internet news - 4 Oct

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

ICANN and ccTLDs in technical dispute
The Council of European National Top-Level Domain
Registries (Centr) has issued fresh comments on ICANN's
Zone Access Policy. The policy seeks access for the
California-based not-for-profit corporation to domain name
configuration files contained on the systems of country
code operators. Centr's response indicates that the
36-strong association of country code domain name
administrators continues to resist ICANN's attempts to
obtain this data.
 http://www.demys.net/news/02_sep_30_centr.htm

Generic name auction a blooming success
Web entrepreneur Alan Rogers is a happy man. His decision
to fork out $153,000 to snare the domain name
www.flowers.com.au in Australia's recent generic domain
auction has already paid off.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/09/29/1032734373953.html

Cut-price rivals hit Melbourne IT
Domain name registration is becoming an increasingly tough
business, and the pressure may be starting to show for
Melbourne IT, which has been regarded as one of the safest
bets in the tech boom.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/10/01/1033283477537.html

auDA publishes list of unallocated com.au names
auDA has published the list of com.au names that were not
allocated in the generic auction process. 

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/10/01/1033283479071.html
 http://www.auda.org.au/about/news/2002100102.html

Seoul to introduce regulations for Internet domain system  
The Ministry of Information and Communication said
yesterday it has finalized a set of regulations that will
control and manage the country's Internet address system, a
move that it hopes will block individuals and enterprises
from abusing online address assets.

http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2002/09/25/200209250023.asp

Catalan nationalism hits the web
The Spanish region of Catalonia has made a declaration of
independence in cyberspace. The regional government in
Barcelona has changed the address of its website from .es
for Spain to .net. 
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2253123.stm

Aust Internet Registry court case referred to mediation
The court case between Australian domain administrator auDA
and domain name seller Internet Registry over an allegedly
misleading mailout to domain name registrants has this
morning been referred to mediation.  

http://www.zdnet.com.au/newstech/ebusiness/story/0,2000024981,20268568,00.htm

First .uk reverse domain name hijacking decision
In a decision released today the UK domain name authority
Nominet has upheld a claim of reverse domain name hijacking
under its Dispute Resolution Service (DRS) - the UK
equivalent of the UDRP - for the first time. 
 http://www.demys.net/news/02_oct_01_hijacking.htm

Entrepreneur Fights Nissan on Name
What do a Japanese auto giant and an Israeli immigrant
computer entrepreneur have in common? A name, and a fight
over who should get to use it on the Internet.
 http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Business/ap20021002_93.html

http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/558914p-4402965c.html

Register.com names new chairman
Register.com, the second-largest supplier of Web addresses
in the United States, has named Mitchell Quain as chairman
of the board.

http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=internetnews&StoryID=1519243
 http://zdnet.com.com/2110-1106-960292.html

http://www.ispworld.com/Reuters/BreakingNews/100102_js2.htm


Consultation on ICANN Reform (Canadian comments)
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
(ICANN) is a not-for-profit private sector California
corporation that manages the technical co-ordination of the
Internet's naming and addressing system, including the
domain name system (DNS). The DNS consists of both country
code top level domains (ccTLDs) such as ".ca" for Canada,
and generic top level domains (gTLDs) which are
international in scope, such as ".com", ".net" and ".info".
 http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/SSG/sf05972e.html

Request For Comments
Dot CX Limited is currently soliciting comments from both
the Christmas Island and global Internet Communities on a
draft Dot CX - ICANN contract. 
 http://www.nic.cx/cx.rfc.icann.contract.html

Nominet defends proposed changes to WHOIS
UK domain name authority Nominet has defended controversial
changes to its publicly available database of domain name
registrants.
 http://www.demys.net/news/02_sep_30_nominet.htm
 http://www.nic.uk/news/whois-changes.html

Interview with the Bob Parsons, president of domain
registrar Go Daddy
Go Daddy has quickly become one of the largest domain
registrars in the world. With a unique blend of offerings
at rock bottom prices, it has attracted many customers. Go
Daddy always seems to be defining new markets for domain
registrars and their Domains by Proxy idea looks to be
another step forward. Bob Parsons in the President of Go
Daddy and the driving force behind the success.
 http://www.compunotes.com/Interviews/bparsons.htm

A Primer on Trademark Law and Internet Addresses (1997)
Quite a bit has been written in the recent past about
trademark[1] issues surrounding the registration and use of
Internet domain names. Since these articles have been
written, there have been a number of new and significant
cases decided, and new legislation has passed which affects
domain name disputes. This article examines these cases and
presents a more complete primer on trademark and dilution
law as it pertains to various aspects of Internet
addressing, including domain names.
 http://www.loundy.com/JMLS-Trademark.html

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Satirical website claims legal victory
Satirical website thinkofthechildren.co.uk today claimed
victory in a battle against the obscene publications unit
of the Metropolitan police, which had previously forced the
site's closure, despite the lack of a court order.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/internetnews/story/0,7369,803132,00.html
 http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/27379.html

House Passes Bill to Combat Internet Gambling in the U.S.
The House passed legislation that would prohibit Internet
casinos from taking payments from Americans and would
require banks to prevent the use of their credit cards for
such gambling.
 http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/02/business/02GAMB.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A29102-2002Oct1.html

House Votes to Block Web Gambling Payments 
The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Tuesday to
outlaw payments to Internet casinos, hoping to choke
offshore gambling sites that continue to draw billions of
dollars from U.S. customers. 

http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=internetnews&StoryID=1522746

Fighting Net Censorship Abroad 
Washington lawmakers are considering legislation that would
allocate $100 million to thwart Internet censorship by
authoritarian regimes.  
 http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,55530,00.html

Bill fights foreign Net censors
The legislation, unveiled Wednesday by Rep. Chris Cox,
R-Ca., would create an Office of Global Internet Freedom
charged with fighting Internet blocking and helping Web
users in countries such as China and Syria get around
censorship efforts and avoid punishment. The bill also
would allocate $50 million each year over the next two
years to develop and promote anti-blocking technology.
 http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1106-960679.html
 http://news.com.com/2100-1023-960679.html

Aussie officials target protest sites
Anti-globalisation protestors are using the Web to
illegally incite violence against the police, claim the
authorities in Australia.
 http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2123348,00.html

http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=internetnews&StoryID=1533988

Safer Internet - Newsletter for Awareness Raisers in the EU
Safer Internet programme
The latest edition of the Safer Internet newsletter is now
available online.
 http://www.saferinternet.org/news/safer18.htm

Pursuit of Online Pornographer Poses Question of Warrant's
Sufficiency
The New Jersey Supreme Court is questioning how much
information law enforcement needs when asking for a warrant
to delve into the contents of a personal computer. After
getting his billing address from America Online, the police
searched the home of a Nutley, N.J., man who sent child
pornography to chat room participants. Some justices
wondered if the information from AOL was enough to
determine whether there was a computer in the house.

http://www.law.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/View&c=LawArticle&cid=1032128667647&t=LawArticleTech

Indiana Teen Saved After Online Suicide Bid 
In what may be the Internet's first attempt at a public
suicide, a young Indiana man posted his efforts to kill
himself with drugs on a Web discussion board, sparking a
flurry of sympathy and taunts before he was located and
saved by police.

http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=internetnews&StoryID=1533686

Agency set up to promote ethical practices on the internet
La Agencia de Calidad de Internet will take into account
the rights of all citizens, promote universal access to the
internet and be transparent in its affairs.
 http://www.europemedia.net/shownews.asp?ArticleID=12908

Joke website sparks terror alert
Police officers in Battle Creek, Michigan believed that a
story posted on a US satirical website about Al-Qaeda using
telemarketing fraud was true.
 http://www.vnunet.com/News/1135552

Federal proposal tells only part of cybercrime story
In the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Canadian
government hurriedly introduced a series of new anti-terror
measures. Quietly included was a seemingly innocuous
announcement -- Canada, alongside other countries such as
the United States, would implement the global cybercrime
treaty developed by the Council of Europe.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/printarticle/gam/20021003/TWGEIS

Spam Opponents Turn to Lawsuits to Stop Junk E-Mail 
Anti-spam advocates are hoping that lawsuits will do what
technology and state laws have so far failed to do --
stopping what has become the digital equivalent of swatting
away flies at a picnic. 

http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=internetnews&StoryID=1516485

ICT industry quiet on censorship law
The information and communications technology industry is
conspicuous by its absence from the 50-odd written
submissions to the select committee inquiry into the Films,
Videos and Publications Classification Act, which has the
internet and other new technology as one of its main
focuses.

http://www.idg.co.nz/webhome.nsf/UNID/CF222FEC31B375ADCC256C41000BF376!opendocument

Chinese regime lifts Google blockade, keeps Internet curbs 
Google, the Internet search engine recently blocked in
China by the government, appeared to be up and running two
weeks ago. But anyone clicking into sensitive stories that
include keywords such as "Falun Gong" or "Jiang Zemin"
would probably hit a wall.

http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/558213p-4397358c.html

NSA to upgrade monitoring abilities
The largest U.S. intelligence agency will spend millions to
upgrade the technology it uses to sift through the huge
volume of telephone conversations, e-mail and other
worldwide communications chatter it monitors, under a new
contract.

http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/557772p-4394937c.html


Bugbear virus threat increases
The Bugbear e-mail virus is still going strong and could
have infected hundreds of thousands of computers worldwide.
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2296117.stm

http://www.guardian.co.uk/internetnews/story/0,7369,804689,00.html

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/10/04/1033538762070.html
 http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-960696.html

http://www.idg.co.nz/webhome.nsf/UNID/194F14F8D91AC41CCC256C4700117DF1!opendocument

http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=internetnews&StoryID=1533789

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=2997407&thesection=technology&thesubsection=general

Web Article Is Removed; Flaws Cited
The online magazine Salon has removed an article charging
Thomas E. White, secretary of the Army, with participating
in accounting practices that led to the collapse of Enron
while he was vice chairman of Enron Energy Services.
 http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/04/national/04SALO.html
 
Californians Seek Spam Shelter 
In an attempt to crack down on unsolicited commercial
e-mail, California Attorney General Bill Lockyer is asking
residents of the Golden State to send him samples of the
illegal spam clogging their inboxes.  
 http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,55529,00.html

Sex email rebounds on city banker
The dangers of sending sensitive personal information by
email are vividly exhibited once again 
A city banker has been suspended from work after an email
he wrote describing his sexual exploits was forwarded
around the world.
 http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2123347,00.html

Nigerian email scam broken up
Police have smashed a Nigerian-led scam that reaped up to
€20 million ($A36.15 million) by duping Internet chat
enthusiasts and other victims into paying seed money for
access to safety deposit boxes supposedly full of dollars,
the government said yesterday. 

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/10/03/1033538710688.html

Feds Release 'Top 20' Cybersecurity Holes 
In a bid to plug its leaky computer systems, the U.S.
government released a list of top cybersecurity holes on
Wednesday and unveiled a system to help government techies
find and patch them. 

http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=internetnews&StoryID=1526981

Four member states take issue with EU privacy law
Sweden, Finland, Austria and the U.K. are seeking
amendments to the EU's new data privacy law, in an attempt
to facilitate companies, operating globally, to transfer
data from one country to another, according to a Reuters
report.  
 http://www.europemedia.net/shownews.asp?ArticleID=12899

One third of the population never heard of the internet
13 per cent of the Romanian population use the internet and
six per cent are frequent users, accessing the net at least
once per week, according to a recent study undertaken by
the market research company GfK.
 http://www.europemedia.net/shownews.asp?ArticleID=12921

Farewell Netscape, a once-powerful pioneer that's now
largely irrelevant
Five years ago, the Netscape browser took most Web users to
their destinations. Today it stands on the verge of
irrelevance. That's the story from WebSideStory, a
Californian firm that publishes information gleaned from a
claimed 125,000 websites world-wide.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/09/29/1032734373894.html

Results of FCC's Media Studies Are Released
Media consolidation has not reduced the diversity of
programs on television and radio, although concentration of
ownership may result in more TV commercials and similar
slants in news coverage, according to government studies
released Tuesday.
 http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-fcc2oct02.story

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-226838A1.pdf

First will be last
Internet economics has proved a bit of a disappointment 
IN THE late 1990s, firms bet billions of dollars on a
theory that turned out to be wrong. It said that in
e-commerce, what mattered most was being first. Don't worry
about being best, if that slows you down. Sell your product
at a loss, give it away, pay people to take it: just build
your base of customers fast. Why? Because the weird
economics of the Internet—network effects, enhanced
economies of scale and lock-in—gave a decisive advantage to
first-movers. 

http://www.economist.com/research/articlesBySubject/displayStory.cfm?story_id=1352924

Making the Web world-wide
“THE creation of the PC is the best thing that ever
happened,” said Bill Gates at a conference on “digital
dividends” in 2000. He even wondered if it might be
possible to make computers for the poor in countries
without an electric power grid. The answer is yes, and
things are going even further. Villagers in a remote region
of Laos that has neither electricity nor telephone
connections are being wired up to the Internet.

http://www.economist.com/research/articlesBySubject/displayStory.cfm?story_id=1352875

New bills aim to protect consumers' use of digital media
The battle being waged in Washington over copyright in the
digital age ratchets up a notch this week as new
legislation is introduced aimed at clarifying consumer
rights.

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/bayarea/business/technology/4193841.htm

Labels pay to settle price-fixing suit 
The major record labels will pay out $67.3 million to
settle a 2-year-old price-fixing lawsuit, according to
state attorneys general involved in the case.
 http://news.com.com/2100-1023-960183.html

Doctors urged to become more Internet savvy
Australian doctors are being urged to become more Internet
savvy to improve their interaction with patients.
 http://abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s691184.htm

Camera phones get the chop in Saudi Arabia 
Nokia's 7650 has been banned amid fears that men have been
using camera phones to illicitly photograph Saudi Arabian
women.
 http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2123120,00.html

Germany leading European internet market
Germany remains as the leading European internet market, a
recent study by Information et Publicite has confirmed. 
 http://www.europemedia.net/shownews.asp?ArticleID=12896

Intel reveals details of new chip for laptops
Seeking to stay relevant in a world of evolving technology,
Intel Corp. has revealed new details of a chip it will
introduce next year designed just for laptops, the only
bright spot in an otherwise grim computer market.

http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/557783p-4394972c.html

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=====
David Goldstein
 email: Goldstein_David@yahoo.com.au
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