Don't forget to check out http://auda.org.au/domain-news/ for today's edition of the complete domain news, including an RSS feed - already online!
And see my website - http://technewsreview.com.au/ - for daily updates in between postings.
**********************************************************
Sponsored by the Singapore Internet Research Centre
Nanyang Technological University,
Singapore
http://www.ntu.edu.sg/sci/sirc/**********************************************************
New Council of Europe Convention to protect children against sexual exploitation and abuse (news release)
https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?id=1164093Don't be alarmed: 29,000 sex offenders on MySpace
http://machinist.salon.com/blog/2007/07/25/myspace_sex_offenders/index.htmlTeens smart about using MySpace: study
http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/07/24/1986327.htmau: Coonan denies
cancelling filtering
http://itnews.com.au/News/NewsStory.aspx?story=57281us: FBI Seeks To Pay Telecoms For Data
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/24/AR2007072402479.htmlOut-Gagging Google on privacy
http://www.forbes.com/technology/2007/07/23/privacy-search-google-tech-cx_ag_0723google.htmlus: Government Reports Cybercrime Poses National Risk
http://informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201200774Facebook judge unimpressed by ConnectU's case
http://news.com.com/2100-1030_3-6198891.htmlJudge gives ConnectU founders two weeks to revise Facebook complaint
http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9750017-7.htmlFacebook founder prepares for court
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article2125952.eceus: Study: 19 Pct. Watch Online Video a Day (AP)
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/26/1185339117038.htmlSurvey Reveals Youth Attitudes Toward Technology (Reuters)
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,134997-c,markettrends/article.htmlNine million now live in World of Warcraft
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10453979us: New EPA Energy
Star Specs Raise The Power-Efficiency Bar For PCs
http://informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201200831au: Mobile phone spammer fined A$150,000
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/23/1185043033323.htmlTaiwan helps APEC partners bridge digital divide with ADOC initiative [news release]
http://cna.com.tw/eng/cepread.php?id=200707240046One Laptop Per Child Project OKs Mass Production
http://informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201200501New Report Busts Telco Myths about U.S. Internet by Timothy Karr
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/timothy-karr/new-report-busts-telco-my_b_56878.htmlRequest for Proposals: APEC Telecommunications & Information Working Group VOIP Security Guidelines Project
http://www.apec.org/apec/projects.MedialibDownload.v1.html?url="">**********************
RESEARCH
PAPERS
**********************
Online Video: 57% of internet users have watched videos online and most of them share what they find with others
The growing adoption of broadband combined with a dramatic push by content providers to promote online video has helped to pave the way for mainstream audiences to embrace online video viewing. Fifty-seven percent of online adults have used the internet to watch or download video, and 19% do so on a typical day. Three-quarters of broadband users (74%) who enjoy high-speed connections at both home and work watch or download video online.
http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/219/report_display.asp'Shooting the Messenger': Myth vs. Reality: U.S. Broadband Policy and International Broadband Rankings
Free Press found that the major critiques leveled at the OECD data simply fall apart
upon closer examination. The coordinated attempt to ?shoot the messenger? cannot hide critical failures in the U.S. broadband market. These failures are chiefly due to poor policy decisions that have fostered an anti-competitive marketplace. Our European and Asian counterparts are outperforming us because they have policies that foster vigorous competition in the broadband marketplace, offering consumers more choice, faster speeds and lower prices.
The simple fact is that international rankings do matter. This is not just a point of pride. Each spot the United States slips represents billions in lost producer and consumer
surplus, and potentially millions of real jobs lost to overseas workers. The international studies highlight the fact that the status quo in the U.S. broadband marketplace is unacceptable. U.S. policymakers must reject the ?shoot the messenger? rhetoric and move toward an honest assessment of our problems.
This paper exposes the myths put forward to excuse the shortcomings of the U.S. broadband market. The facts speak for themselves: More than 10 million U.S. households remain unserved, and nearly 50 million homes could subscribe but choose not to because the connection available is too expensive or too slow. The 50 million homes that do have broadband face, at best, a duopoly choice between the local phone or local cable company.
http://freepress.net/docs/shooting_the_messenger.pdfFree Press Dispels Myths about U.S. Broadband
Market [news
release]
New report urges policymakers to focus on the real problems causing America to fall behind the rest of the world in Internet adoption
http://freepress.net/press/release.php?id=255**********************
CENSORSHIP
**********************
Tajik MPs approve internet curbs
Tajikistan's parliament has approved legislation making it a criminal offence to publish false or offensive information on the internet. ... Under the proposal, anyone who publishes statements that "offend dignity" may face imprisonment.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6908895.stmMalaysia's police summon political writer after government warns bloggers to behave (AP)
Police grilled a Malaysian political writer Wednesday
over his Web articles lambasting
the government, after a minister warned that bloggers could be jailed without trial for writing recklessly about matters like religion.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/26/1185339086860.htmlMalaysia denies crackdown on bloggers (AFP)
Malaysia's deputy prime minister denied the government is clamping down on bloggers after a prominent ruling party politician lodged a police report against a website, reports said Tuesday.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/24/1185043094060.html************************************************
CHILD PROTECTION, FILTERING & CONTENT REGULATION
************************************************
New Council of Europe Convention to protect children
against sexual exploitation and
abuse (news release)
The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has adopted the Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse, which represents a major advance in this field.
https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?id=1164093Don't be alarmed: 29,000 sex offenders on MySpace
There are about 600,000 convicted sex offenders in the United States. As of this month, 29,000 of them had profiles on MySpace.
The number comes from a group of state attorneys general who threatened MySpace with legal action if it didn't scrub its social network of registered sex offenders. In May, the company estimated that only 7,000 sex offenders had profiles on the site; the actual number, it found after deeper research, was four times as many.
MySpace has deleted the 29,000 profiles. But as Roy Cooper, North
Carolina's attorney
general, noted in a statement, MySpace can only associate sex offenders with profiles when the offenders use real names to set up their sites; there could be many other sex offender profiles the site doesn't know about.
http://machinist.salon.com/blog/2007/07/25/myspace_sex_offenders/index.htmlus: MySpace deletes 29,000 sex offenders
The operators of the social networking website MySpace say they have detected and deleted 29,000 profiles belonging to convicted sex offenders on its service.
http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/07/25/1987535.htmhttp://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/25/1185043133473.htmlhttp://technology.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2134199,00.htmlhttp://news.com.com/2100-1030_3-6198595.htmlhttp://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9027839http://uk.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUKN2424879820070724uk: Sex offenders can use social sites, say
police
Convicted sex offenders should not be prevented from using social networking sites such as MySpace, Scotland Yard said yesterday. The Metropolitan Police said that it had no plans to share information
about sex offenders with sites such as MySpace and Bebo with a view to having the profiles of such people taken down. ?Just because you?re a convicted offender doesn?t mean you?re still offending,? a spokeswoman said. ?Why would we pursue them in this way? These are people who have served their time.?
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article2137973.eceau: No watching the online predators
Sex predators remain free to prey on underage members of popular internet websites such as MySpace because Australian regulations do not keep sufficiently detailed records of their actions.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/25/1185339084507.htmlTeens smart about
using MySpace: study
Fears that teenagers using the social networking website MySpace are exposing themselves to sexual predators by disclosing too many personal details are probably overblown, researchers say.
http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/07/24/1986327.htmhttp://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/24/1185043069631.htmlau: Coonan denies cancelling filtering
The Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Helen Coonan said Family First Senator Steve Fielding?s allegation that the Australian Government has cancelled its ISP-level filtering trial is completely wrong.
http://itnews.com.au/News/NewsStory.aspx?story=57281http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/security/soa/Govt-Web-porn-blocking-test-will-go-ahead/0,130061744,339280530,00.htmhttp://securecomputing.net.au/news/57281,coonan-denies-cancelling-filtering.aspxhttp://crn.com.au/story.aspx?CIID=87492au: Commercial internet content filtering trial dropped
THE results of Australia's only live commercial internet content filtering trial will never be known because the exercise,
championed by the federal Government, was
quietly abandoned.
The trial was expected to go ahead in Tasmania last year but the major internet filtering technology supplier for the project, Internet Sheriff, has revealed that it was abandoned because Australia's two largest ISPs, Telstra and Optus, refused to participate.
http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,22122602-15306,00.htmlhttp://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/07/25/oz_trial_canned/uk: Safe sex, not spuds, for Guides
... Younger guides, who were under 10 years old, nominated learning to surf the web safely, as one of their more important matters, along with the more traditional how to cross the road.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2134187,00.htmlus: Constitutional Issues Critical in Online Child "Protection" - CDT Statement
As the Senate Commerce Committee debates how best to protect children on the Internet, lawmakers must take special care to avoid overly simple solutions that would do more harm than good. In its zeal to protect kids from predators and potentially inappropriate content, Congress must not trample the First Amendment rights of Internet users, CDT said in a statement submitted to the Committee today. The Committee is holding a hearing entitled "Protecting Children on the Internet," that features no representatives from the civil liberties community. July 24, 2007
http://www.cdt.org/speech/20070623child-protection.pdf
.The U.S. Communication Decency Act & liability of ISPs
ISPs provide a wide variety of Internet related services to millions of users. This huge spectrum of services undoubtedly subjects ISPs to potential tort liability. ISPs? tort liability have a chilling effect on the vibrancy of Internet communication because it would be impossible for ISPs to screen all Internet content posted by millions of third parties using their services. Thus, in the Communication Decency Act (?CDA?) of 1996, the U.S. Congress introduced Section 230 to protect ISP from liability and to maintain the robust nature of Internet communications. Even though a significant part of the CDA was struck down by the Supreme Court in 1997, Section 230 of the CDA remains intact to protect ISPs from tort liability. This article illustrates on the specific protection offered by Section 230 of the CDA to ISPs, its limits, and immunities.
http://www.ibls.com/internet_law_news_portal_view.aspx?s=articles&id=55CCDE24-5987-4267-9430-F54B153A74F9us: Miss America calls for mandatory internet safety classes
The current Miss America has asked Congress to take further steps in protecting children from internet predators. Lauren Nelson, who received her country's highest honor for looking classy in a swimsuit, told the Senate Commerce Committee that internet safety classes should be mandatory for school children.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/07/24/miss_america_fights_internet_predators/http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070724-image-hash-database-could-filter-child-porn.htmlGo Daddy, Miss America & Congress Find Ways to Protect Our Kids Online [news release]
Miss America, the president and CEO of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, a well-known researcher of crimes against children, and a top GoDaddy.com executive were among the key figures who testified today before Congress about how to protect our kids from online predators. The business of child pornography over the Internet is estimated to be worth as much as $20 billion.
https://www.godaddy.com/gdshop/news/release_view.asp?news_item_id=104***************************************
CYBERCRIME,
CYBERSECURITY
AND PRIVACY
***************************************
us: FBI Seeks To Pay Telecoms For Data
The FBI wants to pay the major telecommunications companies to retain their customers' Internet and phone call information for at least two years for the agency's use in counterterrorism investigations and is asking Congress for $5 million a year to defray the cost, according to FBI officials and budget documents.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/24/AR2007072402479.htmlCyberbullying rife in UK business
Cyberbullying is becoming increasingly common in the UK workplace, according to a new government survey in conjunction with trade union Unite. A fifth of respondents said that they have been bullied by email in their current or previous jobs, and six per cent have been
bullied via text
message.
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2194824/cyber-bullying-rife-uk-businessSearch sites tackle privacy fears
User worries are driving search firms to let people manage how much data they reveal when they visit the sites. The top four search sites, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and Ask, have unveiled plans to cut how much data they hold and how long they store it.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6911527.stmhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/23/AR2007072301543.htmlOut-Gagging Google on privacy
... All this
spotlighting of privacy offers Google's competitors a
chance to shorten Google's lead in the search industry, says Ben Edelman, an assistant professor at Harvard Business School. "Competing search engines struggle to figure out what they can offer users that Google can't," he says. "With Google's limited efforts to protect privacy, that's a clear area where other search engines can flex their muscles."
http://www.forbes.com/technology/2007/07/23/privacy-search-google-tech-cx_ag_0723google.htmlMicrosoft Offers Privacy Options for its Search Engine
There?s nothing like a little regulatory scrutiny to get Internet companies talking about privacy. Even if some of their words ring somewhat hollow.
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/07/23/the-most-privacy-friendly-search-engine-on-the-web-is/On antitrust, is Google the next Microsoft?
Not too long ago, nearly every move that Microsoft made seemed to draw complaints that the company was abusing its market dominance. Now another market-leading technology company is under fire in Washington as well. An unlikely combination of onetime antitrust defendants like Microsoft and AT&T and liberal consumer groups that have been their traditional antagonists are taking aim at Google.
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6198111.htmlus: Government Reports Cybercrime Poses National Risk
A US government study showed that while cybercrime is posing a risk to national
security and the
U.S. economy, law enforcement still lacks the technical capabilities to tackle it. The Government Accountability Office reported on Tuesday that public and private sectors face numerous challenges to secure cyberspace, both in operational security and in law enforcement. The GAO report also noted that the commercial and the government sectors are struggling to detect and report cybercrime. IT managers, according to the report, are wrestling to implement stronger security, while law enforcement is fighting a growing problem -- one that is especially strong outside of U.S. borders and out of the government's usual legal reach.
http://informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201200774us: Lawyers Get Court Approval for Pop-Up Ads on Internet
A federal judge in Syracuse has cleared the way for lawyers in
New York State to
use pop-up ads on the Internet, but did not answer the bigger but more subtle issue of whether firms must label newsletters and e-mail messages to clients as advertising. The decision, issued Friday, said that statewide rule changes that took effect on Feb. 1 violated the free speech of lawyers.
http://nytimes.com/2007/07/24/business/media/24legal.htmlFacebook judge unimpressed by ConnectU's case
The judge's message Wednesday to ConnectU over its intellectual property lawsuit against fellow social-networking site Facebook was clear: show us the evidence.
http://news.com.com/2100-1030_3-6198891.htmlJudge gives ConnectU founders two weeks to revise Facebook complaint
http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9750017-7.htmlFacebook founder prepares for court
Mark Zuckerberg, the 23-year-old founder of Facebook, will today be accused of stealing the idea for his enormously popular social networking site from a rival website. Mr Zuckerberg is being sued for stealing the source code ? and design ? of Facebook from ConnectU.com, a similar, university-based social network which he worked for briefly as a programmer four years ago.
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article2125952.ecehttp://informationweek.com/software/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201200554http://iht.com/articles/2007/07/25/technology/face.phphttp://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/07/25/facebook_goes_to_court/http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/07/25/rivals-sue-Facebook-seek-site-shutdown_1.htmlMySpace man-eaters come from Russia with love
Foreign fraudsters are sniffing out victims through social networking sites such as MySpace - and this time it's not the teens who need to watch
out.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/26/1185339134017.htmlus: Judge Lets MySpace Block Links to Its
Competition
A U.S. district court judge recently dismissed what may be the first antitrust case to address whether a social networking site can prevent its users from posting certain links. The Central District's Judge Howard Matz threw out the antitrust claim against MySpace.com last month, saying the social networking site wasn't required to display competitors' Web page links.
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1185354181555us: New CIA Rules Give Bloggers A FOIA Fee Break
Bloggers making Freedom of Information Act requests to the CIA will likely get them processed for free under new rules that broaden the definition of who is part of the "news media."
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003616938U.S. man faces online porn charges
The indictment, returned Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, charges Ira Isaacs, with four counts of using an interactive computer service to sell and distribute obscene films on DVD, two counts of using a common carrier to distribute obscene DVDs and two counts of failing to label sexually explicit DVDs with the name and location of the custodian of records containing age and identification information for performers in sexually explicit films.
http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/07/25/U.S.-man-faces-online-porn-charges_1.htmlus: May Informal
Transcripts from Chat Rooms be Admissible Evidence?
A Nebraska District Court recently held that 'cutting and pasting' in a Word document fragments of Internet chatting do not constitute admissible evidence under the Federal Rules of Evidence. A law enforcement agent pretending to be a minor girl communicated with defendant via chat rooms. At the end of each chatting session, the agent ?cut and pasted" fragment of the conversations and merged them into a Word document. This document was later submitted as evidence against defendant, who was indicted for knowingly attempt to persuade, induce, and entice a minor to engage in sexual activity in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2422(b).
http://www.ibls.com/internet_law_news_portal_view.aspx?s=latestnews&id=1811FBI, Chinese Officials Pinch Software
Pirates
A joint sting
operation by the FBI and the People's Republic of China has netted more than half a million dollars' worth of counterfeit software, the FBI announced Monday. The unprecedented cooperative effort, code-named "Summer Solstice" and dating back to 2005, resulted in the arrest of 25 people and the seizure of assets in China worth over $7 million as well as more than 290,000 counterfeit software CDs and certificates of authenticity with an estimated retail value of $500 million.
http://ecommercetimes.com/story/58476.htmlhttp://nytimes.com/aponline/technology/AP-China-Pirated-Software.htmlus: Contracts cannot be changed online without notice, rules US appeals court
A company cannot change its contract with consumers
simply by posting revised
conditions on its website, a US appeals court has ruled. The position is similar in the UK, according to an e-commerce legal expert.
http://out-law.com/page-8328au: Stung by Nigerian internet Romeo
A 30-year-old Adelaide woman has been duped into sending more than $30,000 to a Nigerian suitor she met over the internet. Police said the woman had registered with a dating agency that provided a chat room facility over the net.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/25/1185043158335.htmlConsumer advocates to fight NZ Banking code
Internet advocacy group InternetNZ and the NZ Consumers' Institute have both come out swinging over the New Zealand Bankers Association's (NZBA) decision to allow victims of Internet banking fraud to
be potentially held liable for
losses.
http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/security/soa/Consumer-advocates-to-fight-NZ-Banking-code/0,130061744,339280486,00.htmWe hacked into Apple's iPhone, claim security researchers
It arrived in a blaze of publicity and had frenzied gadget fans queuing for days before its launch last month. But just weeks after Apple's iPhone was unleashed on American shoppers, researchers say they have discovered how to hack into it and steal personal information.
http://technology.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2133240,00.html**************************
GOVERNMENT & PUBLIC POLICY
**************************
us: Novel Debate Format, but Same Old
Candidates
The Democratic
presidential debate was unlike any that had come before, but candidates frequently lapsed into their talking points, and there was little actual debate.
http://nytimes.com/2007/07/24/us/politics/24debate.html**********************
INTERNET USE
**********************
us: Study: 19 Pct. Watch Online Video a Day (AP)
One in five online Americans view video over the Internet on any given day, thanks to speedier Internet connections and a wider selection of clips, a study finds.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/26/1185339117038.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/25/AR2007072501746.htmlus: Online Newspaper Audience Rising Twice As Fast As General Internet Population: Report
Newspapers? online audiences are rising at twice the rate of the general internet audience, according to research by Nielsen//NetRatings for the Newspaper Association of America. Among the findings of the report, based on existing and ongoing data collected in Nielsen?s @Plan survey was an average of more than 59 million people (37.6 percent of all active internet users) visited newspapers online each month during Q1, a 5.3 percent increase over the same period a year ago.
http://www.forbes.com/technology/2007/07/24/online-newspapers-audience-tech-cx_pco_0724paidcontent.htmlSurvey Reveals Youth Attitudes Toward Technology (Reuters)
While young people embrace the Web with real or virtual friends and their mobile phone is never far away, relatively few like technology and those that do tend to be in Brazil, India and China, according to a survey. Only a handful think of technology as a concept, and just 16 percent use terms like "social networking," said two combined surveys covering 8- to 24-year-olds published on Tuesday by Microsoft and Viacom units MTV Networks and Nickelodeon. "Young people don't see "tech" as a separate entity - it's an organic part of their lives," said Andrew Davidson, vice president of MTV's VBS International Insight unit.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,134997-c,markettrends/article.htmlhttp://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-6198435.htmlhttp://uk.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUKL236796320070724Blog: Kiwi kids a switched on lot by Peter Griffin
The survey of 18000 children worldwide that forms the basis of the report "Circuits of Cool" put out by TV networks MTV and Nickelodeon makes for some interesting reading, if the results nevertheless match up with what the TV networks wanted to hear - the TV still rules.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10453731http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/4140337a28.htmlKiwi kids are digi-kids
A global study of eight to 14-year-olds in 12 countries, including New Zealand, shows that Kiwi kids are embracing technology like never before.
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/488120/1253069Nine million now live in World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft has hit yet another milestone - this time clocking up a massive nine million subscribed players worldwide.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10453979http://itwire.com.au/content/view/13677/532/E-mail Filtering to Block Porn from Corporate Networks
Your organization's next e-mail filtering software may come equipped with a blocking component that prevents pornographic content from entering the corporate network. Commtouch Software announced an alliance with the Internet Watch Foundation and Image Analyzer. Comm-touch provides e-mail defense technologies and licences them through OEMs, which integrate the firm's components into their own software and services offerings. With resources from IWF and Image Analyzer, anti-spam users can now scan e-mail traffic for child pornography and other inappropriate content, in addition to
scanning for
spam or spyware messages, explained Rebecca Herson, senior director for marketing at Commtouch.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,135088-c,techindustrytrends/article.htmlGoogle, ninemsn may face revenue loss as advertisers click with time online
Market leaders ninemsn and Google could face a threat to their dominance of the $1 billion online advertising market if the amount of time consumers spend with individual websites emerges as the key currency for advertisers.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/25/1185339084453.htmlTracking Internet usage proving to be a tangled web
You can do a lot with the Internet _ except, it seems, satisfactorily measure how people use it.
Trackers of Internet usage have
recently been tinkering with their methodologies in an attempt to properly reflect the ever-changing patterns of Web users and the shifting face of the Internet itself.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/26/1185339113498.htmlThe end of e-mail: discover new ways to stay in touch
... One study from Hewlett-Packard, for instance, found that workers constantly distracted by e-mail and phone calls suffer a temporary 10-point fall in their IQ ? more than twice that found in studies of the impact of smoking a joint. ... Dresdner Kleinwort's IT gurus weren't about to let the tail wag the dog. So they alerted several workgroups in the firm about a "wiki" service called Socialtext (www.socialtext.com). Once the employees grasped its potential, it
spread around the firm like
wildfire.http://news.independent.co.uk/sci_tech/article2800175.eceus: Webcasting Royalties: A Modest Proposal
New music royalty rates for webcasters went into effect last Monday, but the charges continue to be fiercely contested. The good news is that net radio stations are still on the air and negotiations are ongoing. The bad news is that there's no guarantee of a lasting agreement that will ensure artists and labels get paid without bankrupting thousands of broadcasters.
http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/commentary/listeningpost/2007/07/listeningpost_0723Playgrounds for adults
Everyone likes to belong, and that is one of the powerful forces of
the Internet. Where once your
service provider was your identifying online "community," today's equivalents are online social networks like Second Life, Facebook, MySpace and Bebo.
What's a career-minded grown-up to do amid such Internet playgrounds? That's where more serious networks like LinkedIn and Plaxo come in. They give adults the same kinds of online tools that their kids have, allowing them to share contact information and business relationships rather than favorite bands and vacation photos.
http://iht.com/articles/2007/06/27/business/ptend27.phpQantas to offer inflight web access
Qantas says its new Airbus A380 planes will offer passengers both wireless internet access and laptop power sockets.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/24/1185043102717.htmlMySpace starts Mexican version
MySpace started a Mexican version as part of international growth plans that include expanding in 10 other countries in the next year.
http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-briefs25.6jul25,1,5461372.storyClass War: MySpace Vs. Facebook
A flurry of recent articles have observed that young people are leaving MySpace for Facebook in droves, setting off speculation that MySpace is becoming the latest victim of fickle teens following the hot new thing. Not so, says University of California, Berkeley, researcher Danah Boyd. Not all teens are leaving MySpace, she wrote in a recent essay--instead, they're splitting up along class
lines.
http://www.forbes.com/technology/2007/07/20/facebook-myspace-internet-tech-cz_ccm_0723class.html**********************
NEW TECHNOLOGIES
**********************
us: New EPA Energy Star Specs Raise The Power-Efficiency Bar For PCs
The new Energy Star specs that went into effect last week are the first major overhaul in more than a decade.
http://informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201200831Dancing atoms hold prospect of superfast computing (Reuters)
Suspended in laser light, thousands of atoms pair up and dance, each moving in perfect counterpoint to its partner.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUKN2534067720070725IEEE backs 40Gb and 100Gb Ethernet
The IEEE High Speed Study Group (HSSG), which has been wrangling over whether the next Ethernet standard will be for 40Gbps or 100Gbps transmission speed, has ruled that it will be both.
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2194924/ieee-backs-100-gb-ethernet**********************
SPAM
**********************
au: Mobile phone spammer fined A$150,000
A mobile phone marketing company has been fined almost $150,000 over spamming practices that affected thousands of people over the past 12 months. DC Marketing Europe, a company notorious for its "missed call" telemarketing schemes, has been fined by the Australian
Communications and
Media Authority for breaching the Spam Act in July and August last year, by sending unsolicited messages that failed to identify the sender and did not allow the recipient to unsubscribe.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/23/1185043033323.htmlhttp://computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;722402668;fp;2;fpid;1http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/13633/127/http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/communications/soa/Missed-call-spam-nets-AU-150-000-fine-/0,130061791,339280432,00.htmhttp://mobilised.com.au/content/view/1071/1/http://ibnnews.org/national/marketing_company_fined_over_spam_calls_24707_211458452101547_000000.htmlhttp://crn.com.au/story.aspx?CIID=87218http://itnews.com.au/News/57074,australian-customs-warns-of-email-scam.aspx**********************
DIGITAL DIVIDE
**********************
Taiwan helps APEC partners bridge digital divide with ADOC initiative [news release]
The APEC Digital Opportunity Center (ADOC), an initiative submitted by Taiwan in 2003 at an Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting, has been helping bridge the digital divide in APEC countries, representatives from seven APEC economies said Tuesday at the 2007 ADOC Plenary. The plenary is a part of "ADOC Week, " which is taking place in Taipei from July 24-27. Delegations from Chile, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam will also attend an ADOC forum and an ADOC award ceremony.
http://cna.com.tw/eng/cepread.php?id=200707240046One Laptop Per Child Project OKs Mass Production
Nicholas Negroponte's nonprofit One Laptop Per Child project reported Monday that it has authorized mass production of its XO laptop. The decision triggers the supply chains of the some 800 parts used for the laptop that is targeted for use by children who can't afford traditional PCs.
http://informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201200501http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/07/23/OLPC-laptops-production-pushes-back-release_1.htmlus: Reaching out to cellphone-only users
People who use only cellphones ? who researchers say are more likely to be younger, binge drinkers, smokers and without health insurance ? are about to have a say in shaping California healthcare policy. All they need to do is answer the phone when the state comes calling.
http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-me-survey23jul23,1,4071376.storynz: Maori
language Google in development
A husband
and wife team is developing a Maori language version of the search engine Google in an effort to encourage more Maori to use the net.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10453254**********************
FILE SHARING
**********************
us: EFF Takes Universal To Court Over DMCA Issues
Not since that annoying Ally McBeal baby has a dancing toddler caused so much commotion. All it took was Stephanie Lenz uploading a 29 second clip of her son rocking out to Prince's "Let's Go Crazy" on YouTube and now Universal Music Publishing Group is up in arms. The worst of it came last month as YouTube removed the clip in compliance with their own DMCA policy after Universal's official request.
http://blog.wired.com/business/2007/07/mother-takes-un.htmlFrench court slaps poor man's YouTube
France's answer to YouTube has been found guilty of copyright infringement. As the Google-owned YouTube faces a U.S. lawsuit from movie and TV behemoth Viacom, a French high court has ruled against the Paris-based video-sharing site Dailymotion, holding it liable for a copyrighted film illegally posted by its users. Earlier this summer, after a high-profile suit from a man called The Buttock, the same court laid down a similar ruling against MySpace, but its latest order goes a few steps further.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/07/26/dailymotion_guilty_of_copyright_infringement/UK Government backs private copying but
ignores
compensation
The Government will launch a public consultation this autumn on an exemption from copyright law for people who are moving music on to MP3 players. But the plan for a private copying exemption does not address the controversial question of compensation.
http://out-law.com/page-8325US Congress: P2P networks harm national security
Politicians charged on Tuesday that peer-to-peer networks can pose a "national security threat" because they enable federal employees to share sensitive or classified documents accidentally from their computers.
http://news.com.com/2100-1029_3-6198585.htmlus: FTC Testifies on Potential Risks of Peer-to-Peer File Sharing
The Federal Trade Commission today told the House Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform that consumer
use of peer-to-peer file-sharing technology can be risky and discussed the work the FTC has done to address these risks to consumers. Mary Engle, Associate Director of the FTC?s Division of Advertising Practices, told the Committee, ?Although P2P technology confers significant benefits, such as allowing for faster file transfers, conserving bandwidth and storage requirements, and saving on maintenance and energy costs, it also has been associated with risks to consumers.?
http://www.ibls.com/internet_law_news_portal_view.aspx?s=latestnews&id=1814*********************************
COMMENT, MICROSOFT & DEVELOPMENTS
*********************************
au: Convict records placed online
A new online service has been launched which will make it easier than ever before for Australians to
trace whether they
have convict ancestors. Ancestry.com.au - a global genealogy network - has just launched the most comprehensive collection of convict transportation records, from 1788-1868, ever made available to anyone with a computer.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/25/1185339061055.htmlMicrosoft sales surpass $50 billion, despite competition from free
Microsoft's revenues are now around $1 billion a week, with the company totting up sales of $51.12 billion (up 15%) in its latest financial results, for Fiscal Year 2007. Annual profits were more than $14 billion, and the company returned $31 billion to shareholders through share buybacks and dividends.
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/technology/archives/2007/07/21/microsoft_sales_surpass_50_billion_despite_competition_from_free.htmlAOL to Buy Ad Firm That Monitors Web Use
AOL announced an agreement to acquire Tacoda, a New York advertising network that monitors consumers' online behavior, such as Web sites they visit, to determine their interests. Financial terms were not disclosed. The deal, which comes only a few weeks after Yahoo said it was launching a system based on online consumer behavior, follows AOL's May acquisition of Third Screen Media, a Boston advertising network for mobile devices. The same month, AOL acquired controlling interest in Adtech, a German company known for easy-to-use tools designed to help Web site publishers manage their advertising. Last year, it also bought
District-based Lightningcast, which specialized in video ads.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/24/AR2007072402055.htmlNokia to buy social networking site Twango (Reuters)
Nokia said it is to buy US-based social networking and photo sharing site Twango as millions of Internet users flock to similar sites like MySpace and Facebook.
http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/4140357a28.html**********************
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
**********************
New Report Busts Telco Myths about U.S. Internet by Timothy Karr
A report released today decisively shoots down many of the myths that telecommunications lobbyists and shills have manufactured about the health of America's
Internet. The report,
"Shooting the Messenger," urges policymakers to focus on the real problems that have caused America to fall dangerously behind the rest of the world in Internet adoption -- competition and availability. The report's authors at Free Press believe the root of the problem to be the "cozy duopoly" of cable and broadband providers that stifle competition and innovation while driving costs to consumers through the roof.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/timothy-karr/new-report-busts-telco-my_b_56878.htmlau: Optus uploads: A revolution in the making?
As Optus joins the likes of Telstra and others in now counting uploads as well as downloads in its service plans, has our new found enthusiasm for posting ourselves all over Facebook and YouTube set us up for higher prices?
http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/communications/soa/Optus-uploads-A-revolution-in-the-making-/0,130061791,339280375,00.htmau: The great price byte
Downloads are ballooning and the cost of data is looming as an issue for service providers and users.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/23/1185043035992.html**********************
MOBILE
**********************
Wi-Fi radiation: who do we believe?
Not everything is known about the health effects of wireless equipment. But does that make it dangerous?
http://computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;95624901;fp;2;fpid;1uk: Wi-Fi fears
to be investigated
Britain's top environmental investigative body is considering looking into radiation from mobile phones and their masts, Wi-Fi networks and electric power lines following articles in The Independent on Sunday.
http://news.independent.co.uk/health/article2790973.eceus: FCC Backs Open-Access Plan
Majority of FCC members tell House panel they support open-access requirement for the coming radio spectrum auction.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/24/AR2007072400889.htmlEU to free up wireless spectrum for 3G (AP)
The European Union is making more radio spectrum available for accessing Internet services over mobile phones, saying
the use of lower frequencies
would cut operators' costs and let them reach customers over a wider area.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/26/1185339107179.htmlhttp://iht.com/articles/2007/07/25/business/spectrum.phphttp://www.usatoday.com/tech/wireless/2007-07-25-eu-3g-spectrum_N.htm**********************
VoIP
**********************
Request for Proposals: APEC Telecommunications & Information Working Group VOIP Security Guidelines Project
The purpose of this project is to help business in the APEC Region use VoIP securely. Most users are not security or telecommunications experts and
will not be fully informed about the security
implications of using this technology. This project will assist APEC member economies to help their small business communities understand best practices in relation to VoIP security.
http://www.apec.org/apec/projects.MedialibDownload.v1.html?url="">**********************************
ARRESTS/COURT CASES FOR CHILD PORN
**********************************
uk: Child porn 'on Langham's computer'
Graphic child pornography videos were found on a laptop recovered from the home of the actor Chris Langham, a court was told yesterday. File names referred to children as young as seven, while some included the words Lolita and rape, said Christopher Crute, a forensic
computer analyst for
Kent Police. He told Maidstone Crown Court that the letters PTHC on some files meant ?pre-teen hardcore?. They had been downloaded from the internet in 2005.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article2128421.eceuk: Co-star 'did not know about porn'
Comedian Paul Whitehouse has told a court he had no knowledge of co-star Chris Langham using child pornography as research for a drama series.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/kent/6913530.stmhttp://news.independent.co.uk/uk/legal/article2798528.eceau: Sydney man accused of grooming boy on net
Two men
have been arrested in Perth and Sydney for
allegedly grooming a Canberra teenager over the internet.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/25/1185043154926.htmlau: Aussie free after plea deal over teen romance
Tamara Broome, the Australian supermarket employee jailed in the US after an internet romance with a 17-year-old North Carolina boy, is free.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/26/1185339119409.htmlhttp://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/07/26/1988795.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.
For information on subscriptions to the domain name and/or general internet news please contact me. For archives of postings to the list, see http://lists.technewsreview.com.au/pipermail/technewsreview/. Also see http://technewsreview.com.au/ for recent updates.Sources include Quicklinks <http://qlinks.net/> and BNA Internet Law News <http://www.bna.com/ilaw/>.+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
(c) David Goldstein 2007
---------
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
