ZDNet

File:Zdnet-lightbg-200px.png
URL	http://www.zdnet.com/
Slogan	"Where technology means business."
Category	Business Technology
Publisher	CBS Interactive
Launch date	April 1, 1991
Language	English
Editions	Australia, Asia, China, France, Germany, UK, Belgium, Netherlands, Korea, USA
Registration	Optional
Readership	23 million monthly[1]
Country	United States
Editor	Larry Dignan
v t e

ZDNet is a business technology news website published by CBS Interactive, along with TechRepublic and SmartPlanet. The brand was founded on April 1, 1991 as a general interest technology portal from Ziff Davis and evolved into an enterprise IT-focused online publication owned by CNET Networks.

History[link]

Beginnings: 1991 to 1995[link]

ZDNet began as a subscription-based digital service called "ZiffNet" that offered computing information to users of CompuServe. It featured computer industry forums, events, features and searchable archives.

Initially, ZiffNet was intended to serve as a common place to find content from all Ziff-Davis print publications. As such, ZiffNet was an expansion on an earlier online service called PCMagNet for readers of PC Magazine. Launched in 1988, PCMagNet in turn was the evolution of Ziff Davis' first electronic publishing venture, a bulletin board, which launched in 1985.^[2]

On June 20, 1995, Ziff-Davis announced the consolidation of its online information services under a single name, "ZD Net." The service had grown its membership to 275,000 subscribers across six platforms: CompuServe, Prodigy, AT&T Interchange, the Microsoft Network, AppleLink and eWorld.^[3]

A few months prior to the name consolidation, Ziff-Davis expanded onto the World Wide Web under the name "ZD Net."^[4] Dan Farber, former editor-in-chief of PC Week and MacWeek, was named editor-in-chief of the property.^[5] By June, the site was recording web traffic of 2.5 million pageviews per week.^[6]

Early history: 1995 to 2000[link]

By its fifth-year anniversary in 1996, the collective "ZD Net" brand—now on the Web, America Online, Microsoft Network and Prodigy—counted 300,000 subscribers and was named the second-highest grossing advertising site on the Web.^[7] The site also expanded overseas: initially to France, Germany and the U.K.; later to China, Australia, Hong Kong, Italy, Korea, Malaysia, Russia, Spain, Taiwan and India.^[8]

In 1997, the website—now the brand's flagship property—underwent another redesign that featured topical "channels" of content. It also marked the change in name from "ZD Net" to "ZDNet."^[9]

ZDNet News[link]

Two months prior, the company launched ZDNet News, or "ZDNN," the site's first dedicated section to original reportage.^[10] Among the journalists hired to staff the department were former Computer Shopper executive editor Charlie Cooper, San Jose Mercury News business editor Steve Hamm, PC Week Inside senior editor Bill Snyder, PC Week editor John Dodge, Computerworld editor Michael Fitzgerald and PC Week editorial director Jim Louderback.^[11]

The appointment of digital publishing executive Dan Rosensweig as ZDNet's first president capped a year of significant change for the brand.^[12]

In 1998, ZDNet launched "Inter@active Investor," or ZDII, a spin-off website for investors that offered financial news and information on technology companies.^[13]

ZDTV[link]

On May 11, 1998, Ziff-Davis launched ZDTV as the first cable television channel and website to offer 24-hour programming about computing and the Internet. The venture, which was partly owned by Vulcan Enterprises, was supported with a staff of 170 and incorporated ZDNet content on its website, ZDTV.com.^[14][15] The channel would later become Tech TV.

By the end of 1998, ZDNet was the dominant technology brand online. It led its closest rival, CNET, by a 26 percent margin and was the 13th most popular site on the Web, reaching 8.4 million users, or 13.4 percent of all users on the Web.^[16] The site would reach an additional 600,000 users within a year.^[17]

ZDNet the company[link]

In 1999, Ziff-Davis spun ZDNet off as a separate company and offered it as a tracking stock, ZDZ, to accompany the parent stock, ZD. An initial public offering raised $190 million, but the tracking stock was eliminated in early 2000 and revived as common stock.^[18] The new company soon acquired Updates.com, a software upgrade service. It was incorporated into the site's "Help Channel."^[19]

Consumer expansion[link]

In 1999, ZDNet also launched "Tech Life," a network of six consumer-focused tech sites intended to attract parents ("FamilyPC"), music listeners ("ZDNet Music"), gadget enthusiasts ("ZDNet Equip"), gamers ("ZDNet GameSpot") and basic users ("Internet Life" with Yahoo).

It also launched "Computer Stew," a web-based comedy show about technology that featured John Hargrave and Jay Stevens,^[20] as well as the first ZDNet Holiday Gift Guide.

On December 30, 1999, ZDNet launched a $25 million branding campaign in response to a $100 million advertising campaign launched by rival CNET.^[21]

ZDNet's lead over the competition narrowed by 2000. Despite a record 10.7 million unique users in January, it managed only a 13 percent lead over the next competitor.^[22] By mid-2000, ZDNet had expanded to 23 countries in 14 languages on six continents.^[23]

The CNET years: 2000 to 2007[link]

On July 19, 2000, CNET Networks—parent company of CNET, ZDNet's largest rival—announced that it would acquire ZDNet for about $1.6 billion.^[24] Some analysts thought that the merger of CNET and ZDNet would lead to redundancy in their product offerings, but research revealed that their target audiences had just 25 percent overlap.^[25]

In 2001, Ziff Davis Media Inc. reached an agreement with CNET Networks Inc. and ZDNet to regain the URLs lost in the 2000 sale of Ziff Davis Inc, to Softbank Corp.^[26]

In 2002, CNET Networks launched ZDNet sister site Builder.com, a site intended for enterprise software developers.^[27] On July 7, 2002, CNET Networks acquired Newmediary for its database of more than 30,000 enterprise IT white papers.^[28] ZDNet had integrated its services into its "Business & Technology" channel as early as January 2001.^[29]

Realignment[link]

In 2003, CNET Networks redesigned and relaunched ZDNet as an enterprise-focused publication intended to help business executives make better technology decisions.

The entire site was realigned as part of a CNET Networks B2B portfolio that included CNET News.com, Builder.com and TechRepublic.^[30]

A "Tech Update" section was created to serve as a directory of proprietary IT research (dubbed "IT Priorities"), and a new "Power Center" was implemented to prominently feature webcasts, white papers and case studies from partners. ZDNet also offered eight enterprise-targeted newsletters, as well launched its first blogs.^[31]

In 2005, ZDNet Government was launched as the brand's first industry vertical, with a mission to cater to IT professionals in the public sector. Editorial features included writing by former Utah CIO Phil Windley, TechRepublic columnist Ramon Padilla and CNET News reporter Declan McCullagh. ZDNet also launched its first original podcasts in 2005.^[32]

ZDNet Blogs[link]

In 2006, ZDNet experienced another redesign that reduced its editorial focus on traditional news articles and product reviews and emphasized a growing network of expert bloggers, now totaling more than 30. The blogs covered topics such as enterprise IT, open source, Web 2.0, Google, Apple and Microsoft, and featured journalists David Berlind, Mary Jo Foley and Larry Dignan.^[33]

On February 19, 2008, Larry Dignan was appointed editor-in-chief of ZDNet and editorial director of TechRepublic,^[34] replacing Dan Farber, who became editor-in-chief of CNET News.com.^[35]

The CBS years: 2008 to present[link]

On May 17, 2008, CBS Corporation announced that it would acquire CNET Networks for approximately $1.8 billion.^[36] The entire company would be organized under its CBS Interactive division.

In May 2010, ZDNet redesigned its site to place emphasis on the topics its blog network covers—now "Companies," "Hardware," "Software," "Mobile," "Security" and "Research" -- and de-emphasize the downloads and reviews it imported from CNET post-merger.^[37][38]

Content[link]

ZDNet currently operates a network of about 50 blogs loosely aligned by its major verticals: companies, hardware, software, mobile, security and IT research. Within those general areas are blogs on gadgets, management strategy, social media, datacenters, technology law, SOA, healthcare, CRM, virtualization and sustainability.

The site still offers product reviews and software downloads, which are mostly imported from CNET. It maintains an extensive database of enterprise-focused white papers.

Competitors[link]

Publications from IDG – PCWorld, InfoWorld, NetworkWorld and CIO – and TechTarget are primary competitors to ZDNet. The site also competes with technology publications from its former corporate owner, Ziff-Davis.

Newer publications such as GigaOm, TechCrunch and ReadWriteWeb also compete with ZDNet. Gadget-oriented consumer publications such as Engadget and Gizmodo are indirect competitors. Corporate sibling CNET—specifically News.com -- remains an occasional rival from a coverage standpoint, though their respective audiences do not overlap significantly.

Awards and recognition[link]

At the 14th Annual Computer Press Awards in 1999, ZDNet was adjudged the Best Overall Online Site.^[39]

In 2007, the Association of Online Publishers awarded ZDNet UK under the Business Website category for its contribution to innovation in incorporating Web 2.0 and community features effectively on its site.^[40]

ZDNet international editions[link]

ZDNet India[link]

CNET Networks in India closed their operations in 2001, but they continue to have the jobs site of ZDNet operational.^[41]

ZDNet Japan[link]

A Japanese news publishing company called Asahi Interactive owns the ZDNet Japan website. According to alexa.com statistics, the Japan.zdnet.com subdomain is the second most visited on ZDNet, after the blogs subdomain. Also, the ZDNet website has an overall traffic rank of 558 in Japan.^[42]

ZDNet UK[link]

The ZDNet UK Live feature displays real time news updates and comments on the website and on social media including Twitter.

Other country editions include Australia, Asia, Belgium, China, Germany, Netherlands, UK and France, in their native languages.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• ZDNet Australia
• ZDNet Belgium
• ZDNet UK

Jacob Appelbaum
Jacob Appelbaum
Citizenship	US
Fields	Computer Science, Cynicism
Institutions	University of Washington,[1] Tor project,[2] Noisebridge,[3] Wikileaks
Known for	Computer Security Research former spokesperson for Wikileaks Cult of the Dead Cow spokesperson and developer[2]for The Tor Project[4]

Jacob Appelbaum is an independent computer security researcher and hacker. He is currently employed by the University of Washington,^[1] and is a core member of the Tor project. Appelbaum is known for representing Wikileaks at the 2010 Hope conference.^[5] He has subsequently been repeatedly targeted by US law enforcement agencies, who obtained a court order for his Twitter account data, detained him 12^[6] times at the US border after trips abroad, and seized a laptop and several mobile phones.

Appelbaum, under the handle "ioerror", has been an active member of the Cult of the Dead Cow hacker collective since 2008,^[7] and is the co-founder of the San Francisco hackerspace Noisebridge with Mitch Altman. He has worked for Greenpeace^[8] and has volunteered for the Ruckus Society and the Rainforest Action Network.^[9] He is also a photographer^[10] and ambassador for the art group monochrom.^[11]

Research and activism[link]

In 2005, Appelbaum gave two talks at the 22nd Chaos Communication Congress,^[12] Personal Experiences: Bringing Technology and New Media to Disaster Areas, and A Discussion About Modern Disk Encryption Systems. The former covered his travels to Iraq - crossing the border by foot, the installing of Internet satellites in Kurdistan, and his visit of New Orleans post-Hurricane Katrina. The latter talk discussed the legal and technical aspects of full disk encryption. At the 2006 23rd Chaos Communication Congress, he gave a talk with Ralf-Philipp Weinmann titled Unlocking FileVault: An Analysis of Apple's Encrypted Disk Storage System.^[13][14] The duo subsequently released the VileFault free software program which broke Apple's FileVault security.

Appelbaum has also collaborated on several other high-profile research projects, including the cold boot attack,^[15][16] SSL certificate authorities^[17] and smart parking meters.^[18]

Investigation and detainment[link]

Upon returning to the US from the Netherlands on 29 July 2010, Appelbaum was detained for three hours at Newark airport by agents, according to anonymous sources. The sources told CNET that Appelbaum's bag was searched, receipts from his bag were photocopied, and his laptop was inspected, although in what manner was unclear.^[19] Appelbaum reportedly refused to answer questions without a lawyer present and was not allowed to make a phone call. His three mobile phones were reportedly taken and not returned.^[19] On 31 July he spoke at DEF CON and mentioned his phone being "seized". After speaking, he was approached by two FBI agents and questioned.^[19][20]

According to CNET in an interview with Appelbaum, he told them that "other people who appeared in the address book of [his] seized cell phones also have encountered trouble at borders or in airports".^[21]

On December 14, 2010, the US Department of Justice obtained a court order compelling Twitter to provide data associated with the user accounts of Appelbaum, as well as several other individuals associated with Wikileaks, including Julian Assange and Birgitta Jónsdóttir. While the order was originally sealed, Twitter successfully petitioned the court to unseal it, permitting the company to inform its users that their account information had been requested.^[22]

When Appelbaum returned from a vacation in Iceland on January 10, 2011, he was again detained by US Customs agents for 30 minutes at the Seattle airport. According to Appelbaum, the agents "specifically wanted laptops and cell phones and were visibly unhappy when they discovered nothing of the sort. I did however have a few USB thumb drives with a copy of the Bill of Rights encoded into the block device. They were unable to copy it."^[23]

Similarly, Appelbaum was detained in Houston, Texas while returning from a trip to Serbia on April 12, 2011. He was again subject to detention on arrival in Seattle on June 14, 2011.^{[citation needed]}

After being detained at Keflavik Airport on October 27, 2011 ^[24] when returning to the United States Appelbaum wrote about the experience on BoingBoing.net.^[25]

In April 2012 Appelbaum told Democracy Now that "I don’t have important conversations in the United States anymore. I don’t have conversations in bed with my partner anymore." He said that his being targeted creates a threat for those he wants to help and therefore makes him "less effective" in his work for the Tor Project.^[26]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official site
• Jacob Appelbaum on Twitter
• Researchers Find Way to Steal Encrypted Data at New York Times
• How to bypass FileVault, BitLocker security at CNET
• BoingBoing interview with Appelbaum on "The Afghan War Diaries"
• Interview with Appelbaum on Democracy Now!