internet news - 25 October

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

Reporters Without Borders is publishing the first worldwide
press freedom index

The first worldwide index of press freedom has some
surprises for Western democracies. The United States ranks
below Costa Rica and Italy scores lower than Benin. The
five countries with least press freedom are North Korea,
China, Burma, Turkmenistan and Bhutan.
 http://www.rsf.fr/article.php3?id_article=4116

My commentary on the above article – There are a few
interesting points made in the worldwide press freedom
index below. Three of the equal top four, and five of the
top ten are Nordic countries. Developed world
underachievers are Japan (26th), Austria (26th) Spain
(29th) and Italy (40th). In the less developed world, the
stars are Slovenia (14th), Costa Rica (15th), Ecuador
(20th), Benin and Uruguay (equal 21st), Chile and Hungary
(equal 24th) and South Africa (26th). Another
disappointment to note is Israel comes in at 92nd. Anyway,
enough commentary – read the news release if you want
further info.

The report is also in French and Spanish.

+++++++++++++++
French-speaking countries tolerate daily violations of
press freedom
Promises to respect human rights made at the last summit of
the world's French-speaking countries in Canada three years
ago have not been kept. Press freedom especially has
declined and 20 of the 55 countries attending this week's
Beirut summit are still violating press freedom with
impunity.
 http://www.rsf.fr/article.php3?id_article=4078



Watchdog clamps down on net porn
Two online pornography providers face heavy fines and a
police investigation following tough action by a telecoms
watchdog.
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2353477.stm
 http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2124327,00.html
 http://www.europemedia.net/shownews.asp?ArticleID=13277

Experts meet to combat child porn 
An international conference of police and criminologists
aims to fight the rising tide of Web-based child
pornography.
 http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2124315,00.html

Bush urges ban on "morphed" porn
President Bush warned parents of the perils the Internet
may hold for their children on Wednesday and urged Congress
to outlaw "morphed," or virtual, child pornography.
 http://news.com.com/2100-1023-963110.html

http://news.findlaw.com/ap_stories/a/w/1151/10-23-2002/20021023154501_19.html

The First Amendment and "Virtual" Child Pornography
The U.S. Supreme Court struck down as unconstitutional the
Child Pornography Prevention Act, which made illegal
certain computer-generated sexual images. The Court said
the law violated the First Amendment. This article explains
the historical background of legal attempts to regulate
pornography and what the Court's opinion means for Internet
communications.
 http://www.gigalaw.com/articles/2002/landau-2002-07.html

Vietnam cracks down on cyberspace critics 
Communist Vietnam has welcomed the Internet as a path to a
market economy, but the Web is causing consternation to
Hanoi by broadening the reach of its critics.

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=1624611

Myanmar Sees More Dialing Into Internet 
Internet usage in military-ruled Myanmar is expected to
jump ten-fold in the next two years, although blocks on
certain political Web sites and pornographic channels will
stay, an official from a state-run agency said on Thursday.

http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=internetnews&StoryID=1626415

Google bans controversial sites
The search engine quietly deletes more than 100
controversial sites from some search result listings,
including sites that are anti-Semitic, pro-Nazi, or related
to white supremacy.
 http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-963132.html

Young lured by Net dating, child porn
People in the 15 to 29 age bracket are the most likely
members of Japanese society to use Internet dating sites
and to view child pornography, according to the results of
a Cabinet Office survey.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20021024b5.htm

Bosses clamp down on net use 
Two-thirds of European firms monitor what employees are
doing online with half banning access to certain sites a
new survey finds.
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2356443.stm

ISPA demands data retention details
The Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA) has
raised concerns about David Blunkett's plans for
anti-terrorist data monitoring.
 http://www.vnunet.com/News/1136193

http://europe.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/10/22/crime.internet.reut/index.html

Africa Unites Against E-Divide 
More than 400 officials from 50 African countries are
expected to gather in Johannesburg for the e-Africa
Workshop next week as the continent works towards finding a
way to make government more accessible to citizens through
information and communications technology (ICT).
 http://allafrica.com/stories/200210230059.html

Obeying New Laws Will Add to Costs, Says Telkom 
Compliance with a host of new laws would add considerably
to the cost of doing business which would indirectly
contribute to inflation as consumers would have to pay for
them, Telkom executives have warned.
 http://allafrica.com/stories/200210230383.html

Spam So Bad the Spammers Balk
Even the Direct Marketing Association says it's time for
legislation to limit spam. "We need to give the consumer
the means to try and stop it," a DMA official says. But an
anti-spam group thinks the DMA proposal could increase
unwanted e-mail.
 http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,55951,00.html

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2002-10-22-spam-law_x.htm

AOL launches safety campaign with automated messaging buddy
America Online is launching a new Internet-safety campaign
for kids built around an automated instant-messaging
``buddy'' that dispenses advice in real time.

http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/4343581.htm

http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/587198p-4572510c.html

http://rtnews.globetechnology.com/servlet/ArticleNews/tech/RTGAM/20021023/gtaoll/Technology/techBN/

Race hate case heads back to court
AUSTRALIA'S first successful racial hatred prosecution
involving the internet will head back to court next week.

http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,5344851%5e16123%5e%5enbv%5e,00.html

Internet race hate laws 'incoherent'
AUSTRALIAN laws covering race hate on the internet need to
be more coherent, according to our human rights watchdog.

http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,5344329%5e16123%5e%5enbv%5e,00.html

Paedophilia caused by brain tumour
A brain tumour caused a 40-year-old man to become obsessed
with sex and to molest children, doctors have reported. 
The married schoolteacher from the United States, who had
no previous history of sex offences, had an egg-sized
tumour in the right lobe of the orbifrontal cortex,
according to a report from newscientist.com.

http://pharma-lexicon.com/index.php?language=&page=news&title=Latest+News+Headlines&token=pha5fQMXfJHNE&newsid=2324

Fighting Words, Down Under
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer put on his boxing gloves for
his recent trip to Australia, but not to spar with the
kangaroos.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63756-2002Oct22.html

Phones linked to tumours 
MOBILE phone radiation might make cancer tumours grow more
aggressively, it was claimed yesterday.
 http://www.news.scotsman.com/scitech.cfm?id=1174782002



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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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