general internet news - 20 April

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

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au: Giants say no to porn filter trial
http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,18842788%5E15342%5E%5Enbv%5E15306-15319,00.html

fr: Free parental control software in France
http://www.edri.org/edrigram/number4.7/parentalsoft

cn: Skype says texts are censored by China
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/875630d4-cef9-11da-925d-0000779e2340.html

au: Is Copyright Fair For All? - Maddocks Intellectual
Property and Technology update
http://www.maddocks.com.au/download/ipt-march-2006.pdf

us: AT&T, Group Challenge U.S. Spy Program
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/04/13/financial/f155125D04.DTL

'Wellington Declaration' confirms ICT crucial for
Pacific Islanders
http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/UNID/FF803FB893ABC73ECC25714E007C1E27

us: The corporate toll on the Internet
http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2006/04/17/toll/index_np.html

us: Net playing bigger role in life decisions
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6062619.html

Global broadband population to double by 2010
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/04/19/global_broadband/

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CENSORSHIP, FILTERING & CONTENT REGULATION
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au: Giants say no to porn filter trial
AUSTRALIA'S two largest ISPs have rejected invitations
to co-operate in the most extensive internet content
filtering experiment ever carried out in the country.
http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,18842788%5E15342%5E%5Enbv%5E15306-15319,00.html

fr: Free parental control software in France
As a result of the agreement signed between the French
ISPs and the Ministry of the Family on 16 November
2005, starting with 1 April 2006, most of the ISPs
started providing a free of charge parental control
software to their subscribers.
http://www.edri.org/edrigram/number4.7/parentalsoft

kr: Online communities to be monitored monthly
The South Korean government plans to monitor the
nation's online communities every month, to crack down
on an increasing number of personal information
dealers within the virtual world.
http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article-eastasia.asp?parentid=43284

us: When porn and medicine cross paths...
A dermatological website, which includes clinical
photographs intended as a reference for doctors, is
being frequented by users with less-than-innocent
intentions.
http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=115&art_id=vn20060418011414765C563216

cn: Skype says texts are censored by China
Skype, the fast-growing internet communications
company that belongs to Ebay, has admitted that its
partner in China has filtered text messages, defending
this compliance with censorship laws as the only way
to do business in the country.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/875630d4-cef9-11da-925d-0000779e2340.html

cn: Net-savvy easily evade China's censors
When 'Brokeback Mountain' came to China, government
censors balked at a gay-cowboy romance and refused to
approve the film. But Chinese movie fans barely
noticed. They were too busy watching the film.
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/14362237.htm

us: Pornography is harmful, needs to be regulated -
Letters to the Editor
In response to Andrew Nelson's letter, ("Porn is a
right, not a sin," April 13), I want to comment on his
cavalier attitude. Nelson questions whether
pornography is harmful. Porn addiction may not cause a
physical disease, but it can cause all sorts of
problems, including deviant sexual behaviors and
appetites, erectile dysfunction, dysfunctional
relationships, incarceration, divorce and even murder.
http://www.dailyutahchronicle.com/media/storage/paper244/news/2006/04/18/LettersToTheEditor/Pornography.Is.Harmful.Needs.To.Be.Regulated-1859159.shtml?norewrite200604190539&sourcedomain=www.dailyutahchronicle.com

us: Measuring the Child-Porn Trade
Unlike, say, the soft-drink or airline industries, the
child-pornography industry doesn't report its annual
sales to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Yet
in a press release ahead of a recent House of
Representatives hearing aimed at curbing the industry,
Texas Republican Joe Barton said, "Child pornography
is apparently a multibillion ? my staff analysis says
$20 billion-a-year business. Twenty billion dollars."
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB114485422875624000-vi6JvzfEB6Kw_EwkpUjGHu1LgnM_20060517.html?mod=tff_main_tff_top

us: Child Exploitation Lurking In 'Dark Corners of the
Internet' (news release)
U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, chairman of the House
Energy and Commerce Committee, delivered the following
statement today as part of an Oversight and
Investigations Subcommittee hearing entitled, "Sexual
Exploitation of Children Over the Internet: What
Parents, Kids and Congress Need to Know About Child
Predators":
http://energycommerce.house.gov/108/News/04042006_1840.htm

Yahoo accused of helping jail Chinese Internet writer
Yahoo Inc. may have helped Chinese police to identify
an Internet writer who was subsequently jailed for
four years for subversion in the third such case, an
advocacy group for journalists said on Wednesday.
http://go.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=11891057
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=17180

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CYBERCRIME, CYBERSECURITY AND PRIVACY
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au: Is Copyright Fair For All? - Maddocks Intellectual
Property and Technology update
Following the "Review of Technological Protection
Measures Exceptions" that was released by the
Australian Parliament's House of Representatives
Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs
(Committee) in March 2006, this Maddocks paper looks
at what is copyright, the Committee's recommendations
and where to from here and concludes with "Needless to
say, copyright will be at the forefront of business
legal issues in 2006."
http://www.maddocks.com.au/download/ipt-march-2006.pdf

us: Cyberstalking, the Net's 'hidden horror,' likely
to rise
Claire Miller, a 44-year- old publishing executive in
New York, recently stripped her nameplate from the
tenant directory at the entrance to her apartment
building in the Kips Bay neighborhood, where she has
lived for more than 11 years.
http://iht.com/articles/2006/04/17/business/stalk.php
http://redorbit.com/news/technology/473811/cyberstalking_the_nets_hidden_horror_likely_to_rise/index.html?source=r_technology

us: ISP snooping gaining support
The explosive idea of forcing Internet providers to
record their customers' online activities for future
police access is gaining ground in state capitols and
in Washington, D.C.
http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-6061187.html

us: Agencies close net on illicit use of government IT
When federal agents last month seized the office
computer of a NASA official for allegedly trafficking
in child pornography on the Internet, a key piece of
evidence came from technology developed at the agency
to identify that kind of content.
http://www.gcn.com/print/25_8/40399-1.html

us: Terrorists' Web Chatter Shows Concern About
Internet Privacy
Terrorist groups, which for years have used the
Internet and its various tools to organize and
communicate, are paying more attention to addressing
security and privacy concerns similar to those of
other Web users, counterterrorism experts say.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/12/AR2006041201968.html

ao: CNTI Appeals for Collaboration On Computerised
Crime Law
The National Information Technology Commission (CNTI)
appealed to experts of the sector for a greater
participation in the elaboration of the law on
computerised crime, protection of data and information
security.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200604170259.html

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GOVERNMENT & PUBLIC POLICY
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au: Game ban challenge dropped
The Australian computer gaming industry has decided
not to contest a decision to ban a controversial
graffiti-themed game.
http://smh.com.au/news/breaking/no-challenge-against-computer-game-ban/2006/04/13/1144521448495.html

us: AT&T, Group Challenge U.S. Spy Program
AT&T Inc. and an Internet advocacy group are waging in
federal court a privacy battle that could expose the
reach of the Bush administration's secretive domestic
wiretapping program.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/04/13/financial/f155125D04.DTL
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/13/us/nationalspecial3/13nsa.html
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=1840559

us: Data retention: US to follow EU example?
New requirements for ISPs to retain customer data are
being explored in the US, inspired by Europe's recent
Directive, according to a report by CNET News.com. But
that Directive must be implemented with care, warns an
EU Working Party on Data Protection.
http://www.out-law.com/page-6844

uk/eu: UK leads charge against EU online regulation
An alliance of IT firms and ISPs is campaigning
against proposed revisions to an EU directive on
online broadcasting
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/communications/broadband/0,39020342,39264007,00.htm

us: The corporate toll on the Internet
Telecom giant AT&T plans to charge online businesses
to speed their services through its DSL lines. Critics
say the scheme violates every principle of the
Internet, favors deep-pocketed companies, and is bound
to limit what we see and hear online.
http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2006/04/17/toll/index_np.html

ca:  The Legal Limits of Government Tinkering With
Technology by Michael Geist
Apple Computer has captured the lion share of the
digital music market through its ubiquitous iPod and
hugely popular iTunes download service, yet many
consumers have been reticent to take the plunge due to
compatibility concerns.  Apple, along with rivals such
as Sony and Dell, use proprietary formats that limit
consumers' ability to easily transfer songs between
competing devices, leaving some fearful that their
investment in digital music files will permanently be
consigned to a single device that may become obsolete.
http://www.michaelgeist.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1211

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SPAM
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au: Oz nails its first spammer
Australia has convicted its first spammer under the
country's tough anti-spam laws. Wayne Mansfield, and
his company Clarity1, from Perth in Western Australia,
were held liable for sending more than 56m spam
messages in the 12 months following the introduction
of Australia's Spam Act laws in April 2004.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/04/19/oz_spam_conviction/

China bans unlicensed e-mail servers
A new provision in an anti-spam law has apparently
made it illegal to run an unlicensed e-mail server in
China. The Chinese Ministry of Information Industry
recently promulgated rules designed to crack down on
the country's spam epidemic, but buried in the new
legislation is a requirement that so-called "E-mail
Service Providers" must register with the government
and receive a license in order to legally operate
their mail servers.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060417-6611.html

us: Spammers Settle With FTC
Two more large-scale spammers have settled charges
with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that they sent
commercial e-mails in violation of the CAN-SPAM Act.
http://www.internetnews.com/xSP/article.php/3599796

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INTERNET & NEW TECHNOLOGY USE
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Porn Industry Again at the Tech Forefront
A top producer of hard-core porn will start selling
downloadable movies that customers can burn to DVD and
watch on their TVs, illustrating how Southern
California's multibillion-dollar adult entertainment
industry may again set the technological pace for
Hollywood.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/la-fi-porn19apr19,1,5075040.story

us: Net playing bigger role in life decisions
Nearly half of U.S. users of the Internet went online
for help with major life decisions such as finding a
college for their child or looking for a new place to
live, according to a survey released on Wednesday.
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6062619.html
http://news.com.com/Net+playing+bigger+role+in+life+decisions/2100-1038_3-6062619.html
http://go.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=technologyNews&storyID=11884136

ca: Regulatory framework for mobile television
broadcasting services
In this notice, the Commission announces its
determination that the mobile television broadcasting
services described herein and operated by Bell
Mobility Inc., TELUS Mobility and Rogers Wireless
Inc., in conjunction with MobiTV Inc., fall within the
New Media Exemption Order because they are "delivered
and accessed over the Internet."
http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Notices/2006/pb2006-47.htm

Free Net TV threatens telecoms and cable
Walt Disney's bold move to let people download TV
shows for free could spell trouble for cable and
satellite providers, but it also throws into question
the strategy of telephone companies spending billions
to get into the paid TV business.
http://news.com.com/2100-1034_3-6060306.html

ca: Wireless TV all-clear
Cellphone TV services started with hockey clips and
news but now the broadcasting regulator has given
wireless carriers carte blanche to move beyond
traditional television.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060412.wtvv0412/BNStory/Technology/?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20060412.wtvv0412

Global broadband population to double by 2010
The number of broadband subscribers is expected to
double over the next five years as availability
increases and prices fall.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/04/19/global_broadband/

Social Networking's Gold Rush
Just a few months ago, many experts and investors were
inclined to dismiss social networking sites as a mere
fad. Regardless of how many members sites such as
MySpace (NWS) and Facebook racked up, critics warned
that supposedly fickle young Internet users were
likely to rush away as soon as the next hot startup
came along. And some advertisers were skeptical about
the effectiveness of the medium, which features
user-created content of a sometimes questionable
nature.
http://businessweek.com/technology/content/apr2006/tc20060419_514268.htm

Blogosphere Doubles Every Six Months
Over 75,000 new Weblogs are created every day, over
half continue to be updated at least weekly after
three months.
http://www.clickz.com/stats/sectors/traffic_patterns/article.php/3599826

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DIGITAL DIVIDE
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'Wellington Declaration' confirms ICT crucial for
Pacific Islanders
The role of information and communications
technologies in the development of Pacific Islands has
been recognised with the development of a digital
strategy. But ICT should not be taken to have too
narrow a meaning, says John Budden, of the Pacific
Islands Forum Secretariat.
http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/UNID/FF803FB893ABC73ECC25714E007C1E27

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COMMENT, MICROSOFT & DEVELOPMENTS
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US judge throws out Microsoft EC plea
A judge in the US has not taken kindly to Microsoft
attempts to circumvent the EU's legal system
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/windows/0,39020396,39264006,00.htm
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/04/19/microsoft_loses_doc_search/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4919990.stm

Remixing the web
The ability to customise websites has arrived,
according to Gervase Markham
The web is not a broadcast medium in the traditional
sense; nor is it a print medium. Although some
?brochureware sites? try to treat it that way, with
heavy use of Flash and press release copy, most
websites do exhibit at least some of the interactive
elements missing from television and newspapers ?
discussion boards, feedback forms, online shops.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,9075-2140185,00.html

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ARRESTS/COURT CASES FOR CHILD PORN
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au: Sex offender denies posting victim statements
An elderly Sydney man has denied posting material on
the internet about his own prior child sex
convictions.
http://smh.com.au/news/national/sex-offender-denies-web-charge/2006/04/18/1145126098721.html

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(c) David Goldstein 2006

David Goldstein
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