But is it Legal?

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Vol. 9, #85 - Aug 25, 2009 - Issue #393  But is it Legal? Editor's Corner But is it Legal? Follow-up: How far will/should the government go? Quotes of the Week Cool Tools Tools We Think You Shouldn't Be Without News, Hints, Tips and Tricks Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) client for XP XP Pirates jailed New graphics platform to enhance performance of nettops and netbooks Why doesn't the new version of MovieMaker work on XP? How To: Using XP Features How to restore the Show Desktop icon in QuickLaunch XP Security News Do you have to buy an extra copy of security software for VMs? XP Question Corner Can't use the XP theme XP Configuration and Troubleshooting How to change the listening port for Remote Desktop You can't configure the maximum number of concurrent SMB requests Fav Links This Week's Links We Like. Tips, Hints And Fun Stuff Product of the Week ZipBackup: Protect your Computer's Files with ZipBackup Windows Backup Software! Protect Your Credit Card Number From Theft Why do I need a firewall? Together with antivirus and antispyware, a firewall is a "must" to protect your computer. PC Magazine gave the Sunbelt Personal Firewall a "Very Good" rating with 4 Stars and a conclusion of "good protection". Unlike the Windows XP and Vista Firewall, you can tell the Sunbelt Personal Firewall to look carefully at the data leaving your browser, so that sensitive information like your credit card numbers, email address, bank account, social security number and PIN code do not get stolen. Benefit from our special 50% discount offer for the unlimited home site license*. Special Offer ends August 31st: http://www.vistanews.com/090820-SPF *Live in the UK? You get a 50% discount too!  Editor's Corner But is it Legal? There are lots of "tips" out there that tell you how to get around copy protection technologies on digital music and software. Just recently another popular Windows newsletter printed "an easy way to stretch the Windows 7 thirty day free trial period to 120 days." I was forwarded a question from a reader about this article, asking "Is this legal?" Few weeks go by that I don't get inquiries from readers, friends and family members who are confused about what they can and can't legally do in regard to the music they've purchased (either electronically or as a CD), the TV programs they've recorded with their DVR software, the DVD movies they've bought or downloaded through Unbox and similar services, etc. Disclaimer: IANAL (I am not a lawyer). As a former police officer and criminal justice instructor who taught Penal Code at the college level, I do perhaps know a bit more than the average person about criminal law. Nothing in this article is intended as nor should be construed as legal advice. All of the information is readily available on the web from various sources and I am merely aggregating it here and sharing some of my personal opinions, as a citizen, a writer and an IT professional who deals with intellectual property issues in my own life. Many of us, regardless of our religious persuasions, still believe in the old admonition "thou shalt not steal." But theft used to be a much more clear-cut concept than it is today. In the law, traditional theft statutes that were written in a pre-computer era reflect that. My state's Penal Code defines theft as "unlawful appropriation of property with the intent to deprive the owner of the property." Going further into the statute, appropriation of property is considered unlawful if it is taken without the owner's effective consent. The sharing of someone else's movies or songs or software clearly doesn't fit the elements of this offense, on a couple of levels. First, in most cases when a person downloads an illegal copy of a movie, song or program, the owner is not deprived of its use because the "thief" takes a copy. The original owner still retains the original or copy that he/she had. In addition, those who put copies of digital files they paid for on the 'Net to share are effectively giving their consent by doing so. Ah, but they didn't actually pay to purchase the song itself, but only to license it (a form of rental since you're paying to use the property but the former owner retains ownership). If you rent a lawnmower, is it illegal for you to let someone else use it to mow your lawn instead of doing it yourself? That's where we get into contract law. Generally, when you rent a physical thing, you sign a contract called a rental agreement. The contract terms specify any limitations on how you can use it while it's in your custody and under your control. When you "buy" a song, movie or software program, there is usually also a contract, called a license agreement or EULA. The terms of the contract state that you "sign" it by clicking a checkbox or simply by using the product. One big difference is that with a physical rental agreement, you almost always get to read it before you pay your money. With digital license agreements, that's often not the case. Let's say you rent that lawnmower, sign the contract saying no one but you can use it, and then you go home and get the kid next door to mow the lawn for you. Are you guilty of a crime? Probably not. Traditionally, breach of a contract between two parties was treated as a civil matter, not a criminal one. There's a big difference (or used to be) between civil and criminal law, the biggest being that the penalty for losing a civil case is usually a judgment, ordering you to pay compensation to the other party. You don't (didn't) go to jail for breaching a contract. The odd thing about intellectual property law is that matters that were always civil in the past have been made criminal. Now you can indeed go to prison for a copyright violation, which up until the 1990s was a civil matter that was settled in a civil lawsuit, not prosecuted in criminal court. We've all seen the FBI warning at the beginning of every movie we watch: "The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to five years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000." Guess who the groups were behind this initiative? That would be the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America), RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) and ESA (Entertainment Software Association): http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090825-FBI-Warning-Label So if you rip a song from the CD you just bought and send a copy to your best friend, will the police be knocking at your door? Probably not. These are federal laws, and the local police generally don't enforce those (although they can and do call in the federal authorities if they run across a major violation). Remember the old saying, "Don't make a federal case out of it?" Well, they did. And just exactly why did they do that, aside from the lobbying efforts of the organizations mentioned above? Well, a lot of the pressure actually comes from the "international community." The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), the federal law enacted under President Clinton in 1998, criminalizes not just copyright infringement, but use of any technology to circumvent copy protection technology even if you don't infringe on the copyright. That means if your CD is copy protected, you can't use any software to get around that protection even to make a backup copy for yourself. The DMCA didn't just appear out of thin air. It was passed to implement two treaties signed in 1996 by President Clinton that were put forth by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090825-Copyright-Act "Intellectual property" is the catch-all term applied to intangible creative assets such as music, art, literature, and so forth. Copyright is the set of legal rights that the creator holds in that property (and which the creator can sell or give away). In some cases, the creator gives away copyright before creating the property, as in the case where an employee signs a contract granting the employer ownership of all of the intellectual property (and even ideas for same) that the employee creates in the course of his/her employment. Some states have intellectual property laws of their own. Because the "theft" of electronic property so often doesn't fit the existing theft statutes, they create new offenses to cover the unlawful taking of electronic property. For example, my state has offenses called "Theft of or tampering with multi-channel video or information services" and "theft of telecommunication service" that make it a crime to access cable TV, Internet services, telephone services and similar services without the authorization of the provider. But remember that the criminal and civil systems in the U.S. are completely separate. Even if you aren't prosecuted in criminal court, you can still be sued in civil court. The RIAA has made copyright infringement lawsuits famous, and many people have settled out of court, paying the organization thousands of dollars, to avoid the expenses (both monetary and emotional) of going through a trial. So, back to the original questions: Is it legal to extend the evaluation period for a piece of software? The answer is in the EULA. That's the contract that governs what you have the right to do with the software. Does it specify that you may use the software for only the limited period of time or is it the same standard EULA that comes with the full purchased version? Does it prohibit reinstalling the software when the trial period is over to start another trial period? Does extending the trial period involve circumventing copyright protection (and thus constitute a violation of the DMCA)? These are the questions you need to ask yourself before you follow the instructions in one of those "handy tips." Since Windows 7 hasn't yet been released, its final EULA isn't available yet. Microsoft is careful to say that license terms are subject to change with each upcoming release. http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090825-Win7-EULA Tell us what you think about intellectual property laws in general, and the DMCA in particular. Does your state have additional laws that address theft of IP? Should it be legal to extend the trial period of an evaluation version, or should trial periods be increased? What's a good, fair timeframe for evaluating software? Should it be illegal to circumvent copy protections if all you're doing is making a backup copy for your own use? Should you be able to make as many copies as you want of a song, as long as you're the one who uses it (for example, a copy for your home music system, a copy for your car system, a copy for your portable player) or should you have to pay for each copy? We invite you to discuss this topic in our forums at http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090825-Forum-Discussion Follow-up: How far will/should the government go? Last week's editorial "kicked up a ruckus," as my granddad used to say. Inevitably, some folks saw it as "singling out" the current White House even though I specifically pointed out that the trend started long before this administration took office and has been perpetuated by those on both sides of the political fence. Apparently mentioning the most recent examples makes me "paranoid" and "over the top." That's okay; all of us have opinions. I would so love to respond to the partisan political issues that were raised, but that's not the purpose of the newsletter or the editorial; it was about the use of technology by government to invade our lives - regardless of which party does it. Those who think I didn't write about these issues when the other party was in power must be new readers. As far as the actual topic goes, it seems many/most of you agree with me that too much "Big Brother" is not a good thing. For those of us who love freedom but also want to protect ourselves and our families from terrorists, it can be a difficult topic. We want to give the government the authority it needs to do that, but we also want law-abiding citizens to be left alone. Bill T. made the excellent point that governments - all governments, regardless of ideology - tend to expand their powers as much as they can. Surveillance laws that start out being about terrorism end up being used to spy on people for the pettiest of offenses, and even those who have committed no offenses at all. Of course, as I predicted, some assured us that if we're not doing anything wrong, we don't have anything to worry about and noted that those who say otherwise are being "chicken littles." And others reasonably pointed out that most of us are protected by the "big beach" theory - with 305 million people in the U.S., we generally enjoy "security through obscurity" in that the government doesn't even want to bother with such "small fry." The fact that I'm still here this week, writing another edition of WXPnews, shows that things have gotten as bad as some people fear. I love new technology. I love the many good uses to which it can be part. I'm happy when it's used appropriately (within constitutional restraints) to prevent or detect crimes and bring real criminals to justice. I appreciate the ways in which it improves my daily life and makes it easier for me to do my work. I do believe that, once in a while, it's a good idea to stop and reflect on some of the negative ramifications, to try to raise awareness of the less than legitimate purposes for which these technologies can be used. As one reader said, "by not demanding privacy and accountability from our government we, as a society, are allowing them to infringe on our lives." The first step in doing something about a problem is being aware of it. What does any of this have to do with XP? Think about it. Increasingly, the government decides what we can and can't do. XP is generally thought to be a less secure operating system than new versions of Windows. It is also thought to have fewer "copy protection" features to prevent the use of illegally downloaded songs, pirated software, etc. Is it really a big leap to think that as government exerts more and more control, it might decide to ban the use of an "insecure" OS that supposedly enables piracy? Sure, it sounds a bit incredible now, even to me - but I know that my grandparents would be absolutely amazed at some of the laws that we think nothing about today. As always, thank you to all of you who wrote on this topic! 'Til next week, Deb Shinder, Editor feedback@wxpnews.com PS: Did you know this newsletter has a sister publication called VistaNews? You can subscribe here, and tell your friends: http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090825-VistaNews And for IT pros, there's our "big sister," WServer News, at http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090825-WServerNews Join the WXPnews Fan Page on Facebook! http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090825-WXP-Facebook-Page Quotes of the Week There is only one thing a philosopher can be relied upon to do, and that is to contradict other philosophers. - William James (1842 - 1910) Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. - Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955) Enlighten the people, generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like spirits at the dawn of day. - Thomas Jefferson (1743 - 1826) Protect Your Credit Card Number From Theft Why do I need a firewall? Together with antivirus and antispyware, a firewall is a "must" to protect your computer. PC Magazine gave the Sunbelt Personal Firewall a "Very Good" rating with 4 Stars and a conclusion of "good protection". Unlike the Windows XP and Vista Firewall, you can tell the Sunbelt Personal Firewall to look carefully at the data leaving your browser, so that sensitive information like your credit card numbers, email address, bank account, social security number and PIN code do not get stolen. Benefit from our special 50% discount offer for the unlimited home site license*. Special Offer ends August 31st: http://www.vistanews.com/090820-SPF *Live in the UK? You get a 50% discount too!  Cool Tools Tools We Think You Shouldn't Be Without ADVERTISEMENT Never reinstall your XP again. New technology: no set-up, no loss of data or applications. The ultimate professional repair tool. Free PC booster with every scan, get it now! http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090825-Reimage Backups? Why back up when you can sync? Simply replicate every piece of data to another drive in real-time. Set it and forget it. http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090825-GoodSync Spotmau PowerSuite Professional 2008: Fantastic! All the tools necessary to fix most common computer problems. Clone and backup too! http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090825-PowerSuite BackBlaze is realtime back up online. Easy. Slick. $5/mo for unlimited backup space. http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090825-Backblaze WebCam Monitor : Turn your PC and Camera into a Motion /Sound Detector Video Security and Surveillance System. http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090825-WebCam-Monitor PC Tune-Up: 4 Easy Steps That Eliminate Frustrating Slow Computer Problems: http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090825-PC-Tune-Up Registry First Aid 7.0 - New Release Is Faster, Safer and Even More Effective http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090825-Registry-First-Aid Improve your English writing skills with WhiteSmoke a smarter solution for high quality writing. Download the free trial version here. http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090825-WhiteSmoke Rip DVDs for your iPod/iPhone or Apple TV. Bundle includes video converter too! Try it free! http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090825-Cucusoft Unclog Vista! Advanced Vista Optimizer will tweak Vista for Max performance. Easy to use: http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090825-AccountLogon  News, Hints, Tips and Tricks Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) client for XP If you're a remote desktop fan, you'll be happy about this: Windows 7 comes with a new remote desktop connection client, RDC 7.0, which offers much better multi-monitor support as well as media player redirection and other enhancements. Now Microsoft has announced plans to make the RDC 7.0 client software available for Windows XP, so you can have a better experience when connecting via the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) to a Windows 7 computer from your XP computer. Unfortunately, with XP you won't be able to get Aero Glass over RDP, as you can when connecting from one Windows 7 computer to another, but the upgrade is definitely worth it. RDC 7.0 will also be available for Vista. Read more here: http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090825-Remote-Desktop XP Pirates jailed Do you think Windows XP is such "old news" that nobody cares anymore if you pirate it? After all, Microsoft has ended mainstream support for the OS and the successor to its successor - Windows 7 - will be released in less than two months. Well, think again. In China, at least, that doesn't mean you can distribute illegal copies. Four men were sentenced to prison and fined for doing just that. Read more here: http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090825-Pirating-Windows-XP New graphics platform to enhance performance of nettops and netbooks Okay, almost everyone has heard of netbooks, but what about nettops? That's the name some are using to describe small form-factor, low-cost, low-powered desktop computers. I've had a nettop for a couple of years and didn't even know it: an HP mini desktop that came with Windows XP Media Center Edition, which we used as a second Media Center PC in the bedroom. It has retired from that position and now has a new job as my soon-to-be Ubuntu machine. A problem with both of the "net" type computers has been performance, including graphics performance. Nvidia's new Ion graphics platform is made specifically for these "small fry" computers and is designed to give users a better graphics experience. Read more here: http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090825-Nettop Why doesn't the new version of MovieMaker work on XP? Microsoft has recently released a new version of Windows MovieMaker, which I'll be reviewing in the next edition of our sister newsletter, VistaNews (soon to be Win7News). It has some very cool new features for creating titles, captions, credits, transitions, musical accompaniment or voiceovers, and more. You can even combine photos, video and music into a movie in one easy step with the AutoMovie feature and y ou can easily publish your movie to YouTube or Facebook, save it in HD, burn it to DVD or email it to someone else. All this, and it's free. The bad news: it doesn't work on Windows XP; you need Vista or Windows 7 to install it. I have a feeling some home video fans who aren't ready to give up XP are going to be unhappy about that. Read more here: http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090825-Windows-Movie-Maker  How To: Using XP Features How to restore the Show Desktop icon in QuickLaunch A reader recently wrote that he had accidentally deleted the "Show Desktop" icon in the QuickLaunch toolbar, and couldn't figure out how to get it back. The procedure for getting the "Show Desktop" icon back if you delete it isn't exactly intuitive. Here's what you do: Click Start | Programs | Accessories and click on Notepad to open it. Type the following, exactly as shown: [Shell] Command=2 IconFile=explorer.exe,3 [Taskbar] Command=ToggleDesktop Save the file with the name ShowDesktop.scf Drag the file's icon onto the Quick Launch toolbar (or the desktop if you prefer).  XP Security News Do you have to buy an extra copy of security software for VMs? I've been asked this question on a number of occasions. If you run virtual machine software such as Microsoft Virtual PC on XP/Vista, Windows VPC with XP Mode on Windows 7 or a third party VM program such as VMware, do you have to buy a copy of your anti-virus/anti-malware software for each VM? The answer is that it depends on the licensing agreement. Sunbelt Software's VIPRE, which has been tested and works on the XP Mode VM, allows multiple installations on VMs on the same physical computer. Read more here: http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090825-VIPRE-on-Win7  XP Question Corner Can't use the XP theme QUESTION: I know I'm one of the few people in the world who really likes the XP default look, with the bright primary colors and the rounded corners and the "bubbly" look. Trouble is, recently I started using an XP computer that was given to me by a friend, and it has the Windows Classic theme (that looks like Windows 2000) and when I try to change it, the XP theme choice isn't there. Is there a way to install it? Thanks. - Linda K. ANSWER: The most probable reason for this is that the Themes service isn't running. If it's not running, XP reverts to the classic style. Do this: Click Start | Run and type services.msc to open the Services console. In the right pane, find the Themes service and click the Start Service button. If that doesn't work, try this: right click My Computer | Properties. In the System Properties dialog box, click the Advanced tab. Under Performance, click Settings. Click the Visual Effects tab. Select "Use Visual Styles on Windows and Buttons" in the Custom box.  XP Configuration and Troubleshooting How to change the listening port for Remote Desktop By default, the Remote Desktop Connection software in Windows XP uses port 3389. You might want to change that for security purposes or because you're behind a firewall that blocks that port. You can do that with a simple registry edit, but as always, be sure to back up the registry key before making changes. Find the step by step instructions in KB article 306759 at http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090825-Listening-Port You can't configure the maximum number of concurrent SMB requests If you're using an XP Pro computer as a file server, you might encounter a problem because of the default restriction that prohibits more than ten concurrent server message block (SMB) commands, when "long term SMB requests" are used. There is a hotfix that addresses the problem, allowing you to set a registry value to enable up to 256 concurrent requests. Find out how to get it in KB article 926646 at http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090825-Max-SMB-Requests  Fav Links This Week's Links We Like. Tips, Hints And Fun Stuff Disclaimer: WXPNews does not assume and cannot be responsible for any liability related to you clicking any of these linked Web sites. Oops - sometimes "saving" a little electricity can cost a lot http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090825-Deal Funny Photoshopped animals http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090825-Animals iPhone ad you'll never see: very funny, but contains (one) bad word http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090825-iPhone Play Gravitee 2 http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090825-Gravitee Lobster boy is wowed http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090825-Lobsters Good morning, Kitty http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090825-Hello-Kitty 16 Girls + 1 Bicycle = Awesome http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090825-Acrobatics The Best Drum Show. Period. Introducing the "Top Secret Drum Corps" from Basel, Switzerland, regarded as one of the finest on the planet: http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090825-Drum-Show The wedding vows... elegant, beautiful, solemn... but... every once in a while... This is a 2 minute RIOT: http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090825-Wedding-Ceremony  Product of the Week ZipBackup: Protect your Computer's Files with ZipBackup Windows Backup Software! ZipBackup is easy to use and stores your backup in Zip format - the most common type of compressed file. ZipBackup's Wizard walks you through a simple step-by-step process for creating zip backups. You select what folders you want to backup, where to backup and you are done. Unlike other backup programs, you don't need ZipBackup to restore your data. In fact, Windows XP ships with Zip file compatibility built in. Whether you want to backup files to send to someone else, transfer your data to a new computer, or make sure you can open your backups in the future, you need ZipBackup. Download your free evaluation version. Get an exclusive WXPnews $10.00 off coupon! More features here. http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090825-ZipBackup  About WXPnews What Our Lawyers Make Us Say These documents are provided for informational purposes only. The information contained in this document represents the current view of Sunbelt Software on the issues discussed as of the date of publication. Because Sunbelt must respond to changes in market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Sunbelt and Sunbelt cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information presented after the date of publication. INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND FREEDOM FROM INFRINGEMENT. This newsletter and website and may contain links to other websites with whom we have a business relationship. Sunbelt Software does not review or screen these sites, and we are not responsible or liable for their privacy or data security practices, or the content of these sites. Additionally, if you register with any of these sites, any information that you provide in the process of registration, such as your email address, credit card number or other personally identifiable information, will be transferred to these sites. For these reasons, you should be careful to review any privacy and data security policies posted on any of these sites before providing information to them. The user assumes the entire risk as to the accuracy and the use of this document. This document may be copied and distributed subject to the following conditions: 1) All text must be copied without modification and all pages must be included; 2) All copies must contain Sunbelt's copyright notice and any other notices provided therein; and 3) This document may not be distributed for profit. All trademarks acknowledged. Copyright Sunbelt Software, Inc. 1996-2009. WXPnews Archives Looking for a past issue? Missing an issue? Accidently deleted an issue? Trying to find that article that pointed you to that cool site? All our newsletters are archived and are searchable: http://www.wxpnews.com/archives.cfm If you have feedback or wish to write to the editor, write to us at feedback@wxpnews.com Sunbelt Software 33 North Garden Avenue Clearwater, Florida USA 33755

How Far Will (and Should) the Government Go in Monitoring Online Activity?

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Vol. 9, #84 - Aug 18, 2009 - Issue #392  How Far Will (and Should) the Government Go in Monitoring Online Activity? Editor's Corner How Far Will (and Should) the Government Go in Monitoring Online Activity? Follow-up: the best web mail service Quotes of the Week Cool Tools Tools We Think You Shouldn't Be Without News, Hints, Tips and Tricks Microsoft won't drop support for IE 6 The return of HD DVD? No XP Mode for many Sony VAIO laptops How To: Using XP Features How to fix a problem where you can't see other computers on the network XP Security News IE 8 wins the browser security smackdown Apple patches more Safari security flaws XP Question Corner Can I bypass the request for password when my computer wakes up? XP Configuration and Troubleshooting Configure Device Manager to display detailed information Set Automatic Updates to prompt you before downloading updates Fav Links This Week's Links We Like. Tips, Hints And Fun Stuff Product of the Week Driver Genius Professional 9.0 Kiss Your Antivirus Bloatware Goodbye We asked users of antivirus products what they didn't like about their AV software. They told us they are resource hogs and slowed their computer down. They told us that scan times took way too long, and that the AV software nagged them. In short, old-style AV software takes too much Memory and CPU. Time to switch to VIPRE! It gives you malware protection that combines antivirus, antispyware, anti-rootkit and other technologies into a seamless, tightly-integrated product. Even if you run "free" antivirus software, it hijacks 20% of your PC, so it's really not free at all! Get VIPRE now and see how fast your PC can really be: http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090818-VIPRE  Editor's Corner How Far Will (and Should) the Government Go in Monitoring Online Activity? There have been a number of stories in the news lately which, when taken together, appear to indicate a trend that's troubling to many people. In the U.S., the current administration proposes to change a longstanding policy that prohibited the use of tracking cookies on government websites. Under the proposal, government agencies will be allowed to use single- and multi-session cookies to track users in order to "make government web sites more user friendly." http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090818-Government-Cookies Privacy advocates have a different take on the idea, and don't see it as friendly at all, but rather as a further intrusion of government into our online lives. Then there was the White House blog post that urges people who receive "scary" or "fishy" email messages opposing the healthcare bill to forward them to an email address at whitehouse.gov http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090818-Health-Insurance-Reform What will be done with those email messages? That's what privacy groups want to know. There is a federal statute that requires the White House to retain all communications it receives; on the other hand, there is also a privacy statute that prohibits the administration from collecting and storing data about political opponents. These concerns are not partisan. This disturbing trend of government snooping into our online activities started long before the current administration took office. It began in earnest in the mid-1990s, under the auspices of protecting children from online predators - certainly an admirable objective. Then came laws designed to cut down on spam, and laws designed to stop software / music / movie piracy. After the terrorist attacks of 09/11/2001, monitoring of online activities (as well as non-Internet related activities such as checking out library books) ramped up considerably - again, in response to a very real threat and with the best of intentions. It's generally accepted knowledge that email is routinely monitored by the government, in an effort to detect planning of further attacks and prevent them from happening. The problem is that once a trend like this gains momentum, it's hard to stop it. As long as it's ostensibly for a "good cause," there's no end to the level of government intrusion that can be justified. When George Orwell published the novel "Nineteen Eighty-Four in 1949, it was regarded as science fiction, something that could never happen in a democratic country. Today, there are uncomfortable parallels between the novel and our way of life: cameras mounted on street corners and "eyes in the sky" watching us when we go out in public, twisting of language by politicians on both sides of the aisle to label things the opposite of what they really are, misuse of government's power, misuse of the media to spread disinformation. At least we don't yet have cameras watching us in our own homes as they had in Orwell's fictional society. Or do we? The technology is certainly there, what with so many households having Internet connections and/or CATV connections. If you have a web cam with microphone on your computer, it could be turned on remotely to watch you while you're at the keyboard. With CATV now using two-way technologies, it wouldn't be that difficult for television makes to build a tiny camera into the set. They might not even make this public, as the automobile companies didn't go out of their ways to let consumers know about the "black box" data recorders in cars when they started including them. Speaking of cars, many now have OnStar, which is a great service that has saved lives by providing instant communications in an emergency. But how hard would it be to use that same technology to listen in on every conversation you have when you're in the vehicle, either with passengers or on your cell phone? After all, airlines have voice recorders in the cockpit, so it could be sold to the public as an accident investigation aid, to help determine what was going on prior to a crash. Is it a giant leap to consider that it could also be used to detect when drivers are doing something against the law, such as talking on that cell phone or drinking a beer? We already have citations issued for running red lights on the basis of a camera's "testimony." And it's for a good cause - to make the streets safer for us all. Never mind that it would also be an ideal way for the government to snoop on your conversations and take note of those who are opposed to government policies. Cell phones are almost ubiquitous now. There's been talking of making your cell phone number a de facto national ID number and many organizations now look you up in their databases by phone number rather than name. It makes sense, because there could be hundreds or thousands of people with the same name, but your phone number is unique to you, at least at a given time. When land lines were the norm, whole families shared a number but today, in many families, each member has a cell phone and individual number. A relatively new and popular feature in cell phones is GPS navigation. But even if your phone isn't fancy enough to have that, it probably has GPS technology that allows the phone to be tracked. Once again, it's for the best of causes; it allows you to be located if you're kidnapped or on the side of the road, bleeding, after a car wreck, or otherwise in trouble. It allows your phone to be located if you lose it. But it could also be used to keep track of where you go as you go about your business every day. And it's also possible for its microphone to be remotely activated so someone on the other end can listen to you and what's going on around you when you aren't even on the phone. Of course, there are cameras built into most phones now, too ... you can see where this is going. I've written about this topic before, and each time I get some mail from readers who call me "paranoid" and think I'm advocating a return to life without all the great technology that makes this possible. I don't blame the technology - governments have been oppressing citizens since the beginning. They don't have to have the Internet and cell phones and electronic gadgets to do it; those things just make it a little easier. As for paranoia, maybe it's because I worked in government, in law enforcement, that I worry about this. I know from experience that there will be some who will disregard the rules, who believe the end justifies the means, and who would like nothing less than total control. But tell me what you think. Are things getting worse, or is that just a bunch of political propaganda from those who lost the last election? Is increasing government control inevitable, regardless of who's in charge? Does it even matter ("if you aren't doing anything wrong, you don't have anything to fear")? Do you ever worry about your cool technological gadgets being used to spy on you? Are you worried enough to give them up, or to take steps to ameliorate the risk (such as taking the battery out of your phone when you aren't using it - assuming you have a phone with a removable battery - or unplugging your webcam from the USB port when it's not in use)? We invite you to discuss this topic on our forums at http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090818-Forum-Discussion Follow-up: the best web mail service As expected, last week's editorial regarding my experiences with the top three web mail services - Hotmail, Gmail and Yahoo - drew many comments from readers who defended their own favorites. Although my article ended with "It's really just a matter of personal preference. All three services work," some readers aren't as tolerant. TexasToast wrote, "I honestly can't stand to read a review that is written by someone who isn't able or willing to try something new and who penalizes something just because it doesn't work the way you're used to. These are the people who won't upgrade past Office 2003 because they 'hate the ribbon' even though those who actually give it a chance end up thinking it's the best thing since sliced peanut butter." How funny, considering that I've been one of the biggest advocates of the Office Ribbon interface and am currently using Office 2010 and loving it. Looks like maybe I'm not the only one who has "prejudices and expectations." Then Pixelstuff said, "I will say however, that the author forgot to mention (even though bragging about the feature in Outlook) that Yahoo has both folders and labels (or tags). Then second, Gmail has drag and drop abilities making it very similar to the way folders function. Since both of those features were implied to be missing and therefore short comings I'm wondering how long ago the big three providers were tested for this article." Well, as I said in the first paragraph of the article: "Meanwhile, this past week I spent some time with the three most popular webmail services." And in the ninth paragraph of the article, I said, "You can drag and drop messages onto the label ...". Do these folks just not read or what? I have no emotional or monetary investment in any of the web mail services. I think you should use the one that works best for you. While I expressed my personal dislike of the Gmail interface, nowhere did I say or imply that those who prefer it are stupid, backward, etc. so I really don't understand exactly why (some) members of the Gmail crowd are making it into a partisan issue. Based on some other readers' comments, I'm obviously not the only person in the world who just doesn't like the way Gmail works. As for those who brought up security issues related to preview panes, those are legitimate concerns. However, as long as you don't single click a message that's from someone you don't know and trust, it's not a problem. There's no more reason to single click on a suspicious message and preview it than there is to double click it and open it. In addition, if your mail client has a setting to render in plain text only, previewing or opening most any message is safe. The preview pane simply makes it easier and more convenient to read those messages you choose to read, without the extra steps. One good thing about controversy is that it results in a lot of lively discussion, and we got a ton of forum comments on this one. I love reasoned debate and enjoy reading why people have different opinions. I just wish everyone would stick to the subject at hand rather than bashing other people for their opinions. And if wishes were horses ... . :) Thanks to all of you who participated in the discussions of this topic. 'Til next week, Deb Shinder, Editor feedback@wxpnews.com PS: Did you know this newsletter has a sister publication called VistaNews? You can subscribe here, and tell your friends: http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090818-VistaNews And for IT pros, there's our "big sister," WServer News, at http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090818-WServerNews Look up the WXPnews Fan Page and join us on Facebook! Quotes of the Week Perhaps in time the so-called Dark Ages will be thought of as including our own. - Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742 - 1799) Sometimes the appropriate response to reality is to go insane. - Philip K. Dick (1928 - 1982) You don't stop laughing because you grow old. You grow old because you stop laughing. - Michael Pritchard Keep The Bad Guys Out With The Sunbelt Personal Firewall Why do I need a firewall? Together with antivirus and antispyware, a firewall is a "must" to protect your computer. PC Magazine gave the Sunbelt Personal Firewall a "Very Good" rating with 4 Stars and a conclusion of "good protection". Check out the Reviews on the site and it will be clear why you need the Sunbelt Personal Firewall to protect your PC. One good example: Unlike the Windows XP and Vista Firewall, you can tell the Sunbelt Personal Firewall to look carefully at the data leaving your browser, so that sensitive information like your credit card numbers, email address, bank account, social security number and PIN code do not get stolen by hackers! http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090818-SPF  Cool Tools Tools We Think You Shouldn't Be Without ADVERTISEMENT Backups? Why back up when you can sync? Simply replicate every piece of data to another drive in real-time. Set it and forget it. http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090818-GoodSync Spotmau PowerSuite Professional 2008: Fantastic! All the tools necessary to fix most common computer problems. Clone and backup too! http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090818-PowerSuite BackBlaze is realtime back up online. Easy. Slick. $5/mo for unlimited backup space. http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090818-BackBlaze WebCam Monitor: Turn your PC and Camera into a Motion/Sound Detector Video Security and Surveillance System. http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090818-WebCam PC Tune-Up: 4 Easy Steps That Eliminate Frustrating Slow Computer Problems: http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090818-PC-Tune-Up Registry First Aid 7.0 - New Release Is Faster, Safer and Even More Effective http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090818-Registry-First-Aid Improve your English writing skills with WhiteSmoke a smarter solution for high quality writing. Download the free trial version here. http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090818-WhiteSmoke Rip DVDs for your iPod/iPhone or Apple TV. Bundle includes video converter too! Try it free! http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090818-Cucusoft Unclog Vista! Advanced Vista Optimizer will tweak Vista for Max performance. Easy to use: http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090818-AccountLogon  News, Hints, Tips and Tricks Microsoft won't drop support for IE 6 Many Windows XP users are also still using Internet Explorer 6, which came with the OS, even though two subsequent versions have been released. IE 7 suffered from some stability problems that were never fully resolved, and although IE 8 fixed most of those and added some compelling new features, some folks are just happy with what they've got and don't want to change. Microsoft reassured those people recently in a post in the IEBlog that said, in part, "Dropping support for IE6 is not an option because we are committed to supporting the IE included with Windows for the lifespan of the product." Read more here: http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090818-IE6-Support The return of HD DVD? Well, sort of. It seems Toshiba has licensed the technology in China and the players are outselling Blu-ray by a 3 to 1 margin. And why not? The discs cost a fourth as much BRDs. I leaned toward HD DVD in the high def format wars, and my side lost (or so I thought). We have Blu-ray players now, but we buy very few Blu-ray movies. The Sony player also upconverts regular DVDs very nicely and for all but the most "special" movies, that quality is more than good enough. If I could get HD movies for the same price as DVDs, though, I'd certainly buy them. Will the new CBHD (China Blue High Def) format spread around the world? We can only hope. Read more here: http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090818-HD-DVD No XP Mode for many Sony VAIO laptops If you're considering moving from XP to Windows 7 but you have applications that need to run in XP, the free "XP Mode" virtual machine that's available to Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate users makes it possible. But there's a catch. Even if you have the right OS edition, not all computers will run Windows Virtual PC, which is the basis for XP Mode. The processor has to have Intel VT or AMD-V hardware virtualization, and the computer maker has to provide a way to turn it on in the BIOS. Many Sony laptop owners are unhappy to learn that their machines have VT disabled, with no way to enable it. Sony reps say it's about security. Read more here: http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090818-Win7-Sony-Laptops  How To: Using XP Features How to fix a problem where you can't see other computers on the network If your XP computer can't view other computers in your workgroup, but you can ping other computers and they can ping you, you may be able to fix the problem by editing the registry. As always, be sure to back up the registry before you make changes to it. Then follow these steps: Click Start | Run In the Run box, type regedit to start the registry editor Navigate to the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Services \ NetBt \ Parameters In the right details pane, find the values named NodeType and DhcpNodeType and delete them Close the registry editor and restart the computer.  XP Security News IE 8 wins the browser security smackdown It's bound to make a lot of Microsoft bashers unhappy, but recent testing by an independent security company shows IE8 to be better than Firefox, Safari, Opera or Chrome when it comes to blocking phishing sites. Safari ended up at the bottom of the list. You can read more here: http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090818-Browser-Security Apple patches more Safari security flaws If you do happen to use the Safari browser, be sure you've got the latest update from Apple, which patches six critical security vulnerabilities, including a buffer overflow vulnerability and three problems in the browser's Webkit engine. Find out more here: http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090818-Safari-Flaws  XP Question Corner Can I bypass the request for password when my computer wakes up? QUESTION: I have a Windows XP computer and I have it set up to go to Standby when I'm not using it, to save on the power bills. But when I wake it up, I have to put in my password. I'm the only one in the house so there's not a problem where anybody else would be looking at it without my permission. Is there a way I can turn this off? Thanks. - Jill P. ANSWER: If you're in a work environment or share a home with others who shouldn't have access to your desktop, the password protection feature is useful. But if you don't need it, it can be annoying. Here's how to change the setting so you won't be prompted for a password when the computer resumes from standby: Click Start | Run In the Run box, type powercfg.cpl or open the Control Panel Power Management applet Click the Advanced tab Clear the checkbox that says "Prompt for password when computer resumes from standby." Click OK.  XP Configuration and Troubleshooting Configure Device Manager to display detailed information The Device Manager is often used to troubleshoot problems you might be having with peripherals or components such as your sound or video card, network adapter, etc. Sometimes you might wish to see more details than you get in the default view. Well, there is a way to configure Device Manager to tell you more by using a command line utility. Find out how to do it in KB article 304514 at http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090818-Device-Manager Set Automatic Updates to prompt you before downloading updates You know you should keep your XP computer updated with critical security patches and other updates, but you may not want to download updates you don't need or intend to install, especially if you're on a low bandwidth connection. In that case, you can set up Auto Updates to prompt you before downloading available updates. You'll be able to select the ones you want to download from a list. Find out how to change this setting in KB article 283629 at http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090818-Automatic-Updates  Fav Links This Week's Links We Like. Tips, Hints And Fun Stuff Disclaimer: WXPNews does not assume and cannot be responsible for any liability related to you clicking any of these linked Web sites. 10 Microsoft applications that bit the dust (or soon will) http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090818-Microsoft-Applications Indian spider man climbs walls http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090818-Spider-Man Here's one way to get a flat screen TV http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090818-Flat-Screen Pistol shrimp uses claw as sonic weapon http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090818-WeirdNature Mom! There's a bear in the pool! http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090818-Swimming-Bear How to screw up a video job interview http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090818-Job-Interview "Awesome" doesn't begin to describe this. What happens when you point the Hubble Space Telescope to a seemingly blank patch of sky? A view that takes you to the edge of the universe - This HD video is a must-see: http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090818-Hubble-3D Incredible low level (under the radar) flying by French Air Force Mirage F-1 jet pilots over Chad, Africa: http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090818-Jets Bruno Kammerl built the biggest waterslide on earth in the Bavarian Alps and the test run was more than successful. This is the full version of the video. You tell me if this is real or very good video editing: http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090818-Waterslide Fan of True Blood? Sunbelt staffers created a blog that has become the most popular place to discuss this show. Check it out here: http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090818-True-Blood  Product of the Week Driver Genius Professional 9.0 Are your Outdated Drivers Slowing Down your PC? Find out with our Free PC Driver Check! Keeping your Drivers up to date is an essential step to keep your PC running smoothly. When drivers get out of date, your PC can become unstable and you may experience frequent crashes, frozen applications and slow boot up times. Driver Genius Professional takes the hassle out of managing your drivers and will automatically backup, update and restore all your PC drivers. Over 80,000 devices. Start Your Free Driver Scan now and find out how if you have outdated drivers that may be causing you problems with your computer! http://www.wxpnews.com/3UDXV2/090818-Driver-Genius  About WXPnews What Our Lawyers Make Us Say These documents are provided for informational purposes only. The information contained in this document represents the current view of Sunbelt Software on the issues discussed as of the date of publication. Because Sunbelt must respond to changes in market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Sunbelt and Sunbelt cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information presented after the date of publication. INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND FREEDOM FROM INFRINGEMENT. This newsletter and website and may contain links to other websites with whom we have a business relationship. Sunbelt Software does not review or screen these sites, and we are not responsible or liable for their privacy or data security practices, or the content of these sites. Additionally, if you register with any of these sites, any information that you provide in the process of registration, such as your email address, credit card number or other personally identifiable information, will be transferred to these sites. For these reasons, you should be careful to review any privacy and data security policies posted on any of these sites before providing information to them. The user assumes the entire risk as to the accuracy and the use of this document. This document may be copied and distributed subject to the following conditions: 1) All text must be copied without modification and all pages must be included; 2) All copies must contain Sunbelt's copyright notice and any other notices provided therein; and 3) This document may not be distributed for profit. All trademarks acknowledged. Copyright Sunbelt Software, Inc. 1996-2009. WXPnews Archives Looking for a past issue? Missing an issue? Accidently deleted an issue? Trying to find that article that pointed you to that cool site? All our newsletters are archived and are searchable: http://www.wxpnews.com/archives.cfm If you have feedback or wish to write to the editor, write to us at feedback@wxpnews.com Sunbelt Software 33 North Garden Avenue Clearwater, Florida USA 33755