Thursday's Fish Wrap

Hello, Canadians. Stand by for neeeeeeews. The Cubbies are out of it, Fox execs are crying in their beer, and the Chicago Sun-Times has found a new goat. If I were that fan who foiled Alou's foul catch in game six I'd move to Florida real quick. Illinois' governor is offering entry into the witness protection program. Jeb Bush offers a mansion on the Florida coast. The quadrennial National Monopoly Championships begin today in Chicago. It's not too late to study up. Bill Gates is the #1 seed. It's National Feral Cat Day. Have one for lunch today.

1. Today's the day for Apple's big music announcement. I'll post details here as soon as Patrick and Andrew Hahn get back from Moscone Center. UPDATE: As expected, Apple announced iTunes for Windows today, including the iTunes Music Store. Steve Jobs says, "This isn't some baby version of iTunes. It's the whole thing." Apple is aiming for 100,000,000 downloads within one year. Download your copy from Apple now.
2. A new Microsoft security bulletin warns of five, count 'em, five new critical flaws in Windows and Exchange Server. This is the first of Microsoft's monthly updates. Under its new regime, MS will hold onto critical updates and release them all at once every month. Jeff Jones, director of Microsoft Security told ZDNet "All of the five critical (vulnerabilities) are, of course, critical, so that means they are wormable." How reassuring.
3. The FCC is about to approve a rule that would require all PCs and other digital video devices to contain copy protection. The so-called "digital flag" rule would protect digital TV broadcasts from piracy. The proposed system would require every device used by a consumer who wants to watch digital programming to include a copy protection scheme to be approved by the MPAA. Even Microsoft is against this one.
4. Verisign says there's no technical problem with Site Finder, and it plans to revive the service but promises 30-60 day notice. The "benefits to users" outweigh the hassle to network admins. Yeah right.
5. Lame duck California Governor, Gray Davis, signed a pioneering online privacy bill into law yesterday. The law, the first in the nation, goes into effect July 1. It requires sites that collect personal information have a privacy policy and actually adhere to it. AOL fought the bill vigorously. Makes you wonder doesn't it?