internet news

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

Hi All

For those of you who don't receive this via the mailing lists I send
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site instead of receiving it, please go to www.alfa-redi.org/noticia
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cheers
David

ATO seeks to stop web of confusion
The Australia Taxation Office is looking at ways to minimise the
confusion caused by a web site which could mislead the public into
thinking it is the official ATO site. 
 http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/07/26/1027497405339.html

VeriSign Posts Q2 Net Loss After Charges 
VeriSign Inc., the largest provider of Web addresses and network
security services, Thursday posted a second-quarter net loss dragged
down by a $4.6 billion charge related to the write-down of
acquisitions.
 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2548-2002Jul25.html

ICANN Delays Naming .org Successor 
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)
published a revised schedule for the migration of .org to its new
owner Thursday evening, a delay that poses problems with the
registry's current and succeeding operators. 
 http://www.internetnews.com/isp-news/article.php/1433501
 http://www.icann.org/announcements/update-25jul02.htm

Caught in the Seamless Web: Does the Internet’s Global Reach Justify
Less Freedom of Speech?
A federal appellate court will decide this year whether French
anti-discrimination law can restrict freedom of speech on U.S.-based
websites that are accessible in France. A Paris court ruled in 2000
that the Yahoo! website violated French law because its users offered
for sale certain Nazi artifacts. However, to force compliance with
the order, French plaintiffs must seek enforcement from a U.S. court.
In response, Yahoo! sought a declaratory ruling and a federal
district court held that enforcing the French order would violate the
First Amendment. The matter is now on appeal.
The Yahoo! case presents the question of whether the Internet should
be governed by myriad local censorship laws from around the world.
U.S. courts have held uniformly that the Internet should receive the
highest degree of First Amendment protection. They have been
influenced profoundly by the medium's global reach and have
invalidated most restrictions so as not to interrupt the
"never-ending worldwide conversation" that the Internet makes
possible. A contrary result in the Yahoo! case would embrace a very
different philosophy-that Internet speakers must "show their papers"
at each nation's borders to ensure that their speech is acceptable to
local authorities.
Other nations may treat their citizens as fragile children if they
wish, or worse, as enemies of the state. But U.S. courts should not
permit the seeds of foreign censorship to be planted on U.S. soil by
finding that such restrictions are enforceable here.
 http://www.cato.org/pubs/briefs/bp-071es.html

Time to Hop on the Gridwagon 
Grid computing is coming of age and will be meshed with Web services
to create an Internet on steroids, according to participants at the
Global Grid Forum in Scotland. 
 http://www.wired.com/news/infostructure/0,1377,54098,00.html

'New BT' told it's time to deliver 
BT used to be the basket case of the telecoms industry - but not any
more.
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/internetnews/story/0,7369,762767,00.html

SEC to investigate AOL accounting practices 
The US securities and exchange commission has opened an investigation
into the accounting practices of AOL Time Warner. 
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/internetnews/story/0,7369,762833,00.html

Sun to push StarOffice for Apple's OS X

Apple Computer and Sun Microsystems are cooperating on a version of
Sun's StarOffice productivity software for Mac OS X, the companies
said. 

 http://news.com.com/2100-1001-946714.html

From Quicklinks...
US - Remarks of Attorney General John Ashcroft (National Law Center) 
Remarks of US Attorney General John Ashcroft, Federal Prosecutors'
Symposium on Obscenity, National Advocacy Center, Columbia, SC, June
6, 2002. The Internet is perhaps the most pernicious medium for
obscenity. The Internet is a double edged sword: on one hand, it is
an amazing tool that provides children a wealth of educational
resources and gives them access to cultures and ideas that are beyond
their everyday experiences. On the other hand, it also serves as a
conduit for child exploitation and obscenity that respects no
boundaries and recognizes no jurisdictional lines. 

http://www.nationallawcenter.org/Remarks%20of%20Attorney%20General%20John%20Ashcroft.htm

In Legal First, ACLU Sues Over New Copyright Law: Says Blocking
Program Lists Should Be Revealed
NEW YORK–In the first challenge of its kind, the American Civil
Liberties Union today asked a federal court in Massachusetts to rule
that a computer researcher has First Amendment and “fair use” rights
to examine the full list of sites contained in an Internet blocking
program and to share his research tools and results with others. 
 http://www.aclu.org/news/2002/n072502a.html

French far-right website under fire
Two civil rights associations have asked a French court to ban a
website run by a far-right group linked to the man who tried to
assassinate President Jacques Chirac two weeks ago. 
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2151742.stm

=====
David Goldstein
email: Goldstein_David@yahoo.com.au
phone: +61 418 228 605 - mobile; +61 2 9665 0015 - home (from 31 July)

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