The bad news is that Kentucky state Transportation Cabinet computers were being used on the job to surf Internet porn – but the good news, says the cabinet's inspector general, is that it wasn't as prevalent as first suspected. An estimated 45 such computers were used to access Net porn, the inspector general's report found, contradicting an earlier state auditor's report saying 212 computers had been used that way, provoking a probe that led to the firings of two cabinet workers and 21 resignations or retirements, not to mention 23 other disciplinary actions from reprimands to suspensions…
Discipline can have its disadvantages, too. Especially if President Bush wants ubiquitous broadband in these United States by 2007, but the nation still has to beat what one publication calls the Axis of Old – "entrenched interests in government and industry that are fighting the progress that comes with new technologies" – members of which include the Federal Communications Commission, which still thinks it needs to discipline telephony. FCC regulations based on the 1996 Telecommunications Act "have strangled phone companies with red tape," says TechNewsWorld. "The constant micromanagement of this sector has squashed innovation and harmed America's ability to compete internationally. It's a sorry situation when the nation that invented the Internet only ranks 11th in high-speed Internet use per capita, behind countries like Italy and Canada. And yet the FCC won't release its grip." What a surprise…
Speaking of discipline, that’s what a British teenager faces for trying to trick another boy he fell in love with online into murdering him. Follow us here, we absolutely do not make this stuff up: The first teen (known as Boy B in court) created a round of chat room characters including one ordering the second (Boy A, in court) to murder him. The second boy stabbed the first boy twice but the victim survived. Among other things, the first boy has admitted "perverting the course of justice," not to mention incitement to murder, and he's been ordered to three years' official supervision and no Internet access unless an adult is with him. The second boy was hit with two years of a supervision order and was also ordered to have no contact with the first boy…
The child porn arrest earlier this week of a male nurse at Sick Kids hospital in Toronto has prompted a group of parents and family members to meet with hospital officials and law enforcement to learn more about the now-former nurse, Scott Faichnie. He's said to have had contact with hundreds of children the past several years, before his home was raided a week ago and hundreds of child porn images were found on his laptop computer. Authorities say so far that there's no evidence any hospital patients were harmed…
Elizabethtown, Kentucky police officer Brian Leasor was arrested May 25 for exposing himself on a school bus. A day later, Leasor had child porn charges added to his case, after his personal computer was found to have had material featuring sexual performances by a child. Leasor faces up to a year in jail if convicted on the exposure charge but up to five years on the child porn charge, since he's accused of distributing as well as possessing…
Back in the sane world, News Corp has decided News Corp has decided not to go ahead with plans to deliver Internet access via satellite in the United States. Company executives ended up doubting market demand projections and profitability that had been used to justify the original investment in the project they called Spaceway. "You've got to have about 1 million users... to make it economically feasible," Maryland satellite industry consultant Leslie Taylor told the Wall Street Journal. But News Corp still plans to send at least one Spaceway satellite up, for television broadcast use…
Maybe the chemistry wasn't right there, but eHarmony thinks it has the right chemistry when it comes to determining whether a couple will have a happy marriage: psychology and statistics. The online dating service has, in fact, patented its matchmaking formula. It describes a method and system "for identifying people who are likely to have a successful relationship." Critics and competitors describe it as overly scientific hooey and gimmickry, but eHarmony insists an individual's psychological profile beats pure demographics…
But if you think that's a load of (four-letter word for defecation), consider Opsware putting their money on Web plumbing. No, we're not exactly talking Roto-Rooter in cyberspace, but we are talking about "an end-to-end solution for major companies that need to configure, secure, change, and scale their network of servers," as Opsware calls its program package. They have eight major customers, including Comcast, nailed down just in the previous quarter, so who knows? But Motley Fool says, as attractive as Opsware's product and salesmanship appear, there are risks: "Opsware still has heavy reliance on its key partner, Electronic Data Systems. But this is starting to diminish. The average customer deal size is still in excess of $600,000 for Opsware. While this sounds positive, it means there is a risk of a revenue shortfall if the sales cycle lengthens."…
Meanwhile, back in the jungle, a Texas outfit has pleaded guilty in a bid-rigging scheme involving an FCC program, E-Rate, aimed at wiring needy schools and libraries to the Internet. NEC-Business Network Solutions will pay $20.6 million in criminal fines, civil settlements, and restitution on collusion and wire fraud charges, the Justice Department said May 27.
