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Nice kitty...not!
Oct. 8th, 2000 09:09 pmI got a package in the mail a few weeks ago from Forbes. Inside was a device called a "CueCat," which looks like a mouse, except it's longer and narrower. It's really a bar-code reader that's intended to be used to "swipe" codes published in various places, which would then vector your Web browser to the appropriate site. I understand that Radio Shack ("You've got questions. We've got blank stares.") has been giving these kitties out, too.
An early controversy concerning the CueCat made its way into my consciousness when I learned that an enterprising Linux hacker had reverse-engineered the Windows driver the device comes with and had written a driver for Linux. Despite the fact that such a feat only expands the possibilities for the device, said hacker apparently got a cease-and-desist letter threatening the Usual Nasty Stuff.
A few folks around the Web have linked this incident to the furor over the reverse-engineering of DVD drivers to enable a Linux port (resulting in a lawsuit in which 2600 found itself on the losing side), to note that copyright protection is not really at issue here, but that the real issue is what you may do with things that you buy, or are given for free. Increasingly, folks who convey things to you are wanting to attach all sorts of strings to the deal, as in: "Sure, go ahead and buy our DVD, but you may only play it on the following 'approved' devices..." There was also an item I read about a medical book publisher who was planning to license the ability to read medical textbooks, for a yearly fee (upside: your book is never out of date; downside: it's not your book if you're renting it).
But that's another conversation.
As far as the CueCat is concerned, I just read the installation instructions and note that activation of the device only occurs after you tell the manufacturer, Digital Convergence, a little about yourself. Then, while surfing the Web (without benefit of this feline), I find out that every "swipe" of the CueCat sends not only the information in the swiped bar code, but also the serial number of the device (which, no doubt, is irrevocably linked to one's registration information).
It begins to sound increasingly as if this device is a hardware "cookie" that can't be turned off or deleted and which broadcasts to the world - well, to Digital Convergence at least - information on the kinds of things you are interested in: books, products, stuff in general. Of course, there had to be a catch to the "free" part of the transaction. These guys want to make money by selling personal information to marketers. Nothing wrong with that, I suppose, but it would have been cooler if they'd been a bit more up-front about it. As it is, I'm not playing.
Word on the 'net is that a simple jumper will convert the device into a bar code reader that outputs ASCII. I could use a toy like that, but solder has never been my favorite programming language.
I've got some research to do.
Cheers...
An early controversy concerning the CueCat made its way into my consciousness when I learned that an enterprising Linux hacker had reverse-engineered the Windows driver the device comes with and had written a driver for Linux. Despite the fact that such a feat only expands the possibilities for the device, said hacker apparently got a cease-and-desist letter threatening the Usual Nasty Stuff.
A few folks around the Web have linked this incident to the furor over the reverse-engineering of DVD drivers to enable a Linux port (resulting in a lawsuit in which 2600 found itself on the losing side), to note that copyright protection is not really at issue here, but that the real issue is what you may do with things that you buy, or are given for free. Increasingly, folks who convey things to you are wanting to attach all sorts of strings to the deal, as in: "Sure, go ahead and buy our DVD, but you may only play it on the following 'approved' devices..." There was also an item I read about a medical book publisher who was planning to license the ability to read medical textbooks, for a yearly fee (upside: your book is never out of date; downside: it's not your book if you're renting it).
But that's another conversation.
As far as the CueCat is concerned, I just read the installation instructions and note that activation of the device only occurs after you tell the manufacturer, Digital Convergence, a little about yourself. Then, while surfing the Web (without benefit of this feline), I find out that every "swipe" of the CueCat sends not only the information in the swiped bar code, but also the serial number of the device (which, no doubt, is irrevocably linked to one's registration information).
It begins to sound increasingly as if this device is a hardware "cookie" that can't be turned off or deleted and which broadcasts to the world - well, to Digital Convergence at least - information on the kinds of things you are interested in: books, products, stuff in general. Of course, there had to be a catch to the "free" part of the transaction. These guys want to make money by selling personal information to marketers. Nothing wrong with that, I suppose, but it would have been cooler if they'd been a bit more up-front about it. As it is, I'm not playing.
Word on the 'net is that a simple jumper will convert the device into a bar code reader that outputs ASCII. I could use a toy like that, but solder has never been my favorite programming language.
I've got some research to do.
Cheers...
