July 26, 2000 - From Minnesota Public Radio, this is Future Tense for Tuesday, July 25th. I'm Jon Gordon. Today, U.S. officials move to calm fears about an Internet surveillance system. -- Government officials say the FBI's "Carnivore" is merely a small-scale device with limited powers and insists that fears of sweeping online surveillance are overblown. Carnivore allows law enforcement agencies to find and follow the e-mails of a criminal suspect among the flood of other data passing through an Internet service provider. Privacy advocates say the program casts a net so wide that innocent people could be monitored by the FBI. The FBI's Donald Kerr told a House Judiciary subcommittee public safety depends increasingly on electronic surveillance, but said the FBI uses Carnivore sparingly. U-S Attorney General Janet Reno two weeks ago ordered a review of Carnivore to determine whether it infringes on privacy rights. Critics remain skeptical. The American Civil Liberties Union has asked for a look at the program's source code so it can evaluate the system's capabilities. The ACLU's Barry Steinhardt comments.
July 25, 2000 - From Minnesota Public Radio, this is Future Tense for Monday, July 24th. I'm Jon Gordon. Today, is Napster good for the recording industry? -- The recording industry wants the song-swapping software company Napster shut down. It believes Napster encourages widespread theft of copyrighted music. But now a new study from research firm Jupiter Communications says record labels have little to worry about.
July 20, 2000 - From Minnesota Public Radio, this is Future Tense for Wednesday July 19th. I'm Jon Gordon. Today, Microsoft and digital media. First the news... --- Consumers might have an easier time keeping spam out of their email inboxes under a bill passed by the House. The bill requires those sending unsolicited commercial electronic (UCE) mail messages to provide a valid return electronic mail address so recipients can serve notice that they want to be taken off the mailing list. The bill includes stiff fines for spammers. The Senate has not yet voted on the measure. --- Microsoft says researchers have found a new way to infect Microsoft Outlook e-mail. Unlike other viruses, the e-mail user need not click on an attachment or read the mail to activate the virus. Simply downloading one's e-mail is enough. Microsoft says it's working on a fix.
July 19, 2000 - From Minnesota Public Radio, this is Future Tense for Wednesday July 19th. I'm Jon Gordon. Today, Microsoft and digital media. First the news... --- Consumers might have an easier time keeping spam out of their email inboxes under a bill passed by the House. The bill requires those sending unsolicited commercial electronic (UCE) mail messages to provide a valid return electronic mail address so recipients can serve notice that they want to be taken off the mailing list. The bill includes stiff fines for spammers. The Senate has not yet voted on the measure. --- Microsoft says researchers have found a new way to infect Microsoft Outlook e-mail. Unlike other viruses, the e-mail user need not click on an attachment or read the mail to activate the virus. Simply downloading one's e-mail is enough. Microsoft says it's working on a fix.
July 10, 2000 - This is Future Tense for Monday, July 10th. I'm Jon Gordon. Today, is your privacy at risk when dotcoms fail?
July 7, 2000 - From Minnesota Public Radio, this is Future Tense for Friday, July 7th. I'm Jon Gordon. Today, making your voice heard with TellThemNow.com A Seattle Internet company allows you to tell politicians, stars, business people, and journalists what you think of them, without having to find the email addresses yourself. You can send email from the TellThemNow.com Web site, or from news sites that include the TellThemNow service. The online version of the Seattle Times, for example, includes a little TellThemNow box next to every story. All you have to do is plug in the name of the person to whom you wish to vent. Wiley Brooks is the company's founder.
July 5, 2000 - From Minnesota Public Radio, this is Future Tense. I'm Jon Gordon. Today, suped up walkie talkies.
July 3, 2000 - This is Future Tense for Monday, July 3rd. I'm Jon Gordon. New technology from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory will make searching for life on mars a more practical task. Sensor Webs, as we hear in the report from Shawnee Barnes in Los Angeles, have lots of other applications. A final note...A twenty-something computer systems manager who legally changed his name to "DotComGuy" to reflect his online life is halfway to his goal. Six months ago, the 26-year-old rented a Dallas town house and said he'd live off e-commerce for a year -- and wouldn't leave the "Dotcompound." From a stark beginning, DotComGuy has acquired a workout room,
June 29, 2000 - This is Future Tense for Thursday June 29th. I'm Jon Gordon. Today, a toy inventor who plans to blast himself into space. Brian Walker of Bend, Oregon. This is Future Tense. I'm Jon Gordon.
June 28, 2000 - Internet cookies from Uncle Sam. Internet privacy campaigner Jason Catlett. In the news today, America Online it will appeal a judge's order allowing hourly AOL subscribers to pursue a class-action suit over allegedly excessive billing charges caused by pop-up advertisements. The lawsuit claims at least 2.5 million subscribers have been overcharged between $15 million to $20 million because pop-up ads appeared after they began to pay for additional time beyond their monthly limits, effectivley forcing subscribers to pay for the privilege of reading unwelcome ads.