China: Gmail vs Gmail.cn

Seem like Google Mail (Gmail) is engaging in another battle for domain name. This time in China.
Gmail is trying to buy the domain name from Gmail.cn, owned by an ISP company in China. Beside China, Google Mail is also facing the same issue in other countries.

Sources for reading:
1. CNNMoney.com - Google fights for Gmail domain
2. CNet News.com - In China, Google grapples with Gmail domain dispute
3. Gmail.cn website (Chinese) - Google在中国受挫 购买Gmail.cn遭拒绝

Smallest RFID Chip: Made in Malaysia

Product: Smallest RFID chip with built-in antenna
Producer: Malaysia Microchip (MM) Project

Features:

• Multi-band frequencies
• Can be embedded on paper
• Has its own serial number

Applications:
1st government application - RFID-enabled B certificates (holographic security labels to verify the authenticity of film discs)

Future Applications:

• Marriage certificates
• Birth certificates
• Foreign workers' identification cards
• Malaysian passports (Its already contained the smartest chip in the world)
• Road Tax
• Bank Cheque
• Bank Notes (No more counterfeit notes in the market)
• University diploma and certificates (can counter forged or bogus university certificates)
• e-baggage management application in airports

RFID in Education:
Universiti Teknikal Melaka on Student IDs to monitor time and examination attendance as well as for asset management system.

Source: TheStar, 25th Feb 2007

Personal Opinion:
RFID proved to be a very versatile and useful identification tag which will lead to improvement on the effectiveness and efficiency of any work process and supply chain. However, the main concerns are still lingering on the two main issues namely COST and PRIVACY.

Cost - Will the manufacturers transfer the higher cost of using RFID to the consumers instead?
Privacy - Will the privacy of the document/certificate holders be intruded, where their location can be easily traced with the use of mobile handheld devices?

Domain Names Dispute - Gmail vs G-mail

Familiar with Gmail? It's Google Mail.
How about G-mail? Is it the same as above? NO. It is Giersch mail, an electronic postal delivery business in Germany and Switzerland run by Daniel Giersch.

This Domain Names dispute is happening in Switzerland. The funny part is that both Giersch and Google received Swiss rights to the name in 2005, although Giersch applied for his trademark several months before Google did, and both remain in possession of those marks.

Last year, Giersch has won in Germany court on the German trademark for G-mail , also against Google.

Google also involved in another legal battle in Poland for Gmail.pl. Why? GMAiL.pl is currently being used by Grupa Mlodych Artystow i Literatow (GMAiL), or Group of Young Artists and Writers.

An interesting fact from Wikipedia - gmail.com was belonged to Garfield.com. It was used as a free online e-mail services offered by Garfield.com. Now it has moved to e-garfield.com.

Personal opinion:
These issues of domain names disputes happen when Google going for localisation of its services. Is it a good idea for Google to go local rather than sticking to their own famous brand - gmail.com? How about gmail in Malaysia - gmail.my? Are we foreseeing any dispute on this in the future? Who will prevail in the end of these Goliath vs Davids? Enough questions for everyone to ponder here.

Software Piracy 2006 report on Malaysia

These are some statistics from the IIPA's (International Intellectual Property Alliance) 2006 report on piracy.

• Malaysian music piracy is down 4% last year from 49% to 45%.
• At the same time, the business software piracy is up 1% to 61% from 60% the previous year.
• Motion pictures piracy is high at 91%.
• Entertainment software decrease 1% from 91% to 90%.
• Estimated losses from the books piracy is US$9 million (RM31.5 million)

With these results, Malaysia remained in the Watch List (less critical from the Priority Watch List) of the US Trade Representative (USTR) Piracy Watch since 2001. Our country once occupied the list of the Priority Watch List before.

The current Priority Watch List consisted of:

• Asia - India, China & Thailand
• Europe - Russia, Ukraine
• America - Argentina, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Venezuela
• Africa - Egypt, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey

Seems like we are not too bad as compared to these countries.

IIPA also published a summary of its global initiatives in 2007.

Two positives reports on Malaysian's effort in combating software piracy were also mentioned, namely:

• The closure of 11 CD plants, a commendable efforts to tackle the optical over-production problem (resulting in less supply)
  
• Sustained efforts against retail outlets that sell pirated software like raids on the shopping complexes such as Low Yat, Imbi Plaze and many more (resulting in less marketplaces)
  

IIPA concerns for Malaysia:

• Backlogs of IP (Intellectual Property) cases in court. (An IP Court will be most likely to be established this year in Malaysia by Malaysian Government)
• Clamp down on the export of pirated product from Malaysia (Made in Malaysia pirated software are well distributed worldwide)
• Increase in mobile music piracy (shopping complexes, night market etc)
  
• Emergence of more 'hard goods' websites distributing pirated movies.

Sources:
TheStar, 22 February 2007 (Malaysia to remain on piracy Watch List?)
IIPA website

Minister: Malaysian Telcos need to improve their services!

Energy, Water and Communications Minister Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik highlighted that telecommunication companies in Malaysia need to improve on the following four key areas:

1. Extending coverage throughout the country - putting up more transmission towers and units to cover every town and village (achieving full coverage nationwide), providing uninterrupted services all the time at every location. No more excuses such as "no line la"...
   
2. Conducting audit checks on the authenticity of registered pre-paid line users - 17.8 million pre-paid users (90%) registered as at 16 December 2006 in an compulsory exercise. An additional 2 weeks extension was given for the remaining 10% to register.
   
3. Providing number portability - changing mobile operator will not be a major hassle for the users as they can retain their favourite number should this be implemented.
   
4. Better broadband connectivity - with more channels made available to the users such as 3G, Wimax and direct fiber optic connection. Hopefully with this, Internet connection speed can be further increased tremendously. Currently, the broadband penetration is at 13% only.
   

This is aimed to provide better mobile phone access and broadband services by the end of the year by translating the huge profits obtained each year.

(Source: TheStar InTech, 20 Feb 2007)

E-Filling in Malaysia - Taxpayers to receive PIN via mail

In the effort to encourage more citizens to use the e-fillilng, Malaysian's Inland Revenue Board (IRB) will send the PIN for online tax registration through mail to the taxpayers.

I believe this initiative come after the numerous feedbacks on the inconvenience of collecting the PIN from the IRB offices. Definitely, I am in support of this move as it helps to reduce the inconvenience caused last year and it will encourage more citizens to use the e-Filling.

Previous entry: e-Filling = No Form B

Revolutionise the court proceeding in Malaysia

A few suggestions has been brought up to revolutionise the court proceedings in Malaysia. These include:

• using computers to take down notes of court proceedings
• the possibility of using video conferencing in all cases
• the court should records notes using audio or visual aids

(TheStar, 7 February 2007, pg 10)

China - Straight to 4G, instead of 3G

Instead of 3G, China launched the 1st world 4th generation mobile communication systems (4G) in Shanghai's Changning district on 28th Jan 2007.

Currently, there is no 3G services offered in China. The 4G offered in China can provides up to 100Mbps in wireless data communication. (The current 3G can only offer up to 2Mbps).

Another wonderful technology advancement achieved by the Chinese to showcase their supremacy in all areas.

For more reading, click here -China Skips 3G, Goes Straight to 4G (www.ecommercetimes.com)

IDC Prediction for Malaysian IT Market 2007

IDC has a few predictions in their crystal ball for us this year: (TheStar InTech, 16 January 2007, IT22)

• IT spending will grow 2%. (from 10% to 12%)
• Hardware will grow 2%. (from 8% to 10%)
• Packaged software will also grow 2%. (from 9% to 11%)
• Next generation network services and convergence between landline and mobile will evolving the telecommunication markets.
• Digitalisation of TV boardcasting services.
• Software vendors will focus on SME customers.
• Demand for notebook will grow about 14%.
• WIMAX wireless broadband adoption will be swift.
• Home users and businesses will focus on digital cameras and high-speed scanners.

2 Malaysian Bloggers sued by NSTP (New Straits Times Press)

A landmark case in Malaysia where for the 1st time, 2 bloggers who specialise on socio-politic topics were sued by New Straits Times Press (NSTP) over postings in their blogs that were deemed defamatory.

Who are these two bloggers?
1. Jeff Ooi (Screenshot) - The 1st blog that I encountered and I'm still reading his blog on a daily basis.
2. Ahirudin bin Attan (rocky's bru) - a retired journalist from Malay Mail.

Our Prime Minister responsed:
"Bloggers must be responsible for what they write on the Internet as there are laws on defamation and sedition. These laws were enforceable and bloggers must bear in mind that they could not hide or take advantage of the Internet to do something that was against the law.

They cannot hope to cover themselves or hide from the laws.

Bloggers, just like newspaper journalists, must be responsible for what they wrote or risk facing legal action from others." (TheStar, 24 Jan 2007)


The bloggers' community responses:

• Setting up a blogger legal fund to provide financial assistance for bloggers who face legal action
• Setting up WalkWithUs blog which provide more news and updates on this issue.

Let's view the issue from both sides - the bloggers and NSTP before we make our own judgement.

e-Filling = No Form B

Previously, all taxpayers in Malaysia need to fill up the Form B and submit it to Lembaga Hasil Dalam Negara (LHDN).

Now, only a protion of it will have to do that. Why?

Reason:
Taxpayers who used the e-Filing system last year to file their tax returns will not receive the B and BE forms in the post this year. They will have to continue using the e-filling systems for this year tax submission. This is to encourage the existing users to continue with the e-filling systems.

Form B will be only sent to those non-user of e-filling now.

E-Judiciary launched in Malaysia

An online system of Malaysian Judiciary (e-Judiciary) was launched today as to facilitate Internet registration of cases and easy access to court records and past cases.

Among the applications are Case Management System (CMS), Court Recording and Transcription System (CRT), and Common IT Infrastructure (CIT) to be implemented in 11 courts involved in a pilot project in Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya.

This will help to ease some backlog of cases in the current situation. A total of RM27 million was spent on this project so far.

RFID in Malaysia - Coming soon: ePlate

What is ePlate? It is one of the latest IT application of e-government in Malaysia - electronic registration system for new cars. Yes, it means that in the future all new cars in Malaysia will bear the e-plate, which uses a microchip equiped with RFID technology.

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy:
“The number plates will contain a microchip with the car chassis and engine numbers and the design will be standardised." (TheStar, 10 Jan 2007)

“Use of the e-plate is expected to significantly reduce the number of stolen cars being smuggled across our border points into neighbouring countries as well as help the Government to better enforce road rules under our camera surveillance system." (TheStar, 10 Jan 2007)

For more information, read TheStar, 10 Jan 2007.

Do you want to pay e-auction tax?

Would you want to sell your products in the e-auction if the government is going to tax you for the profit on the product sold? How government is going to monitor the collection of the tax on the e-auction sale?

What is your opinion?

Read this for more information - The Online Auction Tax Debate (www.ecommercetimes.com)

Comment:
If the item is a disposable item and I am putting it for auction and can be still earn a little bit of money, why not?

RFID - Latest applications and success stories

This article provides a list of applications of RFID in various fields namely:

• Supply chain management - used in the tracking of assets and production pallets along the manufacturing supply chain
  
• Manufacturing and warehousing - tracking usage and location of materials and equipments during the manufacturing process
  
• Retail operations - helps retailers reduce labor and manual costs beside curbs shoplifting and boosts store productivity.
• Food industry
• Livestock - identification of the animals
  
• Healthcare - used in hospitals and on patients
  
• Security tracking
• Parcel and parts monitoring - DHL and airport baggage handling
  
• Pharmaceutical industry - Drug industry in US need to deploy RFID label in 2007
  
• Gaming Industries - used to prevent cheating on the gambling table by putting RFID on the chips
• Libraries - helps the books loan and providing real time inventory information
  

Read more here - Emerging Signs of an RFID Payoff (www.ecommercetimes.com, 18th Nov 2006)

An ethical issue - should LAWYER Blogging & get customers?

The marketing potential from blogging which may helps to generate income/potential clients to the blogging lawyers may cause some ethical discussion.

• Should lawyer be prohibited from blogging due to the nature of blogging which may contain some elements of marketing?
• Can we stop lawyers from expressing their personal opinion on the blog?

Putting up comments and blog can be translated into advice or advertising. These can be considered as breaching of the professional code of ethics. This is a dilemma faced by lawyers in this new tech-internet environment.

This long article can be obtained here - Blogging Lawyers: The Ethics Debate (www.ecommercetimes.com, 19th Nov 2006)

Selling four pirated DVD online - fined RM8,000.

TheStar online reported that an IT expert was fined RM8,000 under the Copyright Act 1987 for selling four pirated DVDs in the Internet.

I believe this also apply to the selling of photocopied books over the Internet. This is one of the legal issue related to e-commerce.

IT expert fined RM8,000 for offering to sell four pirated DVDs
Friday November 17, 2006

By ANTHONY TAN

PENANG: An IT expert was fined RM8,000 after he pleaded guilty in the Sessions Court here to three counts of offering to sell four pirated DVDs over the Internet.

Poh Wee Leng, 30, from Petaling Jaya, was fined RM2,000 for each infringing copy while his friend, Huan Su Ling, 25, who was jointly charged with him, was freed after the prosecution withdrew the charges against her. ....

Poh, who is currently pursuing a Masters Degree in Business Administration, admitted on Friday to committing the offences at a house at Solok Tembaga Dua in Island Park here at about 1pm on Oct 12.

He and Huan had claimed trial when they were first charged on Oct 17.

The four titles of the pirated DVDs were Garfield: Tale of Two Kitties, Garfield, The Da Vinci Code and Mean Girl.

The two Garfield titles were stated in the first charge.

The offence under the Copyright Act 1987 carries a fine of RM2,000 to RM20,000 per copy or maximum five years jail or both.

Judge Hadhariah Syed Ismail ordered Poh to serve a total jail term of 18 months if he failed to pay the fine.

Poh, who was represented by R.S.N. Rayer, paid up.

4 seconds - That is what I need ........

4 seconds - That's what I need to wait for a website to load.

I will stay if the website can be downloaded within 4 seconds. If it takes more than 4 seconds, I will leave. So, it is important for website designers and owners to ensure that their website can be downloaded within this time frame.

This is a finding disclosed in a recent survey conducted by Akamai.

• This is the outcome from 75% of the 1058 web shopper surveyed.
• 4 seconds is half of the previous surveyed time in the early days of online shopping.
• 30% of the respondents, beside leaving the website, will at the same time spread and share the negative experiences through viral marketing - words of mouth.

Reading link is available here - Websites face four-second cut-off (news.bbc.co.uk)

Unauthorised tapping into home WIFI - Teenager is facing a jail term

Imagine tapping into the other's home wireless network (WiFi) connection using your laptop to access Internet. You may end up in the jail.

A Singaporean teenager is the first person to be charged in Singapore under the new law - Computer Misuse Act - for tapping to gain unauthorise access) into other's home WiFi. The affected neighbour has made a police report on the incident against him.

If convicted, he can go to the jail up to 3 years and fined up to S$10,000. This is indeed very expensive as compare to applying and install your own Internet access.

For more reading, refer to TheStar (12th November 2006) and NST (12th November 2006)

Question:
Who's responsibility to secure the home WIFI systems? Owner or Service Provider?

100 million websites

Since a humble beginning of 18,000 websites in August 1995, the Web now has 100 million websites. This milestone was achieved in October this year, according to Netcraft, an Internet monitoring company that has tracked Web growth since 1995.

Here are some interesting facts:

• 54.6 million websites are in US
• 15 million in Germany
• 6 million in UK
• 2.8 million in Canada
• 2.55 million in France

• 47 or 48 million of them are active websites.
• The number increase dramatically for the last 2 years thanks to blogging.
• The United States, Germany, China, South Korea and Japan show the greatest Web site growing spurts.
• When the Web was started in 1989, it was started as a mechanism for sharing high energy particle physics data.
• Web "explosion" took place when businesses realized they could use the Internet to make money.
• In both the business world and the social scene, a Web site is now an identifier almost as common as a phone number or an e-mail address.

Moer reading can be obtained here - Web reaches new milestone: 100 million sites (www.cnn.com) 1st Nov 2006

For more resources on Internet History and evolution, click this link - Online Evolution

Enemies of the Internet

Ever heard of "Enemies of the Internet"?

Its refer to the countries that suppressing the freedom of expression over the Internet (also known as web censorship) especially blogging. For example,

• being prevented from posting news online or writing a blog.
• censor and block online content.
• arrest and detain bloggers.

13 countries has been listed as the enemies of the Internet:

• Belarus
• China
• Cuba
• Egypt
• Iran
• Myanmar
• North Korea
• Saudi Arabia
• Syria
• Tunisia,
  
• Turkmenistan,
  
• Uzbekistan and
  
• Vietnam.

Worldwide, 61 people, 52 in China, are in prison for posting what the countries claimed was "subversive" content.

This news come from 2 sources namely BBC News Technology - 'Enemies of the internet' named and Yahoo!News Tech -13 nations denounced for Web censorship. (Nov 8)

IBM to produce Privacy-Friendly RFID Tags

The current application and usage of RFID tag has generated various concern among the users mainly concentrated on the privacy issues. Why?

• Tagged items carried by the buyers can tracked within 30 feets away, enabled its whereabout to be located.
• This will create the opportunity for thieves with RFID scanners to rob the expensive items and its owners.
• If the tag is removed, then the retailers will find difficult when the product is being returned, will all the data already missing.

With the introduction of clipped tag, the antenna can be easily teared off. This leave only the data in the remaining tag without being tracked.

Though this product is able to address the privacy concern, another area to be looked into will be the cost - cost for item-level tagging is still very high.

YouTube vs Utube.com

Different spelling.......same pronunciation.

YouTube - Online Video Sharing site. Also the Time Invention of the Year 2006. Established since 2004.
Utube.com - Universal Tube & Rollform Equipment, industry equipment maker - website established since 1996.

Due to the popularity of YouTube, some users mistakenly treated Utube.com as YouTube.com resulted in dramatic increase of web page request and visits, from 1500 hits per months to as high as 2 million hits per month. This caused the company server to crash a few times.

Now, Utube.com is suing YouTube.com for causing its server to crash as well as causing it losing business and the need to invest in more reliable server. It requested YouTube to change its name or to finance its new rebranding process.

From www.ecommercetimes.com - "Domain-name confusion has been around as long as the World Wide Web. Some have tried to capitalize on the element of human error and confusion, by snatching up like-sounding domains and establishing ad-filled outposts."

More reading can be obtained here - YouTube sued over domain use. (www.ecommercetimes.com)

What do you think? Share you comment:
Who is making the mistake here? Users or YouTube?

Accessing Internet from your CAR

Now, we can access Internet from our mobile phone from anywhere including while we are driving.
In the near future, we can surf Internet directly from PCs install in our cars like this!

Imagine doing this while on the road...of course not while you are driving!

• Checking e-mails
• Downloading songs or files
• Placing reservation for restaurant or movie
• Checking road map
• MSN or Skyping
• Doing online banking and lots more.....

PCs are connected through the mobile phone connection or signal.........and WIMAX in the near future.

Source: (www.ecommercetimes.com)

Online Brokerage Fraud - Millions of dollars loss

2 largest e-brokerage companies in US, namely E-Trade Financial and Ameritrade, reported on a shocking online brokerage fraud through computer criminal hacking which caused millions of dollars losses.

Some of the interesting facts:

• Estimated losses are $4 and $18 million for Ameritrade and E-Trade Financial respectively.
• Much of the fraud occurred overseas while clients were using public computers infected with spyware or wireless connections. User IDs and passwords were stolen.
• Fraud committed against E-Trade customers appeared to be concentrated in Thailand and eastern Europe
• Hackers are increasingly turning their attention to financial services firms.
• Identity theft

Read more here from www.ecommercetimes.com 25th Oct 2006.

Internet Security Threats - Its Changing Faces (Part 2)

This is the part 2 of the Internet Security article from www.ecommercetimes.com

Among the facts:
New Threats:

• New malicious programs increased by 8% with more Trojan applications aims to steal information and e-login.
• The use of rootkit malware that allow a person to hide their malicious activities and programs is also in the rise.
• Another threat is holding data hostage - a program used to modify data on a victim machine and then blackmail the user.

Preventions:

• The need for fast, efficient and unobtrusive protection has led some security systems developers to become managed security service providers (MSSPs) which has broader security management services besides delivering patches and system updates.
• Services are such as internal and external scanning for vulnerabilities; threat intelligence to identify emerging exploits; richer correlation of asset data with vulnerabilities, threats and attacks; and blocking or shielding capabilities to stop attacks

Read more on this article - The Changing Faces of Internet Security Threats, Part 2

Previous entry on Part 1 is available here.

PhishTank .....all the Phish go to the Tank

Introducing a new website PhishTank which is a collaborative clearing house for data and information about phishing on the Internet. It also provides an open API for developers and researchers to integrate anti-phishing data into their applications at no charge.

You can submit the suspected phishing links as well as verify these links in the database too.

(Screen Captured from www.phishtank.com)

If you receive any email or link, well this is the service that you can use to verify it before you continue with the transaction.

Besides, there are also latest news on phishing in this website.

I like their theme - Out of the Net, Into the Tank!

Visit PhishTank at www.phishtank.com

29,549 video files were deleted from YouTube

A total of 29, 549 video files were deleted from YouTube due to the copyright infridgement. Most of these copyrighted files were posted by individual users.

Files involved were copyrighted Japanese television shows, music videos and movies.

Suggestion has been made to introduce a preliminary screening process acting as a filtering systems of the copyrighted material.

At the same time, copyrighted materials with the approval from the copyright holders will be posted in exchange with the advertisment revenue sharing by YouTube.

Source: YouTube Purges Nearly 30,000 Files on Japanese Demand (www.ecommercetimes.com)

Now scientists say Video Games is useful

You can call it a new way of self learning by playing video games.

Scientists reveal that addiction on the video games can actually be converted into serious learning tools in school. Wow...just imagine going to school to play video games during the lectures and tutorials.

Soft-skills such as analytical thinking (how to complete the games with appropriate srategies especially RPG or strategy games), team building (games played in groups), multitasking and problem solving (like CSI investigation game).

Of course we are not talking about the soccer or basketball, car racing type of games but games such as business related (entreprenueurship - which I did played before) can be utilised in education. In fact in some universities, subjects are being taught by using games - specific business games. I will be very happy if there is an opportunity to implement this method into the learning process.

Source: CNN News, Not playing around: Scientists say video games can reshape education (www.cnn.com, 17 October 2006)

E-Filling in Malaysia - Latest updates

Very soon, we can check our income tax records from home by using the e-Filling from next year onwards. (Source: TheStar, 18th October 2006)

Among the available information will be:

• Information on the income tax paid last year, and where and how it was paid, will be available online
• online tax return “form” will have the taxpayer’s personal particulars like identity card number, address and the names of the spouse and children.

A taxpayer will be able to get the PIN and security code online via the IRB website (www.hasil.gov.my) from next year unlike the current year practice which required he/she to collect the PIN from the IRB branches.

E-Filling which was introduced this year did experience some problems such as:

• Some people had Internet access, but lacked the proper software, and the system did not work
• There was also congestion when many taxpayers filed in their tax forms at the same time.

I didn't use it this year but I may want to try it next year.

Latest updates on RFID applications in Malaysia

Source: TheStar InTech (17 October 2006)

Some facts on latest development RFID in Malaysia:

• Local commercial spending on RFID is estimated to grow from RM9.06mil in 2005 to RM77.48mil in 2010 at a compound annual growth rate of 45.84%
• Key applications of RFID in Malaysia include manufacturing, document management tracking, transportation, security and access control.
• Document management tracking using RFID would account for 35%, or RM 27.12mil, of the total market in 2010.
• Strong demand for RFID document management tracking solutions from the financial, legal and public sectors, which require documents to be kept for many years.

Google's Literacy Project

Google Inc. unveiled on Wednesday a Web site dedicated to literacy, pulling together its books, video, mapping and blogging services to help teachers and educational organizations share reading resources. - http://www.google.com/literacy/index.html

Google has asked literacy groups around the world to upload video segments explaining and demonstrating their successful teaching programs. Among the first few hundred to be posted is a same-language subtitle project from India that uses Bollywood films to teach reading.

The service also uses Google's mapping technology to help literacy organisations find each other, and provides links to reading resources.

Google embarked two years ago on a massive project to digitally scan all of the world's books, a plan that has been embraced by some publishers and pilloried by others who consider it copyright violation. A group of them have filed a lawsuit against Google in the United States.

(Source: CNN Tech, Oct 4th)

Internet Security Threats - Its Changing Faces

An interesting article on the changing faces of the Internet Security Threats

Among the facts are:

• Analysts estimate roughly 75 percent of all security attacks are targeted at applications.
• However, only 10 percent of enterprise security spend is focused on application security. (This show the potential attacks to be encountered by the entreprises)
• Demand for third-party security management services, as well as for systematic security risk-profiling and management solutions, continues to grow
• The need to protect applications and data resources more proactively is also driving the development and application of heuristics -- that is, empirical, judgment-based rules for intrusion detection and prevention -- and other forms of artificial intelligence in security products and services.

You can read more from this article - The Changing Faces of the Internet Security Threats (ecommercetimes.com)

Rooney scored back his domain name

Wayne Rooney may not be scoring on the Saturday match against Wigan but definitely he scored back his domain name - www.waynerooney.com.

• a case of cybersquatting (Lecture 12)
  
• domain name consist of his name was registered by somebody in 2002
• choices available - pay a large sum to get back the domain name or go to the arbitration who will decide on the rightful onwer
• beside Rooney, others soccer stars like Ronaldinho, Totti, Joe Cole and Frank Rijkaard also managed to successfully defended the right to control the use of their names in Web site addresses.

This is report from TheStar (15th Oct 2006)

GENEVA: Manchester United star Wayne Rooney has won the right to a Web site address including his name.

Ownership of the www.waynerooney.com domain name must be handed to the England forward and his management company, a UN intellectual property panel ruled on Friday.

The domain name was registered in 2002 by an actor from Wrexham, England, when Rooney was a 16-year-old player for Everton. Rooney subsequently filed a trademark on his name.

A World Intellectual Property Organization arbitration panel said the present owner had no legitimate interests in using it.

The panel said the owner’s claim that he had registered the domain in order to create a fan site was “a difficult story to swallow.”

The WIPO panel said the current owner acted in “bad faith” when he registered the domain, and that it should be handed over to Rooney within 10 days unless the decision is challenged in a civil court.

The arbitration panel, which was set up in 1999, allows those who think they have the right to a domain to gain control of it without having to fight a costly legal battle or pay large sums of money.

In July, Brazilian football star Ronaldinho successfully defended the right to control the use of his name in Web site addresses.

Other stars who have recently won rulings against so-called “cybersquatters” include Italian international Francesco Totti, England midfielder Joe Cole and Dutch football manager and former player Frank Rijkaard. – AP

Beware - you may face the same issue if you become famous one day. Better register your own domain name now.

Online games - More goods or harms?

A report on TheStar (10 Oct 2006) highlighted the opinion from cybercafe operators on this topic.

According to them, online games are actually doing youths more good than harm, in that the games even keep them away from getting involved in drugs or crime activities.

Some excerpts from the Star:

“If parents think playing online games is bad, they should honestly ask themselves what they did as youths to entertain themselves when there were no computer games,” said Jeffery Wong, 31, a cybercafe owner.

“I bet they were involved in activities that were not that much more productive either, and probably a lot more dangerous,” he said, recalling his adventurous days of swimming in ex-mining pools when he was a teenager.

“It also provides job opportunities. I know many people who didn’t get to complete school, but because of online games, they’re able to survive and earn a decent living doing something they like,” Wong said.

“And what’s so bad about making money from playing games? It’s not like it’s illegal,” said Leon Jalleh, 27, a cybercafe operator.

“If kids are learning how to earn money by pursuing their interest, their parents should be proud of them instead!”

“It’s better than having them waste money loitering in shopping malls, or worse, get involved in drugs or criminal gangs,” he added.

Jalleh said cybercafes were also comparatively healthier than other entertainment avenues, such as nightclubs.

“You won’t find drugs or alcohol in cybercafes, and most don’t even allow smoking nowadays,” he said.

Jalleh told The Star that it was possible to earn several thousand ringgit a month by trading virtual items or helping other gamers improve their avatars.

“It is a good way to bond with friends and meet new people who share the same interest, plus it’s the cheapest form of entertainment around – definitely much cheaper than clubbing,” said Chris Chong, 26, who meets his friends for game sessions on weekends.

Discussion:
What is your opinion on this issue? Is online games bring more goods or harm?

Some responses:

pk said...

It's really difficult to judge. Online game can be so addited to youth and most scenes are violence too since they always create bad character(s) to be KILLED by the "good" one(player usually fall into the good category).

In most cases, once you get started to play, you'll hardly going pull yourself out again and might struggle to get free from games as well, it's all depend on one's willingness when should stop. All those excitement will make youth forget almost about everything and the other thing is teenagers will face problem in differentiating between reality life and fantasy world.(I think this will be the main concern of all parents).

I personally notice that some who play online games have a special characteristic and fantastic dream, yet they never work hard for themselves in real life. Well...in short, games bring happiness to those have conscious mind and give harm to those without discipline.

Google buys YouTube for USD1.65 billion

Google is snapping up YouTube for US$1.65 billion in a deal that catapults the Internet search leader to a starring role in the online video revolution.

This is the most expensive purchase made by Google during its eight-year history. With this purchase, it ould dramatically alter the playing field for competing Internet giants, namely Google, Yahoo and Microsoft.

YouTube's worldwide audience was 72.1 million by August, up from 2.8 million a year earlier, according to comScore Media Metrix.

The YouTube acquisition is being hailed as a bold thrust that could turn two weaknesses in the Google empire -- video distribution and social networking -- into strengths that could keep the company growing rapidly for years to come. It could also change the way users connect with video online, as well as how content owners distribute it.


There are 3 related article from www.ecommercetimes.com on this news:
1. Google Closing In on YouTube Acquisition
2. Google Places Heavy Bet on YouTube

Internet Banking scam in Malaysia: 13 youth nabbed

There are multiple news reports available in TheStar, NST and TheSun on this story today.

Key points from these stories:

• Phishing
• 26 people were conned with RM36,000 from a single bank.
• 13 suspects, between 18 and 25, have been described as computer experts with several hackers among them.
• Four of the suspects were college and university students.

For more reading, this is from NST:

A group of computer-savvy youth was nabbed recently after scoring a first of sorts for phishing.

Phishing uses email and fake websites to lure Internet users into providing their personal banking details, which are then used to steal from their accounts.

This group of 13 is believed to have conned at least 26 people by using their particulars to steal more than RM36,000 from their accounts in two weeks.

All 26 victims had accounts in one particular local bank and it was the bank that notified police of the fraudulent transfers.

Following the report, police monitored several homes and cybercafes in three states.

After two weeks of checks, they nabbed 13 suspects, including a woman, in Kelantan, Selangor and here.

The suspects, between 18 and 25, have been described as computer experts with several hackers among them.

Commercial Crime Department assistant director ACP Ismail Yatim said four of the suspects were college and university students.

"The 13 are skilled in different areas and they joined forces to steal confidential data from unsuspecting victims.

"The losses reported may have been bigger if the bank had not been alert in detecting the fraudulent transfers."

Police believe this may only be the tip of the iceberg as more reports were expected.

It was learnt that several of the suspects had the ability to hack into the computer systems of leading firms in the city. Checks revealed that the group used a foreign server and police were trying to ascertain if they had international connections.

The group preyed on those who used Internet banking, sending account holders emails asking them to update their accounts.

In that same email, links would be available for the victims to click on and a new web page would open revealing a web site similar to the bank’s internet login site.

The unsuspecting victims would login, unknowingly giving their usernames and passwords, which would be sent to a decoy website set up by the group.

Using the confidential information, the group would access the victims’ accounts and transfer funds to another account before it is withdrawn.

"We believe there are still groups out there actively involved in such scams," Ismail said.

He urged account holders to check with their banks upon receiving notifications to update their accounts.

Warner Bros turn to iTunes

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group became the latest division of a major Hollywood studio to offer television shows, including the hit sitcom "Friends," for sale on Apple Computer Inc's iTunes Web site. (This is different from NBC where NBC only offer the previews)

Warner Bros put up a total of 113 episodes of "Friends," sci-fi series "Babylon 5," the animated classics "The Jetsons" and "The Flintstones," as well as skits from "MADtv" and an unaired pilot called "Aquaman" by the writers of "Smallville."

Downloads cost US$1.99 per episode, and can be viewed on a computer or video iPod.

Apple's iTunes store now offers a total of more than 150 TV shows available for purchase from the Fox, ABC, NBC, CBS and MTV networks.

Fox is a unit of News Corp. ABC is owned by Walt Disney Co.. NBC is run by the NBC Universal wing of General Electric Co. CBS is part of CBS Corp, and MTV is owned by Viacom Inc.

(Source: YahooNews)

Usage of web in China is flying high

News from CNN.com

• China's population of the internet users is no 2 after US with 123 million.
• US is currently leading with 204 million Internet users.

The number of Web sites in China rose by more than 110,000 to a total of 788,400, the official China Internet Network Information Center said in an annual survey.

China encourages Internet use for business and education and has invested heavily in broadband service, though the communist government tries to bar access to material considered pornographic or subversive.

The number of Internet users in China with broadband service jumped by 45 percent over the past year to 77 million, or about two-thirds of the total online population, the Internet agency said.

The average Chinese Internet user now spends 16.5 hours per week online, a new record high, the agency said.

Organisations Not Doing Enough to Secure Data

A new survey shows that organisations are not doing enough to prevent IT data breaches and the loss of "sensitive" data.

The survey is based on interviews with 359 executives responsible for security, compliance, risk management and legal issues at large organisations in North America.

Facts highlighted:

• A total of 94 percent of respondents reported having no visibility into how many e-mail messages containing confidential or private information were leaving their organization each month or believed that some leaks were occurring.
• Only 6 percent reported no information leaks.
• A total of 80 percent of participants reported having information leaks -- through e-mail or other electronic channels such as Blackberrys or HTTP links -- or admitted to no visibility to leaks that occurred within their organization last year.
• About 17 percent were afraid to know how many leaks they had.

It is not just small companies who are laggards with security measures. The world's biggest employer, the U.S. government, has performed poorly in this area of content security.

Click here for more reading.

Spamming list - US at the top

According to the most recent "Dirty Dozen" report from security firm Sophos, the United States is the nation that leads the world in terms of how much spam passes through its e-mail networks.

Some interesting facts:
1. United States - 23.2% of world spamming.
2. China - 20%
3. South Korea - 7.5%

• While the United States accounts for the highest spam output as a country, together China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan account for almost half of the worldwide spam output, making Asia the top offending continent with 40.2 percent of all spam.
• Europe surpassed third-place North America, rising to the second position among continents, with a marked rise from the first quarter of 2006 due to increased zombie activity.
• South America ranked fourth with 5.5 percent while Australia and Africa tied for fifth with 0.7 percent each.

How:
The vast majority of spam is relayed by "zombies," also known as botnet computers, which have been hijacked by Trojan horses, worms and viruses, according to Sophos. Once the hackers take control of infected computers, cyber criminals can use them to blast out spam messages.

Legal implication so far:
Although there have been a few high-profile prosecutions of spammers, the spammers' risk versus reward analysis weighs heavy on the reward side.

More reading on this article.

Selling fish online in Malaysia

Fishermen in Tanjung Dawai have gone the Internet way, auctioning their catches via e-mail.

Bidders from all over the world are welcome to place bids from 3pm to 7pm Malaysian time every day in a system that was introduced in April. In this case, the bidders must bear the transportation costs and the system was set up with the help of the Malaysia Fisheries Development Board.

The Tanjung Dawai Fishermen Association has installed three computers and three 29-inch televisions to display the bidding list.

Bidders state their price by e-mailing to pnktdawai@yahoo. com and their prices will be flashed on the television sets for fishermen gathered at the auction hall. If there is agreement, then the bidders will be emailed. The bidders must register their name with the association (by calling 04-4572106) and a code number will be provided to participate in the bidding.

The system benefited the fishermen as they could get the best deal. The association would impose a 5% surcharge on the buyers and hoping to create its own website one day.

RFID application in hospital

Source: TheStar InTech (29 June 2006, page IT18)

RFID tags better but cost more.

The article discussed the application of RFID in hospital. Some of the facts discussed:

• RFID tag stores information
• Doctors and nurses carrying RFID tag readers, perhaps attached to laptop PCs or personal digital assistants (PDAs), could retrieve up-to-date information from the patient’s wristband if the hospital information system is down.
• Convenient for doctors who could refer to or update patient records from the bedside, as they make clinical observations, prescribe medication or order medical procedures.
  
• Implementing RFID in a hospital information system could help cut down on errors as well as reduce the clerical workload for nurses, freeing them to get on with actual nursing.
• RFID tags are more physically robust than barcode tags, are reusable.

However, the limitations faced are:

• No Malaysian private hospital has converted from its barcode-based information system to an RFID-based one.
• Cost could be an issue, with RFID tagging systems costing about twice as much as barcode-based ones.
  
• RFID tags cost from 15 cents (54sen) to US$10 (RM38) each – depending on data capacity and whether the tag is “active” (carries a radio transmitter), among other things – a barcode tag only costs as much as the paper it is printed on.
  
• Issuing doctors and nurses with additional IT equipment ranging from Tablet PCs to PDAs and laptop PCs.
  
• This would add to the implementation costs to the hospital,
  
• Raise potential security and privacy risks for confidential patient data if the devices are lost or stolen.

Sooner or later, RFID will be a common application in hospitals, and may be in schools to.

Amazon.com goes for e-groceries

First, Amazon.com is famous for its online bookstore.

Slowly, it expanded into a well diversified business offering such as DVDs, clothing, toys and other.

Now, it is adding groceries to their e-retailing lines with 15,000 non-perishable items ranging from cereal to canned tuna and detergent.

What other business that Amazon.com can add to its e-tailing lines in the future?

Celcom to expand its 3G coverage

Celcom is expected to expand its 3G services coverage to cover the whole country by July 15 this year.

Its 3G service currently covers the major urban areas, such as the capital, Shah Alam, Johor Baru, Ipoh, Alor Star, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching. There are 100,000 subscribers to the service now. (It was 45,000 3G subscribers at the end of 2005). Celcom is also targeting to increase its 3G subscribers to 150,000 by year end - an increase of 233%).

To fend off competition, as well as upcoming technology such as WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) - a rival wireless broadband platform - Celcom said it is looking at upgrading its 3G network to HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) standard.

It has already started its HSDPA trials and this is scheduled to end late next month.

HSDPA enables much faster data download speeds (at least 4 times faster) on 3G networks than is possible now. What takes minutes to download now will take only seconds with HSDPA, said Celcom. This will be a boon to corporate users who need to send and receive extensive files on their mobile devices faster.

The only catch is that consumers will need to change their 3G phones and PC datacards to enjoy the benefits of HSDPA technology.

Celcom has selected six Klang Valley sites for its HSDPA trials - Suria KLCC, Mid Valley, Berjaya Times Square, Bangsar and, within Menara Celcom and Menara TM.

Source: TheStar InTech, (20 June 2006, page IT27)

Mobile Money and MM Wallet

This is a summary from an article in TheStar (20th June 2006, page B7)

Mobile Money International Sdn Bhd launched the MM Wallet which enables users to conduct transactions via short messaging service (SMS) by personal identification number (PIN) authorisation using a mobile phone.

The technology took the company about four years to develop at a cost of RM4mil to RM5mil, and Mobile Money was currently applying for a worldwide patent.

Mobile Money is the pioneer of mobile payment using mobile phone in Malaysia. Currently Mobile Money has teamed up with Hong Leong Bank Bhd and Bumiputra-Commerce Bank to allow consumers to make payments via their bank accounts linked to their mobile phones but Mobile Money is keeping its options open for tie-ups with other banks.

Users could send cash to anyone, pay merchants, buy Telekom Malaysia Bhd's (TM) iTalk card, Celcom and Maxis reload cards, pay Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Syabas) water bills and soon, other utility bills and bus tickets, by just replying to an authorisation PIN to make payment. There are 13,000 merchants linked with Mobile Money.

Mobile Money is targeting 1 million Malaysian mobile phone subscribers to use the MM Wallet. It believe that sending cash via SMS will eventually become a daily way of life for many in the very near future.


Previous entry on Mobile Money
Mobile Money aims for 100,000 vendors.
G-Cash - Mobile payment systems: The Philippine's Experience

Spammer Agrees to $10 Million Settlement

Ryan Pitylak, 24, one of the world's most notorious spammers and a recent University of Texas graduate, has admitted sending 25 million e-mails every day at the height of his spamming operation in 2004. At one time, Pitylak was listed as the fourth-worst spammer in the world.

How he earned using spamming:
Pitylak's e-mails touted low-cost mortgages, extended auto warranties and debt-counseling services, among other offers, and he received $3 to $7 for every lead he generated when someone clicked on the links in his messages.

Turning a new leaf
Pitylak says he now opposes spam and is offering his skills to Internet companies to help them fight spam.

Mass Defacement of Website in Malaysia

Up to 300 website defacements was detected up till the end of May 2006. This is the figure produced by Malaysian Computer Emergency Response Team (MyCERT). Most of them were affecting FreeBSD and Linus platforms.

The attacks however were targeted at virtual webhosts ( Virtual hosts are multiple websites hosted on a single machine.)

It was also found out that the attacks were done via PHP scripting (web scripting language) vulnerability.

Kayak.com Is Tops Among Travel Search Engines

Frequent travelers will be familiar with the big players in the industry namely Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity.

Beside these, there are Travel Search Engines that check multiple sites at once and can uncover Web specials and airlines that the big three online agencies might miss namely:

• FareChase (Yahoo)
• Kayak.com
• Mobissimo
• SideStep

Earning more airtime by watching the ads

Fancy of earning more airtime by watching ads?

Read the story below: (Source: Yahoo News)

Virgin Mobile USA is launching a service June 14 letting customers of the company's prepaid plans earn airtime minutes for watching or reading ads.

Customers will be able to sign up for the service, "SugarMama," at Virgin Mobile's Web site, where they can watch 30-second video ads. Afterward, they'll be asked some questions about the ads. Correct answers yield one minute of airtime for every ad.

Virgin Mobile charges 25 cents per minute under its Minute2Minute plan, meaning a customer who watches the maximum of 75 ads per month could be earning $18.75 in airtime for less than an hour's work.

Customers will also be able to sign up for text ads that are sent to their phones.

Virgin Mobile has signed up three advertisers so far: Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox gaming console division, PepsiCo Inc. (which will be advertising Diet Mountain Dew) and Truth, an anti-smoking campaign funded by tobacco settlement money.

Virgin said it is the only plan of its kind in the wireless industry. Similar deals have been available for landline long-distance minutes.

Piracy down in China and Russia...plus Malaysia too

Business Software Alliance (BSA) reported that 35% of the packaged software installed on personal computers worldwide in 2005 was illegal.

The Business Software Alliance (BSA) is a trade group representing a number of the world's largest software makers. It is funded through membership dues based on member company's software revenues, and through settlements from companies it successfully brings action against.

Its principal activity is trying to stop copyright infringement of software produced by its members - an activity it claims to cost the software industry over 11 billion dollars each year.

Some facts from the report:

• Losses from the illegal software = US$ 34 billion (2005), an increase of US$ 1.6 billion from 2004.

• The four countries with the biggest percentage declines in piracy were China, where 86 percent of all software sold is pirated, down 4 percentage points from the 90 percent of 2004; Russia, down 4 percentage points to a piracy rate of 83 percent; Ukraine, down 6 percentage points to a piracy rate of 85 percent, and Morocco, down 4 percentage points to a piracy rate of 68 percent.

• By contrast, the United States had the lowest piracy rate in the world last year at 21 percent. However, that amounted to $6.9 billion in losses to software manufacturers, the highest of any country because the U.S. market for computer software is so large.

• The lost sales in China totaled $3.9 billion, putting it in second place in dollar losses followed by France with losses put at $3.2 billion and a 47 percent piracy rate.

• One out of every three copies of PC software were obtained illegally last year.

• The countries with the highest piracy rates, according to the study, were Vietnam, 90 percent; Zimbabwe, 90 percent, Indonesia, 87 percent, and China and Pakistan, both at 86 percent.

• The countries with the lowest piracy rates were the United States, 21 percent; New Zealand, 23 percent; Austria, 26 percent, and Finland, 26 percent.

----------------------------------------

Malaysia:

• 60% of the software installed on PCs in Malaysia in 2005 was illegal.
• The software piracy rate declined by three percentage points in the last two years
• BSA attributed the reduction to the Ops Tulen antipiracy campaign which is held in conjunction with the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry.
• The campaign, which involves raids and software audits, began in 2002 and aims to cut down the use of unlicensed software by Malaysian businesses.
• The BSA said that its software auditing programme was well received by Malaysian companies, with 1,493 businesses performing self-audits to check if their software is genuine.
• Companies that perform the audit are given a grace period of immunity from raids by the BSA and other authorities in order to “clean up their act” if they have pirated software in their offices.
  
• However, despite the small drop in piracy levels, the ringgit value of losses increased from US$134mil (RM509mil) in 2004 to US$149mil (RM566mil).

Types of Software Piracy

Source: The StarInTech, 30 May 2006, pg 29 - An article being part of the Ops Tulen 2006 antipiracy campaign organised by the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs.

Additional link for software piracy: WiseGeek - What is Software Piracy?

Don’t be caught in the piracy trap

This is the second of a six-part weekly series brought to you by the Business Software Alliance. The articles are part of the OpsTulen 2006 antipiracy campaign organised by the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs.

AS WE have discussed the impact and unravelled the myths of software piracy last week, it is time to look at the different types of software piracy, and how we can differentiate genuine from fake products. While many know that copying and distributing copyrighted software illegally is considered piracy, not many are aware that possessing software that has been illegally copied or using software against its licensing terms is also piracy. There are several types of software piracy:

Casual copying

This is a most common method of piracy, where copies are made of the genuine version and distributed among friends and colleagues in a casual office environment (against the end-user licence terms), and it is also called “softlifting."

Tip: Ensure you keep the genuine software CD-ROM or diskette in a safe locked central location with a single identified person accountable, i.e. the IT or finance manager.

Under-licensing

This happens when one copy of licensed software is purchased and loaded in more than one computer system without proper licensing and monitoring of the number of licences purchased against the number actually installed.

Tip: Ensure you conduct regular software audits (every six months) to ensure the number of licences you have purchased tallies with what has been installed on the computers.

Hard-disk loading

This type of piracy often goes undetected especially when businesses do not check the legitimacy of the application that comes with the purchase of PCs and laptops. It happens when a hardware distributor or reseller installs illegal and/or unlicensed software on to a computer and sells it as a package. Often, this is attractive to buyers as the price is low.

Tip: Ensure you always insist on genuine software pre-installed up front with your purchase and that it comes with the proper licence documentation, i.e. genuine CD-ROM or diskette, manuals, receipt/invoice, end-user license agreement, certificate of authenticity (COA), etc.

Counterfeiting

This happens when pirated software is packaged in a manner that is very similar to the original packaging, thus looking like original. This could easily fool buyers, as counterfeit registration cards with unauthorised serial numbers, boxes and manuals are often a part of these packages.

Tip: Ensure you consult your software principal on how to tell genuine software from the fakes and what licence documentation is required.

Licence misuse

Software vendors often provide various types of licensing, including OEM (original equipment manufacturer), volume licensing, those meant for non-profit organisations and academic institutions, upgrades, etc. Using software against its licensing terms is a form of piracy for example using academic licences in a commercial business or purchasing OEM licences (required to be pre-installed with a new computer system) separately without the new computer system (unless otherwise specified by the licensing terms).

Tip: Ensure you consult the end-user license agreement or the software principal to see what rights you acquired with your software licence type.

Multiplexing

There are many multiplexing devices (pooling, dumb client, thin client = hardware that reduces number of CPUs/ PCs/ input devices) available in the market today that promise the reduction in the number of software licences required. Beware that multiplexing DOES NOT necessarily reduce the number of software licences required.

Tip: Ensure you refer to the specific licensing terms or product usage rights accompanying your software to always be certain.

Renting

This type of piracy works in the same manner as video rental where a licensed copy of software is rented out for temporary use against the licence agreement, or without the owners’ agreement.

Tip: Again, ensure you consult the licensing terms.

Internet piracy

The sharing of illegal and unlicensed copies of software has become easier and more prevalent, as identity over the Internet can be faked easily. Beware of sources selling cheap software online disguised as “on sale” or “OEM version” via what looks to be very professional looking websites or spam e-mail messages.

Online auction is another popular channel for Internet piracy. Unlicensed software could be easily resold over an auction site. In addition, technologies that have emerged to enable easy sharing of files over the Internet such as FTP (File Transfer Protocol) and P2P (Peer-to-Peer), allow faster and easier transfer of pirated software.

FTP allows transferring of large files easily by downloading files to a site. P2P technology allows a community of people to share files. Most people are attracted to the wide range of software resources available for free when they join a P2P community, and they, in turn, contribute by sharing what they have. Often, pirated software is easily available through both FTP and P2P technology users.

Tip: Ensure you purchase your software from reputable and trusted sources only. If the deal seems too good to be true, it probably is.

If you would like to learn more about software piracy and Software Asset Management (SAM) visit www.bsa.org/malaysia. You can also contact the BSA Antipiracy Hotline at 1-800-887-800.