Trends & Innovations - Friday
Web sites aim to ensnare hackers
The Motion Picture Association of America may have a new way to bust media pirates trick them at their own game. MiiVi.com, which provides a forum to upload and download illegally obtained movies, was set up by MediaDefender, a group affiliated with the MPAA. The dummy site’s software scans users’ computers and reported any nefarious material, according to the pirates that say it was registered under MediaDefender’s name and address. MediaDefender denies ownership of the site.
Computer security flaws are available to the highest bidder, or at least that’s the idea behind a new online auction house. The site aims to bring together rogue computer experts that expose flaws and companies that are willing to pay to improve their products. Before, flaws were easily sold to wrong-doers weeks before software makers knew the problem existed.
Prescription drugs may overtake marijuana as the No. 1 campus drug problem, according to a study by the National Center on Alcohol and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. The study found abuse of Vicodin and other opiates soared 343% from ‘93 to ‘05. During the same period, abuse of Xanax and other tranquilizers grew 450%.
