/The latest from NetfamilyNewsen-usThu, 29 Apr 2004 03:15:00 MDTCopyright Net Family NewsbytesThu, 29 Apr 2004 12:30:29 MDT /newsletter.shtml#newsitemEEFlAAlAFuoDuYdaYh Today's news from Connecticut (2/3) just may be the "tipping point" that leads to stronger child-protection measures taken by MySpace parent News Corp. As of this writing (Friday morning) picked up by media outlets in more than 100 US cities and in the UK, Canada, and Australia, the story from the Associated Press says that "police are investigating whether as many as seven teenage girls [aged 12-16]... /newsletter.shtml#newsitemEEFlAEAyEunTXVqhpL A music fan in Louisiana is telling Apple to "turn it down"! John Kiel Patterson is the plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit filed in San Jose federal court this week. The case claims Apple markets its popular digital music player knowing that it can lead to permanent hearing loss if it is played too loudly," the San Jose Mercury News reports. "In addition to damages, the … suit seeks to force the Cupertino... /newsletter.shtml#newsitemEEFlApZlZpkTLHtWpX Is it appropriate to say "I love you" for the first time or break up a relationship via text message? Or even ask someone out? These are the questions that plague the digital generation, not to mention avid phone texters, males and females alike. But the former are more likely to let the text do the heavy lifting, where Net-aided romance is concerned, USATODAY reports, citing fresh research from the... /newsletter.shtml#newsitemEEFlApZlFyXTXfIzNm Let's see, what were the results of all the media coverage last summer of the sexually explicit "Hot Coffee" mod for one of the Grand Theft Auto videogames? It raised public awareness of videogame ratings (a positive result of the ESRB upping GTA: San Andreas's rating from "M" to "AO" because of the mod). It certainly raised awareness that there's sex in some videogames, which probably increased sales... /newsletter.shtml#newsitemEEFllEAlVVLypIWlCd Ever curious about how many people around the world are actively surfing the Web at home? Nielsen/NetRatings constantly tracks that and has a handy chart at ClickZ.com that gives the number in 11 countries, also showing December-over-November growth last year (less than 1% overall). Eight of the countries experienced growth, including Spain (3.46%), Japan (2.59%), and France (1.06%) at the highest... /newsletter.shtml#newsitemEEFllEyVZlNzCofSCL It's a controversy that points to what gamers encounter in virtual worlds, and it's significant because it involves World of Warcraft (WoW) - with 5.5 million members, one of the world's most popular MMORPGs (massively multiplayer online role-playing games). "Longtime virtual gamer Sara Andrews didn't know she would cause much of a ruckus when she began recruiting new members of her … virtual gaming... /newsletter.shtml#newsitemEEFllEyuFlwyVlzbjJ People under 18 are "the fastest-growing target for identity thieves," the Christian Science Monitor reports, citing US Federal Trade Commission figures. The FTC received 255,000 ID theft complaints last year, and – though complaints involving minors are growing fast – they're a much smaller percentage (5%) of overall complaints than that of college students and young adults. At 29%, 18-to-29-year-olds... /newsletter.shtml#newsitemEEFlZFFEEypyRADUYU The bottom line on digital-rights management, or DRM, is that it dictates what people can do with the music they share, rent (via an online subscription service), or purchase. "Most countries have what is called a fair-use policy enshrined in their copyright law. It allows a reasonable number of copies to be made for your personal use," the BBC explains. What's different now, with DRM, is that the... /newsletter.shtml#newsitemEEFlZFEAkpQIcySnjA Probably the most significant result of the recent widely reported story about Google fighting a Justice Department subpoena to turn over users' search data was public awareness. Even if the federal court in Colorado orders Google to turn the data over, it's unlikely to affect any Web searcher's privacy, because names or family computers' IP addresses are most likely not associated with that DOJ-requested... /newsletter.shtml#newsitemEEFlZFpuyVWPbndiCJ Tell online music fans at your house to get the latest version of the Winamp media player, if that's the Web player of their choice. The old version of Winamp had a security flaw that could allow outsiders with bad intentions to take control of family PCs. Washington Post security writer Brian Krebs describes the sort of online activity that would be a problem in this case and links to the new version...