general internet news - 11 September

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

.th - Online game curfew to be relaxed next month
The Government is set to relax its restrictions on online
games. Anyone over 18 years old will be able to play the
popular Ragnarok game after the current 10.00pm curfew from
September 30 onwards.
 http://www.bangkokpost.com/Database/10Sep2003_data51.html
 http://news.zdnet.co.uk/0,39020330,39116185,00.htm

.th - Govt can't block porn sites, claim researchers
It will be almost impossible for the government to
effectively block access to pornographic web sites,
according to researchers from Chulalongkorn University, but
it can introduce other measures such as a rating system,
self-regulation and even consider legalising the porn
business.
 http://www.bangkokpost.com/Database/10Sep2003_data61.html

.sg - Panel proposes new censorship guidelines
NEW guidelines on what you can see at the cinema, theatre
and on television were proposed on Thursday by a committee
appointed by the Ministry of Information, Communications
and the Arts (Mita).

http://www.straitstimes.com.sg/latest/story/0,4390,208181-1062712740,00.html?

Ozod Ovoz website blocked
Reporters Without Border called on the Uzbek government
today to comment on the blocking of the Internet website of
a local freedom of expression group, Ozod Ovoz, which often
carries criticism of Uzbek President Islam Karimov. The
authorities regularly censor such critical news websites.
 http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=7941
Le site d'Ozod Ovoz rendu inaccessible
 http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=7940

Lawmakers finally give cybercrime measure a push
THE SCIENCE and technology committee of the House of
Representatives on Tuesday approved "in principle" the
consolidated version of a pending measure on cybercrime.
 http://www.inq7.net/inf/2003/sep/10/inf_1-1.htm

Webmaster complains over censorship of erotic police site
The owner of a gay website showcasing pictures of Thai
police in their snug-fitting brown uniforms has complained
over police efforts to block access, a report said
yesterday.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/09/04/1062548933223.html

.us - Pa. Won't Force Providers to Block Porn
Facing a federal lawsuit filed by two civil liberties
groups, Pennsylvania's attorney general agreed Tuesday to
stop sending notices that forced Internet providers to
block access to hundreds of child porn Web sites, but vowed
to use the state courts to achieve the same result.

http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/6729331.htm

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=3416065
 http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-5073799.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48814-2003Sep9.html

.us - P2P Taken to Task for Child Porn
File-trading services got a drubbing at a Senate committee
hearing on peer-to-peer networks and pornography. Orrin
Hatch even asks whether it would make sense to shutter
file-swapping services altogether.
 http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,60368,00.html
 http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-5073817.html
 http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/07/technology/07PORN.html
Porn-Blocking Law Taken to Court
Civil liberties activists are taking a state's attorney
general to court over his attempt to block Internet
pornography. They say his methods block users from entire
servers of unrelated websites, not just porn sites.
 http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,60361,00.html

.eu - EU acts to make Internet and mobile phones safer
The European Commission has published a call for proposals
to help make the Internet a safer place. € 11.7 million of
EU funding is made available to promote safer use of the
Internet and new online technologies including mobile
phones.

http://europa.eu.int/rapid/start/cgi/guesten.ksh?p_action.gettxt=gt&doc=IP/03/1204|0|RAPID&lg=EN;

.au - Offensive sites banned under FOI
CHILD pornography, bestiality and violent websites banned
by the Australian Broadcasting Authority cannot be accessed
under freedom of information laws passed by the Senate.

http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,7223234%5e16123%5e%5enbv%5e,00.html

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/09/10/1062902087012.html

Spare the violent video games, save on child psychology
If you believe children should do their homework and adults
should not smoke around kids, then you should also ban
violent video games from your home, a visiting psychologist
says.
 http://smh.com.au/articles/2003/09/09/1062902057257.html

Condenado un brasileño por la difusión de rumores en
Internet contra el mayor banco del país
Un empresario brasileño ha sido condenado a tres años de
prisión por haber difundido en Internet informaciones
falsas sobre el mayor banco del país. El método que
utilizaba el empresario era a través de correos
electrónicos que alertaban sobre una supuesta crisis de
Bradesco, la mayor entidad financiera de Brasil, según ha
informado la agencia EFE.

http://delitosinformaticos.com/noticias/106301575585914.shtml

.us - Study: Cigarettes in Reach of Children on Web
Cigarettes sold on the Internet are easily available to
children with a credit card or money order because vendors
do not or cannot check the age of buyers, researchers said
on Tuesday.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=3416013

File swappers face data limits
File sharing systems are causing big problems for the
people that keep the net up and running.
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/3094152.stm

US music industry sues 261 for online song copying
A 12-year-old girl in New York, a professor at Yale
University and an elderly man in Texas who rarely uses his
computer have been included in the first wave of civil
actions against people accused of illegally sharing songs
on the internet.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1038978,00.html
 http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/09/technology/09MUSI.html 

RIAA settles with 12-year old girl

http://www.zdnet.com.au/newstech/ebusiness/story/0,2000048590,20278420,00.htm
Girl, 12, Settles Piracy Suit for $2,000

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53408-2003Sep10.html

RIAA's Lawsuits Meet Surprised Targets 
Defendants charged with illegally downloading music include
a 71-year-old grandfather in Texas and a father-and-son
combo, ages 50 and 29. They also include Boston area
teenagers and adults, men and women from Los Angeles, and a
Yale University photography professor.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51698-2003Sep9.html

New Parent-to-Child Chat: Do You Download Music?
Tamara Amey has tried to instill solid values in her
daughter on everything from schoolwork to sex, but what
Kyla Amey, 16, did on her computer was up to her. Or at
least until Ms. Amey heard that the record industry was
planning to sue Internet file swappers.
 http://nytimes.com/2003/09/10/technology/10MUSI.html

Legal Effort May Slow but Not Stop Music Revolution
Fans will find other ways to copy songs if file sharing is
blocked, critics say.

http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-options9sep09,1,1229148.story

Aust privacy comissioner tackles long-winded policies
Australia's federal privacy commissioner, Malcolm Crompton,
has announced plans to combat "long-winded and confusing"
privacy policies and statements.

http://www.zdnet.com.au/newstech/communications/story/0,2000048620,20278437,00.htm

Scientology loss keeps hyperlinks legal
The Church of Scientology has lost a courtroom battle to
compel a Dutch writer and her Internet service provider to
remove postings from a Web site, in a ruling that keeps
hyperlinks to copyrighted material legal.

http://www.zdnet.com.au/newstech/ebusiness/story/0,2000048590,20278355,00.htm
 http://www.silicon.com/news/500019/1/5928.html
 http://www.xs4all.nl/uk/news/overview/scientology3.html
(press release)

Breakthrough? China attacks spam
China has woken up to the problem of spam e-mail and
blocked 127 servers which were identified as being the
source of high volumes of unsolicited e-mail.
 http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105_2-5073338.html
 http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-5073441.html

.au: Anti-spam Bill will be fast tracked
ANTI-SPAM legislation is being fast-forwarded by the
Federal Government, with the bill expected before
parliament within weeks.

http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,7206211%5e16123%5e%5enbv%5e,00.html

Home internet use by Australian adults rises
In 1998, only 13 percent of adult Australians used the
internet at home. In 2002, that figure grew to 43 percent,
according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of
Statistics today.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/09/10/1062902094706.html
Household Use of Information Technology, Australia

http://www.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/abs%40.nsf/e8ae5488b598839cca25682000131612/acc2d18cc958bc7bca2568a9001393ae

How Teachers Can Stop Cheaters
"Academic cheating is a major problem and has negative
results on everyone involved." So goes the first sentence
of a recently composed essay on cheating in academia. To
get the whole essay, though, you'll need to pay for a
membership at DirectEssays.com, an Internet operation that
promises access to "over 101,000 high-quality term papers
and essays." For $19.95 a month, you can see the
anticheating tract in toto, and a lot more besides.
DirectEssays is one of several Internet operations selling
term papers that students hand in as their own work, and
business is booming.
 http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/09/opinion/09EDMU.html

SCO CEO fires off letter to open-source community
In an open letter to the open-source community this week,
Darl McBride, CEO of The SCO Group, offered to find ways
that his company and the community can work together so
each can remain viable in the software industry.

http://computerworld.co.nz/webhome.nsf/UNID/E9D5795BF93607C4CC256D9D0012DDB5

Judge Rebuffs Legal Challenge to Pop-Up Ads
A federal judge has rejected a legal challenge by truck and
trailer rental company U-Haul to pop-up Internet
advertisements, in a ruling that could embolden providers
of the ads.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=H0NO4OFW3SNXSCRBAEOCFFA?type=technologyNews&storyID=3409346

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

Check out http://www.auda.org.au/about/news for the latest
domain news. The domain name news is supported by auDA.

Also see
http://greta.electric.gen.nz/mailman/listinfo/internet-news
or http://www.alfa-redi.org/noticia for an archive or to
subscribe to the general news.

Sources include Quicklinks (www.qlinks.net) and BNA
Internet Law News (www.bna.com/ilaw)".

=====
David Goldstein
 address: 2/4 Dundas Street
             COOGEE NSW 2034
             AUSTRALIA
 email: Goldstein_David@yahoo.com.au
 phone: +61 418 228 605 - mobile; +61 2 9665 0015 - home

http://search.yahoo.com.au - Yahoo! Search
- Looking for more? Try the new Yahoo! Search