general internet news - 31 January

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

Don't forget to check out http://auda.org.au/domain-news/ for a more recent edition of the complete domain news, including an RSS feed - already online!

And see my website - http://technewsreview.com.au/ - for regular updates and also with RSS feeds.

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

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Vista's legal fine print raises red flags by Michael Geist
http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/175801
http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/1640/159/

Web giants ask for feds' help on censorship
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-6154930.html

eu: Is a communications collapse possible in Europe? (RAPID)
http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/07/59

Net pioneer predicts overwhelming botnet surge
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6154221.html

Debate widens over over deploying computers in the developing world
http://iht.com/articles/2007/01/28/business/cheap.php

us: The Inegalitarian Web
http://www.forbes.com/free_forbes/2007/0212/094.html

Is Net Neutrality A Myth?
http://www.forbes.com/2007/01/23/network-neutrality-debate-oped-cx_ns_0124neutrality.html

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CENSORSHIP
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Web giants ask for feds' help on censorship
Google, Yahoo and Microsoft representatives on Tuesday implored the U.S. government to help set ground rules for complying with demands by foreign law enforcement agencies for user records or censorship.
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-6154930.html

N.Korea says South's Web ban violates freedom (Reuters)
North Korea said on Friday the South Korean government was violating the public's basic right to information by blocking access to Web sites sympathetic to the North.
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=technologyNews&storyID=2007-01-26T154000Z_01_SEO147382_RTRUKOC_0_US-KOREA-NORTH-INTERNET.xml

China's Hu vows to "purify" Internet (Reuters)
Chinese Communist Party chief Hu Jintao has vowed to "purify" the Internet, state media reported on Wednesday, describing a top-level meeting that discussed ways to master the country's sprawling, unruly online population.
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=technologyNews&storyID=2007-01-24T171156Z_01_PEK95705_RTRUKOC_0_US-CHINA-INTERNET-HU.xml

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CHILD PROTECTION, FILTERING & CONTENT REGULATION
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ch: Anti child pornography campaign scores success
Swiss federal police say a majority of local ISPs have voluntarily agreed to block access to child pornography websites. On Monday, the police said that the participating ISPs accounted for 80 per cent of all internet users in the country.
http://swissinfo.org/eng/top_news/detail/Anti_child_pornography_campaign_scores_success.html?siteSect=106&sid=7475478
http://www.nzz.ch/2007/01/29/eng/article7475478.html

U.S. lawmakers take aim at sex offenders on Internet (Reuters)
U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday proposed requiring sex offenders to register their e-mail and instant messaging addresses with law enforcement authorities in a bid to protect children using popular social Internet sites like MySpace.
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=internetNews&storyID=2007-01-30T212207Z_01_N30352219_RTRIDST_0_OUKIN-UK-CONGRESS-SEXOFFENDERS.XML

us: Resolution on Internet porn gets unanimous OK from House
A resolution that urges the United States Congress to take action to help stop children and employees from accessing Internet pornography passed the House with unanimous approval Tuesday.
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,660191445,00.html

us: Cyber-bullying replaces schoolyard bullying among US kids
Cyberspace has replaced the schoolyard as the preferred space for bullying among many US kids, who are going online to threaten, insult and harass each other outside the watchful eye of teachers or parents.
http://www.todayonline.com/articles/168641.asp
http://www.ioltechnology.co.za/article_page.php?iSectionId=2885&iArticleId=3653995

us: MySpace donates sex offender database to center (Reuters)
News Corp.'s popular Internet social network MySpace said on Monday it will donate a national computer database on U.S. sex offenders to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=internetNews&storyID=2007-01-29T151603Z_01_N29490286_RTRUKOC_0_US-MYSPACE-SEXOFFENDER.xml
http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/3945496a28.html

de: Violent videos in mobile phones: a quite common phenomenon in Germany
The Round Table "Protection of minors and prevention relating to the internet and mobile phones" was convened in summer 2006 in response to a recent study revealing that many adolescents in Germany are acquainted with exchanging violent or pornographic videos via mobile phones.
http://www.saferinternet.org/ww/en/pub/insafe/news/articles/0107/de.htm

Protecting children against illegal content
The European Commission is concerned by the protection of children against harmful or illegal content in the new media, and since 2005 has launched a number of actions specifically concerning the use of mobile phones.
http://www.saferinternet.org/ww/en/pub/insafe/news/articles/0107/ec.htm

Belgian consumers and mobile phones
Research was recently conducted by OIVO-CRIOC (Information- and research centre of the Belgian consumer organisations) on the ownership, purchase and use of mobile phones by adolescents.
http://www.saferinternet.org/ww/en/pub/insafe/news/articles/0107/be.htm
 
dk: It's all about being connected
The 1st of January 2007 was the last day of the Danish network project Mobile Content Lab. Project Manager Kasper Kofod looks back and into the future of mobile content for young people.
http://www.saferinternet.org/ww/en/pub/insafe/news/articles/0107/dk.htm

uk: O2 commits to child protection
We are all aware that to many people the mobile phone is now one of the most important items they own. They conduct a lot of their life on it, and once you accept how essential the mobile phone is to individuals and businesses alike, you also realise the associated risks and dangers, and the need for vigilance.
http://www.saferinternet.org/ww/en/pub/insafe/news/articles/0107/o2.htm

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CYBERCRIME, CYBERSECURITY AND PRIVACY
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eu: Is a communications collapse possible in Europe? (RAPID)
The European Commission is seeking feedback on how best to safeguard our electronic networks against disruption from attack or natural hazards. This follows a public presentation of the findings of a study which identifies a range of important issues for ensuring that our future networks are sufficiently protected and resilient. As the services and processes that they support become increasingly interconnected and interdependent, the consequences of the failure of or criminal attack on a single network or sub-system could potentially be propagated more widely and faster than ever before. Protective measures need to be put in place to ensure that critical services and infrastructure are not vulnerable to such failures, and that there can be no 'domino effect' that might otherwise result in a major technological collapse of communications and the many services they support.
http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/07/59

Net pioneer predicts overwhelming botnet surge
Internet pioneer Vint Cerf has warned high-powered attendees at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that the Internet is at serious risk from botnets.
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6154221.html
http://news.com.com/2100-7348_3-6154221.html

uk: OFT can't cope with internet scams
The Office of Fair Trading has admitted that it does not have the technical expertise to deal with internet criminals. Mike Haley, head of the OFT Scambusters team, said on Wednesday that his team's expertise lay in dealing with "real world" trading scams, rather than online fraud.
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/security/0,1000000189,39285627,00.htm

Norwegian authorities investigate Google on privacy issues
The Norwegian Data Inspectorate is overseeing Google as part of a larger investigation of Norwegian search engines. Sesam and Kvasir have already been visited by the institution. The Directorate is concerned about the amount of data stored by the search engines.
http://www.pandia.com/sew/360-google-privacy.html

Google Trademark Spawns Suit, Threats of 'Total Destruction'
Google is mad as hell and isn't going to take it anymore -- that is, from Leo Stoller, an Illinois man who has been demanding settlement payments from the Internet giant in a trademark dispute for using the word "Google."
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1170077830790

cn: Pirates quick to offer Vista
AS MICROSOFT kicked off the global launch of its long-awaited Windows Vista, the software giant's new operating system also hit the streets of China - in pirated form.
http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,21146916%5e16123%5e%5enbv%5e,00.html

Vista's legal fine print raises red flags by Michael Geist
While reviews have focused chiefly on Vista's new functionality, for the past few months the legal and technical communities have dug into Vista's "fine print." Those communities have raised red flags about Vista's legal terms and conditions as well as the technical limitations that have been incorporated into the software at the insistence of the motion picture industry. The net effect of these concerns may constitute the real Vista revolution as they point to an unprecedented loss of consumer control over their own personal computers. In the name of shielding consumers from computer viruses and protecting copyright owners from potential infringement, Vista seemingly wrestles control of the "user experience" from the user.
http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/175801
http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/1640/159/

us: Employers Winning Blog Suits -- So Far
Litigation over employees blogging negatively about their jobs or bosses has been sparse, but most cases so far have come down on the side of the employer.
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1169719347007

us: Courts Turn to Wikipedia, but Selectively
When a court-appointed special master last year rejected the claim of an Alabama couple that their daughter had suffered seizures after a vaccination, she explained her decision in part by referring to material from articles in Wikipedia, the collaborative online encyclopedia. The reaction from the court above her, the United States Court of Federal Claims, was direct: the materials ?culled from the Internet do not ? at least on their face ? meet? standards of reliability. The court reversed her decision.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/29/technology/29wikipedia.html

Wikipedia: The Free Online Encyclopedia and its Use as Court Source
Wikipedia.org is a free online encyclopedia to which users, I mean average folks, resort every day in this technology era. It is easy, convenient, and fast! But, has Wikipedia reached enough credibility to be used in court proceedings around the world? Well, it seems it has. Wikipedia is being used by the European Court of Human Rights, World Intellectual Property Office- WIPO, the Swiss Federal Council, High Court of England and Wales, United States (U.S.) Federal Courts, just to name a few. Wikipedia has been used as court source since 2003 and its court use increases every year.
http://www.ibls.com/internet_law_news_portal_view.aspx?s=latestnews&id=1668

us: eBay bans auctions of virtual goods
By proactively delisting auctions for property from virtual worlds and online games, eBay may be effectively forcing players who participate in such trades into the hands of giant third-party operations that buy and sell virtual goods.
http://news.com.com/2100-1043_3-6154372.html

us: FTC spanks Sony BMG, porn operator
It's been a good day for the Federal Trade Commission, which has spanked Sony BMG for its surreptitious installation of nasty-ware and an adult Web site that - gasp - was responsible for the sending of x-rated spam.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/01/31/ftc_settlement/

ug: ICT Law Needed, Says Mulira
ICT requires a law to protect consumers, the ICT minister, Dr. Ham Mulira, has recommended. Mulira said: "Due to dependence on the technologies, more daily chores are being transferred online."
http://allafrica.com/stories/200701291745.html

ng: BetonSports ID Thief Sentenced to 34 Months
A Nigerian convicted of running a sophisticated identity theft ring that stole the personal data of online gamblers registered with BetonSports was sentenced today to 34 months in prison.
http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3655936

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GOVERNMENT & PUBLIC POLICY
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us: The Inegalitarian Web
The new Congress is determined to enact a "net neutrality" bill. Nobody yet knows what those two words mean. The new law won't provide any intelligible answer, either. It will, however, put a real drag on new capital investment in faster digital pipes by making it illegal for many big companies to help pay for them, while leaving everyone guessing about the details for years. That last bit is great news for all the telecom lawyers (like the author) who get paid far too much to make sense out of idiotic new laws like this one.
http://www.forbes.com/free_forbes/2007/0212/094.html

Is Net Neutrality A Myth?
Like any complex entity that developed over time, the Internet has its own creation story. And like any creation story, it is grounded in realities and myths. An important new paper argues that one of these myths is playing a powerful role in shaping debate over what's become known as network neutrality--the notion that Internet providers must treat all the data they transport in the same way. ... But in " The Myth of Network Neutrality and What We Should Do About It," Robert Hahn and Robert Litan of the AEI-Brookings Joint Center for Regulatory Studies argue that, contrary to the claims of regulated neutrality proponents, "all bits of information are not treated equally from an economic standpoint." They argue that "the Internet is not end-to-end now and was never designed to be strictly neutral."
http://www.forbes.com/2007/01/23/network-neutrality-debate-oped-cx_ns_0124neutrality.html

The World Economic Forum - Forbes coverage
For most of the year, the only moguls to be found in Davos, Switzerland, are on the ski slopes. But for six days each January, this picturesque resort town is overrun with heads of state, NGO do-gooders, celebrities and CEOs who come to town for the World Economic Forum (Jan. 24-29). Forbes.com's has numerous stories, slide shows, blogs and video blogs including stories on The $100 Computer, Whose Afraid Of Second Life?, Technorati's Davos Dealing, and Google Guys In Davos: Is Google evil? Will newspapers survive? Sergey Brin, Larry Page and Chad Hurley take questions.
http://www.forbes.com/2007/01/23/world-economic-forum-lead-lead-citizen-davos07_cx_ag_0123davos_land.html

au: Watchdog eyes ISP speed claims
THE competition regulator has moved to stop internet providers misleading consumers shopping around for broadband services.
http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,21147581%5e16123%5e%5enbv%5e,00.html

pk: Cabinet withholds cyber crime draft bill
The federal cabinet has withheld the proposed cyber crimes draft bill 2006 and instead constituted a four-member committee for proposing amendments taking into account domestic environment and needs, official sources told Business Recorder.
http://www.brecorder.com/index.php?id=523123

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SPAM
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us: Alleged porn spammer settles with FTC
An alleged marketer of online porn has agreed to pay a $465,000 penalty to settle spam charges, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday.
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6154911.html
http://news.com.com/2100-7348_3-6154911.html

South Korean duo arrested for 1.6 bln spam e-mails (Reuters)
Two South Korean computer programmers have been arrested on suspicion of sending out 1.6 billion spam e-mail messages in violation of the country's commerce laws, police said.
http://news.com.com/2100-7348_3-6154563.html
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=internetNews&storyID=2007-01-30T135307Z_01_SEO206809_RTRIDST_0_OUKIN-UK-KOREA-SPAM.XML

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INTERNET & NEW TECHNOLOGY USE
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uk: Mobile internet use 'increasing'
People in the UK used their handsets to access the net 15.9 million times in December, says a report.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6309593.stm

au: 5 million use Aust eBay
ONE in three Australian adults now use internet auction house eBay to do their shopping, as online spending continues to grow as a preferred method of purchase.
http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,21146892%5e16123%5e%5enbv%5e,00.html

Sweden to open embassy in virtual world
Sweden plans to be the first country to open an embassy in popular virtual world Second Life.
http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/3946554a28.html

Australians in virtual world stampede
Telstra and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation will shortly announce that they have established, separately, a presence in the cult virtual world of Second Life.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/01/30/1169919283914.html

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DIGITAL DIVIDE
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Debate widens over over deploying computers in the developing world
At the World Economic Forum, the annual conclave of world leaders, concerns over a digital divide have taken a back seat to the challenge of climate change this year. Being out of the limelight, however, has not dimmed the debate over the best way to deploy computers in the developing world. The controversy boiled over on Saturday at a meeting where Craig Barrett, chairman of Intel, squared off with Nicholas Negroponte, the former director of the MIT Media Laboratory and head of the nonprofit organization One Laptop Per Child, which is focusing on the 1.2 billion children in the developing world.
http://iht.com/articles/2007/01/28/business/cheap.php
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/29/business/worldbusiness/29cheap.html
http://news.com.com/2100-1041_3-6154110.html

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COMMENT, MICROSOFT & DEVELOPMENTS
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Firefox 2.0: happier browsing, but secure? The jury's still out
Review: It's long past time to bother telling anyone how much better than IE Firefox is. Faster, smaller, more responsive, with tabbed browsing and useful extensions galore. It's also lot more secure than IE, partly because it's open source, and particularly because it's not integrated with the underlying OS.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/01/30/firefox_makes_steady_progress/

GOOGLE ÜBER ALLES: The Ad Machine
Google effectively owns the market for Internet advertising. Now the company wants to further expand by entering foreign and local markets.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,462937,00.html

Search engine takes on web bombers
Google has moved to put an end to the work of pranksters who manipulate the search engine.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/01/30/1169919369737.html

Google set to shake up business software market
Google's enterprise product, which will include e-mail, calendar, word processing, spreadsheet, instant messaging, and voice-over-Internet programs, is expected to come soon.
http://iht.com/articles/2007/01/30/business/google.php

How HP has overtaken the bigger boys of computing
Dell may be losing its grip on the personal computer market, and Hewlett-Packard is taking over. What's even more surprising is that HP is now the world's largest IT company.
http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,,1997643,00.html

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ARRESTS/COURT CASES FOR CHILD PORN
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au: DPP to challenge child porn sentences
The ACT's Director of Public Prosecutions will challenge two sentences imposed on Canberra residents found in possession of child pornography.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/070130/21/128re.html

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(c) David Goldstein 2007
 
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David Goldstein
 address: 4/3 Abbott Street
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           AUSTRALIA
 email: Goldstein_David @yahoo.com.au
 phone: +61 418 228 605 (mobile); +61 2 9665 5773 (home)

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