Virus Alert--And this one's not a hoax 

Internet Worm Set to Delete Files on Wednesday

Computer security companies on Tuesday warned that a dangerous new Internet worm that is spreading will try to delete and overwrite files on infected computers beginning on Wednesday.

The worm, dubbed Klez.E, is programmed to delete and overwrite Word, Excel, video, image, and Internet files, among others, on the sixth day of every other month, said Mikko Hypponen, manager of antivirus research at F-Secure, a Helsinki-based company.

Klez, now listed as one of the 10 most common viruses worldwide, displays different subject lines, sometimes masquerading as a virus warning, and it tries to delete antivirus software as well, according to F-Secure.

The worm can infect computers running any e-mail system, but only sends itself to recipients listed in the address books of Microsoft Corp.'s MSFT.O Outlook, Hypponen said.

E-mail attachments containing the worm can execute automatically, infecting the system just by a recipient reading or viewing the e-mail message and not opening the attachment, the company said. [read more]

Perpetual Ownership 

Extending Copyright Helps Corporations, Not Artists

Later this year, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether Congress violated the Constitution when it extended copyright protection four years ago. Individual creators will instinctively side with Congress, believing that control of copyrights should go on as long as possible. They are mistaken. Congress acted unconstitutionally and, by doing so, chose the economic interests of corporations over culture, knowledge and society.

In 1998, Congress extended the term of copyright from life plus 50 years for individual creators to life plus 70 years. In other words, my heirs can control any works I create and own for 70 years after my death. The law, known as the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, also added 20 more years of protection to "corporate" copyright. [read more]

Roadblocks 

A Library as Big as the World by Heather Green

Brewster Kahle has the technology to assemble the ultimate archive of human knowledge. What's stopping him? Restrictive copyright laws.

Brewster Kahle is tackling a big task. And despite some looming clouds, he's pretty darn excited about it. Kahle, a 41-year-old serial entrepreneur, is building the Digital Age's equivalent of the ancient library of Alexandria.

The first installment of his project launched last October. That's when the public could finally use the Internet Archive, a collection of 10 billion pages, including Internet sites, movies, and Usenet postings five times larger than the amount of information at the Library of Congress. [read more]

Who invented movable type? 

Renaissance Secrets: What Did Gutenberg Invent?

3 years ago Paul Needham and Blaise Aguera y Arcas set out to find a method of dating books. Some letters get damaged, making their printed form more distinctive, and their use in different publications links them to the same printing shop and an approximate time period. Paul and Blaise collaborated on a system to identify these distinctive letters. In the process they made a discovery that was so controversial that they revised their methods over and over again to test their findings. But the incontrovertible truth was staring them in the face. [read more]

Scholars Who Dig-itize Gutenberg by Kendra Mayfield

When people think about the printing revolution, one name comes to mind: Johannes Gutenberg.

But what if Gutenberg didn't actually invent the revolutionary technique of mass-producing words as we know it today?

Scholars will soon get a chance to examine in exquisite detail what is considered the first book printed with moveable type.

A project is currently underway at the Library of Congress to digitize its copy of the Gutenberg Bible. The library has partnered with Octavo to photograph, scan and digitize every binding, endsheet and page of the three-volume Bible. [read more]