Napster continues to struggle to find a business model that will work. They recently introduced a subscription model, allowing access to streaming music, but common software enables the streams to be copied and stored on users' PC's., potentially threatening the new approach. The troubles of the music industry with technology are far from over!Subscription Music's Curious Silence

The FTC of the US has released its Annual Fraud Report, in which, among other things, it reports an increase in identity theft, amounting to losses of as much as $548 million in the US alone.
FTC: Identity theft, online scams rose in '04 - Computerworld

Management of Broadband is an issue that most companies (and people ) are concerned about. Accenture has released a short report and recommendations to think about in this effort. See the article here: What�s Influencing Broadband Buying Decisions?

Firewalls continue to grow in importance. And there are numerous vendors who are in the business of providing them, led by Cisco. ITBusiness.ca

After a three year hiatus, web based IPOs are coming back. It's not a return to the dot.com bubble days, thank heavens, but perhaps a saner market. There are some interesting new offerings as outlined in this article from last summer.BW Online June 21, 2004 IPOs

Soon we'll be hearing about two new wireless standards, 802.11u and 802.11v, both under development by the IEEE to improve existing wireless networks InformationWeek > IEEE 802.11 Standard > IEEE To Amend Wireless LAN Standards > February 9, 2005

Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley act requires companies to attest to their internal controls. They are struggling with the extent to which IT is an issue. Of course, most systems are computerized and therefore IT controls are an important part of the overall system of controls. The problem is where and when. Also, there's a problem finding the expertise to answer these questions. IT role in Sarb-Ox problems is unclear - Computerworld

The wireless market is worth watching these days. HP has announced a new forthcoming product line to compete head to head with the high-flying Blackberry, called the HPaq Mobile Messenger. It should be interesting! ITBusiness.ca

Some Asian banks are moving to biometrics to counter rising fraud involving ATM's. The new systems scan vein patterns in customers' palms before they can use the machines. The Japan Times Online

Eliminating spam in the US costs about $22 million per year, according to a recent study. Globetechnology: Deleting spam costs billions: study

Blogs are getting to be a big thing in the distribution of news and commentary on news events. The blogs that will be covering the US State of the Union Address, and the readers they will attract is a case in point. CNN.com - Bloggers get set for State of the Union - Feb 2, 2005

The use of search engines to get your website known and to attract visitors is well known to be critical. However, not everyone knows how to make best use of the search engines. Here's a list of what not to do. Using search engines -The 5 Most Common Search Engine Mistakes - WEBSITE TRAFFIC - Magazine - Darwin Online for Informed Executives

Microsoft has officially announced a new search engine to be introduced tonight at midnight to compete with Google and Yahoo. This is going to be really interesting!Globetechnology: Microsoft officially enters search engine fray

Walmart has been pushing RFID, but is it enough? RFID: Plenty of Mixed Signals