internet news

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

Calls to shrink net's top body
Influential internet bodies are calling for big changes in the way
that the global network is run. 
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2174073.stm
 http://www.centr.org/news/CENTR-ICANN-statement.html

Internet overseer takes wrong path on accountability
In the age of the Enron and WorldCom scandals, it would be almost
unthinkable to try to impede board disclosure and transparency.
Almost. Last week, a court case involving the Internet Corporation
for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) -- the Internet administrative
agency -- and Karl Auerbach, one of its most vocal directors,
revealed that ICANN attempted to do just that when it established an
unreasonable policy that placed conditions on board-of-director
access to its own corporate records.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/printarticle/gam/20020808/TWGEIS

Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility Comments for
Congressional Hearings on ICANN
 http://www.cpsr.org/internetdemocracy/CPSR_Comments_on_ICANN.pdf

CPSR Honors Karl Auerbach: A Pioneer of Democratic Internet
Governance
 http://www.cpsr.org/conferences/annmtg02/wiener.html

ICANN Advisory
Documents Provided to Karl Auerbach
 http://www.icann.org/announcements/advisory-04aug02.htm

Esther Dyson defends ICANN
The founding chairwoman of the Internet's governing institution
explains why we have to work with what we've got, even if it isn't
perfect.
 http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2002/07/25/dyson/index.html

US domain seller investigated
THE US Federal Trade Commission is investigating domain name giant
VeriSign over its tactics in its recent marketing campaign.  

http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,4861461%5e16123%5e%5enbv%5e,00.html
 http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/07/technology/07VERI.html
 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52076-2002Aug6.html
 http://news.com.com/2100-1023-948715.html
 http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/26576.html

Domain names bounce back 
The number of domain names increased in July, reversing a nearly
yearlong decline.
 http://news.com.com/2100-1023-948831.html

I come to bury IAmCarbonatedMilk.com, not to praise it
From BuyClamsOnline.com to billromanowskisucks.com, a stroll through
the graveyard of defunct domain names offers a melancholy vision of
monumentally stupid hopes that were cruelly dashed.

http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2002/08/03/deleteddomains/index.html

.au Dispute Resolution Policy launched 
The .au Domain Names Dispute Resolution Policy (auDRP) commenced on 1
August 2002. The auDRP is intended to provide a cheaper and quicker
alternative to litigation for resolution of disputes between .au
domain name registrants and parties with competing rights in the
domain name.
 http://www.demys.net/news/02_aug_08_auudrp.htm

VeriSign playing by the rules 
The domain name company appears to be complying with rules that
require it to share its database with other companies that sell Web
addresses, according to an auditor's report.
 http://news.com.com/2100-1023-949228.html

EU launches cyber-squatter survey
The European Commission has launched an online survey asking citizens
if they feel threatened or worried by "cyber-squatters".
 http://www.vnunet.com/News/1134137

DOES AMAZON.COM HOLD RIGHTS TO ANY DOMAIN WITH THE WORD AMAZON? (from
BNA Internet Law News)
In a split ICANN WIPO UDRP decision, a panel has transferred
amazonpic.com from a Korean company that operates under that name to
Amazon.com. The transfer occured despite evidence that Amazon.com is
not well-known in Korea and that Amazonpic.com holds a Korean
trademark in the name while Amazon.com does not. Notes the dissenting
panelist, "The majority decision has quite serious and negative
policy implications...[it] implies that no other entity could
register any domain name that includes amazon.com because it is a
trademark." Decision at:
 http://arbiter.wipo.int/domains/decisions/html/2002/d2002-0330.html

First Nominet Appeal Decision Strengthens Trademark Owners Rights in
.uk Domain Names 
In the first appeal decision under the new procedure for resolving
disputes about .uk domain names, an appeal panel appointed by Nominet
UK (the organisation responsible for administering .uk domain names)
decided that Seiko, the well known watch manufacturer, should take
possession of “seiko-shop.co.uk”. This was despite the fact that the
existing owner of the domain name, Designer Time, was using the
domain name for a web site which was selling genuine Seiko watches.
 http://www.mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=17420

eSign Australia to Become VeriSign Australia
eSign Australia Limited announced that VeriSign, Inc. has increased
its equity ownership in eSign from 19 percent to a majority stake of
approximately 51 percent. eSign also announced that it intends to
officially change its name to VeriSign Australia in September 2002.

http://www.verisign.com/corporate/news/international/2002/in_20020729.html

VeriSign and BulkRegister settle
VeriSign, which is facing regulator questions about the way it signs
up customers, has settled a suit filed against it by local competitor
BulkRegister, which had accused it of luring away its customers with
false advertising. 

http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2002/08/05/daily40.html

Web royalty decision appealed
BOTH sides in the US dispute over internet music royalties said
Wednesday they will appeal a recent federal decision setting royalty
rates for music broadcast over the internet.

http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,4861925%5e16123%5e%5enbv%5e,00.html
 http://www.nando.net/technology/story/492069p-3924942c.html

Overseas-based Web sites make for difficult copyright enforcement 
Despite the music industry's intensifying battle against online
piracy, a new crop of Web sites are brazenly offering entire pirated
CDs for free downloading even before they are released. 
 http://www.nando.net/technology/story/491161p-3919652c.html

Chat to the future
It's anarchy in the world of instant messaging
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/internetnews/story/0,7369,770610,00.html

Aust-NZ child porn crackdown
Computer equipment has been seized from a Christchurch property in a
joint child pornography operation by New Zealand and Australian
authorities. 
 http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/08/07/1028157951208.html

Man found guilty in Thailand's first case of cyber-defamation
A man has been found guilty of posting defamatory messages on the
Internet in Thailand's first ruling on cyber-defamation.
 http://abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s642477.htm

U.S. Reports Electronic Attacks Against Internet Service Providers
The federal government said it detected a series of electronic
attacks against American Internet providers early today, hours after
the F.B.I. had alerted technology companies and others of potential
trouble.
 http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/07/technology/07HACK.html
 http://www.nando.net/technology/story/491601p-3922263c.html

Internet child porn ring 'was run by parents'
American auhtorities have announced the discovery of a "despicable"
child pornography ring stretching to Britain and continental Europe,
in which parents sexually abused their children and distributed
photographs of them over the internet.
 http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=323069
 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63575-2002Aug9.html

JUDGE PUTS HOLD ON OHIO ANTI-PORN LAW (BNA Internet Law News)
A federal court judge in Ohio has placed a temporary restraining
order on a new state anti-porn law saying that the law is too broad
and appears to be unconstitutional. The law comes following an
Internet luring case in which several charges were dismissed because
the jury said that the law on dissemination pornography did not
include electronic images.
 http://www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=16675

China jails politically incorrect Net user 11 yrs
The Chinese government has sentenced a former policeman to jail for
eleven years for downloading ``anti-revolutionary'' materials from
the Internet, a human rights group in Hong Kong said on Monday.

http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/3803541.htm

In Pakistan, surfers worry anti-terror law may dull Web experience 
In the basement of a crumbling shopping mall on the capital's
southern edge, past the hand-painted signs and through a dark
hallway, Umar sat in a cramped cubicle surfing Web sites featuring
naked women.  
 http://www.nando.net/technology/story/488801p-3900285c.html

Iran reformers use Net to fight press ban 
With dozens of their newspapers banned, Iran's reformists are turning
to the Internet as a new arena for their struggle with the Islamic
Republic's conservative establishment, journalists said Monday.
 http://news.com.com/2100-1023-948403.html

Vietnam orders new crackdown on Internet dissent
Communist-ruled Vietnam has ordered a tightening of control over
Internet cafes to prevent "poisonous" materials being disseminated on
the web by critics of the regime, state media said today. 
 http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/08/06/1028157922378.html

Father's Poem, Son's Conviction 
Shohdy Naguib Surur will soon find out whether he has to pay for the
alleged sins of his father. Shohdy, 40, was sentenced in June to one
year in a Cairo jail for posting his father's poem on the Internet
but has so far avoided incarceration as he awaits an appeal on Aug.
26. 
 http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,54027,00.html

Politicians renew fight for anti-porn law 
A trio of politicians have renewed their efforts to persuade a court
to uphold an anti-pornography law aimed at the Internet.
 http://news.com.com/2100-1023-948118.html

Japan in an Uproar as 'Big Brother' Computer File Kicks In
Japan put into operation a national computerized registry of its
citizens today, provoking two un-Japanese responses: civil
disobedience and a widespread feeling that privacy should take
priority over efficiency.
 http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/06/international/asia/06JAPA.html
 http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,54324,00.html

Family upset over misuse of name Mabo on Web site
Indigenous groups are outraged over plans to sell the name of late
land rights campaigner Eddie Koiki Mabo on an Internet site. 
 http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/08/08/1028157979410.html

French far-right website shut down
A French court has ordered that the website of an ultra far-right
group linked to the man who allegedly tried to assassinate President
Jacques Chirac be shut down.
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2180448.stm

Hong Kong: New Code of Practice on Protection of Customer Information
for Fixed and Mobile Telecommunications Service Operators (detailed
registration required)
 http://www.mondaq.com/article_preview.asp?a=17341&p=5&c=153&e=on

Hong Kong: Offences Committed By Viewing Child Pornography On
Computers (detailed registration required)
The UK Court of Appeal in R v (1) Graham Westgarth Smith, (2) Mike
Jayson (2002) held that mere internet browsing of web-pages, or
opening of emails, containing indecent photographs of children is an
offence under English Law (s1.(1) of the Protection of Children Act
1978). Hong Kong law differs from English law in this respect. The
nearest equivalent legislation being the Control of Obscene and
Indecent Articles Ordinance, which does not prohibit viewing of
obscene material.
 http://www.mondaq.com/article_preview.asp?a=17345&p=5&c=153&e=on

Sex drives the internet, says Flynt
Hustler publisher Larry Flynt claims porn is driving innovation on
the internet. Speaking to the ABC network Flynt, who made an
appearance at the Video Software Dealers Association's Home
Entertainment Show in Las Vegas, said online pornographers are
pioneers.
 http://www.vnunet.com/News/1134013

Paedophiles trapped by credit card
More than 7,000 UK paedophiles have been identified by the FBI
following an investigation into child pornography on the internet.
 http://www.vnunet.com/News/1134104

Police say they believe missing girls are still alive 
Police hunting missing Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman yesterday said
they believed the two schoolgirls were still alive and with an
abductor amid signs that contact on the internet may have played a
part in their disappearance.
...
Police have confirmed the girls used Holly's computer shortly before
leaving home around 6pm on Sunday night. Experts are focusing on
"significant" information gleaned from that computer which is
believed to be either emails or visits to an internet chatroom. It is
a "priority line of inquiry". 
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,772216,00.html

Demonising the internet
The case of the missing 10-year-olds has cast suspicion over the
internet, writes Neil McIntosh, but there are ways to use it safely
and protect our web-savvy children.
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/internetnews/story/0,7369,772017,00.html

Yahoo 'complicit' in censorship
INTERNET giant Yahoo was "complicit" in rights abuses by the Chinese
government after agreeing to a Beijing-backed self-censorship pledge
for web pages, a human rights group charged today.

http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,4868908%5e16123%5e%5enbv%5e,00.html

Netherlands: Alternative Dispute Resolution in the Netherlands 
Court proceedings are time consuming and cost a lot of money.
Furthermore, Court decisions do not always offer an acceptable
solution. It is for that reason that more and more parties choose
another form of conflict control: alternative dispute resolution
(ADR). As a concept, ADR in the Netherlands comprises arbitration,
binding advice and mediation.
 http://www.mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=17437 

Webcast Royalty Proposal Draws Fire From All Sides 
Representatives from two warring factions in the debate over Internet
radio agreed on one thing Wednesday: a federal ruling to establish
royalty rates that Internet radio stations must pay to artists and
record companies is based on faulty reasoning and should be scrapped.

 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56215-2002Aug7.html

WorldCom reveals new $3.3bn error
Bankrupt telecommunications firm WorldCom says that it has discovered
another $3.3bn in accounting errors, almost doubling the total
disclosed.
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2182201.stm
 http://news.com.com/2100-1033-949026.html?tag=fd_top

Microsoft rapped over privacy failings
Microsoft misled consumers over its ability to protect the private
information of users of its Passport software, a US Government
watchdog has said.
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2181508.stm
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/microsoft/Story/0,2763,771644,00.html
 http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,54428,00.html
 http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/09/technology/09SOFT.html
 http://www.ftc.gov/os/2002/08/microsoftagree.pdf

Important: Read this message right now
Naive mobile phone users being targeted in new plague of junk mail
which is spreading throughout the country.

http://money.guardian.co.uk/howtocomplain/story/0,11609,771930,00.html

Open source's new weapon: The law? 
Open-source advocates will unfurl a legislative proposal next week to
prohibit the state of California from buying software from companies
that don't open their source code.
 http://news.com.com/2100-1001-949241.html

Italy heads drive to bring technology to poor nations
Getting technology instead of food may not be what most poor
countries have in mind when they think of foreign aid. But Italy
believes that having more Internet and other information technology
may go far in alleviating poverty.
 http://www.nando.net/technology/story/492582p-3929510c.html

OECD publishes cyber-security guidelines
In response to a U.S. call made in October 2001 that it update its
principles on security of information systems and networks, the
30-member inter-governmental Organization 
 http://www.itworld.com/Sec/2052/020808oecd
The guidelines can be found online in English, French and Spanish at
the following respective locations:
http://www.oecd.org/pdf/M00033000/M00033182.pdf,
http://webdev1.oecd.org/pdf/M00033000/M00033183.pdf and
http://webdev1.oecd.org/pdf/M00033000/M00033189.pdf.

'Knowledge gap' a threat to world stability
The widening gap between people with access to modern scientific
knowledge and technologies, and the vast majority of people who lack
such access, is a threat to future global stability, says a new book.
 http://www.csiro.au/page.asp?type=mediaRelease&id=Prknowledge

Dawson Inquiry is the talk of Hollywood
The Motion Picture Association is the voice of the big US movie
studios. It thinks Allan Fels' take on competition law is a bit,
well, Mickey Mouse. And it's made a submission to the Dawson inquiry
attacking the ACCC.
 http://www.abc.net.au/pm/2002/08/09/20020809pm11.asx (audio) 
 http://www.abc.net.au/pm/s645007.htm

For the South American subscribers...
South America's dominoes
With America’s treasury secretary, Paul O’Neill, in Brazil on the
first leg of a three-nation tour of Latin America, there are signs
that American policy may be shifting. The Bush administration has
announced a temporary loan of $1.5 billion to Uruguay 
 http://www.economist.com/agenda/displaystory.cfm?story_id=1269333

Uribe's hour
BEHIND closed doors, with military aircraft patrolling the skies and
thousands of soldiers guarding the streets, Alvaro Uribe is due to be
sworn in as Colombia’s president on Wednesday August 7th. It will be
surprising if the inauguration passes without a guerrilla attack
somewhere in Colombia. For Mr Uribe has a clear mandate to improve
security, take the fight to Colombia’s rebel armies and reform the
country’s institutions. And all the signs are that in taking on one
of Latin America’s toughest jobs, he will plunge at once into some
bruising political battles.
 http://www.economist.com/agenda/displaystory.cfm?story_id=1268518

Latin American bail-outs
The huge IMF rescue package for Brazil, aimed at heading off the risk
of default by Latin America’s largest economy, has been given a warm
welcome by the markets. The new loan was announced shortly after a
visit to Brazil by America’s treasury secretary and in the same week
that America handed a financial lifeline to Uruguay. But the new
loans do not automatically mean the end of Latin America's problems
 http://www.economist.com/agenda/displaystory.cfm?story_id=1279693

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

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