US firm to pay US$1.1m to settle e-mail case

In the US., a company accused of using unauthorised personal data ''mined'' by other firms from about 6 million e-mail addresses nationwide has agreed to reform its practices under a US$1.1 million settlement, New York officials said Sunday.

The Associated Press reports in The New York Times (12 March) that Datran Media of New York City, a leading e-mail marketer, used e-mail addresses and other personal data it obtained from several companies, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's office said. The settlement was scheduled to be announced Monday.

According to AP., the internet ''customer acquisition'' companies proclaimed on their web sites that they wouldn't lend or sell the information provided. Consumers were often enticed to reveal their names, addresses and financial data in exchange for free iPods and DVD movies.

Spitzer accused Datran of knowing of the companies' pledges, but spamming those consumers with unsolicited e-mails anyway, advertising discount drugs, diet pills and other products. Spitzer's staff said they believe it is the largest deliberate breach of internet privacy discovered by US authorities, reports AP.

The AP report says that many of the operators request personal data that can be used in marketing and for companies to better tailor their products to consumers' needs and wants. Often, the operators of the sites promise not to sell the name or e-mail address that accompanies the data.

{mospagebreaktitle=UK extends airport iris scan scheme}UK extends airport iris scan scheme

Heathrow Airport has extended a pilot programme that allows registered passengers to pass through immigration checks using iris scans.

The Register reports that the London airport opened up a fast-track immigration channel in terminal one last Friday that duplicates technology, known as Iris Recognition Immigration System or Project Iris, that went into operation in terminals two and four last July.

According to the publication, the move means a far wider pool of UK citizens and some foreigners will be able to bypass conventional passport checks, UK tabloid The Sun reports.  Terminal one handles an estimated 21 million passengers a year, making it the busiest arrival point in the UK.

The Register says that, after pre-registering, passengers can pass through automated booths on arrival to the UK by having their iris scanned. Frequent visitors to the UK, overseas nationals with permanent leave to remain, and British citizens are eligible to use the technology. Data of users' iris patterns are cross-matched with passport details and stored in a database.

The UK government has already invested £2.86 million in the technology, which it plans to extend to both terminals in London Gatwick, Manchester Airport, Stansted and Birmingham by the end of 2006, reports The Register.

{mospagebreaktitle=Vonage cries foul over Canada VoIP 'tax'}Vonage cries foul over Canada VoIP 'tax'

Consumer IP telephony service Vonage has filed a complaint to Canadian regulators over plans by local telco, Shaw Cable, to charge a C$10 (US$8.60) a month premium to customers of VoIP service. The charge ostensibly covers to cost of providing a higher quality connection to VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) users. Vonage describes the levy as a "thinly veiled" VoIP tax.

According to a report in The Register, by using internet connections to make long-distance calls instead of conventional voice circuits users have the potential to make far cheaper calls. Vonage argues Shaw's fee undermines the healthy development of the market.

Vonage Canada said: "Shaw's VoIP tax is an unfair attempt to drive up the price of competing VoIP services to protect its own high-priced service."

The Register reports that the fee kicks kicks in when Vonage customers use net connections supplied by Shaw Cable, which operates in western Canada.

{mospagebreaktitle=Adult payment firm denies customer records breach}Adult payment firm denies customer records breach

The Register in the UK reports that an online payments firm that specialises in processing payments to porn sites has denied that a supposed haul of consumer data originated from its databases.

According to the publication, iBill says "records" of the email addresses of 17 million plus net voyeurs recovered by two security companies do not match its own records. It claims only three entries from files separately obtained by Secure Science and SunBelt Software correspond to email addresses on its database, Wired reports.

The recovered files, which were independently discovered by Sunbelt and Secure Science while carrying out security research online, had file names that linked them to iBill. Secure Science found its haul of 17 million "customer records" on a website linked to phishing fraudsters. Sunbelt unearthed a similar cache of 1 million entries from a separate spamming site.

The Register says that the files purported to contain the names, phone numbers, snail mail and email addresses of at least 17 million porn site subscribers. Credit card numbers did not feature among the haul but payment amounts and credit card types did, Wired reports. Among the supposed records were details of credit card purchases by Diners Club, a form of payment that iBill contends its has never accepted.

Secure Science concedes that its list might be fake.

{mospagebreaktitle=Virus names likely a lost cause}Virus names likely a lost cause

In early February, anti-virus firms warned customers about a computer virus programmed to delete files on the third of each month, but almost every company called the program by a different name, rteporets The Rergister.

A month later, according to The Register,the companies still use a hodge-podge of monikers for the program: Blackmal, Nyxem, MyWife, KamaSutra, Blackworm, Tearec and Worm_Grew all describe the same mass-mailing computer virus.

The publication says that the slew of names underscore that while anti-virus companies have been able to agree on the name for some threats, such as the recent Mac OS X worms, at other times, the companies instead go their own way and race to get public acceptance of their name for a particular threat.

The Register comments that on 3 March, the payload installed on computers infected with the Nyxem-Blackmal-KamaSutra virus triggered for a second time, threatening to delete about a dozen different types of data file. While the attack affected few people's systems, it again underscored that, without common names, identifying attacks that threaten a broad range of networks is nearly impossible, says the publication.

According to the publication, making the situation worse, attackers' attempts to generate programs that can avoid being recognised by security software means that the number of seemingly discreet attacks is skyrocketing.

Making the situation worse, attackers' attempts to generate programs that can avoid being recognised by security software means that the number of seemingly discreet attacks is skyrocketing.

{mospagebreaktitle=Year of digital cinema:report}Year of digital cinema:report

As the movie theatre industry's annual convention kicks off in the in Las Vegas, the conversion to digital cinema is again on the agenda, reports Reuters in The New York Times (12 March).

But this year, instead of more talk about digital's promising future, there actually will be an opportunity to assess its practical, real-world applications at ShoWest.

Reuters says that 2006 is shaping up as the year digital cinema finally is ready for its close-up. Just don't expect the rollout to take place overnight.

According to Reuters, the process definitely is under way. The stage was set in July, when the Digital Cinema Initiative (DCI) formally released its specifications, establishing a distribution format and addressing security concerns. Last month, the National Association of Theatre Owners released its own Digital Cinema System Requirement, building on the DCI specifications to address practical concerns about system reporting and shuffling digital prints among auditoriums in a multiplex.

Reuters says that the final months last year saw a flurry of activity as the forces in the digital universe began to strike alliances. Christie/AIX, the AccessIT subsidiary, announced agreements with Disney, 20th Century Fox, Universal Pictures, Sony Pictures and DreamWorks, while rival Thomson's Technicolor Digital Cinema systems announced service deals with DreamWorks, Sony, Universal and Warner Bros. Pictures, with agreements under way with 20th Century Fox, New Line Cinema and the Weinstein Co.