---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2000 23:12:32 -0800 From: Ultimate Bulletin Board News <newsat_private> To: UBB License Holders <newsat_private> Subject: Important UBB News For Licensed Users Important News About Your Ultimate Bulletin Board --- You are receiving this email because you are a licensed UBB user and we have some important annoucements concerning UBB security, upcoming changes in US law that affect your forums, and more. SECURITY ENHANCEMENTS IN UBB 5.44a Hackers are everywhere these days. We've all read about the hackers (temporarily) bringing down some of the largest portal sites on the web in the last few weeks. They also prey on smaller sites, as well. It is important to be prepared. With that in mind, and based on some potential weaknesses we have found in our system, we have taken action! This past week, we released UBB Version 5.44a, which contains a few internal code changes designed to prevent hacker abuse in your forums. We HIGHLY recommend that all users upgrade to the latest version to ensure maximum security for their boards. Upgrade zip files are available in our Members Area at http://www.ultimatebb.com/ubbmembers/ubbmembers.shtml. Those of you with non expiring licenses whose access to the Members Area has expired may also download this security-enhanced version at no charge... just email us at salesat_private if you fall into this category. Further suggestions for the safety/security of your message board are posted online at: UNIX: http://www.ultimatebb.com/ubbhelp/unix_secure.html NT: http://www.ultimatebb.com/ubbhelp/nt_secure.html NEW US LAW AFFECTS YOU -- CHILDREN'S ONLINE PROTECTION ACT We want to remind you that the upcoming "Children's Online Protection Act" becomes law in the United States on April 20, 2000. This may affect even non-US sites. This is an excellent law, designed to protect minors from being victimized on the web, but full compliance requires changes to the registration process. We will release code on March 21 to allow you to comply with the new law, which requires children under 12 to have parental approval before giving out any information about themselves online. The built-in UBB registration process will thus be changing to take this law into account. We encourage ALL UBBers to upgrade their UBBs after this upgrade is made available in order to follow the new US guidelines. Keep in mind that compliance is still your responsibility... we will merely be providing you with the tools to follow the new law. Check out our website in the coming weeks for more details. OPENTOPIC - COMING SOON! Many of you have heard us talk about our "enterprise edition" of the UBB. Our work on that project is nearly complete; we are in beta testing at this moment. OpenTopic promises to be one of the most scalable, feature-rich, and customizable message board systems in the world. Note that OpenTopic is not a downloadable Perl program, like the UBB. It is a high-end, hosted application, with robust administration features. Soon you will be able to completely outsource your message board needs- no more upgrade hassles, concerns about server support, or scalability issues. New features included in OpenTopic- forum moderator queue options, support for file attachments, topic ratings, polls, flexible security groups, and TOTAL control of page display (no cookie-cutter template system). Pricing is not yet available, but we will have pricing plans that can fit any budget... note that OpenTopic is not a UBB upgrade. It is a completely new service. We've taken all of the feedback from our thousands of customers to create a revoltionary product. It can look exactly like your current UBB, if you like, or it can like like whatever your imagination inspires. And you can still have complete control over your forums- even though we are hosting it for you. Stay tuned to http://www.infopop.com for information in the coming weeks. Oh yes, the UBB will still be available, in case you are wondering!! That's the news for new. Please do upgrade your UBB to address the security concerns mentioned above! Thanks for using the UBB, Ted O'Neill CEO, Infopop Corporation
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Fri Apr 13 2001 - 15:37:11 PDT