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The "Copyright Alert System," aka "six strikes," kicked off today with the cooperation of five major Internet service providers. The goal of the new campaign is to curb copyright infringement by going after consumers rather than pirates.

While the CAS seems like something that would raise the hackles of privacy and civil liberty groups, the plan isn't to arrest, sue, or fine people downloading illegal movies, games, or music. Instead, the group managing the program -- the Center for Copyright Information -- says its objective is to "educate" such downloaders that they are … Read more

Hackers broke into several television stations' Emergency Alert Systems this week and broadcast that zombies were "rising from their graves" and "attacking the living."

While a comical hoax, security consultancy firm IOActive warns that this type of behavior is dangerous and not that hard for hackers to do, according to Computerworld. This week it's zombies, but next time it could be something that might make people really panic, such as an anthrax or terrorist attack.

IOActive says that devices used by TV and radio stations to air emergency alerts have critical vulnerabilities that make them … Read more

In a special Valentine for PC gamers, one of the most sought-after classic PC games of all time is finally getting a re-release. System Shock 2, a scary 1999 sci-fi role-playing game, is coming to Good Old Games, an online game retailer that sells DRM-free downloads of new and vintage games, starting February 14 for $9.99.

Regularly cited as the game visitors to Good Old Games most wanted to see, the rights to System Shock 2 have been tangled up for years between Electronic Arts and the company that aquired the IP once held by the orignial developer, Looking … Read more

I'm no stranger to losing things. From leaving my bag on a park bench, to sifting through all my coats in the closet just to find the one pocket I last left my keys in, it's common for things to go by the wayside.

To help with this, Kensington's Proximo Proximity Monitoring System provides a way to keep track of valuables via Bluetooth. With its key fob or tag attached to your items, you can monitor and locate your belongings via an iPhone app. Likewise, you can use its key fob to make your handset sound off … Read more

The wave of high-level cyberattacks continues as the Federal Reserve confirmed that one of its internal Web sites was hacked into today, according to Reuters.

"The Federal Reserve system is aware that information was obtained by exploiting a temporary vulnerability in a website vendor product," a Fed spokeswoman told Reuters. "Exposure was fixed shortly after discovery and is no longer an issue. This incident did not affect critical operations of the Federal Reserve system."

Apparently the hackers accessed data associated with specific individuals, according to Reuters.

This attack comes on the heels of the hacking group … Read more

Apple has acquired 18 patents related to "axis-based user interface technology," the intellectual property's former owner Maya-Systems announced yesterday.

According to Maya-Systems, which developers content-management technologies, the companies signed the deal in the third quarter of 2012. Apple acquired only a portion of the company's axis-based user interface technology.

Maya-Systems' axis-based technologies allows developers to group files around a given axis. In some cases, that can mean timelines. The technology is available in the company's IAmOrganized program, which provides file management and cloud storage.

That cloud-storage element is making some folks across the Web speculate … Read more

Anyone even considering Windows 8 should grab the upgrade special now before it expires this week.

Users of Windows 7, Vista, and XP can purchase the upgrade to the new operating system for just $39.99 per PC. Those of you who bought Windows 7 after June 2 last year can score Windows 8 for just $14.99. And that's for the Pro version.

After January 31, the upgrade price skyrockets to $119.99 for the regular edition and $199.99 for the Pro version.

However, Windows 7 users who bought their computer between June 2 of last year … Read more

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which I answer Mac-related questions e-mailed in by our readers.

This week, readers wrote in with questions about managing contact images in Address Book, the lowdown on the rather negative community reaction surrounding the MacKeeper utility, and errors in gathering Application information in the System Information utility. I welcome views from readers, so if you have any suggestions or alternative approaches to these problems, please post them in the comments!

Question: Managing the Recent section for contact images in Address Book MacFixIt reader Lars asks: