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Government

House Bill Won't Criminalize Free Wi-Fi Operators 540

Posted by kdawson from the what-were-they-thinking dept.
Velcroman98 sends word of a bill that passed the US House of Representatives by a lopsided vote of 409 to 2. It would require everyone who runs an open Wi-Fi connection to report illegal images, including "obscene" cartoons and drawings, or be fined up to $300,000. The Securing Adolescents From Exploitation-Online (SAFE) Act was rushed through the House without any hearings or committee votes, and the version that passed on a voice vote reportedly differs substantially from the last publicly available version. CNET reports that sentiment in favor of such a bill is strong in the Senate as well. Update: 12/07 06:22 GMT by Z : As clarified in an Ars writeup, this summary is a bit off-base. The bill doesn't require WiFi owners to police anything, merely 'stiffening the penalties' for those who make no effort to report obvious child pornography.
User Journal

Journal Journal: Thermophobia 6

Journal by superyooser

Global climate change -- it doesn't bother me. What does bother me, being a "Global Warming denier," is the sudden MADNESS that has stricken deeply into the nation and the world over the last few months. I am truly amazed by the phenomenon. Amazed that the mainstream has become mesmerized by it, entangled in the unscientific propaganda. And amazed at the speed at which it has spread.

Mozilla

Submission + - Open Source Race Car

Submitted by zerk
zerk writes: The folks at Spread Firefox are talking about their next marketing campaign. One of the more interesting ideas is a Firefox sponsored car in the Indianapolis 500. It's worth taking a look just to see the gorgeous 3d rendering!
Quickies

Submission + - Scientists Study Sacred Sounds at Churches

Submitted by
Ant
Ant writes: "This Wired News story says researchers here are investigating the subjective acoustic qualities of church architecture in one of the most extensive scientific inquiries yet. By studying the best-sounding spaces (and the worst), the researchers hope to assemble practical design criteria for new churches. The data can also provide the clergy with some considerations on what music works best in existing places of worship. Since 2000, the team has visited 40 churches from Gothic to contemporary in style. They picked nine of the buildings for a five-song test of their acoustics. Seen on Shacknews."
Media

Submission + - Peer-to-peer poisoners: A tour of MediaDefender

Submitted by
wwmedia
wwmedia writes: "When your company poisons peer-to-peer networks for a living, public relations usually takes a back seat to discretion; quiet is the rule in the P2P content-protection industry. That's why Jonathan Lee, the company's VP of business development, isn't worried that the corporate web site is down when I reach him in his Santa Monica office. "It's kind of ugly anyway," he says. For a company like MediaDefender, the largest such firm in existence, privacy comes naturally, but a 2005 acquisition by ARTISTDirect has encouraged the firm to take its services public as it starts to look beyond its original client base — music labels and movie studios — and dives headfirst into the brave new world of providing legitimate P2P content for advertisers. http://arstechnica.com/articles/culture/mediadefen der.ars"

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