GNU_kum

[John Young <jya@pipeline.com>]

   2-3-96. FinTim:

   "World's financial police to cast money laundering net
   wider."

      The plan needs to address issues raised by cybercash.
      These technologies pose a threat but answers should
      not be dated as soon as published. Officials want 
      developers of new technologies to consider their 
      criminal potential before launch, to avoid clampdown 
      afterwards. Possible safeguards against the misuse of 
      electronic purses may include limiting their maximum 
      value or restricting use to closed systems.


   "Communist to capitalist." [Book review]

      China's Rise, Russia's Fall, by Peter Nolan.

      Nolan says China's leaders had the self-confidence to
      chart their own evolutionary approach, largely
      preserving state institutions at a central and regional
      level, and fostered entrepreneurship through intelligent
      government planning. Russia's ruling class were 
      hoodwinked by a phalanx of mainly US and UK advisers 
      urging a "shock therapy" of destroying existing 
      economic and political power-bases. The result has been 
      a deep tragedy.

   2-3-96. EcoMist:

   "Why is the Internet so slow; what can be done about it?"

      At present there is no answer, only a few expedients to
      limit traffic on congested routes, say, with "caches".
      However, Web site owners object to providers caching
      their wares, because it robs them of valuable
      information about their viewers -- the sort that
      advertisers demand. The caches have, in effect copied
      these pages without their owners' permission, and are
      showing them to others without their owners' knowledge.
      But faced with an Internet meltdown copyright violation
      may be the least of their worries.


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