Hi all,
The first edition of the domain name news for 2008 is
currently available on auDA's website at http://auda.org.au/do
main-news/
Headlines from this January 7 edition of the news include:
Kremlin eyes internet control... | Watching the web grow up
with Tim
Berners-Lee | in: "Free flow of information to open
up": Sir Tim
Berners-Lee | Chairman Welcomes ICANN Community to a
Celebration of
Exciting Ten Years of Working Together | 'Ragtag' Russian
army shows
the new face of DDoS attacks | How to Protect Yourself from
Domain
Hijacking by James Koole | IPv6 reality check | IPv6: coming
to a root
server near you by Iljitsch van Beijnum | IPv6 Set for Root
Adoption? |
Happy 25th, TCP/IP: TCP/IP marks 25 years since the ARPANET
switchover
And as usual, see my website - http://technewsreview.c
om.au/ - for daily updates in between postings.
Cheers
David
**********************************************************
Sponsored by the Singapore Internet Research Centre
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
http://www.ntu.edu.sg
/sci/sirc/
**********************************************************
AOL Plans to Drop Curtain on Netscape's Browser
http://computerworld.com
/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=31
0174
Netscape Navigator set to be discontinued
htt
p://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7163547.stm
http://computerworld.co
m/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9
054521
http://informationweek.com/news/showArticle
.jhtml?articleID=205204433
Americans more wired, new-media survey finds
http://uk.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/i
dUKN2844258220071228
Internet pushes NZ's boundaries in 2007
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.
cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10484910
uk: Bebo crowned the best networking site
http://news.independent.co.uk/sci_tech/article3307582.e
ce
Bill Gates hails age of digital senses with touch becoming
an important interface for PCs
The way people interact with computers is going to
dramatically change in the next five years, Microsoft chief
Bill Gates has told BBC News. He predicted that the keyboard
and mouse would gradually give way to more intuitive and
natural technologies. In particular, he said, touch, vision
and speech interfaces would become increasingly important.
htt
p://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7174333.stm
http://w
ww.news.com/2100-7353_3-6224747.html
http://computerworld.co
m/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9
055758
http://blog.washingtonpost.co
m/posttech/2008/01/the_annual_gates_speech_at_ces.html
Asia accounts for 78 percent SMS traffic
http://www.ioltechnology.c
o.za/article_page.php?iSectionId=2884&iArticleId=4196224
Britain rated worst in Europe for protecting privacy
ht
tp://politics.guardian.co.uk/homeaffairs/story/0,,223351
9,00.html
A privacy group paints much of the world in black
http://iht.com/articles/2008/01/02/business/ptend03.php
China tightens its grip on internet with video ban
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/a
sia/article3129749.ece
Kiwi company in talks over Australian internet filtering
plans
http://m-net.net.nz/2134/latest-news/latest-news/kiwi-compan
y-in-talks-over-australian-internet-filtering-pl.php
Onus on Australian internet users to "unfilter"
websites
http://ww
w.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,22989956-15306,
00.html
au: Conroy announces mandatory internet filters to protect
children
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/31/2129471.h
tm
Who's afraid of the net? - censorship in Australia
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/01/02/1198
949896978.html
au: Rudd porn filter fails: experts
http://ww
w.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,23001130-15306,
00.html
au: Labor online strategy slammed
http://ww
w.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,22997280-15306,
00.html
au: Net-nanny state worth watching - State censorship always
raises difficult questions
http://w
ww.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22999432-1674
1,00.html
**********************
RESEARCH PAPERS
**********************
The State of the Media Democracy: Are You Ready for the
Future of Media?
To shed light on how different generations are
“consuming” media — and what their future media
preferences are likely to be — Deloitte & Touche USA
LLP’s Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT)
practice commissioned an extensive survey on the evolving
role of media in America. This State of the Media Democracy
survey offers a generational reality check on the usage of
current media platforms/devices and what the future may
hold. Fielded by Harrison Group (an independent research
services firm) from February 23 through March 6, 2007, the
survey used an online methodology to collect information
from 2,200 U.S. consumers between the ages of 13 and 75. The
survey results provide keen insights into the different
generations and their media consumption habits. The summary
below is a small sampling of the numerous trends and data
points the survey revealed. Firms of Deloitte & Touche
USA are meeting with clients to share these insights and
strategize on how they can help their businesses.
http://www.delo
itte.com/dtt/article/0,1002,sid%253D2245%2526cid%253D156
096,00.html
**********************
INTERNET USE
**********************
The social technologist: Yossi Vardi, an Israeli
entrepreneur, thinks the technology industry should do more
to address social problems
... Mr Vardi has long been Israel's most famous
technologist. He is known for having helped build the
country's high-tech industry, and for selling ICQ, an
instant-messaging service, to America Online in 1998 for
more than $400m. Now his aim is to become the industry's
conscience. His message: only a happy few are benefiting
from Israel's amazing high-tech boom. “We have become two
countries: a high-tech one with few children and very high
incomes, and a poor one with lots of kids,” he says.
http://economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?s
tory_id=10425170
Web's not yet warm enough to beat the chill
Peter Preston: Online revenues four years ago were less than
a twentieth of conventional money from conventional sources,
and the touted growth figures since haven't altered the
picture much ... Well, perhaps. The record looked - and
still looks - impressive enough; the endeavour and
investment remain formidable. But never forget to add a
dollop of context. In the latest American Journalism Review,
Paul Farhi looks at total US print advertising revenue in
2004, the last official collation. It registered $46.6bn,
with another $11bn from cover price. The figures tell a
continuingly valid story. Online revenues four years ago
were less than a twentieth of conventional money from
conventional sources, and the touted growth figures since
haven't altered the picture much. The biggest online revenue
raiser among US papers, the New York Times, still brings in
only 11 per cent of its total cash that way. Though UK
groups are more coy about revenue breakdowns,
their average take appears to lie between 5 and 5.5 per
cent.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jan/06/
pressandpublishing
AOL Plans to Drop Curtain on Netscape's Browser
AOL LLC’s Netscape unit is discontinuing its Navigator Web
browser and urging users of the pioneering and once-dominant
software to switch to its Firefox cousin. Ironically, the
announcement of Navigator’s demise came on the same day
that Microsoft Corp. filed a memorandum in federal court
related to its 2002 antitrust consent decree. In the filing,
Microsoft cited the ongoing development of Netscape’s
browser and other products as a reason why most of the
decree’s key provisions should be allowed to expire on
Jan. 31.
http://computerworld.com
/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=31
0174
Netscape Navigator set to be discontinued
The browser that helped kick-start the commercial web is to
cease development because of lack of users. Netscape
Navigator, now owned by AOL, will no longer be supported
after 1 February 2008, the company has said.
htt
p://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7163547.stm
http://computerworld.co
m/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9
054521
http://informationweek.com/news/showArticle
.jhtml?articleID=205204433
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/29/technology/29browse
r.html [AP]
http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-netscape29dec29,1,4834833.story [AP]
http://www.pcworld.
com/article/id,140903-c,netscape/article.html
Americans more wired, new-media survey finds
About 38 percent of U.S. consumers are watching TV shows
online, 36 percent use their cell phones as entertainment
devices and 45 percent are creating online content like Web
sites, music, videos and blogs for others, according to a
new-media survey from Deloitte & Touche. The findings of
the online survey of 2,081 Americans, conducted October
25-31, were provided to The Hollywood Reporter before their
official release next month. The "State of the Media
Democracy" notes that in Deloitte's first edition of
the survey just eight months earlier, 24 percent of
consumers used their cell phones as entertainment devices,
meaning that usage has soared 50 percent.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/i
dUKN2844258220071228
http:
//news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6224146.html
http://computerworld.co
m/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9
054480
http://www.pcworld.
com/article/id,140888-c,onlineentertainment/article.html
ca: Online dating brings hope and frustration [Reuters]
Online dating renews women's hope in love and sex, but can
be just as disappointing as the real-life dating scene,
according to new Canadian research. Susan Frohlick, an
anthropology professor at the University of Manitoba in
Winnipeg, says the women she surveyed gained a sense of
empowerment from their online dating experiences.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/i
dUKN2846897320071228
http://informationweek.com/news/showArticle
.jhtml?articleID=205206148
http://www
.canada.com/topics/technology/story.html?id=3fc6b9ed-8f98-40
12-a038-3c411dbf6578&k=36646
Shopping on the internet predicted to command half of
British sales by 2018
Internet shopping could account for half of Britain’s
£300 billion-a-year retail market by as early as 2018 after
coming of age this Christmas, it was predicted yesterday
(see Commentary, facing page).
http://business.time
sonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/retailing/articl
e3105788.ece
Internet pushes NZ's boundaries in 2007
The internet can be used for a lot of things, from harmless
messages to friends and sharing of photos to the more
harmful - hurting others, and even ourselves. ... New
Zealanders also pushed the limits in internet use - one
teenager was allegedly involved in a multi-million dollar
cyber-crime ring. ... But it was really social networking
sites, which a lot of New Zealanders used the internet for
this year.
http://stuff
.co.nz/stuff/4339054a28.html
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.
cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10484910
us: Web worlds for the grammar-school set
The proliferation of broadband Internet access is forcing
the major media players to rethink how they reach young
people Forget Second Life. The real virtual-world gold rush
centers on the grammar-school set. Trying to clone the
success of blockbuster Web sites like Club Penguin and
Webkinz, children's entertainment companies are drastically
accelerating efforts to build virtual worlds for kids. Media
conglomerates in particular think that these sites - part
online role-playing game and part social scene - can deliver
quick growth, help keep movie franchises alive and instill
brand loyalty in a generation of new customers.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/31/business/31virtual.ht
ml
http://iht.com/articles/2007/12/27/business/VIRTUAL.php
us: Generation Y biggest user of U.S. libraries, survey
finds
More than half of Americans visited a library in the past
year, with many of them drawn in by the computers rather
than the books, according to a survey released on Sunday. Of
the 53% of U.S. adults who said they visited libraries in
2007, the biggest users were young adults aged 18 to 30 in
the tech-loving group known as Generation Y, the survey by
the Pew Internet & American Life Project said.
http://computerworld.co
m/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9
054700
us: Generation Y Looks To The Web For Answers
Americans seeking information on common issues, such as an
illness, finances, taxes, and careers, were found to consult
the Internet for answers instead of other resources,
according to a study released on Sunday by the Pew Internet
& American Life Project. The Pew Internet & American
Life Project, which produces reports that examine the impact
of the Internet on families and communities, conducted the
study in the form of a national phone survey in partnership
with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. More
than 2,790 adults were surveyed, ages 18 and older.
http://informationweek.com/news/showArticle
.jhtml?articleID=205205867
UK web ad spend 'to exceed TV in 2009'
The UK will become the first major economy to see
advertisers spend more on the internet than on TV ads,
according to the latest forecast from a leading media buying
agency. Group M, the combined media planning and buying
operation owned by Sir Martin Sorrell's WPP group, predicts
that UK internet ad spend will overtake TV, which has been
the leading advertising medium for half a century, in 2009.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jan/03/
advertising.digitalmedia
Google left behind as Koreans Naver-gate web
When South Koreans want to find something on the internet,
they almost never “Google it”. They much prefer to
“Naver it”. Koreans are so loyal to their home-grown
search engine that Naver has become the world’s
fifth-largest portal, according to comScore, the US internet
researcher. Not bad for a nation of 48m people, even if it
is one of the most wired countries on earth.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/265728b0-b8a4-11dc-
893b-0000779fd2ac.html
'Stock' beats 'sex' on Google China [Reuters]
The names of two banks and the word "stock" were
among the most googled terms in China last year, according
to a Google China list seen Thursday.
http://w
ww.news.com/2100-1038_3-6224476.html
**********************
SOCIAL NETWORKING
**********************
uk: Bebo crowned the best networking site
Bebo, the popular website aimed chiefly at teenagers, has
been named the best performing social networking forum by
experts who praised its efforts to enhance security and
protect younger users from data theft and unwanted visitors.
http://news.independent.co.uk/sci_tech/article3307582.e
ce
Bebo named as best social networking site in survey
They have transformed the way people communicate and attract
millions of regular users keen to make virtual friendships
or chat about common interests. Of the most popular social
networking websites, Bebo is today named in a report as the
top performer, beating its rivals Facebook and MySpace.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/
jan/04/socialnetworking.bebo
Networking obsessives click for cash
Social networking websites are not just a time-wasting
diversion for office workers but can increasingly be a way
of running a money-making business, according to a report
commissioned by MySpace from the trends research
consultancy, The Future Laboratory. Nearly 3 million people
in Britain have made money from their page and millions more
are set to do so in 2008, according to the report,
'MySpace08', published on Monday.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jan/0
6/myspace.facebook
A world strip of humanity - inside the virtual reality
websites where you can live out your wildest (and darkest)
fantasies by John Humphrys
The great joy of childhood is unfettered imagination - it is
the best toy in the world. And then we grow up. The real
world intrudes with all its limitations and barriers. We get
on with life, accept our mostly humdrum, routine existence
and make the best of it. But what's this? Tens of millions
of people in this country and around the world appear to
have reverted to childhood. They spend extraordinary amounts
of their time inhabiting an imaginary world. You might say
we all do that on some level. A good book or even a good
play on the radio will take you to places you have never
been. But this is different. These people inhabit a virtual
world on the internet.
http://www
.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_artic
le_id=506162&in_page_id=1770
Getting serious: social networking
It is a typical example of the colonisation of a new
frontier. A few intrepid explorers stake out some new,
unexplored territory. Before long the first settlers move in
and start to look for ways to make a quick buck. Their
success attracts more settlers, and an unruly bonanza
ensues; finally the policemen, lawyers and tax collectors
show up. But the territory in question is not a new
continent: it is the realm of cyberspace, where two
developments suggest that virtual worlds are coming of age.
The first is the emergence of commercial uses for virtual
environments; the second is the advent of litigation and
regulation.
Many of the serious uses of virtual worlds were on show at a
conference held in September at Coventry University in
England. Aptly, people could also take part in the
conference by visiting an online re-creation of the
university's Serious Games Institute, where they could chat
with other participants and watch presentations. David
Wortley, the institute's director, says half those attending
did so this way. The focus of the conference was the
application of computer-game technologies and virtual
environments to real-world business problems.
http://economist.com/printedition/displaysto
ry.cfm?story_id=10202591
Playing tag with mobile technology: Crossing mobile phones
with social-networking sites
Imagine you are a woman at a party who spots a good-looking
fellow standing alone in a corner. Before working up the
courage to talk to him, you whip out your mobile phone. A
few clicks reveal his age and profession, links to his
latest blog posts and a plethora of other personal
information. To many, this sounds like a nightmare. But to
those building so-called “mobile” social networks, it is
nirvana: linking virtual communities such as Facebook or
MySpace with the real world. The idea is not new, but so far
such services have not gained much traction. They have to be
able to pinpoint people in order to work, but satellite
positioning does not work indoors. More importantly, it is
hard for such a service to gain critical mass: why join, if
it does not already have many users?
A new generation of mobile social networks may have found
ways to overcome these barriers. One is Aka-Aki, a start-up
based in Berlin. Users of its service download a small
program onto their mobile phone. The software then uses
Bluetooth, the short-range radio technology built into many
mobile phones, to check whether any friends or other members
with similar interests are within 20 metres. If so, the
program pulls down the person's picture and whatever
information he or she is willing to reveal from the firm's
website.
http://economist.com/printedition/displaysto
ry.cfm?story_id=10202690
The accidental innovator: Evan Williams, the founder of
Blogger and Twitter, epitomises Silicon Valley's right brain
At some point in the decade after he moved from the farm in
Nebraska where he grew up to the innovation hub that is the
San Francisco Bay Area, Evan Williams accidentally stumbled
upon three insights. First, that genuinely new ideas are,
well, accidentally stumbled upon rather than sought out;
second, that new ideas are by definition hard to explain to
others, because words can express only what is already
known; and third, that good ideas seem obvious in
retrospect. So, having already had two accidental
successes—one called Blogger, the other Twitter—Mr
Williams is now trying to make accidents a regular
occurrence for his company, called Obvious.
http://economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?s
tory_id=10328123
Online Networking Goes Small, and Sponsors Follow
When jet-setters began flocking to an exclusive
social-networking Web site reserved for the rich, they got
the attention of an online community's most valuable ally:
advertisers.
http://www.washingtonpost.co
m/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/28/AR2007122802670.html
The Perils Of Social Networking
In November, more than 145 million people worldwide logged
onto at least one of the 20 most-visited social networking
Web sites, says Nielsen/NetRatings. Brian Mann wasn't among
them. It's not that Mann, founder of management consulting
firm Midnight Oil, is opposed to networking. Developing
relationships, getting referrals and connecting with
potentially new clients is crucial to his business.
http://www.investors
.com/editorial/IBDArticles.asp?artsec=17&artnum=1&is
sue=20071226
Facebook set for a delicate balancing act
Facebook’s transformation from a quirky internet start-up
into one of the most talked-about companies in Silicon
Valley is sure to be remembered as one of 2007’s biggest
technology stories. But as a hectic year draws to a close,
Facebook appears to be embarking on a new, more difficult
phase of development that could test the mettle of Mark
Zuckerberg, its 23-year-old founder.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0d0a2f80-b56e-11dc-
896e-0000779fd2ac.html
Cyber thieves target social sites
It is not just the average net user who is a fan of social
network sites, so are hi-tech criminals. So say security
professionals predicting what net criminals will turn to in
2008 to catch people out. The quasi-intimate nature of the
sites makes people share information readily leaving them
open to all kinds of other attacks, warn security firms.
htt
p://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7156541.stm
Half of Aussies log on to social websites at work [AAP]
A new survey shows that while many Australian workers claim
to be using social networking sites for work, they're not
always sending out the right message.
http://stuff
.co.nz/stuff/4343701a28.html
**********************
NEW TECHNOLOGIES
**********************
Bill Gates hails age of digital senses with touch becoming
an important interface for PCs
The way people interact with computers is going to
dramatically change in the next five years, Microsoft chief
Bill Gates has told BBC News. He predicted that the keyboard
and mouse would gradually give way to more intuitive and
natural technologies. In particular, he said, touch, vision
and speech interfaces would become increasingly important.
htt
p://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7174333.stm
Gates: Curtain call for crystal ball
Bill Gates may be stepping away from full-time work later
this year, but he still has a few things he wants to show
off.
http://w
ww.news.com/2100-7353_3-6224747.html
CES: Gates touts progress in digital entertainment
Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates marked progress in the
company's strategy to provide digital content through a host
of Internet-based channels and devices as he made his final
appearance at the CES trade show as a full-time Microsoft
employee Sunday.
http://computerworld.co
m/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9
055758
The Annual Gates Speech at CES
For years Microsoft has been talking about all the
advantages consumers can get from being connected--linking
your computers, cellphones, TVs and digital cameras. This
year the company is trying to make that connection more
personal, driving technology to be smarter about who you
are, what you want and where you're trying to go.
http://blog.washingtonpost.co
m/posttech/2008/01/the_annual_gates_speech_at_ces.html
Asia accounts for 78 percent SMS traffic
Consumers across Asia are the most prolific users of mobile
messaging and are forecast to further drive message volume
in 2008, a research firm said. Nearly 1,5 trillion mobile
messages were sent in the Asia-Pacific region over the past
12 months, accounting for 78,9 percent of all SMS traffic
globally last year, said Gartner's report.
http://www.ioltechnology.c
o.za/article_page.php?iSectionId=2884&iArticleId=4196224
The Independent's Year in Review: Technology
Emily Hilscher's Facebook page contained all the chit-chat
and memories you would expect of a 19-year-old freshman
veterinary student: grinning pictures from fancy-dress
parties, reminiscences about the time she and friends
recreated a Spice Girls video, and invitations to discuss
"Why Emily Hilscher was cooler than me". And this:
"Recent News; 4/16/07 Emily Hilscher passed away during
the Virginia Tech shooting."
http://news.independent.co.uk/sci_tech/article3287386.e
ce
Apple and Google ruled a year to note in your Facebook
Looking back on the 2007 technology world, only a few things
stand out. The most prominent companies were Apple and
Google; the most remarked-on development was the explosive
growth of Facebook; and the biggest surprise was that the
European Court of First Instance upheld the EU's
anti-competitive ruling against Microsoft.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2007/dec/30/apple.
google
BBC News technology team picks technology with impact 2007
The last 12 months have seen plenty of talking points around
technology - from the iPhone, to Facebook, the launch of
Vista and the XO laptop - but what were the developments,
stories or gadgets which had the biggest impact? The BBC
News technology team members pick out their favourite
technology of 2007.
htt
p://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7153642.stm
Google in search to sell its advertising to newspapers
After colonising cyberspace, Google is going into the
newspaper business. The search engine giant is in talks with
several newspaper publishers to sell space in their pages to
its online clients.
http://business.tim
esonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/technology/arti
cle3107412.ece
France warns against excessive cell phone use [Reuters]
A French health ministry on Wednesday issued a warning
against excessive cell phone use, especially by children,
though it recognized science had not proved cellular
technology was dangerous.
http:
//news.zdnet.com/2100-1035_22-6224350.html
http://w
ww.news.com/2100-1039_3-6224350.html
Reports: Next iPhone update will break third-party apps,
bust unlocks
The next upgrade for Apple Inc.'s iPhone will again relock
unlocked phones and disable any third-party applications
installed on the device, according to claims made by a noted
iPhone hacker.
http://computerworld.co
m/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9
054719
**********************
SPAM
**********************
us: Accused spammer charged in Detroit with manipulating
Chinese stock prices
A man described as one of the nation's most prolific senders
of spam e-mail was among 11 people accused in an indictment
unsealed Thursday of defrauding people by manipulating
Chinese stock prices. Alan Ralsky, 52, of suburban West
Bloomfield Township, made about $3 million through the
scheme in summer 2005 alone, U.S. Attorney Stephen Murphy
said.
http://news.theage.com.au/accused-spammer-charged-in-d
etroit-with-manipulating-chinese-stock-prices/20080104-1k4x.
html
http://news.smh.com.au/accused-spammer-charged-in-detroit
-with-manipulating-chinese-stock-prices/20080104-1k4x.html
Alan Ralsky, Ten Others, Indicted in International Illegal
Spamming and Stock Fraud Scheme [news release]
A federal grand jury indictment was unsealed today in
Detroit charging 11 persons, including Alan M. Ralsky, his
son-in-law Scott K. Bradley, and Judy M. Devenow, of
Michigan, and eight others, including a dual national of
Canada and Hong Kong and individuals from Russia,
California, and Arizona, in a wide-ranging international
fraud scheme involving the illegal use of bulk commercial
e-mailing, or "spamming."
http://justice.gov/opa/pr/2008/January/08_crm_003.html
**********************
DIGITAL DIVIDE
**********************
uk: Digital world creates a new underclass
Elderly and poor consumers are being left behind by sweeping
changes in modern life, according to a new study, with many
disadvantaged by the rise of internet shopping and banking
and the lack of face-to-face contact with managers to
resolve problems. The National Consumer Council reports a
growing divide between well-educated customers, who are
comfortable using the internet for transactions and
understand about hidden costs such as bank charges, and
poorer families, who find it impossible to work their way
through glitches with bills and labyrinthine telephone
complaints lines. Those who are elderly or live in poorer
parts of Britain are especially vulnerable because they are
least able to spend time or money trying to complain or
receive compensation.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jan/06/ret
ail.internet
One Laptop' a hit in Peruvian village [AP]
Doubts about whether poor, rural children really can benefit
from quirky little computers evaporate as quickly as the
morning dew in this hilltop Andean village, where 50 primary
school children got machines from the One Laptop Per Child
project six months ago. These offspring of peasant families
whose monthly earnings rarely exceed the cost of one of the
$188 laptops -- people who can ill afford pencil and paper
much less books -- can't get enough of their "XO"
laptops.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/ptech/12
/25/onelaptop.onevillage.ap/index.html
Intel Quits Effort to Get Computers to Children
A frail partnership between Intel and the One Laptop Per
Child educational computing group was undone last month in
part by an Intel saleswoman: She tried to persuade a
Peruvian official to drop the country’s commitment to buy
a quarter-million of the organization’s laptops in favor
of Intel PCs. Intel and the group had a rocky relationship
from the start in their short-lived effort to get
inexpensive laptops into the hands of the world’s poorest
children.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/05/technology/05laptop.
html
One laptop project loses Intel as partner
Intel has pulled out of a project to put cheap laptops in
the hands of children in the developing world. Citing
"philosophical" differences, Intel has withdrawn
its funding and technical help from the One Laptop Per Child
(OLPC) project.
htt
p://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7171201.stm
OLPC: Won't miss Intel's 'half-hearted' laptop effort [IDG]
Intel's resignation from the One Laptop Per Child Project's
board of directors will have "no impact" on the
group's operations, since the chip maker contributed little
to the project since joining last year, OLPC President
Walter Bender said in an interview. "We never really
got much going with Intel to have an impact," Bender
said.
http://computerworld.co
m/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9
055302
http://www.pcworld.
com/article/id,140998-c,intel/article.html
OLPC fires back at Intel, children learn nothing
Nick Negroponte, founder and chairman of the One Laptop Per
Child project, came out swinging at Intel on Friday, one day
after the chipmaker decided to leave the group. ... "We
at OLPC have been disappointed that Intel did not deliver on
any of the promises they made when they joined OLPC; while
we were hopeful for a positive, collaborative relationship,
it never materialized," Negroponte said in a statement
distributed by the OLPC on Friday.
http
://www.news.com/8301-13579_3-9840478-37.html
OLPC ponders 'give one, get one' laptop offer for Europe
[IDG]
Europeans interested in the One Laptop Per Child Project's
XO laptop may soon have the chance through a "give one,
get one" offer similar to that offered in North America
last year. "At some point we might do it in
Europe," said Walter Bender, OLPC's president, in an
interview Friday.
http://computerworld.co
m/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9
055759
**************************
ONLINE CRIME, SECURITY & LEGAL
**************************
Hackers quickly move to exploit Bhutto assassination
Within hours of yesterday's assassination of former
Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, malware makers
exploited the breaking news to dupe users into downloading
attack code, security researchers said Friday. Searches for
news about Bhutto's killing and the ensuing chaos in
Pakistan listed sites pimping a bogus video coder/decoder
(codec), said analysts at McAfee Inc., Symantec Corp. and
WebSense Inc.
http://computerworld.co
m/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9
054479
Future Phishing
Forget the Nigerian prince. Phishing scams are moving beyond
the misspelled, far-fetched ruses that clog your in-box and
beg for your bank codes. In the year to come, security
professionals are warning of bank code-stealing exploits
that are much slicker and more convincing--hidden in guises
as harmless as a banner ad on a reputable Web site or a
message from a friend on a social network. In November,
security firm Sunbelt Software found that hundreds of ads
placed on Web sites by DoubleClick, the largest ad-serving
platform on the Web, linked to pages designed to install
malware on users' desktops. And in late December, a worm
spread through Google's (nasdaq: GOOG - news - people )
social networking site, Orkut, infecting hundreds of
thousands of accounts and sending messages from friend to
friend.
http://www.forbes.com/
2007/12/27/phishing-hacking-virus-tech-security-cx_ag_1228ph
ish.html
Piracy and Privacy: IFPI asks Europe to require ISPs to use
filters
In an effort to stymie Internet pirates, the International
Federation of the Phonographic Industry, a music industry
group, is asking European lawmakers to require Internet
service providers to use filters to block the illicit
transfer of copyrighted material (dslreports.com). The
Electronic Frontier Foundation (eff.org), a privacy
advocate, responded by sending a letter to the European
Parliament arguing that such filters would be an
“ineffective measure that will do little to practically
address the concerns of major rights holders while imposing
serious costs on the individual rights of European
citizens.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/29/technology/29online.
html
Online Thieves More Sophisticated, More Profit-Motivated
Every year uncharted threat territory lies ahead, but in
2008 there's a thicket of thieves to make it past. While
computer security products now block far more than ever,
attackers have banded together under the profit banner.
They're using advanced weaponry and strategy to target
businesses and consumers.
http://www.investors.com/editorial/I
BDArticles.asp?artsec=17&issue=20061
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/ar
ticles/newstex/IBD-0001-21941290.htm
uk: The "lyrical terrorist" - Be careful what you
Google
Those who fall foul of the law because of their
internet-surfing habits are often assumed to be
sheepish-looking middle-aged men. On December 6th a
different sort of criminal was in the dock for downloading
illicit material. Samina Malik, a slight 23-year-old in a
headscarf, last month became the first Muslim woman to be
convicted of a terrorism offence in Britain when she was
found guilty of collecting a library of jihadist manuals
from the internet. This week Miss Malik, who worked at an
airport bookstore and called herself the “lyrical
terrorist” in online forums, was given a suspended
nine-month prison sentence and community service.
http://economist.com/world/britain/displays
tory.cfm?story_id=10268329
au: Territory police hunt eBay scammer
A warrant has been issued for an Alice Springs man accused
of cheating people on the auction website eBay.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/01/03/2130789.h
tm
**************************
PRIVACY
**************************
Britain rated worst in Europe for protecting privacy
Britain, the country with the world's biggest network of
surveillance cameras, has the worst record in Europe for the
protection of privacy, according to a report from a
bond-based international watchdog. The UK is billed as
"an endemic surveillance society" alongside
Russia, the US, Singapore and China in the survey of 47
countries by Privacy International (PI). Britain is bottom
in Europe because of its cameras, ID card plans and lack of
government accountability.
ht
tp://politics.guardian.co.uk/homeaffairs/story/0,,223351
9,00.html
Individual privacy under threat in Europe and U.S., report
says [AP]
Individual privacy is under threat in the United States and
across the European Union as governments introduce sweeping
surveillance and information-gathering measures in the name
of security and controlling borders, an international rights
group has said in a report. Greece, Romania and Canada had
the best privacy records of 47 countries surveyed by Privacy
International, which is based in bond. Malaysia, Russia and
China were ranked worst.
http://iht.com/articles/2007/12/30/business/privacy.php
A privacy group paints much of the world in black
The map of the world issued by Privacy International and the
Electronic Privacy Information Center this week is striking
most of all for its darkness, both visually and otherwise.
There is the large, familiar shape of the United States
blackened out across the middle of North America, and on the
right, another shadowy mass that starts at Russia's western
border, covering nearly all of Europe and Asia to the east.
In between them is a smaller dab of black, straight up the
length of Britain.
http://iht.com/articles/2008/01/02/business/ptend03.php
Australia slides into surveillance society
According to a new international privacy report, governments
around the world are increasingly invading the privacy of
citizens with surveillance, identification systems and
archiving of private data -- and Australia is no exception.
http://www.zdnet.com.au/ne
ws/security/soa/Australia-slides-into-surveillance-society/0
,130061744,339284829,00.htm
au: Technology that exposes your dirty linen
Big Brother is washing you. The washing machine of the
future may not only wash garments according to the
instructions on the clothes but secretly collect information
for telemarketers, political parties and anybody else with
an interest in people's dirty linen. The Australian Law
Reform Commission says washing machines could be fitted with
radio frequency identification equipment, known as RFID,
which stores information and transmits it to a
data-processing system.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2008/01/06/1199554485
298.html
ca: Do you resolve to protect your privacy in 2008? [news
release]
Threats to the privacy rights of Canadians will intensify in
2008 unless organizations resolve to do more to protect
personal information, warns Privacy Commissioner of Canada
Jennifer Stoddart. “Heightened national security concerns,
the growing business appetite for personal information and
technological advances are all potent – and growing –
threats to privacy rights,” says Commissioner Stoddart.
http://privcom.gc.ca/media/nr-c/2007/nr-c_071227_e.asp
As ads arrive on cell phones, privacy concerns grow with
targeting opportunities
Your cell phone is a potential gold mine for marketers: It
can reveal where you are, whom you call and even what music
you like. Considering the phone is usually no more than a
few feet away, these are powerful clues for figuring out
just the right moment to deliver the right coupon for the
store just around the corner.
http://news.smh.com.au/as-ads-arrive-on-cell-phones
-privacy-concerns-grow-with-targeting-opportunities/20080101
-1jqd.html
http://news.theage.com.au/as-ads-arrive-on-cell-
phones-privacy-concerns-grow-with-targeting-opportunities/20
080101-1jqd.html
User Data Stolen From Pornographic Web Sites
Consumers of Internet pornography who secretly signed up for
memberships on adult-oriented Web sites in the past few
months may be in for a shock -- some of their personal
information, including e-mail addresses, may have been
compromised by a security breach. Though the breach, which
potentially could affect tens of thousands of customers,
reportedly did not involve the theft of credit card
information, it could nonetheless have a significant impact
on the lucrative Internet pornography industry, according to
those who monitor the market.
http://www.washingtonpost.co
m/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/03/AR2008010303549.html
**********************
CENSORSHIP
**********************
Saudi blogger arrested, held without charges [IDG]
Saudi Arabian officials have reportedly detained a blogger
whose writing has criticized religious extremism in the
country, according to the two press freedom groups and a
regional human-rights organization. Blogger and IT
professional Fouad Ahmed al-Farhan, 32, was taken into
custody Dec. 10, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
reported on Wednesday. His Arabic-language site now has a
"Free Fouad" banner in English across the top.
http://computerworld.co
m/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9
054499
http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/12/28
/Saudi-blogger-arrested_1.html
http://www.pcworld.
com/article/id,140901-c,internetlegalissues/article.html
Saudis Confirm Detention of Blogger
An outspoken Saudi blogger is being held for “purposes of
interrogation,” the Saudi Interior Ministry confirmed
Tuesday. Gen. Mansour al-Turki, an Interior Ministry
spokesman reached by telephone, said the blogger, Fouad
al-Farhan, was “being questioned about specific violations
of nonsecurity laws.” Mr. Farhan’s blog, which discusses
social issues, had become one of the most widely read in
Saudi Arabia.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/02/world/middleeas
t/02saudi.html
http://w
ww.news.com/2100-7348_3-6224260.html
China tightens online video rules
China is stepping up efforts to control its blossoming
online video industry with new regulations on the ownership
of video websites and requirements for censoring content.
But it remains unclear how the new regulations, posted
online Tuesday, would affect domestic and foreign players in
the industry.
http://ww
w.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,23005720-15306,
00.html
China Clamps Down On Internet Video
Enjoy your streaming videos while you can, Chinese YouTube
fans. The Chinese government announced new rules Thursday
that could block all but a few video sites from reaching
Chinese viewers. The regulations, posted to Web sites of
China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television
and the Ministry of Information Industry, require that
effective Jan. 31, all online video outlets avoid
politically or morally objectionable content and obtain a
government-issued permit.
http://w
ww.forbes.com/technology/2008/01/03/china-censorship-youtube
-tech-intel-cx_ag_1203techchina.html
The videos we laughed, winced and wondered at are blocked by
China
It was the internet story of 2007, the website that brought
you sneezing pandas, laughing babies, an epic battle on the
African savannah and a guest appearance by Tony Blair in a
video starring George Bush's dog. But for any web surfers in
China, these and other gems purveyed by the video-sharing
phenomenon YouTube look likely to become impossible to
access, after the authorities signalled yesterday that they
would no longer tolerate the "broadcast of degenerate
thinking" on the internet.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jan/04/y
outube.video
China tightens its grip on internet with video ban
China is to further tighten its grip on internet use by
restricting the broadcast of videos on the web to only those
run by state-sanctioned companies. In the government’s
latest clampdown on cyberspace, all sites that provide video
programming or allow users to upload video must obtain a
government permit, with the only companies permitted to
apply being those that are state-owned or state-controlled.
The new rules, which - crucially - apply to video-sharing
websites too, also require providers to report questionable
content to the government.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/a
sia/article3129749.ece
Stories China's media could not write
When journalists at China's national broadcaster CCTV log
on, one of the first things that pops up on screen is a
notice about what not to report. These notices are often
short and seldom say who has authorised them, but they all
contain strict instructions about how to report a story.
Journalists were recently warned off a health scandal, told
how to report the death of Benazir Bhutto and had to steer
clear of a Hollywood film story.
h
ttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7171648.stm
au: Moral cleansers past their use-by date
Mrs Grundy was immortalised as the universal wowser by
literary giants such as Charles Dickens and James Joyce. She
was the neighbour from hell who disapproved of anything new,
from the colour of your house to the latest obscenity at the
bookshop. Her creator, 18th-century playwright Thomas
Morton, never actually brought her to life on the stage,
preferring to make her a much more potent character through
her invisibility. Her universal opposite was another unseen
but all-pervasive character immortalised in English common
law, the reasonable adult. Unlike Mrs Grundy, who judges all
things through her narrow set of values, the reasonable
adult is often described as someone endowed with standards
of morality, decency and propriety generally accepted in
present-day society.
http://w
ww.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23013963-7583
,00.html
************************************************
CHILD PROTECTION, FILTERING & CONTENT REGULATION
************************************************
uk: 'I'm a good dad. I'm a safe place'
Last August actor Chris Langham was sent to prison for
downloading images of child sex abuse. Now, in their first
interview together since his release, he and his wife,
Christine, speak candidly about how they have coped with the
events of the past year as a couple and a family
http://
observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,2235816,00.html
eu: Consumers: New EU rules crackdown on misleading
advertising and aggressive sales practices
Just two weeks before Christmas, sweeping new EU rules to
crackdown on misleading advertising and aggressive selling
practices - including a ban on fake "free" offers
and a ban on "pester power" advertising (direct
exhortation) to children on the Internet - will come into
force across the EU (December 12 2007). These restrictions
are part of an extensive black list of schemes which are
banned by the new Unfair Commercial Practices (UCP)
Directive – targeting in particular a "dirty
dozen" of the some of the most abusive practices, from
bait advertising, to pyramid schemes, advertorials and false
curative health claims which are used against consumers.
http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?
reference=IP/07/1915
us: New Jersey law restricts some sex offenders from surfing
the Web [AP]
Convicted sex offenders who used the Internet to help them
commit their crimes will be banned from using the Internet
under a measure signed into law Thursday. The bill applies
to people who, for example, lured a potential victim through
e-mail or other electronic messages. It also affects paroled
sex offenders under lifetime supervision, but exempts
computer work done as part of a job or search for
employment.
http://ne
ws.smh.com.au/new-jersey-law-restricts-some-sex-offenders-fr
om-surfing-the-web/20070301-y.html
http:/
/news.theage.com.au/new-jersey-law-restricts-some-sex-offend
ers-from-surfing-the-web/20070301-y.html
New Jersey Bars Some Sex Offenders From Internet
The new law prohibits anyone convicted of using a computer
to commit a sex offense from using computers or accessing
the Internet for part or all of their parole.
http://informationweek.com/news/showArticle
.jhtml?articleID=205204285
New Jersey bans sex offenders from the web
Convicted sex offenders who used websites to help them
commit their crimes are to be banned from using the internet
under a tough new measure signed into New Jersey law
yesterday.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/
12/28/new_jersey_sex_offenders_internet_ban/
us: Senate to zero in on Internet child porn
A State Senate committee wants to learn how serious a
problem Internet child pornography is in New York, who is
responsible and what, if anything, the state can do about
it.
http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/story/240244.html
Kiwi company in talks over Australian internet filtering
plans
Australian government plans to filter the internet at the
ISP level for child porn is achievable says New Zealand
company, Watchdog, but it also warns that attempts to rate
websites for violent content and other objectionable
material will be extremely difficult.
http://m-net.net.nz/2134/latest-news/latest-news/kiwi-compan
y-in-talks-over-australian-internet-filtering-pl.php
Onus on Australian internet users to "unfilter"
websites
Australians will be forced to contact their internet service
provider to avoid having their access to the web restricted.
The restrictions are planned by the Federal Government to
give greater protection to children from online pornography
and "violent" websites. Under the plan, all
internet service providers will be required to provide a
"clean" feed to households and schools, free of
pornography and other inappropriate material.
http://ww
w.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,22989956-15306,
00.html
http://www.n
ews.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22989008-11869,00.htm
l
au: Conroy announces mandatory internet filters to protect
children
Telecommunications Minister Stephen Conroy says new measures
are being put in place to provide greater protection to
children from online pornography and violent websites.
Senator Conroy says it will be mandatory for all internet
service providers to provide clean feeds, or ISP filtering,
to houses and schools that are free of pornography and
inappropriate material.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/31/2129471.h
tm
au: Minister warned on porn filters
Labor's plan to introduce mandatory internet filters will
send Australia down a censorship path similar to China's and
Singapore's, but will not stop computer-savvy children
looking at banned sites, according to the NSW Council for
Civil Liberties. The council's vice-president, David Bernie,
said the Federal Government plan was political
grandstanding. It would force users to ask internet service
providers to lift a block on extremely violent and
pornographic sites.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/12/31/1198949746
454.html
Who's afraid of the net? - censorship in Australia
It's an idea that just won't die: if the government makes
your internet provider run special software, all the bad
things (and people) of cyberspace won't bother you. This is
the view being touted by the new Minister for Information
Technology, Senator Stephen Conroy, who is proposing that
internet service providers should be required to filter
Australians' internet connections against a list maintained
by the Australian Communications and Media Authority.
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/01/02/1198
949896978.html
au: Pedophiles talk in sign language
Pedophiles are using abstract symbols inscribed on jewellery
such as rings, pendants and coins to publicly communicate
their sexual desires to each other.
http://w
ww.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22983143-2702
,00.html
au: Rudd online porn-free plan questioned
A Rudd Government plan to censor internet pornography and
violence could undermine another of its election promises -
to speed up our internet access. The Internet Industry
Association has warned the downside of censoring access
could be a reduction in the speed of access to websites.
http://ww
w.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,22997228-15306,
00.html
au: Rudd porn filter fails: experts
The "clean feed" filtering system Communications
Minister Stephen Conroy hopes will halt internet porn has
already been defeated by British researchers. Richard
Clayton, of the University of Cambridge's Computer
Laboratory, said the innovative blocking system CleanFeed,
devised by British internet service provider BT, could be
circumvented in a number of ways. "At first sight, it's
an effective and precise method of blocking unacceptable
content," Mr Clayton said. "But there are a number
of issues to address as soon as one assumes that content
providers or consumers might make serious attempts to get
around it."
http://ww
w.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,23001130-15306,
00.html
http://www.news.com.au
/story/0,23599,22999659-2,00.html
au: Labor online strategy slammed
opinion It sounds entirely defensible, at first. The federal
Government plans to protect unwary children by blocking
violence and pornography on the internet. Yet this simple
sounding initiative - barely discussed during the election -
is riddled with technical, financial, moral and social
complexities. The Government's plan, overseen by
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy, would require
internet service providers (ISPs) to block undesirable sites
on computers accessed by all Australians.
http://ww
w.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,22997280-15306,
00.html
http://www.news.com.au
/story/0,23599,22997239-5007146,00.html
http://
www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22994912-50
01031,00.html
au: Net-nanny state worth watching - State censorship always
raises difficult questions
From the moment the internet was declared the new frontier
of free speech and expression, governments everywhere have
agonised over how to control it. For totalitarian regimes,
free political speech represents a direct threat. For
law-enforcement agencies, the ability of terrorists to build
networks more easily increases the risks to public safety.
For parents, the fear that chat-room sex-pests are stalking
children is one more thing to worry about. It is
understandable that governments want to aid police and give
parents peace of mind. The decentralised nature of the
internet makes exerting control over what is on it
difficult. Nonetheless, state censorship is a growing trend
worldwide.
http://w
ww.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22999432-1674
1,00.html
http://www.net4now.com/isp_news/news_article.asp?Ne
ws_ID=6093
Labor warned on porn filters
Labor's plan to introduce mandatory internet filters will
send Australia down a censorship path similar to China's and
Singapore's, but will not stop computer-savvy children
looking at banned sites, according to the NSW Council for
Civil Liberties.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2008/01/02/1198949855
875.html
EFA attacks Labor’s ‘clean-feed’ Internet proposal
Independent industry body, the Electronic Frontiers
Australia (EFA) has savaged a plan by the Labor Government
plan, (championed by Communications Minister Stephen Conroy)
to "clean feed" filtered Internet connections to
all homes and schools.
http://www.itnews
.com.au/News/67515,efa-attacks-labor%e2%80%99s-%e2%80%98
cleanfeed%e2%80%99-internet-proposal.aspx
au: Nile pushes online pedophile list
A BID by Christian Democrats leader Fred Nile to list the
addresses of all convicted pedophiles on the internet in a
reform similar to America's Megan's Law has been rejected by
the NSW Government.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2008/01/05/1198950128
077.html
The dangers of web filtering
... Prime Minister Kevin Rudd decreed before the election
that his government would move to implement a system that
would provide a “clean” internet feed to Australian
users. Now that he’s won the top job, he intends to make
good on the promise.
http://hydrapinion.com/index.php/wo
rk/2008/01/07/the_dangers_of_web_filtering
au: Porn filter problems
The federal government's plan to tackle internet porn is in
trouble, after British researchers found that the filtering
system chosen by Communications Minister Stephen Conroy,
does not work.
http://www2.skynews.com.au/politics/article.aspx?id=20
9920
Australia plans tough web rules
Australia is planning tough new rules to protect children
from online pornography and violence. The new Labor
government wants internet service providers to filter
content to ensure households and schools do not receive
"inappropriate" material.
h
ttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7165987.stm
Oz govt pushes mandatory net filters
Australia's newly elected Labor government is pushing plans
that would make it mandatory for local ISPs to install
porn-blocking filters, offering "clean" internet
feeds as a preferred option.
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2007/12/31/oz_ne
t_filter_plan/
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/12/31/oz_net_filter
_plan/
au: One small but significant step towards Internet
censorship
The Australian Labor Party is moving ahead swiftly to fulfil
its pre-election promise to mandate ISP-level filtering of
Internet content - and is taking a very significant step
beyond the level of filtering contemplated by the former
Government.
http:/
/www.itwire.com/content/view/15937/1095/
ACMA Places Obligation On Content Providers
The Australian Communications and Media Authority has
established new rules for providers of MA15+ and R18+
content on mobile phones and the Internet. The declaration
places the obligation on the content provider to check the
age of the individual accessing the content.
http
://www.mobilised.com.au/content/view/1207/1/
Plans to filter Internet under fire
An Australian government plan to filter the Internet on
Wednesday drew criticism from privacy advocates who said it
represented the start of state censorship.
http://www.ioltechnology.c
o.za/article_page.php?iSectionId=2885&iArticleId=4190861
Australien plant zum Jugendschutz die Einführung von
Internetfiltern
Die neue australische Regierung plant zum Schutz von Kindern
vor Kinderpornografie und Gewaltdarstellungen die
Einführung von Filtern. Internetprovider sollen zur
Installation der Filter verpflichtet werden, um Webseiten zu
blockieren, so dass von Privathaushalten, Schulen und
anderen öffentlichen Einrichtungen nicht darauf zugegriffen
werden kann und ein "Clean Feed"-Intrenet
realisiert wird. Der frisch gekürte
Telekommunikationsminister Stephen Conroy erklärte, dass
man sich nicht denen beugen werde, die sagen, dass man mit
jeder Internetregulierung den "chinesischen Weg"
gehe: "Wenn Menschen Meinungsfreiheit mit dem
Betrachten von Kinderpornografie gleichsetzen, dann ist die
Labor-Regierung damit nicht einverstanden."
http://
www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/101164
Baut Australien eine Great Firewall?
Ab dem 20. Janur 2008 gelten in Australien neue Regeln zum
Jugendschutz. Ziel ist es, Jugendlichen den Zugang zu für
sie ungeeigneten Inhalten zu erschweren. Was jedoch wie
Jugendschutz aussieht, gleicht frappierend der Great
Firewall of China, also der Internet-Zensur in China.
http://golem.de/0801/
56763.html
http://www.pc-magazin.de/com
mon/nws/einemeldung.php?id=56183&type=0&nrubrik=
Australien plant Filter für das Internet
Australiens Regierung will Internet-Inhalte filtern und
Kinder so vor Gewalt und Pronografie schützen. Kritiker
fühlen sich an Chinas "Great Firewall" erinnert.
http://fu
turezone.orf.at/it/stories/246722/
us: Program Offers Kids Secure Web Hangout
After a 25-year career with the Office of Naval
Intelligence, Kathy Godfrey has become the technology
coordinator at St. Peter's Catholic School in Waldorf. The
woman who helped identify security threats and weathered the
Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks has a new set of
challenges: third-graders who claim to have MySpace pages,
middle-schoolers who want to watch YouTube and parents who
don't realize the dangers of letting their kids run wild on
the Internet.
http://www.washingtonpost.co
m/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/29/AR2007122900868.html
**************************
GOVERNMENT & PUBLIC POLICY
**************************
ITU announces first global set of standards for IPTV [news
release]
The International Telecommunication Union announced the
first set of global standards for Internet Protocol TV
(IPTV) today. The standards were built with technical
contributions from leading service providers and
manufacturers from the information and communication
technology (ICT) sector and cement ITU’s role as the
global leader in IPTV standards development.
http://www.itu.int/newsroom/press_releases/2007/40.html
“The broadband revolution” by Susan Crawford
... Those of you who lived through ‘What Is Broadband Good
For?’ with me last summer (first post here) know that the
word “broadband” is a pet bugaboo of mine. It’s a word
that answers a lot of policy questions in a particular way.
It connotes (and denotes) a speeded, managed “service”
that happens to use the Internet Protocol but is ultimately
completely within the discretionary control of the network
provider. So when the ITU talks about “the broadband
revolution,” they mean (I think) the rise of these
speeded, managed “services” provided by telephone
companies. And the stated goal—made express in this press
release—is to combine “services” over single broadband
links and “from” a single provider. Revolutionary!
Remarkably similar to cable television with a cellphone
overlay.
http://www.circleid.com/posts/81312_the_broadband_r
evolution/
Plan to give every British child internet access at home
Parents could be required to provide their children with
high-speed internet access under plans being drawn up by
ministers in partnership with some of the country's leading
IT firms.
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/publicservices/story/0,,
2235297,00.html
European Commission sees need for a stronger more
consumer-friendly Single Market for Online Music, Films and
Games in Europe [news release]
The European Commission has decided today to give a new
boost to Europe's online content sector. EU citizens should
be able to enjoy easier and faster access to a rich variety
of music, TV programmes, films or games via the Internet,
mobile phones or other devices. The Commission therefore
encourages the content industry, telecoms companies and
Internet service providers to work closely together to make
available more content online, while at the same time
ensuring a robust protection of intellectual property
rights. The Commission also wants to facilitate copyright
licences for online content covering the territory of
several or all of the EU Member States. According to
Commission studies, a truly Single Market without borders
for Creative Online Content could strengthen considerably
the competitiveness of Europe's music, film and games
industry and allow retail revenues of the sector to
quadruple by 2010 if clear and consumer-friendly measures
are
taken by industry and public authorities.
http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?ref
erence=IP/08/5
EC plans online content overhaul [AFP]
The European Commission will draw up plans to boost the
online market for music, films and games while promising to
uphold intellectual property rights. The EC said content
providers, telecom companies and internet service providers
should work together to make more online content available,
while ensuring the robust protection of intellectual
property rights.
http://w
ww.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23005754-2607
7,00.html
Super IT-regulator and federal CIO to emerge in Russia?
The shifts in the government structure, which are to follow
the March elections, might radically change the ICT
management structure. CNews has received some documents at
its disposal, which present one of the possible development
options. The question is of establishing the so called RF
Committee on public administration. According to the concept
developed by the government the new body will unite
Rosfinmonitoring (Russia's Federal Service for Fiscal
Monitoring), Rosstat (the Federal State Statistics Service),
FAIT (the Federal Agency for Information Technologies),
Spetssvayz FSO (Special communication and information
service at the Federal Security Service of the Russian
Federation), profile FSUE (Federal State Unitary
Enterprises) and Research Institutes. According to the
document, a new position of a Vice-Premier is planned to be
introduced, whose working title is meanwhile ‘all-Russian
CIO’. If the proposal is approved, then the Chief
IT-Director will be able to tightly regulate the government
informatization.
http://eng.cnews.ru/news/top/indexEn.shtml?2007/12/2
6/281341
**********************
FILE SHARING
**********************
Radiohead offer fans New Year's Eve gig online
Those who find the familiar strains of Auld Lang Syne too
upbeat - or insufficiently experimental - may wish to log on
to the internet this New Year's Eve. Radiohead, who pride
themselves on being one of the most technologically literate
of bands, have announced that a pre-recorded concert will be
available online from midnight to usher in the new year. The
"songs and other bits", as Radiohead's frontman,
Thom Yorke, calls them, will be shown on the band's website
as well as the UK and US satellite and cable channel Current
TV.
http://music
.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2232712,00.html
Amazon Challenges Apple's Music Empire
Amazon.com on Thursday added Warner Music Group to the
growing number of labels that sell music free of copy
protections in its digital music store. The news is a
challenge to Apple, which has built a digital distribution
empire for copyrighted music around its iPod digital music
player and iTunes music store.
http://www.forbe
s.com/technology/2007/12/27/amazon-digital-music-tech-ebiz-c
x_bc_1227amazon.html
Warner agrees to use MP3 format
Warner Music agrees to sell its music for download on Amazon
in MP3 format without copy protection.
http:
//news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7162280.stm
Amazon, Warner Music team up to sell music downloads [AFP]
Amazon and Warner Music Group are offering music downloads
that would have no copy protection, making them playable on
virtually any digital audio device, the companies announced
Thursday.
http://news.smh.com
.au/amazon-warner-music-team-up-to-sell-music-downloads/2007
1228-1ja8.html
http://news.thea
ge.com.au/amazon-warner-music-team-up-to-sell-music-download
s/20071228-1ja8.html
Warner to offer music via Amazon without DRM
Amazon.com Inc. has added songs from Warner Music Group
Corp. to the offerings it sells as MP3 files without digital
rights management (DRM) technology, the companies said
Friday.
http://computerworld.co
m/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9
054419
Wal-Mart cancels movie download service [Reuters]
Wal-Mart Stores quietly canceled its online video download
service less than a year after the site went live, a company
spokeswoman said on Thursday.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUKN
2726104120071228
http:
//news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6224114.html
http://computerworld.co
m/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9
054478
News Corp and Apple poised to offer Fox films through iTunes
News Corporation and Apple are close to announcing plans to
make the latest films from Twentieth Century Fox available
to rent online through Apple’s iTunes.
http://business.timesonl
ine.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article3101606
.ece
uk: 3m Christmas downloads bring cheer to industry
A rush to download music by those who received MP3 players
for Christmas helped digital download sales hit an
end-of-year record high, bringing some welcome cheer for the
troubled music industry.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/
jan/03/digitalmusic.netmusic
**********************
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
**********************
Telstra confident of CDMA switch-off
After carrying wireless telecommunications in rural
Australia since 2000, the CDMA mobile phone network has just
25 days to live, with Telstra gearing up for a last-minute
rush from customers switching from the old network to Next
G.
http://qcl.farmonline.com.au/news_daily.asp?ag_id=47755
CDMA killswitch will tear Telstra-government rift
A showdown between Telstra and the federal government over
the termination of Australia's CDMA network is set to erupt
within weeks.
http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;
1680298711;fp;2;fpid;1
http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/index.php/id;1680
298711;fp;2;fpid;1
Perth to get two new community radio stations
Two new community radio stations are set to hit Perth
airwaves in the next 12 months, following an Australian
Communications and Media Authority decision to allocate two
new licences to serve the city's Indigenous and seniors
communities.
http://www.wabusi
nessnews.com.au/en-story/1/59743/Perth-to-get-two-new-commun
ity-radio-stations
**********************************
ARRESTS/COURT CASES FOR CHILD PORN
**********************************
Germany's biggest child porn investigation under threat
There are fears that an investigation into Germany's
biggest-ever child pornography investigation could be in
jeopardy after details of the probe were made public.
http://www.dw-wo
rld.de/dw/function/0,,12215_cid_3026315,00.html
Swoop on Austria child porn rings
Police in Austria say they have questioned 107 people in an
operation against internet child sex abuse. A man from
Vienna has been detained on suspicion of abusing his
stepdaughter. Investigators acting on tip-offs from the
United States and Germany seized images and they also found
films of two girls, one Asian and one European.
http://
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7167711.stm
107 targeted in child porn investigation
More than 100 people in Austria, including several doctors
and a teacher, have been questioned in child pornography
investigations, police said yesterday.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cf
m?c_id=137&objectid=10485113
Austrian police question 107 people in child pornography
probe [AFP]
Federal authorities said on Wednesday they questioned 107
suspects in two major international child pornography
investigations.
http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest+News/World/
STIStory_192128.html
Austrian police investigate 107 child pornography suspects
Austrian police say they have questioned 107 suspects in the
course of two major international child pornography
investigations. So far 27 people have been officially
charged.
http://www.dw-wo
rld.de/dw/function/0,,12215_cid_3035119,00.html
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Check out http://auda.org.au/do
main-news/ for the most recent edition of the domain
news, including an RSS feed - already online!
The domain name news is supported by auDA
For information on subscriptions to the domain name and/or
general internet news please contact me. For archives of
postings to the list, see http://lists.technewsreview.com.au/pipermail/techne
wsreview/. Also see http://technewsreview.c
om.au/ for recent updates.
Sources include Quicklinks <http://qlinks.net/> and
BNA Internet Law News <http://www.bna.com/ilaw
/>.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
(c) David Goldstein 2008
---------
David Goldstein
address: 4/3 Abbott Street
COOGEE NSW 2034
AUSTRALIA
email: Goldstein_David  yahoo.com.au
phone: +61 418 228 605 (mobile); +61 2 9665 5773 (home)
"Every time you use fossil fuels, you're adding to the
problem. Every time you forgo fossil fuels, you're being
part of the solution" - Dr Tim Flannery
Make the switch to the world's best email. Get the new
Yahoo!7 Mail now. www.yahoo7.com.au/worldsbestemail
_______________________________________________
APPLe mailing list
APPLelists.apnic.net
http:
//mailman.apnic.net/mailman/listinfo/apple
|
