RELEASE: OCTOBER
"Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act: A Broad Perspective"
The Gist: The Inside Story Of Landmark Intellectual Property Legislation
The Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act is a hefty document that defines new rules for electronic sales of software and other intellectual property. It was drafted in 1999 by the American Law Institute and the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws as an update to the decades-old Uniform Commercial Code, which governs interstate commerce. But critics argued that UCITA grants too much power to corporations like Microsoft, and the ALI withdrew its support.
Since then, UCITA proponents have been waging a state-by-state battle. Maryland and Virginia have already passed the new law, and it's been introduced into eight other state legislatures, including Texas and Illinois.
On October 17, the Practising Law Institute in New York City will examine UCITA with a critical eye. Its $1,195 all-day seminar will include 45-minute presentations and panels by 13 legal and technology experts, who plan to discuss how they think the law will affect consumers, corporate users, software makers, schools, and libraries.
The marathon teach-in grew out of objections to the nonprofit institute's previous UCITA seminars, which were chaired by Ray Nimmer, a University of Houston law prof and the act's principal author, and featured uniformly pro-UCITA panelists. Several lawyers in attendance complained to the institute about spending their day at a pricey seminar that promised education but delivered propaganda. To address their concerns, "Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act: A Broad Perspective" was born.
One of the class' leaders is Riva Kinstlick, corporate counsel for Prudential, which, like other insurance companies - as well as the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the IEEE, the ACM, and Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility - opposes the act. New York's corporation-busting state attorney general, Eliot Spitzer, who has introduced anti-UCITA "bomb shelter" legislation in Albany, will deliver the keynote. Kinstlick says she'll present all sides of the issue, but if her seminar turns into a galvanizing chorus of anti-UCITA voices, she won't mind.
Practising Law Institute: (800) 260 4754, www.pli.edu.
RELEASE: OCTOBER
Cranium Cosmo
The Gist: Desktop Brain Snacks
Housed in a silver orb, Cranium Cosmo invites coffee-break fun seekers to pull "teaser" cards out of a slot. Some demand Web-hunting expeditions for pop-culture factoids, while others outline creative projects involving the enclosed letter dice and modeling clay. A few challenge slackers with conspicuous suggestions like, "Using whiteboard markers, start a bowling tournament with cube mates." Who says today's business environment has no room for spontaneity?
Cranium: +1 (206) 652 9708, www.playcranium.com.
RELEASE: OCTOBER
Impact Test System
The Gist: The Spit-alyzer
The Impact System screens saliva for alcohol, pot, speed, cocaine, heroin, and PCP. Single-use cassettes contain antibodies bound to tiny amounts of fluorescent control drugs; when the above substances are present in saliva, they displace the glowing molecules, which are then detected and measured by a light sensor. Result: The suspect is busted. They're working on a portable paramedic unit for 2002 and a workplace version for nosy employers for the end of this year. Consider yourself warned.
LifePoint: +1 (909) 418 3000, www.lifepointinc.com.
RELEASE: OCTOBER
Secure Wireless WG-1000 Gateway
The Gist: Your Wi-fi Firewall
Wireless networking with IEEE 802.11b is a blessing for home users, but many corporate campuses are sloppy with Wi-Fi technology, making intranets visible to laptop-wielding hackers in the parking lot. Bluesocket's WG-1000 encrypts all Wi-Fi and Bluetooth communications end-to-end. Install it between a site's LAN and its wireless access points, and it closes the security holes; people can log on through any browser. The $5,000 unit also lets sysadmins control traffic, so that one user can't eat up all the bandwidth.
Bluesocket: +1 (781) 328 0888, www.bluesocket.com.
RELEASE: OCTOBER
Spider-Man
The Gist: Redefining Web Spin Control
Besides promoting one of next summer's most anticipated blockbusters, Sony Pictures' Spider-Man site is the first to showcase Screenblast, a suite of online authoring tools Sony hopes will turn millions into content-creation junkies. Designed by Media Revolution, the sticky Web portal lets Spidey fans produce original videos and analyze cartoon villains to death. Using WildTangent's 3-D plug-in, users can also navigate scenes of superheroism, change what happens, and post the results for peer approval or condemnation.
Sony Pictures Entertainment: www.sony.com/spider-man.
STREET CRED
Airgo
The Dream Machine: J.C.R. Licklider and the Revolution That Made Computing Personal, by M. Mitchell Waldrop
Video Game Enhancer
San Francisco City CarShare
Silent Hill 2
Programming:1
3Com Wireless Bluetooth PC Card
ReadMe
Music
KEYKatcher
Dead Reckoning: The New Science of Catching Killers, by Michael Baden and Marion Roach
Blood: The Last Vampire
Just Outta Beta
Digital Fish Finder
Evolution
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