CITP Blog - Formerly Freedom to Tinker

Author: Ed Felten

  • Report from the ACM DRM Workshop

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    Yesterday I attended the ACM “Digital Rights Management” Workshop in Washington DC. There were about 100 attendees, most of them computer scientists, with a few lawyers and Washington policy types thrown in. Papers from the workshop are available online. My main impression was that the speakers were more openly skeptical about DRM than at past…

  • In Search of Technology News

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    I still remember the first time I saw a newspaper that had a technology section. It seemed to herald the arrival of technology in the mainstream of American life, and to offer the public a chance to understand how life was about to change. Lately I have begun to wonder whether the technology section is…

  • Virus With a EULA

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    Rob Lemos at news.com reports on a new “greeting card” virus that protects its author by using a EULA (End User License Agreement): The FriendGreetings electronic greeting card has all the hallmarks of a mass-mailing computer virus. The e-mail misleads a victim into downloading an application–ostensibly to view a Web card–and then sends itself to…

  • A Stroll Through the Logs

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    The website statistics program I use (webalizer) lets me see what search strings people are using when they find this site via the usual search engines. November’s report is amusing. The most common search string that led to the site is “tinker.” No surprise there. Number two, though, was “fart noises.” (That matches a Fritz’s…

  • More Great Stuff From Seth Schoen

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    If you want to understand what the whole Palladium/LaGrande/”trusted computing” issue is about, you should read Seth Schoen’s recent writing. His analysis is insightful, technically sound, independent, and hype-free. For the latest example, click here, scroll down to “Trusted Computing,” and read the next several sections.

  • Early Release of MS Decision Just a Blunder

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    Ted Bridis at AP confirms, based on an internal investigation by court staff, that the early release to the Web of Judge Kollar-Kotelly’s rulings in the Microsoft case was just a mistake by someone on the staff.

  • Garfinkel on Mitnick's Book

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    Simson Garfinkel has an interesting reaction to Kevin Mitnick’s recent book. Mitnick, “the most famous computer hacker of our time,” claims to have operated mainly by social engineering, that is, by conning people into giving him restricted information. Garfinkel describes how Mitnick-type attacks can be mitigated by wisely-designed technology.

  • I'm Back

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    London was fabulous, though Northwest Airlines did give us an extra “bonus” day at Gatwick airport on the return trip. Posting will resume later today, once I’ve crawled out from under the pile in my inbox.

  • No Posting Until Tuesday Morning

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    You won’t find anything new here until Tuesday morning. I’ll be in London, secure beneath the watchful eyes.

  • Microsoft Ruling Released Early

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    Update (8:42 PM): The item below, which I am leaving here only to maintain a complete record, was INCORRECT. It was based on an inaccurate report from a reader, which was discovered when I asked the reader a few more questions. At this point, although the ruling was put on the Court’s website early, there…