies such as Apple, Adobe, Aspyr, BlackBerry, Canon, FileMaker, Harman Multimedia, HP, Intuit, Microsoft, MYOB, Nikon, Oxford Semiconductor, Quark, Roxio, Sonos, Xerox, X-Rite and many others."

Business Wire. New Products Ready to Make their Debut at Macworld Conference & Expo 2005 in San Francisco. CBS MarketWatch. Jan. 4, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Topix.net Adds Area Start-Up Channels

"Topix.net, the Palo Alto Web service that provides local news, continues to punch above its tiny weight. The company has only eight employees but has grabbed a lot of attention by linking up local news content it pulls from the Web with relevant local advertising.

"At www.topix.net/startups, Topix pulls in news on about 2,500 area start-ups, a great reference for entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, accountants and others. It crawls 10,000 online news and other sources.

"The list of the 2,500 start-ups is supplied by another company, LinkSV, which is also free, allows you to search profiles of each of the 2,500 start-ups. It includes information like name and biographical details of key executives, a business focus summary, names of board members, venture capital backing, company contact info and names of customers. Topix is offering a related channel that tracks press releases from any of the same 2,500 start-ups, at www.topix.net/startups/pr."

Matt Marshall. Topix Offers Start-up, VC News Sites. San Jose Mercury News. Jan. 4, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Spam Fills Mailboxes During Holidays

"Tim Rechin didn't wait until the end of the holidays to wade through a mountain of work e-mail. Ostensibly off-duty, he spent hours sorting through his in-box hoping to start 2005 on a productive foot rather than buried in spam upon his return to work.

"The mound of e-mail workers had to sort through after the holidays this year was likely higher than last year's: Corporate e-mail traffic has been growing with a larger proportion of spam.

"In 2004, the average corporate user received 94 e-mails a day, up from 81 the year before, according to research firm The Radicati Group. Last year, 45 percent of corporate messages were spam, compared to 42 percent in 2003. Even higher hills of e-mail messages are likely to await workers after the holidays in the future. Radicati predicts that the average corporate user will get 102 messages a day in 2008, with 64 percent of corporate messages made up of spam.

Ed Frauenheim. Spam Joins Pounds on New Year's 'To Shed' List. News.com. Jan. 4, 2004.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Software Industry Seeks Greater Copyright Protection Via DMCA

"Several of the world's largest high-tech corporations, many who are members of the Business Software Alliance (BSA), plan to urge Congress today to force Internet service providers to crack down more aggressively on their users who swap copyrighted software, music or video files online.

"The move is a significant escalation in the campaign by the software and entertainment industries to squelch widespread file sharing by millions of users through services such as Kazaa, Grokster and Morpheus. If successful, it could reshape a long legal tradition of shielding phone, cable and other communications companies from liability for the actions of their customers.

"BSA officials want Congress to secure the cooperation of Internet service providers by amending the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which was designed to address potential copyright violations in the electronic age."

Jonathan Krim. Tech Firms Aim to Change Copyright Act. WashingtonPost.com. Jan. 6, 2004.

See also:
Declan McCullagh. Software Firms Want Copyright Law Rewrite. News.com. Jan. 7, 2004.

Business Software Alliance. Intellectual Property in the 21st Century. (.pdf) Jan. 2005.

(Editor’s Note: The Post allows free access to their stories on the Web for 14 days before sending the stories to the paper’s fee-based Archives.)

SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Vonage Offers Net Users Wireless Phones

"Vonage Holdings will be the first Internet telephony provider to offer a new portable Wi-Fi phone that can make calls over any Wi-Fi hot spot.

"UTStarcom on Tuesday announced that later this year, it will release the F1000, a portable phone that uses high-speed wireless hot spots. The handset uses voice over Internet Protocol--VoIP--technology to complete the call.

"UTStarcom said the phone will be sold through service providers and operators, just like cell phones. Vonage will be the first operator to incorporate the new phone into its broadband service. Pricing was not released."

Dinesh C. Sharma. Vonage to Take VoIP on the Road. News.com. Jan. 4, 2005.

See also:
Paul Davidson. Wireless Net Calling Targets Masses. USA Today. Jan. 3, 2005.

No author. Mobile VoIP’s Vegas Act. Red Herring. Jan. 4, 2005.

No author. Vonage Offers Internet Users Wireless Phones. Reuters. Jan. 4, 2005.

Ben Charny. Wi-Fi Goes (West) Hollywood. News.com. Jan 4, 2005.

Martin Brampton. Devil's Advocate: Who Will Win the Mobile War - Microsoft or Nokia?. San Jose Mercury News. Jan. 4, 2005.

Dean Takahashi. CES Preview: Think Wireless. San Jose Mercury News. Jan. 2, 2005.

Todd Wallack. Cellular Subscribers Impatient With Dropped Calls. San Francisco Chronicle. Jan. 5, 2005.

Cindy Carlson. Voice over IP: Finally, a Workable Option. LLRX.com. Dec. 27, 2004.

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Internet Archive to Build Google Alternative

"Ten major international libraries have agreed to combine their digitised book collections into a free text-based archive hosted online by the not-for-profit Internet Archive. All content digitised and held in the text archive will be freely available to online users.

"Two major US libraries have agreed to join the scheme: Carnegie Mellon University library and The Library of Congress have committed their Million Book Project and American Memory Projects, respectively, to the text archive. The projects both provide access to digitised collections.

"The Canadian universities of Toronto, Ottawa and McMaster have agreed to add their collections, as have China's Zhejiang University, the Indian Institute of Science, the European Archives and Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt."

Mark Chillingworth. Internet Archive to Build Alternative to Google. Information World Review. Dec. 21, 2004.

See also:
Internet Archive. International Libraries and the Internet Archive Collaborate to Build Open-Access Text Archives. Dec. 15, 2004.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Entertainment Industry Sees Piracy as Major Threat

"People working in the entertainment industry see digital piracy as a major threat to their businesses, according to a new study by ,In-Stat/MDR.

"In a survey of film and TV industry workers, nearly half said illegal theft of entertainment content threatened their bottom lines, In-Stat said Tuesday. About 27 percent of those surveyed said they had already lost revenue because of piracy. The survey was taken by 1,806 people working in the variety, broadcasting, cable and news sectors.

"The entertainment industry is trying to grapple with illegal downloading of music from the Internet, as well as file sharing and the use of peer-to-peer software. These efforts got a boost last month, when the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a case on whether companies that produce file-sharing software can be held legally responsible when people use their products to swap copyrighted material.

Dinesh C. Sharma. Piracy Hits Hollywood in the Wallet. News.com. Jan. 4, 2004.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Blog Use Grows Among Net Users

"By the end of 2004 blogs had established themselves as a key part of online culture.

"Two surveys by the Pew Internet & American Life Project in November established new contours for the blogosphere: 8 million American adults say they have created blogs; blog readership jumped 58% in 2004 and now stands at 27% of internet users; 5% of internet users say they use RSS aggregators or XML readers to get the news and other information delivered from blogs and content-rich Web sites as it is posted online; and 12% of internet users have posted comments or other material on blogs.

"Still, 62% of internet users do not know what a blog is."

Pew Internet and American Life Project. The State of Blogging. Jan. 2, 2005.

Lee Rainie. The State of Blogging. (.pdf) Pew Internet and American Life Project. Jan. 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Verity, Yahoo Partner for Enterprise Search

"Verity Inc. has partnered with Yahoo Inc. to deliver Web search results within its enterprise-search platforms and to receive a cut of the revenue from enterprise customers who click on search-based ads.

"Verity on Thursday rolled out Verity Enterprise Web Search, a software add-on to its K2 Enterprise and Ultraseek system that lets enterprise merge internal search results with results from Yahoo's Web index.

"But the add-on has a twist. While Verity and other enterprise search players typically earn revenue by selling software and services, Verity, in this case, will earn a share of the revenue Yahoo receives from Verity's enterprise users clicking on the sponsored links that appear alongside Web results, Verity officials told eWEEK.com."

Matt Hicks. Verity Teams with Yahoo for Web Search. eWeek. Dec. 17, 2004.

See also:
Robert Jaques. Verity and Yahoo in Enterprise Search Link-up. Information World Review. Dec. 17, 2004.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

LA Sues Web Travel Sites

"Internet travel sites are cheating cities on taxes by pocketing the difference between the hotel room tax they pay and the amount collected from consumers, the city of Los Angeles, Calif., said in a recent lawsuit.

"The suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday, alleges that companies including Priceline.com, InterActiveCorp's Expedia, Cendant's Orbitz and Sabre Holdings' Travelocity have underpaid so-called transient occupancy taxes.

"The Web sites contract with hotels for rooms at negotiated discounted rates, then mark up their inventory of rooms to sell them to the public. They charge and collect taxes from occupants based on the marked-up rates, but only pay taxes to cities based on the lower, negotiated rates, the lawsuit claims."

Reuters. L.A. Sues Travel Sites for Pocketing Hotel Tax. News.com. Jan. 3, 2004.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

There's No Escaping the Blog

"Freewheeling bloggers can boost your product - or destroy it. Either way, they've become a force business can't afford to ignore.

"The blog - short for weblog - can indeed be, as Scoble and Gates say, fabulous for relationships. But it can also be much more: a company's worst PR nightmare, its best chance to talk with new and old customers, an ideal way to send out information, and the hardest way to control it. Blogs are challenging the media and changing how people in advertising, marketing, and public relations do their jobs. A few companies like Microsoft are finding ways to work with the blogging world;even as they're getting hammered by it. So far, most others are simply ignoring it.

"That will get harder: According to blog search-engine and measurement firm Technorati, 23,000 new weblogs are created every day - or about one every three seconds. Each blog adds to an inescapable trend fueled by the Internet: the democratization of power and opinion. Blogs are just the latest tool that makes it harder for corporations and other institutions to control and dictate their message. An amateur media is springing up, and the smart are adapting. Says Richard Edelman, CEO of Edelman Public Relations: 'Now you've got to pitch the bloggers too. You can't just pitch to conventional media.'"

David Kirkpatrick and Daniel Roth. Why There's No Escaping the Blog. Fortune. Jan. 10, 2005.

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EFF Sponsors Anonymity Project

"A group dedicated to preserving civil liberties on the Internet announced this week that it's throwing its weight behind the development of a technology to foster anonymity in cyberspace.

"The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) of San Francisco said in a statement that it is sponsoring the Tor Project, which has created an open-source application to help users remain anonymous when they surf the Web.

"According to EFF Technology Manager Chris Palmer, backing Tor is a way to safeguard on the Internet the real-world right to anonymity established by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. 'The way the Internet works, you can't necessarily be anonymous,' he told TechNewsWorld."

John P. Mello Jr. Internet Lib Group Backs Anonymity Project. TechNewsWorld. Dec. 27, 2004.

See also:
Electronic Frontier Foundation. EFF Joins Forces with Tor Software Project. Dec. 21, 2004.

SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.

CES Begins Today

"As the runways of Paris and Milan are to the garment trade, so will the hallways of the Las Vegas Convention Center be this week to the world of digital gadgetry. All things audio and video have become so woven into the fabric of everyday American life and commerce that the show, once a sleepy merchant fair for TV and stereo dealers, is now, in terms of exhibit space, the nation's largest annual trade show. It has held that position since 2001, according to Tradeshow Week, a trade publication.

"The show and the $124-billion-a-year industry it represents have become primary in technology circles, so much so that computer industry luminaries now feel compelled to attend. Bill Gates, the chairman of Microsoft, will be a keynote speaker. So will Craig R. Barrett, chief executive of Intel, and Carleton S. Fiorina, chairwoman and chief executive at Hewlett-Packard."

Saul Hansell.
For the Digerati, the Only Place to Be. The New York Times. Jan. 5, 2005.

See also:
Richard Shim and David Becker. CES to Spotlight Digital Evolution. News.com. Jan. 4, 2005.

(Editor’s Note: The Times allows free access to their stories on the Web for seven days before sending the stories to the paper’s fee-based Archive.)

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Database Flaws Found as Internet Threat Level Rises

"Details of multiple security flaws in Oracle and IBM databases have been released by the security company that found them.

"The flaws, which were described in general terms in August and September by Next-Generation Security Software, could allow an attacker to remotely compromise servers running the database programs.

"Security company Symantec raised its Internet threat rating of the flaws to 2 from 1, based on the details released on Thursday."

Robert Lemos. Database Flaws More Risky Than Thought. News.com. Dec. 23, 2004.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Internet Users Take Virtual Tours

"Since the dawn of the Web in the early 1990s, internet advocates have argued that one of the Web’s most powerful applications would be to open up new worlds to people and help them easily experience faraway places.

"A new survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project finds that 45% of online American adults have taken advantage of this internet application and taken virtual tours of another location online. That represents 54 million adults who have used the internet to venture somewhere else."

Pew Internet and American Life Project. Virtual Tours. Dec. 29, 2004.

Lee Rainie. Virtual Tours. (.pdf) Pew Internet and American Life Project. Dec. 2004.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

W3C Recommends Specification to Merge Documents

"With the publication of a new specification, the Web's leading standards organization promised XML authors a simpler way to merge documents.

"The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) on Monday recommended XML Inclusions (XInclude) Version 1.0, a specification designed to replace awkward work-arounds for combining XML documents.

"'Inclusion is the ability to reuse content, which lets me take something like a copyright statement and include it on all my company's XML documents,' said Philippe Le Hegaret, the W3C's architecture domain leader. 'Without an inclusion mechanism, you have to copy and paste, and this lets you just reference it.'"

Paul Festa. XML Documents Merger Ahead. News.com. Dec. 20, 2004.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

FCC to Auction 3G Wireless Licenses

"New U.S. wireless airwaves for advanced, or 'third-generation', services like high-speed Internet will be auctioned off as early as June 2006, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission said on Wednesday.

"Some of the airwaves are used by federal government agencies but a new law signed by President George W. Bush last week would reimburse them for a move to other spectrum using the proceeds from the sale of the wireless licenses.

"U.S. wireless companies, like Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile, are typically hungry for additional airwaves to serve additional customers as well as offer new advanced services, which could one day include video on mobile phones."

Reuters. 3G Wireless Licenses Likely in 2006. News.com. Dec. 30, 2004.

See also:
Federal Communications Commission. FCC to Commence Spectrum Auction That Will Provide American Consumers New Wireless Broadband Services. (.pdf) (News Release) Dec. 29, 2004.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Information Today Analyzes Google's Digitization Project

"Librarians, academicians, journalists, information industry pundits, and real people continue to ring in with comments, concerns, quarrels, and commendations for Google’s new library program. 'This is the day the world changes,' said John Wilkin, a University of Michigan librarian working with Google. 'It will be disruptive because some people will worry that this is the beginning of the end of libraries. But this is something we have to do to revitalize the profession and make it more meaningful.'

"When asked whether Google is building the library to replace all other libraries, Google representatives—after saluting the role of librarians—said they had 'no such plans at the moment. There was too much work to do.'

"Here is a roundup of some of the questions asked and answers posited."

Barbara Quint. Google’s Library Project: Questions, Questions, Questions. InformationToday.com. Dec. 27, 2004.

See also:
Mary Minow. Google-Watchers - Want Privacy Guarantees Before Handing Over Library Books for Google Digitization. LibraryLaw Blog. Dec. 16, 2004.

Gary Price. Google Partners with Oxford, Harvard & Others to Digitize Libraries. Search Engine Watch. Dec. 14, 2004.

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LokiTorrent Fights Back at MPAA

"The latest peer-to-peer site to come into the legal crosshairs of the motion-picture industry promised this week to fight, and put out a virtual hat to finance its legal fund.

"LokiTorrent, a Web site and index of files available through a peer-to-peer technology known as BitTorrent, posted a letter from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) on its site on Tuesday. The letter states that the MPAA has filed suit in district court in Texas against the site and demands that Loki Torrent cease linking to video files that could infringe on studios' copyrights.

"LokiTorrent is the latest file-sharing site to run into the legal guns of the motion picture industry. Several peer-to-peer sites disappeared from the Internet earlier this month, after the MPAA filed suits against them."

Robert Lemos. LokiTorrent Fights MPAA Legal Attack. News.com. Dec. 30, 2004.

See also:
Jim Wagner. BitTorrent Operator Bites Back at MPAA. InternetNews.com. Dec. 30, 2004.

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FCC Reports 38 Percent Increase in Broadband

"The number of American consumers and businesses that subscribe to high-speed Internet service, or broadband, jumped 38 percent in the year ended June 30, 2004, according to statistics released on Wednesday.

"About 32.5 million broadband lines connected homes and businesses to the Internet, up from 23.5 million at the end of June 2003, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission said in its semiannual report (.pdf) of the latest statistics.

"In the six months ended June 30, the number of broadband lines rose 15 percent while during the previous six months the number of lines rose 20 percent, the agency said."

Reuters. Report: U.S. Broadband Use Up 38 Percent. News.com. Dec. 22, 2004.

See also:
Federal Communications Commisssion. Federal Communications Commission Releases Data on High-Speed Internet Access Services. (.pdf) (News Release.) Dec. 22, 2004.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

EMI, Sony BMG Partner for New Music Formats

"In a bold move to pave the way for more widespread licensing of music publishing rights, EMI Music Publishing and Sony BMG Music Entertainment have entered an umbrella agreement that sets working guidelines for clearing rights to new digital music delivery opportunities on phones, PCs, digital cable systems and emerging physical configurations.

The pact, announced Dec. 17, which pairs the world's top publishing house and the second-largest record company globally, promises to drive the clearance of thousands of copyrighted works for new distribution formats.

"The deal covers North American rights for master ring tones and ringbacks; DualDisc, the new two-sided music format that combines CD and DVD functionality; digital video distribution, including video-on-demand services and video downloads; multi-session audio discs like copy-protected CDs; and 'locked' content for hard drives and storage media that consumers may 'unlock' by purchasing the tracks or albums online."

Reuters. EMI, Sony BMG Ink Digital Music Pact. News.com. Dec. 20, 2004.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

GuruNet Launches Answers.com

"GuruNet--a reference service that bypasses search engines to yield succinct information on terms in any document--launched a new Web site Monday that it insists will not compete with Google.

"GuruNet, a New York-based, publicly traded company with a research and development unit in Jerusalem, gained attention in 1999 for its desktop application that made any word in a document searchable with a single click.

"Now, after an unsuccessful foray into the enterprise search market, the company has returned to its consumer roots by retiring its subscription service in favor of an ad-supported revenue model and launching Answers.com, a Web site that will allow people to access its information warehouse without downloading the GuruNet application."

Paul Festa. GuruNet Launches New Search Service. News.com. Jan. 3, 2005.

See also:
Gary Price. GuruNet Becomes Answers.com and Is Now Available Free!. Search Engine Watch. Jan. 3, 2005.

Walter S. Mossberg. GuruNet as a Reference Tool Goes Beyond Search Engines. WSJ.com. March 6, 2003.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

TiVo Unveils Mobile Transfer Service

"TiVo Inc. pioneered digital video recording as a new way of watching television - when you want it. Now it could be TV where you want it, too. The long-awaited service feature called TiVoToGo, set to launch Monday, will give users their first taste of TiVo untethered.

"No longer confined to TiVo digital video recorders in the living room or bedroom, subscribers will be able to transfer their recorded shows to PCs or laptops and take them on the road - as long as the shows are not specially tagged with copy restrictions. That's also the case for pay-per-view or on-demand movies, and some premium paid programming.

"Users also will be able to copy shows onto a DVD - soon after but not immediately at the service launch, company officials said."

May Wong. TiVo Unveils Portable Transfer Service. WashingtonPost.com. Jan. 3, 2005.

See also:
Benny Evangelista. Electronics Industry to Showcase Technologies That Let Consumers Watch TV Anywhere, Anytime. SanFrancisco Chronicle. Jan. 3, 2005.

(Editor’s Note: The Post allows free access to their stories on the Web for 14 days before sending the stories to the paper’s fee-based Archives.)

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

AOL to Offer Free E-Mail

"America Online is testing a Web-based e-mail service that will compete with Yahoo Mail, Microsoft's Hotmail and Google's Gmail.

"Right now, the beta service is available to AOL subscribers only, but it will eventually be offered for free to the public, the company said on Wednesday. The service, dubbed 'AOL Mail on the Web,' is expected to officially debut early next year for members, and later in the year for the public.

"AOL has offered Web-based e-mail for many years, but the service has been restricted to subscribers. The new move is part of an AOL initiative to offer more free services to public Web users, an expansion that would help the Time Warner division's efforts tap the online advertising dollars that have fueled revenue growth for Yahoo, Microsoft's MSN and Google."

Jim Hu. AOL Gets Ready to Launch Free Web E-mail. News.com. Dec. 22, 2004.

See also:
Matt Hicks. AOL Readies Web E-Mail Contender. eWeek. Dec. 23, 2004.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

2004 Search Engine Trends

"So, 2004 turned out to be a very exciting search engine year, after all. For a moment, one could believe that we were moving into an era with a virtual Google monopoly, and monopolies are seldom good for innovation.

"Instead there has grown up new alternatives. Competition is as fierce as ever, and given that both users and stockmarkets reward innovation, there has been a large number of refinements, new services and new products."

No author. Search Engine Trends in 2004. Pandia. Dec. 31, 2004.

SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Tsunami Debate Rumbles in Cyberspace

"As the horror of the South Asian tsunami spread and people gathered online to discuss the disaster on sites known as Web logs, or blogs, those of a political bent naturally turned the discussion to their favorite topics.

"To some in the blogosphere, it simply had to be the government's fault.

"The interplay between the sites, left and right, is typical of the rumbles in cyberspace between rivals at different ends of the political spectrum. In many ways, Web logs shone after the tsunami struck: bloggers in the regions posted compelling descriptions of the devastation, sometimes by text messages sent from their cellphones as they roamed the countryside looking for friends and family members. And blogs were quick to create links to charities so that people could help online."

John Schwartz. Myths Run Wild in Blog Tsunami Debate. The New York Times. Jan. 3, 2005.

(Editor’s Note: The Times allows free access to their stories on the Web for seven days before sending the stories to the paper’s fee-based Archive.)

SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Cell Phone to Play iTunes on Schedule

"Apple Computer and Motorola could soon show us the mobile phone they are developing to play music purchased from Apple's iTunes online music store.

"'We've said we have something coming on this in the first half of 2005 and we're definitely on schedule for that. Hopefully you'll be able to see more about it soon,' says Eddy Cue, vice president in charge of applications at Apple.

"If the phone is as far along as Cue suggests, then Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs would be likely to announce it during his annual keynote speech at MacWorld Expo, scheduled for Jan. 11, 2005 in San Francisco."

Arik Hesseldahl. Get Ready To Call ITunes. Forbes.com. Dec. 16, 2004.

See also:
Elizabeth Corcoran. Ringing And Singing. Forbes.com. July 27, 2004.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

HMV, Microsoft Partner for Music Service

"British music giant HMV on Wednesday announced plans to launch a digital music service next year, using software being developed by Microsoft.

"Music downloads from the service will be compatible with the Windows Media Audio standard and usable by more than 75 portable players currently on the market, HMV said. Portable players, as well as the service software, will be sold in the company's stores and online. The service is slated to launch in the second half of 2005.

"Microsoft applications under development for the service include a customized jukebox that will let users select, purchase and manage their music online--all in one place. HMV said it intends to spend about $19 million (10 million pounds) on the download service and initial marketing."

Dinesh C. Sharma. HMV Taps Microsoft for Help With Music Service. News.com. Dec. 22, 2004.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Opera Software Releases Talking Browser

"Opera Software released a test version of a major update to its Web browser software, intensifying its efforts, along with open-source rival Firefox, to cut into Microsoft's market share.

"The new, as-yet-unnamed software adds stronger support for RSS (Really Simple Syndication)--a technology widely used for automatic access to blogs and other material--and technology that allows users to navigate through voice commands and have Web pages read to them.

"The company said it has made enough improvements to turn the final version of this beta download into a major new release, instead of an ordinary incremental upgrade."

John Borland. Opera Releases New Talking Web Browser. News.com. Dec. 23, 2004.

See also:
No author. Opera Releases New Talking Web Browser. Search Engine Journal. Dec. 23, 2004.

Matt Hicks. Opera Tackles Voice Browsing and RSS in Latest Beta Release. eWeek. Dec. 23, 2004.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Microsoft's New Year's Resolutions

"Directions on Microsoft has released a list of what it considers the top 10 challenges for the software giant in 2005.

"'Left unattended, each (challenge) could ultimately interrupt Microsoft's 25-plus-year run of growth and profits and leave the door open for younger, smaller and more nimble competitors,' the analyst house said in its end-of-year research note Wednesday."

Tony Hallett. New Year's Resolutions for Microsoft. News.com. Dec. 23, 2004.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Britney Spears is Queen of Google

"Based on billions of searches conducted by Google users around the world, the 2004 Year-End Zeitgeist offers a unique perspective on the year's major events and trends.

"Search statistics are automatically generated based on the millions of searches conducted on Google over a given period of time - weekly, monthly, and annually. With some help from humans, these statistics and trends make their way from the depths of Google's hard drives to become the Google Zeitgeist report.

"What you see here is a cumulative snapshot of interesting queries people are asking – some over time, some within country domains, and some on Google.com – that perhaps reveal a bit of the human condition.

"The year's most popular searches were 'Britney Spears' and 'Paris Hilton' (these were the two most-searched women as well); 'Orlando Bloom' was the leading search term for men. 'George Bush' was the public figure term most likely to be searched from Google's news search engine."

Google has been publishing the year-end Zeitgeist since 2001.

Google. 2004 Year-End Google Zeitgeist.

See also:
Matt Hines. Our Faves: Britney, eBay and Tablets, Says Google. News.com. Dec. 23, 2004.

SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.

The Management & Logistics of Digitization Projects

"Susan Wojcicki's grandmother, a librarian for more than 30 years, ran the Slavic department at the Library of Congress. Now Wojcicki is overseeing Google Inc.'s ambitious plan to digitize the collections of five top libraries: Stanford, Harvard, Oxford, the University of Michigan and the New York Public Library.

"The project eventually will allow any Internet user anywhere in the world to search inside millions of volumes, seeing the pages exactly as they appear in the originals, complete with illustrations, charts and photos.

"The logistics involved are staggering."

Carolyn Said. Digitizing Books: A Mountainous Task for Google. SeattlePI.com. Dec. 24, 2004.

SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Analysis of Microsoft's EU Decision

"In rejecting Microsoft's appeal this week a European court has dealt a significant setback to Redmond's attempts to mount an attack on competitors based on intellectual property litigation.

"The decision by Judge Bo Vesterdorf at the European Court of the First Instance reveals for the first time many of the legal arguments that were made behind closed doors this year. The parts that interest us here are the decision itself, which rejects the idea that communication protocols are any kind of 'trade secret,' and the slightly astonishing admission from Microsoft itself that suing people for IP violations is bothersome, or in its lawyers' own words: 'a particularly complicated and inefficient exercise.'

"If we're to take the lawyers at their word (always a risky business), then what has so often been described as a patent war between Redmond and open source developers looks much more like a phony war. Put the two together, and we have a much clearer idea of Microsoft's strategy than we did twelve months ago."

Andrew Orlowski. How Microsoft Played the Patent Card, and Failed. The Register. Dec. 23, 2004.

See also:
Red Herring. Europe Smacks Microsoft. Dec. 24, 2004.

BBC. The European Court of Justice. No date.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

A Look Back at 2004

"In the legislative battle over copyright and file swapping, you might assume the entertainment industry's lobbyists are sitting fat and pretty.

"Nothing could be further from the truth, and the constellation of forces in Washington could be ripe for a redrawing, said Declan McCullagh--one of the many columnists who offered CNET News.com readers insight and analysis of the major tech events of 2004."

Charles Cooper. Year in Review:Politicos in the Crosshairs. News.com. Dec. 25, 2004.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

eBay to Acquire Rent.com

"Web auctioneer eBay continued its expansion into classified listings with the acquisition of Rent.com for $415 million in cash and stock. According to eBay, Rent.com, the most visited apartment-listing site in the United States, will continue to operate as a separate unit.

"Rent.com's transaction-based business model allows apartment owners and managers to list properties on its site free of charge and pay fees only for leases produced through Rent.com. According to comScore MediaMetrix, the Santa Monica, Calif.-based Rent.com is the number one third-party producer of verified lease transactions in the nation both online and off.

"In April Ebay paid $121 million for Mobile.de, a German-based classified site for buying and selling automobiles, and followed that up with the $290 million November acquisition of Markplaats.nl, the most popular Web classified site in the Netherlands. In addition, eBay in August took a 25 percent stake in San Francisco-based Craigslist."

Roy Mark. eBay Grabs Rent.com for $415M. InternetNews.com. Dec. 17, 2004.

See also:
Greg Levine. Whitman: EBay To Buy Rent.com; Complements Craigslist Stake. Forbes.com. Dec. 17, 2004.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Air Force Launches New IM Tool

"The Air Force has launched an instant messaging service for enlisted people stationed abroad to communicate with their families and loved ones.

"The new program, called 'Friends and Family Instant Messenger,' will let airmen chat with anybody with an Internet connection. It was launched earlier this week. Airmen must first send an invitation to family members and friends--limited to five--to register on the Air Force's Web portal to begin chatting. The service is a departure from the military body's former policy of keeping instant messaging for internal use only."

Jim Hu. To Airmen, From the Air Force: New IM Tool. News.com. Dec. 23, 2004.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Google Initiated with "Neutral" Rating

"Banc of America Securities initiated coverage of Google, unfortunately as the research firm's least favorite among Internet media companies. Banc of America rates Google at 'neutral' with a 12-month price target of $158.

"Yahoo!, rated at 'buy' with a $39 price target, is the firm's top pick in the sector.

"Banc of America said Google is 'a media company with an outstanding search technology' but the firm anticipates significantly increasing marketing costs, which could slow earnings-per-share growth, as well as expectations embedded in the stock."

No author. Google Can't Command Premium Online Ad Pricing. Forbes.com. Dec. 15, 2004.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.