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Kyoto Protocal Goes Into Affect Next Week; Information Brokers Becoming Increasingly Popular; New Pictures Of Indian Ocean Seabed Help Scientists Understand Tsunami Disaster

Aired February 12, 2005 - 15:00 ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

DANIEL SIEBERG, HOST: Hi. I'm Daniel Sieberg. Today on NEXT@CNN, the nation's nuclear power plants could be a target for terrorists. And some state officials say a lot more needs to be done to protect them.
Also, the Kyoto Agreement on global warming goes into effect next week. Will it change your life?

And a determined woman in a high-tech boat smashes the old record for sailing around the world alone. All that and more on NEXT.

Fake passports and other documents could get terrorists in a position to attack. Technology is making the fakes more and more sophisticated. Fortunately the good guys have technology too. Jeanne Meserve takes us inside the lab that's in charge of spotting forged documents as part of CNN's ongoing security watch coverage.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The forensic detectives in this laboratory aren't studying flesh and blood, but papers and inks. They're investigating not murder and mayhem, but forgery and falsification, which terrorists could use to put the nation at risk.

The Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Fraudulent Document Lab is one of a kind, and Jim Hesse runs the shots.

JIM HESSE, IMMIGRATIONS AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT FRAUDULENT DOCUMENT LAB: This is our document library.

MESERVE: Passports, visas, birth certificates, licenses, exit and entry stamps from almost every country in the world and some that will never appear in an atlas.

HESSE: This is a totally fantasy passport.

MESERVE (on camera): This country does not exist?

HESSE: Does not exist.

MESERVE (voice-over): In one year the state of Maryland can issue, for instance, 22 different forms of identification. The lab collects variations of all documents to keep in vault-like security.

HESSE: I think the -- it's over 120,000 documents in this room.

MESERVE: Take, for instance, these Greek passports. If you couldn't put them side by side, you might not realize one is authentic and one is not.

HESSE: And that's supposed to be the watermark, OK, so they've simulated the watermark.

MESERVE: When the human eye can't tell the difference, analysts like Jason Lee use a comparison microscope.

JASON LEE, ANALYST: The question visa has a broken line pattern, more of a dashed line, whereas the genuine visa has a continuous line pattern.

MESERVE: Another piece of equipment uses ultraviolet light to expose changes to documents, in this case, a visa.

LEE: Those dark characters are what you actually see with the naked eye. What's unseen is that just behind these characters we have what appears to be a BO39.

MESERVE (on camera): Documents underpin security. You need a license or some other form of I.D., for instance, to get on a plane, a passport to get into the country. If documents are fake or have been altered in some way, security is compromised.

(voice-over) Jim Hesse is painfully, personally aware of the link between documents and security.

(on camera) Do you sometimes feel that the safety of your country is on your shoulders?

HESSE: Well, September 11, 2001, I was in the German embassy in New York City, and we were there talking about how to make visas more secure when the planes hit.

My biggest fear was that those people came in with fraudulent documents. But they didn't. And yes, it's -- it's a responsibility.

MESERVE: Why was it such a fear?

HESSE: Well, the buck stops here.

MESERVE (voice-over): During his 14 years as an immigration agent at New York's JFK Airport, Hesse seized fraudulent documents every day. Agents still on the front line can call up the lab's computer database or send images of question documents to Tim Devins (ph) for analysis.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can put the alien number in, and then it will bring up an image, the image that's supposed to be on the card.

MESERVE: In this case the photo on the card is a woman. The photo on file is a man, an obvious falsification.

Though computers can assist investigations, they have also been a boon to counterfeiters.

HESSE: Years ago you had to either have been a printer or a photographer or have skill in both to be a counterfeiter. Today you need a credit card and go to Best Buy or something and buy this equipment right of the shelf.

MESERVE: The resulting flood of fake documents forces the lab to use intelligence to focus its work.

ASST. SECRETARY MICHAEL GARCIA, U.S. IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS: In terms of an airport or a feeder airport overseas that's causing us particular concern, is there a type of document we're getting some noise about that might be being used?

MESERVE: Almost as soon as new security features are incorporated into documents, counterfeiters find a way to mimic or circumvent them.

HESSE: It has holograms in the laminate, which one would think is a security feature that you would find in a genuine document.

MESERVE: Jim Hesse believes ultimately there is only one solution.

HESSE: But the real answer, honestly, and I know it sounds a little farfetched, would be to collect DNA at birth. They could safely control that.

MESERVE: For now, it is a matter of holograms, watermarks and this small lab doing what it can to keep documents and the country secure.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIEBERG: Well on another security front, 7 states attorney generals added their voices to those urging better security measures at U.S. nuclear plants, but the nuclear power industry says its power plants have never been safer. So just how safe and secure are they? Bill Tucker has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL TUCKER, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The nuclear power industry in America has rarely known a quiet day. For the last several decades, it's been wracked with controversy from the building of a nuclear power plant at Diablo Canyon in California to the accident at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania.

Plagued by ongoing debates over where to safely dispose of radioactive waste and accusations of too cozy a relationship between the industry and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

DANIELLE BRIAN, PROJECT ON GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT: Really the problem we have is a government agency that is so close to the industry that they are simply unwilling to say, you know what, I'm sorry that you don't like this, you're going to have to increase security to the levels that we've decided are appropriate.

TUCKER: Today, there are 103 commercial nuclear plants operating at 64 sites in 31 states, and, according to the NRC, they've never been safer.

NILS DIAZ, CHAIRMAN, NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION: I think nuclear power plant facilities in the United States are as safe as they should be. We have increased security in the power plants rapidly after 9/1. We continue to do so. We are very confident that they are safe, that they are secure, and that we have done what need to be done to protect the American people.

TUCKER: In January of this year, attorneys general from seven states -- California, Arizona, Wisconsin, Illinois, Arkansas, New York and Connecticut -- wrote letters in support of a petition presented to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission by Mothers for Peace and the Committee to Bridge the Gap. They want security measures around the plants tightened.

BILL LOCKYER, CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL: I know because I have law-enforcement personnel what the specifics are in California, and I do not think that they are secure and enhanced in a way that's adequate.

TUCKER: The industry defends itself, noting that its plants are physically strong structures which they say can withstand the impact of a commercial jetliner. While defending their own security measures, they do say there needs to be better cooperation with state and federal response teams.

MARVIN FENTEL, NUCLEAR ENERGY INSTITUTE: We've done a lot in the last three years. The federal government's done a lot. But we haven't been able to yet integrate it to what I would say is an optimum situation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIEBERG: Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

ANNOUNCER: When we come back, battle lines are drawn in a small Montana town where people were exposed to asbestos for decades.

And later in the show, we've been downloading music for years, why not download movies from the Web? We'll look at the potential and the obstacles.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIEBERG: Moving on now, indictments of top executives over financial wrongdoing have made a lot of news recently. Well this week, executives of one company were charged with wrongdoing that goes beyond just draining someone's 401(k). In a ten-count indictment W.R. Grace & Company is accused of contaminating a small Montana town and lying about the danger. The company ran a vermiculite mine that also contained a dangerous form of asbestos.

The mine is now closed. It's a superfund site. But in the 30 years Grace operated it, 1,200 miners and other residents of Libby, Montana developed lung disease. The company could be fined up to $280 million. And executives could get up to 70 years in prison.

Grace denies any criminal wrongdoing, and says the truth will come out in court.

Well, British scientists have released the first images of the Indian Ocean sea-bed where the December tsunami originated. The pictures could help efforts to prevent similar disasters in the future. Lawrence McGinty of Britain's ITV news has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE MCGINTY, ITV NEWS (voice-over): Scientists are delighted by the remarkable sonar images. They show the seabed near the epicenter of the earthquake that caused the tsunami. And they'll give geologists their first glimpse of the events that led to the disaster.

DAVE LONG, BRITISH GEOLOGICAL SURVEY: We've seen parts of the seabed we've never seen before. There are features there which we never knew existed. And yes, any new image is telling us something about our own planet. It's just like people getting excited about pictures of Mars or the Moon.

MCGINTY: The images were produced by the .M.S. Scott, the Navy's latest survey ship which was diverted 3,000 miles from normal duties near Cape Town to the disaster area. It's 3-week survey of the seabed will finish next week.

(on camera): This is the kind of system H.M.S. Scott used to survey the seabed in the Indian Ocean. It sends out 254 beams, each containing 16 pings a second to paint a picture of the seabed.

(voice-over): This version is for mapping harbors and shallow waters, but the same echo-sounding technology can be used in much deeper seas.

This image from Scott shows an underwater mountain range. The red peaks at the top are 3,000 feet under water. During the earthquake these peaks collapsed into deeper water, like this canyon over 10,000 feet deep. This kind of information will help geologists predict the consequences of future tsunamis.

CMDR. STEVE MALCOLM, HMS SCOTT: I do hope that we will play a significant part in providing the data for the scientific community to help prevent loss of life in the future. I feel particularly privileged to be part of that.

MCGINTY: Scott's survey should lead to more accurate predictions of where tsunamis will strike, potentially saving thousands of life. (END VIDEOTAPE)

SIEBERG: Staying with environmental news, the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement to reduce emissions that cause climate change, finally goes into effect next week. And that's despite opposition from the United States. But once the long-awaited and historic plan is implemented, what does it mean for you and me?

Here's this week's look at our planet.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIEBERG (voice-over): The Kyoto Protocol goes into force on February 16. The international agreement sets binding targets for countries to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases. And 141 countries, including the United Kingdom and the European Union have signed on to the challenge of meeting those goals.

Notably absent, the United States. The world's largest producer of greenhouse gases and Australia. Both nations remain human opponents of the protocol, fearing that even if it results in a small win for the environment, it could spell huge economic losses in job cuts and higher energy costs.

But some scientists say the melting icecaps, sea level rise, draught and storms occurring worldwide are clear indications that drastic reductions in emissions are needed to curb global warming.

Recent statements by official with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change called for an immediate reduction in greenhouse gas pollutants from smokestacks and automobile exhausts.

The jury is still out on whether the Kyoto Protocol will actually do any good, but experts agree that meeting the global targets of reduced greenhouse gas emissions will be more difficult without the United States.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIEBERG: Incidentally, when the Kyoto Protocol kicks in next week, be sure to check out CNN.com for special in-depth coverage. And for more information regarding stories on our show, you can go to our Web site anytime. That's CNN.com/next.

ANNOUNCER: Coming up, why Malaysia's cheap ubiquitous car called the Proton is about to change its image.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIEBERG: The woman once dubbed the most powerful in business is out of a job. The Hewlett-Packard board of directors ousted chairman and CEO Carly Fiorina this week. She had spear-headed the controversial buy-out of Compaq in 2002. And that deal didn't produce the profits she had promised. HP shareprices Wednesday went up as Fiorina went out. But don't cry for Fiorina, she walks away with a $21 million severance package. Well that pales compared to the $2.5 trillion budget that President Bush this week. A quick look at how it effects areas on our beat.

The Environmental Protection Agency would see a cut of nearly 6 percent. Much of the reduction would come from a program that helps cities upgrade crumbling sewer systems. While NASA would actually get a 2.5 percent increase, the budget has no money to save the Hubble Space Telescope. The only money for Hubble is for the cost of shutting it down. Now, we'll see if Congress accepts the president's proposals.

Now to the earthbound transportation that we're all accustomed to. Have you thought about the next car you'll buy next? Maybe a Chevy, or a Ford. How about something more exotic like a Proton?

Protons aren't actually available in the U.S. now, but who knows what the future will brings. Things are changing for Malaysia's most basic car, as Martin Soong reports in our "Getting There" segment.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SOONG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): And the car in front is a Proton, so is the one behind and the one after that. A what? A Proton, Malaysia's little car that could.

They're all Protons here, a level racing field. But in the real world, they're finally facing real competion. Every other car in Malaysia is a Proton, a symbol of the country's quantum leap from the sleepy third world to emerging economic power.

(on camera): Protons have come a long way in the last 20 years, from 0 to 200,000 cars a year, but they'll have to be a whole lot better when import duties which had protected Proton for so long go from 300 percent down to almost nothing.

(voice-over): Well, next year is here: with taxes cut, imports could soon overtake Protons. Worse, Proton just lost key partner Mitsubishi. But it's fighting back, quickly teaming up with Volkswagen, a global player analyst say will give for long-needed scale technology and quality. Plus, its own import fighter: Proton made VWs. They'll also be exported to Southeast Asia, 500 million consumers, a lot bigger than Malaysia's market which was never enough to sustain any carmaker.

Mahafir Mohamad, the former strong man behind Proton, still thinks his brandchild can succeed.

MAHATHIR MOHAMAD, ADVISER, PROTON: It is realistic. Because you must remember there are many countries besides the sophisticated countries which are in need of cars.

SOONG: Not just bland, anonymous transportation, to be globally competive, fresh, new products.

Though we can't show you everybody we saw, this is just a peek, but take it from a car nut -- impressive. Owning Lotus, the legendary British maker of sports cars like this Elise helps, so does just buying Italian motorcylce Augusta, a design powerhouse.

TENGKU MAHALEEL ARIFF, CEO, PROTON: I know the products. The new ones will also surprise a lot of people. And that's the marriage of different cultures, and coming up with different ideas, and that excites us.

SOONG: Will consumers find Proton's new cars exciting enough though? Well, that will determine if it stays on track against the competition or not.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIEBERG: Don't care for the Proton? Well, maybe a scooter is more your speed. But even people who can't use their hand or arms can ride this one. An Indian teenager designed the hands-free 3 wheeled scooter and demonstrated it last week. She says there are lots of vehicles for people who can't use their legs or feet, but very few with upper limb disability.

The scooter will be included in an international technology show in Arizona in May.

ANNOUNCER: Coming up in our next half hour, how much information do you think a determined Internet snoop could dig up about you? The answer is pretty scary.

And we'll explain why miniature cows are popular in Cuba.

Those stories and a lot more are coming up after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIEBERG: Welcome back to NEXT@CNN. So do you believe in privacy? Well, we met a man who says he doesn't. Coincidently, or not, he runs an internet service designed to find out just about anything about just about anybody, from criminal history to unlisted phone numbers to salaries, even personality profiles.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIEBERG (voice-over): You might think of Wyoming as the perfect place in which to get lost. It's the tenth largest state in the union, yet it's dead last in population, a haven for anonymity. However the cowboy state is where a lot of people are found, specifically the basement of this house on the outskirts of Cheyenne. This is the home of Jay Patel, founder of an internet background search service called ABIKA .

JAY PATEL, FOUNDER, ABIKA.COM: I don't believe in privacy too much. But first, like most people, when they discuss privacy why do we need privacy? That's the question, like why do people need privacy?

SIEBERG: He says most people agree, privacy isn't important. In fact, he says the world would be a better place if everyone knew everything about each other.

PATEL: Do you know the root cause of hatred or intolerance is? It's because people don't know about other people.

SIEBERG: And Jay Patel says he's here to help. His company can track down a name from an email address or instant message screen name, find an unlisted or blocked phone number, verify a person's salary. In fact, ABIKA has more than 300 ways for you to snoop on others, and more than 300 ways for them to snoop on you.

(on camera): Do you ever worry this information could fall into the wrong hands? People, these days, talk about terrorism or criminal activity. Do you worry about that?

PATEL: See, for us it's not something which anyone cannot find it from going directly to the source. So, it's not something which is like exclusive to us. It's right there. So we are only searching it. We don't create this information and don't access anything which is restricted. We are just a small company in the basement here.

SIEBERG (voice-over): When Jay and his staff receive a request for information; they often get nothing more than a name and last- known address. They send that information to private investigators, court researchers, and keepers of various databases. ABIKA will even create a psychological profile for a person, all of this usually without the subject even knowing he or she is being investigated. So, I decided to request a search on myself. At least I'd know about it.

(on camera): So, I mean, you have my social security number. Is there the possibility that someone could steal my identity, because this information is so easy to get?

PATEL: If you'll see, we don't release the social security number. The last four digits are x'd out, so in you whole profile...

SIEBERG: Right.

PATEL: You'll see that it's not released to anyone.

SIEBERG: Could someone else find that as easily as you did?

PATEL: Social security numbers are the easiest thing to find as such.

SIEBERG (voice-over): A scary thought, but Jay says ABIKA releases social security numbers only to "qualified customers." However, we offered ordered a general background search on another person and did get his social security number, because it was the same as his driver's license number. And that's just one of the things that has privacy advocates concerned about services like ABIKA.

MARC ROTENBERG, ELECTRONIC PRIVACY INFO. CTR.: These new information brokers that have sprouted up on the internet are really operating in the wild wild west. There is no regulation or control. The information that these companies provide becomes the basis for decisions about whether you get a job, about whether you clear a background check, about whether you're able to lease an apartment, maybe even whether you get a home loan. So, the risk is very tangible that a mistake will be made that you'll be turned down for an opportunity that you really are entitled to.

SIEBERG: Still these data brokers have a lot of fans. Software executive, Steve Kirsch, uses ABIKA and others to sue the senders of junk faxes.

STEVE KIRSCH, PROPEL SOFTWARE: Propel will get lots of unsolicited faxes and the only identification -- there'll be no I identification of the company on the faxes and so the only thing we'll have is an 800 number that we should dial. So we've used ABIKA to look up who owns the 800 number. Because, when we call the number, of course, they just give us a phony company name and a location.

SIEBERG (on camera): As proof that Jay's approach can work for some people, Jay actually points to his own situation. Before moving here to Wyoming, he lived in South Dakota. One day he was at a store there and saw a girl and read her nametag. He then went home and did a background search on her. And when he returned to the store, he told her some things about her that he had found. Now, surprisingly she didn't slap him. Instead, three weeks later, they were married.

(voice-over): But not all background checks have a happy ending. In 1999, in New Hampshire, Liam Youens used another internet data broker called Docusearch to find out where a former high school classmate worked. He then shot and killed the woman, 20-years-old Amy Boyer, as she left work. He also killed himself. Boyer's family sued Docusearch saying it should have told woman she was being investigated.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She went to work not knowing that the personal private information was given by Docusearch, the defendants, to someone who had no legal right to have it.

SIEBERG: But docusearch argued it had no duty to check a customer's background.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He premeditated his crime and he killed her. Telling him where she worked didn't foreseeable increase the risk of anything, it didn't proximately cause anything. It had nothing to do with Amy Boyer's death.

SIEBERG: The suit was settled out of court last year with the Boyer family getting $85,000, but the background search industry is still going strong. As Youens wrote on his personal website, as he was planning his quest to kill Boyer, "It's actually obscene what you can find out about a person on the internet." Comments like that have many people searching for the balance between openness and the obscene.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIEBERG: Well, apparently a lot of people like the scale tipped toward openness. Patel says that due to popular demand, he's about to launch a new search engine that will allow you to do your own background checks.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: When we come back, we'll get an inside look at what it takes to set a new record for sailing around the world alone.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIEBERG: British sailor Ellen MacArthur set a new record this week for sailing around the world single-handed. She beat the previous record by more than a day, crossing the finish line Monday night. A world Navy ship escorted her at the end of the trip. Helen Callaghan of ITV New was onboard and filed this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(CHEERS)

HELEN CALLAGHAN, ITV NEWS REPORTER: This was the moment "Team Ellen" they had been waiting for. As the trimaran crossed the finishing line off the coast of Italy, the silence onboard HMS Seven, Ellen's Royal Navy escort ship, turned to celebration.

STEF OTTO, TEAM ELLEN: It's been a long time coming, in fact, longer for her, but it was excellent when she crossed the line, fantastic atmosphere onboard.

SIR ROBIN KNOX-JOHNSTON, ROUND THE WORLD YACHTSMAN: This was probably the toughest thing -- toughest sporting challenge you can think of, all that time on your own, focusing on the boat, day in, day out. You cannot take a rest; you've got to look after it. If you sleep, your body's still sensing the movement of the boat.

CALLAGHAN: Within minutes a team doctor and support sailors were on their way. After the first hugs in 71 days and a wave into the dark, it was time for sleep during the overnight sail to Falmouth with HMS Seven following on.

As the sun came into view, so did the first and certainly the noisiest well-wisher of the morning.

(on camera): It's sunrise now, and for miles we've had no company, it's just us and Ellen's trimaran. But now we're back in British waters, so she's going to have to start getting used to a lot more attention.

(voice-over): Not to be outdone, HMS Seven delivered its own secret weapon to help Ellen regain her strength.

LT. CMDR. JOHNNY LEY, HMS SEVEN: The sun's come up, they've had a bit of a night's rest, so we asked them if they'd like some breakfast and some good old (UNINTELLIGIBLE) some bacon sandwiches.

CALLAGHAN: The growing flotilla surrounding Ellen's trimaran told us we were coming close to the Cornish coast. Ellen MacArthur always knew if she broke the record for solo sailing around the world, she wouldn't be returning to Falmouth on her own.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIEBERG: An amazing accomplishment. And can you imagine spending more than 71 days alone in a small boat, battling the elements, and trying to break the record? Well, ITV News got exclusive access to MacArthur and the video that she recorded during her trip. Mark Webster reports on some of the most dramatic moments.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARK WEBSTER CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She may have looked relaxed enough, but Ellen MacArthur knew from the outset this is the toughest challenge she had ever faced. Ahead of her, more than 27,000 miles alone, fighting fatigue and tiring seas.

ELLEN MACARTHUR, SAILOR: I think this is the biggest challenge by far I've ever attempted, because the boat's big and powerful. The record I'm trying to beat is effectively, on a boat, as fast as humanly possible around the planet.

WEBSTER: Day 15, she has reached the treacherous Southern Ocean when trouble hits. Her main generator breaks down. The backup spews suffocating exhaust heat into her cabin. The attempt is already in jeopardy. She carries out some DIY repairs by torchlight, and she's 17 hours ahead of schedule.

MACARTHUR: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) incredibly stressful and very, very difficult, and I just hope that (UNINTELLIGIBLE) I'll be finding the resolution to some of these problems that things are going to get just a little bit easier.

WEBSTER: Day 28, Christmas day, and she's 1,250 miles off Cape Leeuwin. She's covered nearly 500 miles (UNINTELLIGIBLE) but her lead over the record has been cut to just one hour. She reports a cracking headache, hardly any sleep, she's so stressed her mouth's covered with ulcers.

Day 46, and she's rounding Cape Horn in monstrous seas. Despite battling through winds gusting to 60 knots, Ellen sets a new solo record time. More than four days faster than the previous best.

MACARTHUR: Too late for Christmas.

WEBSTER: Her boat coated with snow, it's a rare chance for a bit of fun. Day 49, and Ellen passes the Falkland Islands. Here the Royal Navy turns out to wish her godspeed.

MACARTHUR: So, we had a bit (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Hercules and Falkland Islands, and the helicopters which live onboard the (UNINTELLIGIBLE), so it's been fantastic, really amazing to think that people have made all that effort just to come out and see me.

WEBSTER: But the pressure remains intense as the boat slams into huge head seas. She's hit on the forehead. There's blood everywhere.

MACARTHUR: Everything is creaking and groening and smashing and grinding, and you (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and you close your eyes and hope it's OK and then the fourth one, whack! (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

WEBSTER: Day 57, she's sailing through the South Atlantic. She's covered more than 22 and-a-half thousand miles. But this is the first time the appalling weather conditions mean she's lost her lead over the record, and still has another four-and-a-half thousand miles to go, yet she's upbeat, says the race is starting over again from zero.

MACARTHUR: No, of course, we've got a chance. There's still a chance -- there's still a chance until -- you know, the second hand ticks down and there's no time left. We've got to be in pretty bad shape at the equator, because we have to go through tomorrow with very little wind, but at the end of the day, we -- you know, we're sure we still have a chance, but it's getting harder and harder rather than easier and easier at the moment.

WEBSTER: Day 71, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) near the Bay of Biscay. She's within 400 miles of the finish, and nearly two days ahead of the record. Shortly the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) should warn her shore crew. Conditions could lead to a capsize, but the record is now within grasp. Ellen MacArthur was poised to pass the finishing line and into the record books after a breathtaking display of skill and sheer courage.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Just ahead, is video on demand via the internet the next big thing? We'll find out why it could be and what's holding it up.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIEBERG: You can think of us as the Ebert & Roeper of the CNN home studio. And I'm joined right now by the projectionist today, Marc Saltzman, the technology expert.

And Marc, we're not talking about DVDs or VHS movies. We're talking about movies that you can get on-line and the pros and cons involved with this. What is it all about?

MARC SALTZMAN, CONSUMER TECH EXPERT: Well, we're really talking about video on demand over the internet. Also known as VOD. We've seen this in hotel rooms, of course, through your TV, but now the trend is that it's moving on-line. A lot of us have broadband connections, we're downloading high-quality music, so why not movies?

SIEBERG: What is this one here? This is CinemaNow? SALTZMAN: OK, let's start out with CinemaNow, the oldest video on demand service on the internet. About 5,000 movies, so actually not a bad selection, and of course, all the genres are listed on the left-hand side. Prices are about four to $5 for newer movie, and we're talking about pay-per-view, really. You've got anywhere from 24 hours to 72 hours to watch that movie from the moment you click "play." And you can watch it as much as you want within that window, but after that, that file won't work. It has an embedded digital rights management.

It's quite easy to choose which films you want, you just click on a film and you can begin watching it. So, here's the "Ladykillers" with Tom Hanks. Here a synopsis of the film, some reviews, and it gives you all the limitations right here: 24 hours, it costs $3.99, and then you can, again, see it in seconds as it promotes, because once it starts downloading, you can watch it.

SIEBERG: OK, and Movielink is very similar is it not?

SALTZMAN: Yes, Movielink is similar in that it is strict pay- per-view. They do not offer any sort of subscription services. It's four to $5 for some of the newer films. You've got 24 hours to watch it. There's about 1,000 titles to choose from. So, it's not bad. This is what the main screen looks like. You first download a small client that resides on your hard drive. And then you can, of course, peruse through all the movies. Some, such as "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" allow you to watch it in enhanced quality and that is going to be about twice the size of the file. So, instead of 500 megabytes or 600 megabytes, it'll be maybe over a gigabyte.

SIEBERG: Would you really notice the difference in the picture quality?

SALTZMAN: Yeah, the picture and audio does sound better, in my opinion, yeah.

SIEBERG: And the last one is relatively new on the scene.

SALTZMAN: That's right. The last one is from Real and it's called Stars Ticket on Real Movies. And we've got it right here. Now, this debuted in June of 2004, so you're right, this is the newest one on the scene. And this is a strict subscription model. It's like an all-you can eat kind of model. A hundred-and-fifty movies or so, and they do about 25 percent of them change on a regular base and it's $12.95 a month and you get to watch the movies as much as you want within that time period. So, it's kind of like what Napster is to iTunes. SIEBERG: OK.

SALTZMAN: Well, across the board you know, there are new services available; they all work a little bit differently in terms of their pricing. Selection is comparable, but you know, this is sort of the tip of the iceberg on where it's going. No, not a lot of people want to watch a movie on their computer or take the time to connect it to a TV, but this sort of where it's all going as TVs and the internet converge. SIEBERG: And if you want to do it, you can do it legally.

SALTZMAN: That's true and you are paying for that. That's right.

SIEBERG: Right. All right. Cut and print it. Thanks so much, Marc. For joining us. That's a wrap.

SALTZMAN: Thanks, Daniel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: When we come back, we'll tell you why these kitties have a place in the history books at the National Zoo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIEBERG: All right. Now it's time for our gratuitous cute animal segment starting with a look at these baby cheetahs at the National Zoo. They were born about 11 weeks ago and got their first look at the outdoors last week. Obviously they thought it was pretty cool. They're the first cheetahs ever born at the zoo. They weigh about 10 pounds now, about the size of an average house cat, but they'll grow to ten times that within the next year.

Well, these penguins at the Bremerhaven Zoo in Germany probably fit into the cute category as well, but their lives are a little more complicated. You see the penguins have paired off and have been having sex, but no eggs or babies appeared. Eventually zoo keepers figured out that 12 of the 13 penguins are males. So they brought in some females penguins from a zoo in Sweden to see if that'll lure the male penguins away from their same-sex relationships. The zoo keepers say if the birds really are homosexual, which is actually not unheard of, the gay couple will stay together and the zoo will just have to forget about the patter of little penguin feet.

So, you've no doubt seen miniature poodles and miniature dachshunds, but miniature cows? Yes they're all rage in Cuba. Lucia Newman explains why.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

. LUCIA NEWMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They look like cows and they sound like cows, but there's something wrong here -- the size. By cow standards, they're dwarfs barely half the size of the steer you see here. They're the result of years of experimenting and careful breeding by retired Cuban rancher Raul Hernandez.

"I saw how horses were bred into ponies, they were sort, but gave results, so I thought why not do the same with cows," he says. "They can live in the backyard and eat a fraction of what normal cows consume. In a couple months, Pokita (PH) should be more than paying for more than her keep. These back-yard cows produce at least three liters of milk a day," says Hernandez, "enough to resolve the needs of a family and even the neighbor if he needs it."

Another advantage says the Mirabelle, the ranchhand's wife, is that even the elderly can milk them.

"Now, almost all the nearby farmers are bringing their cows over to mate with ours to see if they produce a dwarf, because they say they're a lot easier to care for," she explains. And that's not all.

(on camera): They're not only small, but they're also so docile that you could keep one as a pet.

(voice-over): And since in communist Cuba it's illegal for private citizens to kill a cow for either meat, even if you own it, the size of the rump is not a big issue.

Right now, Hernandez only has 11 of the dwarf animals, but is breeding more and even smaller specimens, he says. To prove to the world when it comes to cows, size doesn't matter.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Say hello.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIEBERG: Well, we've got to herd in this menagerie, and that's all the time we have for now. But, here's what's coming up next week:

The digital lifestyle is all around us, from cell phones to MP3 players to networked home PCs. We'll take you to DEMO, the showcase of emerging technologies to see where the bits and bytes are leading us.

That's coming up on NEXT. Until then, let's hear from you. You can send us an e-mail at NEXT@CNN.com. And don't forget to check out our website, that's at cnn.com/next.

Thanks so much for joining us, for all of us, I'm Daniel Sieberg, we'll see you next time.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com

Aired February 12, 2005 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DANIEL SIEBERG, HOST: Hi. I'm Daniel Sieberg. Today on NEXT@CNN, the nation's nuclear power plants could be a target for terrorists. And some state officials say a lot more needs to be done to protect them.
Also, the Kyoto Agreement on global warming goes into effect next week. Will it change your life?

And a determined woman in a high-tech boat smashes the old record for sailing around the world alone. All that and more on NEXT.

Fake passports and other documents could get terrorists in a position to attack. Technology is making the fakes more and more sophisticated. Fortunately the good guys have technology too. Jeanne Meserve takes us inside the lab that's in charge of spotting forged documents as part of CNN's ongoing security watch coverage.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The forensic detectives in this laboratory aren't studying flesh and blood, but papers and inks. They're investigating not murder and mayhem, but forgery and falsification, which terrorists could use to put the nation at risk.

The Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Fraudulent Document Lab is one of a kind, and Jim Hesse runs the shots.

JIM HESSE, IMMIGRATIONS AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT FRAUDULENT DOCUMENT LAB: This is our document library.

MESERVE: Passports, visas, birth certificates, licenses, exit and entry stamps from almost every country in the world and some that will never appear in an atlas.

HESSE: This is a totally fantasy passport.

MESERVE (on camera): This country does not exist?

HESSE: Does not exist.

MESERVE (voice-over): In one year the state of Maryland can issue, for instance, 22 different forms of identification. The lab collects variations of all documents to keep in vault-like security.

HESSE: I think the -- it's over 120,000 documents in this room.

MESERVE: Take, for instance, these Greek passports. If you couldn't put them side by side, you might not realize one is authentic and one is not.

HESSE: And that's supposed to be the watermark, OK, so they've simulated the watermark.

MESERVE: When the human eye can't tell the difference, analysts like Jason Lee use a comparison microscope.

JASON LEE, ANALYST: The question visa has a broken line pattern, more of a dashed line, whereas the genuine visa has a continuous line pattern.

MESERVE: Another piece of equipment uses ultraviolet light to expose changes to documents, in this case, a visa.

LEE: Those dark characters are what you actually see with the naked eye. What's unseen is that just behind these characters we have what appears to be a BO39.

MESERVE (on camera): Documents underpin security. You need a license or some other form of I.D., for instance, to get on a plane, a passport to get into the country. If documents are fake or have been altered in some way, security is compromised.

(voice-over) Jim Hesse is painfully, personally aware of the link between documents and security.

(on camera) Do you sometimes feel that the safety of your country is on your shoulders?

HESSE: Well, September 11, 2001, I was in the German embassy in New York City, and we were there talking about how to make visas more secure when the planes hit.

My biggest fear was that those people came in with fraudulent documents. But they didn't. And yes, it's -- it's a responsibility.

MESERVE: Why was it such a fear?

HESSE: Well, the buck stops here.

MESERVE (voice-over): During his 14 years as an immigration agent at New York's JFK Airport, Hesse seized fraudulent documents every day. Agents still on the front line can call up the lab's computer database or send images of question documents to Tim Devins (ph) for analysis.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can put the alien number in, and then it will bring up an image, the image that's supposed to be on the card.

MESERVE: In this case the photo on the card is a woman. The photo on file is a man, an obvious falsification.

Though computers can assist investigations, they have also been a boon to counterfeiters.

HESSE: Years ago you had to either have been a printer or a photographer or have skill in both to be a counterfeiter. Today you need a credit card and go to Best Buy or something and buy this equipment right of the shelf.

MESERVE: The resulting flood of fake documents forces the lab to use intelligence to focus its work.

ASST. SECRETARY MICHAEL GARCIA, U.S. IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS: In terms of an airport or a feeder airport overseas that's causing us particular concern, is there a type of document we're getting some noise about that might be being used?

MESERVE: Almost as soon as new security features are incorporated into documents, counterfeiters find a way to mimic or circumvent them.

HESSE: It has holograms in the laminate, which one would think is a security feature that you would find in a genuine document.

MESERVE: Jim Hesse believes ultimately there is only one solution.

HESSE: But the real answer, honestly, and I know it sounds a little farfetched, would be to collect DNA at birth. They could safely control that.

MESERVE: For now, it is a matter of holograms, watermarks and this small lab doing what it can to keep documents and the country secure.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIEBERG: Well on another security front, 7 states attorney generals added their voices to those urging better security measures at U.S. nuclear plants, but the nuclear power industry says its power plants have never been safer. So just how safe and secure are they? Bill Tucker has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL TUCKER, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The nuclear power industry in America has rarely known a quiet day. For the last several decades, it's been wracked with controversy from the building of a nuclear power plant at Diablo Canyon in California to the accident at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania.

Plagued by ongoing debates over where to safely dispose of radioactive waste and accusations of too cozy a relationship between the industry and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

DANIELLE BRIAN, PROJECT ON GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT: Really the problem we have is a government agency that is so close to the industry that they are simply unwilling to say, you know what, I'm sorry that you don't like this, you're going to have to increase security to the levels that we've decided are appropriate.

TUCKER: Today, there are 103 commercial nuclear plants operating at 64 sites in 31 states, and, according to the NRC, they've never been safer.

NILS DIAZ, CHAIRMAN, NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION: I think nuclear power plant facilities in the United States are as safe as they should be. We have increased security in the power plants rapidly after 9/1. We continue to do so. We are very confident that they are safe, that they are secure, and that we have done what need to be done to protect the American people.

TUCKER: In January of this year, attorneys general from seven states -- California, Arizona, Wisconsin, Illinois, Arkansas, New York and Connecticut -- wrote letters in support of a petition presented to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission by Mothers for Peace and the Committee to Bridge the Gap. They want security measures around the plants tightened.

BILL LOCKYER, CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL: I know because I have law-enforcement personnel what the specifics are in California, and I do not think that they are secure and enhanced in a way that's adequate.

TUCKER: The industry defends itself, noting that its plants are physically strong structures which they say can withstand the impact of a commercial jetliner. While defending their own security measures, they do say there needs to be better cooperation with state and federal response teams.

MARVIN FENTEL, NUCLEAR ENERGY INSTITUTE: We've done a lot in the last three years. The federal government's done a lot. But we haven't been able to yet integrate it to what I would say is an optimum situation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIEBERG: Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

ANNOUNCER: When we come back, battle lines are drawn in a small Montana town where people were exposed to asbestos for decades.

And later in the show, we've been downloading music for years, why not download movies from the Web? We'll look at the potential and the obstacles.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIEBERG: Moving on now, indictments of top executives over financial wrongdoing have made a lot of news recently. Well this week, executives of one company were charged with wrongdoing that goes beyond just draining someone's 401(k). In a ten-count indictment W.R. Grace & Company is accused of contaminating a small Montana town and lying about the danger. The company ran a vermiculite mine that also contained a dangerous form of asbestos.

The mine is now closed. It's a superfund site. But in the 30 years Grace operated it, 1,200 miners and other residents of Libby, Montana developed lung disease. The company could be fined up to $280 million. And executives could get up to 70 years in prison.

Grace denies any criminal wrongdoing, and says the truth will come out in court.

Well, British scientists have released the first images of the Indian Ocean sea-bed where the December tsunami originated. The pictures could help efforts to prevent similar disasters in the future. Lawrence McGinty of Britain's ITV news has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE MCGINTY, ITV NEWS (voice-over): Scientists are delighted by the remarkable sonar images. They show the seabed near the epicenter of the earthquake that caused the tsunami. And they'll give geologists their first glimpse of the events that led to the disaster.

DAVE LONG, BRITISH GEOLOGICAL SURVEY: We've seen parts of the seabed we've never seen before. There are features there which we never knew existed. And yes, any new image is telling us something about our own planet. It's just like people getting excited about pictures of Mars or the Moon.

MCGINTY: The images were produced by the .M.S. Scott, the Navy's latest survey ship which was diverted 3,000 miles from normal duties near Cape Town to the disaster area. It's 3-week survey of the seabed will finish next week.

(on camera): This is the kind of system H.M.S. Scott used to survey the seabed in the Indian Ocean. It sends out 254 beams, each containing 16 pings a second to paint a picture of the seabed.

(voice-over): This version is for mapping harbors and shallow waters, but the same echo-sounding technology can be used in much deeper seas.

This image from Scott shows an underwater mountain range. The red peaks at the top are 3,000 feet under water. During the earthquake these peaks collapsed into deeper water, like this canyon over 10,000 feet deep. This kind of information will help geologists predict the consequences of future tsunamis.

CMDR. STEVE MALCOLM, HMS SCOTT: I do hope that we will play a significant part in providing the data for the scientific community to help prevent loss of life in the future. I feel particularly privileged to be part of that.

MCGINTY: Scott's survey should lead to more accurate predictions of where tsunamis will strike, potentially saving thousands of life. (END VIDEOTAPE)

SIEBERG: Staying with environmental news, the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement to reduce emissions that cause climate change, finally goes into effect next week. And that's despite opposition from the United States. But once the long-awaited and historic plan is implemented, what does it mean for you and me?

Here's this week's look at our planet.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIEBERG (voice-over): The Kyoto Protocol goes into force on February 16. The international agreement sets binding targets for countries to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases. And 141 countries, including the United Kingdom and the European Union have signed on to the challenge of meeting those goals.

Notably absent, the United States. The world's largest producer of greenhouse gases and Australia. Both nations remain human opponents of the protocol, fearing that even if it results in a small win for the environment, it could spell huge economic losses in job cuts and higher energy costs.

But some scientists say the melting icecaps, sea level rise, draught and storms occurring worldwide are clear indications that drastic reductions in emissions are needed to curb global warming.

Recent statements by official with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change called for an immediate reduction in greenhouse gas pollutants from smokestacks and automobile exhausts.

The jury is still out on whether the Kyoto Protocol will actually do any good, but experts agree that meeting the global targets of reduced greenhouse gas emissions will be more difficult without the United States.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIEBERG: Incidentally, when the Kyoto Protocol kicks in next week, be sure to check out CNN.com for special in-depth coverage. And for more information regarding stories on our show, you can go to our Web site anytime. That's CNN.com/next.

ANNOUNCER: Coming up, why Malaysia's cheap ubiquitous car called the Proton is about to change its image.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIEBERG: The woman once dubbed the most powerful in business is out of a job. The Hewlett-Packard board of directors ousted chairman and CEO Carly Fiorina this week. She had spear-headed the controversial buy-out of Compaq in 2002. And that deal didn't produce the profits she had promised. HP shareprices Wednesday went up as Fiorina went out. But don't cry for Fiorina, she walks away with a $21 million severance package. Well that pales compared to the $2.5 trillion budget that President Bush this week. A quick look at how it effects areas on our beat.

The Environmental Protection Agency would see a cut of nearly 6 percent. Much of the reduction would come from a program that helps cities upgrade crumbling sewer systems. While NASA would actually get a 2.5 percent increase, the budget has no money to save the Hubble Space Telescope. The only money for Hubble is for the cost of shutting it down. Now, we'll see if Congress accepts the president's proposals.

Now to the earthbound transportation that we're all accustomed to. Have you thought about the next car you'll buy next? Maybe a Chevy, or a Ford. How about something more exotic like a Proton?

Protons aren't actually available in the U.S. now, but who knows what the future will brings. Things are changing for Malaysia's most basic car, as Martin Soong reports in our "Getting There" segment.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SOONG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): And the car in front is a Proton, so is the one behind and the one after that. A what? A Proton, Malaysia's little car that could.

They're all Protons here, a level racing field. But in the real world, they're finally facing real competion. Every other car in Malaysia is a Proton, a symbol of the country's quantum leap from the sleepy third world to emerging economic power.

(on camera): Protons have come a long way in the last 20 years, from 0 to 200,000 cars a year, but they'll have to be a whole lot better when import duties which had protected Proton for so long go from 300 percent down to almost nothing.

(voice-over): Well, next year is here: with taxes cut, imports could soon overtake Protons. Worse, Proton just lost key partner Mitsubishi. But it's fighting back, quickly teaming up with Volkswagen, a global player analyst say will give for long-needed scale technology and quality. Plus, its own import fighter: Proton made VWs. They'll also be exported to Southeast Asia, 500 million consumers, a lot bigger than Malaysia's market which was never enough to sustain any carmaker.

Mahafir Mohamad, the former strong man behind Proton, still thinks his brandchild can succeed.

MAHATHIR MOHAMAD, ADVISER, PROTON: It is realistic. Because you must remember there are many countries besides the sophisticated countries which are in need of cars.

SOONG: Not just bland, anonymous transportation, to be globally competive, fresh, new products.

Though we can't show you everybody we saw, this is just a peek, but take it from a car nut -- impressive. Owning Lotus, the legendary British maker of sports cars like this Elise helps, so does just buying Italian motorcylce Augusta, a design powerhouse.

TENGKU MAHALEEL ARIFF, CEO, PROTON: I know the products. The new ones will also surprise a lot of people. And that's the marriage of different cultures, and coming up with different ideas, and that excites us.

SOONG: Will consumers find Proton's new cars exciting enough though? Well, that will determine if it stays on track against the competition or not.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIEBERG: Don't care for the Proton? Well, maybe a scooter is more your speed. But even people who can't use their hand or arms can ride this one. An Indian teenager designed the hands-free 3 wheeled scooter and demonstrated it last week. She says there are lots of vehicles for people who can't use their legs or feet, but very few with upper limb disability.

The scooter will be included in an international technology show in Arizona in May.

ANNOUNCER: Coming up in our next half hour, how much information do you think a determined Internet snoop could dig up about you? The answer is pretty scary.

And we'll explain why miniature cows are popular in Cuba.

Those stories and a lot more are coming up after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIEBERG: Welcome back to NEXT@CNN. So do you believe in privacy? Well, we met a man who says he doesn't. Coincidently, or not, he runs an internet service designed to find out just about anything about just about anybody, from criminal history to unlisted phone numbers to salaries, even personality profiles.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIEBERG (voice-over): You might think of Wyoming as the perfect place in which to get lost. It's the tenth largest state in the union, yet it's dead last in population, a haven for anonymity. However the cowboy state is where a lot of people are found, specifically the basement of this house on the outskirts of Cheyenne. This is the home of Jay Patel, founder of an internet background search service called ABIKA .

JAY PATEL, FOUNDER, ABIKA.COM: I don't believe in privacy too much. But first, like most people, when they discuss privacy why do we need privacy? That's the question, like why do people need privacy?

SIEBERG: He says most people agree, privacy isn't important. In fact, he says the world would be a better place if everyone knew everything about each other.

PATEL: Do you know the root cause of hatred or intolerance is? It's because people don't know about other people.

SIEBERG: And Jay Patel says he's here to help. His company can track down a name from an email address or instant message screen name, find an unlisted or blocked phone number, verify a person's salary. In fact, ABIKA has more than 300 ways for you to snoop on others, and more than 300 ways for them to snoop on you.

(on camera): Do you ever worry this information could fall into the wrong hands? People, these days, talk about terrorism or criminal activity. Do you worry about that?

PATEL: See, for us it's not something which anyone cannot find it from going directly to the source. So, it's not something which is like exclusive to us. It's right there. So we are only searching it. We don't create this information and don't access anything which is restricted. We are just a small company in the basement here.

SIEBERG (voice-over): When Jay and his staff receive a request for information; they often get nothing more than a name and last- known address. They send that information to private investigators, court researchers, and keepers of various databases. ABIKA will even create a psychological profile for a person, all of this usually without the subject even knowing he or she is being investigated. So, I decided to request a search on myself. At least I'd know about it.

(on camera): So, I mean, you have my social security number. Is there the possibility that someone could steal my identity, because this information is so easy to get?

PATEL: If you'll see, we don't release the social security number. The last four digits are x'd out, so in you whole profile...

SIEBERG: Right.

PATEL: You'll see that it's not released to anyone.

SIEBERG: Could someone else find that as easily as you did?

PATEL: Social security numbers are the easiest thing to find as such.

SIEBERG (voice-over): A scary thought, but Jay says ABIKA releases social security numbers only to "qualified customers." However, we offered ordered a general background search on another person and did get his social security number, because it was the same as his driver's license number. And that's just one of the things that has privacy advocates concerned about services like ABIKA.

MARC ROTENBERG, ELECTRONIC PRIVACY INFO. CTR.: These new information brokers that have sprouted up on the internet are really operating in the wild wild west. There is no regulation or control. The information that these companies provide becomes the basis for decisions about whether you get a job, about whether you clear a background check, about whether you're able to lease an apartment, maybe even whether you get a home loan. So, the risk is very tangible that a mistake will be made that you'll be turned down for an opportunity that you really are entitled to.

SIEBERG: Still these data brokers have a lot of fans. Software executive, Steve Kirsch, uses ABIKA and others to sue the senders of junk faxes.

STEVE KIRSCH, PROPEL SOFTWARE: Propel will get lots of unsolicited faxes and the only identification -- there'll be no I identification of the company on the faxes and so the only thing we'll have is an 800 number that we should dial. So we've used ABIKA to look up who owns the 800 number. Because, when we call the number, of course, they just give us a phony company name and a location.

SIEBERG (on camera): As proof that Jay's approach can work for some people, Jay actually points to his own situation. Before moving here to Wyoming, he lived in South Dakota. One day he was at a store there and saw a girl and read her nametag. He then went home and did a background search on her. And when he returned to the store, he told her some things about her that he had found. Now, surprisingly she didn't slap him. Instead, three weeks later, they were married.

(voice-over): But not all background checks have a happy ending. In 1999, in New Hampshire, Liam Youens used another internet data broker called Docusearch to find out where a former high school classmate worked. He then shot and killed the woman, 20-years-old Amy Boyer, as she left work. He also killed himself. Boyer's family sued Docusearch saying it should have told woman she was being investigated.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She went to work not knowing that the personal private information was given by Docusearch, the defendants, to someone who had no legal right to have it.

SIEBERG: But docusearch argued it had no duty to check a customer's background.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He premeditated his crime and he killed her. Telling him where she worked didn't foreseeable increase the risk of anything, it didn't proximately cause anything. It had nothing to do with Amy Boyer's death.

SIEBERG: The suit was settled out of court last year with the Boyer family getting $85,000, but the background search industry is still going strong. As Youens wrote on his personal website, as he was planning his quest to kill Boyer, "It's actually obscene what you can find out about a person on the internet." Comments like that have many people searching for the balance between openness and the obscene.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIEBERG: Well, apparently a lot of people like the scale tipped toward openness. Patel says that due to popular demand, he's about to launch a new search engine that will allow you to do your own background checks.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: When we come back, we'll get an inside look at what it takes to set a new record for sailing around the world alone.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIEBERG: British sailor Ellen MacArthur set a new record this week for sailing around the world single-handed. She beat the previous record by more than a day, crossing the finish line Monday night. A world Navy ship escorted her at the end of the trip. Helen Callaghan of ITV New was onboard and filed this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(CHEERS)

HELEN CALLAGHAN, ITV NEWS REPORTER: This was the moment "Team Ellen" they had been waiting for. As the trimaran crossed the finishing line off the coast of Italy, the silence onboard HMS Seven, Ellen's Royal Navy escort ship, turned to celebration.

STEF OTTO, TEAM ELLEN: It's been a long time coming, in fact, longer for her, but it was excellent when she crossed the line, fantastic atmosphere onboard.

SIR ROBIN KNOX-JOHNSTON, ROUND THE WORLD YACHTSMAN: This was probably the toughest thing -- toughest sporting challenge you can think of, all that time on your own, focusing on the boat, day in, day out. You cannot take a rest; you've got to look after it. If you sleep, your body's still sensing the movement of the boat.

CALLAGHAN: Within minutes a team doctor and support sailors were on their way. After the first hugs in 71 days and a wave into the dark, it was time for sleep during the overnight sail to Falmouth with HMS Seven following on.

As the sun came into view, so did the first and certainly the noisiest well-wisher of the morning.

(on camera): It's sunrise now, and for miles we've had no company, it's just us and Ellen's trimaran. But now we're back in British waters, so she's going to have to start getting used to a lot more attention.

(voice-over): Not to be outdone, HMS Seven delivered its own secret weapon to help Ellen regain her strength.

LT. CMDR. JOHNNY LEY, HMS SEVEN: The sun's come up, they've had a bit of a night's rest, so we asked them if they'd like some breakfast and some good old (UNINTELLIGIBLE) some bacon sandwiches.

CALLAGHAN: The growing flotilla surrounding Ellen's trimaran told us we were coming close to the Cornish coast. Ellen MacArthur always knew if she broke the record for solo sailing around the world, she wouldn't be returning to Falmouth on her own.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIEBERG: An amazing accomplishment. And can you imagine spending more than 71 days alone in a small boat, battling the elements, and trying to break the record? Well, ITV News got exclusive access to MacArthur and the video that she recorded during her trip. Mark Webster reports on some of the most dramatic moments.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARK WEBSTER CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She may have looked relaxed enough, but Ellen MacArthur knew from the outset this is the toughest challenge she had ever faced. Ahead of her, more than 27,000 miles alone, fighting fatigue and tiring seas.

ELLEN MACARTHUR, SAILOR: I think this is the biggest challenge by far I've ever attempted, because the boat's big and powerful. The record I'm trying to beat is effectively, on a boat, as fast as humanly possible around the planet.

WEBSTER: Day 15, she has reached the treacherous Southern Ocean when trouble hits. Her main generator breaks down. The backup spews suffocating exhaust heat into her cabin. The attempt is already in jeopardy. She carries out some DIY repairs by torchlight, and she's 17 hours ahead of schedule.

MACARTHUR: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) incredibly stressful and very, very difficult, and I just hope that (UNINTELLIGIBLE) I'll be finding the resolution to some of these problems that things are going to get just a little bit easier.

WEBSTER: Day 28, Christmas day, and she's 1,250 miles off Cape Leeuwin. She's covered nearly 500 miles (UNINTELLIGIBLE) but her lead over the record has been cut to just one hour. She reports a cracking headache, hardly any sleep, she's so stressed her mouth's covered with ulcers.

Day 46, and she's rounding Cape Horn in monstrous seas. Despite battling through winds gusting to 60 knots, Ellen sets a new solo record time. More than four days faster than the previous best.

MACARTHUR: Too late for Christmas.

WEBSTER: Her boat coated with snow, it's a rare chance for a bit of fun. Day 49, and Ellen passes the Falkland Islands. Here the Royal Navy turns out to wish her godspeed.

MACARTHUR: So, we had a bit (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Hercules and Falkland Islands, and the helicopters which live onboard the (UNINTELLIGIBLE), so it's been fantastic, really amazing to think that people have made all that effort just to come out and see me.

WEBSTER: But the pressure remains intense as the boat slams into huge head seas. She's hit on the forehead. There's blood everywhere.

MACARTHUR: Everything is creaking and groening and smashing and grinding, and you (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and you close your eyes and hope it's OK and then the fourth one, whack! (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

WEBSTER: Day 57, she's sailing through the South Atlantic. She's covered more than 22 and-a-half thousand miles. But this is the first time the appalling weather conditions mean she's lost her lead over the record, and still has another four-and-a-half thousand miles to go, yet she's upbeat, says the race is starting over again from zero.

MACARTHUR: No, of course, we've got a chance. There's still a chance -- there's still a chance until -- you know, the second hand ticks down and there's no time left. We've got to be in pretty bad shape at the equator, because we have to go through tomorrow with very little wind, but at the end of the day, we -- you know, we're sure we still have a chance, but it's getting harder and harder rather than easier and easier at the moment.

WEBSTER: Day 71, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) near the Bay of Biscay. She's within 400 miles of the finish, and nearly two days ahead of the record. Shortly the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) should warn her shore crew. Conditions could lead to a capsize, but the record is now within grasp. Ellen MacArthur was poised to pass the finishing line and into the record books after a breathtaking display of skill and sheer courage.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Just ahead, is video on demand via the internet the next big thing? We'll find out why it could be and what's holding it up.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIEBERG: You can think of us as the Ebert & Roeper of the CNN home studio. And I'm joined right now by the projectionist today, Marc Saltzman, the technology expert.

And Marc, we're not talking about DVDs or VHS movies. We're talking about movies that you can get on-line and the pros and cons involved with this. What is it all about?

MARC SALTZMAN, CONSUMER TECH EXPERT: Well, we're really talking about video on demand over the internet. Also known as VOD. We've seen this in hotel rooms, of course, through your TV, but now the trend is that it's moving on-line. A lot of us have broadband connections, we're downloading high-quality music, so why not movies?

SIEBERG: What is this one here? This is CinemaNow? SALTZMAN: OK, let's start out with CinemaNow, the oldest video on demand service on the internet. About 5,000 movies, so actually not a bad selection, and of course, all the genres are listed on the left-hand side. Prices are about four to $5 for newer movie, and we're talking about pay-per-view, really. You've got anywhere from 24 hours to 72 hours to watch that movie from the moment you click "play." And you can watch it as much as you want within that window, but after that, that file won't work. It has an embedded digital rights management.

It's quite easy to choose which films you want, you just click on a film and you can begin watching it. So, here's the "Ladykillers" with Tom Hanks. Here a synopsis of the film, some reviews, and it gives you all the limitations right here: 24 hours, it costs $3.99, and then you can, again, see it in seconds as it promotes, because once it starts downloading, you can watch it.

SIEBERG: OK, and Movielink is very similar is it not?

SALTZMAN: Yes, Movielink is similar in that it is strict pay- per-view. They do not offer any sort of subscription services. It's four to $5 for some of the newer films. You've got 24 hours to watch it. There's about 1,000 titles to choose from. So, it's not bad. This is what the main screen looks like. You first download a small client that resides on your hard drive. And then you can, of course, peruse through all the movies. Some, such as "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" allow you to watch it in enhanced quality and that is going to be about twice the size of the file. So, instead of 500 megabytes or 600 megabytes, it'll be maybe over a gigabyte.

SIEBERG: Would you really notice the difference in the picture quality?

SALTZMAN: Yeah, the picture and audio does sound better, in my opinion, yeah.

SIEBERG: And the last one is relatively new on the scene.

SALTZMAN: That's right. The last one is from Real and it's called Stars Ticket on Real Movies. And we've got it right here. Now, this debuted in June of 2004, so you're right, this is the newest one on the scene. And this is a strict subscription model. It's like an all-you can eat kind of model. A hundred-and-fifty movies or so, and they do about 25 percent of them change on a regular base and it's $12.95 a month and you get to watch the movies as much as you want within that time period. So, it's kind of like what Napster is to iTunes. SIEBERG: OK.

SALTZMAN: Well, across the board you know, there are new services available; they all work a little bit differently in terms of their pricing. Selection is comparable, but you know, this is sort of the tip of the iceberg on where it's going. No, not a lot of people want to watch a movie on their computer or take the time to connect it to a TV, but this sort of where it's all going as TVs and the internet converge. SIEBERG: And if you want to do it, you can do it legally.

SALTZMAN: That's true and you are paying for that. That's right.

SIEBERG: Right. All right. Cut and print it. Thanks so much, Marc. For joining us. That's a wrap.

SALTZMAN: Thanks, Daniel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: When we come back, we'll tell you why these kitties have a place in the history books at the National Zoo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIEBERG: All right. Now it's time for our gratuitous cute animal segment starting with a look at these baby cheetahs at the National Zoo. They were born about 11 weeks ago and got their first look at the outdoors last week. Obviously they thought it was pretty cool. They're the first cheetahs ever born at the zoo. They weigh about 10 pounds now, about the size of an average house cat, but they'll grow to ten times that within the next year.

Well, these penguins at the Bremerhaven Zoo in Germany probably fit into the cute category as well, but their lives are a little more complicated. You see the penguins have paired off and have been having sex, but no eggs or babies appeared. Eventually zoo keepers figured out that 12 of the 13 penguins are males. So they brought in some females penguins from a zoo in Sweden to see if that'll lure the male penguins away from their same-sex relationships. The zoo keepers say if the birds really are homosexual, which is actually not unheard of, the gay couple will stay together and the zoo will just have to forget about the patter of little penguin feet.

So, you've no doubt seen miniature poodles and miniature dachshunds, but miniature cows? Yes they're all rage in Cuba. Lucia Newman explains why.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

. LUCIA NEWMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They look like cows and they sound like cows, but there's something wrong here -- the size. By cow standards, they're dwarfs barely half the size of the steer you see here. They're the result of years of experimenting and careful breeding by retired Cuban rancher Raul Hernandez.

"I saw how horses were bred into ponies, they were sort, but gave results, so I thought why not do the same with cows," he says. "They can live in the backyard and eat a fraction of what normal cows consume. In a couple months, Pokita (PH) should be more than paying for more than her keep. These back-yard cows produce at least three liters of milk a day," says Hernandez, "enough to resolve the needs of a family and even the neighbor if he needs it."

Another advantage says the Mirabelle, the ranchhand's wife, is that even the elderly can milk them.

"Now, almost all the nearby farmers are bringing their cows over to mate with ours to see if they produce a dwarf, because they say they're a lot easier to care for," she explains. And that's not all.

(on camera): They're not only small, but they're also so docile that you could keep one as a pet.

(voice-over): And since in communist Cuba it's illegal for private citizens to kill a cow for either meat, even if you own it, the size of the rump is not a big issue.

Right now, Hernandez only has 11 of the dwarf animals, but is breeding more and even smaller specimens, he says. To prove to the world when it comes to cows, size doesn't matter.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Say hello.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIEBERG: Well, we've got to herd in this menagerie, and that's all the time we have for now. But, here's what's coming up next week:

The digital lifestyle is all around us, from cell phones to MP3 players to networked home PCs. We'll take you to DEMO, the showcase of emerging technologies to see where the bits and bytes are leading us.

That's coming up on NEXT. Until then, let's hear from you. You can send us an e-mail at NEXT@CNN.com. And don't forget to check out our website, that's at cnn.com/next.

Thanks so much for joining us, for all of us, I'm Daniel Sieberg, we'll see you next time.

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