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Sure it makes sense, otherwise all the ISP's become responsible for the child pornography flowing over their pipes. Unless there are different rules for corporations than for individual citizens. There aren't, right?

Anyway, rulings like this is why the MPAA and RIAA are busy trying to get governments around the world to remove any kind of 'safe harbour/transport' provisions from their laws, both under the guise of saving the children as well as saving that small band/filmmaker at home, whose work is being mercilessly pirated by every Tom, Dick and Harriet around the world.

Ponca City, We Love You writes "Researchers at the University Of Alabama In Huntsville have discovered that some x-rays thought to come from intergalactic clouds of 'warm' gas are instead probably caused by lightweight electrons — leaving the mass of the universe as much as ten to 20 percent lighter (in terms of its ordinary matter) than previously calculated. In 2002 the same team reported finding large amounts of extra 'soft' (relatively low-energy) x-rays coming from the vast spaces in the middle of galaxy clusters. Their cumulative mass was thought to account for as much as ten percent of the mass and gravity needed to hold together galaxies, galaxy clusters, and perhaps the universe itself. When the team looked at data from a galaxy cluster in the southern sky, however, they found that energy from those additional soft x-rays doesn't look like it should. 'The best, most logical explanation seems to be that a large fraction of the energy comes from electrons smashing into photons instead of from warm atoms and ions, which would have recognizable spectral emission lines,' said Dr. Max Bonamente. The work was published Oct. 20 in the Astrophysical Journal."

DECS writes "RoughlyDrafted presents a riddle of warfare between Apple and Microsoft. Steve Jobs and the iTunes DRM Threat to Microsoft presented DRM as a shot across the bow of Microsoft's flagship, but suggested that, beyond DRM, "Apple is targeting another Microsoft mainstay with a missile that may cause far more damage than the iPod and iTunes together." 2007 — Apple Strikes Back chronicled the recovery of Apple over the last decade, and Apple's Open Source Assault hints at how Apple will engage Microsoft. What is Apple up to?"

The big trend at this year's American International Toy Fair is mature technology created for young users. Alexander Gelfand reports from New York.

http://feeds.wired.com/~r/wired/topheadlines/~3/88412724/0,72674-0.html

We review the best winter coats, stereos and VOIP services. Oh yeah, and we also settle the Wii vs. PS3 debate. From Wired magazine.

http://feeds.wired.com/~r/wired/topheadlines/~3/88412726/play.html

bogjobber writes "CSM reports on the ongoing trial in France regarding Charlie Hebdo's publishing of the Danish Mohammed cartoons last year. The magazine is facing charges of "publicly defaming a group of people because of their religion.""

BobbyJo writes "According to the Wall Street Journal [subscription required], EMI has been pitching the possibility of selling its entire music collection to the public in MP3 form, without all of the pesky DRM protection that we are all such big fans of. According to the article, several other major music companies have considered this same route, but none as far as EMI. From the article:

The London-based EMI is believed to have held talks with a wide range of online retailers that compete with Apple's iTunes. Those competing retailers include RealNetworks Inc., eMusic.com, MusicNet Inc. and Viacom Inc.'s MTV Networks. People familiar with the matter cautioned that EMI could still abandon the proposed strategy before implementing it. A decision about whether to keep pursuing the idea could come as soon as today.

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chris-chittleborough writes "The Wall Street Journal reports that 'a Marine officer in Iraq, a small network-design company in California, a nonprofit troop-support group, a blogger and other undeterrable folk designed a handheld insurgent-identification device, built it, shipped it and deployed it in [Iraq] in 30 days.' Compare this to the Automated Biometric Identification System, a multi-megabuck Pentagon project now 2 years old. It's a striking example of 'How Markets and Technology Empower Ordinary People to Beat Big Media, Big Government, and Other Goliaths'."

Most love to ponder the inner workings of intelligence agencies, and the link on the NSA's website (http://www.nsa.gov/) labeled "Kids Page" is no exception. Hardball recruiting practices aside, I wonder how long it will be before someone either a) tells the story of how they first became interested in cryptography when they were just a "CryptoKid", or b) writes a screenplay based on some ridiculous scenario where an adolescent genius hacks into the NSA's computer system by solving one of the Yardleygrams mysteries on their children's website?

Art Vanderlay writes "Microvision will unveil at CES an ultra-miniature full-color digital projection display designed to be embedded into handheld electronic devices such as cellphones, PDAs, or multimedia handhelds. This would allow images to be projected onto a nearby surface, such as a wall, whiteboard or desktop. Pricing or availability not yet set, you can be sure it won't be cheap."

mikesd81 writes "Associates Press is running an article about spy coins. From the article: "Can the coins jingling in your pocket trace your movements? The Defense Department is warning its American contractor employees about a new espionage threat seemingly straight from Hollywood: It discovered Canadian coins with tiny radio frequency transmitters hidden inside."

In a U.S. government report, it said the mysterious coins were found planted on U.S. contractors with classified security clearances on at least three separate occasions between October 2005 and January 2006 as the contractors traveled through Canada. The report doesn't suggest who might be tracking American defense contractors or why. It also doesn't describe how the Pentagon discovered the ruse, how the transmitters might function or even which Canadian currency contained them. "What's in the report is true," said Martha Deutscher, a spokeswoman for the security service. "This is indeed a sanitized version, which leaves a lot of questions." The top suspects are Russia, China, and France. All three are said to have been running active espionage operations in Canada. The Canadians say they know nothing of the coins: "This issue has just come to our attention," CSIS spokeswoman Barbara Campion said. "At this point, we don't know of any basis for these claims." She said Canada's intelligence service works closely with its U.S. counterparts and will seek more information if necessary."

Rokann writes "A year and a half ago, the furnation group went into Secondlife and set up Furnation worlds. A wildly popular hangout for in-game furries. After the head of the group recieved what he believed was a legitimate donation to help maintain Furnation in world, Linden Labs shut down his account, and the accounts of many others due to claims of fraud, even though Linden Labs admitted they knew he and his group had nothing to do with it. His story is here.

The bigger picture in this is the apparently one sided TOS that linden labs maintains in which they are allowed to confiscate and shut down any "Owned" assets on their servers because Linden Labs "...has the right at any time for any reason or no reason to suspend or terminate your Account..."

Even more so, someone who has thousands of dollars of In-game currency could face a complete loss of it under the tos because "Linden Lab has the absolute right to manage, regulate, control, modify and/or eliminate such Currency as it sees fit in its sole discretion, in any general or specific case, and that Linden Lab will have no liability to you based on its exercise of such right."

Is this the future of the TOS for services or assets you purchase on the internet? That you could lose them in a heartbeat without any reason. Kinda like losing your car back to the dealer, AFTER you paid for it."

nageshsk writes "http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/jan/10pslv.htm"

TheTechLounge writes "Plantronics' Discovery — among the first in Bluetooth headsets that doesn't give you cancer. In all seriousness, TheTechLounge has got their hands on Plantronics' newest flagship headset, straight from the CES show floor, and took it out for a few calls. Photos of new gadgets plus a hands-on usage experience, what's not to love?"

Ice Wewe writes "BBCNews has an article on how having penetrative intercourse can help with public speaking.

"New Scientist magazine reports that Stuart Brody, a psychologist at the University of Paisley, found having sex can help keep stress at bay. However, only penetrative intercourse did the trick — other forms of sex had no impact on stress levels at all.

... Volunteers who had had penetrative intercourse were found to be the least stressed, and their blood pressure returned to normal faster than those who had engaged in other forms of sexual activity such as masturbation. "

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