internet news

[David Goldstein <goldstein_david@yahoo.com.au>]

WorldCom Inc. said last night it had improperly accounted for $3.8
billion in expenses and would restate its financial results for the
last five quarters. The company fired a top financial officer and
accepted the resignation of another, and sources said the Justice
Department had begun a criminal investigation.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44367-2002Jun25.html

WorldCom Says It Hid Expenses, Inflating Cash Flow $3.8 Billion
In what may be one of the largest cases of false corporate
bookkeeping yet, WorldCom said that it had overstated its cash flow
by more than $3.8 billion.
 http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/26/technology/26TELE.html
 http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=309134

US House OKs Rewritten Internet Child-Porn Ban 
Barely two months after the Supreme Court struck down a ban on
"virtual" child pornography, the House Tuesday passed another attempt
to update child-porn laws for the Internet age. 
The House passed 413-8 a bill that would outlaw pornographic digital
images of children, unless they were proven to be computer-generated
simulations that did not portray actual underage sex.
 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43931-2002Jun25.html
 http://dc.internet.com/news/article.php/1377101
 http://news.com.com/2100-1023-939407.html

Critics Take Aim at New Filtering Service 
New filtering software that relies on Web site operators to label
their content has found favor with some of the Internet's most
popular portals, but developers of commercial filtering products
question the value of the system's voluntary approach. 
The nonprofit, industry-backed Internet Content Rating Association
(ICRA) today released ICRAfilter, a free software product that works
in conjunction with electronic "meta-tags" installed by Web site
operators.
 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44061-2002Jun25.html
 http://news.com.com/2100-1023-939072.html
 http://www.internetnews.com/isp-news/article.php/1371221

Online Giants Offer Kid-Friendly Web Surfing 
Three of the nation's largest Internet portals today will announce
that they have made good on a promise to promote more kid-friendly
Web surfing. America Online, Microsoft Corp.'s MSN service and Yahoo
will report that they have now tagged most of their online properties
with electronic labels designed to work with new filtering software
being made available free of charge to the public.
 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40673-2002Jun25.html

U.N. warns on global digital divide
With only a fraction of nearly half the world's nations having access
to telephones, the United Nations' telecommunications agency has
warned that the gap between the information "haves" and "have nots"
will continue to grow without concerted global action.

http://europe.cnn.com/2002/TECH/science/06/18/digital.divide.ap/index.html

Spain May Force ISPs to Keep Tabs 
A new measure in the Spanish Senate would require ISPs to keep
records of customers' activities, and share the information with law
enforcement.
 http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,53195,00.html

Internet Name Body Set for Landmark Vote This Week 
The organization that oversees the Internet's vast domain-name system
is looking to face down grass-roots protesters at its annual meeting
in Bucharest this week as it tries to gain greater government-level
acceptance.
 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40653-2002Jun25.html

Regional Internet Registries' Submission to the Committee on ICANN
Evolution and Reform
The Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) jointly undertake the role of
management of IP number resources through the allocation of IP number
resources to network operators and Local Internet Registries. This
managerial role is in support of the ultimate requirement within the
Internet to associate network resources with numbers drawn from the
relevant public Internet number space.

http://www.ripe.net/ripencc/about/regional/rir-icann-statement-20020620.html

Competition Is Heating Up for Control of .org Domain
An intense, largely behind-the-scenes competition is under way for
the right to manage the global database that keeps track of Internet
addresses of noncommercial organizations.
 http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/15/technology/15NET.html

S.African Internet boss hides domain key abroad
The administrator of South Africa's web addresses said on Thursday he
had hidden the key to the country's ``.ZA'' domain network abroad to
prevent any government interference in access to the Internet.

http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/3463007.htm

Nominet changes tackle cybersquatting
Nominet, the non-profit organisation that manages the .uk domain name
registry, is planning changes to make the tracking down of
cybersquatters easier.
 http://www.vnunet.com/News/1132525

COURT RULES DOT-TV DOMAIN AUCTION BINDING (BNA Internet Law News)
A California appellate court has ruled in favor of a Korean
man who won an auction conducted by the dot-tv registrar for
the golf.tv domain.  Dot-tv tried to get out of the deal by
arguing that its acknowledgement of the winning $1000 bid
was an error, but the court held that a valid contract was
formed.  Decision at
http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/documents/B151987.PDF

MULTIPLE PERSONALITY DOMAIN NAME HOLDER LOSES DISPUTE (BNA Internet
Law News)
Nominet, the dot-uk administrator, has issued its first
decision involving the new .me.uk domain, which is intended
for use by individuals.  The case involved a person who
claimed that his nickname was Nokia.  The panelist wasn't
buying, however, noting that it was unlikely that the same
person had nicknames such as Vodafone, Orange, Virgin, BMW,
Nissan, and Sony, all of which had been registered in his
name. Coverage at
http://www.demys.net/news/02_jun_24_nokia.htm
Decision at
http://www.nominet.net/drs/decisions/nokia-v-jawad.html

NAF RELEASES FIRST RDRP DECISION (BNA Internet Law News)
A U.S. bank has become the first successful complainant
under the dot-biz Restrictions Dispute Resolution Policy
(RDRP) in a case that combines both the RDRP and UDRP.  US
Bancorp has obtained the transfer of US-Bank.biz and
US-Bank.info, despite claims by the registrant that the
sites were to be used for customer complaints.  Decision at
http://www.arbforum.com/domains/decisions/106124.htm

REPORT PANS ICANN RECONSIDERATION POLICY (BNA Internet Law News)
A new report from the Center for Information Technology at
the University of Massachusetts has reviewed the ICANN
Reconsideration Policy in light of claims by ICANN CEO M.
Stuart Lynn that precious board and staff time have been
devoted to largely frivilous requests.  The report finds
that there is no evidence of frivolous requests and that
ICANN has been rather slow in its response.  Though a
response is promised within 30 days, it is more likely to
take six months than 30 days.  Of the 26 requests on which
it has ruled, only one resulted in a favorable
recommendation to the board.  Study at
<http://www.ombuds.org/reconsideration/>

REPORT FROM BUCHAREST ON ICANN MEETING (BNA Internet Law News)
With published media sources a day behind in providing
coverage of the ICANN meeting in Bucharest, web postings
offer more updated, individual perspectives.  Tim Denton and
Michael Palage both offer coverage of the Registrars
meeting, while Alexander Svensson and Jamie Love provide
their perspectives on the General Assembly meeting.
http://www.dnso.org/clubpublic/ga/Arc10/msg02483.html
http://www.dnso.org/clubpublic/ga/Arc10/msg02481.html
http://www.dnso.org/clubpublic/ga/Arc10/msg02482.html
http://www.dnso.org/clubpublic/registrars/Arc01/msg02629.html

http://www.dnso.org/clubpublic/registrars/Arc01/msg02628.html

DOT-BIZ NOT GENERATING MUCH BUSINESS (BNA Internet Law News)
A new study from Harvard's Jonathan Zittrain and Ben Edelman
provides insight into the current state of dot-biz.  The
study finds that at least 74% of currently registered
dot-biz domains provide no web content or provide only error
messages or placeholders, while about 25% of dot-biz
registrations are registered to the same organization
holding the dot-com.  Study at
<http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/tlds/001/>

The following comes from The Filter... (with those bloody stupid
'make a shorter link' which don't always work!)
* ICANN, Heal Thyself: Last week the increasingly beleaguered
 Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) 
 posted its self-made remedy for the domain name body's ills: 
 "ICANN: A Blueprint for Reform." The proposal was poorly
 received by ICANN critics and by members of Congress, four 
 of whom penned a letter to the Department of Commerce
 stating that ICANN "lacks the legitimacy needed to guide an 
 international consensus body." The four--congressmen "Billy" 
 Tauzin (R-La.), John Dingell (D-Mich.), Fred Upton (R-Mich.) 
 and Edward Markey (D-Mass.)--recommended that the DoC "should 
 only authorize a short-term renewal of the MoU [memorandum of 
 understanding] unless and until ICANN can show that reforms, 
 necessary to limit its authority and provide for 
 accountability and transparency, have been implemented." 
 
 Translation: If critics in Congress aren't satisfied with 
 ICANN's reformation, its license to operate--the DoC MoU,
 set to expire September 30, 2002--may be in jeopardy.
 
 This week, ICANN goes under the knife in Bucharest, 
 Romania, where the organization is holding public meetings 
 and plans to vote, Thursday, on its "Blueprint" reform 
 proposal. Is ICANN President M. Stuart Lynn concerned that 
 the proposal will fail to satisfy critics? Not according to
 a recent article in the Washington Post, in which Lynn
 opines that the reform proposal is "very much in line with 
 what the congressmen are seeking."
 
 <http://makeashorterlink.com/?I1D055221> [ICANN]
  
 <http://www.icannwatch.org/article.php?sid=821>
 
 <http://makeashorterlink.com/?E27D25121> [Washington Post]
 
 <http://makeashorterlink.com/?C28D51121> [Washington Post]
 
 <http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,53410,00.html>
 
 How are the Bucharest meetings going so far? Follow the 
 links below to tune in to the webcast, read running 
 commentary on the proceedings on weblogs by Bret Fausett
 and Robert Shaw, and check out email discussion by James 
 Love, Hans Klein and others:
 
 <http://videolab.uoregon.edu/events/ICANN/icann_bucharest.html>
 
 <http://icann.blog.us/categories/bucharest/> [Bret Fausett]
 
 <http://radio.weblogs.com/0108486/> [Robert Shaw]
 
 <http://www.icann-ncc.org/pipermail/discuss/2002-June/date.html>
 
 * Getting Down to .BIZness: Amid continuing discussion 
 and criticism of ICANN's proposed restructuring, Berkman 
 Center researchers have begun to examine ICANN's efforts 
 to carry out what is arguably its most critical mission: 
 introducing new top-level domains (TLDs) to the domain name 
 system and thereby helping to foster competition in the 
 domain name registration business. This past November 
 marked the long-awaited introduction of the new top-level 
 domain .BIZ--namespace designated for "companies large and 
 small, around the world." 
 
 So how goes the nascent .BIZ business? Berkman Center 
 Faculty Co-Director Jonathan Zittrain and Berkman Affiliate 
 Ben Edelman set out to find some answers, and have posted
 the results--"Survey of Usage of the .BIZ TLD"--online.  
 Among the findings: three quarters of currently registered 
 .BIZ domains provide no web content or provide only error 
 messages or placeholders; a quarter of .BIZ registrations 
 are registered to the same organization that registered the 
 corresponding .COM; and many .BIZ names fail to comply 
 with .BIZ registry anti-warehousing policies. 
 
 "For a number of people and companies, a lot rides on 
 ICANN's decisions about new top-level domains," says
 Zittrain. "Our hope is to flesh out prima facie assumptions 
 with data about what's really going on--given the fact
 that one benefit of domain names as digital creatures is 
 that data about them can be gathered and analyzed with the 
 same tools people employ to navigate the Net using 
 the names themselves."
 
 Check out the URLs below for the study itself and the 
 ongoing discussion at ICANNWatch.org:	     
 
 <http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/tlds/001/>
 
 <http://www.icannwatch.org/article.php?sid=826>
 
 * What's In a .NAME?: .BIZ isn't the only new TLD in 
 town--ICANN also introduced .NAME. Follow the links 
 below for Edelman's study of .NAME registrations, plus 
 press coverage by the Washington Post.
 
 <http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/people/edelman/name-restrictions/>
 
 <http://makeashorterlink.com/?M13E12321> [Washington Post]


=====
David Goldstein
email: Goldstein_David@yahoo.com.au
phone: +49 1505 524 5640 (temporary while in Germany)
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