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TOP STORIES FOR MONDAY, DECEMBER 06, 2004 Study Shows Artists' Attitudes About File Sharing Phishing Scams Rise Exponentially Lycos Dumps Antispam Screensaver STUDY SHOWS ARTISTS' ATTITUDES ABOUT FILE SHARING A recent study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project surveyed artists and musicians in an attempt to shed light on how they view file sharing and its impact on the entertainment industry. According to the study, there is no consensus among the presumed creators of much of the content available on P2P networks, despite contentions on both sides of the issue. Some notable musicians have been outspoken critics of file sharing, supporting efforts to prosecute those accused of copyright violations, while others have expressed support for the online model of distributing their content. Jenny Toomey, executive director of the Future of Music Campaign, said the study "should solve the problem once and for all about whether anyone can say they speak for all artists." According to Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Project, the survey showed that the "musician-artistic community has a much wider range of views and experiences than folks who watch the Washington debate about copyright might imagine." New York Times, 6 December 2004 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/06/arts/06down.html PHISHING SCAMS RISE EXPONENTIALLY According to the annual report from security firm MessageLabs, the incidence of phishing attacks has risen exponentially over the past year, posing a serious risk for businesses or individuals who conduct business online. According to MessageLabs, which tracks and monitors e-mail, phishing messages in January 2004 numbered 337,050, but in November they totaled 4.5 million. As recently as September 2003, MessageLabs identified fewer than 300 phishing messages in a month. Phishing scams have also become increasingly sophisticated, according to the MessageLabs report, preying on the trust of computer users and fooling some into acting as money launderers. The report noted that some scams are able to access online banking information even when users do not click on any links. Meanwhile, according to the report, the number of e-mail messages that include a virus rose to 1 in 16, up from 1 in 33 last year, and spam now accounts for 73 percent of all e-mail. CNET, 6 December 2004 http://news.com.com/2100-7349_3-5479145.html LYCOS DUMPS ANTISPAM SCREENSAVER Lycos has put an end to its antispam screensaver just days after it was launched. The idea of the Make Love, Not Spam campaign was to slow spammers' Web sites significantly and to drive up operating costs for proprietors of such sites. Lycos offered a screensaver for free download that would send constant requests to targeted Web sites to accomplish this goal. In the end, however, the tactic may have been too successful. Some of the targeted sites were reportedly left unable to respond as a result of the volume of requests sent, and the premise of the campaign was criticized by some as bordering on the same approach that makes spam a problem in the first place--volume. Some Internet service providers began blocking access to the Lycos site to protest the Make Love, Not Spam campaign. Officials from Lycos said the campaign accomplished its goal of spurring discussion about efforts to limit spam. The company denied that the antispam screensaver had bloomed into a denial-of-service attack, saying that the sites said to have been shut down "were not in fact part of the Make Love, Not Spam attack cycle." BBC, 6 December 2004 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4073547.stm ***************************************************** EDUPAGE INFORMATION To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change your settings, visit http://www.educause.edu/Edupage/639 Or, you can subscribe or unsubscribe by sending e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To SUBSCRIBE, in the body of the message type: SUBSCRIBE Edupage YourFirstName YourLastName To UNSUBSCRIBE, in the body of the message type: SIGNOFF Edupage If you have subscription problems, send e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For past issues of Edupage or information about translations of Edupage into other languages, visit http://www.educause.edu/Edupage/639 ***************************************************** OTHER EDUCAUSE PUBLICATIONS EDUCAUSE publishes periodicals, including "EQ" and "EDUCAUSE Review," books, and other materials dealing with the impacts and implications of information technology in higher education. For information on EDUCAUSE publications see http://www.educause.edu/47 ***************************************************** CONFERENCES For information on all EDUCAUSE learning and networking opportunities, see http://www.educause.edu/31 ***************************************************** COPYRIGHT Edupage copyright (c) 2005, EDUCAUSE
