Policing the Net
Saturday, February 10, 2007
A bill introduced in the U.S. Senate lays the groundwork for a national database of illegal images that Internet service providers would use to automatically flag and report suspicious content to police. The proposal made by Sen. John McCain also would require ISPs and perhaps some Web sites to alert the government of any illegal images of real or "cartoon" minors. Failure to do so would be punished by criminal penalties including fines of up to $300,000.
The Arizona Republican claims that his proposal will aid in investigations of child pornographers. It will "enhance the current system for Internet service providers to report online child pornography on their systems, making the failure to report child pornography a federal crime," a statement from his office said....
A Website names that tune
Friday, February 9, 2007
It can strike anywhere, at any time. It might have been belted out by Christina, Britney, or any number of Swedish pop outfits. You might have heard it in an elevator, in your car, even on someone else's iPod. Fact is, one of the worst things about that annoyingly catchy tune you can't get out of your head is that you don't know its name. But that's about to change with the launch of www.midomi.com, a Web site that puts titles to the tunes you hum, sing or whistle into your computer's microphone. The website relies on voice-activated search technology that analyses sounds and matches them against a music database...
