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Microsoft wins Homeland Security deal

The Department of Homeland Security has awarded a five-year, $90 million agreement to Microsoft to become the department’s primary technology provider. Under the contract announced Tuesday, Microsoft will supply desktop and server software to the newly created department, which has merged parts of 22 government agencies into one entity.

The agreement delivers licensing coverage for about 140,000 desktops and will help the department to establish a common computing environment, the Homeland Security Department said in a statement. Round Rock, Texas-based Dell Marketing was selected as the reseller, to provide the day-to-day management of the agreement, the department said. [CNET News.com]

I guess this is because Microsoft has a proven track record with reliability, security and limited exposure to viruses… I hope they use Passport as well to make things even easier for hackers to attack.

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Bill Takes Aim at ICANN

Lawmakers question ICANN decision to give secondary market for .com and .net names exclusively to VeriSign. [internetnews.com]

Rival domain registrars across the country have expressed concern over the ICANN effort to implement an exclusive Wait List Service (WLS) to be maintained by VeriSign for customers interested in registering domain names that are in use by others. Currently, customers may purchase expired domain names through a number of registrar firms.

If the WLS becomes reality, VeriSign’s competitors will be eliminated from the secondary market for .com and .net domain names.

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A Simple Plan

The idea is a simple one: Fifty years after a work has been published, the copyright owner must pay a $1 maintanence fee. If the copyright owner pays the fee, then the copyright continues. If the owner fails to pay the fee, the work passes into the public domain. Based on historical precedent, we expect 98% of copyrighted works would pass into the public domain after just 50 years. They could keep Mickey for as long as Congress lets them. But we would get a public domain.

[Lessig]

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30/09/2002 – 07:51:34 Rudolph Giuliani

30/09/2002 – 07:51:34 Rudolph Giuliani asked US President George Bush three days after the September 11 attacks whether he could personally execute Osama bin Laden if US forces caught him. Pic: AP

Rudolph Giuliani asked US President George Bush three days after the September 11 attacks whether he could personally execute Osama bin Laden if US forces caught him.

The revelations by the former New York mayor come in a new book, Leadership, which goes on sale in the US tomorrow.

ãI am sure he thought I was just speaking rhetorically,ä Giuliani wrote of the presidentâs reaction.

ãBut I was serious. Bin Laden had attacked my city, and as its mayor I had the strong feeling that I was the most appropriate person to do it.ä

Giuliani also writes about the fire-fighters who died in the collapse of the World Trade Centreâs twin towers.

Many were killed because they ignored orders to evacuate, not because of lapses in training or communications, he said.

ãThey were not going to abandon ship,ä the former mayor said.

© Thomas Crosbie Media, 2002.

I caught this on Google News this morning and thought the whole thing was worthy of reprinting.