general internet news - 19 December

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

Hi all

This is the final news for 2003. The news will recommence
in the week commencing 5 January next year. So till then,
have a great christmas and new year - for those celebrating
christmas and new year anyway.

Many thanks to those who have contributed to the news
throughout 2003 sending news items and giving comments -
they're most appreciated!

I look forward to resuming the news in the new year.

Cheers
David

Website linked to far right hit list
The home secretary, David Blunkett, is coming under
increasing pressure to shut down an extreme rightwing
website following the discovery of a secret hitlist of
targets - including social workers, journalists and
politicians.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/race/story/0,11374,1108566,00.html


Net dumping moves offshore
AUSTRALIAN dial-up internet users have been warned of an
international scam fleecing web surfers of thousands of
dollars in call charges.

http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,8190718%5e16123%5e%5enbv%5e,00.html

http://www.zdnet.com.au/newstech/communications/story/0,2000048620,20281995,00.htm

http://www.itnews.com.au/storycontent.asp?ID=12&Art_ID=17568

Phishing: 'It's not big now but it will be', say banks
Banking officials and computer security experts predicted
on Monday the wave of cyber scams targeting the financial
services sector will soar in 2004 as the industry braces
for a new onslaught of fraud schemes. The gloomy prediction
comes amid a string of email and website spoofing scams
preying on banking customers.

http://www.silicon.com/software/security/0,39024655,39117378,00.htm
 http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?storyID=3994560

http://news.independent.co.uk/digital/features/story.jsp?story=473895

.au - Another day, another bank scam
AFTER yet another attempt to decieve online banking users,
the Commonwealth Bank says it is able to respond more
quickly to "phishing" attempts because customers recognise
the messages as scams.

http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,8191180%5e16123%5e%5enbv%5e,00.html

http://www.zdnet.com.au/newstech/communications/story/0,2000048620,20281995,00.htm

.au - Alleged Nigerian scammer in court
NICK Marinellis cuts a forlorn figure at Sydney's
Silverwater Correctional Centre, looking, according to
friends, nothing like the millionaire fraud mastermind he
is accused of being.

http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,8146011%5e16123%5e%5enbv%5e,00.html

Protection of minors: European Commission to propose
improved framework during the first quarter of 2004
The European Commission has just adopted a new evaluation
report on the September 1998 Council Recommendation
concerning the protection of minors and human dignity in
audiovisual and information services. The report analyses
the measures adopted in the Member States and at EU level
since the year 2000. Commissioner Reding, Member States and
other interested parties have been expressing concerns for
several years on the high level of violence in some media.
Accordingly, and in order to be able to keep up with the
challenges which technological developments bring, the
Commission intends to follow up on this evaluation report
by proposing an update of the Recommendation during the
first quarter of 2004.

http://europa.eu.int/rapid/start/cgi/guesten.ksh?p_action.gettxt=gt&doc=IP/03/1733|0|RAPID&lg=EN&display=

.tw - Internet, text messaging luring girls to sex trade
Technologies such as the Internet and text messaging are
becoming common tools in recruiting young girls to the sex
trade, social groups said yesterday.
 http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=5672

.th - PM wants tighter curbs on internet
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has proposed stricter
control of the internet to eliminate cyber crimes and abuse
of information technology.
 http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=5678

Police to trap online paedophiles
An international police operation is being launched to
catch those viewing child porn images on the internet.
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3329567.stm

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=4013569
 http://www.itv.com/news/1858510.html

Paedophile ring smashed in Spain
SPANISH police said they had smashed a paedophile ring
distributing pornographic pictures of children on the
internet and arrested 27 people in a nationwide swoop.

http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,8199615%5e16123%5e%5enbv%5e,00.html
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3327307.stm
 http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;?storyID=4007594

27 detenidos en una operación contra pornografía infantil
en España

http://delitosinformaticos.com/noticias/107166838428353.shtml

Popstar picture nets pedophile suspect
Queensland police used a picture of former popstar Sophie
Monk to net a suspected paedophile on the internet, a court
has been told.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/12/16/1071336950330.html

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/12/16/1071336964660.html

.uk - Pharmacy of false fortunes
WHB Sutherland Ltd is hardly the most obtrusive of
businesses: a smallish pharmacy servicing the needs of the
residents of Thurso, Britain's northernmost mainland town.
It's not the sort of shop you would make a special trip to
- unless, that is, you have the desire to be a millionaire.
The desire, however, must be mixed with more than a little
credulity. The scam goes like this: an unsolicited phone
call or email from a Nigerian who informs you that you have
inherited an oilfield. Considerable wealth - generally
proffered at around $41m (£23m) - will be yours. But,
first, there is the small matter of an upfront fee.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/spam/story/0,13427,1108530,00.html

.au - Man to face trial following new Internet crime laws
A 23-year-old Brisbane man has been committed to stand
trial in the Queensland District Court charged with using
the Internet in an attempt to procure a child for sex.
 http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1011137.htm

.un - U.N. Agrees to Examine How Internet Is Governed
For the United States and some other industrial nations,
the most significant development at the United Nations
conference on the Internet may have been what did not
happen.
 http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/15/technology/15divide.html

.un - Nations wrestle with internet age
A shift in how people see the internet took place in Geneva
at the end of last week, though few may have noticed. For
the first time, politicians, business representatives and
development workers sat down at a global forum to wrestle
with a subject few know much about and many fear.
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3318371.stm

Africa Celebrates WSIS Declaration
Poor nations of the world got a major reprieve from the
just concluded World Summit on Infomation Society (WSIS),
as the conference endorsed a plan under which modern
communication technologies will be extended to the poor,
and other efforts undertaken to bridge the digital divide
between poor and rich countries.
 http://allafrica.com/stories/200312170741.html

Chinese cyber-dissident Ouyang Yi case delayed due to lack
of evidence
Sentencing of Chinese cyber-dissident Ouyang Yi, accused of
subversion, has been delayed due to insufficient evidence,
a human rights group said.
 http://uk.news.yahoo.com/031216/323/eh61b.html

China Seizes Web Writer Who Backed Church
An Internet writer who posted articles online supporting
China's unofficial Christian church has been arrested amid
a widening police crackdown on unregistered religious
activities, a U.S.-based monitoring group said Tuesday.
 http://www.bizreport.com/article.php?art_id=5754
 http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,105925,00.html

.zw - Government Moves to Control Cyberspace
The Zimbabwe government is planning to introduce new
measures to police all broadcast and Internet based
information circulation in a bid to control the flow of
information in the country, The Daily Mirror reported on 9
December 2003.
 http://allafrica.com/stories/200312160333.html

.za - Hate Speech Taints 46664's Website
A racist internet user appears to have embarked on a smear
campaign by posting hate speech and racist slurs on the
website of Nelson Mandela's Aids fundraising campaign,
46664.
 http://allafrica.com/stories/200312150960.html

.au - Parents advised to play it safe with children's net
access
Parents giving their children access to the internet for
Christmas have been urged to make use of filters and talk
to children about potential online dangers.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/12/15/1071336854111.html
 http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2759366a28,00.html

Seth Finkelstein on Censorware, Copyright and Blogs

http://grep.law.harvard.edu/article.pl?sid=03/12/16/0526234

.us - FCC Alters Rules for School Fund
The vote tightens financial guidelines for schools and
libraries seeking benefits under a federal program that
helps them buy computers and install high-speed Internet
connections.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9545-2003Dec17.html

Porn fuels Kenya's internet boom
Florence was momentarily flustered when she was interrupted
while downloading blue movies in one of Nairobi's
ubiquitous internet cafes, but she quickly regained her
composure, and even admitted what she was doing..

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/12/15/1071336853831.html

Internet & Society Project: Technology in Politics
The latest question in the Internet & Society project on
H2O asks you to be President of the United States.
Co-written by Kelly Nuxoll of the Howard Dean Campaign and
Berkman Center Senior Fellow Jim Moore, the question
supposes that the power has returned to the people through
social software and personal interaction, electing you, a
President chosen by and for the people of the United States
of America. What would you do next? This rotisserie is part
of an ongoing project which welcomes everyone interested in
issues of technology and society. All are encouraged to
join regardless of expertise. Join the project here.
 http://h2o.law.harvard.edu/JoinProject.do?projectID=65

.us - Phone Service Over Internet Revives Talk of
Regulation
Politicians have worked hard to keep access to Internet
connections and many forms of Internet communication free
from regulation and taxation. But the debate over how
government treats the Internet is likely to reach a new
level of intensity now that Internet technology is
colliding with one of the nation's most lucrative
businesses, telephone service.
 http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/15/technology/15phone.html

Cannibal Case Grips Germany
In a case that has both fascinated and revolted Germans, a
42-year-old computer technician went on trial Wednesday for
the cannibalistic killing of a Berlin man who allegedly
volunteered to be consumed after the two met in an Internet
chat room and exchanged e-mails about gruesome fantasies.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A33093-2003Dec3

Belarus KGB chief: Internet should be brought under control
KGB should exert control over Internet, because
international terrorism and organized crime more and more
often use WWW. "We are trying to provide all the
possibilities, and legal - fist of all, in order to be able
to control Internet, "- said Mr. Leonid Erin, chief of
Belarusian KGB.
 http://www.e-belarus.org/news/200312101.html

The Taming Of The Internet
A deluge of spam is forcing new rules and controls on the
once wide-open Web.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/03_50/b3862091_mz063.htm

Expect to keep hitting that delete button
Whatever the EU does about spam won't solve the problem.
What the US does is much more important.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,6903,1106514,00.html

.us - Bush Signs Law Placing Curbs on Bulk Commercial
E-Mail
President Bush signed a law to ban the sending of bulk
commercial e-mail messages using false identities and
misleading subject lines.
 http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/17/technology/17spam.html
 http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-5124724.html

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=technologyNews&storyID=4002893

Estados Unidos ya cuenta con una ley contra el spam

http://delitosinformaticos.com/noticias/107165979524240.shtml

Spammers switch pills for porn
Porn spam is down, while email pushing healthcare products
has risen substantially, according to an anti-spam firm.
 http://news.zdnet.co.uk/0,39020330,39118599,00.htm

UN debates digital divide
Whether governments should support open source software
such as Linux over commercial software like Microsoft's
Windows was debated at a UN conference on closing the
so-called digital divide between rich and poor countries.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/12/15/1071336881517.html

Scandinavian countries take e-government lead
The UK is unlikely to meet its e-government targets,
according to IDC, which finds Denmark, Sweden and Finland
ahead of the pack in getting the public sector online.

http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/webservices/0,39020378,39118620,00.htm

UK's poorest families still avoiding the Net
The very people who need government services the most are
not interested in getting online, according to new
research, prompting the creation of a Digital Inclusion
Panel to help close Britain's digital divide.

http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/0,39020369,39118615,00.htm

Fight Over Internet Access Taxes to Enter Round Two
The anti-tax ethos of the Internet ran headlong this year
into two of the most powerful rallying cries in Washington:
"states' rights" and "tax fairness."
 http://www.bizreport.com/article.php?art_id=5771

.ca - Music sharers to face lawsuits
The millions of Canadians who share music files on the
Internet should be prepared for the possibility of facing a
lawsuit early in the new year, the head of the Canadian
Recording Industry Association said yesterday.

http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=4743e674-8b8a-40a3-9f73-a856c5abebe5
 http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-5126053.html

.us - State goes after Net tobacco sales to minors
Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers on Monday filed a
stipulated judgment against www.dirtcheapcig.com, Inc., a
Fenton, Mo., Internet tobacco seller that was sued in April
for allegedly selling cigarettes on the Internet to a
14-year-old Oregon minor.
 http://www.bend.com/news/ar_view%5E3Far_id%5E3D12834.htm

.au - Cricket site hits itself for six
THE Australian Federal Police have decided not to
investigate gambling advertisements on Australia's official
cricket website, after the site's operators moved it
offshore.

http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,8171896%5e16123%5e%5enbv%5e,00.html

.uk - Cybercrime: education not legislation the answer
Legislating against electronic crimes such as spam and ID
fraud will not reduce the problem; instead, education for
small businesses and consumers and cooperation between
countries is the answer, according to two major industry
groups, who launched a consultation paper on the subject on
Thursday.

http://www.silicon.com/management/government/0,39024677,39117322,00.htm

Does the Web Democratize Politics?
New research by Matthew Hindman, a doctoral fellow at
Harvard’s National Center for Digital Government at the
Kennedy School, indicates that political discourse on the
web is not as open and democratic as political theorists
once believed. Hindman spoke last week on the topic, “Why
the Link Structure of the Web Matters for Politics," to
explain how political sites interlink.  Hindman's data
shows that the vast majority of websites link to only a
handful of sites or, more technically, web traffic follows
a power law distribution. According to Hindman, this
conclusion challenges the traditional, 1990s idea of the
Internet a level playing field for political discourse
because, in reality, a select few “market leaders” dominate
the overwhelming majority of user traffic.

http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/home/home?wid=10&func=viewSubmission&sid=155

.uk - Digital TV at turning point as converts top 50%
Success of BBC-backed Freeview puts 2010 deadline to switch
off analogue within reach.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Media/digitaltv/story/0,12184,1108568,00.html

A Smart Solution to the Net-Tax Issue
A computer video game that encourages players to kill
everyone in sight in ever more gruesome ways has become the
first such product to be banned in New Zealand.
 http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2756885a28,00.html

.au - Learning curve for education internet project
Every student and teacher in NSW, from kindergarten to TAFE
has an email address waiting in the wings of a $33 million
state-wide system bracing for its biggest test - the new
school year.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/12/15/1071336882014.html

Europe allows ban on prescription drug sales on-line
European pharmacies are allowed to sell over-the-counter
medicines on the internet, but not prescription medicines,
the European Court of Justice ruled on Thursday. A German
court had queried the legality of a national ban on all
sales.

http://www.out-law.com/php/page.php?page_id=europeallowsbanon1071488855

Japan working on appliances-internet link
FOUR Japanese electronics makers have agreed to work
together in developing a common standard to link
refrigerators and other home appliances to the internet.

http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,8199583%5e16681%5e%5enbv%5e,00.html

Computers reunite holocaust survivors
People who had once despaired of finding long-lost loved
ones are being reunited with them with the help of computer
databases and the opening of Soviet bloc archives.
 http://www.globetechnology.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20031217.gtholocaustdec17/BNStory/Technology

=====
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

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