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/**********************************************************
Belarusian president calls for tighter restrictions on
Internet
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/08/03/1185648084639.htmlhttp://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=23159When is paedophilia not paedophilia?
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/david_wilson/2007/08/when_is_paedophilia_not_paedop.htmlEvil deeds should be punished. But what of evil thoughts?
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2141958,00.htmlLangham: Caught in Operation Ore's net
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/02/nlangham202.xmluk: Cyber bullying - don't blame the web
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/6924422.stmus: Senators take another stab at shielding kids online
http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9754434-7.htmlDemocrats to push new Net sex-predator laws
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-6200733.htmlSenate panel backs development of super V-chip
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9584_22-6200543.htmlUS legislation looks at web filtering
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2195615/legislation-looks-web-filteringus: Senate Committee Votes to Expand TV Ratings Technology To Internet
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/08/senate-committe.htmlau: Paedophiles' internet use to be tackled by SA legislation
http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/08/02/1994782.htmau: Sex on the Net - ABC Radio National Background Briefing
http://abc.net.au/rn/backgroundbriefing/stories/2007/1982314.htmUS Court puts limits on surveillance abroad
http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-na-spying2aug02,1,7495317.storyeBay sale is a sale, Australian court rules
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/08/03/1185648121130.htmlau: Cyberspace stole Cathy's identity
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/08/03/1185648145679.htmlus: House Passes Changes in Eavesdropping Program
http://nytimes.com/2007/08/05/washington/05nsa.htmluk: Halt e-voting, says Electoral Commission
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/security/0,1000000189,39288361,00.htmus: California moves to lock down e-voting systems
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9029038nz: Online banking rules unfair
http://www.consumer.org.nz/newsitem.asp?docid=2998nz: Copyright to be policed by ISPs under new law
http://m-net.net.nz/1811/latest-news/latest-news/copyright-to-be-policed-by-isps-under-new-law.phpnz: Policing copyright ? who?s responsibility?
http://m-net.net.nz/1812/latest-news/latest-news/policing-copyright-who-s-responsibility.phpInternetNZ treads softly on bank code
http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/4153156a28.htmluk: Firms pull Facebook ads after link with BNP material
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/farright/story/0,,2140763,00.htmlKittens -- the solution to
spam?
http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/08/03/Kittens-could-solve-spam_1.htmlus: Spammer gets 30 years in the slammer
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/08/02/spammer_gets_30_years/au: Telstra goes to the High Court over broadband
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22182221-601,00.htmlhttp://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/08/03/1185648106706.htmlInternetNZ closes doors on charity discussions
http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/8A3434F4A772F704CC25732C001D83B8VoIP security reaches tipping point
http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2007/08/03/225970/voip-security-reaches-tipping-point.htmuk: Langham faces jail after child porn conviction
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/legal/article2831105.ece**********************
CENSORSHIP
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Belarusian president calls for tighter restrictions on Internet
Belarus' authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday ordered his government to tighten restrictions on Internet usage and said the ex-Soviet
nation should use China as a model.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/08/03/1185648084639.htmlhttp://uk.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUKL0293119320070803by: Alarm over Lukashenko?s threat to put an end to online ?anarchy?
Reporters Without Borders voiced deep concern today about President Alexandre Lukashenko?s comments during a visit to the state-owned daily Sovietskaya Bielorussiya yesterday, when he said the government planned to increase its control of the Internet and ?put an end to the anarchy? online.
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=23159Corrupt Chinese officials can?t hide ? even
online
They hunt, they shoot, they torture, they kill. Their target: corrupt officials. Welcome to Incorruptible Fighter, the latest online computer game craze to sweep through cyberspace in China. The game was created last month by a group of civil servants as a lighthearted counterpoint to constant accusations of endemic corruption.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/china/article2189287.ecehttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6928279.stmhttp://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/08/03/1185648104916.htmlChina still falls short on freedom of the press
China has so far failed to live up to its pledge to
ensure full media freedom ahead of the Beijing Olympics, with harassment of foreign reporters still common, a survey showed. But despite the problems, the situation is better than when before the government relaxed reporting regulations on Jan. 1, the Foreign Correspondents Club of China said.
http://asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=75157Congress examines Yahoo's role in Chinese journalist case [AP]
Congressional investigators plan to look into whether Yahoo officials misrepresented the U.S. Internet company's role in the arrest of a Chinese journalist sentenced to a decade in jail.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2007-08-03-yahoo-congress_N.htm************************************************
CHILD PROTECTION, FILTERING & CONTENT REGULATION
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When is paedophilia not paedophilia?
The actor Chris Langham has been convicted of downloading child pornography, and has been remanded in custody until the middle of September, at which point he will be sentenced on 15 counts of making an indecent photograph of a child. We do not know what these indecent photographs look like, but the fact that Langham has been remanded in custody perhaps suggests that they were "level 5" images, which involve children being, for example, anally or genitally penetrated by an adult.
There are other questions, too, in the wake of Langham's conviction for downloading child
pornography - and, it should also be acknowledged, his acquittal on six charges of indecent assault and two charges of buggery with an under-age girl. Chief among these outstanding issues is to consider when is a paedophile not a paedophile?
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/david_wilson/2007/08/when_is_paedophilia_not_paedop.htmlEvil deeds should be punished. But what of evil thoughts?
... Does watching pornographic images of child abuse make one a paedophile? This is a highly equivocal question. It can ask whether watching such pictures entails that one is a paedophile or it can ask whether watching them causes one to become a paedophile.
The second question is notoriously hard to answer. What is the causal effect of violence or sexual abuse shown on television upon those who watch it? For years,
sociologists and moralists have argued inconclusively about this. Common sense has no doubt that habitual language is gradually changing because people hear 'bad language' as the common currency on much of television.
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2141958,00.html'He downloaded child porn. I know we'll get bricks through the window - but he's still my husband'
Last week actor Chris Langham was convicted of child pornography offences. Why are men driven to watch such images? And what is the impact on their families? In this remarkable dispatch, a grandmother describes the pain of discovering her husband of 40 years had been downloading indecent images of children
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2141931,00.htmlLangham: Caught in Operation Ore's net
On the very evening that reports first appeared about an international crackdown on child pornography, Chris Langham contacted police over his "concern" that he was receiving spam emails with links to paedophile sites.
Little did he know then that, because of a credit card transaction he had made on a porn site three years earlier, the forces of law and order already had him in their sights. According to the prosecution, Langham only contacted the police in May, 2002, because he "panicked" when he learnt of the scope of Operation Ore - a US-led crackdown in Internet child pornography - and "wanted to give the impression of being a good citizen". By then, though, it was already too late for him.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/02/nlangham202.xml'No excuse' for having child porn
There can be "no excuse" for people who download child pornography, a children's charity has said as actor Chris Langham awaits sentencing. Donald Findlater, of the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, said people caught with indecent images would "desperately" try to explain their actions.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6929143.stmuk: Cyber bullying - don't blame the web
Social networking websites are seen by some teachers as the latest weapon of the school bully - prompting unions to call for them to be banned. But one bullying charity argues that the very technology that is blamed for bullying misery has a key role to play in the battle
against it.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/6924422.stmus: Senators take another stab at shielding kids online
Here's another bill to add to the heap of congressional proposals offered in the spirit of combating child pornography and keeping kids safe from predators on the Internet. It's called the Protecting Children in the 21st Century Act. CNet reports it doesn't seem to be as aggressive as some previous approaches. If the bill becomes law, ISPs would face tripled fines for failing to report child pornography on their servers--up to $150,000 for failing to report child pornography the first time and up to $300,000 for each subsequent failures. Further, ISPs would have to include a variety of information in their reports that is not required by existing law, including any relevant user IDs, e-mail addresses, geographic
information and IP addresses of the involved person or reported content.
http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9754434-7.htmlDemocrats to push new Net sex-predator laws
Expect a new push in Congress this fall for laws aimed at keeping sexual predators off the likes of MySpace.com and elevating fines on Internet service providers that don't report child pornography.
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-6200733.htmlSenate panel backs development of super V-chip
The Senate Commerce Committee approved legislation Thursday asking the Federal Communications Commission to oversee the development of a super V-chip that could screen content on everything from cell phones to the Internet.
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9584_22-6200543.htmlUS legislation looks at web filtering
The US has passed child safety legislation that could widen the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) powers to include the internet, according to constitutional campaigners. The Child Safe Viewing Act of 2007 (S.602) was passed by the Senate Commerce Committee and requires the FCC to do a study of internet filtering technologies. The research will include the "existence and availability" of filtering technologies for audio and video content transmitted over "wired, wireless, and internet" platforms, as well as other devices.
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2195615/legislation-looks-web-filteringhttp://linuxelectrons.com/news/general/11049/senate-bill-promote-internet-safety-protect-children-online-predators'Child Safe Viewing Act' Raises Serious Questions
The Senate Commerce Committee today passed the Child Safe Viewing Act of 2007 (S. 602), which requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to study the "existence and availability" of filtering technologies for audio and video content transmitted over "wired, wireless, and Internet" platforms, as well as other devices. CDT does not oppose a purely fact-finding study, but maintains that a neutral, non-regulatory body such as the National Academy of Sciences would be better suited to such a project. More importantly, CDT is concerned that this legislation may represent a step toward expanding the FCC's censorship authority to include Internet
content.
http://cdt.org/us: Senate Committee Votes to Expand TV Ratings Technology To Internet
A powerful Senate committee wants government regulators to find cutting edge technologies that can censor audio and video that flows over the internet, through cable, or into an iPhone to help make sure the nation's small children never see a naked breast or hear Howard Stern without parental permission.
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/08/senate-committe.htmlau: Paedophiles' internet use to be tackled by SA legislation
A bill drafted by the Family First party is set to become law in South Australia, aimed at fighting internet use by paedophiles.
http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/08/02/1994782.htmau: Sex on the Net - ABC Radio National Background Briefing
Whether adults like it or not, the Internet is where life's at for young people now - friendships, games, school stuff, comedy, adventure and sex. Teenagers are getting used to coming across pornography, and dirty old men. Sometimes they even turn the tables, and play indiscreet games. We don't know enough about the Internet generation - and government filters won't work on the new 3G phones. Audio and transcript of the programme are available.
http://abc.net.au/rn/backgroundbriefing/stories/2007/1982314.htmPlayground Networking, Now Online: Social Sites Aim at Users Too Young for MySpace
These days, it's little brother who's watching.
Younger and younger children want their share of the social networking craze, but popular Web sites such as MySpace and Facebook are reserved for older crowds. So sites are now aiming at children 14 and under, with online worlds where their animated personas can play games, chat with others their age and even engage in adultlike activities such as e-commerce.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/02/AR2007080202351.htmluk: Junk food makers reach children on internet
Food manufacturers were criticised yesterday for targeting their advertising at children on the internet and social networking websites. Several major food companies have begun using the sites to promote their products following a ban on junk food advertising on television.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/01/njunk101.xmlInternet Safety Month, Part 10: Good Parenting Means Everything!
This is the final installment of PFF's 10-part series of essays that have coincided with ?Internet Safety Month.? Many of these essays have focused on the variety of parental controls tools on the market that can help parents better control, or at least monitor, their children?s Internet usage or online communications. The Progress & Freedom Foundation is a market-oriented think tank that studies the digital revolution and its implications for public policy.
http://blog.pff.org/archives/2007/06/internet_safety_8.htmlus: Katherine Kersten: Child porn casualties explode - thanks to Internet
and court
Recently, a federal judge sentenced Todd Edward Hammond of Andover to 30 years in prison for producing child pornography. The images that Hammond distributed included a video of him raping a mentally disabled 12-year-old boy.
http://www.startribune.com/191/story/1345464.html***************************************
CYBERCRIME, CYBERSECURITY AND PRIVACY
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US Court puts limits on surveillance abroad
A special court that has routinely approved eavesdropping operations has put new restrictions on the ability of U.S. spy agencies to intercept e-mails and telephone calls of suspected terrorists overseas, U.S. officials said Wednesday.
The previously undisclosed ruling by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court has prompted concern among senior intelligence officials and lawmakers that the
efforts of U.S. spy agencies to track terrorism suspects might be impaired at a time when analysts have warned that the United States is under heightened risk of attack.
http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-na-spying2aug02,1,7495317.storyus: Tech Industry Sounds Battle Cry for Fair Use Rights
A tech association representing such industry stalwarts as Google and Microsoft is taking aim at what it sees as a stealth campaign to intimidate consumers from exercising their fair use rights with respect to copyrighted material. The Computer & Communications Industry Association has filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission stating that such organizations as Major League Baseball, the National Football League and NBC/Universal have been misleading consumers for years about their rights under the fair use doctrine in
copyright law.
http://ecommercetimes.com/story/58647.htmleBay sale is a sale, Australian court rules
There will be no more weasling out of eBay sales after a judge today ruled against a man who has been refusing to hand over a $250,000 vintage plane he sold on the online auction site. ... The judgment sets a precedent for future cases and means eBay sales could now be legally binding.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/08/03/1185648121130.htmlhttp://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/08/03/1185648121130.htmlca: Dell Case Sets Standard for Online Contracts by Michael Geist
Michael Geist's weekly Law Bytes column examines the recent Supreme
Court of Canada decision involving Dell Computer, online contracting, and mandatory arbitration clauses. Late on a Friday afternoon in April 2003, Dell Computer's Canadian website featured a pair of erroneous prices for the Axim, the company's handheld computer. Rather than listing the two versions of the device correctly at $379 and $549, the site indicated that the price was $89 and $118. Dell blocked access to the pages the following day, however, the mistakes remained accessible throughout the weekend via a direct hyperlink.
http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/2138/159/au: Cyberspace stole Cathy's identity
Cathy Wilson is a sensible 25-year-old working two jobs to save for a deposit on a flat. On the MySpace website, however, you can discover another side to the eastern suburbs marketing manager and child-care worker.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/08/03/1185648145679.htmlus: Online Pharmacy Charged With Fraud
Physicians and executives are among 18 people accused of selling prescription drugs over the Internet to people without any examinations, according to an indictment unsealed Thursday that charges them with federal racketeering.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/02/AR2007080202131.htmlGoogle knows all with Web History
Google is set to keep a closer eye on what you do online with a new service that tracks of every web page you visit. Web History, which is already available for American users, is being released to users worldwide in 26 languages today. The service allows surfers to keep
tabs of the sites they have visited, and allows Google to provide more targeted results based on the sites users have looked in the past.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/aug/02/googlewebhistoryInternet fraud at record levels, says KPMG
Fraud is running at record levels, according to a study by business services firm KPMG. The value of frauds in the first half of 2007 totalled £594m, more than three times the figure for the previous six months. The figures also reveal an upward trend in the number of cases coming to the courts, with around 261 cases recorded in the last year compared with 143 in 2003.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/07/30/cnfraud130.xmlin: Kerala
govt to fight cyber crimes
The Kerala government yesterday opened a new front in its fight against the mounting cyber crimes in the state, which has the largest number of e-literate people in the country. It comes in the form of a web portal and a call centre, which functions as an interface to address all types of cyber crimes like hacking, phishing, email theft, creation of fake web sites as well as cyber and cell phone stalking.
http://khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2007/July/subcontinent_July1322.xml§ion=subcontinent&col=Systems threat to infrastructure
Terrorists and other criminals could exploit a newly discovered software flaw to hijack massive computer systems used to control critical infrastructure like
oil refineries, power plants and factories. Ganesh Devarajan, a security researcher with 3Com Corp.'s TippingPoint in Austin, Texas, demonstrated the software vulnerability he uncovered to attendees at the Defcon hacker conference on computer security.
http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,22195558-15306,00.htmlWarning of webmail wi-fi hijack
Using public wi-fi hotspots has got much riskier as security experts unveil tools that nab login data over the air.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6929258.stm**************************
GOVERNMENT & PUBLIC POLICY
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us: House Passes Changes in Eavesdropping Program
Under pressure from President Bush, the House gave final
approval Saturday to changes in a terrorism surveillance program, despite serious objections from many Democrats about the scope of the executive branch's new eavesdropping power. ... One major issue, apparently raised in secret by judges overseeing the program, is that many calls and email messages between people outside the United States are routed over data networks that run through the United States.
http://nytimes.com/2007/08/05/washington/05nsa.htmlus: Democratic rivals in race to recruit bloggers
US presidential contenders including Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are heading to Chicago for the biggest gathering of leftwing and anti-war bloggers, in a move that highlights the increasing importance of online activists in American politics. All eight Democratic contenders will be present for the second YearlyKos convention, which opens
today, in contrast with last year when only Bill Richardson turned up. The candidates will take part in a debate on Saturday and hold one-to-one meetings with the bloggers, in the hope that their campaigns can harness the online commentators' networks, enthusiasm and fundraising capabilities.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uselections08/story/0,,2139508,00.htmluk: Halt e-voting, says Electoral Commission
The Electoral Commission says there is little point in continuing with e-voting trials unless the government gives a clear justification for using the technology
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/security/0,1000000189,39288361,00.htmus: California moves to lock down e-voting systems
The California Secretary of State moved strongly
on Friday to corral electronic-voting problems found in independent tests conducted on machines previously certified for use in that state.
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9029038E-Voting OK With New Security
California has certified some electronic polls but imposed new security mandates for the 2008 elections.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,135539-c,networksecurity/article.htmlhttp://www.infoworld.com/article/07/08/04/California-tightens-security-rules-on-e-voting-machines_1.htmlus: 39 counties' vote systems in question
County election officials scrambled on Saturday to develop contingency plans for the February presidential primary election after California's secretary of state imposed broad restrictions on electronic voting machines that she said are susceptible to hacking.
http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-me-voting5aug05,1,1920162.storynz: Online banking rules unfair
Online fraudsters will be having a field day as a new Code of Practice by the New Zealand Bankers' Association puts almost all of the blame for internet banking fraud on you - the
customer.
http://www.consumer.org.nz/newsitem.asp?docid=2998nz: Copyright to be policed by ISPs under new law
ICONZ and InternetNZ have both slammed the Commerce Committee's report into new Copyright legislation, saying it unfairly turns ISPs into internet copyright police.
http://m-net.net.nz/1811/latest-news/latest-news/copyright-to-be-policed-by-isps-under-new-law.phpnz: Policing copyright ? who?s responsibility?
ISPs will be lumbered with the job of policing copyright infringements on the websites they host if the Copyright (New Technologies and Performers' Rights) Amendment Bill is passed - as it seems likely to be.
http://m-net.net.nz/1812/latest-news/latest-news/policing-copyright-who-s-responsibility.phpInternetNZ treads softly on bank code
In a move that is likely to disappoint consumer advocates, InternetNZ has proposed only minor changes to a controversial banking code of practice that came into effect a month ago that could leave consumers footing the bill for Internet fraud.
http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/4153156a28.htmlzw: Mugabe Signs Law to Monitor Phones And E-Mails
Robert Mugabe has signed into law an intrusive piece of legislation that gives his regime the power to snoop on phones and e-mails. A government notice published on Friday confirmed Mugabe has approved the Interception of Communications Act, despite intense opposition from press
freedom campaigners, media groups and others. The move has already heightened the fears of ordinary people over the privacy of their communications.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200708031108.htmlke: Cyber Law Being Developed
Kenya's cyber law, when enacted, could be adopted as a model law for other countries within the East African Community - Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi - which are yet to enact such kind of legislation to give regulatory direction for ICT-related transactions.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200708050013.htmlph: Marikina to crack down on cyber sex shops
The Marikina City government is organizing a special team to monitor and visit all Internet shops, particularly those located near schools, to regulate their operations and
put an end to the proliferation of online prostitution and cyber sex crimes and to check on students engaged in cyber games during their school period.
http://www.mb.com.ph/MTNN2007080699549.html**********************
INTERNET USE
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The Ultimate Search Engine
Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and dozens of search specialists, including those catering to business customers, are racing to develop next-generation technologies that do a better job of getting people the information they seek. With emerging tools, people will no longer have to dumb down their queries with the pidgin language understood by first-generation search engines. They'll be able to ask questions in English and other languages--or pose no question at all and automatically receive results based on their earlier queries or the applications they're using.
http://informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201202986Web networking boom blasts into the workplace (Reuters)
After years of socializing, Facebook and MySpace mean business. The sites, which started as a way to help people stay connected with friends, in the past year have begun catering to professionals, offering networking and advertising opportunities.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUKN0223092220070802Millions want mobile internet services
The mobile internet will never hit the mainstream unless mobile network operators and device suppliers can ?cross the marketing chasm? necessary to attract consumers, experts warned today. According to new research from Point Topic and YouGov,
there are millions of potential customers who are keen to use the mobile internet if the prices and service options are right.
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2195531/millions-mobile-internetuk: Television is a turnoff for mobile users
Television on mobile phones might not be dead in the UK, but after BT's decision last week to close its Movio service for Virgin Mobile, it is certainly in intensive care - and operators have shovelled a lot of money that they won't recoup into it.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/aug/02/guardianweeklytechnologysection.mobilephonesau: Online papers overtake ninemsn
The reign of PBL Media's ninemsn as Australia most popular online news site
is over as traditional newspaper mastheads continue to experience surging internet traffic at the expense of broad-based portals.
http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,22179689-15306,00.htmlInternetNZ encouraged by ISP survey [news release]
InternetNZ is encouraged by some aspects of a Statistics New Zealand survey of Internet Service Providers but notes that significant improvements need to be made before New Zealand enjoys the benefits of real broadband.
http://www.internetnz.net.nz/media/mediareleases/mediarelease-ispsurveyuk: Firms pull Facebook ads after link with BNP material
Two leading companies yesterday pulled their advertising from Facebook after they were randomly placed on a
page giving information about the British National party. Vodafone and First Direct took the step when they were alerted to the fact that their adverts were included on a rotation system which flashed them up at intervals on the BNP's entry.
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/farright/story/0,,2140763,00.htmlhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6929161.stmhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/26ae3e62-41f7-11dc-8328-0000779fd2ac.htmlWhat?s Good for a Business Can Be Hard on Friends
Cellphone plans that encourage subscribers to talk mainly to people in the same network are having unintentional social effects.
http://nytimes.com/2007/08/04/business/04network.htmlcomScore Releases Rankings For Top Japanese Web Properties [news release]
comScore released its first report on Japan?s top Internet properties and top gaining properties for June. The study was based on data collected through the comScore World Metrix audience ratings service and took into account all unique visitors age 15 and over, who accessed the Internet from a home or work computer. ComScore found there were a total of 53.7 million unique visitors online in Japan in June, or 49 percent of the country?s population, age 15 or older; Yahoo! was the most popular property, with 41.5 million unique visitors. Yahoo! now reaches 77 percent of the total Japanese online population, and averaged 33 visits per visitor in June and the average Japanese Internet user spends 15 days per month
online.
http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=1561What Are We Searching For?
Searching for stuff on the Web is typically a one-man job. Punch in your query, hit enter, and your computer hands over a list of the most relevant results. But searching doesn't have to be solitary. As we're typing away in our little vacuums, Google is collecting and storing what we write. Want to see what other people are curious about? Download the Google Toolbar, start typing, and you'll see a list of suggested queries: similar terms that other users often search for. For tech researchers, this is an incomparable tool for figuring out how and why we use search engines.
http://www.slate.com/id/2171669/tn: ITU's Report Pays Tribute to Progress in the Field of Information
Technologies
According to the 2007 report of the ITU related to the WSIS which was released recently, Tunisia achieved a considerable progress in the field of information technologies. Thus, Tunisia was the first African and Arab country to have been connected to the internet in 1991 and has the second largest penetration line.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200708040068.htmlInternet Chat As Group Therapy. A New Frontier Of Psychotherapy
A group of investigators of the University of Heidelberg has published a controlled study on a new modality of treatment based on internet chat, in the July issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics. This study investigated the effectiveness of group therapy delivered through an Internet chat following inpatient treatment.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070805135105.htm**********************
NEW TECHNOLOGIES
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Google working on own-brand handset to grab share of $11bn mobile adverts
Google is angling for a huge slice of the potential US$11 billion mobile advertising market with the launch of a "Google phone" especially tailored to its services. Google is understood to be developing a handset that is customised to showcase its products, such as its search engine, e-mail and Google Maps.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/telecoms/article2189612.ece**********************
SPAM
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Kittens -- the solution to spam?
An executive at Microsoft
has an unusual idea for beating spammers. Powerful software tools and supercomputers aren't involved, but kittens are. Or rather, photos of kittens. Kevin Larson, a researcher at Microsoft's advanced reading technologies group, has found that asking a user to identify the subject of a photo, like a kitten, could help block spam programs.
http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/08/03/Kittens-could-solve-spam_1.htmlhttp://www.pcworld.com/article/id,135526-c,spam/article.htmlus: Spammer gets 30 years in the slammer
Notorious spammer Christopher "Rizler" Smith was sentenced to 30 years in prison by a federal judge on Wednesday.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/08/02/spammer_gets_30_years/Pharmacy spam king Rizler hit with 30 year jail sentence [news release]
Experts at IT security and control firm Sophos have welcomed news that a notorious spammer who made millions of dollars selling medications online has been sent to jail.
http://sophos.com/pressoffice/news/articles/2007/08/rizler.html**********************
DIGITAL DIVIDE
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Boom in blogs gives Africans a voice on the Web
Daudi Were, a 28-year-old Kenyan, still reads newspapers. But if he really wants to know what's happening - in African countries where newspapers are state-owned or censored - he turns to the blogs. And he's not alone. Blogs are taking off across Africa as a new
tech-savvy generation takes advantage of growing internet access. The African blogosphere was, until recently, filled by the African diaspora and westerners living in Africa. But native African voices are now being heard. Kenya, in particular, has seen a large growth in the number of bloggers. The Kenyan Blogs Webring began in 2004 with just 10 sites - now it has more than 430, blogging on everything from politics and business to arts and culture.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/article2826182.ecepg: Bridging the digital divide
Papua New Guinea will continue to remain light years behind the rest of the world if we do not jump on the ICT bandwagon in this globalised world.
http://www.thenational.com.pg/080607/w6.htmLenovo
Targets Rural China With Basic PC (AP)
Lenovo Group Ltd. said Friday it will sell a basic personal computer aimed at China's vast but poor rural market and priced as low as $199. Lenovo's announcement follows rival Dell Inc.'s bid to boost its presence in China's booming market with the unveiling in March of a low-cost personal computer meant for novice Chinese users.
http://nytimes.com/aponline/technology/AP-China-Lenovo-Cheap-PC.htmlMicrosoft Halves Vista Retail Price in China (Reuters)
Microsoft Corp. has more than halved the retail price of its Vista home basic computer operating software package in China to 499 yuan ($66) from 1,521 yuan, and the price of its premium package to 899 yuan from 1,802 yuan, effective from August 1.
http://nytimes.com/reuters/technology/tech-microsoft-china-price.html**********************
FILE SHARING
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Music industry rebuffed across Europe on file-sharing identifications
A German court has refused to order ISPs to hand over user details to the music industry. The incident is not the first in Germany, and follows the opinion of a European Court of Justice Advocate-General backing the stance.
http://out-law.com/page-8353If the internet is the Wild West of the digital age, musicians need protection - step forward the self-styled Web Sheriff
... "These days, any new album by a major artist tends to break on the internet anything between two and four months before its official release," says John Giacobbi, the managing director of Web
Sheriff. "So if you do nothing about it, by the time the record hits the stores, you've lost half your sales."
To combat this, Web Sheriff has a team of 20 operatives, working in shifts, which monitors online activity round the clock. In recent campaigns on behalf of major-label acts they claim a 98 per cent "takedown rate" of websites offering unauthorised access to pre-release material. They also monitor the more specialist BitTorrent community ? a couple of hundred sites utilising high-powered technology which enables users to download a whole album in a matter of minutes. The peer-to-peer networks such as Limewire ? "vast and viral" ? are also monitored and policed, as are online retail sites, the most prominent being eBay. The company charges anything from £1,000 to £7,000 a month to provide the service.
http://arts.independent.co.uk/music/features/article2829356.ece*********************************
COMMENT, MICROSOFT & DEVELOPMENTS
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The U.S. is unlikely to ever regain its broadband leadership by Robert X. Cringely
The question we were left with two weeks ago was "Why has America lost its broadband leadership?" but it really ought to have been "Whatever happened to the Information Superhighway?" It died. ... There are many reasons for [America's decline], but much of it comes down to government policy or lack of it and some of it comes down to pure luck. In large part we've been locked in our own little world where government and business feed on each other in ways that are always symbiotic and often destructive, but this time the rest of the world just passed us by while we were distracted by other
things.
http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/2007/pulpit_20070803_002641.htmlInternetNZ closes doors on charity discussions
InternetNZ last week shut down reporting of its plans to become a charity after one member unsuccessfully challenged the moves from the floor of the organisation?s annual general meeting. Clearance was given by the meeting for InternetNZ to apply for designation as a charitable organisation, which will give it taxation advantages. After objection from one member, subsequent discussion was moved into a closed session and cannot be reported.
http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/8A3434F4A772F704CC25732C001D83B8A Mystery Solved: ?Fake Steve? Blogger Comes Clean
For the last 14
months, high-tech insiders have been eating up the work of an anonymous blogger who assumed the persona of Steven P. Jobs, Apple?s chief executive and one of the world?s most famous businessmen. The mysterious writer has used his blog, the Secret Diary of Steve Jobs, to lampoon Mr. Jobs and his reputation as a difficult and egotistical leader, as well as to skewer other high-tech companies, tech journalists, venture capitalists, open-source software fanatics and Silicon Valley?s overall aura of excess.
http://nytimes.com/2007/08/06/technology/06steve.htmlhttp://www.forbes.com/technology/2007/08/05/fsj-blog-apple-biz-media-cx_pm_0805fsj.html**********************
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
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au: Telstra goes to the High Court over broadband
Telstra has begun proceedings in the High Court against Communications Minister Helen Coonan over broadband funding.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22182221-601,00.htmlhttp://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/08/03/1185648106706.html**********************
MOBILE/WIRELESS
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ec: Commission proposes to remove restrictions on radio spectrum for innovative
wireless services [news release]
The Commission today proposes measures to make it easier and more lucrative for mobile operators in Europe to offer and develop innovative wireless technologies. By opening radio spectrum for advanced mobile data and multimedia services (such as 3G services that allow video streaming and fast downloads on a mobile handset), the Commission proposals, if they become law, will increase the number and choice of wireless services available, and will expand their geographic coverage to the benefit of all European citizens. The new EU measures will also reduce network deployment costs for Europe's wireless communications industry.
http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/07/1170**********************
VoIP
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de: Skype found guilty of violating the terms of the
GPL
The District Court in Munich has ruled against the Luxembourg-based company Skype in a case in which the company was alleged to have violated the terms of the General Public License (GPL). On the background: On its website the vendor of VoIP software had offered a handset by the Spanish manufacturer SMC Networks, which runs with Linux. However, SMC had shipped the handsets without including the source code and the GPL license text; these omissions amount to violations of the terms of the GNU General Public License. Harald Welte of gpl-violations.org, who holds the right of use to parts of the Linux kernel, had thereupon filed an appropriate complaint.
http://www.heise.de/english/newsticker/news/93381VoIP security reaches tipping point
Industry experts have warned for years that companies are ignoring security when deploying VoIP. Researchers
at this year's Black Hat conference say the state of VoIP security is as bad today as it was two years ago, with many adopters relying on protocols that are easy to attack. But PGP creator Phil Zimmermann has unveiled new software he believes will help turn the tide.
http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2007/08/03/225970/voip-security-reaches-tipping-point.htm**********************************
ARRESTS/COURT CASES FOR CHILD PORN
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uk: Langham faces jail after child porn conviction
The actor Chris Langham was remanded in custody last night after a jury convicted him of downloading child pornography.
The jury, which also acquitted the 58-year-old of indecently assaulting a 14-year-old girl in a London hotel, rejected his claim that he downloaded pornography -
including images of seven-year-olds being sexually abused, raped and tortured - as part of his research for the BBC series, Help.
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/legal/article2831105.eceDark secret that ended a resurgent acting career
When Chris Langham was questioned by police shortly after his arrest he compared himself to Charles Dickens. In a prepared statement which he read to detectives he said he had downloaded the graphic images of child abuse because he was an artist "condemned to feel the pain for all of us and try and express it".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/crime/article/0,,2140721,00.htmlLangham found guilty of child porn charges
Actor convicted on charges of making indecent photograph of a child but acquitted of
sexually assaulting underage girl
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article2189520.eceChris Langham facing jail over child porn
Chris Langham, the award-winning comic actor and scriptwriter, is in jail after being found guilty of downloading pornographic images of children being abused. The 58-year-old comedian, who was acquitted by a jury of eight charges of sexually assaulting a schoolgirl, now faces up to 10 years in prison for viewing paedophile videos and photographs on his computers at his farmhouse home near Cranbrook, Kent.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/02/nlangham402.xmlau: Men charged after online child porn tip-off
Two men have been charged
with possessing child pornography. AFP began investigating the men after receiving a tip-off from the United States that Australians were accessing a website that contained child pornography.
http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/08/03/1996621.htm+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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(c) David Goldstein 2007
---------
David Goldstein
address: 4/3 Abbott Street
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AUSTRALIA
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"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
