Cable companies to delay confusing digital switch

Cable companies to delay confusing digital switch

PHILADELPHIA — Cable TV operators say they’ll voluntarily stop moving analog channels to more expensive digital tiers of service between Dec. 31 and March 1, to avoid confusing customers as the nation switches to digital broadcast transmissions in February.

In letters to Congress this week, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association said cable TV companies don’t want to add a “layer of complexity” as U.S. broadcasters begin to transmit all-digital signals after Feb. 17.

Cable companies are facing regulatory scrutiny over their practice of switching analog channels to digital — leaving analog consumers with fewer channels to watch unless they use adapters, rent a digital set-top box or upgrade to digital. Cable operators say they are trying to accommodate customers by offering promotions such as free adapters.

Cable TV operators’ decision to move analog channels to digital frees them to use their network bandwidth for more high-definition content and other services. It is not related to the national switch to digital broadcasting. Regulators are investigating whether providers are misleading customers into thinking the two events are linked, which could prompt more people to opt for digital video services.

Once cable operators resume moving analog channels to digital, from March 2 to June 30, the companies will give analog households at least one piece of equipment free for one year to let them continue watching in analog. Certain fees also will be waived temporarily. The industry promised to notify customers and franchising officials at least 30 days in advance of the switch.

Consumers Union, which had criticized cable’s channel-switching tactics, hailed the move as a “welcome first step to help consumers navigate a costly maze of confusion surrounding the (digital TV) transition.”

Personalized spam rising sharply, study finds

SAN FRANCISCO — Yes, guys, those spam e-mails for Viagra or baldness cream just might be directed to you personally. So, too, are many of the other crafty come-ons clogging inboxes, trying to lure us to fake Web sites so criminals can steal our personal information.

A new study by Cisco Systems Inc. found an alarming increase in the amount of personalized spam, which online identity thieves create using stolen lists of e-mail addresses or other poached data about their victims, such as where they went to school or which bank they use.

Unlike traditional spam, most of which is blocked by e-mail filters, personalized spam, known as “spear phishing” messages, often sail through unmolested. They’re sent in smaller chunks, and often come from accounts the criminals have set up at reputable Web-based e-mail services. Some of the messages are expertly crafted, linking to beautifully designed Web sites that are bogus or immediately install malicious programs.

Cisco’s annual security study found that spam is growing quickly — nearly 200 billion spam messages are now sent each day, double the volume in 2007 — and that targeted attacks are also rising sharply.

More than 0.4 percent of all spam sent in September were targeted attacks, Cisco found. That might sound low, but since 90 percent of all e-mails sent worldwide are spam, this means 800 million messages a day are attempts are spear phishing. A year ago, targeted attacks with personalized messages were less than 0.1 percent of all spam.

Associated Press