ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy, Peter G. Neumann, moderator
HOAX: PENPAL GREETINGS China Strengthens Control Over Internet Re: Action Alert
HOAX: PENPAL GREETINGS (Re: Zviran, RISKS-18.72)
SIGH. Don't we get enough of these in the newsgroups? This is yet another
variation of the good-old Good Times hoax virus. Checkout
http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/vinfodb.html. The 'P' section contains an
entry on this annoyance.
As a general warning to everyone out there - Please do NOT pass along
virus/trojan/etc warnings to ANYONE until you have discussed the matter
with your sysadmin. Your sysadmin will likely know if it's real or not, and
will be able to help you take proper preventive measures, and distribute
the warning properly.
I know you are trying to help by distributing this warning, but really, all
you are doing is WASTING EVERYONE'S TIME!
Thank you.
[Similar rapid responses on the hoax also contributed by
Michael Naunton <mmn@onyx.interactive.net> and
Al Stangenberger <forags@nature.berkeley.edu>, who pointed to
http://ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/CIACHoaxes.html
Too bad we were not approaching 1 April instead of 1 Jan. PGN]
China Strengthens Control Over Internet (Edupage, 29 Dec 1996)The newspaper called *China Consumers Daily* says that China plans to increase its controls over the Internet, which already include the requirement that all Internet users register with the police. In its war against pornography and "cultural rubbish," Chinese police detained more than 47,000 people and seized 320,000 pornographic products in the first ten months of 1996. Chinese authorities use the term "cultural rubbish" to include anything they consider unhealthy or politically suspect. (*Atlanta Journal-Constitution*, 27 Dec 1996, D3)
Re: Action Alert (Handler, RISKS-18.71)In RISKS-18.71, Jon Handler warns of the spread of personal information on the net, and gives the URLs of several suppliers of such information. A longer list is available from "The Stalker's Home Page" <http://pages.ripco.com:8080/~glr/stalk.html> It's a rather scary resource for finding people or information about them. --David Wittenberg dkw@cs.brandeis.edu
Report problems with the web pages to the maintainer