TCP (Transmission by Carrier Pigeons) and by Snails

Just as we were talking about pigeons as TCP carriers, I end up sitting beside one here at the Grind as I read Dan Gillmor's article refering to an Israeli study of pigeons, "PEI (Pigeon Enabled Internet) is FASTER then ADSL" and of snails, "Snails are faster than ADSL (and Pigeons).

RIAA vs UNC and NCSU

"A federal judge in North Carolina handed the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) a legal defeat in its effort to learn the identities of two students accused of illegal file sharing. The RIAA had sought the identities from the students' universities, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University, under an expedited subpoena process the group has since abandoned. In a December 2003 decision, another federal judge had rejected the expedited subpoenas, which did not require a judge's signature, ruling that Verizon could not be forced to disclose identities of its customers. In their capacity as Internet service providers (ISPs) for students, universities were given similar protection from the expedited subpoenas. In this case, Judge Russell A. Eliason ruled that an ISP that does not store information but merely transmits it cannot be compelled under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to reveal identities of its users. After the 2003 decision, the RIAA began filing individual "John Doe" lawsuits for illegal file sharing. Under that process, which costs the RIAA more time and money than the other, ISPs can be forced to turn over identities of users."

Chronicle of Higher Education, 22 April 2005 (sub. req'd)

China: Protesters and Police SMS each other

After SMS and email messages were used to organize crowds that resulted in anit-Japan marches and riots in Shanghai and other cities, the Chinese police are fighting back by sending warning SMS to everyone.
But will that have any effect on the marchers who have been communicating for weeks under the governments's radar?
Is this an example of a Smart Mob or just a mob and an attempt at mob control?
See the full article in today's NYTimes.

Cars to rat on drivers

The United Arab Emirates has a traffic problem. The abnormally high rate of traffic-related deaths there has resulted in a multi-year program to use technology, specifically telematics and GPS, in the form of a black box that evaluates, reports and warns drivers if they are out of line.
IBM is the winner of a four year contract to install tens of thousands of these black boxes in UAE cars and trucks.
But that's not all the information from the boxes has many uses. "The data gathered by the devices can be used not only by the government to monitor traffic habits, but also by commercial companies to offer consumer-related services such as rental cars and hotels" writes Martin LaMonica at CNet.
For more see: "IBM Car Tech to Nab Speeders"

Raleigh Man Sentenced to 9 Years in Prison for Spamming

ABC News is running an article wherein Jeremy Jaynes of Raleigh, NC, has been sentenced to 9 years in prison by a Virgina judge for sending an average of 10 million emails a day. Read up on it here.

So, anyone know him?

Raleigh discovers the Joy of TXT

News and Observer reporter, Matt Ehlers, discovers that people in Raleigh use SMS -- he refers to this as "texting" -- to flit and stay in touch with their sweeties.
Not quite "toothing" but something that I've seen in my own classes (but please don't try it in our class).
The article does raise an interesting language question: Are you a more effective flirt if you say/write less?

Anonymous Blogging HOW-TO

In the wake of Apple's treat and suit of bloggers, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has developed guidelines for anonymous blogging.

Should you blog anonymously or should you be responsible for your thoughts no matter the risk?

Bluetooth Sex Fraud

Last year, British readers were shocked to see an article describing how bluetooth was used for finding easy sex. Thanks to wire services the story spread worldwide quickly. Now "toothing" has been revealed to be a giant hoax.
The article in the Register about the hoax also disses Rheingold's Smart Mobs story on the role of SMS in the Phillipines. The writer notes that the price of a voice call in the Phillipines drove people to use SMS. Had voice been cheaper, he writes, people organizing by "phone" would have been the non-story.