News in brief...

US Justice Department launches hacker awareness site



One month after a rash of hacker attacks shut down some of the most popular
destination sites on the Internet, the U.S. Justice Department said it had

launched a Web site to inform the public about computer hacking, intellectual

property theft and other Internet crimes. The site, (www.cybercrime.gov)

includes instructions on how to report Internet crime to authorities, speeches

from Justice Department officials, reports, Congressional testimony, press

releases and other information.

Dell to enter appliance server market



Dell Computer is reportedly planning to launch a new line of low-cost Linux and
Windows 2000 "appliance servers" later this month. The machines will

be aimed at small businesses. Appliance servers will power Web sites and manage

Internet traffic, yet are cheaper and easier to set up than conventional

Internet servers from Sun Microsystems and Compaq. The machines are designed to

perform just one function, like Web hosting. They come with software that lets

small businesses with little expertise set up Web sites or handle transactions

on the Internet. "It is a growing market and one that we are looking at,''

said Dell spokesman Bruce Anderson. Dell will be the first major PC maker to

target the appliance server market, competing with companies such as Cobalt

Networks. The machines will sell for $3,000 or less, half the price of other

appliance servers.

China reserves portion of anti-encryption rules



Few observers believed Microsoft would reveal its Windows 2000 source code to
the government of China under the recently announced decree which mandates such

disclosure by non-Chinese suppliers of software whose products use encryption

technology. This week, Microsoft announced it had received permission to start

selling Windows 2000 operating system in China on March 20 without revealing its

encryption mechanism. Chinese authorities settled for an overview of the process

instead.

The Microsoft concession was made along with a significant relaxation of the

October ruling, which had threatened to isolate China technologically. The new

rules will no longer apply to telephones, Internet browsers or computer

operating systems. Not excluded are software programs and hardware devices whose

primarily function is to encode data.

The crack-down on encryption was aimed at dissidents, anti-communist groups

and the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement, which has used the Internet to

organize meetings and protests. The retreat comes after months of high-level

pressure on Beijing from government and industry groups from the United States,

Japan, France and other countries.

Ramtron, Fujitsu announce FRAM chip development



Ramtron International and Japan's Fujitsu announced the development of a new
class of "FRAM" memory chips using new ferroelectric non-volatile

technology that allows the chips to retain data after power is turned off. The

FRAM ICs use a one-transistor/one capacitor memory cell design that

substantially lowers the cost of making nonvolatile memories. The first FRAMs

will have a storage capacity of 1 megabit.

Fujitsu, which is paying Ramtron a $2 million licensing fee, will produce and

market the chip that can be used for a broad range of devices, including

portable, hand-held electronic devices, smart cards, electronic power meters,

test instrumentation, factory automation, security systems and other pplications.

"We anticipate that this market will grow to more than $10 billion by

2005 and Fujitsu is targeting to be the major market supplier of these advanced

semiconductor devices." Said Kazunari Shirai, electronic devices group

president for Fujitsu.