In This Issue:
1. Editor's Note: EBay Hears And Sees No Evil, It Just Sells It
2. Today's Top Story
    - Hackers Circulate Exploit Code For Two Windows Flaws
    - FTC Study Concludes Masking, Filtering Stop Spammers
3. Breaking News
    - HP Launches Formal Utility-Computing Service
    - Firefox 1.5 Release Imminent
    - 'Cyber Monday' Actually Happened On Thanksgiving
    - Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance To Boost Tech Spending
    - Analyst Banks On Wireless, Comm Growth
    - Deadline Passes For VoIP Providers To Offer 911 Service
    - Seagate Uses Sony Tech In Tiny Disk Drive
    - HHS Needs To Improve Way It Manages IT Investments, GAO says
    - Gartner: 30% Of Homes To Be Cellular Or VoIP-Only
    - Firm To Commercialize Nanotechnologies
    - RFID Network Set To Launch In 2006
    - ICANN Considers Freeing Up Single-Letter Domains
4. In Depth: Windows' 20th Anniversary: Bloggers Sound Off
    - Two Decades Later, We Still Do Windows
    - Windows Forever
    - The Road Ahead
    - 20 Years Of Doing Windows
    - Happy Birthday, Windows
    - Two Decades
    - Microsoft Windows Live? Not Yet--And Maybe Not Ever
    - Why 'Windows Live' Ain't Dead Yet
5. Voice Of Authority
    - Mollifying Paper-Pushers Could Benefit Microsoft's Business Customers
6. White Papers
    - Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance
7. Get More Out Of InformationWeek
8. Manage Your Newsletter Subscription

The short supply of Microsoft's Xbox 360 means the game system is fetching up to $1,000 on eBay. Fair enough. If gamesters really can't wait a few more weeks to play the 360 version of "Call of Duty 2" or "NBA Live 06," then it's their money, right? Sure, but eBay's willingness to turn a blind eye to scalping, copyright infringement, and the sale of questionable goods has a darker side that proved very convenient for a creep named Peter Braunstein.

Braunstein, of New York City, is a former fashion writer and playwright who's gone off the deep end in the worst way. On Halloween, he allegedly impersonated a firefighter to gain entry to a former co-worker's apartment. Inside, he's alleged to have used chloroform to render the woman unconscious. What followed was a series of sexual attacks that lasted more than 12 hours.

Braunstein, now a fugitive, got everything he needed to act out this sicko scenario on eBay because, after all, "Whatever it is, you can get it here." Or so the online auctioneer boasts. For Braunstein, "whatever it is" included the firefighting gear, law-enforcement badge, potassium nitrate, and chloroform that he allegedly used during the crime.

How does eBay get away with listing stuff that, in many cases, would be unobtainable from a brick-and-mortar store without proper credentials or a background check? The dubious goods often carry modifiers like "antique" or "replica" or, like the cop's badge, "vintage." Problem is, most of these things can be made to function or look like the real thing with minor modifications. You can read more about eBay's official policies versus what actually goes on at the site, and what I, and other readers, think should be done about it by going to my blog entry.

Paul McDougall
mailto:paulmcd@cmp.com
www.informationweek.com

2. Today's Top Story

Hackers Circulate Exploit Code For Two Windows Flaws
Microsoft is aware of both exploits but doesn't see a threat, even though two security organizations have recommended users take immediate action.

3. Breaking News

HP Launches Formal Utility-Computing Service
Customers can buy access to basic IT infrastructure, including server, storage, network, operating system, and associated HP management tools, and pay per CPU hour.

------ The latest research, polls, and tools -----

Unstructured Content
With the surge of blogs, E-mail, and other unstructured content, many companies are evaluating enterprise content-management strategies, according to this recent InformationWeek Research report, Enterprise Content Management.

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4. In Depth: Windows' 20th Anniversary: Bloggers Sound Off

Two Decades Later, We Still Do Windows
Mitch Irsfeld, Messaging Pipeline: "There are few bits and bytes getting passed around today that don't pass through a Windows-based system somewhere along the way. And I suspect that might not change over the next 20 years."

5. Voice Of Authority

Mollifying Paper-Pushers Could Benefit Microsoft's Business Customers
Microsoft never relinquishes control easily; but this time, it buckled under to the bureaucrats. But the decisions it made related to its upcoming Office 12 suite should help customers, particularly those that want to customize Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Aaron Ricadela explains why.

6. White Papers

The Forrester Wave: Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance Software, 1Q 2005 Analyst Report
Sarbanes-Oxley compliance is a rapidly maturing software category that combines enterprise content management, analytics, and enterprise applications.

------- Webcasts -----------------------
An IT Architect Vendor Perspectives TechWebCast-- Open for Business: The Service-Oriented Enterprise
Date: Wednesday, Dec. 7
Time: 9 a.m. PT / 11 a.m. CT / Noon ET

In this informative TechWebCast, Capgemini will outline its strategy for transforming companies into agile service-oriented enterprises, including a close collaboration with Oracle and HP to implement SOE for joint customers.
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