Protecting Electronic Images
Want internet security? IBM's Cryptolope "content protector" provides a payment and copyright mechanism over the Internet. IBM sees this security as a way of getting commerce going, thereby improving the quality of available information. With Cryptolope, digital publishers, including photographers, can then create and distribute their products electronically and feel safe avout sending ig out and being compensated by their customers. Visit IBM's home page at http://www.ibm.com for a looksee.

When Fast Is Not So Fast
So, you've recently installed a new 28,800 bps modem (the one that you can flash upgrade to an even faster 33,600), or maybe just purchased a 33,600 bps modem and can't wait for blazing downloads and a huge reduction in your long-distance phone bill (not to mention freeing up the phone for "regular" use). Well, bear this in mind when you don't get the advertised results: Modems send (analog) data signals over a telephone network that was originally designed for voice. But that information does not always travel at the highest speed permitted by the modems. When line conditions do not allow a connection at the higher speeds (such as 28,800 bps), the modems start downshifting to 26,400, 24,000, and will keep going lower and lower trying to maintain a reliable connection. Telephone lines in the US will support 28,800 approximately 70% of the time. This is not the fault of the modem manufacturers; it is a fact of American phone networks. Estimates show that 33,600 bps is possible less than 50% of the time. As our communications infrastructure gradually upgrades to fiber and other advanced technologies, the situation will improve.

Photographer's News Network Debuts on the Web.
The Photographer's News Network (PNN) officially launched its website. Visit them at: http://www.photonews.net. "We wanted a place where working photographers in all disciplines would be part of a professional community; a place where common interests would overcome differences, rivalries...even competition," say Gary Gladstone and Jack Reznicki, two of the owners. Though still under construction, there's lots to check out.

Authors Registry
The Authors Registry, following loosely in the steps of the music industry's ASCAP, was formed to help get small payments to large numbers of individual authors when publications use their material in electronic ventures. Photographers face the same hurdle. Early last month, the Registry put the first of more than $150,000 in royalty checks in the mail. These payouts, ranging from a few dollars to nearly $1,500, come from license fees for photocopying and from the booming world of electronic publishing. While writers say the six-figure payoff represents just a scratching of the surface, the fact that money from publishing's aftermarket has begun to find its way to authors in a systematic way is a small revolution. The 50,000 members and clients of the writers' groups and literary agencies that have signed on to the Authors Registry are eligible to enroll without charge. Unaffiliated writers may join as individuals for $10. More information is available from the Authors Registry at 212/563-6920, E-mail registry@interport.net, or at http://www.webcom.com/registry.

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