general internet news - 26 October

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

Don't forget to check out http://auda.org.au/domain-news/ for the most recent edition of the domain news - already online! Or see my website - http://technewsreview.com.au/ - for recent updates and recent news.

**********************************************************

Sponsored by the Singapore Internet Research Centre
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
http://www.ntu.edu.sg/sci/sirc/

**********************************************************


What content does Google censor outside China?

http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,,1925069,00.html



Vietnam net users fear crackdown

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6074432.stm



The Internet Black Hole That Is North Korea

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/23/technology/23link.html



US publishers say Child Online Protection Act should be struck down

http://www.theregister.com/2006/10/24/copa_strike-down_calls/



uk: Web watchdog outlines porn battle

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6079706.stm



YouTube to make life even busier for Google lawyers

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/23/technology/23google.html

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/10/23/1161455662458.html



us: Blind Web Surfers Sue for Accessibility (AP)

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BUSINESS_OF_LIFE



nz: MPs join internet coalition

http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3836006a28,00.html



nz: Internet users click on addiction

http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3834027a11275,00.html



Firefox browser for web 2.0 age

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6078016.stm



******************************************

CENSORSHIP, FILTERING & CONTENT REGULATION

******************************************

What content does Google censor outside China?

Outside China, Google blocks only websites with child abuse images and
certain values from its search of ranges of numbers. The latter
restriction, according to Google's worldwide policy counsel Andrew
McLaughlin, tackles identity thieves using the search engine to trawl
the web for credit card and government identification numbers, such as
US social security numbers. It is still possible to search for
individual numbers within these ranges, so owners can check these are
not online.

http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,,1925069,00.html



au: How to stay smart online: National E-Security Awareness Week

The Australian Federal Government wants Australians to be more cautious
when conducting their affairs on the internet, and has launched its
Stay Smart Online initiative to help them do just that.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/10/23/1161455652805.html



au: New govt website advising on net safety

A new federal government website aims to teach people how to avoid internet pitfalls.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/10/23/1161455637982.html



au: Parents 'should keep abreast of websites'

Parents should familiarise themselves with popular websites like
MySpace and YouTube to ensure they know what exactly their children
getting up to while online, experts have said.

http://theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20635262-1702,00.html

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2006/10/24/1161455668826.html

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,20635262-1702,00.html

http://theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=35304



au: Think your kids are safe online? Think again (news release)

NetAlert, together with Microsoft, ninemsn and the Virtual Global
Taskforce (VGT), today launched the Think U Know initiative, designed
to raise awareness amongst Australian children, parents and teachers of
the increasing safety issues on the Internet.

http://netalert.net.au/03694-Think-your-kids-are-safe-online-Think-again.asp



Vietnam net users fear crackdown

Vietnamese authorities have been accused of creating a climate of fear
among the country's internet users. Human rights organisation Amnesty
International says the Vietnamese government is using online informers
to keep track of web users.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6074432.stm

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/15834695.htm

http://asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=55970



Free Vietnamese Internet dissidents! (news release)

Viet Nam continues to arrest, imprison and harass people for expressing
their opinions through the internet – whilst claiming that their
citizens are entitled to these rights.

http://web.amnesty.org/pages/vnm-221006-action-eng



China bloggers may have to register real names

China intends to require its millions of Internet bloggers to register
under their real names in a move that is raising privacy concerns,
state press reported.

http://asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=56057

http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=19411



The Internet Black Hole That Is North Korea

The New York Times reports on what one American human rights
organisation refers to as the most censored country in the world. Where
mobile phones were banned in 2004. North Korea is not just censored
like other countries such as Burma, Syria and Uzbekistan - it is almost
entirely disconnected from cyberspace.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/23/technology/23link.html



us: Child safety pop quiz violates child safety laws

An FBI website designed to help children to learn safe surfing tips is
pointing users towards a website that violates US child safety laws,
Wired reports.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/10/23/fbi_safe_surfing_quiz_snafu/



dk: A Chat Smiley for Danish Chat Portals

A safe-chat smiley for chat portals is on its way to online
environments for children and youth in Denmark. Self-regulation is the
key, and Danish internet service providers have joined forces to
develop the system criteria and standards.

http://saferinternet.org/ww/en/pub/insafe/news/articles/1006/dk.htm



bg: “Child on the Web” campaign in Bulgaria

“Child on the Web” campaign messages prove successful also in Bulgaria.

http://saferinternet.org/ww/en/pub/insafe/news/articles/1006/bg.htm



nl: Launch of online safer internet game in the Netherlands

On 25 September 2006, the Dutch awareness node presented an online
safer internet game, developed within the Digibewust (digitally aware)
campaign.

http://saferinternet.org/ww/en/pub/insafe/news/articles/1006/nl.htm



Finnish measures against child sexual abuse internet content

In August 2005, representatives of the Ministry of Transport and
Communications, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of the Interior
and the Office of the Prosecutor General decided that Finland should
put forward voluntary restriction measures of websites with child
sexual abuse content, following the example of other Nordic countries
and Great Britain.

http://saferinternet.org/ww/en/pub/insafe/news/articles/1006/fi.htm



pl: Second edition of “Child on the Web” campaign launched in Poland

“The internet is a window to the world – the WHOLE world”. This is the
motto of the new nationwide campaign launched on September 26.

http://saferinternet.org/ww/en/pub/insafe/news/articles/1006/pl2.htm



be: Minors’ e-privacy at stake?

Websites for children and teens fail to comply with data protection
regulations. Sites aimed at minors often collect personal data during
the youngsters’ visit whilst allowing access to information and
entertainment.

http://saferinternet.org/ww/en/pub/insafe/news/articles/1006/ua.htm



au: Successful internet safety roadshow visits South Australia

The NetAlert Expo, a national internet safety road show, has completed a very successful two week tour of South Australia.

http://saferinternet.org/ww/en/pub/insafe/news/articles/1006/au.htm



***************************************

CYBERCRIME, CYBERSECURITY AND PRIVACY

***************************************

us: ACLU challenge to federal child protection law goes to trial

The federal bench trial of a lawsuit challenging the 1998 Child Online
Protection Act began Monday in the US District Court for the Eastern
District of Pennsylvania. The American Civil Liberties Union brought
the suit on behalf of internet websites such as Salon.com and
Nerve.com, arguing that the severe punishments outlined in COPA for
publishing material considered "harmful to children" restrict free
speech.

http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2006/10/aclu-challenge-to-federal-child.php



us: Government Defends 1998 Anti-Porn Law (AP)

Eight years after Congress passed a law aimed at protecting children
from online pornography, free speech advocates and Web site publishers
argued in federal court Monday that the never-enforced measure is
fatally flawed.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/LegalCenter/wireStory?id=2599993



US publishers say Child Online Protection Act should be struck down

A group of US online publishers and a lobby group is taking the
Government to court to challenge an eight-year-old law which it says
amounts to censorship of the internet. The challenge is to the Child
Online Protection Act (COPA), which became law in 1998.

http://www.theregister.com/2006/10/24/copa_strike-down_calls/

http://out-law.com/page-7414



us: ACLU Returns to Court to Defend Right to Online Free Speech (news release)

The American Civil Liberties Union today presented opening arguments in
federal district court in its longstanding challenge to an Internet
censorship law, ACLU v. Gonzales. The censorship law was signed by
President Clinton in 1998 and has never been enforced.

http://aclu.org/freespeech/internet/27144prs20061023.html



uk: Web watchdog outlines porn battle

More than 30,000 websites of child pornography have been removed in 10 years by an internet watchdog.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6079706.stm

http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3839434a11275,00.html

http://go.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=13886213



uk: IWF reveals 10 year statistics on child abuse images online (news release)

Marking its tenth anniversary, the Internet Watch Foundation revealed
statistics and trends from a decade combating illegal online content.
Since its inception in 1996, the organisation has processed an average
of 1,000 reports a month with more than 31,000 websites found to
contain potentially illegal child abuse content.

http://iwf.org.uk/media/news.179.htm



uk/jp: Japan cited as child porn host in British report

Around 5% of the child pornography websites discovered by a British Internet watchdog over a 10-year period were hosted in Japan

http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/388442



YouTube to make life even busier for Google lawyers

Google attracts millions of web users every day. And, increasingly,
it's attracting plenty of lawyers, too. As Google has grown into the
world's most popular search engine and, arguably, the most powerful
internet company, it has become entangled in scores of lawsuits
touching on a wide range of legal questions, including copyright
violation, trademark infringement and its method of ranking websites.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/23/technology/23google.html

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/10/23/1161455662458.html



au: Safety Net

As was reported on ABC News, police are speaking to students about the
circulation of a DVD showing a teenage girl being assaulted. The father
of the victim says his daughter met some of her attackers through an
Internet chat room.

http://abc.net.au/melbourne/stories/s1772513.htm



au: DVD 'parents' come forward

This disturbing case of sexually abuse is included because the girl had
"had arranged through an internet chat service to meet two boys and
visit a Werribee shopping centre."

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20641285-2,00.html

http://nyngan.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?class=breaking%20news&subclass=general&story_id=525112&category=General&m=&y=



Australia outraged by horror abuse video

Australians have reacted with shock and outrage to revelations that a
group of schoolboys filmed themselves sexually abusing and degrading a
teenage girl and posted excerpts on the Internet.

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?from=rss_World&set_id=1&click_id=&art_id=qw1161751500474B223

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/theworld/2006/October/theworld_October924.xml&section=theworld&col=

http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,9294,2-10-1462_2020096,00.html



us: Experts: Ban Won't Stop Online Gambling (AP)

Gamblers may look over their shoulder now, but experts say a new
Internet gambling ban won't keep bettors from ponying up, just turn
them on to overseas payment services out of the law's reach.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/ONLINE_GAMBLING

http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/business/technology/15839504.htm



us: Pedophiles troll MySpace

It's a parent's nightmare: Sex offenders prowling through MySpace,
looking for young victims. For Washtenaw County Sheriff's Detective
Kevin Parviz, it's a disturbing reality in his work.

http://www.mlive.com/news/aanews/index.ssf?/base/news-19/1161614470261670.xml&coll=2



Blind Web Surfers Sue for Accessibility (AP)

"Links list dialogue." "Links list view." "Your Account - Two of 164."
This is what the Internet sounds like to Chris Danielsen. Danielsen is
blind. He's using a software program called Jaws that converts the text
on a Web page into a computerized voice that comes out through a
speaker, allowing him to surf the Web using keyboard commands instead
of a mouse - the same way lots of blind people use the Internet.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BUSINESS_OF_LIFE



**************************

GOVERNMENT & PUBLIC POLICY

**************************

nz: MPs join internet coalition

Labour, National, United Future and NZ First have put aside their
differences to form a non-partisan grand coalition to teach MPs about
the internet and discuss implications of new technology.

http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3836006a28,00.html



*****************************

INTERNET & NEW TECHNOLOGY USE

*****************************

nz: Internet users click on addiction

Christchurch man Jason Riley clocks up 40 hours a week on the internet
– joining a growing number of people addicted to cyberspace.

http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3834027a11275,00.html



uk: Net refuseniks getting more stubborn

Almost half the nation's households don't have net access - and most of
them aren't going to sign up. In what will be unwelcome news for ISPs,
ecommerce providers, and the government, a survey of UK households
suggests internet hold-outs are getting more stubborn.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/10/24/uk_broadband_survey/



************

FILE SHARING

************

Apple's iPod-iTunes code 'cracked'

The iPod has just had its fifth birthday, but Apple's celebrations may
be cut short thanks to a 22-year-old Norwegian who claims he's cracked
Apple's proprietary iPod-iTunes ecosystem.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/10/24/1161455702584.html



*********************************

COMMENT, MICROSOFT & DEVELOPMENTS

*********************************

Firefox browser for web 2.0 age

A new version of the popular Firefox web browser makes its debut, going head to head with Internet Explorer 7.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6078016.stm



Europe holds summit on future of print

The European Commission is hosting a meeting today with eight
editors-in-chief from some of Europe's more established and respectable
newspapers and magazines, including The Times, to discuss the future of
printed media.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/10/23/print_editors/



Google cuts Web 'noise'

Google has introduced a tool that allows Web sites and blogs to offer
visitors a customized version of its search engine, narrowing down its
vast index so the results are more relevant for users.

http://iht.com/articles/2006/10/24/business/google.php



**********************************

ARRESTS/COURT CASES FOR CHILD PORN

**********************************

au: Man gets suspended sentence over child porn possession

An ACT Supreme Court judge has given a 12 month suspended sentence to a
48-year-old Calwell man who pleaded guilty to possessing child
pornography.

http://abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200610/s1773330.htm



nz: Man admits possession of child porn

44-year-old Waipukurau man pleads guilty to 20 representative charges of obtaining objectionable material

http://home.nzcity.co.nz/news/default.asp?id=67049&c=w
 

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



Check out http://auda.org.au/domain-news/ for the most recent edition of the domain news - already online!



The domain name news is supported by auDA.



Also see http://internews.tv/mailman/admin/internetnews_internews.tv
for an archive and to subscribe to the domain name or general internet
news and http://technewsreview.com.au/ for updates and recent news.



Sources include Quicklinks <http://qlinks.net/> and BNA Internet Law News <http://www.bna.com/ilaw/>.



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



(c) David Goldstein 2006
 
--------- 
David Goldstein
 address: 4/3 Abbott Street
           COOGEE NSW 2034
           AUSTRALIA
 email: Goldstein_David @yahoo.com.au
 phone: +61 418 228 605 (mobile); +61 2 9665 5773 (home)
 
"Every time you use fossil fuels, you're adding to the problem. Every time you forgo fossil fuels, you're being part of the solution" - Dr Tim Flannery





		
____________________________________________________ 
On Yahoo!7
Check back weekly for  Trixi's new online adventures 
http://www.trixi.com.au