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This code can get onto your system by any number of routes but seems most often associated with the casual browsing of sites containing porn. I guess the curious simply can't resist clicking on the button that says "free nudies" and, before they know it their computer is covertly calling an expensive number in a far-off land.

There have been numerous reports of Kiwis being caught out by these dialers and the first they know of it is usually the arrival of a huge and unexpected phone bill

Well it seems that the Irish have decided to take a pro-active stance on this problem by withdrawing direct-dial services to those countries that seem to be party to the scam.

I guess this isn't too different to my suggestion that we block Net access for those whose computers aren't up to spec.

Here in NZ, Telecom (who probably stand to pocket a pretty penny from those who get caught more than once) are not interested in following the lead of the Irish.

To be fair though, I expect that, given the diversity of NZ's population, such a blanket block on those countries (many of which are in the Pacific region) would affect a whole lot more genuine calls.

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And in other news, I notice that Sony has decided to become even more schizophrenic in its stance on music "piracy" by adding MP3 capabilities to its next generation of portable music players.

Yes, even though MP3 is the spawn of the devil and the currency of music pirates around the world, Sony is going to support this DRM-free format.

Remember of course that, unless you wrote and performed the music yourself or got the expressed permission of the copyright owner, it is just plain against the law encode *any* musical performance into MP3 format here in New Zealand.

With this in mind, I wonder if Sony NZ will choose to aid and abet local pirates by including these MP3-capable products in the range of offerings distributed here in New Zealand? (no prizes for the correct answer).

Hopefully for all concerned, the proposed introduction of format-shifting provisions in our copyright laws will be enacted before these devices arrive.

Finally today, I see that the ELS (Evil Little Sods) have decided to exploit a recent vulnerability in Internet Explorer by way of spam. Click the opt-out link in this bit of spam while using an unpatched version of Microsoft's software and wham! -- you're infected.

I'm sure that this will catch a huge number of people because, even though they have been told a million times not to unsubscribe from spam, some people will try.

It also makes a total mockery of claims that an opt-out approach to regulating spam will work. Even a single (unconfirmed) opt-in spam law will always leave people vulnerable to this type of exploit. I hope our legislators are listening and learning -- we *must* have laws that mandate the use of double/confirmed opt-in for all mailing lists.

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