MetaFilter posts by mikewas

VeriSign Can Be Sued for Losing Your Domain Name

mikewas — Sun, 27 Jul 2003 14:33:13 -0800

VeriSign Can Be Sued for Losing Your Domain Name A Federal appeals court (Ninth Circuit) has ruled that the owner of the sex.com domain, who lost the domain when VeriSgin transferred it on the basis of a forged letter, can sue VeriSign for damages resulting from VeriSign's mistake. The sex.com case is worth millions, but anyone who has lost a domain name due to VeriSign's incompetence may now be able to draw their pound of flesh straight from those entrusted with making sure the registry process works.

mikewas — Fri, 30 Aug 2002 14:33:49 -0800

Government favors at Auction Prices. The Bill Simon campaign gets it... they really get it.

mikewas — Mon, 29 Jul 2002 17:47:44 -0800

Artemis Records waives Internet royalty fees. "Artemis Records [the label for Steve Earle, among others] has agreed to issue licenses to internet radio for one year for the master use of songs by all Artemis recording artists. This announcement was made today by Danny Goldberg, Chairman and CEO, Artemis Records and Daniel Glass, President, Artemis Records. During this period, beginning August 1, 2002, Artemis will waive the royalty payments that would otherwise be due them. "

mikewas — Tue, 09 Jul 2002 14:47:22 -0800

Pornographers jack domain name from Florida sheriff. Aycock said the Sheriff's Office had owned the domain name since 1995, and that its registration is current. "When I was told about this, I thought they were kidding," he said. "We dug out a receipt and we're paid up through November. When we find out who's responsible for this we're going to go after them. I am not very happy that this has happened."

The Sheriff may discover that precious few laws protect him and that prosecuting a Canadian company could be tricky. Link from Delaware Law Office.

mikewas — Tue, 25 Jun 2002 21:00:06 -0800

30 days to a more accessible website This series is entitled "30 days to a more accessible weblog", and it will answer two questions. The first question is "Why should I make my weblog more accessible?" If you do not have a weblog, this series is not for you. The second question is "How can I make my weblog more accessible?" If you are not convinced by the first answer, you will not be interested in the second.

mikewas — Tue, 11 Jun 2002 11:30:19 -0800

The hoopla gets deeper. Upon learning that "Sarah Hubert" was a non-person, registrar AITDomains simply canceled the registration to hoopla.com, releasing it into the wild, where it was picked up by someone from Taiwan. They gave no notice to Leslie or anyone else that I can tell, so that she had no opportunity to grab the name back for herself.

mikewas — Tue, 20 Feb 2001 09:17:38 -0800

The Key Vanishes: Scientist Outlines Unbreakable Code [NEW YORK TIMES - free reg required]
In essence, the researcher, Dr. Michael Rabin and his Ph.D. student Yan Zong Bing, have discovered a way to make a code based on a key that vanishes even as it is used. While they are not the first to have thought of such an idea, Dr. Rabin says that never before has anyone been able to make it both workable and to prove mathematically that the code cannot be broken.

Once this gets out, the debate on exporting strong crypto would seem to be essentially over.

mikewas — Fri, 16 Feb 2001 11:01:48 -0800

Recently released FBI hate-crime statistics for 1999 show that - as many have feared - enforcement of hate-crime laws is skewed against blacks. Of racially-motivated where the offenders race is known, blacks make up 20% of the reported incidents despite representing only 13% of the population as a whole.

mikewas — Wed, 17 Jan 2001 13:13:08 -0800

Stunning news tonight? Sean Hannity at Fox News, Howard Finneman at Newsweek, and a few less reliable sources have caught wind of a New York Post / National Enquirer story to run tonight and tomorrow that they promise is an absolute stunner... media reactions have ranged from "Jesse Jackson's career is over" to "Ashcroft confirmed!" But no one will say what the story is... yet.

Does anyone else have more reliable sources?

mikewas — Tue, 14 Nov 2000 10:00:57 -0800

The end... finally. Today at five pm. Judge Lewis upholds the statutory deadline for election returns to be certified, despite media specualtion that he was initially inclined to extend it.