Eye-witless sting: In an odd combination of Cops, Candid Camera, and the latest salivating report on cybersleaze, LA Fox affiliate KTTV has been running a three-part series this week about a sting operation it ran to lure online pedophiles, Variety reports. "Stalking the Stalkers" follows four men as they send porn to a woman posing as a 14-year-old, attempt to rendezvous with her, and are eventually arrested.
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Lees lash out: Lawyers for the ever-prim Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee have warned that they will seek a restraining order Thursday against Internet Entertainment Group to prevent the company from webcasting a sexually explicit video that the couple says was stolen from their home.
For its part, the patriots at IEG have promised to "defend its right to distribute the tape." The video is scheduled to appear in those temples of First Amendment liberty otherwise known as ClubLove.com and FreeLiveSex.com starting Friday. (5.Nov.97)
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Bots vs. music pirates: An Internet search company and a maker of electronic watermarking technologies have joined forces to create a method of identifying and tracking copyrighted music on the Net.
ARIS' MusiCode watermarking embeds source information - such as title, artist, and record company - into audio files, allowing Intersect's spiders to track songs posted across the Web, FTP sites, and push channels.
Intersect can then offer reports to artists, publishers, or performance-rights organizations identifying ISPs that offer their songs for download. The technology can also serve as an intelligent agent scouring the Net for pirated or unauthorized audio files. (4.Nov.97)
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Cinema seat-saving: MovieFone will offer film-goers the chance to reserve their favorite seat in a cinema. The service already reserves tickets, but only about 5 million a year. MovieFone hopes to boost that figure by offering users the option to reserve specific seats at no extra charge.
The service will start at a handful of theaters in New York and Los Angeles this year and spread to more cities next year. Some exhibitors may balk at the cost of labor or labeling seats to participate in the program, Variety reports. (4.Nov.97)
