[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
general internet news - 11 December
Don't forget to check out http://auda.org.au/domain-news/ for the most recent edition of the complete domain news, including an RSS feed - already online!
And see my website - http://technewsreview.com.au/ - for regular updates with RSS feeds.
**********************************************************
Sponsored by the Singapore Internet Research Centre
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
http://www.ntu.edu.sg/sci/sirc/
**********************************************************
us: How We Target Child Predators (FBI news release)
http://www.fbi.gov/page2/dec06/predators120606.htm
Internet criminals signing up students as 'sleepers'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/crime/article/0,,1967227,00.html
us: VoIP Subscribers Grow 18 Percent in 3Q (AP)
http://www.physorg.com/news84856995.html
itu: Living the digital world
http://www.itu.int/osg/spu/newslog/Living+The+Digital+World.aspx
******************************************
CENSORSHIP, FILTERING & CONTENT REGULATION
******************************************
Jailed Internet journalists on the rise?
When Iranian journalist Mojtaba Saminejad was sentenced to two years in prison for insulting the country's Supreme Leader, it was not for an article that appeared in a newspaper. His offending story was posted on his personal Web blog.
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8LSOMI00.htm
Group: Journalists jailed more in China
China, which jails more journalists than any other nation, is challenging the view that information on the Internet is impossible to control, and the implications for press freedom could be far-reaching, a New York-based rights group said.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-12-08-china-jailed-journalists_x.htm
****************
CHILD PROTECTION
****************
us: Senator: Illegal images must be reported
Millions of commercial Web sites and personal blogs would be required to report illegal images or videos posted by their users or pay fines of up to $300,000, if a new proposal in the U.S. Senate came into law.
http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-6142332.html
us: How We Target Child Predators (FBI news release)
Talk about prevention: we’ve helped take more than 6,000 child predators off the streets in the last 10 years. That’s a lot of horrific future crimes—and untold misery—that never happened to kids and their families. But when it comes to the Internet—with computing power growing and technology costs falling by the minute—what’s past is truly prologue.
http://www.fbi.gov/page2/dec06/predators120606.htm
MySpace to 'block sex offenders'
MySpace says it will release tools to identify and ban US sex offenders from its service. The company said the new service will be the first national database that brings together about 46 US state sex offender registers.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6216736.stm
Bill would make sex offenders submit e-mail addresses (Reuters)
Two U.S. senators said on Thursday they would introduce legislation that would potentially protect users of popular social networking sites like News Corp's MySpace from registered sex offenders.
http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-6141947.html
***************************************
CYBERCRIME, CYBERSECURITY AND PRIVACY
***************************************
Internet criminals signing up students as 'sleepers'
Organised gangs are recruiting the next generation of internet criminals by approaching undergraduates on university campuses. In some cases gangs offer to finance undergraduates' studies and plant them as sleepers within target businesses, according to a report on cybercrime which draws on intelligence from the FBI and British and European hi-tech crime units.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/crime/article/0,,1967227,00.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6220416.stm
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6141989.html
uk: High Court Holds that the Automatic Insertion of an e-mail Address does not Constitute a Signature
On 7 April 2006, the English High Court ruled that the appearance of the sender’s e-mail address at the top of an e-mail was not a “signature” for the purposes of section 4 of the Statute of Frauds, because it had not been included with the intention of giving authenticity.
http://www.ibls.com/internet_law_news_portal_view.aspx?s=latestnews&id=1626
us: CDT, StopBadware.org File Joint Spyware Complaint
CDT this week joined with StopBadware.org in urging the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to shut down a dangerous spyware scam site. In a joint complaint, CDT and StopBadware.org describe how FastMP3Search.com self-executes the installation of adware and Trojan horse applications, disables security software, sabotages valid web addresses for legitimate security companies, changes homepage settings, and severely impairs computer speed and performance, all without user consent. The complaint is the first filed jointly by the two organizations.
http://www.cdt.org/privacy/20061207fastmp3press.pdf
us: The Vanishing Click-Fraud Case
It began on Mar. 10, 2004, when a computer programmer from Oak Park, Calif., named Michael Anthony Bradley arrived at Google's (GOOG) offices for a prearranged meeting with the company's engineers, according to a criminal indictment filed two years ago in the U.S. District Court in San Jose. Bradley, then 32, proceeded to demonstrate new software, dubbed "Google Clique," designed to generate false clicks on Google ads. Bradley claimed his program could force Google to pay millions of dollars on false clicks and threatened to release it to others unless Google paid him approximately $150,000, according to the indictment.
http://businessweek.com/technology/content/dec2006/tc20061204_923336.htm
**************************
GOVERNMENT & PUBLIC POLICY
**************************
ITU Telecom World 2006: A Robust Outlook
At the last ITU Telecom World confab held in Geneva back in 2003, the mood was decidedly grim. After all, the industry was still reeling from overcapacity problems, a deep profit recession, and massive layoffs from the bursting of a global telecom bubble in 2000. Only a year earlier, the U.S.'s No. 2 long-distance carrier, WorldCom, had gone bust under the weight of $40-billion plus in debt in the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history and had been nailed for massive accounting fraud.
http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/dec2006/gb20061204_046060.htm
eu: This week's ITU Conference in Hong-Kong and the new focus on the international dimension of Europe's Information Society: Frequently Asked Questions
On 4 December, Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for Information Society and Media, addressed in an opening speech the Telecom World 2006 conference of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in Hong-Kong. For the European Commission', this ITU conference is seen as an opportunity to give a new focus on the international aspects of the EU's policies in the field of ICT research in which the EU will invest a further EUR 9 billion from 2007 to 2013. Commissioner Reding, who has been meeting policy-makers and business leaders in Hong-Kong, also used her speech to announce her plans for a new EU strategy on the international challenges for Europe's ICT sector. She plans on this issue a Commission Communication to be adopted in 2008, based on a broad public consultation to be launched in the second half of 2007.
http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/06/461
uk: Copyright pirates face crackdown
Copyright criminals must face far tougher regulation to protect the entertainment industry, a report says. The Gowers Report was commissioned by the government to look at modernising UK copyright laws for the digital age.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6214108.stm
http://out-law.com/page-7558
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/53F/C8/pbr06_gowers_report_755.pdf
au: FAQ addresses copyright concerns
The Attorney-General, Philip Ruddock, today issued an FAQ clarifying the practical implications of his major copyright reforms. He called the reforms "groundbreaking", and said England, Canada and New Zealand were looking to follow Australia's lead on copyright reform.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/12/06/1165080996676.html
us: Hillary Clinton, Joe Lieberman help launch game-rating ads
The Entertainment Software Rating Board on Thursday joined Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Joe Lieberman in announcing a cooperative effort to get inform parents about the game industry's rating system.
http://news.com.com/2100-1043_3-6142039.html
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-6142039.html
de: Germany to crack down on violent video games
Virtual hit men in Europe’s largest video games market could soon find themselves behind real bars if German regional politicians have their way.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/e98b3a9a-851c-11db-b12c-0000779e2340.html
EU to take UK lead on violent video games
Franco Frattini, the reactionary EU commissioner leading a campaign against violent and "perverse" video games, is expected to push for the UK's ratings laws to be applied across Europe.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/12/08/eu_video_games/
http://out-law.com/page-7562
*****************************
INTERNET & NEW TECHNOLOGY USE
*****************************
itu: Living the digital world
The 8th edition of the ITU Internet Reports, entitled "digital.life" was prepared especially for ITU TELECOM World 2006 (December 4-8 2006, Hong Kong). The report examines how innovation in digital technology is radically changing individual and societal lifestyles.
http://www.itu.int/osg/spu/newslog/Living+The+Digital+World.aspx
Active Home Internet Users by Country, October 2006
The greatest gains from active home users in October came from Germany, the U.K., and the U.S., which are among the 10 countries tracked by Nielsen//NetRatings.
http://clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3624134
***************
DIGITAL DIVIDE
***************
Out of Africa: A new kind of telecoms operator is evolving in Africa and the Middle East
THAT mobile phones are transforming economic and social life in Africa is now widely understood. Less well known are the companies that are leading the charge. Following a flurry of deals over the past 18 months, five African and Middle Eastern operators are now vying for supremacy. These regional powerhouses have worked out how to earn princely sums in the world's poorest places. So far they have mostly been too busy signing up new subscribers to compete vigorously with each other. But that is now starting to change, and the industry is preparing for a round of consolidation as the operators start to attack each other's markets.
http://economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8381911
************
FILE SHARING
************
Spyware fighters go after MP3 search site
Two antispyware watchdogs are urging federal regulators to take action against a music search Web site that they say is a front for malicious software.
http://news.com.com/2100-7348_3-6141621.html
TV networks reportedly discussing YouTube rival (Reuters)
News Corp.'s Fox, Viacom, CBS and NBC Universal are in talks about creating a video Web site to compete with Google's YouTube, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6142345.html
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/12/09/1165081202978.html
Anti-drug groups want YouTube to yank clips that show 'huffing'
Two drug abuse prevention groups are calling on the video-sharing website YouTube to remove dozens of videos that show people getting high by "huffing," inhaling chemicals such as air fresheners, computer cleaning sprays and helium.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-12-07-youtube-huffing_x.htm
MySpace says it can thwart predators
The popular online hangout says it will deploy new technology to boot predators from its pages.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/12/07/1165081082570.html
*********************************
COMMENT, MICROSOFT & DEVELOPMENTS
*********************************
Google to Revitalize Radio Ad Sales
Google is looking to transform the practice by cutting the middleman and making it easier for small firms to buy air time in traditional media.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/08/AR2006120801495.html
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-12-08-google-radio-ads_x.htm
nz: Online Maori language website
Otago University's Te Tumu school is launching the country's first interactive website for people wanting to learn the Maori language.
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/488120/921368
*******************
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
*******************
au: Broadband Blueprint arrives
The federal Government has released a blueprint to provide a national framework for the future of broadband in Australia.
http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,20887874%5e16123%5e%5enbv%5e,00.html
http://zdnet.com.au/news/communications/soa/Coonan_releases_national_broadband_plan/0,130061791,339272587,00.htm
What the experts say about convergence
The cost of copper is going up whereas fibre is fairly stable, so there is more convergence in pricing. If you consider the price of the cables, jacks and active link components, the two will come much closer together than people were predicting a couple of years ago. The prime 10GbE fibre cabling standard is either ISO 11801 or EN 50173, and if I were altering a network I would want it to comply with those, they are both similar in technical content. As far as the fibre connect standard is concerned it is really a matter of choice, it does not really affect network operation, it is just the convenience of patching and maintenance.
http://www.computing.co.uk/computing/analysis/2170351/experts-say
The phone of the future
The phone has had a splendid 130-year history. What will it look like in future? Will it even be called a phone? AT THE 1964 World's Fair in New York AT&T unveiled the Picturephone. In the future, the world's biggest telecoms firm pronounced, people would communicate via round, black-and-white screens that plugged into the wall. That prediction, like so many others about the future of communications, was wrong. The majority of today's phones are mobile handsets, not fixed-line ones, and although the technology for video-calling is widely deployed, hardly anyone uses it.
http://economist.com/science/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=8312260
*****
VoIP
*****
India considers ban on unlicensed VoIP
The Indian government is considering banning unlicensed VoIP telephony.
http://www.pcw.co.uk/vnunet/news/2170533/india-ban-unlicensed-voip
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2170533/india-ban-unlicensed-voip
au: Productivity Commission flags VoIP plans
Australia's Productivity Commission is the latest government agency to signal it will migrate at least some of its telephony infrastructure to a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) solution.
http://zdnet.com.au/news/communications/soa/Productivity_Commission_flags_VoIP_plans/0,130061791,339272572,00.htm
us: VoIP Subscribers Grow 18 Percent in 3Q (AP)
U.S. subscribers to Internet-based telephone services grew 18 percent to 8.2 million in the third quarter, but the growth rate slowed for a second straight quarter, according to the research firm TeleGeography.
http://www.physorg.com/news84856995.html
http://redorbit.com/news/technology/760718/voip_subscribers_grow_18_percent_in_3q/index.html
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/V/VOIP_SUBSCRIBERS
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/business/technology/16197656.htm
The VoIP Peering Puzzle: ENUM Standards and Operation
In yesterday's tutorial, we took a high-level view of one of the key technical issues—address translation—that must be resolved in order for end-to-end VoIP services to become widespread and readily available. That translation is required because telephone numbers adhere to one addressing standard, known as E.164, (the International Public Telecommunication Numbering Plan, developed by the ITU-T—see www.itu.int); and Internet-connected workstations use Internet Protocol addresses, developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) as part of their protocol specifications for IP version 4 (IPv4) and IP version 6 (IPv6).
http://www.voipplanet.com/backgrounders/article.php/3648066
**********************************
ARRESTS/COURT CASES FOR CHILD PORN
**********************************
au: Man charged with child pornography offences (news release)
Police have arrested and charged a 43-year-old Sydney man with child pornography offences. The man was allegedly observed accessing explicit images of children on his work computer late last month.
http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/news/recent_media_unit_information?sq_content_src=aHR0cDovL2N1c3RvbXNjcmlwdHMucG9saWNlLm5zdy5nb3YuYXUvbmV3cy9kZXRhaWxzX21lZGlhLnBocD9NZWRpYUlEPTgxODc%3D
au: Whyalla man to face court accused of child porn possession
A 46-year-old Whyalla man has been arrested by Australian Federal Police on child pornography charges.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200612/s1805490.htm
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Check out http://auda.org.au/domain-news/ for the most recent edition of the domain news, including an RSS feed - already online!
The domain name news is supported by auDA.
Also see http://lists.technewsreview.com.au/mailman/listinfo/technewsreview for an archive of recent newsletters and to subscribe to the domain name and general internet news and http://technewsreview.com.au/ for recent news updates.
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
Send instant messages to your online friends http://au.messenger.yahoo.com
