PGWeekly_May_21.txt
****The Project Gutenberg Weekly Newsletter For Wednesday, May 21, 2003****
*****eBooks Readable By Both Humans and Computers For Nearly 32 Years******
[Note: There is no section 2 today, as below]
Last Month We Reached
1,000 eBooks for 2003!
Today We Passed 1260!!!
In All 2001 We Did 1240!!!
18 Months Ago We Had Only 4,100!!!
In The Last 18 Months, 3,900 eBooks!!!!!!!
This Week We Passed
A Grand Total of 8,000!!!!!!!
Imagine our 10,000 books have been separated into 5 stacks of 2,000 each,
we have just now completed FOUR stacks leaving just ONE stack to go:
ORIGINAL GOAL
_____
(__5__( 10,000 DONE
_____ _____
(__4__( 8,000 (__4__( 8,021
_____ _____
(__3__( 6,000 (__3__( 6,000
_____ _____
(__2__( 4,000 (__2__( 4,000 TO GO
_____ _____ _____
(__1__( 2,000 (__1__( 2,000 (__1__( 1,979
Here is a graph of our progress:
YR 1990/1991/1992/1993/1994/1995/1996/1997/1998/1999/2000/2001/2002/2003 ^####
*9000> 9/03 9,000
Number of eBooks by Date * = Estimated *8500> 7/03 8,500
May 20, 2003 >>>>>>> 8,000>5/03 8,000
7,500>3/03 7,500
7,000>1/03 7,000
6,500>12/02 6,500
6,000 >9/02 6,000
5,500 >7/02 5,500
5,000 >4/02 5,000
4,500 >2/02 4,500
4,000>10/01 4,000
3,500 >5/01 3,500
3,000 >12/00 3,000
2,500 > 8/00 2,500
2,000 >12/99 2,000
1,500 >10/98 1,500
1,000 >8/97 1,000
500 >4/96 500
100 >12/93 100
10 > 12/90 10
YR 1990/1991/1992/1993/1994/1995/1996/1997/1998/1999/2000/2001/2002/2003 ^####
We are hoping we can make it from 100 to 10,000 in exactly 10 years. . .!
December 10, 1993 was the actual date of #100, 10,000 this December 10th?
Without any increase in this rate of growth: 1,000,000 on Dec. 10, 2013!
[The Newsletter is now being sent in three sections, so you can directly
go to the portions you find most interesting: 1. Founder's Comments,
2. News, Notes & Queries, and 3. Weekly eBook Update Listing.]
Note: Due to circumstances beyond her control, Alice Wood, your regular
newsletter editor, will not be sending out the newsletter today; so you
will not be receiving Part 2 this week. We expect to resume normal
transmission next week.
This is Michael Hart's "Founder's Comments" section of the Newsletter
Over Our 31 5/6 Year History, We Have Now Averaged About 200 Ebooks/Year--
And Last Year Averaged About That Same 200 eBook Level. . .PER MONTH!!!!!
This year we are averaging about 284 per month!!!
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and Project Gutenberg of Mexico >> Gabriela Valencia <zane@axtel.net>
***
In the first 4.5 months of this year, we produced 1278 new eBooks.
It took us from 1971 to 1998 to produce our first 1,278 eBooks!
That's 20 WEEKS as Compared to 27 Years!
105 New eBooks This Week
64 New eBooks Last Week
169 New eBooks This Month [May]
284 Average Per Month in 2003 <<<
203 Average Per Month in 2002 <<<
103 Average Per Month in 2001 <<<
1278 New eBooks in 2003 <<<
2441 New eBooks in 2002
1240 New eBooks in 2001 <<<
8,021 Total Project Gutenberg eBooks
5,236 eBooks This Week Last Year
2,755 New eBooks In The Last 12 Months <<<
233 eBooks From Project Gutenberg of Australia
***Week 44 Of The 32nd Year Of Project Gutenberg eBooks***
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***
FLASHBACK!!!
1278 New eBooks So Far in 2003
It took us 27 years for the first 1178!
That's the 20 WEEKS of 2003 as Compared to 27 YEARS!!!
Here Is A Sample Of What Books Were Being Done Around #1278
May 1998 The French Revolution by Thomas Carlyle[Carlyle#5][frrevxxx.xxx]1301
May 1998 Riders of the Purple Sage, by Zane Grey [Grey #7][prpsgxxx.xxx]1300
May 1998 The Heritage of the Sioux by B. M. Bower[Bower #6][hrtsuxxx.xxx]1299
May 1998 The Virginian, Horseman Of The Plains, Owen Wister[vrgnnxxx.xxx]1298
May 1998 The Iron Puddler, by James J. Davis [tirnpxxx.xxx]1297
Apr 1998 The Provost, by John Galt [This is THE John Galt] [prvstxxx.xxx]1296
Apr 1998 Ceres' Runaway by Alice Meynell [Alice Meynell #5][crnwyxxx.xxx]1295
Apr 1998 The Firm of Nucingen by Honore' de Balzac HDB #10][ncngnxxx.xxx]1294
Apr 1998 Sesame and Lilies, by John Ruskin [John Ruskin #2][seslixxx.xxx]1293
[Note: A photo of John Ruskin is included in the .zip file]
Apr 1998 The Way of the World by William Congreve [WC #4][wwrldxxx.xxx]1292
Apr 1998 Herodias, by Gustave Flaubert[Gustave Flaubert #3][hrodsxxx.xxx]1291
Apr 1998 Salammbo, by Gustave Flaubert[Gustave Flaubert #2][slmmbxxx.xxx]1290
Apr 1998 Three Ghost Stories by Charles Dickens [CD #33-35][3ghstxxx.xxx]1289
Apr 1998 Dream Days, by Kenneth Grahame[Kenneth Grahame #1][drdayxxa.xxx]1288
Apr 1998 The Poems of Goethe, Transl. Edgar Alfred Bowring [tpgthxxx.xxx]1287
Apr 1998 Tales of Shakespeare, by Charles and Mary Lamb [a][tshakxxa.xxx]1286
Apr 1998 The Water Goats et. al., by Ellis Parker Butler [twgtsxxx.xxx]1285
Apr 1998 Tom Swift and His Air Scout, by Victor Appleton [22tomxxx.xxx]1284
Apr 1998 Tom Swift and His Wizard Camera by Victor Appleton[14tomxxx.xxx]1283
Apr 1998 Tom Swift Among the Diamond Makers, by V. Appleton[07tomxxx.xxx]1282
Apr 1998 Tom Swift & His Aerial Warship, by Victor Appleton[18tomxxx.xxx]1281
Apr 1998 Spoon River Anthology, by Edgar Lee Masters [sprvrxxx.xxx]1280
Apr 1998 Poems and Songs of Robert Burns, [Robert Burns #1][psorbxxx.xxx]1279
Apr 1998 Penelope's English Experiences by Kate D Wiggin #6[penexxxx.xxx]1278
[Author: Kate Douglas Wiggin]
Apr 1998 Melmoth Reconciled by Honore de Balzac [Balzac #9][mlmthxxx.xxx]1277
Apr 1998 The Rhythm of Life, by Alice Meynell [Meynell #4] [rhymlxxx.xxx]1276
Apr 1998 Alexandria and her Schools by Charles Kingsley[#4][alxscxxx.xxx]1275
Apr 1998 Martin Hyde the Duke's Messenger by John Masefield[mhydexxx.xxx]1274
Apr 1998 The Autobiography of a Slander, by Edna Lyall [autosxxx.xxx]1273
Apr 1998 Riddle of the Rhine/Chemical Strategy, by LeFebure[rrhinxxx.xxx]1272
Apr 1998 Bygone Beliefs, by H. Stanley Redgrove [byblfxxx.xxx]1271
Apr 1998 In Defense of Women, by H. L. Mencken [ndwmnxxx.xxx]1270
Apr 1998 Soul of a Bishop, by H. G. Wells [H. G. Wells #15][sbshpxxx.xxx]1269
Apr 1998 The Mysterious Island, by Jules Verne [Verne #6] [milndxxx.xxx]1268
Apr 1998 Kai Lung's Golden Hours, by Ernest Bramah[Bramah3][klsghxxx.xxx]1267
Apr 1998 Lavender and Old Lace, by Myrtle Reed [lvolcxxx.xxx]1266
Apr 1998 Queen Victoria, by Lytton Strachey [qvctrxxx.xxx]1265
Apr 1998 Wheels of Chance/Bicycling Idyll by H.G. Wells #14[wchncxxx.xxx]1264
Apr 1998 The Glimpses of the Moon, by Edith Wharton [EW#9][tgotmxxx.xxx]1263
Apr 1998 Heritage of the Desert, by Zane Grey[Zane Grey #6][hdsrtxxx.xxx]1262
Apr 1998 Betty Zane, by Zane Grey [Early U.S. Heroine] [#5][bzanexxx.xxx]1261
Mar 1998 Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte [#7 by Bronte's] [janeyxxx.xxx]1260
Mar 1998 Twenty Years After, by Alexandre Dumas [Pere #4] [3muskxxx.xxx]1259
Mar 1998 Ten Years Later, by Alexandre Dumas[Dumas Pere #3][2muskxxx.xxx]1258
Mar 1998 The Three Musketeers, by Alexandre Dumas [Pere #2][1muskxxx.xxx]1257
Mar 1998 Cyrano de Bergerac, by Edmond Rostand [In French] [cdbfrxxx.xxx]1256
Mar 1998 Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand[HTML Accents][cdbfrxxh.xxx]1255
Mar 1998 Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand [In English] [cdbenxxx.xxx]1254
Mar 1998 A Simple Soul, by Gustave Flaubert [Flaubert #1] [ssengxxx.xxx]1253
Mar 1998 Le Mort d'Arthur, by Thomas Malory Volume 2[TM#2][2martxxx.xxx]1252
Mar 1998 Le Mort d'Arthur, by Thomas Malory Volume 1[TM#1][1martxxx.xxx]1251
Mar 1998 Anthem, by Ayn Rand [Alice Rosenblum][Ayn Rand #1][anthmxxx.xxx]1250
Mar 1998 Anthem, by Ayn Rand [Comparison of anthm10 & 10a] [anthmxxz.xxx]1249
Mar 1998 Last of the Great Scouts, by Helen Cody Wetmore [bbillxxx.xxx]1248
[Title: Last Of The Great Scouts, The Life Story Of Col. William F. Cody
["Buffalo Bill", As Told By His Sister Helen Cody Wetmore]
Mar 1998 Second April, by Edna St. Vincent Millay[Millay#2][aprilxxx.xxx]1247
Mar 1998 The House of Dust, by Conrad Aiken [Aiken #1][hdustxxx.xxx]1246
Mar 1998 Night and Day, by Virginia Woolf [Woolf #2][nidayxxx.xxx]1245
Mar 1998 Love for Love, by William Congreve [Congreve #3][lv4lvxxx.xxx]1244
Mar 1998 Hearts of Controversy, by Alice Meynell [Alice #3][hrtcnxxx.xxx]1243
Mar 1998 Unconscious Comedians, by Honore de Balzac [HDB#8][nccmdxxx.xxx]1242
Mar 1998 The Well of the Saints, by J. M. Synge [Synge #3][welstxxx.xxx]1241
Mar 1998 The Playboy of the Western World, by J. M. Synge#2[potwwxxx.xxx]1240
Mar 1998 The Spirit of the Border, by Zane Grey [Grey #4] [sprtbxxx.xxx]1239
Mar 1998 The City of Dreadful Night, by James Thomson [ctdntxxx.xxx]1238
Mar 1998 Father Goriot, by Honore de Balzac [Balzac #8] [frgrtxxx.xxx]1237
***
Today Is Day #140 of 2003
This Completes Week #20
230 Days/34 Weeks To Go
[Our production year begins/ends
1st Wednesday of the month/year]
Week #56 Of Our SECOND 5,000 eBooks
Perhaps Our 10,000th eBook By The End of 2003!
64 Weekly Average in 2003
47 Weekly Average in 2002
24 Weekly Average in 2001
39 Only 39 Numbers Left On Our Reserved Numbers list
[Used to be well over 100]
***
In this issue of the Project Gutenberg Weekly newsletter:
- Intro (above)
- Requests For Assistance
- Making Donations
- Access To The Collection
- Information About Mirror Sites
- Weekly eBook update:
Updates/corrections in separate section
3 New From PG Australia
102 New U.S. eBooks
- Headline News from Newsscan and Edupage
- Information about mailing lists
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David R. <mr_der@hotmail.com> is looking for a copy of:
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1971 reprint is not good for this purpose.
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Statistical Review
In the 20 weeks of this year, we have produced 1278 new eBooks.
It took us from 1971 to 1998 to produce our FIRST 1278 eBooks!!!
That's 20 WEEKS as Compared to 27 YEARS!!!
The production statistics are calculated based on full weeks of
production, each production-week starting/ending Wednesday noon,
starting with the first Wednesday in January. January 1st was
was the first Wednesday of 2003, and thus ended the production
year of 2002 and began the production year of 2003.
With 8,021 eBooks online as of May 21, 2003 it now takes an average
of 100,000,000 readers gaining a nominal value of $1.25 from each book,
for Project Gutenberg to have currently given away $1,000,000,000,000
[One Trillion Dollars] in books.
100,000,000 readers is only about 1.59 percent of the world's population!
This "cost" is down from about $1.91 when we had 5236 eBooks A Year Ago
Can you imagine 7,000 books each costing $.66 less a year later???
Or. . .would this say it better?
Can you imagine 7,000 books each costing 1/3 less a year later???
At 8021 eBooks in ~31 5/6 years We Averaged
252 Per Year [About how many we do per month these days!]
21 Per Month
.7 Per Day
At 1278 eBooks Done In 2003 We Averaged
10 Per Day
64 Per Week
284 Per Month
***Headline News***
From Newsscan
INTERNET FILTERING BILL STALLED
An attempt in Oregon to require libraries to install filtering software to
protect children from explicit content on the Internet has stalled in
committee. Defending the bill against charges that it violates
Constitutional protections for freedom of speech, attorney James
Leuenberger argues: "The government clearly can decide on limits of what it
can or cannot say. To the extent the library wants to accept funding from
the state, the state should have the ability to tell the library what it
should or should not express." Connie Bennett, president of the Oregon
Library Association and director of the Eugene Public Library, says the
bill is "an unfunded mandate." (AP/USA Today 21 May 2003)
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2003-05-21-oregon-filters_x.htm
W3C ADOPTS POLICY ON PATENTS
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has approved a policy on patents that
requires all those who participate in the development of a W3C
recommendation must license essential claims on a royalty-free basis. It
also requires W3C members to make disclosures on patents they own and
requests that anyone else who sees technical drafts share their knowledge
of patents which may be essential. At the same time, the policy suggests a
process for handling unexpected patent claims that are inconsistent with
the terms of the W3C Patent Policy. In that instance, the W3C will convene
a Patent Advisory Group, which may then recommend: a legal analysis of the
patent, the removal of the patented feature, or cessation of work in that
area altogether. The W3C's efforts to create a patent policy have been
contentious since it first released its Patent Policy Framework Draft in
2001, says Daniel Weitzner, chair of the Patent Policy Working Group, who
cautioned technology companies against trying to exploit the patent
exception process. "Anyone who thinks that's going to be an easy way to
squeeze fees out of Web standards I think is mistaken," says Weitzner.
(Internet News 21 May 2003)
http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/2210201
PRIVACY ADVOCATES DOUBT PENTAGON PROMISES ON SPYING
The Pentagon has changed the name of its planned anti-terrorist
surveillance systems, but critics say the fundamental program remains the
same and would risk violating citizens' privacy if fully implemented. Now
renamed the Terrorist Information Awareness program (from Total Information
Awareness), the system would broaden government surveillance activities to
encompass passport applications, visas, work permits, driver's licenses,
car rentals and airline ticket purchases as well as databases including
vast amounts of personal information, such as financial, education, medical
and housing and identification records. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), a major
opponent of the TIA, says, "What most Americans don't know is that the laws
that protect consumer privacy don't apply when the data gets into
government's hands. Lawfully collected information can include anything,
medical records, travel, credit card and financial data." Testing of the
system is already underway, raising privacy advocates' concerns about
"false positives" based on erroneous data. "If TIA is relying on personal
information contained in databases to determine whether someone is a
suspect, what recourse does that person have whose information has been
entered incorrectly?" says a spokeswoman for the Free Congress Foundation,
which estimates that an error rate as small as .10% could result in more
than 30,000 Americans wrongly being investigated as terrorists.
(AP 20 May 2003)
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20030520/D7R5BBUG0.html
NEW YORK AUTHORITIES ARREST BUFFALO SPAMMER
Authorities in New York have arrested Howard Carmack, the so-called
"Buffalo Spammer," on charges of identity theft in connection to a spam
ring Carmack operated. Last week EarthLink won a $16 million judgment
against Carmack as well as an injunction preventing him from sending
further spam. Carmack is accused of stealing identities and setting up
nearly 350 EarthLink accounts, from which he sent or helped other send
hundreds of millions of unsolicited messages. New York Attorney General
Eliot Spitzer said Carmack is the first to be prosecuted under the
state's recently enacted identity-theft law. Dave Baker of EarthLink
said, "Carmack's arrest demonstrates that spamming has both civil and
criminal consequences."
Internet News, 14 May 2003
http://www.atnewyork.com/news/article.php/2206311
'BUFFALO SPAMMER' COULD GET UP TO SEVEN YEARS
Howard Carmack, the so-called "Buffalo Spammer," has become the first
person in New York state to be charged under the state's identity theft
laws. If convicted, he could be sentenced to 2-1/2 to 7 years in prison for
identity theft, forgery, criminal possession of forgery devices (in the
form of software used to create phony return addresses), and falsifying
business records. According to the indictment, Carmack "stole the
identities of innocent New Yorkers to spam millions of consumers throughout
New York and the nation." He is charged with using 343 stolen identities to
send his unsolicited bulk mailings through Earthlink accounts. An Earthlink
executive said the main impact of the arrest would be to demonstrate to
others the "very high cost of doing business" in spam.
(New York Newsday 14 May 2003)
http://www.nynewsday.com/business/ny-biz-spammer0514,0,2414486.story?coll=nyc-bu
siness-short-navigation
RIAA SENDS AN APOLOGY TO PENN STATE
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) apologized this
week for a copyright warning notice that it sent in error to the
department of astronomy and astrophysics at Pennsylvania State
University. The RIAA uses automated programs to locate servers that are
distributing copyrighted files, which reported that one of the
department's servers was distributing files by the band Usher. The
server in question contained no such files, but the department has a
professor emeritus named Peter Usher. This, combined with the presence
of an MP3 file of a group of astronomers singing about a satellite, set
of the RIAA's crawler. According to the RIAA, all notices are checked
before they are sent out, but this one was not properly reviewed and
was sent in error. A statement from the RIAA said, "In this particular
instance, a temp employee made a mistake and did not follow RIAA's
established protocol." The RIAA also said that of the tens of thousands
of notices sent out, this was the first faulty notice discovered.
CNET, 12 May 2003
http://news.com.com/2100-1025_3-1001095.html
TEXAS EXPECTED TO ESTABLISH ONLINE CHARTER SCHOOL
The Texas Legislature will likely pass a bill to create a virtual
charter school to offer online courses to primary and secondary
students. The Texas Legislature, however, is currently deadlocked due
to partisan rivalry and a resulting lack of quorum. The proposed school
would be run by two state universities, which have yet to be selected.
Republican State Senator Florence Shapiro sponsored the legislation to
"provide flexibility and the use of available technology and online
resources to meet students' individual needs." A similar bill was
rejected due to concerns over the program's potential cost with
unlimited enrollment. The bill proposes a 2,000 student cap and will
cost roughly $9 million over two years. The state government created a
similar program two years ago that is administered by school districts
and enrolls 450 students. The University of Texas, which already runs a
virtual charter school without state assistance, would like to
participate in the state-run program to increase students' options,
according to Robert Bruce at the Austin campus's Distance Education Center.
Chronicle of Higher Education, 13 May 2003 (sub. req'd)
http://chronicle.com/daily/2003/05/2003051303t.htm
13 STATES SUE OVER POP-UP ADS
Thirteen states have sued a New Jersey company that allegedly billed
Internet users who tried to close pop-up windows advertising p*rnographic
Web sites. The lawsuit maintains that Alyon Technologies automatically
connected users to its toll telephone number when they tried to close the
ads, and then charged them $5 a minute, resulting in bills ranging from $14
to more than $1,000. "The way this organization has allegedly been doing
business is illegal, irresponsible and an outrageous misuse of Internet
technology," said Wisconsin Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager. Joining
Wisconsin in the suit are California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois,
Kentucky, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, North Carolina, Nebraska, Texas and
West Virginia. (AP 16 May 2003)
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20030516/D7R26TDG0.html
U.S. CRACKS DOWN ON INTERNET FRAUD
The Justice Department has charged more than 130 people with perpetrating a
variety of Internet scams, as well as identity theft and failure to deliver
goods purchased online. The crackdown, dubbed Operation E-Con, involved
more than 90 investigations involving 89,000 victims whose losses totaled
at least $176 million. In one case, the suspects used a Web site to sell
more than $2 million worth of pharmaceutical drugs without any
prescriptions or physician involvement with the purchasers. In another
scam, about 400 men lost about $3,000 each when they sent money off in the
hope of winning the hand a Russian bride. Other scams promoted fraudulent
investment opportunities, Ponzi-type pyramid schemes and the illegal sale
of copyright-protected software, games and movies. Officials say they've
managed to recover about $17 million from alleged perpetrators.
(AP/Siliconvalley.com 16 May 2003)
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/5876738.htm
MICROSOFT DISCOUNTS COULD RAISE EYEBROWS AT EU
Microsoft is offering hefty discounts on its products in an apparent effort
to undercut the cost advantage of Linux -- behavior that one European
antitrust lawyer says appears to violate European law. "If it's true, the
discounts would constitute an abuse," said competition law attorney Thomas
Vinje. Microsoft is under investigation by European regulators for possibly
abusing its dominance in the software market. The company said it had set
aside two funds as part of its strategy to combat Linux. One is set aside
for providing discounts to governments and the education sector, and the
other is earmarked for enabling the sales force to undersell competitors
peddling Linux software. "The primary objective is to make technology
available to customers at low prices," says a Microsoft spokesman.
(Reuters/Los Angeles Times 16 May 2003)
http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-micro16may16,1,3238795.story?coll=la%2Dh
eadlines%2Dtechnology
VIDEOGAMES GO FROM WAR ROOM TO LIVING ROOM
The U.S. Army has been using videogames as part of its recruiting efforts
for the past year, but in coming months it will rely on a combat simulation
game to train squad leaders in real-life combat tactics. The game,
developed by Pandemic Studios, features lead characters heading up two
light infantry teams locked in a running firefight in a city that looks
vaguely Middle Eastern. Bad guys pop out from behind walls and zoom up in
pickup trucks outfitted with automatic weapons. "If you enroll in the army
of the future, you'll get your helmet, your gun and one of these discs,"
says a Pandemic game designer. "You have an Xbox -- they assume -- at
home." And for game enthusiasts not inclined to sign on the dotted line,
the commercial version of "Full Spectrum Warrior" is expected to be
available in early 2004 for the Xbox console. (Reuters 15 May 2003)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=581&ncid=581&e=2&u=/nm/20030516/
tc_nm/tech_army_dc
MICROSOFT SCOOPS UP UNIX LICENSE FROM SCO
Microsoft is buying the rights to SCO Group's Unix technology for an
undisclosed amount, in a move that will bolster SCO's controversial
campaign to demand royalties from users of the Linux operating software,
which SCO claims infringes on its Unix patents. Linux supporters have
demanded that SCO identify which parts of the code are duplicative, but SCO
says that doing that would allow programmers to cover up their
transgressions by rewriting the software. "That's like saying, 'show us the
fingerprints on the gun so you can rub them off,'" says SCO CEO Darl
McBride. Microsoft, which competes fiercely with both Linux and Unix, at
the same time has been a long-time backer of SCO and some in the Linux
community have speculated the software giant is secretly bankrolling SCO's
litigation to reduce the Linux threat. A Microsoft spokeswoman denied that
rumor. (Wall Street Journal 19 May 2003)
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB105329732841072600.djm,00.html (sub req'd)
GROWTH IN RESIDENTIAL BROADBAND LEVELING OFF
The percentage of experienced Internet users who said they wish to upgrade
from dialup to broadband connections declined this year -- 43% compared to
53% last year -- in a development that signals the stabilization of the
residential broadband market. Pew Internet and American Life Project
director Lee Rainie said of the study's results: "The overall Internet
population has stopped growing in the United States. If there is no net
growth, you eventually run out of veteran users who have spent a couple of
years in dialup mode and want to move to broadband." The study also found a
slight shift among broadband users toward favoring cable modem connections.
In March, 67% connected via cable, compared with 63% a year earlier. In
contrast, 28% reported connecting via DSL, down from 34% the year before.
Although the percentage of DSL users dropped, overall growth is still up --
9 million users in March, up from 7 million. That compares with 21 million
cable modem users. Almost a third of Internet users now have broadband
connections -- up from 21% last March. (AP 19 May 2003)
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20030519/D7R4CV5O0.html
ARBITRATION PLAINTIFF CAN NOW TELL DEFENDANT: 'SHOW ME THE E-MAIL'
Federal District Court Judge Shira A. Scheindlin has ruled that UBS Warburg
must search its archives and restore a number of e-mail messages the
company removed from its system after a former employee filed a suit
against the company for sexual discrimination and retaliatory dismissal.
The ruling sets a precedent that investment banks must pay for the
restoration of e-mail evidence if plaintiffs can show that it's relevant to
their cases. Arbitration lawyer Jacob H. Zamansky says, "The decision is
very significant and will help customers get crucial evidence for their
cases. As long as you can make a showing that the evidence you are asking
for is relevant, the banks must bear the cost for searching through the
e-mails." Up until now, investment banks have argued that the technical
difficulties (as well as the costs) involved in retrieving old e-mail
messages is prohibitive, and therefore a sufficient reason to dismiss
arbitration claims. (New York Times 17 May 2003)
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/17/business/17BIAS.html
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From Edupage
[Up To A Million "Wiretaps" Per Year in the UK Alone???]
[Up To A Billion "Factoids" "Tapped" Per Year in the UK Alone?]
BRITISH DEBATE INTERNET SNOOPING
British privacy experts this week presented their estimates that
authorities in the United Kingdom make roughly one million requests
each year for data on Internet and phone usage, totaling perhaps one
billion individual pieces of information. The numbers were presented at
a public debate regarding proposals to expand governmental authority to
access such records. According to privacy experts, requests are made
for e-mail logs, personal information about customers, and telephone
billing data, including numbers called. Parliament has passed a
controversial act, the Regulatory of Investigatory Powers Act, which
collects all data-access rights under one piece of legislation. The
Home Office is currently investigating how to implement many of the
provisions of the act and is working with companies to reach agreement
on such issues as how long companies are required to preserve data. A
spokesman for the Home Office rejected the estimates of a million
information requests each year, saying the number is perhaps half that.
BBC, 16 May 2003
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3030851.stm
[Then Why Do the Universities Claim Copyright for
Files They Make From Public Domain Books???????]
[Could There Be A Double Standard?]
STUDENTS OBJECT TO ONLINE POSTING OF DISSERTATIONS
Some students and faculty at Ohio State University are objecting to a
policy that requires doctoral dissertations to be submitted
electronically and posted online. Opponents of the policy, many of whom
are in the English and history departments, argue that work posted
online is less likely to be accepted for publication later. Concerns
have also been raised over copyright issues for dissertations and the
perception of increased risk of plagiarism of the online dissertations.
University administrators said the policy reflects the institution's
responsibility for ensuring that academic work is "available to the
community at large." William A. T. Clark, associate dean of the
Graduate School, tried to allay plagiarism concerns by noting that
increased access to the dissertations may actually decrease plagiarism
because it is more likely to be detected. Students can apply for a one-
to three-year delay in the posting of their dissertations. Clark said,
however, that eventually all dissertations will be posted online
because the university has the right to do so.
Chronicle of Higher Education, 15 May 2003 (sub. req'd)
http://chronicle.com/daily/2003/05/2003051502t.htm
STUDY PREDICTS SLOWING ADOPTION OF BROADBAND
A new study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project predicts
that, despite strong growth in recent years in the broadband market,
many users satisfied with current access will not upgrade to
broadband. An estimated 31 million U.S. households have high-speed
access, up 50 percent from a year ago, and a number of companies are
trying various approaches to encourage consumers to continue moving up
to broadband at a similar rate. The new study, however, indicates that
a large percentage of dial-up users are content to continue with their
existing service. Pew analyst John B. Horrigan said the good news is
that 13 percent of current dial-up users are ready to upgrade, but, he
said, the bad news is that "the pool of dial-up users most primed to
migrate to broadband ... is shrinking."
NewsFactor Network, 19 May 2003
http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/21537.html
CHINESE MAN SENTENCED FOR ONLINE POSTINGS
Huang Qi has been sentenced by Chinese officials to five years in
prison for allowing users of his Web site to post articles about the
1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations in which demonstrators were killed
by the Chinese army. Huang did not write any of the articles. He began
the Web site as a clearinghouse for information on missing persons,
though many visitors to the site covered topics including alleged
human-rights violations and political issues. Huang, who was arrested
in June 2000, was the first person charged for Internet crimes in
China. Since then, Chinese authorities have detained others for similar
crimes. Huang's sentencing, for subversion, comes as the Chinese
government continues to seek a balance between promoting commercial
uses of technology while limiting political content and dissent.
BBC, 19 May 2003
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3039041.stm
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pgweekly_2003_05_21_part_1.txt
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