August
18, 2003
Volume 1, Issue 6
More Info
MSFT Help
Microsoft Product Support Services Security Team has issued an
alert about the new W32.Blaster.Worm that will spring into
life tomorrow 8/16. This
worm has the ability to force a computer to participate in
a DDOS (Distributed Denial Of Service), and generally exploit
a ‘remote-access’ vulnerability
found in Windows 2000, Windows NT4, Windows XP and Windows
2003 (Server edition). Our technical team advises keeping your
PC offline from tonight
until the crisis has passed. A patch is available for this
security issue, available directly from Microsoft (click on
MSFT Help link above).
Report from CEO Marty Lafferty
This week was busy with stakeholder discussions among
content, platform, and operations sectors, preparations for the upcoming
Senate hearing, and meetings with related trade association executives.
Just over a year ago, an exchange of letters between
entertainment and technology industry leaders drew
attention to the ongoing threat of digital piracy.
The critical area identified in that series of communications
remains -- unauthorized peer-to-peer file distribution.
We’re inviting the companies represented in
those documents to join us in Washington, DC on October
8th. At our quarterly general meeting, DCIA will focus
on solutions to piracy. Near-term interim remedies
will be considered as well as longer-term more deliberative
solutions. Immediate relief will be examined as well
as paving the way for secure distribution of robust
digital content into the future.
DCIA is committed to helping in a way that promotes
innovation and embraces the Internet as a medium for
commerce. We recognize that there is no magic chip
or special piece of code that will completely stop
piracy. But there are things we could be doing together
now that we are not doing, and there are things that
some of us are doing now that we should stop.
We have begun to explore the means by which unprotected
content finds its way into peer-to-peer distribution
initially and the actions that can be taken at each
step throughout the integration chain to remove it.
DCIA was established, as a high level working group,
to foster the legitimate commercial growth of distributed
computing, and to deter unauthorized peer-to-peer trafficking
in entertainment and other content.
Peer-to-peer file sharing technologies, in their current
positive manifestations, represent barely the beginning
of what will be achievable in the future via ‘super-distribution.’ No
other distribution channel eliminates costs of manufacturing,
packaging, shipping, storage, stocking, bandwidth,
etc. With consumers readily bearing these costs, content
can be disseminated to millions of customers rapidly
at minimal expense.
And this implementation of distributed computing just
scratches the surface of what can be done by harnessing
the power of unused capacity in millions of consumer-owned
computers. Discovering cures to diseases, collaborating
on complex technical problems, solving environmental
issues, and advancing scientific research are but a
few exemplary uses of this technology, beyond giving
average citizens the chance to be enriched beyond expectations
with unprecedented personal collections of entertainment
media at attractive prices.
We believe that technology, and digital rights management
(DRM) software in particular, is part of the solution,
but not all of it. Educating consumers, enforcing existing
laws, exploring new ways to harness the Internet, and
addressing expectations of customers, are also part
of intellectual property rights protection and innovation
on the web.
This is not a time to delay when, according to recent
government reports, 2,300,000,000 files are now being
transferred monthly, the vast majority of which are
unauthorized. We would like to be able to report to
the Congress in the Fall that constructive progress
is being made. Plan now to join DCIA, or attend our
October 8th meeting to learn more about membership.
Entertainment Forum Registration
Turner Entertainment Group President Mark Lazarus keynotes this 9/22
executive forum being held in Atlanta, GA focused on the impact of technology
on entertainment and marketing. Cutting-edge topics include:
- Evolving Content Strategies in the Technology Age
- VOD, PVRs and the Influence of Technology on Programming
- The Digital Copyright Debate
- The Future of Production
- The Future of Marketing and Advertising
Phil Corwin, Partner, Butera & Andrews, and Lobbyist
for DCIA Member Sharman Networks, and Marty Lafferty,
DCIA CEO are among the featured speakers. Register
today for reduced rates. Contact DCIA for Member discount
information.
Publications quote file sharing statistics and other
industry metrics from numerous syndicated research
sources (Nielsen NetRating, Jupiter, Forrester, etc.).
DCIA would like to know which of the services your
organization subscribes to for measuring the P2P
climate. Please let us know by responding to rick@dcia.info.
All responses will be held confidential. |
