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/**********************************************************
au: Howard's net porn crusade
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22219587-601,00.htmlhttp://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,22218715-15306,00.htmlAustralia declares war on net porn
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/08/11/australia_gov_internet_protection/au: ISP-level filters 'unworkable'
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/08/10/1186530595566.htmlWho Owns the Concept if No One Signs the Papers?
http://iht.com/articles/2007/08/12/business/12stream.phpau: African internet bride scam victim home safe
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22233643-2,00.htmlAdvertisers find new headaches in lawless world of social Web sites
http://iht.com/articles/2007/08/12/business/social13.phpuk: Peers want crackdown on web's 'wild west'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/aug/10/crime.politicsInternet is becoming as lawless as the Wild West, report peers
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article2231564.eceBritain publishes restrictions covering online gambling ads
http://iht.com/articles/2007/08/09/technology/gamble.phpWilliam Hill Casino relocates ahead of advertising ban
http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/article2856771.eceus: Reported Decline in Surveillance Spurred Quick Law
http://nytimes.com/2007/08/11/washington/11nsa.htmlEditorial: The Need to Know
http://nytimes.com/2007/08/11/opinion/11sat1.htmlNZ iPod law eases for music, not films
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=1045713457% of spam scam sites hosted in US
http://www.virusbtn.com/news/2007/08_09a.xmlUniversal Music to sell songs without copying constraints
http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-music10aug10,1,2598446.storyEU considers telecom 'superregulator'
http://iht.com/articles/2007/08/12/business/telecom13.phpTelecoms in Africa: Not so EASSy
http://economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9621946**********************
CENSORSHIP
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zw: Govt Plans Cyber War Against Online News
Zanu PF has blacklisted 41 online publications, including websites for American-owned CNN and the US Embassy in Harare, which it claims have launched a cyber war to promote a regime change agenda against President Robert Mugabe's government, the Zimbabwe Independent can reveal.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200708100646.htmlAll communications can now be intercepted under new law signed by
Mugabe
Reporters Without Borders regrets that the Interception of Communications Act was finally signed into law by President Robert Mugabe on 3 August. It enables the government to intercept phone calls, emails and faxes with the declared aim of protecting national security.
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=17623Saudis block liberal Internet forum, says activist (Reuters)
A Saudi political reform activist said on Thursday the authorities had blocked his Internet forum as part of a wider crackdown on freedom of _expression_ in Saudi Arabia.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUKL0941587120070809uk: MoD issues gag order on armed forces
Sweeping new guidelines barring military personnel from speaking about their
service publicly have been quietly introduced by the Ministry of Defence, the Guardian has learned. Soldiers, sailors and airforce personnel will not be able to blog, take part in surveys, speak in public, post on bulletin boards, play in multi-player computer games or send text messages or photographs without the permission of a superior if the information they use concerns matters of defence.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/military/story/0,,2145930,00.htmlhttp://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article2231437.eceau: Google's photos of Sydney go all fuzzy
Much of Sydney's CBD as it appears in the satellite images on Google Maps Australia has been fuzzed out, just weeks before the APEC summit. Google
says the imagery was downgraded as a result of a "commercial issue" with a supplier, but the move has aroused speculation it was done at the request of police in order to minimise the risk of a terrorist attack during the September summit.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/08/13/1186857396182.htmlProceedings against journalists in Germany must stop, says OSCE Media Freedom Representative [news release]
The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Miklos Haraszti, called on Germany to cease criminal proceedings against the 17 journalists who published allegedly classified information.
http://osce.org/item/25893.htmlEditorial: Harassing Germany?s Media
Germany would seem to be one of the last places to find the government trying to intimidate
its journalists these days. News of secret C.I.A. flights that whisked prisoners through the Continent to places where torture is allowed has horrified many Europeans in recent years. The German courts have been in the forefront of condemning "extraordinary rendition" -- the practice of loading terrorism suspects onto planes and secretly flying them to Afghanistan or Syria or other particularly dangerous spots for anyone behind bars.
http://nytimes.com/2007/08/10/opinion/10fri3.htmlSocial network sites are urged to ban ?hardcore? anorexia videos
Charities involved with eating disorders have called for tighter controls on the internet after it emerged that popular social networking sites such as MySpace and YouTube were being used to promote anorexia. Pro-anorexia websites, on which girls exchange extreme dieting tips and view
?thinspiration? videos featuring alarmingly thin women, have existed for some years. But they have always been difficult to find and the people posting on them have remained anonyomous.
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article2231398.eceGoogle News: Will More Voices Lend Clarity or Distortion?
Citizen journalism took another step forward this week as Google News is making it possible for its U.S. users to comment on stories. Here's the catch: Those users must be directly or indirectly involved with that story. On one hand, this could be a valuable service to readers in that people involved in a story, but who weren't quoted or interviewed by reporters in the original story, can offer new details that lend a different perspective. Readers could benefit from a more
three-dimensional view of events. On the other hand, however, this could open the door to users who want to purposely distort information that might be difficult for reporters to confirm. It also could allow too many users in, to the point that all perspective on events disappears in a cacophony of contradictory comments.
http://redmondmag.com/reports/article.asp?EditorialsID=542Google lets subjects of news stories comment on articles about them [AP]
Google introduced an experimental feature this week on its Google News Web site in the United States to allow any person mentioned in a news story that is linked there to submit a written response.
http://iht.com/articles/2007/08/09/technology/google.phpmy: Blogger's wife questioned
by police
Marina Lee Abdullah, the wife of Malaysian blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin, was summoned by police on Wednesday and interrogated about her involvement with her husband's website, Malaysia Today.
http://asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=75571Government continues to harass bloggers
Reporters Without Borders today condemned continuing government harassment of bloggers and their families after Marine Lee, the wife of blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin, was questioned by police in a Kuala Lumpur police station yesterday about her husband?s Malaysia Today website.
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=23062Part One: Defending online free speech and environmental rights in Bulgaria by Sami Ben Gharbia
The June 29, 2007 decision
of the Bulgarian Administrative Court (VAS) to remove the protected status of the National Park Strandzha, has evoked a strong reaction from the Bulgarian blogsphere and also from the country?s vibrant environmental movement. The two groups have united to defend the country?s largest protected area, which is located on the South Black Sea coast, with its unique eco-systems, biodiversity, cultural and historical heritage.
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2007/08/09/part-one-defending-online-free-speech-and-environmental-rights-in-bulgaria/Part Two: Defending online free speech and environmental rights in Bulgaria by Sami Ben Gharbia
In Part One of this article, I outlined recent threats to the Bulgarian environment and the vibrant web-led protest movement that developed in response.
In this article I speak to Milena Bokova, BlueLink Information Network executive director, who talks about the intimidation against her colleague, blogger Michel Bozgounov, the threats to the freedom of online _expression_ in her country, and the Bluelink Freenet Campaign:
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2007/08/10/part-two-defending-online-free-speech-and-environmental-rights-in-bulgaria/************************************************
CHILD PROTECTION, FILTERING & CONTENT REGULATION
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au: Howard's net porn crusade
John Howard is going to spend $189 million "cleaning up the internet" for Australian families, blocking pornography, upgrading the search for chatroom sex predators and cutting off terror sites.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22219587-601,00.htmlhttp://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,22218715-15306,00.htmlAustralia declares war on net porn
Within the last 24 hours the Australian Commonwealth Government announced that they would be spending AUS$189m (US$162m) on a range of packages and programs designed to protect Australian Internet users against all that the Internet has to offer, under the name Netalert.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/08/11/australia_gov_internet_protection/au: ISP-level filters 'unworkable'
ISPs have labelled the Federal
Government's radical plan to force them to filter web content at the request of their users as unworkable. Communications Minister Helen Coonan admitted feasibility studies surrounding the proposal had yet to be conducted and that the Government would "only introduce filtering measures that are shown to be workable".
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/08/10/1186530595566.htmlhttp://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/08/10/1186530595566.htmlhttp://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/articles/2007/08/10/1186530595566.htmlCoonan backflip on ISP filters
The announcement of ISP-level internet filtering as part of the federal
Government's NetAlert package has seen a major reversal on the technology, which the government last year derided as having "questionable benefits". Communications Minister Senator Helen Coonan today announced a $189 million package of measures to improve the safety of using the internet.
As well as increased funding for the federal Police to track down online predators and national security threats, the package included $84.8 million to provide households with either internet filtering software packages or pre-filtered internet connections from an internet service provider.
http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,22221132-15306,00.htmlFOR MORE COVERAGE ON THIS AUSTRALIAN ANNOUNCEMENT ON FILTERS, SEE THE END.
au: Girls warned of cyber stalkers
New fears about cyber predators have emerged after two girls
were followed home from an exclusive private school shortly after one of them put up her profile on social networking website MySpace.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/08/11/1186530679411.htmlau: Schools face cyber epidemic
The majority of parents would not want mobile phones banned from NSW schools, despite students using them to film violence or bullying, Education Minister John Della Bosca says.
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22233601-5006009,00.htmlhttp://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,22235884-15306,00.htmlnz: Online traps for unwary teens
From
vengeful schoolgirls to predators and sophisticated scammers, social networking sites are increasingly being used to wreak havoc on users' lives, web safety experts say.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=137&objectid=10457216nz: Safety net for kindy kids
Rebecca Ward knows how important it is to keep children safe on the internet. She's among 350 Auckland Kindergarten Association teachers taking part in a training programme designed by internet safety organisation Netsafe.
http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/sundaystartimes/auckland/4158651a6497.htmlCyber Divide Widens: Kids Outsmarting Their Parents
The gap is widening between what kids do online and what their parents think they do. A new study
shows that children are online twice as much as their parents think they are and nearly one-quarter are getting away with forbidden online activities, according to security company Symantec, which commissioned Harris Interactive to do the poll. Parents also may be disconcerted to learn that the survey showed that 23% of children have had an encounter with a stranger on the Internet and 7% reported having met someone in the real world from the Internet.
http://informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201400137Symantec Survey Finds Kids Outsmart Parents When it Comes to the Internet
Symantec announced results from a Symantec poll conducted by Harris Interactive that revealed a significant digital divide between parents and their cyber-savvy children. According to the June 2007 poll, parents of children who access the
Internet think their child is online six hours a week, on average, but children admit to spending an average of 11.4 hours online a week, and nearly a quarter (23 percent) of children report doing things online that their parents would not condone.
http://www.symantec.com/about/news/release/article.jsp?prid=20070809_01Internet Safety and Your Tween
http://www.symantec.com/home_homeoffice/library/familyresource/article.jsp?aid=pr_internetsafety_and_your_tweenEU children know of Internet perils: report
Children in Europe are increasingly aware of the risks associated with using the Internet but are unlikely to turn to their parents for advice if they encounter
difficulties, a new study shows.
http://gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=166200&version=1http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,22236116-15306,00.htmlhttp://uk.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUKN1227122520070813uk: Virtual worlds for kids take off
Social networking sites for children are growing fast - and they are attracting attention from big media companies and concerned adults.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/aug/09/guardianweeklytechnologysection.internetus: Federal Effort on Web Obscenity Shows Few Results
Tom Rogers, a retired Indianapolis detective, toils away most days in his suburban home office reviewing sexual Web sites and other Internet traffic to see whether they qualify as obscene material whose purveyors should be prosecuted by the Justice Department. His work is financed by a Justice Department grant initially provided through a Congressional earmark inserted into a spending bill by Representative Frank R. Wolf, Republican of Virginia. The grant, about $150,000 a year, has helped pay for Mr. Rogers and another retired law enforcement officer in Reno, Nev., to harvest and review complaints about obscene matter on the Internet that citizens register on the Justice Department Web
site.
http://nytimes.com/2007/08/10/us/10obscene.htmlus: Next step against pedophiles plotted
United in their fight against self-proclaimed pedophile Jack McClellan, parents and representatives from child advocacy groups met Wednesday with local lawmakers and law enforcement officials to determine the next steps to keep him and other pedophiles out of their communities.
http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_6578246**************************
ONLINE CRIME, SECURITY & LEGAL
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Who Owns the Concept if No One Signs the Papers?
Who owns a bright idea? If the technology associated with an idea is new and the opportunities it offers are valuable, it will have many authors ? most of whom may argue over ownership. When disputes
over the provenance of an idea become particularly turbid, disappointed entrepreneurs will look to the courts, which often are of little help. As Lawrence Lessig, a professor at Stanford Law School, said, ?The general rule is that ideas are free unless strapped down by contract or patent.? In practice, a great idea is owned by whoever expresses that idea most successfully. Consider the case of Mark Zuckerberg, founder and chief executive of Facebook, the fast-growing social networking Web site, who is being sued by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, twin brothers who were founders of ConnectU, another social network.
http://iht.com/articles/2007/08/12/business/12stream.phphttp://nytimes.com/2007/08/12/business/yourmoney/12stream.htmlus:
Porn Publisher Sues Microsoft Over Search Images
In a case that could have broad implications for the search industry, a publisher of soft-core pornographic magazines and Web sites has sued Microsoft for copyright infringement. Norm Zada, founder and publisher of Perfect 10, claims that the software maker's MSN search engine violates his copyrights by linking to third party sites that show unauthorized copies of his images.
http://informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201311158http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,135759/article.htmlStorm Worm Attack Shifts To Malicious Web Pages
The virulent Storm worm which has been hammering the Internet has changed tactics, opening up a new attack vector. Researchers at
SecureWorks discovered late Wednesday that the Storm worm authors have taken their full attention off of e-mail-based attacks and have started creating malicious Web pages. E-mail-based attacks -- phony e-cards and fake news alerts -- have worked exceedingly well, helping the attackers build up a botnet at least 1.7 million strong, according to SecureWorks.
http://informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201311245'Second Life' Sex Machine Spawns Lawsuit (AP)
Kevin Alderman didn't bring sex to "Second Life." He just made it better. The 46-year-old entrepreneur recognized four years ago that people would pay to equip their online selves - which start out with the smooth anatomy of a Barbie or Ken doll - with realistic genitalia and even more to add some sexy moves.
http://www.latimes.com/technology/ats-ap_technology10aug10,1,3365614.storyhttp://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/08/11/1186530633486.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/10/AR2007081000896.htmlAT&T wiretapping case headed for hearing
A federal appeals court will hear arguments next Wednesday on whether to stop a class-action privacy suit that is based on allegations that the government and AT&T have been working together in an illegal wiretapping program. The Electronic Frontier Foundation brought the case in a U.S. District Court in San Francisco last year on behalf of Tash Hepting
and other AT&T customers. The suit alleges AT&T cooperated with the National Security Agency to conduct surveillance of millions of customers' communications illegally, violating the customers' privacy.
http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/08/10/ATT-wiretapping-case-headed-for-hearing_1.htmlhttp://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/005397.phpThe Net Gets Real on Copyrights
The Harry Potter ending is the latest example of how Web sites are more willing to take down copyrighted material and identify infringers
http://businessweek.com/technology/content/jul2007/tc20070722_692668.htmau:
African internet bride scam victim home safe
A South Australian farmer held hostage in Africa for 12 days in an internet bride scam has returned home, saying he's lucky to be alive.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22233643-2,00.htmlhttp://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/08/12/2002846.htmhttp://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/08/11/2002620.htmhttp://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/08/13/1186857402324.htmlUN's website breached by hackers
Hackers have attacked the United Nations official website, forcing some sections to be taken
offline.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6943385.stmhttp://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/08/13/2002938.htmhttp://stuff.co.nz/stuff/4163111a28.html**************************
PRIVACY
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Google explains privacy policy on YouTube
Google has posted a video on YouTube that explains aspects of its privacy policy. Peter Fleischer, Google's global privacy counsel, said in a blog post on Wednesday that Google had launched the video to explain "cookies, IP addresses, and logs" to "non-techies". YouTube is owned by Google.
http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/security/0,39044215,62030636,00.htmau: Naked fury over fake Watson site on MySpace
THE Australian Cricketers Association is furious that some of Australia's leading players are being lampooned and misrepresented on the MySpace website.
http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,22220252-15306,00.htmlWeb revenge: ruin an enemy for £10
A service offering a complete ?revenge package? in which people can destroy the financial status and relationships of their enemies at the click of a mouse is being offered over the internet.
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article2241757.ece**************************
GOVERNMENT & PUBLIC POLICY
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Advertisers find new headaches in lawless world of social Web sites
First came the soaring ascent of online social networking sites and now comes old fashioned soul searching about a sprawling universe where staid advertisements can scrape up against profiles of giddy young professionals and pages devoted to self-proclaimed angry "straight, white men."
While sites like Facebook, MySpace, Bebo and Habbo Hotel have a powerful allure, the companies that run them are finding themselves on the front lines of criticism about fast-evolving standards. Some of the criticism in Britain involves advertising for junk food that is migrating to the sites from children's
television programming, where such ads are now banned, and corporate concern about employees distracted by time-sapping virtual networking.
http://iht.com/articles/2007/08/12/business/social13.phpuk: Peers want crackdown on web's 'wild west'
The government and police must act to improve online security and stop the internet becoming a "playground of criminals", a parliamentary committee warns today. A report from the House of Lords science and technology select committee accuses both business and government of creating an image of the net as a "wild west", with millions of internet users unnecessarily exposed to crime.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/aug/10/crime.politicsInternet is becoming as lawless as the Wild
West, report peers
The internet has become a playground for criminals in which highly specialised gangs steal money from bank accounts, according to a Parliamentary report published today. A huge underground economy is making a living from e-crime, which fuels the perception of the internet as a lawless ?Wild West?, the peers report said.
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article2231564.eceFORE MORE COVERAGE OF THIS HOUSE OF LORDS REPORT, SEE THE END OF THE NEWS
Britain publishes restrictions covering online gambling ads
Littlewoodscasino.com, William Hill Casino and Interpoker.com are among about 1,000 gambling Web Sites based outside Britain that are to be banned from advertising in the country when new laws take effect next month.
http://iht.com/articles/2007/08/09/technology/gamble.phphttp://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-6201710.htmlhttp://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2145763,00.htmlWilliam Hill Casino relocates ahead of advertising ban
William Hill is set to transfer its online gambling operation from the Dutch Antilles in the Caribbean to Gibraltar. City sources said the William Hill Casino move comes ahead of the introduction of a Government ban on the advertising in the UK of gambling websites that operate outside of the European Economic Area or so-called "white-listed" territories.
http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/article2856771.eceus: Reported Decline in Surveillance Spurred Quick Law
At a closed-door briefing in mid-July, senior intelligence officials startled lawmakers with some troubling news. American eavesdroppers were collecting just 25 percent of the foreign-based communications they had been receiving a few months earlier. Congress needed to act quickly, intelligence officials said, to repair a dangerous situation. Some lawmakers were alarmed. Others, jaded by past intelligence warnings, were skeptical.
http://nytimes.com/2007/08/11/washington/11nsa.htmlEditorial: The Need to Know
Like many in this country who were angered when Congress rushed to rubber-stamp a bill giving President Bush even more power to spy on
Americans, we took some hope from the vow by Congressional Democrats to rewrite the new law after summer vacation. The chance of undoing the damage is slim, unless the White House stops stonewalling and gives lawmakers and the public the information they need to understand this vital issue.
http://nytimes.com/2007/08/11/opinion/11sat1.htmlNZ iPod law eases for music, not films
Proposed law changes will make it legal to copy music for personal use, but anyone recording a favourite television programme will be able to keep it for only a few days. It is now illegal to copy music from a CD or tape to another device such as an iPod or an MP3 player. But Parliament's commerce select committee has changed the Copyright (New Technologies) Bill to make it legal to "format shift" - or copy - music from a CD to other devices if it is for personal
use.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10457134Canadian Ipod Levy May Yet Face The Music
Michael Geist's weekly Law Bytes column focuses on last month's Copyright Board decision that re-opens the door to placing a levy of up to $75 on iPods as part of the private copying levy. I note that the case may create a sense of déjà vu, since it marks the second time that the Canadian Private Copying Collective, the collective that has pocketed more than $150 million from the levy since 2000, has sought to include iPods within the levy system.
http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/2160/135/au: MP lashes out over fake MySpace profile
A federal MP has hit out at MySpace for allowing a
"offensive, vulgar and inflammatory" fake site to be set up in his name. MySpace is a social networking website that allows people to set up free personalised web pages. Stewart McArthur, the government's deputy whip, said the fake page - which has since been taken down - had included his photograph.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/08/09/1186530526713.htmlde: Federal data protection commissioner bemoans increasing encroachment on privacy
The personal liberty and privacy of citizens is, in the opinion of federal data protection commissioner Peter Schaar, coming under increasingly threat from tighter anti-terror legislation. "Our private sphere is becoming ever more restricted," said Schaar in an interview with dpa. He expressed strong criticism of covert online computer searches, which remain a controversial topic within the ruling
coalition.
http://www.heise.de/english/newsticker/news/94203us: FTC to Host Town Hall to Examine Privacy Issues and Online Behavioral Advertising [news release]
The FTC will host a two-day Town Hall to bring together consumer advocates, industry representatives, technology experts, and academics to address the consumer protection issues raised by the practice of tracking consumers? activities online to target advertising ? or ?behavioral advertising.?
http://ftc.gov/opa/2007/08/ehavioral.shtmCalifornia Puts Limits on Use of E-voting Systems
California Secretary of State Debra Bowen has mandated tough new security standards for the state?s e-voting systems and curtailed their planned use after an independent review of the
technology.
http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=300571**********************
INTERNET USE
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Worldwide E-Learning To Draw Nearly US$53 Billion By 2010
E-learning has emerged as the second most popular method for organizational teaching, in terms of hours spent, and is quickly increasing in use.
http://informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201311139uk: Internet gambling adverts 'recipe for disaster'
Government plans to allow internet gambling advertisements on television for the first time were branded a "recipe for disaster" last night by the Royal College of Psychiatrists. In an uncompromising
intervention, the Royal College last night called on ministers to halt plans to lift restrictions on gambling adverts until they were sure that new regulations governing the online industry worked.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/10/nweb110.xmluk: Internet groups warn BBC over iPlayer plans
Some of the largest broadband providers in the UK are threatening to "pull the plug" from the BBC's new iPlayer unless the corporation contributes to the cost of streaming its videos over the internet.
http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/article2856766.ecehttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/f3428cd4-48fb-11dc-b326-0000779fd2ac.htmlCan Net greedy-guts have their cake and eat it?
It is hard to imagine, but the internet is filling up. Less than a decade ago, pioneering companies stuck huge pipes in the ground to cope with demand for data traffic that never arrived. Well, with the popularity of video sharing sites such as YouTube, as well as the dawn of internet broadcasting, internet capacity is starting to look a wee bit stretched. There is no need for alarm just yet, but the likes of BT and Tiscali, as well as AOL in the US, are firmly of the opinion that the media companies that are responsible for all this bandwidth-hungry content should contribute to the costs of upgrading the network.
http://news.independent.co.uk/business/comment/article2856776.eceJapanese grannies go high-tech [AFP]
"My husband isn't home tonight. Would you like to..." reads the suggestive email on the computer screen. Obviously, the sender has no idea that the recipient is 78-year-old grandmother Kikue Kamata.
http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/08/13/2003066.htmhttp://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/08/13/1186857391477.htmlGoogle Isn't Always The Best Search Choice
Google has turned into a household verb, but that doesn't make it the last word in Web search. On one level, it can't be: Web searching isn't even 15 years old, and there's no reason to think that
somebody couldn't do it better than Google.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/08/AR2007080802311.html3.7 million children in Germany use a computer
In Germany 3.7 million children have the opportunity to use a computer. According to the "Kids Consumer Analysis 2007" by the Egmont Ehapa Verlags [Egmont Ehapa Publishing House] the latest figure is up by 300,000 on that of two years ago.
http://www.heise.de/english/newsticker/news/94057ABC, CNN and NBC free their debate clips. But not Fox
News networks now explicitly allow bloggers to download, edit and post clips of presidential primary debates -- except for one holdout.
http://www.salon.com/tech/machinist/blog/2007/08/10/debate_video/index.htmluk: Net closes in as glossy magazines lose their lustre
The once-thriving magazine market is in crisis as titles in almost every genre record falling sales and executives prepare to take the battle online
... Executives are blaming the internet for the downturn, and are beginning to accelerate plans to take the battle to their online competitors. 'It's all about digital now,' says one. ... The internet is partly responsible for the success of free titles because it has created an expectation among consumers that journalism should be free. Ultimately, the magazines' response to this threat will determine their future in what one source concedes is 'now a completely different media landscape'. D-Day is approaching once more, but the final day of reckoning may not be far
off.
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,,2146874,00.html**********************
SPAM
**********************
UC-San Diego computer scientists shed light on Internet scams [news release]
Computer scientists from UC San Diego have found striking differences between the infrastructure used to distribute spam and the infrastructure used to host the online scams advertised in these unwanted email messages. This discovery should aid in the fight to reduce spam volume and shut down illegal online businesses and malware sites.
http://eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-08/uoc--usd080607.php57% of spam scam sites hosted in US
A detailed investigation into the distribution and usage of webservers to host the
various 'scams' pushed by spam campaigns has found that the vast majority of such scams use only a single server per scam, with 57.4% of these servers based in the US.
http://www.virusbtn.com/news/2007/08_09a.xmlWe're in the grip of a spam epidemic [AAP]
Spam has hit an all-time high and is expected to increase thanks to a volatile virus that uses infected computers to spread the unsolicited emails.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/08/10/1186530603509.html**********************
FILE SHARING
**********************
Universal Music to sell songs without copying constraints
A power struggle between Steve Jobs and Universal Music Group has accomplished what years of consumer complaints could not: sales of thousands of songs in an
unrestricted digital format from the world's biggest record company.
http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-music10aug10,1,2598446.storyhttp://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/10/business/10music.htmlhttp://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/08/10/1186530573642.htmlLawsuit: Music Publishers v. YouTube Doesn't Solve the Problem
The National Music Publishers Association has joined an existing lawsuit accusing YouTube of copyright infringement. Since their purchase of YouTube, it has been open season on Google. Rights-holders know that Google is truly made-of-money and aggrieved content owners now have a target with very deep pockets to
sue.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shelly-palmer/lawsuit-music-publishers_b_59979.html*********************************
COMMENT, MICROSOFT & DEVELOPMENTS
*********************************
NBC Universal-News Corp. project attracts deep-pocketed investor
Providence Equity Partners is said to have invested in the online joint venture to bring the television shows and movies of the two companies onto the Internet, which still lacks a Web site, a name and a clear mission statement.
http://iht.com/articles/2007/08/09/business/site.phpNow Google Wants Your Money
In a shift, the search and online advertising company will charge for storage space, supplementing online ads.
http://www.forbes.com/technology/2007/08/10/google-storage-capacity-tech-cx_bc_0810google.htmlGood Technology Is Nice; A Good Idea Is Better
It has never been easier to start an Internet company. Create a Web site, begin a "viral" marketing campaign to grow word-of-mouth and acquire an audience, garner some ad revenues, generate venture capital funding and sell out to a Web giant such as Yahoo! or Google. Startup costs can be minimized by using standard technology and by outsourcing corporate functions, such as advertising sales. The business model, at least initially, is optional.
http://www.forbes.com/technology/2007/08/09/google-yahoo-youtube-ent-fin-cx_kw_0809whartonvc.htmlIs
Your Printer Making You Sick?
A recent Australian study will have you thinking twice about waiting for those printouts ? not for the sake of the paper, but for your health. In the small study, published in the Aug. 1 issue of Environmental Science and Technology, researchers found that nearly 30% of the 62 printers they tested ? including laser printers from Canon, HP, Toshiba and Ricoh ? emitted high levels of ultrafine toner particles, which were potentially as hazardous as cigarette smoke. In one Brisbane office, the authors found, the concentration of particulate matter per square inch was five times higher during working hours than nonworking hours, and about 3.5 times higher inside than outside, where a freeway ran 130 yards from the building.
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1650602,00.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/10/AR2007081000383.htmlA touch of death about the iPhone touchscreen?
In the latest of a series of complaints, iPhone users are reporting that sections of the screen go dead
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/personal_tech/article2236383.eceFTC Offers Tips for Laptop Security [news release]
Consumers can take many measures to make their laptop secure from hackers, viruses, and other potential threats, such as installing firewalls, updating antivirus software, and using strong passwords. Now, the Federal Trade Commission is offering tips for protecting laptops from theft.
http://ftc.gov/opa/2007/08/laptopsecurity.shtm**********************
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
**********************
EU considers telecom 'superregulator'
Following its success in cutting mobile phone roaming fees, the European Commission is weighing a plan that could force some former EU phone monopolies to legally reorganize to open their networks to greater competition.
http://iht.com/articles/2007/08/12/business/telecom13.phphttp://nytimes.com/2007/08/13/business/worldbusiness/13telecom.htmlTelecoms in Africa: Not so EASSy
A plan to run a submarine cable down Africa's east coast runs into difficulty: The East African Submarine Cable System
(EASSy), a project to wire up several African countries with high-speed optical fibre, is not living up to its name. The plan, hatched in 2003, was simple enough: lay an 9,900km (6,200-mile) submarine cable along the east coast of the continent, from Sudan to South Africa, touching at several points along the way, and then link it up with the rest of the world. But the scheme has become entangled in disagreements between operators and governments over its business model.
http://economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9621946au: Telstra and Labor talk broadband
Telstra is holding detailed discussions with the Labor Party about its proposals for a high-speed broadband network. The informal talks are in contrast to the breakdown in the relationship with the Howard Government and Communications Minister Helen Coonan. ... But The
Australian has learnt that Telstra's head of regulatory affairs, Phil Burgess, has been in regular contact with Opposition communications spokesman Stephen Conroy and other senior ALP figures.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22219570-2702,00.htmlau: Fibre to the home comes to Canberra
Canberra telco TransACT will be deploying fibre-to-the-home in the city from this month, with more FTTH tenders on the table.
http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/communications/soa/Fibre-to-the-home-comes-to-Canberra/0,130061791,339281119,00.htmhttp://computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;1670681232;fp;2;fpid;1nz: Cunliffe rules out rural line hike
Communications Minister David Cunliffe says Telecom would not be allowed to raise its phone line rental charges in small towns and rural areas above the rate of inflation to reflect the higher prices the Commerce Commission suggests should apply there for access to the local loop.
http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/4161446a28.htmlnz: TelstraClear third player in mobile market
TelstraClear is promising big changes to the New Zealand telecommunications market following the signing of a deal to use Telecom's network for a new nationwide mobile service. The two companies said an agreement approving the move was signed today by Telecom acting chief executive Simon
Moutter
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10457438Nigcomsat - A Threat to Nigeria's Telecoms Image
The telecoms regulatory stability that has prevailed in Nigeria in the past seven years may be on the throes of death. The acclaimed transparency in the award of telecoms licenses in Nigeria which begun since 2001 with the auctioning of GSM spectrum licenses, may have come under its biggest threat with the latest demand for mobile phone license by Nigeria's satellite company, Nigcomstat.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200708090554.htmlhttp://allafrica.com/stories/200708090551.htmlhttp://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=85721in: DoT dials spectrum norms
The Department of telecommunications (DoT) will issue guidelines on efficient utilisation of spectrum. The DoT has sought recommendations from telecom regulator Trai. It has also set up an internal committee for better call quality within buildings to ensure mobile operators use their allocated spectrum efficiently.
http://telegraphindia.com/1070813/asp/business/story_8185847.asp**********************
MOBILE/WIRELESS
**********************
Paris moves ahead with free Wi-Fi plans
Paris is abuzz with open Wi-Fi hotspots, but picking out the signals among all that competing noise is no easy matter
http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/08/09/paris-wi-fi_1.htmlus: Microsoft Disputes FCC's Rejection of Web Devices That Use TV Airwaves
Microsoft plans to try to convince regulators that it can connect consumers to high-speed Internet over unused television airwaves without interfering with existing broadcasts.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/12/AR2007081201084.htmlThere?s a revolution in the air, and it?s the end for untidy living rooms
Homes may be transformed into wireless entertainment ?hubs? after Ofcom announced a relaxation of restrictions on wireless technology. From Monday Ofcom will remove the requirement to hold a licence to operate equipment using approved
Ultra-Wideband.
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article2231565.ece**********************
AU NET FILTER COVERAGE
**********************
Backflip on internet filter
A federal government report last year derided the idea of an internet pornography filter now being proposed by John Howard, describing it as expensive, system-clogging and of "questionable benefit".
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22224981-11949,00.htmlLibraries' commitment to internet safety already evident [news release]
The Australian Library and Information Association has rejected the description of public library filtering efforts as an "abject failure" made
by The Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, the Hon Helen Coonan this morning in her announcement regarding new moves to enforce internet filtering through the 'NetAlert - Protecting Australian Families Online' program.
http://alia.org.au/media.room/2007.08.10.htmlCyber safety kit for parents and schools
Every parent and school will receive a cyber safety program for computers and mobile phones under a package being developed by the national school parents organisation.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22224982-5013404,00.htmlau: Australia to provide Internet filters to thwart perverts [AFP]
Australia will provide a free Internet filtering service and access to a hotline in a
bid to thwart perverts seeking to contact children, Prime Minister John Howard said Friday.
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/08/10/1186530598606.htmlhttp://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/08/10/1186530598606.htmlClosing doors on net porn
Editorial: When our political leaders start using MySpace and YouTube as campaigning tools, it signals Australians of all ages have opened their doors to the worldwide web.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22223847-24218,00.htmlau: IIA Response to Government Filtering Policy
In relation to the announcement today by the Federal Government expanding the
Australian internet filter scheme, the IIA's response is as follows: We support many elements of this scheme and are, for now, keeping an open mind on other elements pending their better definition.
http://iia.net.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=584&Itemid=32au: Veto for parents on web content
ISPs will be forced to filter web content at the request of parents, under a $189 million Federal Government crackdown on online bad language, pornography and child sex predators. ... In a separate development, convicted sex offenders in NSW will have to register their email address with police as part of State Government efforts to stop them using the internet to prey on children.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/08/09/1186530533147.htmlhttp://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/08/09/1186530535350.htmlau: Howard pitch for family vote with internet filter
Prime Minister John Howard has made a strong pitch for the Christian and family vote with a $189 million package to provide a free internet filter for every Australian family in a bid to fight pornography and foul language online.
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/08/10/1186530542829.htmlDodgy content, sex predators caught in Aussie safety net [AAP]
The Australian Federal Police will receive A$43.5 million for more officers to detect and investigate online child
sex predators.
http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/security/soa/Govt-funds-fight-against-online-predators-/0,130061744,339281096,00.htmhttp://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10457004NetAlert gives public libraries free filtering
Australian public libraries will receive free ISP security filtering to help protect users from online dangers as part of the Federal Government's $189 million National Filtering Scheme announced yesterday.
http://crn.com.au/story.aspx?CIID=89076http://securecomputing.net.au/news/58624,netalert-gives-public-libraries-free-filtering.aspxhttp://itnews.com.au/News/NewsStory.aspx?story=58624Mixed response to Govt internet porn protection
The Internet Industry Association says it is pleased the Government's expanded cyber-safety scheme empowers parents rather than enforcing censorship.
http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/08/10/2002034.htmACS Oks NetAlert
The Australian Computer Society has thrown its support behind the Protecting Australian Families Online program.
http://itnews.com.au/News/NewsStory.aspx?story=58816http://crn.com.au/story.aspx?CIID=89284**********************
HOUSE OF LORDS REPORT COVERAGE
**********************
Government 'must act on e-crime'
Government and net firms must do more to protect users from online crime, says a House of Lords report.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6938796.stmuk: Call for more action against internet crime
Businesses should face penalties if they fail to protect individuals from internet crime, says a parliamentary report published on Friday. The House of Lords science and technology committee calls for internet service providers to take more responsibility for providing internet
security ? such as filtering ?bad? traffic. It suggests software companies and hardware manufacturers should pay up if they supply products with security flaws.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/e7565480-46aa-11dc-a3be-0000779fd2ac.htmlhttp://out-law.com/page-8374uk: COMMENT: Watch out - the state is after your hard drive
... You can hear, from Westminster, the sound of the state pooing its pants about the digital revolution. Its authority is being eroded on two fronts. First, the internet doesn't recognise national borders so is nearly impossible to police. That is good for criminals. Second, the technology that allows people to publish and broadcast online is so widespread that central authorities cannot control the agenda. That is good for political
activists. The tricky thing for government is how to curtail the freedom of the crooks while respecting the rights of reasonable dissenters.
... The British state has so far veered between neglect and encouragement for the internet. The government once thought it was a nifty way to make friends with the electorate. They invited people to send online petitions to Number 10. But the mood is changing. The new MoD guidelines for blogging squaddies are a straw in the wind.
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2147157,00.htmlInternet firms urged to tackle cyber "Wild West" [Reuters]
Internet companies, retailers and the government must do far more to protect people from the dangers of the "lawless Wild West" of cyberspace, an influential group of MPs said on Friday. In a critical report, the MPs said the government and
industry have a "laissez-faire" approach to online crime that could lead to an "economically disastrous" loss of public confidence in the Internet.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10456970http://uk.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUKL0955806920070809UK report questions role of ISPs in online safety
House of Lords stops short of proposing new rules, but says ISPs should take more responsibility for online security since users are often lax
http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/08/10/UK-report-questions-role-of-ISPs_1.htmlLords push for wide-ranging
security improvements
Recommendations include the introduction of data security breach notification law in the UK
http://www.vnunet.com/itweek/news/2196360/lords-push-wide-ranginghttp://news.zdnet.co.uk/security/0,1000000189,39288491,00.htmhttp://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/08/10/2002386.htm+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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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
