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Robert Fox News Track

Adrertfsfng, the old-fashioned way .. ,

"We're attract ing peoplewe haven't heard of. You

can't match the reachof television."

Marvin Goldsmith, president ofsoles an d morketing at the ABC television

network, explaining the $200 millionrevenue in "dotcom" ads ABC

received in 1999.

NEW IP ADDRESS SYSTEM VS. PRIVACYA proposal to improve theway information flowsacross the Internet has pri-vacy advocates worried the designcould be used to trace a person'sidentity. The proposal, an address-ing system called IPv6, was createdby the Internet Engineering TaskForce, an international standardsbody, and would include a uniqueserial number for each computer'snetwork connection as part ofi ts expanded new IP * vaddress. Critics warn that, if "^adopted, the move could stripthe anonymity and security ofInternet users over traditionalphone lines, allowing commercialsites to correlate these embeddedserial numbers against a consumer'sname, address, and other personaldetails, from clothing size to politi-cal affiliation. Today, most homecomputers are assigned a differentIP address each time they connect.Although IPv6 would not be widelyused for years, "There is no doubtthere are serious privacy concerns,"says Marc Rotenberg, a lawyer forthe Washington-based ElectronicPrivacy Information Center. IETF'stask force chair, Fred Baker, viewsthese privacy concerns asrated."

JU N K H EAP O F H I ST O R Y

Old computers have becomethe latest garbage disposalproblem, and officialsexpect the situation to get worse inthe next few years, reports Time. Ascharities get pickier about taking oldmachines and PCs' usefullifespans continue

"over-

to shrink, state governments atescrambling to find solutions to theproblem. For example, Massachu-setts has implemented a program tofill potholes with ground-up plasticpellets derived from computer cas-ing; in Wisconsin, the city of Madi-son holds an annual collection dayfor businesses to jettison oldmachines; and in Denver recyclingconsultants are paid $100 to haulaway machines. The EuropeanUn ion is considering a relatively sim-ple solution of promoting eco-

WOR LD T IME ONLINE

A new Web site (www.time.gov) linked to twoatomic clocks was created in a joint effort by theU.S. Commerce Department's National Insti-tut e of Standards and Technology and its mili-tary cou nterpart, the U.S. Naval Observatory.

Both clocks contribu te to a pool used to define "c oord i-nated universal time" or the official world time. Thetwo clocks are not supposed to differ by more one ten-mi llion th of a second. The site also offers links to topicssuch as calendars, clocks, and day light saving tim e.

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