internet news - 13 December

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

Domain name reseller to provide refunds
Internet Registrations Australia Pty Ltd has agreed to pay
refunds to those who were misled by its "renewal notices"
issued in September.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/12/06/1038950181119.html

http://www.zdnet.com.au/newstech/ebusiness/story/0,2000024981,20270526,00.htm

Fourth Supplemental Implementation Report
In this report, the ICANN Evolution and Reform Committee
(ERC) discusses and recommends adoption by the ICANN Board
of a Transition Article and of minor amendments to the New
Bylaws adopted 31 October 2002 in Shanghai:

http://www.icann.org/committees/evol-reform/fourth-supplemental-implementation-report-08dec02.htm

Name games: Should trademarks rule Web?
First shot at a Web domain name, for starters — and that's
a thorn in the side of Orlando resident Jeff Davies, a
counselor for the U.S. Small Business Administration and a
Florida Supreme Court certified mediator.

http://orlando.bizjournals.com/orlando/stories/2002/12/02/story3.html

ICANN At-Large Reps Can Keep Jobs 
The five democratically elected board members of the
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers won't
lose their posts this month after all.
 http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,56740,00.html

Surfing Kids Master Their Own Domain
U.S. President George W. Bush on Wednesday signed the Dot
Kids Implementation and Efficiency Act, creating kids.us, a
second-level Internet domain designed to create an Internet
safe haven for children.
 http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,107696,00.asp

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8016-2002Dec4.html
 http://news.com.com/2100-1023-976115.html

http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/internet/12/04/kids.internet.ap/index.html

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=1851644

ICANN urged to scrutinise domain claims
An Internet taskforce is calling for increased accuracy of
domain-name owner data and the elimination of bulk
marketing that uses domain-name information.
 http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2127142,00.html

Federal Court Orders Suspended Sentence for Internet
Traders for Contempt
The Federal Court has again found Neal Arthur Lyster and
Helen Therese Glover guilty of contempt and issued warrants
of committal for a prison term of one month, suspended on
condition that they comply with other orders. The warrants
follow an Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
application to bring contempt proceedings against Purple
Harmony Plates Pty Ltd and its directors for failure to
obey court orders and pay fines previously imposed. 

http://203.6.251.7/accc.internet/digest/view_media.cfm?RecordID=884

New WIPO UDRP Schedule of Fees (three member panels) took
effect as of December 1, 2002
The new Schedule of Fees affects fees in three-member panel
cases only, for complaints received on or after December 1,
2002. Fees for single panelist cases remain unaffected.
 http://www.arbiter.wipo.int/domains/fees/index.html

"UDRP Doesn't Apply To .EU.COM Domains" Says WIPO Panel
A WIPO panelist has dismissed a complaint under the UDRP
after it was decided that the Policy did not apply to
.eu.com domains.
 http://www.demys.net/news/02_dec_06_eucom.htm

New Public Order / Decency Domain Name Controls
Following the liberalisation of the Dutch country code top
level domain .nl in September, the independent body charged
with overseeing their dispute policy has published its new
rules and regulations.
 http://www.demys.net/news/02_dec_06_cvkb.htm

The Politics of Code: Shaping the Future of the Next
Internet
A one day public conference organised by the Programme in
Comparative Media Law and Policy, University of Oxford. ...
High profile speakers - among them Prof. Larry Lessig,
renowned thinker on Cyberlaw and Esther Dyson, celebrated
digerati and founding chairman of ICANN - will discuss the
key choices that need to be made on privacy, security,
access, openness and control in the design of Internet
technology and Internet Governance.
 http://pcmlp.socleg.ox.ac.uk/code/

.Net.uk domain granted stay of execution
The underused .net.uk domain has been granted a stay of
execution after a meeting of Nominet's Policy Advisory
Board decided that still more consultation was needed
before a decision on its future was taken.
 http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/28473.html

Nominet explains role in ebay.co.uk detagging slip
Remember the ebay.co.uk detagging fiasco earlier this week
when the popular auction site was disrupted due to some
administrative error?
 http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/28460.html

Domain Name Issues, National Security And Nigeria
The revelation recently that most national assembly members
use either Yahoo, Hotmail or MSN to communicate with
colleagues or other top government officials is sending
serious concern to Nigerians both at home and abroad.
 http://allafrica.com/stories/200212080208.html

Dot-ca Board of Directors to Host Open Meeting in Ottawa
CIRA Board of Directors wants to hear from Canadians
interested in dot-ca activities.
 http://www.cira.ca/news-releases/85.html
 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Does Pornography-Blocking Software Block Access to Health
Information on the Internet?
The Internet has become an important tool for finding
health information, especially among adolescents. Many
computers have software designed to block access to
Internet pornography. Because pornography-blocking software
cannot perfectly discriminate between pornographic and
nonpornographic Web sites, such products may block access
to health information sites, particularly those related to
sexuality.
 http://jama.ama-assn.org/issues/v288n22/abs/jtv20005.html
 http://news.com.com/2100-1023-976823.html
 http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993165

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37370-2002Dec10.html

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=1884885

OK, there are a lot of references to this case, so for
those not so interested... sorry! Possibly the best
analysis of the case from what I have seen/heard is
Tangled in a legal web: Online publishing and defamation
This is a radio program from Australia's ABC. You can
listen to it at:

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/8.30/mediarpt/audio/mediarpt_12122002_2856.ram

Australian allowed to sue Dow Jones over story published
online
In a landmark case, Australia's highest court on Tuesday
gave a businessman the right to sue for defamation in
Australia over an article published in the United States
and posted on the Internet.
 http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/11/technology/11NET.html
 http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2127417,00.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39422-2002Dec11.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37437-2002Dec10.html
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/2560683.stm

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=1878725

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,5655205%255E601,00.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/news/0,12597,857240,00.html
 http://smh.com.au/articles/2002/12/10/1039379837643.html
 http://smh.com.au/articles/2002/12/11/1039379869766.html
 http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/11/technology/11FILT.html
 http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2127417,00.html

http://www.idg.co.nz/webhome.nsf/UNID/EC73BC9F4025036CCC256C8C007C120E
(NZ opinion)

High Court throws a spanner in the global networks
IN the 1950s, before space travel was a reality, scholars
worried about whether orbiting the Earth would even be
legal. Under the law as it existed at that time, each
nation's sovereignty extended usque ad coelum – literally
"to the heavens". Each nation's territory thus consisted of
a wedge beginning at the Earth's core and continuing
infinitely upward and outward.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,5653137%255E7583,00.html

The full judgement

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/high_ct/2002/56.html

Australian High Court attacked by media and academics over
web ruling
 http://sg.news.yahoo.com/021211/1/35m5h.html

Aussie defamation case ruling to be felt in NZ

http://www.idg.co.nz/webhome.nsf/UNID/DAE9275F2D9E1E2ACC256C8C000730D4

Libel case could change the future of the internet
December 11: Harsh new reality for internet after
Australia's supreme court rules that local businessman can
sue a US-based website for libel in Melbourne.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/netnews/story/0,12582,857749,00.html
 
ISPs spell out true cost of data retention
AOL alone would need 360,000 CDs a year to store all the
data that the government is demanding, and the cost far
exceeds the numbers that have been banded around
Westminster.
 http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2127408,00.html

Chinese student reportedly detained for Internet essays
A 22-year-old Beijing university student has been arrested
after posting essays on the Internet criticizing the
Communist party's control over society and urging Chinese
people to live as "free people," her family and a rights
group said Sunday.

http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/667527p-4989551c.html

Censor law put in deep freeze
THE NSW Government has backed off repealing controversial
internet censorship laws, putting the legislation in the
deep freeze while it waits for a federal review.

http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,5644946%255E15306,00.html

http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,5644946%5E15306%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html

Russia is 'major child porn source'
Police in Russia say the country has become a major source
of child pornography on the internet. 
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2543717.stm

International child porn king behind bars  2002-12-10
17:46:32
A 43-year-old man in New Zealand who ran two Internet sites
selling child pornography to approximately 700 users in
Europe and the United States a has been sent to prison for
two years. Glenn Roberts is said to have traded in more
than 240 000 pictures and films of children aged between
three and 14.

http://www.itechnology.co.za/index.php?click_id=115&art_id=qw1039495323492B252&set_id=1
 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=3008952

Internet Watchdog Warns of Fake eBay Web Site
Fraudsters trying to steal credit card information from
online auction house eBay Inc.'s 55 million users appear to
have set up a fake Web site that mimicked the firm, a
private Internet watchdog said on Wednesday.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=1886522

Norwegian Teen Pleads Innocent in DVD Copy Protection Trial
A Norwegian teen-ager in Oslo, Norway, pleaded innocent
Monday to breaking data security laws in the first day of a
trial over DeCSS -- a program that unlocks the security
codes of DVDs. Jon Lech Johansen was 15 when he wrote and
distributed DeCSS without charge over the Internet. If
convicted, he could be sentenced to up to two years in
prison, fines and compensation.

http://www.law.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/View&c=LawArticle&cid=1039054421144&t=LawArticleTech
 http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1039054421144

Children risk meeting cyber-strangers
Eight students at Roswell Kent Middle School recently
raised their hands when asked if they had ever met someone
on the Internet and then met that person face to face.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/technology/4703587.htm

SHOULD LINKING BE IMMUNE FROM LAWSUITS?
Website operators often treat linking lightly. Few
scrutinize the information to which they link as carefully
as the information they post directly. After all, most
people believe, "It's just a link." At least in theory,
however, linking can be dangerous from a legal standpoint -
especially when the link does not simply lead to a website,
but leads, more specifically, to a particular article or
piece of information that the website contains.
 http://writ.news.findlaw.com/hilden/20021210.html

US eyes Big Brother plan
The Pentagon is looking into ways of monitoring everything
everyone does, as part of its war against terror.
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2563249.stm

Insecure networks targeted by paedophiles
Companies who neglect the security of their IT systems
could unwittingly be hosting pay-per-view child
pornography, according to Britain's National Hi-Tech Crime
Unit.
 http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2127310,00.html

Sklyarov testifies his software is legal
The long-awaited live testimony of Dmitry Sklyarov finally
got under way in the ElcomSoft trial, when the Russian
programmer took the stand for the defense.
 http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1106-976621.html
 http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,56760,00.html

Sexism 'rife' in cyberspace
It will come as no surprise to women that men think they
are better at surfing, as well as getting angrier than
women when they are online.
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2562601.stm

Library staff suspended over alleged internet porn use
Nine members of staff at the British Library have been
suspended after allegedly looking at pornography on the
internet.

http://education.guardian.co.uk/museums/story/0,11727,857415,00.html

Internet Watchdog Warns of Fake eBay Web Site
Fraudsters trying to steal credit card information from
online auction house eBay Inc.'s 55 million users appear to
have set up a fake Web site that mimicked the firm, a
private Internet watchdog said on Wednesday.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=1892660

France gives name to commercial 'at' symbol
France officially gave a name to the "at" sign used in
e-mail addresses Monday, dubbing it the "arobase" from an
ancient Spanish measure that used the same symbol of a
letter "a" surrounded by a circle.

http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/667467p-4989302c.html
 http://www.vnunet.com/News/1137498

Online Consumer Protection In South Africa
South Africa is widely recognized as the economic hub of
Africa, with a vibrant and well-established post-apartheid
democracy. One of the most important aspects of this
country, is its free-trade economy, which exudes a positive
and sustainable vision for the future.

http://www.mondaq.com/article_preview.asp?a=18969&p=5&c=19199&e=on

Wham bam, thank you, Pam
A US judge today ordered an internet company to pay
Baywatch actress Pamela Anderson and her ex-husband Tommy
Lee $1.33 million in damages for selling a video of their
honeymoon sexual escapades. 
 http://smh.com.au/articles/2002/12/11/1039379872539.html

U.N. launches new weather Web site
The United Nations launched a new Web site on Monday aimed
at making it simpler to check on weather forecasts
worldwide.

http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/667137p-4987947c.html
 http://www.internet-magazine.com/news/view.asp?id=2985

Commission aims to raise quality of health-related websites
The Commission has recently adopted a Communication on the
quality criteria for health-related websites. The six
quality criteria cover transparency, authority, privacy and
data protection, updating of information, accountability
and accessibility.

http://www.euractiv.com/cgi-bin/cgint.exe/2622496-562?targ=1&204&OIDN=1504403&-home=home

Internet to be more user-friendly
Australian Internet users will soon find it easier to surf
websites looking for information. A new standard has been
launched to cut down on search engine results with
thousands of listings. 
 http://abc.net.au/news/justin/nat/newsnat-11dec2002-53.htm

And trivia...
Laces high
We commonly use only two of the millions of ways to lace a
shoe, because they are the best balance of strength and
efficiency, finds new research1.
"Hundreds of years of trial and error have led to the
strongest way of lacing our shoes," says mathematician
Burkard Polster: the 'straight-lace' and 'criss-cross'
methods. But there are about 400 million different
"reasonable" ways of weaving one lace through a shoe with
seven eyelets down each side, says Polster, who works at
Monash University in Victoria, Australia.
 http://www.nature.com/nsu/021202/021202-4.html


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

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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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- Send your seasons greetings online this year!