In a time when USA Today and "CNN Headlines" news-bite journalism ladles out daily events in forgettable, teaspoon-sized tidbits, we forget that most stories don't end when they see print. In fact, some of the more interesting twists and turns of current events occur after headlines have turned to fish wrap. With that in mind, it seems like a good time to catch up on past events covered in this space, as well as introduce a few new ones.
Back in February, for instance, I took a gander at the problem of conflicting Internet domain site names. Making the news at the time were domain names like "ronald@macdonalds.com," and "mci.net" that had been registered by individuals having scant connections with the obvious namesakes. More recently, the Council of Better Business Bureaus was beaten to the punch by Mark Sloo, who registered "bbb.com" and "bbb.org." Miffed at having to settle for "cbbb.org," the Council claimed trademark violation and launched a lawsuit against Sloo and Tyrell Corp., Sloo's Internet provider. In a press release, the Council crowed that "the BBB, which operates on behalf of an ethical marketplace, issued a warning to unethical entrepreneurs attempting to transact business in the new 'cyberspace' marketplace." With the weight of BBB lawyers leaning heavily on his pocketbook, Sloo transferred registration of bbb.com and bbb.org to the Better Business Bureau.
Speaking of trademarks, in July, I railed against Microsoft's heavy-handed (and selective) enforcement of its trademark for the term "bookshelf." Exhibiting rare good sense, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office recently said "no" to three gold diggers who tried to trademark "Air McNair," the nickname of football player Steve McNair. Although trademarks are traditionally granted on a first-come/first-served basis, the PTO ruled that commercial use of McNair's nickname would be prohibited without his written consent. The trio of disappointed entrepreneurs (none named "McNair") admitted their intent was to line their pockets with McNair's signing bonus.
Unfortunately, the PTO wasn't seeing as clearly when it granted a patent to Dr. Samuel Pallin, an Arizona ophthalmologist, for a unique incision he developed for cataract surgery. After receiving the patent, Pallin began suing and demanding royalties from physicians who used the procedure. The American Medical Association, for its part, has issued a statement declaring patenting of medical procedures to be unethical.
Patents were also in the eye of the storm in April, when CompuServe started asking for royalties for use of its LZW-based, GIF file-format specification. After developers cried foul, CompuServe kicked into high gear its plans to dump GIF in favor of PNG (described in "PNG: The Portable Network Graphic Format," by Lee Daniel Crocker, DDJ, July 1995). PNG is free and open, and available for use without fear of patent infringement. The online provider also announced it will provide a freely distributable PNG-based toolkit that will include a GIF-to-PNG conversion utility.
It was graphic language, not graphic images, that landed Jake Baker in hot water, as discussed in May. Baker--a University of Michigan student who posted an Internet story describing abduction, torture, and mutilation--ill-advisedly used the name of a classmate in his story, and the university and FBI took him seriously. He was kicked out of school, charged with interstate transmission of a threat to injure, and held without bond. Federal Judge Avern Cohn, who proved to be more interested in meting out justice than grabbing headlines, threw out the case, saying it should have been handled as a disciplinary matter by the university. Baker has since enrolled in an Ohio school.
Dan Farmer, on the other hand, was canned from his job at Silicon Graphics not for what he said, but for what he did. Farmer, as discussed in the June issue, released onto the Internet a program called "Satan" that analyzes networks for security holes. Satan and its creator were in the headlines for the requisite 15 minutes, then quietly drifted out of the limelight.
But before Farmer had to start standing in breadlines, he was snapped up by Sun Microsystems. Along with Tsutomu Shimomura and Whitfield Diffie, Farmer is testing the vulnerability of Sun's Java language and SunScreen security technology. (SunScreen is designed to enable credit-card numbers and other sensitive data to be safely transmitted over the Internet. For information on Java, see "Java and Internet Programming," by Arthur van Hoff, DDJ, August 1995, and "Net Gets a Java Buzz," by Ray Valdés, Dr. Dobb's Developer Update, August 1995.) Good. Farmer is off the street, and Shimomura is busy at something productive instead of signing book and movie deals about his part in tracking down infamous computer criminal Kevin Mitnick.
And speaking of Mitnick, America's most wanted digital rapscallion signed a deal of his own--a plea bargain which will net him eight months in the slammer, instead of a possible 20 years. Since Mitnick will probably be back on the networks and looking for a job next year, maybe Sun ought to put him on the payroll, too.
Jonathan Erickson
editor-in-chief
Copyright © 1995, Dr. Dobb's Journal