Inside Todays Bytes:
•AOL limits free Netscape Radio listening
•Funny how no one mentioned US universal broadband access will cost billions of $$$
•No Net Taxes? Why Not?
•An alarming barrier for VoIP adoption
•Broadband World Forum Opens in Seoul on Monday
•Microsoft unveils new antipiracy tools
•Apple, Symantec releases fixes for flaws
•What happens when you give 1600 students remote access to your schools computer?
•More industry news, interesting TidBytes inside!...

•What happens when you give 1600 students remote access to your schools computer?:
Giving about 1600 male students remote internet access to their school's computer system is a recipe for disaster. Due to the huge numbers of students and staff with access from laptops or home computers, Marist College, one of Australia's most prestigious private schools, at one stage recorded up to 200 virus attacks within an hour.
•Apple, Symantec releases fixes for flaws:
Apple Computer has released a fix for a flaw in its QuickTime software which was discovered and notified to it by eEye Digital Security in February. Meanwhile, Symantec has released a fix for one of the security flaws discovered by eEye in its products, the exploiting of which could have led to a severe denial of service.
•Microsoft unveils new antipiracy tools:
Microsoft will release details of a long-delayed update to its content protection technology, offering new features aimed at bringing piracy-proof digital content to mobile devices and home networks. Originally expected as long as a year ago, the technology, code named Janus, has been seen as a way to let subscription music services such as Napster and Rhapsody move to portable MP3 players.
•Broadband World Forum Opens in Seoul on Monday:
The Broadband World Forum 2004 will open on Monday at Seoul’s COEX Intercontinental Hotel with around 1,200 businessmen and scholars from 65 countries taking part in four-day event. The forum was initiated in 2001 by the International Engineering Consortium (IEC) to boost the global information industry and especially the high-speed Internet-related businesses.
•Phishing Scams Get Savvier:
Scammers are now taking phishing to the next level. An example of this new approach is an e-mail that began circulating last week that tries installing a Trojan named Sepuc. The e-mail has no subject and no text in the body. When opened, code hidden in the email attempts to exploit a known vulnerability in IE to force a download from a remote machine. This file then downloads more code and installs a Trojan capable of harvesting data and sending it to a remote machine. The most worrisome aspect is that victims would have no idea that they did anything wrong.
•Bigger is not cheaper for wireless companies:
A forthcoming study finds it's more expensive for bigger wireless companies to sign up new customers. For every million subscribers to a company, it pays another $1.15 for each new subscriber, according to a study by Yankee Group. On average, wireless companies pay $334 to sign up new customers.
•BBC takes first steps towards making all TV programs available on the internet:
Later this month the BBC will launch a pilot project that will be the first step in a process that could lead to all television programs being made available on the internet. Viewers will be able to scan a guide on their computer screens and download any show they want to see. Programmes will be viewable on a computer screen, or could be burned onto a DVD to be watched through a television set.
•Eastern Pennsylvania electric company readying BPL:
Allentown's PPL Corp. started testing BPL service about a year ago in Whitehall Township and Emmaus in the Lehigh Valley. Some customers in Northampton County got the service in the fall. The fourth test recently began in Upper Macungie Township. The utility company said that for now, it is selling the service for a base price of about $40 a month. Customers can expect speeds equivalent to DSL service,
•No Net Taxes? Why Not?:
Supporters of a tax-free Web claim that new taxes will keep families from signing up for fast Internet access. But is that really true? A 2003 University of Tennessee study found that households were about as likely to have Web access in states that taxed ISP fees as in those that didn't. Are consumers who happily spend $100 a month for cable TV, $40 for cell-phone service, and still more for their TiVo and their satellite radio subscriptions, really going to end up in the ditch beside the digital highway over another couple of bucks?
•IRS Warns Taxpayers of Fraudulent E-Mail:
The IRS warned consumers about an identity theft operation that tries to elicit personal information from taxpayers by sending e-mails alleging they're the subject of a tax investigation. The official-looking e-mail tells recipients they can dispute the tax fraud charge by logging onto a web site and providing info like Social Security numbers, credit card numbers and driver's license numbers. Neither the Treasury Department nor the IRS send e-mails to taxpayers about issues related to their accounts.
•AOL limits free Netscape Radio listening:
AOL has crippled the free Netscape Radio service, allowing non-AOL listeners only one hour a day, and using it as a sales tool for their Radio@AOL unlimited service and Internet service. AOL blames the cost of the fees paid to the record labels in order to stream music: "Radio@Netscape needs to pay fees to the recording industry and ultimately the artists who make the music you enjoy. By putting a daily limit on listening, we can continue to provide you with the best FREE online music experience, with limited commercial interruptions, while still keeping our costs in check".
•Sprint unveils flexible wireless pricing plan:
Sprint said on Monday it would offer a mobile phone pricing plan that automatically gives users extra blocks of time at reduced rates if they use more than their monthly limit. A typical version of its new plan would offer 300 minutes of usage a month for $35. If a customer used up all 300 minutes, Sprint would automatically add more time in blocks of 25 or 50 minutes for $2.50, up to 1,250 per month.

•An alarming barrier for VoIP adoption:
Some industry analysts have begun to predict the death of traditional voice service, but don't count on it. Two problems are involved. The first is that unlike conventional phones, IP phones do not receive power from the central station, and in the event of a loss of power the phone service will not work. The other problem is that VoIP totally disrupts alarm system communication with the central monitoring station. Digital options that enable alarm systems to communicate over a DSL or cable modem line have come on the market, but it adds substantial cost to an alarm system.
•Wi-Fi Added To Personal Video Recorder:
Sharp has released a digital personal video recorder (PVR) in Japan that has built-in Wi-Fi access for distributing video. Besides connecting to a home WLAN, the PVR provides WPA security and acts as an access point.
•Broadcom simplifies Wi-Fi security set-up:
Broadcom unveiled software that it says will make setting up secure WLANs significantly easier. SecureEZsetup provides a simple two-step set-up wizard that configures both the access point and the PC client using WPA. Broadcom acknowledged that there was an inherent security flaw in the system - the initial wireless link between the client and the access point. But Broadcom had minimised the risk of interception, making the two talk to each other literally as briefly as possible until they re-associate over a secure connection.
•PlusNet ups ante in UK broadband price war, launches £14.99 capped package:
PlusNet has detailed Full-fat 512k broadband access at £14.99 month, but limited to 1gb of bandwidth per month. PlusNet has also announced that for a limited introductory period there will be no charge for those moving to the new product from their other broadband providers.
•Funny how no one mentioned US universal broadband access will cost billions of $$$:
This week, President Bush called for universal broadband service across the United States by 2007, but neglected to mention the billions of dollars necessary to implement it. This oversight means that his "vision" is simply a hope without a real, achievable plan. In fact, the uncertainty over how to pay for it is likely to make it harder to achieve universal broadband.

Other TidBytes:
Google Traffic Appeared To Slow SEC Site 900%
Google's hard bargain
Plugging the Linux holes
Calif. Senate passes RFID measure
AT&T Joins the Growing E-Mail Archiving Business
Irish government claims Open Source too expensive
Barnes & Noble.com fixes site security breach
Bill Gates 'can't stop spam'