general internet news - 3 April

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

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CENSORSHIP, FILTERING & CONTENT REGULATION
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Nigel Williams: A Man With A Mission
Nigel Williams, who died this week at age 51, was a
pioneer in computer safety for children, founded
Childnet International and was Northern Ireland's
Commissioner for Children and Young People. (Larry
Magid)
Most Americans have never heard of Nigel Williams but
he had an impact on every child who uses the Internet
or carries a cell phone. Nigel, who was 51, died on
March 28th at his home in Northern Ireland after a
two-year-long battle with cancer. Nigel, who spent
over ten years working to promote the safe use of
technology for children, did so for the past three
years from the vantage point of government, as
Northern Ireland's Commissioner for Children and Young
People.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/03/29/scitech/pcanswer/main1449465.shtml
http://celebratingnigel.org/
http://niccy.org/article.aspx?menuId=489

au: Libraries lose web pornography fight
INTERNET pornography is rife in public libraries
across Australia, with most powerless to stop it. A
survey by the Australian Family Association has found
76 per cent of public libraries are having problems
with members accessing pornographic websites, mostly
"low-grade" material.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,18658338-421,00.html

au: Internet censorship demanded by the Australian
Left
Under the guise of protecting children from
pornography, the Australian Labor Party wants to bar
many sites to ADULTS. And you thought censorship on
moral grounds was the preserve of the Christian Right!
The truth is that the Left will seek kudos wherever it
can find it -- regardless of any principle that they
have claimed to support previously. Given the pressure
from both the Left and Christian conservatives, the
Australian Federal government is so far being fairly
heroic in resisting the pressure for censorship but
there are worrying signs:
http://www.bloggernews.net/2006/03/internet-censorship-demanded-by.html

au: Prime Minister?s office has spoof website closed
down
Reporters Without Borders voiced shock today at the
methods used by the office of Australian Prime
Minister John Howard to censor parody website
Johnhowardpm.org, on which political commentator
Richard Neville (photo) posted a spoof speech by
Howard about the presence of Australian troops in
Iraq. The prime minister?s office had the website
closed down on 14 March by going to Melbourne IT, the
company that administers its domain name.
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=16896

uk: E-bullying on rise, say experts
The use of new technology such as text messaging in
order to bully children is increasing, researchers
have said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/north_yorkshire/4862870.stm
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/articles/PA_NEWA9247811143737969A00

us: From XXX sites to the girl next door: Kids, porn
and the Internet (Part 1 of 2)
G.* the Jewish father of two sons, probably speaks for
many dads when he shrugs off hysteria about Internet
pornography. ?What?s the harm in boys looking at a few
sexually suggestive pictures?? the Shaker Heights
resident asked this reporter. He believes he doesn?t
need parental control software and reasons (correctly)
that any teenage boy can find a way to outsmart an
Internet security filter
http://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/articles/2006/04/01/news/local/acover0331.txt

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CYBERCRIME, CYBERSECURITY AND PRIVACY
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BBC stories used as bait for IE exploit
Cybercrooks are spamming e-mail messages to trick
people into visiting malicious Web sites that exploit
a recent Internet Explorer flaw, experts warned on
Thursday.
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39260593,00.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4864072.stm

CoE: Convention Committee on Cybercrime (T-CY)
Owing the dangers of cybercrime and the need for
common minimum technical and legal standards to fight
such crime at a global level, the Convention on
cybercrime (ETS N° 185) was prepared by Council of
Europe member States and Canada, Japan, South Africa
and the United States. It entered with force on 1 July
2004. Its Additional Protocol concerning the
criminalisation of acts of a racist and xenophobic
nature committed through computer systems (ETS N° 189)
will enter into force on 1 March 2006.
http://www.coe.int/T/E/Legal_affairs/Legal_co-operation/Combating_economic_crime/6_Cybercrime/T-CY/

Yahoo calls for 'effective' cybercrime laws
The Internet giant wants a combination of legislation
and self regulation of the Internet to combat
cybercrime. Interpol agrees
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/0,39020330,39260601,00.htm

Yahoos defends China moves
YAHOO co-founder Jerry Yang defended the internet
search engine's co-operation with Chinese censorship
of the web, saying it was necessary to reach out to
new users.
http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,18641995%5e16123%5e%5enbv%5e,00.html

us: Ruling adds to confusion over legality of keywords
Contradicting earlier decisions, a U.S. federal court
ruled this week that the purchase by Canadian
pharmacies of search engine keywords using the name of
rival Merck's "Zocor" cholesterol reduction drug does
not constitute trademark infringement.
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6056754.html

nl: Dutch MP calls for ISP action against child
pornography (sub req'd)
http://www.telecom.paper.nl/news/article.aspx?id=123003&nr=

No decision on Microsoft antitrust fines for 'weeks'
The European Commission said Thursday that it will
need to spend a number of weeks analyzing the
information that Microsoft has presented in its
hearing before making a final decision on whether the
company will be fined for not complying with a 2004
antitrust ruling.
http://news.com.com/2100-1014_3-6055972.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/31/AR2006033100318.html

Microsoft claims EU breakthrough, rivals sceptical
U.S. software giant Microsoft said on Friday there had
been a breakthrough in its dispute with the European
Commission at a hearing on antitrust fines levied by
Brussels, but rivals and critics were sceptical.
http://go.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=technologyNews&storyID=11716726
http://iht.com/articles/2006/03/31/yourmoney/msft.php

us: U.S. court overrules restrictions on Web site in
free-speech case
Washington state's Supreme Court ruled a trial judge
overreached his authority when he restricted a man
from posting information on a Web site.
http://news.findlaw.com/ap/o/51/03-31-2006/aa4600092d7ed639.html

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GOVERNMENT & PUBLIC POLICY
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au: Ignore new surveillance law: Ruddock
New phone tap legislation giving law enforcement
agencies access to phone calls, e-mails and text
messages will have no impact on the lives of ordinary
people, Attorney General Philip Ruddock says.
http://zdnet.com.au/news/security/soa/Ignore_new_surveillance_law_Ruddock/0,2000061744,39248909,00.htm

au/nz: Banging the gavel on corporate governance
The concept of governance is one of the flavours of
the day but sadly, it lacks strict definition. There
are literally dozens of definitions, depending on
whose website you choose to read.
http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/UNID/8E50C4CC72F4AF31CC25713B00127FDB

uk: Ofcom starts radio spectrum sale
A range of the radio spectrum will be auctioned next
year, for use by mobile, wireless and broadband
services.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4865062.stm

IT issues key for Pacific Forum
The Pacific Forum chair says member countries must
work cooperatively to make the most of developments in
information and communications technology.
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/488120/691685

nl: State to give Dutch citizens personal websites
Dutch citizens will get a personalised Internet page
giving them access to their records at public
institutions and reminding them when to renew
important documents, the government said on Friday.
http://go.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=11715098
http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=115&art_id=qw1143822601787B233

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SPAM
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Joe-job spammers shift tactics to evade filters
Spammers are giving the old trick of joe-jobbing a
fresh twist in a bid to fox email filters.
Conventional joe-jobbing involves forging the sender's
email address so that some poor innocent - rather than
a spammer - has to wade through bounced messages sent
to invalid email addresses.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/03/30/joe_job_twist/

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INTERNET & NEW TECHNOLOGY USE
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Study: Internet big in Japan, China
Global Internet adoption appears to have slowed last
year, with Japan boasting the largest percentage of
users and China the heaviest usage, according to a
just-released survey of people in 12 countries.
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-6055779.html

Euro Women to Outpace Men Online in Near Future
Women in Europe increased their Web usage at a faster
rate than men in the past three years, according to a
report published by the European Interactive
Advertising Association (EIAA)'s Mediascope Europe
unit.
http://www.clickz.com/stats/sectors/geographics/article.php/3595241


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DIGITAL DIVIDE
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us: Digital Divide Closing as Blacks Turn to Internet
African-Americans are steadily gaining access to and
ease with the Internet, signaling a remarkable closing
of the "digital divide" that many experts had worried
would be a crippling disadvantage in achieving
success.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/31/us/31divide.html

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FILE SHARING
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Digital Music Softens Drop in Album Sales
Global sales of digital music are continuing to rise,
generating revenues of $1.1 billion for record
companies last year and softening an overall slump in
music sales, the industry said Friday.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BRITAIN_MUSIC_SALES

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ARRESTS/COURT CASES FOR CHILD PORN
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au: Arrest over net child porn
A man has been charged with internet child pornography
offences following a raid on a Newcastle house.
http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,18664173%5e16123%5e%5enbv%5e,00.html

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(c) David Goldstein 2006


		
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