internet news - 29 August

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

CNN Files Largest UDRP Challenge - from UDRPlaw.net 
Cable News Network, better known worldwide as CNN, filed the largest
UDRP case to date this week against a Lebanese company that
registered 355 domain names containing the CNN trademark and country
names. 

http://www.arbforum.com/domains/caseresults2.asp?CaseNo=%25&CaseName=%25&Domains=cnn&CommenceDate1=%25&Complainant=%25&Respondent=%25&Status=%25&Sort=CaseNo&RulesetID=0

Privacy deal over net names
The overseers of the .uk net domain are delaying changes to the list
of who owns which site to head off worries over privacy.
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2209568.stm

ICANN Approves Waiting List Service 
That crashing sound you hear is the sound of an entire niche industry
collapsing. VeriSign's controversial call for a waiting list service
was passed by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
(ICANN) late last week, despite objections raised earlier by one of
its supporting organizations. 
With the dot-com bubble burst, companies like businss.com are
struggling to survive. It would seem the fervor for tony Net
addresses has suffered a similar fate: registrations for the top
domains (.com, .net and .org) fell by 3.5 million from October to
June, according to industry researcher SnapNames.com. 
 http://www.internetnews.com/isp-news/article.php/1451891
 http://www.isp-planet.com/news/2002/icann_020827.html

uk "wait list" launched
A new "wait list" service exclusively for .uk domains was launched
today by London-based Focus Digital. Designed to capture .uk domains
that have been allowed to lapse by their current registrants, the
system is similar to Verisign's proposed "wait list" service.
 http://www.demys.net/news/02_aug_27_wait_list.htm

Nominet shrinks its expanded WHOIS
UK domain name authority Nominet has reconsidered the details of its
proposed expanded WHOIS database after concerns over privacy were
raised. The new system will allow individuals to opt-out from having
their full address details displayed on-line.
 http://www.demys.net/news/02_aug_27_nominet_whois.htm
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2209568.stm
 http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2121382,00.html
 http://www.nic.uk/news/whois.html

Masters Of Their Domains? 
In late 1999, Southern California incubator eCompanies plunked down
$7.5 million for the Internet address business.com, a move destined
to join the avalanche of Internet Super Bowl ads as prime examples of
dot-com excess. But at the time, the company - billed by its founder
as "the Yahoo of business" - drew considerable attention, not to
mention $61 million in venture money from The Financial Times, media
magnate Mort Zuckerman and publishing house McGraw-Hill. Putting up
$7.5 million for a prime Web address, during the dot-com boom, was
similar to the thought behind buying oceanfront property: location,
location, location.
 http://www.internetnews.com/isp-news/article.php/1452151
 http://siliconvalley.internet.com/news/article.php/1452151

VeriSign: Give Us Your DNS 
Looking to keep its dominance as a domain registrar, VeriSign Monday
took the wraps of a series of services it hopes will satisfy even the
most finicky systems administrator. 
The Mountain View, Calif.-based said its Managed DNS Services suite
has expanded to include complete outsourcing, in-house control and a
combo package that lets the domain administrator roll their own. 
 http://siliconvalley.internet.com/news/article.php/1452031
 http://thewhir.com/marketwatch/ver082602.cfm

Preliminary Report - Special Meeting of the Board - 23 August 2002
The ICANN Board of Directors held a meeting by teleconference on 23
August 2002. The Board adopted the following resolutions:
 http://www.icann.org/minutes/prelim-report-23aug02.htm

Jerry Garcia Estate Wins .name Case - from UDRPlaw.net 
The estate of Jerry Garcia became the third successful complainant
under the .name Eligibility Requirements Dispute Resolution Policy in
a decision issued this morning. NAF Panelist Tyrus R. Atkinson, Jr.
ordered the domain name Jerry.Garcia.Name transferred to the estate
of the former Grateful Dead lead singer.
 http://www.arbforum.com/domains/decisions/114756.htm

Giambi Brothers Strike Out in UDRP, Become 1st Sports Personalities
to Lose Case - from UDRPlaw.net
In a decision published yesterday by the NAF, brothers and Major
League Baseball players Jason and Jeremy Giambi became the first
sports personalities to lose a UDRP case. NAF Panelist R. Glen Ayers
found that the brothers did not have exclusive rights in the surname
Giambi, and allowed the registrant, Tom Meagher, to retain ownership
of giambi.com.
 http://www.arbforum.com/domains/decisions/114745.htm

A scam to bring the house down
You and your partner are done up to the nines for a night out at the
opera, ballet or theatre.
...
The thieves copy official Web sites of premier venues to almost every
detail, including theatre layouts and restaurant information, and
constantly update shows. The crucial difference is the scam site has
its own credit card booking set-up, so your money goes directly into
their account. 
The bogus site for Sydney appears on the Net as www.sydneyopera.org -
as opposed to the genuine site, www.sydneyoperahouse.com. But the
outfit has created 23 sites mirroring opera houses in Europe,
including Paris and Vienna's. 
 http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/08/28/1030053076045.html

From BNA Internet Law News...
4TH CIRCUIT UPHOLDS ACPA IN REM JURISDICTION CONSTITUTIONALITY
In a pair of decisions released on Friday, the 4th Circuit Court of
Appeals has upheld the constitutionality of the in rem jurisdiction
provisions found in the anticybersquatting act. The courts
characterize the domains as property, concluding that by registering
the domains in the State of Virginia, the registrant exposes the
domains to the jurisdiction of the Virginia courts at least for the
purpose of determining who properly owns them. The cases involve
actions brought by Porsche and Harrods. Decisions at:
 http://laws.lp.findlaw.com/4th/012028p.html
 http://laws.lp.findlaw.com/4th/002414p.html

From BNA Internet Law News...
UDRP PANELIST RULES FREE SPEECH DOES NOT PROTECT DOMAIN NAME
A UDRP panelist has issued a pair of rulings involving the Paxton
Herald, a Pennsylvania weekly newspaper. While the registrant claimed
to use the domain for a criticism site, the panelist ruled that
though the content of a site may enjoy free speech protection, the
use of a trademark in the domain name does not enjoy the same
protections. Decisions at:
 http://www.arbforum.com/domains/decisions/114770.htm
 http://www.arbforum.com/domains/decisions/114766.htm

Cyber censor to watch out for students' bad language
When NSW's 1.33 million public school and TAFE students and teachers
log on to their new "e-learning accounts" they will find every
keyboard stroke monitored to ban bad language.
 http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/08/25/1030053009698.html

Intel CEO in Vietnam Says Govt Web Controls Futile 
Government attempts to control cyberspace are doomed to failure, the
chief executive officer of Intel Corp INTC.O said on Wednesday during
a whirlwind tour through communist-ruled Vietnam. 

http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=internetnews&StoryID=1381713

Library may collect web porn
THE National Library of Australia may soon start collecting
pornographic websites. The library's latest newsletter said it was
looking to add websites to its extensive collection of erotica.

http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,4972377%5e16123%5e%5enbv%5e,00.html
 http://abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s659685.htm
 http://www.abc.net.au/am/s659750.htm
 http://www.vnunet.com/News/1134593

Human rights tribunal orders anti-gay Web site to cease and desist 
The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal has ordered a Web site that
equates gays with pedophiles, bestiality and sexual predation shut
down, saying it violates federal anti-hate laws. 
 http://www.recorder.ca/cp/national/020821/n082149A.html
 http://www.chrt-tcdp.gc.ca/decisions/docs/schnell-e.htm

GOVERNMENT OF CANADA TO REVIEW LAWFUL ACCESS LAWS
The Honourable Martin Cauchon, Minister of Justice and Attorney
General of Canada, the Honourable Lawrence MacAulay, Solicitor
General of Canada, and the Honourable Allan Rock, Minister of
Industry, today announced that the Government of Canada will consult
with Canadians concerning lawful access to information and
communications. The consultation was launched by Minister MacAulay,
on behalf of his colleagues, at the annual meeting of the Canadian
Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP). 
"Lawful access legislation must protect the privacy of Canadians and
reflect their values. The Government of Canada will be examining
current laws to ensure crimes and other threats to public safety can
continue to be investigated effectively," said Minister Cauchon. 
 http://www.canada.justice.gc.ca/en/news/nr/2002/doc_30670.html
Lawful Access is an important and well-established technique used by
law enforcement and national security agencies to conduct
investigations. In the context of telecommunications in Canada, it
consists of the interception of communications and search and seizure
of information carried out pursuant to legal authority as provided in
the Criminal Code, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act,
and other Acts of Parliament such as the Competition Act. These Acts
provide law enforcement and national security agencies with powers to
intercept communications and search and seize information in a manner
consistent with the rights and freedoms guaranteed in the Canadian
Charter of Rights and Freedoms, particularly the right to be secure
against unreasonable search and seizure. (Further details regarding
interception and search and seizure can be found in, respectively,
Appendix 1 and Appendix 2.)
For law enforcement and national security agencies, lawful access is
an essential tool in the prevention, investigation and prosecution of
serious offences and the investigation of threats to the security of
Canada.  Lawfully authorized interception and the search and seizure
of documentation, computer data, and other information is used
frequently by law enforcement agencies to investigate serious crimes
such as drug trafficking, child pornography, murder, money
laundering, price fixing and deceptive telemarketing.  National
security agencies utilize lawfully authorized interception to
investigate terrorist and other threats to national security.
According to the Solicitor General’s Annual Report on the Use of
Electronic Surveillance, the conviction rate is in excess of 90% in
those cases where lawful interception evidence is used or adduced in
court.
Clearly, it is important to maintain the principle and powers of
lawful access. The challenge is to do so in the face of rapid
technological change and in a manner consistent with the Canadian
Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
 http://www.canada.justice.gc.ca/en/cons/la_al/

Govt role of Web supervisor questioned
Federal Government has released a report about its online content
co-regulatory scheme. But some industry commentators have asked
whether it's the Government's place to control what we look at.  

http://www.zdnet.com.au/newstech/ebusiness/story/0,2000024981,20267584,00.htm
 http://www.dcita.gov.au/Article/0,,0_1-2_15-4_110952,00.html (news
release)
 http://www.dcita.gov.au/Article/0,,0_1-2_15-4_110949,00.html
(report)

Industry hits out at press over 'alarmist' paedophile reports
The Internet industry has rounded on the UK's national news media,
accusing them of 'over-hyping' and 'dangerously misleading' the
general public about paedophile activity on the Web.
 http://www.newmediazero.com/lo-fi/story.asp?id=236491

SENTENCING IN CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CASES: PANEL'S ADVICE TO THE COURT OF
APPEAL
The Sentencing Advisory Panel has today published a proposal that the
Court of Appeal should issue a sentencing guideline on offences
involving the making, possession or distribution of child
pornography.
The Panel believes that sentencing for these offences should reflect
the harm suffered by children who are abused and exploited by
pornographers. Even an offender who has simply downloaded images from
the Internet for his own use, without showing or distributing them to
others, must bear some responsibility for the child abuse involved in
making the images.
The Panel offers sentencers a structured approach to assessing the
seriousness of an individual offence and selecting the appropriate
penalty. It proposes that the two primary factors determining the
seriousness of an offence should be:
 - the nature of the indecent material (from images of nudity or
erotic posing to those depicting gross assault of children by adults,
sadism or bestiality); and 
 - the extent of the offender’s involvement with the material (from
possession for the offender’s personal use to the original production
of images or widescale commercial distribution). 

http://www.sentencing-advisory-panel.gov.uk/press/press_15_aug_2002.htm
(news release)

http://www.sentencing-advisory-panel.gov.uk/c_and_a/advice/child_offences/page1.htm
(advice)

China’s Internet war with dissidents 
Chinese dissidents are doing their best to use the Internet to bring
democratic change to their society, but government crackdowns and the
nation’s rural demographics mean that more freedoms are unlikely to
come soon, says a private study. 
 http://www.msnbc.com/news/799842.asp

REPORT ISSUED ON CHINA AND THE NET (from BNA Internet Law News)
The Rand think tank has reported that China's government is using
old-style crackdowns and new cyber-tactics to stifle dissent on the
Internet. The report said there was evidence that the Chinese
government was using the Internet to criticize dissidents and was
sending thousands of fake messages to dissidents' email addresses.
Report at
 http://www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR1543
 http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,54789,00.html
 http://www.nando.net/technology/story/513832p-4081893c.html

Canada's ISPs may get 'spy' role
The right to be anonymous online may be strongly affected by new
proposals to build a database of every Canadian with an email
address.
 http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2121423,00.html

Internet addicts surf on work time
A new survey finds that some employees are spending up to an entire
workday each week surfing the Web - but not for work purposes.

http://www.zdnet.com.au/newstech/hr/story/0,2000024989,20267681,00.htm

What are the real risks of cyberterrorism? 
In 1998, a 12-year-old hacker broke into the computer system that
controlled the floodgates of the Theodore Roosevelt Dam in Arizona,
according to a June Washington Post report. If the gates had been
opened, the article added, walls of water could have flooded the
cities of Tempe and Mesa, whose populations total nearly 1 million.
There was just one problem with the account: It wasn’t true. 
 http://www.msnbc.com/news/799234.asp?0si=-

Group promotes "culture of security" 
In time for the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has issued new
guidelines for securing information systems and networks in
anticipation of cyberterrorist attacks or intrusions.
 http://www.oecd.org/pdf/M00033000/M00033182.pdf

From Unseemly to Lowbrow, the Web's Real Money Is in the Gutter
Aside from a few Internet winners, it's not easy to find many pure
Internet companies with healthy profits that don't sell sleaze and
vice.
 http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/26/technology/26CYBE.html

Microsoft puts privacy policy on display 
Microsoft has begun to incorporate new privacy policies and
procedures in upcoming products, apparently in response to this
month's settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.
 http://news.com.com/2100-1023-955514.html
 http://www.msnbc.com/news/800044.asp

HP drops Microsoft 
HP has dealt a blow to Microsoft's new licensing strategy by axing
its software on home PCs in the US. From September HP's Pavillion
range of desktop PCs will ship with pre-loaded versions of Corel's
WordPerfect 10 and Quattro Pro 10, replacing Microsoft Works, a
cut-down version of the Office software suite. 
 http://www.vnunet.com/News/1134622

From Quicklinks...
Free Culture: Lawrence Lessig Keynote from OSCON 2002 (O'Reilly
Network) 
In his address before a packed house at the Open Source Convention,
Lawrence Lessig challenges the audience to get more involved in the
political process. Lawrence, a tireless advocate for open source, is
a professor of law at Stanford Law School and the founder of the
school's Center for Internet and Society. He is also the author of
the best-selling book Code, and Other Laws of Cyberspace. [Ed: 3 Web
pages of vintage Lessig with an acerbic analysis of Mickey Mouse's
influence on copyright law and the duration of copyright protection.
According to the author, after more than 100 "gigs", his penultimate
address on this issue.].
 http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/policy/2002/08/15/lessig.html

DVD Format Fight Looms over Toshiba-NEC Proposal 
Rivalry among industry titans over next-generation DVDs heated up on
Monday when Japan's Toshiba and NEC said they would propose a cheaper
type of high-capacity disc incompatible with a format advanced by
Sony and others. 

http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=technologynews&StoryID=1370493
 
Researchers working on all-in-one remote controller
Researchers are hard at work trying to create an all-in-one remote
controller that would choreograph not just home entertainment systems
but also intelligent appliances all around the house: microwave
ovens, clothes dryers, air conditioners, you name it.
 http://www.nando.net/technology/story/512263p-4070626c.html

European telecoms
Telecoms groups have spent billions on so-called “3G” licences and
equipment in Europe. But with technical glitches and uncertain
demand, banks are refusing to finance further investment. This has
forced some firms to write off their investments and even abandon
their licences. Now the European Commission may throw the survivors a
lifeline.
 http://www.economist.com/agenda/displaystory.cfm?story_id=1300639

IT grows up
WAITING for spending on information technology (IT) to pick up has
become rather like waiting for Godot. Having grown by 16% in 2000, IT
spending in the United States fell by 6% in 2001 and is expected to
be stagnant this year (see chart 1). Analysts are fine-combing
quarterly results for signs of a recovery. Last week brought some
good news: Dell, a computer maker, announced a year-on-year increase
in revenues of 11%. But the third-quarter results that HP, another
computer giant, is to announce on August 27th will probably be less
encouraging.

http://www.economist.com/printedition/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=1291207

Earth summit
Tens of thousands of officials, politicians, activists and
journalists are in Johannesburg for the United Nations Earth summit,
which runs to September 4th. The aim is to build a framework for
sustainable development—eliminating poverty while protecting the
environment. Is there any chance it can succeed?
 http://www.economist.com/agenda/displaystory.cfm?story_id=1300608

Democracy clings on in a cold economic climate
DESPITE the economic turmoil gripping many of their countries, Latin
Americans are becoming somewhat more supportive of democracy, but
they have little trust in political parties and believe that
corruption is widespread and worsening. They have lost faith in
privatisation, and want the state to take a more active role in
regulating the economy, but in most countries they have not moved
more generally to the left. These are the main conclusions of the
latest regional poll taken by Latinobarometro, a Chilean
organisation, and published exclusively by The Economist.

http://www.economist.com/printedition/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=1281174

How well do you know the Simpsons?
The Simpsons has been voted Britain's favourite TV family. How much
do you know about the world of Springfield?
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/quiz/questions/0,5961,653859,00.html


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 email: Goldstein_David@yahoo.com.au
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