Love Bug computer czar in Washington. MP3.com gives in and agrees to pull major-label content off its site. The debugging continues at the Web Roundup...
WASHINGTON - Some cyberexperts have told a Congressional committee that a computer czar to coordinate the federal government's cybercrime fight - and making virus creation a federal crime - might keep future Love Bugs from taking such big bytes out of cyberspace. The president of the Information Technology Association of America, Harris Miller, pressed the point particularly to the House Science Technology Subcommittee May 11, saying such a point person would send immediate alerts when destructive viruses spread. The Love Bug hit fourteen U.S. government agencies, including Social Security, the CIA, NASA, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and the Defense Department. It's classified as the fastest and widest spread computer virus in history, causing an e-mail flood around the world and destroying graphics and music files as well as damaging operating systems and putting in password-stealing programs. ICNA.net, a Virginia computer security company, says quick, coordinated response is the critical function of a computer czar. They suggested making writing a computer virus a federal crime. Subcommittee chairwoman Constance Morella, a Maryland Republican, told the hearing Lloyd's of London estimated the Love Bug damage worldwide has now hit $15 million.
LOS ANGELES - MP3.com has agreed to pull all major-label music from its controversial service. Last month, a federal judge agreed with the Recording Industry Association of America that MP3.com violated copyrights, and the popular site has been negotiating a settlement with the major record labels since, hoping to end it without losing billions in damages. "We regret the need to take this step, which inconveniences more than 500,000 My.MP3.com account holders," said MP3.com president Robin Richards, who said pulling the music offsite was a way to show good faith despite disagreeing with the judge's ruling. The site's My.MP3.com service let Net surfers access full CDs online and listen on any Internet-accessible computer. MP3.com created a huge database of music and offered access to anyone who could prove they bought the CD themselves by putting the disc into his computer - but federal judge Jed Rakoff ruled it illegal. The RIAA said the decision to take down the major-label music was "a natural result" of that ruling.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Yahoo! is getting into outsourcing - the popular Web portal wants to try creating and managing Websites for companies who want to leave the technical driving to others. They're also hoping this move might attract even more advertisers and visitors to Yahoo! itself - one new site, according to CNET, will connect to Yahoo! auctions and classified sections through a new link. The company plans to offer a domain name site to register personal or business Net addresses for $35 a year; Web page services for up to $40 a month, selling page design and management tools; and, server services for $650 a month, handling technical operations for each Web page on a site. The idea has helped Yahoo! stock so far, CNET says - the stock hit +4 percent on the high-tech NASDAQ composite when Yahoo! announced the plan.
--- Compiled By Humphrey Pennyworth
