Stopping the Spoofing
Microsoft has drafted a specification entitled "Caller ID for E-Mail: The Next Step to Deterring Spam," designed to combat domain spoofing (http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/twc/privacy/spam_callerid.mspx). The proposal calls for outgoing e-mail servers to be listed in DNS directories, and for incoming servers to verify that the machine sending the message is actually under the control of the domain named in the "sender" header. AOL is testing a similar approach with its Sender Policy Framework. Meanwhile, Yahoo's proposed "DomainKeys" system would digitally sign messages and reject any in which the sender or message content is altered. The IETF is evaluating antispoofing proposals and will push for standardization. It will be difficult, however, to implement sender authentication without breaking some convenient e-mail features. Mailing lists and mobile devices, for instance, would need to add special headers to avoid the appearance of domain spoofing, and mail-forwarding services would not work as seamlessly.
Early PARC Researchers Receive Award
The National Academy of Engineering has awarded this year's Charles Stark Draper Prize to Alan Kay, Butler Lampson, Robert Taylor, and Charles Thacker for the role they played in the development of personal computers while researchers at Xerox PARC (http://www.nae.edu/awards/). According to NAE president William Wulf, "these four prize recipients were the indispensable core of an amazing group of engineering minds that redefined the nature and purpose of computing." The four will share the $500,000 award that honors engineers whose accomplishments have significantly benefited society.
Morse Code Meets the Internet
The International Telecommunications Union (http://www.itu.int/) has voted to add a new sign to Morse Code, the "commat," which represents the @ symbol. The Morse Code standard has not been modified since before World War II, but the new character, which must still be approved by the ITU member states, will let ham radio enthusiasts exchange e-mail addresses via Morse Code. The commat is short for "commercial at," as, before the advent of the Web, the sign was most often used for pricing and invoicing. The Morse Code implementation of the symbol is an A (dot-dash) plus a C (dash-dot-dash-dot).
Eclipse Goes Solo
The Eclipse Foundation (http://www.eclipse.org/), originally an offshoot of IBM, is now an independent, not-for-profit corporation. Work on the Eclipse tools platform and its associated projects will be guided by Requirements, Architecture, and Planning councils. A board of directors, led by a full-time executive director, will oversee and staff the organization. The new Eclipse board of directors is formed of four types of members. Ericsson, HP, IBM, Intel, MontaVista Software, QNX, SAP, and Serena Software are "strategic developers" that pay dues to the Eclipse Foundation and hold seats on the board. "Add-in providers" also pay dues but are subject to much less stringent requirements. There are nearly 40 add-in providers, who can elect representatives to the board. Lastly, two representatives on the board are "committers"—active programmers elected from the pool of all those who have write-access to the code. ("Associates" pay no dues and have no voting rights.) One of the first duties of the new board is to elect an executive director.
China Looks Inward for Software
In an effort to promote and support its growing domestic software industry, China reportedly will soon enact a law requiring minimum levels—perhaps as much as 70 percent—of software purchased by the government be developed in China. According to the Financial Express, the Chinese software market is as much as $30 billion and growing. For several years, China has provided grants to any software companies. China Laboratory, an independent software consulting firm in China, reports the Ministry of Science and Technology will invest more than $60 million for software by 2005, and the Ministry of Information Industry more than $12 million.
Shutting Down RFID
Addressing privacy concerns brought on by rapidly advancing radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology, RSA Labs has developed a chip that blocks RFID tracking. Once something has been purchased, a "blocker tag" carried by the consumer would shutdown the RFID reader's capability to retrieve data by overwhelming the reader with queries in a denial-of-service-like attacks.
