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Technology Stocks : Voice-on-the-net (VON), VoIP, Internet (IP) Telephony -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Frank A. Coluccio who wrote (2821)	8/2/1999 8:18:00 AM
From: Kenneth E. De Paul	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3178

Isn't that the firm which is very anti-BOC?

To: Frank A. Coluccio who wrote (2821)	8/3/1999 11:46:00 AM
From: Stephen B. Temple	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3178

This was under IP on NewsPage> "Your Web Site Is About To Be Defaced" August 3, 1999 PC Week: William Golding's "Lord Of The Flies " shows that a society with a fragile structure of rules will ultimately break down. We're just about approaching that meltdown point with the Web, and it all centers on copyright protection. There's nothing new about the copyright argument itself. Copyrights protect expression and not facts, ideas or information. In its current iteration, almost anything published on the Web can be considered copyrighted the moment it is published. But at least one new software product allows users to alter the look of Web pages and, therefore, modify a corporation's form of expression. The technology is from Third Voice (www.thirdvoice.com), which had the fantastic idea to create a program that lets people mark up Web pages with notes for use in discussions. Using a small plug-in (currently available only on Internet Explorer), users can post and view comments on Web pages. Anyone equipped with this plug-in is able to see everyone's comments. It's akin to tagging Post-it Notes onto a magazine, or more accurately, posting the notes on every magazine as soon as it leaves the printing press. However, the nature of the Web is expression itself, and therefore there's a threat in the form of Web defacement. One of the most defaced sites is Microsoft's, which makes the Third Voice technology at least highly entertaining, since obviously some open-source advocates have discovered the program. Other sites that are marked up are CNN's (www.cnn.com) and the White House's (www.whitehouse.gov). However interesting this technology is, Third Voice is clearly primitive. In fact, most of the Third Voice comments are nothing more than pathetic ramblings. However, it's these rants that have given Third Voice some popularity. In fact, Third Voice is popular enough to have its own anti-Third Voice campaign (www.saynotothirdvoice.com), which, for all I know, was created by Third Voice advocates just to generate more interest. Amazingly, the way copyright guidelines are written, they may very well protect expression of a site modified by Third Voice users, since it is a new expression altogether. For a complete overview, go to fairuse.stanford.edu/niilegis. Suffice it to say that the copyright laws will be heartily challenged over the next few years. But I'm not worried about Third Voice at all. It's the potential of the technology that upsets me. In the near future, Third Voice-like technology will enable users to manipulate sites before they can be viewed in their original formats. A server version would obviate the need of the plug-in, for example. Countries at war--or even those not at war--will find this kind of tool the ultimate propaganda machine. Closer to home, your site could easily be defaced by competitors--except that it wouldn't be your site, it would be pages stored on someone else's server. Perhaps I'm a little over the top, but I view the Web and especially information on the Web as a fragile entity. There's way too much misinformation, and tools such as Third Voice and future versions of it can undermine the little credibility that's there. In any case, I doubt copyright laws will be effective. This is a technological battle. How would you like your Web sites defaced? John Taschek can be reached at john_taschek@zd.com.